As close to vanilla as moddingly possible (lol).

[K4tz]

Hello friends.

 

I recently started playing Skyrim again, and this time around, I modded it quite a bit. Nothing extreme, but still, it took a lot of time.

After about a week or so, I started getting irritated and annoyed at me not being able to make important decisions any more. What mod to get, what mod not to get, to change perks, to not change perks etc. I clearly need some help.

 

I really want to enjoy Skyrim, but I hate breaking immersion. I toyed around with some "immersive" mods such as the companion overhaul mod, convenient horses mod etc, but after a while I think they just simply stray a bit too far off from the path of the vanilla Skyrim. I don't know if this is the correct (if there is such a thing) way to play Skyrim.

 

Some mods I was really happy about were the simple higher resolution texture mods, automatic variants (simply brilliant), lighting tweaks etc. Still, I feel there's something missing. Vanilla Skyrim feels like it's just too cluttered with errors and faults. For example, missing crafting recipies and so on.

 

So my question to you guys is.. what mods can be used to simply improve and polish the vanilla aspect of the game, without adding any new items, any new perks, anything new what so ever?

 

I am ever so grateful for any answers.

[Jestarr]

Hello friends.

 

I recently started playing Skyrim again, and this time around, I modded it quite a bit. Nothing extreme, but still, it took a lot of time.

After about a week or so, I started getting irritated and annoyed at me not being able to make important decisions any more. What mod to get, what mod not to get, to change perks, to not change perks etc. I clearly need some help.

 

I really want to enjoy Skyrim, but I hate breaking immersion. I toyed around with some "immersive" mods such as the companion overhaul mod, convenient horses mod etc, but after a while I think they just simply stray a bit too far off from the path of the vanilla Skyrim. I don't know if this is the correct (if there is such a thing) way to play Skyrim.

 

Some mods I was really happy about were the simple higher resolution texture mods, automatic variants (simply brilliant), lighting tweaks etc. Still, I feel there's something missing. Vanilla Skyrim feels like it's just too cluttered with errors and faults. For example, missing crafting recipies and so on.

 

So my question to you guys is.. what mods can be used to simply improve and polish the vanilla aspect of the game, without adding any new items, any new perks, anything new what so ever?

 

I am ever so grateful for any answers.

 

I really like the Frost fall Hypothermia mod that, well like it says makes the weather more realistic and go against you. There's also Immersive Armors and Immersive Weapons that add a lot of from what I've seen in my own play through a lot of lore friendly weapons scattered through the world that go accordingly to your character's level. Those are a few of the ones I've used. :)

[K4tz]

Those two mods are actually quite good, but in my opinion, adding new items to the game feels a bit wrong.. I don't know what it is, it just does not feel too good with me. :(

I've decided to only install better textures, shaders and lighting effects, and also some follower AI and weapon+armor fixes (as in adding lost crafting recipes, re-balancing the crafting system and so on).

Anyone have any tips for some really good mods along those lines? Thanks :)

[Eckss]

This is my usual 'what mods' answer, I've highlighted the ones that don't add, but just improve things, for your benefit, but I use, and recommend, them all.

 

Hi, I expected quite a few of these 'What Mods' questions so I saved this answer so that I can answer consistently each time without leaving any out:

 

I play with a lot of Mods and I've tried and rejected many others. I use all of these (among others) and I'm sure they’re all Must Have/Worth Having.

 

Weapons and Armors

Immersive Armors

Immersive Weapons

Ghosu - Weapon Pack

JaySuS Swords

Crimson Dragon Armor

Open Face Helmets Replacer - Steam only

Magic/Enchantments

Midas Magic

Weapon Enchantment Upgrade

Burn Freeze Shock Effects

Graphics Overhauls

Skyrim Flora Overhaul

Static Mesh Improvement Mod

aMidianBorn Book of Silence

Elaborate Textiles

Other Must Haves

Guard Dialogue Overhaul

The Dance of Death

Crimson Tide - Blood

Optimizer Textures (use it on graphic intensive Mods to reduce your system load)

Other Worth Having

Dragon Knowledge Spell

Legionettes

Mine Map Markers

Crimson Quest Markers

Dungeon Quest Awareness

Auto Unequip Ammo

Horns are Forever - If you play Argonians

Eck. :D

[jack013]

don't forget immersive creatures.

[kryptopyr]

I really like this follower mod: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=87578317

I feel it's much more immersive than any of the others that I've tried. You don't get the micro-managing controls and commands that some of the others give you, just the vanilla commands, but that works just fine for me. And having not having some hired muscle (or especially my housecarl) refuse to help because I already have someone following me is so much more immersive than the vanilla game. I rarely have more than 2 followers (with quest-specific followers this can occasionally get up to 3). Together, that mod and my Better Stealth AI for Followers, fix 90% of the problems that I feel the vanilla game has with followers.

 

I really recommend taking a look at STEP which is a guide to mods (mostly texture/graphic, but also fixes and some basic gameplay). The STEP team tries to stay true to the vanilla game and maintain immersion. I think they might be getting close to releasing the next update (you can browse the WIP version here.

 

I also use Smithing Perks Overhaul, Weapons and Armor Fixes, and Complete Crafting Overhaul for smithing stuff and Balanced Magic for magic.

 

A few of the other great vanilla-friendly mods that I use: Skyrim Coin Replacer, Friendly Guard Helmets, Run for your lives, Better Alchemy Drops, and Guard Dialogue Overhaul.

 

Also many of my own mods are intended to correct certain oversights or issues in the vanilla game while trying to stay fairly true to the nature of the original game. Here are a few: Nightingale Hall, Smelters for Riften and Solitude, Stealth Skills Rebalanced, The Choice is Yours, and Thieves Guild Requirements.

[DreamKingMods]

Vanilla Skyrim feels like it's just too cluttered with errors and faults. For example, missing crafting recipies and so on.

 

So my question to you guys is.. what mods can be used to simply improve and polish the vanilla aspect of the game, without adding any new items, any new perks, anything new what so ever?

 

The Unofficial Skyrim Patch.