just starting into getting into mods. any suggestions?

[HorribleMemes]

i wanna try the vortex mod manager from nexus, as i was told it is good for new modders. any mods you guys would suggest, or avoid? any tips for managing my mods? can i use the mod manager to disable mods when i want a vanilla playthrough, or do i have to uninstall them?

i have some plans for what kind of mods i want, as a starter. things like improving models for beast races if a mod for that exists (moving tail up towards tailbone instead of coming out of where butthole would be. actual visible claws as well).
maybe a lighting mod or two (i dont really think the game needs a texture boost it looks great as is, imo).
the parthurnax dillema quest expander so i can tell dolphine to f**k off.

any tips or suggestions would be very appreciated

[Tam Lieu]

Try to learn mod organizer 2, it is much easier to manage once you get used to it.
There are a few popular modpacks like: nolvus or ultima.

If you want to build your own, have a look at Skyrim Modding Essentials: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/71689 .This modpack contains many tools and basic mods, from there you can branch out to your own liking

[smr1957]

If you are just getting into modding, see the following. It has links to everything you need to get started and mod the game successfully.

Advice to New Players Regarding Modding the Game
https://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/3780246026239478835/

Link is in the For Those New to Modding the Game section of the following
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882241414
from the PINNED TOPIC Helpful Links and References


Good luck! And, most importantly, have fun!

[HorribleMemes]

so ive gotten a few, like live another life, skyrim unofficial patch, etc, buit i got a question.
im seeing mods referring to the acronyms "cbbe" and "unp" it seems to be about armor mods mostly, but what do the acronyms mean?

[smr1957]

They are non-vanilla body mods and that is just a shorthand for referring to their full names:

Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Enhancer -CBBE- https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/198


And UNP which is a broad range of mods based off of the same body style used in this:

UNP Female Body Renewal - A female face and body replacer - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1699

You can only use one body style at a time, and only use clothing/armor mods for the particular style you have installed.

[Khaziir Everflight]

I have to agree, go with Mod Organizer 2 instead of vortex. Also, I personally would recommend looking into Root Builder aswell, so you always have a clean install if needed, since with root builder, you can install everythign via MO2 (just with some additional folderstructure with the things that normally go next to the games executable (like skse). There are good tutorials on that on youtube.

[A. Silvermane]

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/20035

Plus


https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1461

I love these followers, use them in every playthrough and get them both as early in the game as possible. If you do use them I recommend getting Inigo after the greybeards call you as their shouting breaks his brain. Other than these two there are over a dozen other great follower mods way better than the vanilla followers.

[mikk011]

Aside from what SMR has said, I wanted to emphasize GO SLOW! Before adding a mod, make sure you have a good save to go back to. Then, add mods one or two at a time and test them to be sure they are working. If they aren't, don't proceed until you understand why. If necessary, get rid of a bad mod and return to your clean save. Also, relying on quicksaves or autosaves adds additional risk of file problems while you are testing mods. Use hard saves only.

[Altbert]

Also keep in mind which version of the game you are playing: 1.6.640 or 1.6.1130. The latter still lacks quite a lot of mod updates, in particular SKSE DLL plugins. And skip SSE Engine Fixes as it will deactivate mods for 1.6.1130.

[CouchSprouts]

Look for tutorials by Gamer Poets on You Tube, he is amazing! As for a mod manager, I would take the time and learn to use Mod Organizer 2, (MO2). Vortex is good, especially if you want to download a few mod lists and try them out. But in my opinion, it's very automated. Too much automation and you aren't really learning how things work. Using MO2, I feel you get a better understanding of how mods work, and more control over your load order. So in my opinion, MO2 for your own mod collection, Vortex if you want a curated mod list.

[WarBucks]

the friggin convienant horses one is great.

iAft the immersive follower framework, wouldnt play the game without. I have been meaning to check out EFT extensible follower tweaks(?) instead.

if theres better ones than either of these id love to know about them.

