Best Skyrim mods?

[GearSolidMetal]

I played Skyrim for a while when it first came out. I loved the world, though I did all I really wanted to do in the game within 40-50 hours (Rebellion campaign, dragon storyline, - Warewolf, thief, and assassin guilds)

I've been tempted to dive back into it, especially with the huge number of mods that now available that improve gameplay, graphics and textures, all the user-created quests... but I'm wondering how many mods can you add into the game without overloading the system can causing it to crash... or does that depend on if the mods are glitchy? Can one mod that isn't seamlessly integrated into the game screw up the system with multiple of good mods running?

I literally have zero experience with installing mods, but Steam's program makes it far easier from what I've understood. But I was hoping if I could get some advice from a few fellow sherdoggers on what mods to try out and how many I can run.

 

[Gavster]

I installed 10 quest mods. A large one slowed it down a bit but this is on a laptop.
I didn't realise one of the mods is for when you are very high level. Oh look a dragon! Let's go fight.. Oh, he nuked me.
Mods are easy to install. Skyrim comes with an autoadjuster too. For more id download the program at the top of nexusmod. Then you can add in heaps more and it will adjust them in a better order than skyrim. If a mod stuffs something up, just unload it.

 

[SovietMusic]

Check out this site!

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/top/?

It's a list of all of the top ranked Skyrim mods.

Wish I could be more helpful, but I play Skyrim on PS3 because my desktop can't run it. So I have no idea how to install mods. Though I'm pretty sure it teaches you how somewhere on that site.

 

[Sakurabinette]

It's not about how many mods you install, it's about how "heavy" they are.
You can have 250+ mods (like me) and run smoothly.
Or you can have 3 mods and crash every 3 seconds due to script overload.

You should install your mods one at a time and test each one extensively before moving to the next one.
You should install the latest Unofficial Skyrim Patches and avoid the big mods that haven't been updated in the last 12 months.
You should also learn to use TES5Edit to detect and solve conflicts between mods. Look up Gopher's tutorial on Youtube.

Generally speaking:
Safe mods are mods that add content. New armors, new weapons, new NPCs, new quests.
"Unsafe" mods are mods that eat up your memory (heavy texture mods) or mods that run scripts every second. Such as the Footprints mod, Locational Damage, Frostfall, Wet and Cold, Skyrim Redone. Test those one by one to see if your game can handle them.

 

[Zer]

I recently restarted Skyrim with mods too bro, and as suggested I just went through Skyrim Nexus cherry picking shit. They have a mod manager too which allows to easily install and uninstall mods and kill crashes/issues

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

How long should I test every 'risky' mod for? 10 minutes without a crash and it should be considered safe? Or do some mods crash under certain situations or areas?

 

[Sakurabinette]

How long should I test every 'risky' mod for? 10 minutes without a crash and it should be considered safe?

More like 2 hours, I'd say.
2 hours of intensive and varied gameplay.
If you add too many mods at once and get a crash soon after, you'll never know which one caused it. So just take your time.
Going through your mod list one by one to reproduce a random crash is a royal pain in the ass.

And even then you can get unlucky.
I only recently found out that a mod I installed over 2.5 years ago could break the main quest under certain conditions. 60 hours of character development down the drain.

And make sure you install the latest SKSE too. It contains a few helpful memory optimization tweaks.

 

[dza76wutang]

My favorite mods are the ones that add spells to the game. Highly recommend that if you want to try playing as a spell caster since Skyrim admittedly short changed mages.

I have found many quest mods to be lacking. Gives you a deeper appreciation for how much work Bethesda puts into their own original content.

 

[Scarzi]

If you have a pretty solid system I would suggest getting an ENB filter. It will tell you in the description mods that you must get for it to work and how to set it up. It makes skyrim look amazing. As for other mods adding items/content just look at nexus mods top 100. Sky UI is a must, it gives you a interface designed for PCs.

 

[Jumpy]

Frostfall and Wet and Cold are awesome mods that add a lot to immersion. Never used SkyRe, but it is a complete overhaul IIRC.

Adding mods with Steam is easy, one click, but their is a file size limit, so many mods you may find interesting you wont even come across on the Workshop. So check the nexus, using their mod manager is easy as well.

 

[dawnslayer]

Frostfall and Wet and Cold are awesome mods that add a lot to immersion. Never used SkyRe, but it is a complete overhaul IIRC.

Adding mods with Steam is easy, one click, but their is a file size limit, so many mods you may find interesting you wont even come across on the Workshop. So check the nexus, using their mod manager is easy as well.

Frostfall and wet And cold are immersive? Bullshit. I went to winterhold and while getting the tour of the grounds got a message that I was fucking freezing to death. Another problem is it only affects you not NPCs, so it's just an extra layer of difficulty you have to deal with but affects literally nothing Andf no one else in the game.

The alternate starts mod is pretty fun. As is the dance of death if you like cinematic kills. Morrowloot is decent (though the designer Is a whiny bitch apparently) in that daedric and shit is rare as Fuck.

