Good animal combat mods?

[Lampros]

I tried Animal Tweaks, and it made animals way tougher than they ought to be. Mudcrabs, for instance, are far more powerful than dragons, and that's ridiculous. But I like the idea behind the mod - which is to improve the ability of animals in combat by giving them more special abilities. So are there alternative mods like that people can recommend that apply to animals? There are a lot of mods that improve humanoids, dragons, etc. - but not animals, as far as I can tell.

[facciola007]

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/searchresults/?src_order=3&src_sort=0&src_view=1&src_tab=1&src_language=0&src_cat=83&src_showadult=1&page=1&pUp=1

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/searchresults/?src_order=3&src_sort=0&src_view=1&src_tab=1&src_language=0&src_cat=77&src_showadult=1&page=1&pUp=1

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/32597/?

[MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP]

SkyTEST: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/10175/?
Brodual Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7V8W79KoL4
The mod that i reccomend is SkyTEST: Realistic animals and predators. It changes the animal AI, and gives new varieties. Now you can actaully see wolf packs walking around, animals going to relocate, cubs, etc. Animals now have different agression levels. Some animals will attack on sight, while others will keep a close eye on you, and if you stay in their territory for too long, they will attack. Not all wolves are now dark, some are a lighter brown color, etc.

Revenge of the Enemies: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/40491/?
Brodual Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eOtn9Ur6YY
If you are looking for something to add ABILITIES to enemies, I reccomend Enemy AI Overhaul: Revenge of the Enemies. Now you can see enemies acting like they are really fighting for their lives, and use everything that they have against you. Vampires can turn into bats, things like that. If you would think "that thing should be able to do X" this mod most likely adds it.

Both of these mods have Brodual reviews, if you don't know what Brodual is, its a youtube channel that showcases Skyrim mods very well.

[ZarahNeander]

I'm not a fan of syktest: installed in an otherwise stable profile -> CTD's. Then I read the author's sticky on nexus....let me put it this way: compared to him ApolloDown is the very incarnation of assistance *grin*. (no offense, I really appreciate his DCO).

RotE however is an excellent suggestion, just be warned, it makes the game much harder.

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Arthrosassin:

Revenge of the Enemies: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/40491/?
Brodual Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eOtn9Ur6YY
If you are looking for something to add ABILITIES to enemies, I reccomend Enemy AI Overhaul: Revenge of the Enemies. Now you can see enemies acting like they are really fighting for their lives, and use everything that they have against you. Vampires can turn into bats, things like that. If you would think "that thing should be able to do X" this mod most likely adds it.

One worry about Revenge of the Enemies is that I've heard some folks say it overpowers mobs altogether, and the reason I uninstalled Animal Tweaks is precisely because I thought some mobs - especially mudcrabs - were ridiculous. Also, does Revenge conflict with High Level Enemies? I've got the latter installed.

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Lollipop:

I
RotE however is an excellent suggestion, just be warned, it makes the game much harder.

Yeah, so I've heard.

[Ilja]

Originally posted by Lollipop:

I'm not a fan of syktest: installed in an otherwise stable profile -> CTD's. Then I read the author's sticky on nexus....let me put it this way: compared to him ApolloDown is the very incarnation of assistance *grin*. (no offense, I really appreciate his DCO).

RotE however is an excellent suggestion, just be warned, it makes the game much harder.

I am using SkyTest without CTDs, but you are correct in that it does respond poorly to certain systems and mod combinations. Peoples have somewhat divided opinion about it's stability. It works well in my end and for many others, but second half of players end up getting troubles with it. Only way to know how it behaves is to make a proper test game for it and test the mod out.

Revenge of Enemies does not actually make standard enemies notably harder, just more fun. Things to watch out are vampires and dragon priests. I have been using the mod for a long time and I am quite happy about it, but travelling at night, or strolling around vampire filled dungeons, requires some extra preparations.

It is wisest to avoid darker paths at lower levels, because vampires - especially ones added by Dawnguard DLC - are very thought with RotE.

Personally I like it that way. I played the game trough with a Thief character, with all enemy modules from SkyRe + Revenge of Enemies. Dragon priests ended up being challenging, but not overpowered. Multiply vampires posed a real threat, but high Alchemy, Sneak and Illusion (played as Nightingale type of build) helped me trough even from the vampire infested dungeons.

For other builds I recommend either high Restoration skill and Dawnguard added spells or heavily combat oriented character, if you intend to play the game with both Dawnguard DLC and Revenge of Enemies installed.

The Brodual video recommends old water AI mod at the end of it. I would recommend this instead. This one is not tied to race problems or mod selections. It works with custom races as well.

NPC Smarter Water AI - Full Compatibility by John Jarvis
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/50902/?

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Ilja:

NPC Smarter Water AI - Full Compatibility by John Jarvis
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/50902/?

Thanks; added that.

[76561198133591931]

Also, Animal Tweaks
{LINK REMOVED}http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/60222/?

It's not as good as SkyTEST. It doesn't have animal factions. But I've never heard of anybody CTDing with the mod.

[Lampros]

Originally posted by darkknight4321234:

Also, Animal Tweaks
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/60222/?

It's not as good as SkyTEST. It doesn't have animal factions. But I've never heard of anybody CTDing with the mod.

I mentioned I un-installed it, because it made some mobs over-powered - especially mudcrabs (which can wipe both me and Lydia solo with taking 10 percent damage max).

[MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP]

Idk what you guys are talking about, I get 0 CTDs with SkyTEST. It's probably cause its a master and most likely tons of files can easily collide.

[MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP]

Originally posted by Lampros:

Originally posted by Lollipop:

I
RotE however is an excellent suggestion, just be warned, it makes the game much harder.

Yeah, so I've heard.

Revenge of the enemies does not really overpower enemies, but enemies now really act as if they are fighing for their lives. It also makes it more fun. Your everyday bandits aren't gonna be doing 40x damage, but Dragon Priests and Vampires will definetly be a bit more of a challenge.

[Lampros]

Originally posted by Arthrosassin:

Originally posted by Lampros:

Yeah, so I've heard.

Revenge of the enemies does not really overpower enemies, but enemies now really act as if they are fighing for their lives. It also makes it more fun. Your everyday bandits aren't gonna be doing 40x damage, but Dragon Priests and Vampires will definetly be a bit more of a challenge.

Hmmm, I seem to be getting conflicting reports here. I am not sure whether to download or not now :(

[Lampros]

Doesn't Revenge of the Enemies sort of conflict with Combat Evolved and High Level Enemies anyways, since the latter mods also give enemies new abilities anc change their behavior patterns?

[Ilja]

Not really. RotE is script free and can manage features coming from another mods. If you are using plenty of mods that add features, then it will use those skills that win the conlfict in the load order.

[MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP]

Originally posted by Lampros:

Doesn't Revenge of the Enemies sort of conflict with Combat Evolved and High Level Enemies anyways, since the latter mods also give enemies new abilities anc change their behavior patterns?

I believe combat evolved was built to work with other combat mods, so I'm pretty sure it will work with that. Im not so sure about High Level Enemies though. It shouldn't since it gives the enemies abilites.