Your essential mods

[TelcontarTargaryem]

This is just a kind of topic I was looking for, since I did a reinstall of my Skyrim, and now I need to find some quality mods, to improve, mostly graphic and looks, but then also a gameplay.

So far I have been always using next ones:

 

1. Better Females by Bella - maybe they have make up, but I like my girls pretty.
2. High Quality Eyes
3. SMIM
4. Enhanced Nights
5. Improved NPC Clothing 1.8.1 + INPCC Expansion Pack
6. Enhanced Distant Terrain
7. No More Blocky Faces
8. Smoke and Embers
9. Fine Style Potions

10, Footprints

 

Since these are all minor mods, of course I use SkyrimHD texture repack, 4k textures.

 

Also I am looking for some Light and lightning effects enhancements, but so far I am ad sixes and sevens about which one should I pick. Climates of Tamriel, Enhanced Lights and FX, RCRN all look good, so any advice? I want my nights dark, dungeons darker, and widows and light sourced to really be sources of light, so any input is welcomed.

 

I am thinking about trying Climates of Tamriel, Skyrim Flora Overhaul, Frostfal, Realistic Need and Diseases, Wet and Cold.

 

The only problem with putting everything in at once is conflicts and bugs it may cause so I read and analiyze a bit before I install mod, so any kind of suggestions is welcomed.

 

As you see I dislike mods that break immersion, or even ones that change a lot perk system or add weapons or armor, althought I might give them a try since vanilla game looks really unfinished and with very few choices.

[witman]

Best one is ENB CINEMATIC LIGTNING at:

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/4142

 

on my i5, 2500k, 560 gtx fps loss is 50%. With SSAO off its 25%.

 

AWESOME

Edited April 10, 2013 by witman

[Warfare556]

SkyUI- Duh.

SKSE- Not technically a mod but a requirement for many other mods.

Climates of Tamriel- Makes Skyrim look a lot better and more realistic as far as weather and lighting go.

Sharpshooters ENB- One of the best ENB's and my favorite. No frame loss and works great with CoT.

Crimson Tide- Best blood mod out there. Period. No pun intended.

Convenient Horses- Horses are pains in the ass in vanilla, and this makes them much better, along with being able to make them faster.

Dragon Knowledge Spell- Allows you to trade any unwanted dragonsouls for perk points. Very useful once you get all the shouts you want.

Dynavision- Great mod. Adds a depth of field effect that makes the game seem more cinematic.

Enhanced Mighty Dragons coupled w/ Deadly Dragons- Dragons are pussies in vanilla Skyrim. These mods change that.

Less Intrusive HUD II- Best HUD mod out there. Allows full customization to your HUD. Want your health, magicka, and stamina stacked on the bottom left? Do it.

Race Menu- Much better player customization menu for PC. Goes great with SkyUI.

Trade and Barter- Makes Skyrim's economy more realistic and with more variation.

Wet and Cold- Great immersive mod that adds, well, wet and cold effects, such as dripping when you get out of a lake, or your breath showing in the colder regions of Skyrim

T3nd0s Skyrim Redone- Complete overhaul of Skyrim, making the game have more replay value

Skyrim Community Uncapper- Removes level cap from skills. Essential for SkyRe

aMidianBorn Book of Silence- Compilation of all of CaBaL's retextures. I can't look at vanilla textures again after seeing these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Force70]

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Where can I find that mod?

[mordredrs]

I think they're referring to:

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/7059

 

My question: what mod are you using for light? I'm using CLARALUX, but i'd like to know what else is around...

 

Thanks in advance.

[InsanityMuncher]

This was really helpful. Especially the high quality beards. :3

[Deleted7189167User]

Essential mods? Well, I can play without mods entirely, but the following are ones that I really enjoy and would have a tough time without:

 

SkyUI - I got it for the MCM since I wasn't that bothered by the vanilla UI, but I must say it's an improvement, and I can't go without the MCM.

Skyrim HD - Gotta have those fancy schmancy textures.

SMIM - With this uninstalled, everything looks blocky and horrible.

ELFX - The vanilla lighting really gets to me, this in my opinion is the best non-EMB lighting mod out there.

 

And that's it for pure essentials, but I have about 200 mods that I would always keep in-game.