Skyrim Mods

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Tue Jun 11, 2013 12:11 pm

In case anyone hadn't guessed already I downloaded Dragonborn and am plying again. I looked through here to see if there were any threads dedicated to mods and mod recommendations but astonishingly couldn't find one; so here it is.

Mods I'm currently playing with, with comments. Most, in fact I think all, of them can be found [url='http://skyrim.nexusmods.com//?']here[/url] along with a download manager that will install most of them for you. You'll need Skyrim Script Extender aka [url='http://skse.silverlock.org/']SKSE[/url] for several of them.

[url='http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/3863/?']SkyUI[/url] I can't imagine ever playing without it, the vanilla UI is absolutley terrible, this mod makes it so much more pleasant to play.

Auto-Harvest, unlike the version for Oblivion this is much more of a cheat, but I'm just too darned lazy to pick every damn bush I pass.

Val's Crafting Meltdown - A bit too overpowering if you don't police yourself, it can easily be exploited, but on the other hand does give you something to actually do with all that junk lying around.

[url='http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/3413//?']Midas Spells in Skyrim[/url]

Another mod which can be subject to abuse, but no too overpowering I think. Invaluable Cure Disease spell for one thing, and magical ways to open locks to make up for the glaring oversight in the vanilla game.

[url='http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/35841//?']Helgen Reborn[/url] - Only got part way through this as yet, but is good so far and not unbalanced in any way. EDIT: Unfortunately the mod uses randomly generated quests.

[url='http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/26393//?']Vilja in Skyrim/Solstheim[/url] - I've only completed the Skyrim portion so far; a couple of minor gripes, and until I found out how to shhut her up, or at least slow the flow she talked far too much, bad case of verbal diarrhea is how I put it on the Nexus forum. Once you quieten her down though a great mod and thoroughly recommended. My gripes are to do with a couple of essential characters for ongoing plot reasons; and I hate that!

Darth Gavinius · Post by **Darth Gavinius** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 2:23 am

I love the Midas Spell Mod - it really makes playing an out and out mage immense fun. The summonable pickaxe and dagger are very useful and the new alteration spells make it one of the best spell schools to use. Force pull and Push allow you to use the terrain to your advantage and work on everything except Dragons and Dragon Priests.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 5:39 am

So what other mods do you use Darth?

Darth Gavinius · Post by **Darth Gavinius** » Wed Jun 12, 2013 8:51 am

Sadly I am away from the gaming system, so I cannot really link the mods I am using - or remember accurately their names but:

Random Start Location Mod: This can be pretty fun or lethal if you enter at level 1. The start I went with had me running like hell from Mistwatch surrounded by bandits until I reached the relative safety of Shor's Stone. Other starts had me immediately dismebowled by a hagraven (starting in The Reach), mauled by wolves and a summoned bear after starting in a grove near a spriggan or being killed by bandits. The main quest does not begin until you approach Helgen and I found it cleared away the amibguities of who to side with in the civil war.

Ultimate Follower Overhaul and Improved Companions - these can be usful and gives the game a more party feel when combines with the Camping and Fishing mods.

I also agree about the Skyrim UI - the original interface for Skyrim on PC is dreadful.

Improved Blacksmithing and Smelting is great - converting items to scrap and into new ores, gets around the issue of having stuff you cannot sell because the merchants don't have enough gold.

Interesting NPC's is a superb mod that introduces quests and more interesting people to talk to as well as more lively companions.

Those are a handful of what I consider the essential ones.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Fri Jun 14, 2013 5:35 am

I haven't played Skyrim yet, but I've listed a number of interesting mods I want to play at some point when this game hits the bargain bin. I'm getting bad gateway errors right now when trying to connect to nexusmods though, so I'll have to get back to you on that. Remind me later if I forget.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 2:58 am

I finally finished Helgen Reborn (hard drive on my desk top died, so had to start again

).

Final verdict: A well written mod, I had some personal issue with the ending, but that's just a matter of taste.

Due to the short comings of Radiant AI, if you do decide to try this mod, and you should, then start it and run through it before taking on too many other side quests.

Dummy · Post by **Dummy** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 3:32 pm

I really enjoy the elder scroll games. The sandboxesk games allow for so many great mods.
Since I'm using well more than 100 mods right now, it would be a little to much to list all.
So I'll stick to the questmods I really enjoyed.

Wyrmsthooth
Quest:Sorcery and
Moonpath to Elsweyr

additionally for players who played dozens of hours
I would advice to check out the "Character Creation Overhaul" mod series.
I makes the creation more Oblivion like which can be fresh.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 4:24 am

Thanks Dummy (seems so wrong to write that LOL), I'm downloading Wyrm's tooth as I write, I've been thinking about Moonpath for a while now so will give that a try too.

Unfortunately Steam are being [expletive deleted] heads again and so downloading Quest Sorcery is not viable. Modders really should learn not to just upload to steam but use alternative sites like Nexus or Planet ES.

Even when I finally manage to log in to steam there doewsn't actually seem to be a way of downloading the mod.

Steam really is the worst site I've ever had the misfortune of encountering, run by a bunch of incompetent ####heads!

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:08 am

In Steam, you subscribe to a mod via the Steam Workshop. That's all you need to do.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:51 am

Tried that, still couldn't find any way to download it.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:56 am

You don't download the mod; Steam does it automatically once you sub'd. It worked for me.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 6:33 am

Thanks Gawain, eventually I got it to download, once i realised the game had to be set to on line as well as being on line via a browser.

Crazy system, and I really think that modders should use alternative sites if they want to reach the largest market.

