Your essential mods

[Bjornhe]

Greeting fellow modders, as my first real post on this forum but as a long time modder I'd like you to tell me something.

 

What are your essential mods / favorite mods that you can't play without, would be awesome to hear what mods you guys prefer, as I love testing other people's suggestions. Put the mod in this format:

 

Mod 1 - Reason

 

Mod 2 - Reason

 

My list, order is irrelevant. Keep it mind that this list is personal preference.

 

SkyUI - Since the vanilla UI is horrible for pc, this mod is essential and incredibly well made. With the addition of MCM I just couldn't live without it.

 

Categorized Favorites Menu - Really good mod for organizing your spells/potions/equipment, especially useful when you play a mage character.

 

iHUD - Gopher's best work imo, makes the skyrim experience so much more immersive.

 

A quality world map - I didn't really realize how awesome this mod is until I tried playing without it, and everything looks HORRIBLE, I mean, really. Roads help alot when playing without fast travel.

 

W.A.T.E.R - Just makes the water looks amazing, nuff said.

 

T3nd0s Skyrim Redone - My favorite overhaul mod, adds tons of great perks, changes the gameplay in a great way and makes it a totally different experience, good for a second playthrough

 

Frostfall - Hypothermia Camping Survival / Realistic Need and Diseases - Great immersive mods. Having to search for shelter, set up camp and look for food / water is amazing and makes Skyrim feel real and interesting.

 

Beards - I like beards. I like high quality beards more.

 

aMidianBorn Book of Silence - Makes alot of armors look amazing and high quality, major improvement over the vanilla textures.

 

Sexy Cities Mods - Just makes all cities look sooo amazing, love these mods, especially in combination with mods like towns and villages ehanced.

 

Thanks for reading this far :smile: I have many more mods which I love using, but these are the ones that come to mind without making this list too long. If you're too lazy to make your own list, just comment on what you think about my choices.

 

Dark0ne <3

 

Bye!

Edited February 19, 2013 by Bjornhe

[aoxer]

SKYUI - Should be at the top of everyone's list.

iHUD - Getting rid of the HUD makes the game look so much better.

Unofficial Patches - All of 'em. All day, every day.

Racemenu - More control, more stability, and easier to use. Better in every way than vanilla.

Quality World Map - Having roads on the map helps with getting around.

Realistic Needs and Diseases - By far the best needs mod, imo. Food spoilage, drinking directly from streams — does everything you could want.

Frostfall - Skyrim is cold and with this mod it feels like it.

Wet and Cold - I think this is the best immersion mod available. The shaders are worth the price of admission, but seeing all the NPCs in the game wearing correct weather gear is amazing. No more farmers wearing summer dresses outside Windhelm! I also really like the fur cloaks this mod adds.

Footprints - Great for immersion.

Enhanced Blood Textures - So satisfying.

The Dance of Death - Gives a great amount of control on the type and frequency of kill moves.

Deadly Dragons - Expert or above makes dragon fights an incredible challenge.

Towns and Cities Enhanced - I use all of these except Riverwood. Unlike most other town enhancement projects, these mods don't just make the villages look better, they actually function better. There's new traders and NPCs and unique shops (a bakery, for instance). Amazing level of detail and makes it so you don't have to visit any major cities to sell off your hunting pelts.

Skyrim Flora Overhaul - Everytime Vurt makes an update, I run around in the wilderness of Skyrim and say 'Wow' repeatedly. Plus the grass he added in the Punish edition is amazing.

Static Mesh Improvement Mod - Just say no to rope that looks like an elongated smear.

Climates of Tamriel - I play with ENB, so sometimes I turn this off to try new presets. I always come back to it, though. It's that good.

Skyrim HD 2K - Great textures. Windhelm is no longer so ugly it cannot be abided.

WATER - Makes the water beautiful. I like the new plants it adds, too.

Better Dynamic Snow - Because no one likes to confuse snow with white paint.

Guard Dialog Overhaul - Makes the guards in the game react appropriately to your accomplishments.

Lock Overhaul - I never have to play that stupid lock-picking mini-game again!

Northman Armors - My very favorite armor mod, by a long shot. Very realistic stuff with authentic spectacle helms.

