Skyrim: Enhanced

Overview

When you have a game that has such open-ended modding tool for such as Skyrim, it would be a waste not to let the infinite potential of modding enhance your game.

This guide will steer you through some of the best modifications for Skyrim, while explaining exactly what they are and what they do.

So take your time, and enjoy.

SKSE - Skyrim Script Extender

To start of my guide, I will describe the mod of the mods - SKSE.

Well... It's not really a mod, you see, it can be described as more of a plugin. It adds new script functions to the papyrus code that Skyrim uses, creating new possibilites for mod creators to explore.

In addition, the 1.7.0 build comes with the famous Sheson's Memory Patch[enbdev.com], so by installing this version, your game will cease to stutter as much as it was before.

There is no danger in installing it, as everything is contained within a single .exe file.

Immersion

The mods on this section will add more depth and complexity to your game, it is recommended for those who take the game seriously and wish to be more immersed by it.

If you want to keep Skyrim being a simple experience, it would be a good idea to skip through this part.

Mods included:

Frostfall

This is most likely the single most popular mod for Skyrim, odds are you probably heard of it by now.

So, does it deserve it's reputation? Oh, yes! And here's why:

It is one of the best mods I have ever played for a game like this, it adds a whole new layer of survival to the game to the game, while not getting in the way of fun.

But, it is most definitely not for the casual Skyrim player, it requires you to pay constant attention to your body temperature in order not to get sick, or even die.
If you're not looking to add even more complexity to your game, do not get this mod.

Download Link[www.nexusmods.com]

Requiem

Requiem is known as the single most hardcore Skyrim mod of all time, and with good reason.
It consists of thousands of both big and small gameplay tweaks, such as tougher enemies, new perks, a deleveled world, rebalanced items and a slightly different inteface.

If you are looking for a Skyrim more in line with RPGs such as Dark Souls, this is the mod I'd recommend, however, even the most hardened Skyrim veterans will find it a challenge.

Redone

SKSE Required[skse.silverlock.org]



An alternative to Requiem, known for not being as unforgiving as Requiem, is the best option for those players who want more hardcoreness from Skyrim but not too much hardcoreness from Skyrim

Skyrim - Redone was mostly done by a single guy who spent thousands of hours tweaking every single feature in the game, such as the perks, the weight of your equipment, the combat, and more.

Download Link[www.nexusmods.com]

Wet & Cold

SKSE Recommended[skse.silverlock.org]



Wet & Cold ups the ante on realism and immersion by adding small little details to the game related to the cold and humidity.

After installing the mod, you will notice that water dynamically drips from body parts, that people will breathe out visible moisture, and that NPCs have warm clothing when they're in a cold environment.

Download Links:

Workshop

Nexus[www.nexusmods.com]

The Sounds of Skyrim

Did you ever feel like if Skyrim's audio was a bit too bland? Why are there no birds in the woods? Why don't the foxes, deers and wolves never make any sound? If there are so many trees, how come you never hear them moving with the wind?

Sounds of Skyrim intends to fix that.

It's a complete audio overhaul, containing a series of seemingly small, insignificant background sounds that when put together, creates a completely new atmosphere, thus doing it's part in immersing the player.


Download Links:

Workshop

Nexus: The Dungeons[www.nexusmods.com], The Wilds [www.nexusmods.com] and Civilization[www.nexusmods.com]

Live Another Life

Are you tired of having to go through the same lenghty intro sequence everytime you start a new character in Skyrim? You can't stand the sight of Alduin destroying Helgen yet again?

With Live Another Life, you'll get a whole different view of what Skyrim and it's people are, you can start off as a travelling Khajit, some random necromancer, an outlaw or even a vampire.

Download Links

Workshop

Nexus[www.nexusmods.com]

Graphical

These will only impact your game aesthetically.

Climates of Tamriel

This is one of those mods, it's so stunning that it blew everyone away when it came out.

This modification enhances the game in such a way that it's quite a job to even a match for this one.
The atmosphere of the game gets completely overhauled, the mod adds sounds, new effects such as sunglares, it adds/modifies weather effects, and it also adds hundreds of different sky variations.

Still, bear in mind that if your CPU isn't up for it, it will absolutely kill your performance.

URWL/RCRN

URWL and RCRN are both mods that modify Skyrim's weather and lightning to a more realistic and vibrant manner, let's get to their cons & pros.


Realistic Colors & Real Nights

RCRN not only requiresmore fiddling to work smoothly than URWL, it also comes with the potential loss of performance. However, it includes new effects not included in the game's engine such as HDR lightning and volumetric fog.

Download Link[www.nexusmods.com]

Ultra Realistic World Lightning

While it does not require any external files and doesn't net you any performance loss, it's nowhere near as customizable as RCRN and all it's effects are in-engine.

Download Link[www.nexusmods.com]

Skyrim Flora Overhaul

Skyrim Flora Overhaul has the reimagining of all of Skyrim's flora as it's goal, making Skyrim's forests feel more real and genuine.

The mod has three variations:

• Basic: Adds more high-resolution grass to the entire world, but leaves the trees, ferns and reeds alone.
  
  
• Regular: This variation implements new trees to all sections of the game world, adds hand-placed ferns and reeds.
  
  
• Summer: This version appends lush green grass to the forests of skyrim, also makes the tundra greener.

Download Link:

Nexus[www.nexusmods.com]

XCE - Xenius Character Enhancement

This mod is a straight-out enhancement of every single character in Skyrim

XCE is a compilation of all the character enhancement mods by Xenius packaged as one mod, it removes the "blocky" aspect from the character's faces, improves textures and adds singular fingers to the feet of each NPC.