[Sairek Ceareste]

Assuming you're using the older update version of Skyrim and not the one that added the stupid ass mobile-esque shop for mods, I'd strongly suggest True Hud. Makes much of the UI look nice instead of bars being splayed out all over your screen, and it's customizable, so the bars can grow like a Souls Game if that's your style, set their position (or group them together) set their scaling, etc.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/62775

And then I'd recommend this tiny fan mod for it. It basically allows you to put numbers over those bars. Being able to know how much Health/Magicka you have can be pretty important depending on how you style the game:

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/85869

I'd also recommend Enhanced Lights and FX. It has no performance impact, and makes the game's lighting so, so much better:

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/2424

A Matter of Time if you want a clock. Also very useful if you like to play with timescale settings (like I do):

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/12937


Here's a screen shot of all four of those in a single picture (I also have a temperature meter, which is the blue bar under everything else, and a survival mod which is the icons in the bottom right): https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3115600052

[orcama60]

you can download/install all mods except those that inject .dll in the game ...
... so far, essential mods that you can install and play with are :
- SKSE
- Address Library
- USSEP ( Unofficial Skyrime Script Extender )
- Cutting Room
- Modern Brawl Bug Fix
- JCContainers
- Powerofthree Tweaks
- Powerofthree Papyrus Extender
- Wider MCM
- PapyrusUtil
- SKYUI
- Racemenu
- Racemenu Heels
- FlowerGirl
- Animation Selector for Flower Girls
- Dynamic Animation Replacer
- XP 32 Skeleton ( the basic only )
- FNIS
- Auto Parallax
- Parallax Enable Meshes Collection
- Enhanced Volumetric Ligthing and Shadows ( EVLAs )

... you should not install ( not yet ) :

- SSE Engine Fixes
- MCM Helper
- Mfg Fix
- ENB Helper
- No Furniture Camera
- Base Object Swapper
- ConsoleUtil
- Go to Bed
- Frozen Electrocuted Combustion

... and/or ( not limited to ) any mod that has not been addressed or their files does not say they are for version 1.6.1 ... however ... I am playing now with 242 mods and have about 40 in my list that I will not install till they are updated or their authors say that is ok to install them as they are.

For example, Frozen Electrocuted Combustion requires Powerofthree Tweaks and Powerofthree Papyrus Extender and these two files have been updated and they are working as expected, but, Frozen Electrocuted ( from the same author ) has not been updated ... the main files are not for version 1.6.1 ... I have posted my question twice and have not been answered by the same author, so I am waiting.

As you can see, you can play with a lot of mods and if so, I recommend this :

- Use VORTEX to download / install your mods ( or MO2 )
- In Steam, setup your game to update only when you launch it
- In Steam setup your game to never update in the background
- DO NOT launch your game from Steam but from VORTEX ( FNIS and SKSE )
- Be careful not to download / install a mod that has not been properly updated. It must say in the main files : version 1.6.1 or review the posts, for example :
> Powerofthree Tweaks and powerofthree Papyrus Extender ( from the same author ) does not address that their main files are for version 1.6.1 but in the posts, the author has said they have been updated and they are working properly ... so you have to read and make sure they will work as expected.

If you use an ENB, remember that ENB Helper has not been updated yet. This mod ( ENB helper helps ENB for the weather ); I am using iiENB - for Cathedral and Azurite with Azurite Weather mod and it is working propery even without ENB helper ... but if you do not want to use ENB, you can install ENB Alternative mod or any Re-Shader mod .. however, I do not know if those Re-shader mods have been updated to the last version of the game.

VERY IMPORTANT : if you are starting to mod this game, make sure that you download from the Most Popular ( All Time ) and from More Trending .... read, read and read all descriptions and posts for every single mod you want to install; you will find important information from players in the posts section of each mod. If you see a lot of bugs in that section of the mod, that is a red flag. I skip those mods as much as I can.

[Dragonbored]

Install Nolvus and be done in 2 hours if you PC can handle it... Auto installer, 2000 mods, mind blowing. and easy to install

[Khaziir Everflight]

Originally posted by Dragonbored:

Install Nolvus and be done in 2 hours if you PC can handle it... Auto installer, 2000 mods, mind blowing. and easy to install

And while all that, might be a bit too much for someone that is justs tarting their journey into modded skyrim.

[JakXLT]

There's a number of approaches to that Paarthurnax quest. 'Paarthurnax - Quest Expansion' is probably the most well crafted one but, I'll warn you, is a bit calm and does not let you simply put your foot down and assert your authority like we all want to.