Roman Armor and Weapons Replacement - Makes the imperials look like romans. Again, very authentic and the modder has added a ton of variety. Plus, these pieces all look like real metal, something that few armors are able to achieve in this game.

Book of Silence - Makes the low level armor and weapons look better than dragonplate! Beautiful textures.

Heavy Armory - Adds spears and halberds and more! Great set.

Nordic Spears - More spears with amazing models and textures. Very authentic looking. I converted them to 1-handed and play shield and spear almost exclusively now.

Animation Improvements for Weapons - If you play with spears, you need this plus the optional power jab file. Makes 1-handed spears use a thrusting animation.

The Chronicles of Steel Real Swords - Adds authentic-looking swords and axes. Can you tell I like authentic looking stuff?

Matherian Viking Shield Set - My favorite shields. I love killing bandits and getting excited when they have a cool shield design I haven't seen.

Insanity's Shields - More great round shields.

Jehennian Leather Cuirass - Replaces the game's leather armor with something that doesn't look like a latex mini-dress!

Chesko's Wearable Lantern - Lets you have light without dropping your shield.

Travel by Boat - A new mod in the beginning stages, but now I can't play without it. Lets you enjoy a boat ride (as in, you are actually riding the boat and seeing it move) and helps you travel the map to non-city locations if you're playing without fast travel.

Interesting NPCs - How did these people manage to find so many professional sounding voice actors? Besides the astonishing voice quality (not just on par with Bethesda, but actually better in some cases), the writing is great. I like that they added a lot of NPCs that are normal people living average lives instead of non-stop assassins, elf-fairies, and half-god mages.

Duke Patrick's Archery and Heavy Weapons Combat - Absolutely incredible combat overhaul. Feels nothing like vanilla skyrim.

Realistic Ragdolls and Force - Arrows no longer send people flying 40 feet into the air. How did I live without this?

No Spinning Death Animation - You won't realize how much you needed this until you play with it.

YY Animation Replacer Natural Jump - All of Yuki's animations are incredible, but no matter what sort of character I play with, I always use this one.

Realistic Wolf Howls - A small mod that really helps immersion.

Ultra Realistic Bow Shoot Sounds - Low-key and realistic.

Tales of Lycanthropy - Can't play a werewolf without it.

Ice Floes - No more having to swim through frigid water to reach places in Skyrim. A must for Frostfall users.

Pit Fighter - Not available on Nexus, but worth heading over to Steam Workshop to pick up. A very well-done quest mod and it's particularly great if you crank your combat difficulty up. Sea of Ghosts by the same author is just as good.

[gizmologist]

Cloaks - really adds to the immersion

 

Convenient Horses - I avoided horses because they'd always get killed so quickly. This mod fixes that and adds a LOT of really useful stuff as well, like the Horse Whistle, inventory, etc.

 

Luscious Faces - because why not? Because makeup in this context is unrealistic, that's why not.

 

Footprints - really adds to the immersion. Nothing quite beats running through the woods at night and coming across the tracks of a wolf to give you that creepy food-like feeling!

 

Headtracking - the Dovakin is NOT autistic! Now he looks at people who talk to him.

 

mcCampingLite - again, immersion without a lot of annoying chores

 

Quality World Maps, with the Clear Skies addon - I hate not being able to find my way to a ruin that is JUST OVER THERE but is surrounded on all sides by sheer cliffs. Without a good roadmap, I'd probably still be lost.

 

SkyUI - for obvious reasons

 

UNP - I use Blessed, but any UNP is great. And if the ladies can go buff, so should the men, so I also use Nude Male.

 

Extensible Follower Framework - makes companions MUCH more fun.

[Bjornhe]

SKYUI - Should be at the top of everyone's list.

 

iHUD - Getting rid of the HUD makes the game look so much better.

 

Unofficial Patches - All of 'em. All day, every day.

 

Racemenu - More control, more stability, and easier to use. Better in every way than vanilla.

 

Quality World Map - Having roads on the map helps with getting around.

 

Realistic Needs and Diseases - By far the best needs mod, imo. Food spoilage, drinking directly from streams — does everything you could want.

 

Frostfall - Skyrim is cold and with this mod it feels like it.

