Coming back to Skyrim -- What mods do I need these days?

[DewdInTheNewd]

I recently had a craving to play Skyrim (haven't touched it for almost a year) and I'm having trouble sorting out what mods I want to tack on before I dive in again.

 

I know how to clean mods, to properly install them, etc... -- my main problem comes with being able to sort out what is "old junk" and what is abandoned in favor of something new.

 

My goal is to go all the way with mods really, I want enhanced graphics, fancy stuff out the wazoo while staying relatively pretty.

 

So far I've found http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/articles/843/ and http://itcprosolutions.com/skyrimguides/modding_guide.htm but they both seem a bit dated.

 

Also, I've purchased and installed all of the DLC (HD textures, Hearthfire, Dawnguard and Dragonborn) so that's a thing.

 

I want to be able to make a pretty/sexy warrior chick ( similar to http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/images/30941-1-1359906956.jpg -- Want to go dark and tribal or orc and tribal). I don't care about nudity at all but better bodies is good, nothing ridiculous like super boobs or boob physics kthx.

[fortie]

Immersive Weapons by Hothtrooper44 and Ironman5000S

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/27644

 

Immersive Armors by hothtrooper44

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/19733

 

These both add a lot of lore friendly weapons and armours.

 

Static Mesh Improvement Mod - SMIM by Brumbek

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/8655

 

Skyrim Flora Overhaul by vurt

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/141

 

Categorized Favorites Menu by favmenumodderSkyrim

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/4862

 

No More Blocky Faces by Xenius

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/30

 

Frostfall - Hypothermia Camping Survival by Chesko

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11163

 

aMidianBorn Book of Silence by CaBaL

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/24909

 

Guard Dialogue Overhaul by Eck

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/23390

 

Calientes Female Body Mod Big Bottom Edition -CBBE- by Caliente

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/2666

 

Pretty much anything by CaBal, Xenius, Hothtrooper44 are awesome.

 

These are just some of the mods I use.

They not only make the game more immersive but also make it more enjoyable and in some cases better looking without making it into what some people use of like a porn set.

These are all lore friendly.

Edited February 19, 2013 by fortie

[CeaseSphire]

Follower Trade Priority by LazyAltmer

 

Moves the follower dialogue topic "I need to trade some things with you" up near the top of the list of choices. No longer will you have to scroll down the list or accidentally dismiss your follower every time you want to trade with them!

 

Be sure to have it at the end of your load order or have all follower mods above it.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/19903

 

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Dawnstar Indoor Market by Jetmouse

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/18890

 

.

 

ULTRA REALISTIC WORLD LIGHTING for Skyrim BETA by Marco

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/13531

 

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Follower Trap Safety by AlekSkyrim

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11609

 

 

UFO is also fun to have

Edited February 20, 2013 by CeaseSphire

[AventisArentino]

best badass armor mod! really recommend to everyone:

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/5696

 

here is my short movie using the mod:

 

[Neema]

For immersion I like:

Wet and Cold by isoku: adds breath effects in the wintery zones.

SkyTEST Realistic Animals and Preditors by etayorius: adds more real life animal thinking into encounters (hard!)

[sniperdoc]

At least all the mods in my sig. The last 2 are the best because they include EVERYTHING to make a nice "chick" with or without BBP and awesome animations.

And I definitely recommend UFO - Ultimate Follower Overhaul.

 

Fabulous Followers:

Bosmer - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25971

Redguard - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25327

Imperial - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/24846

Breton - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/24619

Nord - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/24495 - Claribelle looks AMAZING!!!

I believe that K-ENB would be a much better experience than any lighting mods. They will usually also conflict with most ENB's unless the ENB was designed WITH the lighting overhaul in mind. However, you will have a HUGE performance hit with most ENB's.

For atmosphere I also use:
Shooting Stars
Lightning during thunderstorms
Wet and Cold as mentioned above, also a definite atmosphere booster.

Instead of the Bethesda HD Textures, I'd use Skyrim HD - 2k... I think they're way better and don't cause mod conflicts. I've read a lot of mods that have to use a patch for the Bethesda HD pack... :(

 

You can also try:

 

The Eyes of Beauty - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/13722 or

Cover Eyes - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/4869 or

Apachii's SkyHair - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/10168 (because the textures are so hi rez, if you have other HD packs, getting into showracemenu after Helgen might be problematic, but not impossible).

Better Females by Bella - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/2812

Seductive Lips HD - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/22701

 

But, for the most part the ones I have in my sig have improved my game play experience 1000-fold.