Mod recommendations?

  • Welcome to Skyrim Forums! Register now to participate using the 'Sign Up' button on the right. You may now register with your Facebook or Steam account!

Asiaxfani

Well-Known Member
Hi y'all, long time no see!

Next week I will be getting my very first gaming PC ever, and it just so happens I already do have a copy of Skyrim laying around (I knew there would be use for that one day). So in a few days I will be able to enter the realm of a modded Skyrim, and I couldn't be more excited.

Since I'm new to this and there are a billion mods out there, I could use some recommendations. What I'm looking for is more flexibility with the character creation, things like skin, eye & hair colors, height and body type, etc. etc. (and just to be clear, when I say body type, I mean more than making my females' breasts enormous :p). Also hairstyles for female characters, especially 'messy' braids and ponytails, if there are some out there.

Most importantly, I'm desperate to find some cool outfits for my characters. Clothing and light armor suitable for ranger/thief/adventurer type of female characters. If somebody could point me in the direction of ones that are NOT a bikini but look practical and suitable for an adventure, I'd be most grateful. So far I've mostly only come across the ones that look like bikinis...

Other than that, maybe some graphic enhancements and improvements on the gameplay as well. Like I said, I'm new to this and quite frankly the amount of mods out there seems kinda overwhelming right now.

I'd love your help, guys!
 

Mighty Pecan Pie

The secret American
Hi y'all, long time no see!

Next week I will be getting my very first gaming PC ever, and it just so happens I already do have a copy of Skyrim laying around (I knew there would be use for that one day). So in a few days I will be able to enter the realm of a modded Skyrim, and I couldn't be more excited.

Since I'm new to this and there are a billion mods out there, I could use some recommendations. What I'm looking for is more flexibility with the character creation, things like skin, eye & hair colors, height and body type, etc. etc. (and just to be clear, when I say body type, I mean more than making my females' breasts enormous :p). Also hairstyles for female characters, especially 'messy' braids and ponytails, if there are some out there.

Most importantly, I'm desperate to find some cool outfits for my characters. Clothing and light armor suitable for ranger/thief/adventurer type of female characters. If somebody could point me in the direction of ones that are NOT a bikini but look practical and suitable for an adventure, I'd be most grateful. So far I've mostly only come across the ones that look like bikinis...

Other than that, maybe some graphic enhancements and improvements on the gameplay as well. Like I said, I'm new to this and quite frankly the amount of mods out there seems kinda overwhelming right now.

I'd love your help, guys!

@JoeReese knows a lot of Mods, he could help you out. Perhaps @Anouck as well :D

Also, most importantly: Glad to see you here :D
 

shadowkitty

Mistress of Shadows
Hey there. First and foremost, grab all of the unofficial patches. Then a good texture pack. As for the other mods you want, I have a list with links in the thread I created in this section. Check that out if you want. I also recommend "immersive armours" and "immersive weapons" both of which I also have but haven't linked yet.
 

Amapola

Member
For cool lore-friendly armor, also check "Warmonger Armory".
A recent addition of mine is "Purity", it changes the weather / day&night to something amazing, with no performance loss.
For better cities I can recommend "JK's Skyrim".

and the best mod of them all: Interesting NPCs!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Sah

Athilea

Member
Hottrooper has some great immersive armor and weapons mods that I think will help a lot if that's what you are more into: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/users/3656551/?tb=mods&pUp=1

I prefer to try to keep things still feeling like it belongs in Skyrim, so I don't tend to go with mods that look like Anime. It's cool if that's what you are into, but the mod above has served me well. There is also the Raven Witch set. It's a separate mod, but I think it fits well into the setting.

There is a battle hardened mod that would give your characters a more muscular apperance. I went with a CBBE mod for my characters because it worked best with the Ethereal Elves face mod I'm using. the battle hardened, though I wanted to use it, didn't work with the face mod. =(

For more hair options if you are going to be female, here's my two favorite mods to add some additional styles that are lore friendly: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/25395/? and http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/7403/?

The Apachii hair mod also has some great, lore friendly options. However, it conflicts with the second mod I have listed above so I'm not currently using it. =( Maybe when I'm done with my elf I will take that one out and try that Apachii one.

Oh, and if you want some more options for natural hair colors that includes a nice selection of red hairs I just found this one last night: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/26766/?
One of the files specifies that it's natural. There are less natural files as well, if that's more what you are into. That particular mod seems to have options for everyone.

There are some very nice eye mods out there as well. I have tried one of them, but I'm not currently using it. I've been considering putting it back on my computer though. http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/4869/? It gives more options, and some very nice eye shapes in my opinion.

