New skyrim player here

[V3rtigoN7]

I've bought skyrim a few years back and finally decided to play it, but i'm stuck between Vanilla and modded for my first run.

Some friends told me to use this modpack for a better experience:
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/105778

Also, is a downgrade needed like in Fallout 4?

[Fear2288]

As an entirely new player, you should experience it for a bit in its pure vanilla form.

You don’t have to 100% the whole base game + DLCs that way, but you should at the very least complete the main quests of the base game, Dawnguard, and Dragonborn.

If for no other reason, you should do this so that you can be much more informed when you go looking for mods as you’ll have a good grasp on the game’s strengths and weaknesses and what things about it you liked and didn’t like.

I’d imagine one of the more distracting things a person in 2024 may experience when playing Skyrim are the outdated visuals though.

If that bothers you, you could give them an “upgrade” with something like Skyland AIO. This mod will enhance the visual quality to something more akin to a game released in the late 2010s and it’s designed to not stray too far from the original aesthetic and artistic vision.

SAIO will cover pretty much all landscapes, architecture, flora, etc.

For NPCs, a good starter that’s not very hard to install and use is the combination of Bijin’s Wives/NPCs/War Maidens, Kalilies NPCs, and the Pandorable series. Between those three, they will greatly enhance the look of most - if not all - of the game and DLC’s NPCs.

For your own character, I’d recommend grabbing RaceMenu, a body/face skin you like, a basic eye retexture mod like Eyes of Beauty, and a simple vanilla hair retexture.

Finally, definitely grab SkyUI. The menu system in Skyrim is notoriously ugly and clunky and SkyUI will alleviate that.

These are just some basic, simple, and relatively easy mods to install if you want to just up the visual quality and make a 2011 game a bit easier on the eyes. Later on, you can really dive into the 10+ years worth of mods to turn the game into whatever you desire.

[LostME]

It's written in description of the mod pack. "You need to update to the LATEST Skyrim version available on Steam (v1.6.1170)" So, no downgrade needed.

[Mista Dobalina]

idk man you want a simple overhaul that turns the game into something that can be replayed over and over again with better visuals, etc? Constellations mod pack on nexus. You do have to downgrade. they have a discord in which they are active on and willing to help if you have issues. That being said, skyrim was still great when it came out in 2011 but I can't play it like that any more lol. if you are in dire need of something more up to date that only takes a few hours to prepare and maybe a few more to download, Constellations is a good option. It is more difficult than vanilla, though. Good luck m8! whatever you do, have fun with it and be patient if you decide to mod it.

[tattuvamasi]

I never play with mods, even the unofficial patch I think changes some things that are supposed to be that way for a reason. Whenever I have played with the mods, I can never settle on a consistent list. Easier to just play without imo. Most of the actual bugs have been patched out at this point, the remaining stuff is more like just quirks of how the game engine works, you get used to it pretty quick.

[vee-kay]

Publicado originalmente por V3rtigoN7:

I've bought skyrim a few years back and finally decided to play it, but i'm stuck between Vanilla and modded for my first run.

Some friends told me to use this modpack for a better experience:
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/105778

Also, is a downgrade needed like in Fallout 4?

Get the Anniversary Edition (game version 1.6.1170.0):
I recommend you to go ahead with these 2 Nexus "Essentials" Collections..

Essential Mods for V.1.6.1170.0:
https://next.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/collections/xk05aw

Bugfixes & Performance Improvements:
https://next.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/collections/p9mrpv

All the mods have compatible mod versions to work with AE 1,6,1170,0, but you may need a bit of manual intervention after automated installation of these Collections.
Make sure you are using latest versions of SKSE, Address Library and Payload Interpreter, as these are the libraries/plugins/frameworks needed by most mods.

Some performance mods like "Skyrim Upscaler" didn't work for my PC.

You can then explore other mods, once you have these Essential mods installed and working.

[blums]

I'm also new. Are the bug fixes in unofficial not present in the Anniversary Edition?

[smr1957]

Publicado originalmente por blums:

I'm also new. Are the bug fixes in unofficial not present in the Anniversary Edition?

No, they are not - and any that Bethesda would fix in any subsequent update, would be removed from the Unofficial Patch when it updates to be compatible with the updated game version.