 

Wet and Cold - I think this is the best immersion mod available. The shaders are worth the price of admission, but seeing all the NPCs in the game wearing correct weather gear is amazing. No more farmers wearing summer dresses outside Windhelm! I also really like the fur cloaks this mod adds.

 

Footprints - Great for immersion.

 

Enhanced Blood Textures - So satisfying.

 

The Dance of Death - Gives a great amount of control on the type and frequency of kill moves.

 

Deadly Dragons - Expert or above makes dragon fights an incredible challenge.

 

Towns and Cities Enhanced - I use all of these except Riverwood. Unlike most other town enhancement projects, these mods don't just make the villages look better, they actually function better. There's new traders and NPCs and unique shops (a bakery, for instance). Amazing level of detail and makes it so you don't have to visit any major cities to sell off your hunting pelts.

 

Skyrim Flora Overhaul - Everytime Vurt makes an update, I run around in the wilderness of Skyrim and say 'Wow' repeatedly. Plus the grass he added in the Punish edition is amazing.

 

Static Mesh Improvement Mod - Just say no to rope that looks like an elongated smear.

 

Climates of Tamriel - I play with ENB, so sometimes I turn this off to try new presets. I always come back to it, though. It's that good.

 

Skyrim HD 2K - Great textures. Windhelm is no longer so ugly it cannot be abided.

 

WATER - Makes the water beautiful. I like the new plants it adds, too.

 

Better Dynamic Snow - Because no one likes to confuse snow with white paint.

 

Guard Dialog Overhaul - Makes the guards in the game react appropriately to your accomplishments.

 

Lock Overhaul - I never have to play that stupid lock-picking mini-game again!

 

Northman Armors - My very favorite armor mod, by a long shot. Very realistic stuff with authentic spectacle helms.

 

Roman Armor and Weapons Replacement - Makes the imperials look like romans. Again, very authentic and the modder has added a ton of variety. Plus, these pieces all look like real metal, something that few armors are able to achieve in this game.

 

Book of Silence - Makes the low level armor and weapons look better than dragonplate! Beautiful textures.

 

Heavy Armory - Adds spears and halberds and more! Great set.

 

Nordic Spears - More spears with amazing models and textures. Very authentic looking. I converted them to 1-handed and play shield and spear almost exclusively now.

 

Animation Improvements for Weapons - If you play with spears, you need this plus the optional power jab file. Makes 1-handed spears use a thrusting animation.

 

The Chronicles of Steel Real Swords - Adds authentic-looking swords and axes. Can you tell I like authentic looking stuff?

 

Matherian Viking Shield Set - My favorite shields. I love killing bandits and getting excited when they have a cool shield design I haven't seen.

 

Insanity's Shields - More great round shields.

 

Jehennian Leather Cuirass - Replaces the game's leather armor with something that doesn't look like a latex mini-dress!

 

Chesko's Wearable Lantern - Lets you have light without dropping your shield.

 

Travel by Boat - A new mod in the beginning stages, but now I can't play without it. Lets you enjoy a boat ride (as in, you are actually riding the boat and seeing it move) and helps you travel the map to non-city locations if you're playing without fast travel.

 

Interesting NPCs - How did these people manage to find so many professional sounding voice actors? Besides the astonishing voice quality (not just on par with Bethesda, but actually better in some cases), the writing is great. I like that they added a lot of NPCs that are normal people living average lives instead of non-stop assassins, elf-fairies, and half-god mages.

 

Duke Patrick's Archery and Heavy Weapons Combat - Absolutely incredible combat overhaul. Feels nothing like vanilla skyrim.

 

Realistic Ragdolls and Force - Arrows no longer send people flying 40 feet into the air. How did I live without this?

 

No Spinning Death Animation - You won't realize how much you needed this until you play with it.

 

YY Animation Replacer Natural Jump - All of Yuki's animations are incredible, but no matter what sort of character I play with, I always use this one.

 

Realistic Wolf Howls - A small mod that really helps immersion.

 

Ultra Realistic Bow Shoot Sounds - Low-key and realistic.

 

Tales of Lycanthropy - Can't play a werewolf without it.

 

Ice Floes - No more having to swim through frigid water to reach places in Skyrim. A must for Frostfall users.