I hope this helps a bit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sah

Asiaxfani

Well-Known Member
Athilea, thank you! These do seem pretty awesome, I'll definitely have to check them out.

I'm with you on the whole 'keeping things feeling like Skyrim' thing - I played this game vanilla for ages on Xbox and I love it for what it is. Right now I'm just looking for some tweaks and flexibility in order to make it feel fresh again, but I don't want it to be a 100 % game altogether.

Oh, and also, welcome to the forums! :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sah

Anouck

Queen of Procrastination
I don't know which mods to recommend, since it does all come down to personal flavor. Some people download as many alternate texture packs as possible to make the game look completely different. Others go for complete questlines or new locations to improve the roleplay experience.

The reality is that, the more mods you install, the higher the risks are. Mods can sometimes conflict with each other or the game itself, which might cause glitches or the infamous CTD's (Crash To Desktop). Because of this, you should not just install everything that looks cool. Try to go for things that have quite a number of downloads because those are often safe. Look at the comment section and see if people are complaining about glitches or other issues. Even the unofficial patches can cause glitches. Texture packs can, too. The thing with texture packs is also that they require more from your computer, so if you can't play Skyrim on the highest resolution, an HD texture pack might not be a good idea.

Start small. Install a few things and see how that works out. You don't want to alter a game (because that's what mods do) if you don't really understand what you're doing. Installing a ridiculous amount of mods at once is never a good idea anyway because, if one of them conflicts, it's difficult to discover which one. What you want to do, is installing a mod and checking if it works. Then, if everything is fine, install another one. If you don't, a glitch could mean you have to uninstall and re-install everything you've ever downloaded because you can't find the mod that's responsible.

Once you get the hang of this, you won't need any more advice. There are plenty of blogs and YouTube channels (like GameSpot) that release video's where they discuss the best Skyrim mods.

Here are some of my recommendations:
  • Clicking on the white text will take you to the mod.
  • Most of these mods have to get activated and fine-tuned in the mod configuration menu. You can find this by starting your game and then entering your menu by pressing escape.
  1. Frostfall: This is a mod that makes survival in Skyrim a bigger challenge than it has ever been. With this mod, you can now freeze to death if you and your clothes aren't up against the elements. It adds the possibility to build camps where you can sleep or seek shelter.
  2. Live Another Life: In Vanilla Skyrim, all your characters are by default Dragonborns who start off in Helgen. Thanks to this mod, that can be different. You basically create a character and then pick an alternate start. Of course this start is, just like Helgen, not permanent. If you decide you want to be a Forsworn you will start off in a Forsworn camp wearing Forsworn armor, but you could still choose a different path and join different factions.
  3. Realistic Needs and Diseases: This mod adds hunger, thirst, diseases and more to your game. Now food actually gets important and valuable for your character. Just like the Frostfall mod, this does make your game more difficult and challenging.
  4. Hunterborn: If you like hunting or just want a game that's as close to reality as it can get, you also need to install this mod. Hunterborn makes hunting more realistic than ever before. Skinning pelts takes longer and requires specific tools. The weight and value of animal body parts is now also more realistic.
  5. Moonlight Tales: Werewolves look great in Skyrim, but the gameplay itself still misses a lot. This mod adds loads of possibilities for lycans and those who encounter them. One of the things that his mod enables, is spreading lucantrophy from player to NPC or even NPC to NPC with a single bite. It also adds the possibility to have a fur colour that matches your hair colour.
  6. Convenient Horses: This mod enables you to profit more from the rather disappointing vanilla horses in Skyrim. You can now give your horse armor, make it faster or mark it as essential so it cannot die.
  7. Apachii Skyhair: This mod adds new hairstyles for men and women of all races.
  8. Vigilant of Stendarr: The Vigilant of Stendarr are now a joinable faction. This is just one of the many mods that adds entire questlines to your game and lengthens the duration of your Skyrim experience.
  9. Civil War Overhaul: The civil war questline was unfinished when Bethesda released it. This mod adds new features to this questline and improves the features that were already there.
  10. Enhanced Blood Textures: Skyrim's blood textures are outdated and not very nice to look at. This mod allows you to fix that.
  11. Elisdriel: One of the best custom houses that was ever made by modders. This will finally give your Bosmer characters a home that's also in line with Bosmer lore.
  12. Isilmeriel LOTR Weapons Collection: When climbing the 7000 steps you will stumble upon the famous Moonforge. This is the only place in Skyrim where you will be able to craft the weapons we've seen in the Lord Of The Rings and the Hobbit.
I hope this is a nice list of mods to start off with. Of course there's more where that came from, but you really have to dive into this yourself to find out which mods you might like.
 
