To mod or not to mod... That is the question!!!

[Captain Spanky]

So I have been playing Skyrim for a little bit now and I have been playing it without mods. So I want to know if there is a must have list of mods that everyone who plays should have. Mods that won't ruin the game in any way but enhance it to make it a better experience for me. Also, this is going to sound horrible but I am a noob when it comes to modding (with the exception to World of Warcraft mods but I haven't played WOW for a couple of years now) so I am not sure exactly how I would even install and use the mods. I don't know if I may have missed the discussion that was already posted here with all of this information in it or not but I looked and could not find one. So if you would be so kind as to get me all straightened out then that would be great. Also I think that it is worth mentioning that I do play Skyrim with a Xbox 360 controller (Well it's an Afterglow AX.1 controller) but I have played games in the past with the trusty Logitech G11 keyboard and Razer DeathAdder mouse so I'm not against using them if certain mods need me to. I just find that it is easier for me to use the controller since I play between 4 different PC's and it's easier to transfer one controller than a keyboard and mouse everywhere I want to play. Also, I am currently playing as a High Elf Mage (I don't know if there are any Mods that are made specifically for certain classes or not). Thanks in advance for your comments and help with this matter.

[Miku]

these threads should help your with problems and mods in general:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/846956740639650936/
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/630802344826916233/
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/792924952922755008/

[Ilja]

(Wall of text! Please, use some spaces. Not all of us speak English as their primary language and walls like that are tedious to read with any language.)

Right. There are not must have mods in this game. If your game is fairly new, then installing unofficial patches for Skyrim and DLCs is recommended. Rest of them are listed at same page. Pay attention to load order that can be also found from the same page.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19/?

One of the highly recommended and often used dependency is Realistic Ragdolls and Force. Unless you are hardcore fan of weird physics and your targets getting thrown away from cliff by an arrow - before you have time to loot them - then installing this is a good idea.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/601/?

For the rest of the stuff, you might wish to see the "Most Endorsed" or "Most Downloaded" page from Nexus and pinned topics of this forum. :)

[gnewna]

There's no particular set of mod that everyone should get, although the Unofficial Skyrim Patch (and the related patches for the DLCs) are very helpful for pretty much everyone (occasionally someone will report that they caused issues, but it's pretty uncommon). SkyUI is another one which virtually everyone seems to recommend. Makes the UI far nicer to use with mouse and keyboard, and allows other mods (if they've got one) to use a 'mod configuration menu' rather than having to configure them using spells and other convoluted methods - some mods won't run without SkyUI for this reason. If you're going to run SkyUI you'll also need SKSE (which is available from its own website).

The best thing is to figure out what *you* want - do you want your game to look better (and what does that mean to you - different lighting, revamped NPCs, more realistic water, wild anime style hair and outfits...) or to have more exciting gear in it (and do you want that to be lore friendly armour and weapons, armour and weapons that aren't completely lore friendly but still look like they belong in Skyrim, or bikini armour and light sabers) or to be more challenging (and do you want the challenge to come from tougher combat, better enemy AI, stronger dragons, having to eat, drink and stay warm...) or something else?

There are mods which add gigantic player castles filled with valuable objects that you can access at level 1, and there are mods which add tiny, smelly hideouts under cities where you can lay low for a while before making a run for it after a daring heist. Mods which will let you essentially become a walking god straight out of Helgen, or mods which will make you feel like a scared little kid (at least at first - Skyrim pretty much always ends up with you becoming pretty OP, but some of the mods make that take a LOT longer).

There are also mods which let you start the game in a completely different place and with various types of starting gear, and mods which let you have a more specialised character (higher levels in certain skills, reduced levels in others).

The best place to start is probably YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QinA4qD6hXM Gopher's videos will take a while to watch, but they are thorough, and clear, and will hopefully help you avoid a lot of the problems caused by leaping into modding without really understanding how best to do it. He's also got some great mod reviews on his channel. I'd also recommend his more recent videos on Load Order and using LOOT.

[Cabbo]

Modding is the only way to play skyrim!! Three mods I highly recommend you get are SkyUI, Interesting NPCs (by far the most detailed and interesting mod ever made for skyrim) and Better Vampires

[Skyrimnut]

Getting SkyUI is dependent on how you play. If you play with keyboard mouse, then by all means get it, as it is a better interface for that gameplay, however, if you play on a PC with a controller, than the original UI is actually designed for console players, so you may not have as many issues with it. I also don't use the patches, as I've not had as many bug problems as other players and if you get the patches, remember you must disable the patches when you are questing for the Oblivion Walker achievement as the patches affects one of the quests.