If it hadn't been for Dummy I never would have found this mod as I avoid Steam like the pestilent [expletive deleted] it is.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 6:41 am

Why use Steam via a browser? I just use the Steam client, and everything runs smoothly. I really don't see a reason why you should be so upset with it.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:00 am

I was logged on to steam via browser already when I followed a link from Altavista after searching for the mod and finding it was only available on Steam.

My previous post jumped the gun anyway; yes it's downloaded, but all it does is cause a CTD when I try to start the game. It seems you can only play the mod if you're playing in on line mode, which is seriously retarded!

It will play in off-line mode, but is very flaky sometimes CTD when starting, other times not

I still won't recommend Quest Sorcery until it's available somewhere other than Steam though; that site is seriously crap. Shame they got a bunch of monkeys fresh from compiling the complete works of Shakespeare to design the site instead of hiring competent web designers!

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Thu Jun 27, 2013 2:53 am

Nexusmods finished their work on a similar system weeks before Steam suddenly launched theirs. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/modmanager//?

Personally I trust the Nexus' specialized mod manager more than whatever Steam came up with. If only because I trust Nexusmods to get important issues like load order right and fix game specific mod conflicts for me on the fly.

Kipi · Post by **Kipi** » Thu Jun 27, 2013 6:11 am

galraen wrote:I was logged on to steam via browser already when I followed a link from Altavista after searching for the mod and finding it was only available on Steam.

My previous post jumped the gun anyway; yes it's downloaded, but all it does is cause a CTD when I try to start the game. It seems you can only play the mod if you're playing in on line mode, which is seriously retarded!

It will play in off-line mode, but is very flaky sometimes CTD when starting, other times not

I still won't recommend Quest Sorcery until it's available somewhere other than Steam though; that site is seriously crap. Shame they got a bunch of monkeys fresh from compiling the complete works of Shakespeare to design the site instead of hiring competent web designers!

Strange, I have no issues with playing Skyrim with mods installed through Steam in off-line mode.

As for mod recommendations, I'm using few mods I now consider "essential":

Pure Waters: Graphical mod which turns the water more realistic and beautiful. Compatible with more or less every other mod I have tried so far.
SCARY SKYRIM RETEXTURE - Fear The Bloodmoon: Another graphical mod which makes several "scary" creatures even more scary. Special mention goes to giant spiders, especially when playing with huge screen (52" in my case).
Improved Blacksmithing!: Improves blacksmithing with new recipes. Especially the ability to create arrows and lockpicks is handy.
Invested Magic - A Better Spell System: The major change this mod makes, and the reason why I consider it as essential, is how certain spells work. Most of the spells that have duration of effect, like summons and protections, have quite long duration (something like a day in real life) and can be cancelled by recasting the spell. While the spell is active it "reserves" certain amount of mana, basically lowering the maximum mana the player has while the spell is active.
Stones of Barenziah Quest Markers: A simple mod which adds quest markers to every "Unusual Gems". Removes the extra hassle from locating those gems.
Alternate Start - Live Another Life: Replaces the vanilla version of the beginning with several options. The player may choose where to start in and general starting condition. For example, it's possible to start the game from one of the inns, guild headquarters and so on. Especially recommendable if the original start is getting boring. The mod only affects the destruction of Helgen, but after the player reaches Riverwood first time after the dragon attack everything works like in vanilla game.

Also, few mods which I recommend but don't consider essential:

Adura's Merchant Shop: After purchasing a house the player can establish personal shop in said city. The shop can be run by player, follower or hired special NPC.
Lightweight Potions and Poisons: Lowers the weight of potions and poisons to 0,1 from the original 0,5. Makes hoarding all those important potions much easier and doesn't actually cause any problems in balance of the game.
Skyrim Community College; Features a special building close to Whiterun with NPC trainer for every possible skill in the game. Each trainer can train the skill up to 90. The reason why I don't consider this as essential is because the house also contains lots of items like weapons, ingredients and even skill books. The sheer amount of loot and the quality of those may cause problems to game balance for early characters, though nothing too bad.

All of these were located from Steam Workshop. Some or all of them may also be available from Nexus as well, though I'm not completely sure. I have also used SkyUI in one point, though the requirement of Script Extender is the major reason I'm not currently using it. After all, SKSE must be installed manually, and the process of updating it was just too much of bother for me.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Thu Jun 27, 2013 11:53 am

After all, SKSE must be installed manually

Not if you use Nexus mod manager it doesn't.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Thu Jun 27, 2013 2:36 pm

By extension, my slightly ignored point, exactly.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:15 am

Recently came back to Skyrim myself (though I still don't have any of the expacs), and currently I'm going somewhat light with the mods, but there are a a number I really like, in addition to the essentials such as SkyUI:

Xenius Character Enhancement - improves the appearance of the characters without turning them into fashion models

AOF's Believable Hair: Works well with the above as it simply improves hair textures while retaining the original look... No beauty salons here

Winter is Coming (cheesy title, I know) - Adds some gorgeous fur cloaks to the game

Immersive Armour: Awesome, lore appropriate armours (Otherwise, it's so difficult to find armour for female characters that doesn't make them look as though they charge by the hour....)

Skybirds and Birds and Flocks: Both add a lot of very realistic birds to the world, really well done!

All are available at Nexus, but I can't currently provide links because the site is likely to be unstable until they get things fixed (bad DDOS attacks amongst other things) over the next week.

I also use Vilja, and find she adds a HUGE amount to the play experience... though I am thinking of reducing her chatter a little.

I've been thinking of Moonpath to Elsweyr and Helgen Reborn as well, I'll keep my mod list relatively small for the next while though.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 4:04 am

I have this thread bookmarked now, since I'm probably going to need it at some point when I get Skyrim.

I tried Vilja on Oblivion after I moved to Norway, but I can't really stand it. She sounds too Swedish-English to me now, which is a bit of an immersion breaker.

Nice to see you again btw, DW.