So the current mods I have installed are listed below, each in their own section with respective links…as well as my thoughts and personal notes about each one.
Before we start, please note that currently I am using NMM to download and install ALL of my mods for Skyrim. They recently had some issues and went down for a few days, they are still working on ironing out some of the issues but for the most part they are all ironed out.
Let’s begin, the NMM you want to download is located here: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/modmanager/?
I am starting to use this site as my main modding site for both downloading mods and building/uploading mods. The NMM only works with certain games, but they are working on adding more game support on a regular and consistent basis.
The mods I recommend below were all installed and managed via NMM, which is highly recommended. I have had nothing but a wonderful experience using the program so far.
Official Patches and DLC
1. Dawnguard
2. Hearthfire
3. Dragonborn
4. High Resolution Texture Pack
These are simply the official released content (I did not list Fall of the space core because I don’t personally use it..but you can if you want). These are simple included in the Steam legendary edition anyway…So not hard to get, I don’t remember if the texture pack came installed or you had to install it separate..I don’t remember that.
Unofficial Patches and Fixes
The following mods are for misc patches and fixes:
1. Skyrim Misc Patches Collection – SMPC – SMPC http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/23833/?
2. Unofficial Dawnguard Patch – Unofficial Dawnguard Patch http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/23491/?
3. Unofficial Dragonborn Patch – Unofficial Dragonborn Patch http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31083/?
4. Unofficial Hearthfire Patch – Unofficial Hearthfire Patch http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/25127/?
5. Unofficial High Resolution Patch – Unofficial High Resolution Patch http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31255/?
6. Unofficial Skyrim Patch – Unofficial Skyrim Patch http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19/?
The game is VERY buggy by itself. All of these patches help to fix the crap out of Skyrim and that’s all they do..fix errors, issues, bad references, messed up conversations, broken questions and so forth. If you don’t use ANY other mods whatsoever, I still highly recommend these..it will greatly improve your Skyrim experience.
UI Overall and options configuration menu
Before downloading ANY other mod, download SkyUI here: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/3863/?
This actually redoes the UI in a nice way, but more importantly this has the only mod management mod built into it that allows other mod configuration options to tap into it. Almost all major mods are supported and almost every mod on this list has all of it’s configuration options built into this small mod that is built into SkyUI. From what I can tell the mod configuration feature is not standalone and is ONLY found within the SKyUI mod. Highly recommended.
Misc Mods
1. Run for your lives – http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/23906/? Very basic mod. NPC’s run and hide in their houses when dragons come, helps to keep the NPC’s from dying. I think this one is glitchy or having trouble working though…I recall it not really working, but I still haven’t uninstalled it..I may check later and make sure, and perhaps tweak it to work if it doesn’t.
2. Realistic Needs and Diseases – http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/26228/?– Highly recommended. I am running it out of the box settings. The only setting I changed was the sound affects of the yawning and so forth..but this makes the game much more realistic without being overly annoying.
3. Dynamic Time Scale – http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/10594/? – High recommended especially with the Realistic Needs and Diseases…it slows down time at intervals and makes the game MUCH more realistic.
4. A Matter of Time – http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/44091/? – Just simply shows what time/date it is in game in a nicely laid out UI added to your HUD. Very simple and easy to use/configure.
5. Smart Cast – http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/43123/? – Redoes a lot of the casting systems and works very well. High recommended and also has several multi-cast options and presets as well.
Bigger and Higher End Mods
1. The Dawnspire – http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/20751/? – One of the best housing mods in the game. I use it all the time. It allows void storage features which let’s you dump ALL your items into one place, then it auto sorts them throughout the house..even has a spell so you can link up to void storage anytime you want..I never have to run back anymore I just throw my stuff all into Void Storage via the spell and sort it out back at my house when I am ready. It auto-sorts everything and has more features than it knows what to do with.
2. Vilja in Skyrim – http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/26393/? A companion, and one of the best ones on the market from what I can tell. This is the one I have used the entire game, and it was very well put together. The voice acting is weak at times but it is still a VERY good mod.
3. Blaze of Eventide – http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/25097/? One of the best mount mods I have found and the mod has a lot of great features. I ride him everywhere and have not ran into any problems with it so far.
4. Phenderix Magic Evolved – http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/5898/? Adds a guy in various cities that allows you to buy a lot of really cool spells. Pretty good spells at that. Definitely worth getting.
5. Falskaar – http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37994/? – A college student who tried to get the developers attention..he finally got hired by Bungie. He created this continent/quest mod and it is one of the best and highest rated content mods created. He even got hired by Bungie because of making this mod, which was his sole reason for making it. Very good mod and definitely worth the download. This is content I would even pay for it’s so good.
6. Halls of Dovahndor – http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/25448/? – A house. A very large house with good features. You cannot access it until much later in the game. I haven’t been to it yet, but It had a lot of endorsements and seems like a very good mod. I am definitely going to use the house as a secondary living area when I get to that point in the game (nowhere near that point in my current save file).
In Closing
As I come up with other mods that I download/use I will post about them here, and continue to leave feedback about mods that I consider must haves for Skyrim. Thanks for reading. Any questions, concerns or recommendations feel free to throw them in the comments. I always respond and will even update the blog post with contributions.
Thanks!