As gnewna has already said, determining what mods to get is a very individual thing. Gnewna uses Requiem, I use Better Combat AI, so we both wanted combat overhauls, but Gnewna's overhaul is more extensive than mine is. We've both used interesting NPCs in the past. My build lives in Riverside Lodge by Lupus, I'm not sure where Gnewna's build lives, I remember a house in Riverwood, I think. We both use graphics overhauls, but we have different sets of eyeballs, so our graphics overhauls may not be the same. :) It's good that you've played Vanilla, you can at least figure out what you want. I wouldn't do Interesting NPC's unless you've already done a vanilla playthrough. To be honest, I'd playthrough Vanilla first with possibly graphic and texture overhauls as they don't affect the plot or mechanics of the game. I see no harm in bringing 2011's Skyrim up to 2014 standards right off the bat. When I did mods, I held off on them until I had the achievements I wanted, then I went mod-crazy, then I settled down. :)

[Cabbo]

Actually yeah I agree with Skyrimnut, I had already played skyrim twice (including DLC) on my 360 before I got it on PC so I knew exactly what I wanted when I started modding

[Gloomseeker]

When it comes to mods less is more especially if you don't know what you're doing (yet).

My advice would be to keep it simple, pick the mods that will fit your next playthrough. Be careful, read the descriptions and don't try to run too many mods at once.

[Zefram Cochrane]

There are no such things as must-have mods, except maybe the unofficial patches, and many people don't even bother with those.

Unless you want to change your playstyle the mods to choose are the ones which improve the game without changing much if anything - and by that I mean texture mods (vanilla textures are on the whole, low resolution). They can usally be removed pretty easily without consequences.

Once you go beyond that its very much a matter of personal choice, and there are potential pitfalls - repeatedly installing and uninstalling scripted mods is generally a bad idea, and mods which change the way the game plays entirely, civil war mods, and suchlike - are install once only, once they're in, theres no going back unless you start a new game.

Messaggio originale di Skyrimnut:

Getting SkyUI is dependent on how you play. If you play with keyboard mouse, then by all means get it, as it is a better interface for that gameplay, however, if you play on a PC with a controller, than the original UI is actually designed for console players, so you may not have as many issues with it

I use a controller and I use SkyUI, the default UI is awful...I suspect its more to do with the fact its easier to view on small lo-res TV sets. Catering to the lowest common denominator, the kid in his bedroom with his Xbox.

[Mumbles]

Messaggio originale di Zefram Cochrane:

There are no such things as must-have mods, except maybe the unofficial patches, and many people don't even bother with those.

Slander and deceit! Who wouldn't want to freeze to death while fighting off frost trolls?!

[EbonHawk]

Messaggio originale di Zefram Cochrane:

There are no such things as must-have mods, except maybe the unofficial patches, and many people don't even bother with those.

Yes, "for shame, for shame" "I would not say such things if I were you!". Hehe, j/k. ;-) (movie quotes)

Seriously, I can't imagine Skyrim without them. Just not the same!

[G20]

Some of these ;)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=228285590

[Forge Master]

Could do Mods that make sense.. Like being able to build a Dwarven Construct Follower.

[𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋]

The only mods that ruin your game are the 20 plus mods that you install in one go without checking that none of them conflict. Whatever you do, just make sure you know what you are doing by researching into each and EVERY single mod you install. If in doubt, check in with Gopher over on Youtube :)

As for the controller.... how dare you swear.

What? There wasn't a grumpy old man in the room so I donned my grandad cap and stuck my walking stick in...

[Alluboy]

I've only used the few mods that improve graphics. I don't feel like using mods that affect gameplay. Mods that change items, spells, AI etc.

[𝕊𝕋𝕌ℝ𝕄-𝕂𝔸𝕋]

I say this all the time, because I'm a miserable ♥♥♥♥. But Frostfall is really good combined with the expanding 'SKSE' script extention program, running in the comfy pea-pod with the staple: SkyUI 4. Climates of Tamriel (Other visual mods are available) lol

Not forgetting MLP Friendship is magic and TF2 also... just to completely step in the dog turd and give the good old foot a twist...