New (and experienced) Players: You must install the Unofficial Skyrim Patch - by Nazenn [Updated]

[smr1957]

This thread has been updated and reposted to include new information related to the patch and to remove out of date information that may cause confusion - smr1957

New Players : You must install the Unofficial Skyrim Patch
Due to the relatively unstable state that is vanilla Skyrim, many new players are running into various bugs and problems that are well known, but are not aware of the Unoffical Patch which fixes these issues.

If you have recently picked up Skyrim please read the below information (all of it) in regards to the Unofficial Patch.

Thank you. Please feel free to ask any questions below.

Please Note: Mods do NOT break or disable achievements in original Skyrim, only in Skyrim Special Edition (and there are mods that enable achievements there), so the Unofficial Patches are safe to use in that regard.

What the Unofficial Patch does:
If you have ALL of the DLCs, you should be using this patch for full game coverage:
- Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch (USLEEP) - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/71214
Please note : The Nexus is FREE. The initial premium account screen that appears when signing up is optional and can be skipped as it says at the top of that very page. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and select Create Account.
Also please note, you don't have to actually have brought the legendary edition bundle to use the patch, you just need all the DLCs.

For people using the High Resolution Texture Pack, also download:
Unofficial High Resolution Patch - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31255/?

If you do NOT have all the DLCs, unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done, as the individual patches have been removed, and the ones available that may be found by searching are not considered safe for use as they may contain malware or other unwanted changes added in. This, from Arthmoor, the original patch creator and Unofficial Patch Team leader:

"....The copies of the patch they have listed are too large and thus would be likely to contain malware or other unwanted things. Not even the full combined last update of USLEEP comes anywhere close to 240MB."
https://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/613956964579064476/?ctp=14#c2443713659352038200

Again from Arthmoor:
"It would be far better [...] to just move on to SSE. It goes on sale on a regular basis and I've seen keys for it on sale on external sites for as little as $10.

https://isthereanydeal.com/ is a good place to look for sales"
https://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/613956964579064476/?ctp=14#c2443713720482803940

For those who wish to keep playing Oldrim (as original Skyrim is referred to), you can use that same site. For the base game and all DLCs just enter skyrim legendary edition in the search box.
For individual DLCs, enter the name of the DLC
(Though often the legendary edition will have a lower price)

The Unofficial patch is essential for a stable game, especially if modding. They fix literally THOUSANDS of bugs.
These are anything from tiny fixes to dialogue, text and spelling fixes, and fixing the placements of floating or clipping objects, all the way to the other end of the scale with fixes for major game breaking bugs that Bethesda never patched. Most reports that we see of bugs from people who don't use USKP are bugs that the patches have already fixed. With Bethesda no longer working, or returning to work on, Skyrim, these patches will be the only source of most future bug fixes and are updated regularly.
The patches also fix numerous errors in scripts and scripting stability which helps to make your game run smoother and be more stable in general and can help avoid background problems occurring in your game. More info on that quoted below thanks to Ilja.

The sort of major bug fixes that you can find exclusively included and up to date in the Unoffical Patches are :
- *Invincible Hawk Fix which causes hawks to be limited in game due to buggy respawning,
- *Dragon Soul Absorbtion bug which risks breaking both the main and dragonborn questline if it appears and also stops dragons from properly going through their death script,
- *The DLC letting you hire the same steward for more than one house, which resulted in both of them breaking permanently.
- *Auriel's Bow contained a possible infinite loop in its script which would cause the weapon to stop functioning properly. If it became stuck, Papyrus would begin to lag,
- Spell absorption so that you can't end up absorbing your own summons making it hard to reliably play as a conjurer and potentially impacting the stability of some quests relying on the shouts,
- Multiple fixes to Breezehome for bugs introduced by Hearthfires and from the vanilla game in general,
- Gourmet Quest fix so that the dark brotherhood questline doesnt break as a vampire.
- *A Daedra's Best Friend was broken by Dawnguard causing the Oblivion Walker achievement to fail to be recognized.
- *Deathbrand breaks if you use the wax key perk to break into Gyldenhul Barrow
- If Dampened Spirits gets started and then Battle of Whiterun completes first, Caius shows up instead of the other guy, which breaks the Thieves Guild questline.
- Adds in shrines to the temple in Whiterun which can remove visual effects that might get stuck on your character permanently, like ice wraith trails or spriggan leaves.