 

Pit Fighter - Not available on Nexus, but worth heading over to Steam Workshop to pick up. A very well-done quest mod and it's particularly great if you crank your combat difficulty up. Sea of Ghosts by the same author is just as good.

 

Got a lot of interesting mods in that list. Will try some out for sure, thanks for taking the time!

[HobGremlin]

Sorry, I quoted the wrong just there.. I meant to quote aoxer's post

SKYUI - Should be at the top of everyone's list.

iHUD - Getting rid of the HUD makes the game look so much better.

Unofficial Patches - All of 'em. All day, every day.

Racemenu - More control, more stability, and easier to use. Better in every way than vanilla.

Quality World Map - Having roads on the map helps with getting around.

Realistic Needs and Diseases - By far the best needs mod, imo. Food spoilage, drinking directly from streams — does everything you could want.

Frostfall - Skyrim is cold and with this mod it feels like it.

Wet and Cold - I think this is the best immersion mod available. The shaders are worth the price of admission, but seeing all the NPCs in the game wearing correct weather gear is amazing. No more farmers wearing summer dresses outside Windhelm! I also really like the fur cloaks this mod adds.

Footprints - Great for immersion.

Enhanced Blood Textures - So satisfying.

The Dance of Death - Gives a great amount of control on the type and frequency of kill moves.

Deadly Dragons - Expert or above makes dragon fights an incredible challenge.

Towns and Cities Enhanced - I use all of these except Riverwood. Unlike most other town enhancement projects, these mods don't just make the villages look better, they actually function better. There's new traders and NPCs and unique shops (a bakery, for instance). Amazing level of detail and makes it so you don't have to visit any major cities to sell off your hunting pelts.

Skyrim Flora Overhaul - Everytime Vurt makes an update, I run around in the wilderness of Skyrim and say 'Wow' repeatedly. Plus the grass he added in the Punish edition is amazing.

Static Mesh Improvement Mod - Just say no to rope that looks like an elongated smear.

Climates of Tamriel - I play with ENB, so sometimes I turn this off to try new presets. I always come back to it, though. It's that good.

Skyrim HD 2K - Great textures. Windhelm is no longer so ugly it cannot be abided.

WATER - Makes the water beautiful. I like the new plants it adds, too.

Better Dynamic Snow - Because no one likes to confuse snow with white paint.

Guard Dialog Overhaul - Makes the guards in the game react appropriately to your accomplishments.

Lock Overhaul - I never have to play that stupid lock-picking mini-game again!

Northman Armors - My very favorite armor mod, by a long shot. Very realistic stuff with authentic spectacle helms.

Roman Armor and Weapons Replacement - Makes the imperials look like romans. Again, very authentic and the modder has added a ton of variety. Plus, these pieces all look like real metal, something that few armors are able to achieve in this game.

Book of Silence - Makes the low level armor and weapons look better than dragonplate! Beautiful textures.

Heavy Armory - Adds spears and halberds and more! Great set.

Nordic Spears - More spears with amazing models and textures. Very authentic looking. I converted them to 1-handed and play shield and spear almost exclusively now.

Animation Improvements for Weapons - If you play with spears, you need this plus the optional power jab file. Makes 1-handed spears use a thrusting animation.

The Chronicles of Steel Real Swords - Adds authentic-looking swords and axes. Can you tell I like authentic looking stuff?

Matherian Viking Shield Set - My favorite shields. I love killing bandits and getting excited when they have a cool shield design I haven't seen.

Insanity's Shields - More great round shields.

Jehennian Leather Cuirass - Replaces the game's leather armor with something that doesn't look like a latex mini-dress!

Chesko's Wearable Lantern - Lets you have light without dropping your shield.

Travel by Boat - A new mod in the beginning stages, but now I can't play without it. Lets you enjoy a boat ride (as in, you are actually riding the boat and seeing it move) and helps you travel the map to non-city locations if you're playing without fast travel.

Interesting NPCs - How did these people manage to find so many professional sounding voice actors? Besides the astonishing voice quality (not just on par with Bethesda, but actually better in some cases), the writing is great. I like that they added a lot of NPCs that are normal people living average lives instead of non-stop assassins, elf-fairies, and half-god mages.

Duke Patrick's Archery and Heavy Weapons Combat - Absolutely incredible combat overhaul. Feels nothing like vanilla skyrim.

