New to modding, can you suggest the must haves for Skyrim legendary edition?

[Guitarnut76]

Guys and gals iIwould really appreciate some help here as there is so much information on mods and just so many mods that I have no clue where to start. My PC is very capable so it can handle most things thrown at it. Please suggest the mods that would give me the best experience possible.

 

Also, in the mod manager do I launch the custom skyrim or regular? And how would I know that the mod is actually installed and not just downloaded?

 

Thanks so much for your help and understanding!

[InterstellarSquid]

Critical (as in most mods will need one or more of these to work):

SKSE

SkyUI

RaceMenu

ShowRaceMenu Precache Killer

FNIS

Wrye Bash

zEdit

TES5Edit

LOOT

 

Great stuff you wouldn't want to miss:

Legacy of the Dragonborn

Immersive College of Winterhold

Inigo

More Interesting Loot for Skyrim

all retextures by Gamwich (usually called "Rustic <whatever>")

Rally's All the Things

Static Mesh Improvement Mod

skyBirds

The Forgotten City

Wheels of Lull

A Matter of Time

aMidianBorn Book of Silence

aMidianBorn textures in general

A Quality World Map

Timing is Everything

ScopedBows 4.0

Apachii & KS Hairs - and the Apachii Divine Elegance mod

Point the Way

Long Lost Smelters

Cheesemod for Everyone

 

I prefer to use Mod Organizer 2 for my mods. It easily shows what you've downloaded, what you've installed, and what plugins are active.

 

There are great mods to make your game whatever you want, depending upon your focus. I'd recommend body mods for male and female, and mods like Bijin's and Pandorable's for making the NPCs look better. DomainWolf's overlays are some of the best collections of face & body paint ever. The Noble Family (TNF) makes player homes actually feel homey and Elysium Estate is just about perfect. Hearthfire Multiple Adoptions lets you adopt abbunch of urchins, instead of just 2, and Prince and the Pauper and Dovahkinder let you dress them up nicely. Mihail has some amazing critters and enemies.

 

I hope that covers what you're looking for. Remember to always use Wrye Bash for a bashed patch and LOOT for load order to make things smooth.

[greyday01]

If you haven't used Mod Organizer google the YouTubes by Gopher. They take you through installation and using the program as well as how to install Skyrim Script extender which is easy but a bit different from regular mods.

[HadToRegister]

The best way to see the "Must Have" mods, is to go to the game Mod Section and click on TOP FILES

[HighOnez]

Oof. For animation frameworks, FNIS has become pretty redundant, mainly because Fore retired from modding. Instead, you should use the Nemesis Behavioral Engine. Pretty much every new animation mod relies on it. Of course, if you want a more reliable engine for now until Nemesis is officially released, stick to FNIS. However, it will limit you on what animation mods you use, such as Combat Gameplay Overhaul.