Please note, fixes marked with * can only reliably be prevented, not fixed retroactively.
While it is not guaranteed that these bugs will appear in your game without the patch, due to the limitations of the game engine, it is recommended that you have them installed at the start of a new game as by the time some bugs surface their underlying cause has been many hours in the making and cannot always be undone.
These patches also make dozens of other patches mods entirely redundant (see: https://www.afkmods.com/index.php?/topic/3636-mods-made-obsolete-by-unofficial-patches/ ) to help you save room in your load order and also stabilize your game as many of those old patch mods are now out of date.

Ilja has also contributed this bit of information on how the patches further help stability in the background of your game:
Originally posted by Ilja:
The most important feature of patches is not the amount of broke quests it fixes - despite that the amount is high and several bugs can lead to game breaking events.

The most important feature is that they remove unwanted polling effects and loops from the game, replacing them with better implemented solutions and reducing the stress to Papyrus. This will increase the stability for both otherwise unmodded game and especially heavily modded game.

You don't 100% need Unofficial Patches, but they contribute your character save stability. Ignoring them is equally as silly than playing the game without the SKSE memory fix. It is everyone's own decision, but there really isn't a sensible reason to do so.

To each his/her own, they say. I will personally keep (strongly) recommending those patches, for the sake of practicality.

And some additional information from Arthmoor himself, who is the leader of the USKP project:

Originally posted by Arthmoor:
Folks should also be aware that while Bethesda fixed a range of issues in the vanilla game with 13 official patches, they NEVER did so for the DLCs. They have a history of never patching DLC issues at all, even though many of their DLCs across several games have known quest breaking issues in them.

If people want some solid examples of non-trivial fixes:

Vanilla:

* The numerous ways in which Blood on the Ice will break. Too many to list. Scan our changelog for that quest by name, or as MS11.
* Missing in Action. The player could be accused of trespassing after Fralia invited you to her home, making it impossible to complete this quest if you wait too long to go there.
* Numerous issues with weapon racks that would cause some weapons to silently vanish if the player displayed them.
* Equally numerous fixes to the mannequin scripting to resolve duplicate inventory as well as vanishing inventory in some conditions.
* Major reduction in save bloating from several causes scattered around the game. Save bloating likely can't be eliminated entirely, but we've done what we can.
* Amulet of the Moon quest can't be blocked and become unsolvable due to the game picking a noreset location for it.
* Revealing the Unseen can't be blocked by Sergius Turrianus being dead, rendering the College quest line unsolvable.
* If Dampened Spirits gets started and then Battle of Whiterun completes first, Caius shows up instead of the other guy, which breaks the Thieves Guild questline.
* Word wall triggers that were incorrectly updating global variables in the script, which resulted in several of them simply not giving words when they should have.
* The infamous Brynjolf "hmm" bug where the second Thieves Guild quest wouldn't start if Drifa had been killed. A problem that's much more likely to happen with Dawnguard installed and the frequency of vampire attacks on cities.

Dawnguard:

* Kindred Judgment can become blocked and will not start (even with the console) if Stalf, Salonia, or either of the hireable Deathhounds are dead long enough for their corpses to get culled from the game.
* Killing Agmaer in Dayspring Canyon before the Dawnguard quest starts will cause the entire questline to break.
* Touching the Sky could break Serana's follower scripts and result in her becoming permanently unavailable as a follower after that, as well as breaking any events she was needed for later.
* Auriel's Bow contained a possible infinite loop in its script which would cause the weapon to stop functioning properly. If it became stuck, Papyrus would begin to lag. This one is an example of one we fixed, but it won't help if the game is already broken because of it.
* Several issues with Dexion slipping out of his restraint area in Prophet, along with the issue of him being permanently in bleedout mode which would then break the remainder of the DLC.
* Lost to the Ages breaks if you visit Mzulft or Deepfolk Crossing prior to reading The Aetherium Wars.
* A Daedra's Best Friend was broken by Dawnguard causing the Oblivion Walker achievement to fail to be recognized.
* A New Order can break if the bear Gunmar wants you to kill is purged by the game's cleanup code. This will then break the DLC questline.
* Dirty edits in the DLC cause purchasing the alchemy lab in Breezehome to break - taking money from the player but doing nothing in return for it.

Hearthfire:

* Hirelings unable to be made stewards despite being intended for the role, along with them losing the steward dialogue if they had become steward somehow despite the first bug.
* Children saying they'll give gifts but no gift is given.
* Children with bloated inventories due to the scripts not properly removing objects their packages were giving them prior to being adopted.
* Stack dumps in the scripting for handling the inventory filtering that governed buying logs for your houses.
* Being unable to move your family to a new home if the scripts governing this didn't run until you entered cells with no assigned location.
* Restraints not being removed from your spouse in one of the dialogue options for Rescue, which would result in them trying to walk backward and becoming stuck.
* Round table and chairs construction taking resources from you but building nothing because it used the wrong keyword assignments.
* Being unable to hire the bard if you had already purchased all of the other house exterior upgrades first.
* The DLC letting you hire the same steward for more than one house, which resulted in both of them breaking permanently.
* Valdimar trying to sandbox in Helgen because his AI packs were pointing him to the wrong house.
* Swapping the enchanting room in Honeyside to a child's bedroom would eat equipment displayed on the mannequins.

Dragonborn:

* The battle with Miraak in Apocrypha could break easily, resulting in him being stuck while ethereal and never resetting. This then breaks the end of the DLC.
* A New Source of Stalhrim breaks if Fanari or Deor are dead prior to when it should begin.
* Deathbrand breaks if you use the wax key perk to break into Gyldenhul Barrow. This one can't be undone if you broke it before installing the patch.
* The DLC makes it impossible to dismiss Onmund if he's your follower.

By no means an exhaustive list. There are gobs more just like this. I fact, you can go here to see another list:

http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Category:Skyrim-Bugs_Fixed_by_the_Unofficial_Skyrim_Patch

The point is, the evidence is crystal clear. There are non-trivial breakages in the game and DLCs that people are willfully overlooking by claiming the patches to be useless.

Install as you would any mod using the mod manager of your choice (recommended that you use either Vortex or Mod Organizer 2)
In the Data Files of your Skyrim Launcher, the list should then read:
Skyrim.esm
Update.esm
Dawnguard.esm
Hearthfires.esm
Dragonborn.esm
Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.esp
[Your other ESM files]
HighResTexturePack01.esp (if installed)
HighResTexturePack02.esp (if installed)
HighResTexturePack03.esp (if installed)
Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp (if HighRes Texture Pack is installed)
[The rest of your mods]

OR (For those of you who do have the original patches saved from a long ago download):

Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp
Dawnguard.esm
Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp
Hearthfires.esm
Unofficial Hearthfires Patch.esp
Dragonborn.esm
Unofficial Dragonborn patch.esp
[Your other ESM files]
HighResTexturePack01.esp (if installed)
HighResTexturePack02.esp (if installed)
HighResTexturePack03.esp (if installed)
Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp (if HighRes Texture Pack is installed)
[The rest of your mods]

Depending on which set up you have
This specific order is vitally importaint so please make sure that you follow it, including the order of the DLCs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More links and resources

Other major patch fix mods that can be used along side the unofficial patches for better consistancy of things in game and improvements on original mechanics :
Small list of little big mods for Skyrim - https://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/34094415774892758/

If you are a new MOD USER start here with the essential tools you need for a stable modded game:
Player and Modding Resources by Ilja (Pinned Topic) - https://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/594821545176386165/