Last edited:

Athilea

Member
I'm happy to help, and thank you for the welcome. ^_^ It looks like Anouck gave a lot of great options as well. Another mod that gives not only an entire quest line, but another location in the game altogether, is Falskaar. (I may have spelled that wrong.)

The person that created this mod actually did it as an application to Bethesda. I've heard nothing but good things about it, but I haven't tried it myself yet. I'm waiting until I finish the main story before I add that mod, just it case it conflicts with stuff I currently have.
 

Asiaxfani

Well-Known Member
Thanks, Anouck - I knew you'd have some insight. I'm aware that I shouldn't get too greedy with the mods, but it's hard not to get carried away. Three years is a long time to dream about being able to use them :D

Falskaar is somehing I've been hearing good things about as well. I will most likely check it out, since I've already done the vanilla quests a million times. Like I said, I have been already playing the game on Xbox pretty much non-stop for three years...
 

Sah

Well-Known Member
in yellow are must have MODS:)

Face, Hair & Body:oops:


ApachiiSkyHair by Apachii
Better Females by Bella
Lunari Race by bhaktisean
Enhanced Character Edit by ECE Team
RaceCompatibility with fixes by TMPoenix
RaceMenu by Expired
Superior Lore-Friendly Hair HD Textures by skyrimaguas

Armors;)

Bosmer Ceremonial Armor by Calyps
CBBE Dragonborn Armors by Frigus
Crimson Twilight Armor - CBBEv3 - UNP - BloodFree
Crimson Twilight - Al Dahna Re-Tex by betterbecause
Deadric Assassins Armour Retexture by lamer1000
Female Blades Light Armor - esmm40
Helmet Toggle - Show Hide by Maniczombie
HDT HighHeels System by HydrogensaysHDT
Merta Assassin Armor UNP - CBBE by Deserter X & Mitosuke
Sotteta Necromancer Outfit UNP to CBBE by Deserter X & Mitosuke
Sotteta Huntress Armour - CBBE Converter by Mitosuke
Tembtra Thief Armor UNP - CBBE by Deserter X & Mitosuke
TERA Armor Collection - CBBE by Frigus

Weapons:mad:


Crossbows Basic Collection by DJjojo
Dragon Bone Weapons by ktacreations
Enchanted Arsenal by egocarib
Flanged Mace by FrankFamily
Immersive Weapons by Ironman5000, Hothtrooper44 & Eckss
Insanity's Daedric Sword by Insanity Sorrow

Gameplay Effects & Utility's:cool:


A Matter of Time by SkyAmigo
Auto Unequip Ammo by Alek
Economics of Skyrim by Thomas Kaira
Immersive Beds by vivanto
Glowing Ore Veins 300 by Baratan
Multi Position Elder Scroll on Back by kryptopyr
Timing is Everything by kryptopyr
SkyUI by SkyUI Team
Sliders timescale fix by MD Wolfe

Unread Books Glow by Duggelz
& The Unofficial Patch Project Team
 
Last edited:

Athilea

Member
I have the two face, hair and body mods that Sah has listed above. They are nice. If you install the Better Females by Bella then follow it with the Ethereal Elves mod you get both the benefit of having nicer looking females for all races, and having the options to still get the eyebrow ridge with a smoother, nicer looking face on the elves.
 

Amapola

Member
Here are the major mods I can't live without:

- SkyUI
- Alternate Start
- XCE (Xenius Character Enhancement) !!!
- Interesting NPCs
- JKs Skyrim
- Ethereal Elven Overhaul
- Immersive Armor and Weapons
- Warmonger Armory
- Purity
- Apachiisky Hair
- Unique Uniques
- Better Fast Travel (Boats and Carriages)
- EFF (I used to have AFT but EFF works a lot better with Interesting NPCs)
- Flora Overhaul (I only use the trees)
- Harvest Overhaul


"Little" Tools which are sooo important:

- A Matter of Time
- Auto Unequip Ammo
- Lightweight Potions
- Lighter Dragon Loot
- Lockpick Pro (this is essentially a cheat, but GODS do I hate lockpicking!)

Best Player Homes IMO:

- Elysium Estate
- Mammoth Manor
- Elisdriel
- Raven's Nest (on Solstheim!)

And for the ladies:
- Friendly Brynjolf (lets you marry Brynjolf and/or have him as a follower)
- Obendient Ulfric (Same for Ulfric Stormcloak) :-)

I have many more mods running at the moment (I think it's about a hundred all in all) but these are my "must haves". All in all, it's a very individual question, you have to try out a lot, and then if you do, you always risk compromising your savegame... I recently started two new characters, which now can profit from the "mod-experimenting" phase of my first char.
 

Zolo-Shea

Lizard Wizard

Latest posts

Top