Realistic Ragdolls and Force - Arrows no longer send people flying 40 feet into the air. How did I live without this?

No Spinning Death Animation - You won't realize how much you needed this until you play with it.

YY Animation Replacer Natural Jump - All of Yuki's animations are incredible, but no matter what sort of character I play with, I always use this one.

Realistic Wolf Howls - A small mod that really helps immersion.

Ultra Realistic Bow Shoot Sounds - Low-key and realistic.

Tales of Lycanthropy - Can't play a werewolf without it.

Ice Floes - No more having to swim through frigid water to reach places in Skyrim. A must for Frostfall users.

Pit Fighter - Not available on Nexus, but worth heading over to Steam Workshop to pick up. A very well-done quest mod and it's particularly great if you crank your combat difficulty up. Sea of Ghosts by the same author is just as good.

 

 

That's a great list. I have been looking for the comprehensive list of must-have Skyrim mods. Just to make sure, are all of these compatable at the same time? They look like it for the most part, but you never really know from just a name. I just want to make sure cause I'm probably going to get rid of the majority of the mods I have right now and I may end up with most of these if I can pull it off. I already have frostfall, but I have a bunch of old mods and some outdated ones cause I haven't been active with the game since around when it came out, and I don't have a lot of the essentials; I've been letting the mod community get settled in before I got too invested.

[GrimyBunyip]

shameless self advertising:

SkyTweak

 

but seriously, nothing else really lets you tweak that many game settings as much as you want.

Edited April 2, 2013 by GrimyBunyip

[Ichibu]

shameless self advertising:

SkyTweak

 

but seriously, nothing else really lets you tweak that many game settings as much as you want.

i also want to be a little shameless. i just have this 1 mod i expected many more users

Shortcuts - secret entrances for all cities, so needed for criminals imo. as users have said, this is one those mods that brings the game up to par, like it shouldve been there already :)

(also fixes riftens unused gate, adds highdive outside solitude and makes use of markarth stream tunnel)

 

now then

Bigger Trees - just fills the game out so well.bored of knowing the map back to front? now u can get lost again sometimes

Pure Waters - the best water mod in my opinion

City Forests - towns go from boring, empty vaccous spaces to lovely natural settlements

UFO - brings follower system up to par

dD enhanced blood and ragdolls (reduced version) - 2 excellent mods, again, bringing game up how it should be

L.I.A.T - make taverns how they should have been

Populated cities - same deal

Craftable arrows - same deal, necessary as anything

No Sneak Attack sound - youre 10ft away, how did u not hear that "silent" kill?

Nord Needs - unintrusive needs mod

Eagle Eye 3x - my own yes, but necessary as all others, if u play archer with FOV over ~80 as i do :)

Open face guard helmets - they have faces, why waste em

 

thats all for me really, not remembering tex mods

Edited April 2, 2013 by Ichibu

[jackowonderful]

The only things I can't live without;

Skyrim Immersive Creatures - once you turn it off skyrim dies, and i do too, on the inside.

Stealth Skills Rebalanced - i think it just fixes it so much, just as essential as the unofficial patches.

Run for your life/when vampires attack - otherwise what's the point in being the stories hero

unofficial patches - 'cause

 

most everything else i switch on/off whenever.

Edited April 3, 2013 by jackowonderful

[adembroski]

I'll stay away from the obvious ones like SkyUI and such.

LIAT- Lively Inns and Taverns - Cannot live without it. Such a difference.

No Death Mod - Increases the difficulty and immersion of the game. Absolutely essential and I'm not sure I can go back to a load-and-retry system again.

 

Sound Propagation Overhaul - Pure immersion. I'm the type that actually turns the ambient music off because it's unimmersive. This mod makes the sounds of the world so much better.

 

Realistic Needs and Diseases - Many props to More Complex Needs, but to be honest, as much of an immersion/realism nut I am, even that's a bit too much. This is a nicely simplified version that retains that survival necessity but I don't have to worry about reading the labels so much.

[adembroski]

shameless self advertising:

SkyTweak

 

but seriously, nothing else really lets you tweak that many game settings as much as you want.

I... may have to add this to my list. Downloading now... thank you for the link.