If you're having trouble with memory, ini files, or performance then consult these guides as well which can help stabilize the game, especially on lower end PCs :
SKSE, memory and skse.ini by Ilja - https://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/540740500921363665/
Advanced Tips : Memory, .Ini's and Myth Busting (v2.6) - https://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/619573787397876592/

Further links to guides, resources and information can be found here:
C:/ HELP / TIPS / MODDING ISSUES WITH SKYRIM ? (Pinned Topic) -https://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/846956740639650936/

And refer to this resource for links to guides, tutorials, vids, and other importantant information:
Helpful Links and References (Pinned Topic) - https://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/1482109512314623696/

And if all of that fails, feel free to make a thread about any other issues you encounter in the game and we will be happy to help you out.

[smr1957]

Just some additional information (these are posted in the SSE forum under the pinned topic:
Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch (USSEP) - A Must Have - https://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/1741090847739345133/ , but apply to the original Skyrim Unofficial Patch, as well).

As for adding the patch midplaythrough, there is this, from Arthmoor:
"As far as installing [the patch] mid-game, the changelog marks anything that won't update with [NR] tags so you can look through those to see if you'll be missing anything. It's also perfectly normal for it to inform you of a variety of things on screen on the first run - those things are being fixed retroactively."
https://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/613956964579064476/?tscn=1572609881#c1640926712936186937

The following is an explanation from Arthmoor for a number of recurring and frequently mentioned issues.

Arthmoor:
"....The "Resto Loop" was not one specific thing. We got a submission from a dedicated user who went through all of the various spell and magic effects and corrected their spell school assignments. All of which we vetted as legitimate bugs before including his work. As it turns out, this apparently also stopped the exploit that was present along the way. So said exploit only existed due to numerous bugs that were present in the system. It was not something he set out to fix, or something we set out to fix, and we would not have focused an effort to do so directly. It just happened that way. IMO, I see it as proof that exploits are generally not intentional and when left behind are simply because nobody on the studio's QA team ran into it, and even if they did, there wasn't time enough to invest the money into fixing it themselves.

Necromage. It is pretty clear when one examines the effects and the comments in supporting scripts that it was not intended to benefit a player who became a vampire. I don't know why the rumor mill insists that the targeted fix we did for that specific issue has somehow become "restoration doesn't work on anything undead" because it's not true and never has been. Restoration spells designed to do things to damage or heal undead creatures all still work as designed. Maybe there's some argument to be made that player vampires should also benefit, but in the 7 years this fix has been in place (from before our team took over btw) nobody has been forthcoming with an evidence based argument for why we should remove the fix. Provide one and we'll listen - as we did with Ebony Blade. Don't just continue to spout off about it.

Translation issues. We'd love to be able to provide fully working included string translations for all of the languages that SSE currently supports. This even happened for a brief time back in the earlier LE days. The problem is nobody on our team knows these languages and Skyrim also has the unfortunate issue that it will CTD if a localized file is missing the string files to make it work. So we can't even just provide those languages for the ones who still do this sort of work. This is a technical limitation of the engine itself which cannot be addressed, so we're stuck with using the old ways. Someone who knows the language to be translated into makes a .esp file to accompany ours (or replace it, it depends) and Nexus has links back to the ones that get uploaded there. How those are put together and supported is out of our hands. We don't involve ourselves with it. Sometimes they work fine. Other times they don't, and it's often because the translation team in charge of a particular language is trying to quietly revert fixes we've done but doing it improperly or not completely.

Our general approach to exploits is exactly the same as Bethesda's. If we find one, or if it's reported to us, we will fix it. They have demonstrated clearly that upon finding them they will be dealt with as they have time to do so. They've even done so without saying they did. The only thing I find curious is how nobody ever complains when they do it, but we follow their lead, and we're the devil for it. I don't recommend anyone use any of those mods out there that revert the fixes we've made. I've checked all the ones I know about and every single one is badly made because the person does not understand what they're doing. You're more likely to have issues using those than if you just left it alone or cheated outright by using the console to do that stuff.

