Must have mods?

[Alex James]

So I've put a fair few hours into the game, but would really like to try some mods, maybe something to add a little more immersion, to keep me on my toes and to keep things interesting. New content, new interface, new attacks/spells, anything you believe makes the experience a whole lot fresher.

Basically, I'm asking for your opinions on the best mods for this, any you've found that have really enhanced your experience!
Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you.

[Draxephi]

Maybe trying out a few lighting mods that change the mood. Personally I'm using Enhanced Lights and FX, however this mod makes it very, very dark in dungeons and some houses. Generally, there are't a whole lot of "fake" lighting, which means you'll need a torch. I quite like that, but if you don't there's also the Realistic Lighting Overhaul, which doesn't make it quite so dark.

Immersive Armors and Immersive Weapons add a whole load of new equipment, that you might want to try out. Personally I also use the Better Shaped Weapons mod that makes some of the default weapons look less like paddles.

[Nijn]

Personally I care ALOT about the cities, so I have alot of city mods installed. I use Populated Cities, Inconsequential NPCs, Sexy Cities, Immersive Settlements and I will list the mods I use for my cities.
Whiterun - Dawn Of Whiterun, Windhelm - Dawn Of Windhelm, Riften - Riften Thief edition, Winterhold - Immersive C.O.W and Expanded Winterhold Ruins, Falkreath - ImpeREAL Empire. I also have other mods installed, but most of these are replacer or/and little mods. I also have 'Moonpath to Elsweyr' which is a very nice mod if you're looking for more quests.

[Pardinuz]

I'll give you a very short list of the absolutely essential mods (no expanded city garbage). I'm assuming you have no mods so here it goes:

Unofficial Skyrim Community Patches
SkyUI
Immersive Hud
Climates of Tamriel
Wet and Cold
Realistic Nights
Deadly Combat
Skyrim Immersive Creatures
Organized Bandits in Skyrim
Stealth Skills Rebalanced (because it improves enemy AI against stealth)
Deadly Dragons
Enhanced Lights and FX

If you want to increase immersion further try:
Frostfall (survival mod)
Realistic Needs and Diseases
Hunterborn
Inconsequential NPCs
Interesting NPCs (aka 3DNPC)
Realistic Room Rental
Touring Carriages

For weapons and armors you can start with:
Heavy Armory
Warmonger Armory
Lore Weapon Expansion

Utilities:
Mod Organizer - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Install all your mods though it and it will save you a lof of headche later.
ENBoost (for stability and FPS boost)

I use 200 more so I probably forgot something important but these are really essential in my opinion.

[SpeedFreak1972]

a few more: immersive travel, convenient horses, extensible follower network to name a few

[Greythorn]

For me it would be Uncle Sheogoraths really helpful hints and tips :p

[Alex James]

Smashing list right here, thank you folks!

[gnewna]

Definitely seconding Frostfall, RND and Hunterborn for immersion/realism, Frostfall also adds some really useful camping equipment, knapsacks and such. SkyRe is pretty great, IMO, it's a pretty big one, so maybe not best if you're just getting the hang of mods, but it changes so much and so far it's all for the better. I think it has new spells (or at least, I've got new spells available, and I'm 90% certain they aren't from anything else, I haven't actually checked...) and rehauls the perk trees, etc.

Also love Character Creation Overhaul, great if you want to be significantly better at some stuff at the beginning, and also significantly worse at other things (like, bad enough that if you don't select Smithing as one of your major skills, you probably won't be able to improve an iron dagger until you've made a few), it also affects other things like carry weight, and the option to have a permanent birthsign instead of picking whichever stone you can be bothered to visit and then changing to a different one.

[gnewna]

(Oh, if you get CCO and SkyRE, be sure to download the patch which is on a separate page on the Nexus, it allows you to select the SkyRE skill trees Fingersmith and Wayfarer, rather than leaving you with Lockpicking and Pickpocket - I'm not actually sure what happens if you select one of those as a major skill when running SkyRE, but I'm guessing it might be problematic).

[peppermint hollows]

http://www.tesgeneral.com/

This has a list of some great mods, in a bunch of different categories, including ENBs, immersion, armor, quests, and more.

[CJG]

I definitely recommend the mod "Alternate Start- Live Another Life" http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/9557

[gnewna]

I mostly use Skyrim Unbound, but I'm currently playing the LAL start where you're a new recruit at the Dark Brotherhood, saves all that faffing around going back and forth between Riften and Windhelm. Plus I started out with a rather nice ebony dagger. I do think SU is a bit more seamless once you actually get going, but I really like the roleplay starts of LAL. Oh, and Shipwrecked is BRUTAL if you have Frostfall on, I'm pretty sure it's not even possible unless you're playing as a Nord, although I hear there's a bottle of Snowberry Extract somewhere in the ship now.

[Skyrimnut]

Wyrmstooth and Moonpath to Elsweyr. Awesome mods.

[Bigwhitehound]

Hunting in Skyrim (Nexus version): Realism, something to do besides exploring and killing, way to make some gold.
Estate Agents: So you can 'Buy" the mod house you have.
Unlimited Bookshelves: Not really unlimited but better than vanilla.
Dragonborn Mansion: Great home outside Whiterun
Custom Family Home: To move the family into Dragonborn Mansion, plus solves the 2 kids trying to use the same bed issue.
Transmute Dragon Soul: Not all the shouts are that useful, IMO, so this gives you a option to make souls perk points.
Follower Trap Safety: Self explanatory
Camping Kit of the Northern Ranger: So you can sleep without a inn
More Material Variants: Better Dawnguard armor
Bandolier Bags and Pouches: Increased carryweight, plus looks cool
Sit Anywhere: Self explanatory
Unread Books Glow: So you know what you have/read
Sounds of Skyrim Wilds and Civilization: Realism
Left Hand Rings: Self explanatory
Run for you lives: Keeps the regular people from getting squashed by dragons.

[Conan the Brobarian]

Try Requiem - The Roleplayig Overhaul[www.nexusmods.com] if you think you're up for a brutal experience. It's been over a week now since I been playing Skyrim with Requiem and it feels like a whole new game. For me, Requiem is a must have.

[Bigwhitehound]

Origineel geplaatst door Bob:

Origineel geplaatst door bigwhitehound:

Left Hand Rings: Self explanatory
Run for you lives: Keeps the regular people from getting squashed by dragons.

I have some of what you listed, but the 'Left Hand Rings' are especially nice. I fail to understand why some people call it a cheat. I wear one ring on each hand in real life, and my wife wears 2 on each. I just don't get it. :cfacepalm:

'Run for your lives' is another good one, and often called a cheat. My reason for it... well in real life, I certainly would run from a Dragon! :rbiggrin:

Exactly. I don't see how most mods are cheats. Some are cheats, that's very true but I do my best to only you mods that enhance the game. Not ones that "cheat" the game.