Download Links

Workshop

Nexus[www.nexusmods.com]

SMIM - Static Mesh Improvement Mod

A Good Computer Recommended[www.amazon.com]



Ever felt mildly disappointed by Skyrim's low-polygon apples and such? Why not fix all that and make sure that you're making use of your awesome computer components?

SMIM improves upon a great deal of textures and 3D models found in this Elder Scrolls installment, making sure that every piece of bread and wine has the same graphical fidelity as your Ancient Nord Sword.

Download Links:

Workshop

Nexus[www.nexusmods.com]

Dynavision

Dynavision is a relatively simple and remarkably customizable mod that massively improves upon the game's atmosphere by adding a new Dynamic Depth of Field system.

The mod consists of a camera effect mostly seen on movies, on which the objects that are closer to your field of view are given more focus, and a blur gets added on the objects that are further away. The cost to the performance is minimal, although if you have framerate issues without it, it wouldn't be a good idea to install it.

Download Link[www.nexusmods.com]

Quests

Because why not add a whole new segment to your Skyrim saga?
Quest mods develop new narratives for your character to live through, so go on out there and have a little adventure!

Falskaar

Falskaar is the biggest quest mod for all of Skyrim, most of it was made by a single guy who later got a job at Bungie (yes, it's that good).

It's set 600 after Falskaar has been inhabited by the nords, as the Dragonborn steps into a portal set in the ruins of Mzubthand, he arrives to Falskaar. He is then denoted 'The Traveler' based on an old prophecy.

It features 20 - 30+ hours of gameplay with 26 new quests, a soundtrack featuring 14 new tracks and full voice-acting. What's not to love?

Download Link[www.nexusmods.com]

Wyrmstooth

Feel like going on an adventure? Want to kill a dragon? Then go read The Hobbit play this unofficial expansion called Wyrmstooth!

Wyrmstooth is a well-known DLC-sized mod for Skyrim featuring huge amounts of free new content of professional quality, such as a brand new map, full voice acting, new quests, dungeons, enemies, spells and more!

So what are you doing in there, reading this? Go download it on Nexus[www.nexusmods.com]!

Moonpath to Elsewyr

Have you ever wondered where the cat people Khajit come from? With this mod, your curiosity will no longer reign upon your head!

Moonpath to Elsewyr adds a welcome change from the cold, harsh lands of Skyrim. Making you travel through 13 lore-friendly locations through it's course varied new locations such as lush jungles, dark tropical forests, a deep desert, a personal hideout and much more.

Download Links:

Workshop

Nexus[www.nexusmods.com]

Extras

This section is aimed at smods that are smaller in scale compared to the previous ones, they will still impact your overall experience, but in a more subtle manner.

All those mods are packaged into two neat little collections in the Workshop, enjoy.

Skyrim: Enhanced - Collection I

Skyrim: Enhanced - Collection II

Highlights:

Enhanced Blood Textures

Matso Immersive Sun

Dynamic Fires

Detailed Outskirts

Skyrim Soundtrack Expansion

Enhanced Distant Terrain

Better Combat AI

Gender & Race Heights II

Better Dynamic Snow

Convenient Horses

Finale

Well... That's it. You have succesfully modded your Skyrim!
Hope you enjoy the new stuff, and if you're into Fallout, don't forget to take a look at Fallout 3: Enhanced and New Vegas: Enhanced!

If you have any issues or questions, don't be shy! Post a comment so me and my friend Jp007 will try to do our best in helping you.

[retnav_98]

CAAN, I can't help but chime in as someone who DOESN'T rock the Quad-Core,8G ram,3-screen, liquid cooled system....Some Skyrim experiences are better than others....but even if we are honest in that respect...it is STILL less than credible that the reason for crashing is simply a matter of sequencing and compatibility....The game is quite enjoyable with even the most MODEST aparatus....and generally with some leg-work and trial/error...one can even incorporate some immersive aspects into the game...but the idea that the only thing keeping most players from a 100 or 75 or even 40 mod capacity is simply a pollyanic state of denial.

[Captain Peelz]

yea, but the game ended up using too much processing power and would crash as the comouter closed "unessential" programs

[Dalek Caan]

@Captain Peelz

Actually, the game doesn't crash because of memory problems. Normally, what causes the crashes are mods that are incompatible with one another, so give the program "BOSS" a try to clean up your mod order. Also, don't forget that 4gb+ of RAM is recommended, but not necessary.

@SupaSonicShadow

Seems like it would be a waste of space for the guide to have an entire section dedicated for such a small tweak, so I'll be adding the mod to the "Extras" section, while also giving the section a slight overhaul.

[Captain Peelz]

too many mods are apparently bad for the computer... I downloaded to many and Skyrim took over 3x the memory of the base game... But it is too much fun, until the game crashes

[SupaSonicShadow]

Has A Quality World Map been announced? That mod really helps finding your way around Skyrim.

[Dalek Caan]

The guide is now updated, the following mods are included:

Live Another Life
Small Mesh Improvement Mod
Wyrmstooth

[DragonMaster]

Folks might also want to suggest this chat http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/630802344826916233/

There are folks there that post links to mods for which they've tried and like. I've gottent some great mods from others posting as well as have posted several myself.

[DragonMaster]

Well now I know that sinusitus isn't no fun at all had it a few times. Glad to hear your doing better.

[Dalek Caan]

I know there's a lot to add to this, and it would probably already be done by now, the reason for the delay was because I had sinusitis for this entire week. But now that I'm back at my feet, updates are gonna come a lot come regularly!

[DragonMaster]

I'm currently Using Falksaar in this play through but have yet to start it. Might I suggest Wrymstooth as one of the Quest mods that you add to your list. I just got done with the main quest and it was very well done. I highly reccomend it to those looking for quest mods.