I used to have a saved post where I rattled off something like 30 major issues the game has that USSEP fixed, sometimes years ago while Bethesda was still actively patching LE. Apparently I lost that post during my last Windows reinstallation. So I'll just say this: The changelog is all you need. It has every major category of thing that could be broken and without fail, everyone who attacks our work counts on you ignoring our documentation entirely. Yes, it's a lot, but it's documented precisely because of people like that who enjoy bringing others down with lies and half-truths. We also have a bug tracker ( https://afktrack.afkmods.com/ ) where all of the initial reports and follow-up are done before the summary is included in the changelog. So I think we've done our due diligence in documenting our work. Don't let people who cherry pick selective quotes of unknown providence fool you. Our work is solid. This game really does have this many bugs.

Also I note that a lot of comments are referring to our old domain at afkmods.iguanadons.net. That domain has been shuttered and everything is now at www.afkmods.com instead. I know it's a lot to ask, but it would be helpful for search engine purposes if all of the links in various comments and other relevant posts are pointing to the right place.

On a final note: If you don't like the patch. Fine. Adopt the Nexus way - move on. You need not tell the world why you hate it and our team so much. Oh, and to whoever brought up the D&D thing (was that even here?) most of our team members have extensive RPG experience. We've played numerous other RPGs, we've played MUDs, some of us ran one of our own for over a decade, and nearly all of us have played D&D at some point in our lives whether it be the old gold box C-64 games, or God forbid, with actual pen and paper."
https://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/1741090847739345133/?ctp=20#c1627412171707760710

Disclaimer: If you chose not to use the patches that is up to you, but read the information first and make an informed decision based off technical evidence, do not make the decision off people who make subjective reports that they aren't needed with no evidence other then opinion. If you do run into issues, the first thing we will ask is if you have the patches because they are invaluable when it comes to a stable game.
If you take that risk yourself, and if you run into bugs, or save bloat, or broken quests after deciding you didn't need the USKP there will be little we can do to help.

Similarly if you have chosen not use the patches do not post "I've never noticed any bugs" and expect that to be taken as proof. Not all the bugs and glitches the patches fix are in your face obvious, and the ones that are may not appear or be as aparent due to playstyle, but when you look into the technical data of the game they are still there and there is no way around it. Further discussion of this point can be found in the comments.
All future posts of this nature will be ignored as I have no desire to be endlessly repeating myself, or to ask other contributors to the thread to do the same

[smr1957]

Reserved

[smr1957]

Reserved

[smr1957]

Reserved

[Light]

Commented here for future research. Thanks!.

[Justice]

I don't see Morokei dragon priest fix, where this boss doesn't do anything and just stand there like an idiot (colledge of winterhold quest line). So, don't care.

[alexander_dougherty]

Originally posted by Justice:

I don't see Morokei dragon priest fix, where this boss doesn't do anything and just stand there like an idiot (colledge of winterhold quest line). So, don't care.

Never seen that happen.....ever.
Not saying it doesn't occur, but sound it doesn't like a vanilla bug to me.

[Docsprock]

Originally posted by alexander_dougherty:

Originally posted by Justice:

I don't see Morokei dragon priest fix, where this boss doesn't do anything and just stand there like an idiot (colledge of winterhold quest line). So, don't care.

Never seen that happen.....ever.
Not saying it doesn't occur, but sound it doesn't like a vanilla bug to me.

I have never seen it either, but it is noted as a possible bug on UESP.