 

[Tabarnakos]

It's been a while since a played it but i had 20ish mods installed i think. Some of the best that i remember

- Climates Of Tamriel : Makes the sky and weather much more beautiful and varied
- Civil War : A bit buggy but adds a lot OF life to the world.
- Immersive Armors
- Immersive Weapons
- SkyUI
- Alternate start (makes you start the game as a bandit , a barbarian , a vampire etc...you have choices)
- Interesting NPCs
- Realistic Physics
- Realistic Lightning
- Lanterns of Skyrim
- Quality World Map
- Apocalypse Magic Pack
- Realistic Combat mod

I had others but i don't remember them all

 

[Hadron]

I recently restarted Skyrim with mods too bro, and as suggested I just went through Skyrim Nexus cherry picking shit. They have a mod manager too which allows to easily install and uninstall mods and kill crashes/issues

Their mod manager is terrible. Don't use it.

 

[Slick_36]

Alternate Start is an absolute must. I love playing roleplaying in the wilderness, so my favorite mods are Frostfall, Realistic Needs and Diseases, and Hunterborn. Those three make for a great survival system. Hunterborn I don't hear people talk about enough, it makes hunting actually fun.

 

[Dream Evil]

Hey guys, not exactly on topic, but is there any easy way to tell if a computer can run Skyrim on respectable settings?

Skyrim is my favorite game, and I've been playing on Xbox 360 for the last couple of years. I'm going to be getting a new computer sometime relatively soon, since mine is slowly dying, and I'd like to try playing with mods. Can pretty much any new computer handle the game, since it's going on 3 years old now?

 

[Jumpy]

Frostfall and wet And cold are immersive? Bullshit. I went to winterhold and while getting the tour of the grounds got a message that I was fucking freezing to death. Another problem is it only affects you not NPCs, so it's just an extra layer of difficulty you have to deal with but affects literally nothing Andf no one else in the game.

The alternate starts mod is pretty fun. As is the dance of death if you like cinematic kills. Morrowloot is decent (though the designer Is a whiny bitch apparently) in that daedric and shit is rare as Fuck.

I disagree that they're not immersive, and it believe you can turn the messages off. I suppose it depends on how you take immersion: HUD is not immersive, msgs popping up, etc, and I get that. I think I have a mod installed that will make NPCs go inside with bad weather, and also in my game NPCs have "cold and rain gear" that they will equip during blizzards and rain storms-- I believe this is part of W&C.

I have two alt start mods, Alternate Start and I believe the other is called Skyrim unbound. I prefer unbound, but it is worth it to check them both out to see which you prefer, TS. I have a mod that makes NPCs comment only when you brush against them, basically. Bunches of added weapons and armor, SkyUI, necromancer spells, Apocalypse Magic, lock pick sweet spot mod. All of the unofficial patches. Best part of Skyrim is the modding community.

 

[Jumpy]

Hey guys, not exactly on topic, but is there any easy way to tell if a computer can run Skyrim on respectable settings?

Skyrim is my favorite game, and I've been playing on Xbox 360 for the last couple of years. I'm going to be getting a new computer sometime relatively soon, since mine is slowly dying, and I'd like to try playing with mods. Can pretty much any new computer handle the game, since it's going on 3 years old now?

There is a site literally called canirunit.com, or something just like that. A quick canirunit google search takes you to www.systemrequirementslab.com

 

[Scarzi]

Hey guys, not exactly on topic, but is there any easy way to tell if a computer can run Skyrim on respectable settings?

Skyrim is my favorite game, and I've been playing on Xbox 360 for the last couple of years. I'm going to be getting a new computer sometime relatively soon, since mine is slowly dying, and I'd like to try playing with mods. Can pretty much any new computer handle the game, since it's going on 3 years old now?

The thing about the skyrim MOD community is that it will always flow with the hardware curve. I think they have been doing 4k textures for 4-5 months now and the overall requirement on mods has been steadily increasing. If you intend on modding, make sure you spend your money wisely. My setup has better graphics then any game on the market atm and my GPU is only getting like 35 FPS consistantly. I will probably upgrade my GPU very soon even though I have only had this one for a year. If you had one mod that adds lush grass and its very beautiful you pretty much need two GPUs if you actually want to use that mod.

There are a lot of ENB skyrim youtube videos showing off their setup and what hardware they are running. I would look at those.

 

[Dream Evil]

Thanks for the info, guys.

As I mentioned above, I'm not looking for top-end specs or anything like that. I'd be happy so long as the graphics look as good or a little better than Xbox360, which I would think shouldn't stress a modern PC too much. As far as what mods I'd use, I think I'd be more interested in simple stuff, such as weapon and armor types. But I'll take a look at the sites you mentioned and see what they have to say.

 

[Scarzi]

Thanks for the info, guys.

As I mentioned above, I'm not looking for top-end specs or anything like that. I'd be happy so long as the graphics look as good or a little better than Xbox360, which I would think shouldn't stress a modern PC too much. As far as what mods I'd use, I think I'd be more interested in simple stuff, such as weapon and armor types. But I'll take a look at the sites you mentioned and see what they have to say.

You're dead to me :icon_lol:

Pretty much anything at this point hitting the shelft can run skyrim easily.