[MiniEngineer]

Honestly you really don't, I have 333 hours and no issues, never installed the patch

[smr1957]

Originally posted by MiniEngineer:

Honestly you really don't, I have 333 hours and no issues, never installed the patch

Well, that is good for you - and I am not being sarcastic - I played 400+ hours before putting ANY mod in. But really, 333 hours is nothing - as were the 400+ that I had at the time (and I did see glitches - even if they were not what 99% of people would ever realize were glitches). But, if you read what it fixes, you can see that it really is a necessity - and if you have frequented the forums for as long as some of us, you see all the issues that are caused by people not using the patch. Given that overwhelming weight of evidence, the few people claiming to not have issues are like a drop of spit in the ocean. And when it comes to giving advice in the forum, there is a major difference between what we may do in our own game and the risks we are willing to accept, and what we tell others - which is based upon our knowledge and experience of what is appropriate and necessary for the overwhelming majority of people.

Anyone who chooses not to use the patch for whatever reason needs to make that decision based upon the best available advice and evidence, and make it with eyes wide open as to the potential consequences, and with the knowledge that if they do run into a problem, they are completely on their own. As far as those of us who have long experience in the forum and with the game, and extensive knowledge of the game itself - not only through playing but as to studying the game mechanics and opening it up in xEdit so that we can see exactly what is what as far as the records are concerned, the considered opinion - based upon a combined total of literally over 100 thousand total hours - is that the patch is necessary and that it is essential.

[alexander_dougherty]

Originally posted by MiniEngineer:

Honestly you really don't, I have 333 hours and no issues, never installed the patch

333 hours is nothing, I disregard any comment about how long people have played the game that are under 700 hours, and disregard any comments about their game being bug free unless they've done over a thousand hours.

[smr1957]

Originally posted by alexander_dougherty:

Originally posted by MiniEngineer:

Honestly you really don't, I have 333 hours and no issues, never installed the patch

333 hours is nothing, I disregard any comment about how long people have played the game that are under 700 hours, and disregard any comments about their game being bug free unless they've done over a thousand hours.

LOL! So right - it's like the noob pilot telling the experienced pilot with thousands of hours flying time that a walk around check of the plane is not necessary - because they have never seen any issues - not to be rude or snarky, either, but that opinion is in a very real sense worthless when compared to the opinions of those who have the hours and experience.

[Alucard †]

You should put up a warning that this patch while helpful it has quite few unnecessary changes on its own (like extra rooms in riften ratway , howl of pack nerf, lootable candles, some misc weapon balance changes etc)

Its not just a bug fixing patch anymore but rather a total conversion mod.

Aswell it can conflict with some mods depending what they change.

Its still worth it however but still be wary as you are not getting just a patch its a bit more than that.

[basketcaseNZ]

The PS4 version just updated and the patch has gone from my load order list, however it still says it's enabled.

I really want to start a new game and don't know if I should disable it for now until whatever issues it's having gets fixed or just leave it. Can anyone advise me?

Also is it generally OK to start a game without it and enable it later?

I'd wait but I have no idea if it will be a day or two, a week, a month or never.

Cheers everyone.

[smr1957]

Originally posted by basketcaseNZ:

The PS4 version just updated and the patch has gone from my load order list, however it still says it's enabled.

I really want to start a new game and don't know if I should disable it for now until whatever issues it's having gets fixed or just leave it. Can anyone advise me?

Also is it generally OK to start a game without it and enable it later?

I'd wait but I have no idea if it will be a day or two, a week, a month or never.

Cheers everyone.

You can start a game without it and enable it later - though some bugs, if they occur, may not be retroactively fixed. It is also safe to update the patch midplaythrough. But, as with the majority of mods, it is NOT safe to remove midplaythrough.

Also, you are speaking about Special Edition - this is the original Skyrim forum. See the following:
ARE YOU IN THE RIGHT FORUM?
https://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/3481868187519146885/

As to the issue at hand of mods not appearing, there is this, from Arthmoor (author of the Unofficial Patch and team leader of the Unofficial Patch Team):
"It's an issue on Bethesda's end of things that they've just identified. A patch to fix it won't be out until early next week though. In the meantime, since it will be blocking the use of mods in general, I'd suggest finding something else to play until they fix this."
https://www.afkmods.com/index.php?/topic/6165-ussep-disappeared-from-load-order-but-all-its-content-seems-to-still-be-in-the-game/&do=findComment&comment=183973