Now that the console crowd has been spoiled with mods on Bethesda games for some time, the number of options to change up the vanilla experience for Skyrim has absolutely exploded.
Even years later, you can consistently get entirely new ways to play the game and completely new ways to see it with graphics overhauls. With more than 7,000 mods now floating around for Xbox One, sifting through the dreck to find the most useful mods becomes quite a chore.
That's where we come in, finding all the best mods you should be using for Skyrim in 2018. We're going to assume you already know that you should download the unofficial Skyrim patch, grab the cheat room, and install the enhanced blood textures. If you didn't already know that, well, now you do!
Past those basic mods, here are 11 must-have mods available right now, including the best bow mods, archery mods, and hair mods for Skyrim Special Edition on the Xbox One.
Vampires Suck: No Attacks In Town
Forget AI overhauls, enhanced weather, rich merchants, or perk tree changes. If there's one single, critical, must-install mod for Skyrim, it's this bad boy right here. I lost count of the number of times the guards in a town started attacking me because I defended myself against a sudden vampire attack.
Those annoying blood suckers make it a major chore just to head into town and sell your loot, let alone try to wrap up any quests. Barring a major guard AI update from Bethesda (unlikely at this point), this mod is basically a requirement to even enjoy the game at all.
Complete Archery Overhaul
For a radically different ranged combat experience, the Complete Archery Overhaul does exactly what it sounds like. All bows will require a bowstring to function, which must be crafted separately.
The aim auto assist is disabled, and a large number of tweaks are made to how arrows function and deal damage, including major changes to the archery tree and modifications to how many arrows can stick out of an enemy at one time.
The end result is something markedly different from the base gameplay, and well worth trying out if you like to play as a marksman.
Scoped Bows SE
Its a simple change offered here, but one that can drastically alter the way you play as a ranged combat character during a Skyrim playthrough.
This mod adds a scoped variant of every single vanilla game bow (it won't put them on extra bows you've added through mods) that includes two different sights -- one for a quick shot, and one for careful aiming at a distance.
Apocalypse - Magic Of Skyrim
For those who prefer a magic-slinging character over a ranged archer, this is easily the biggest and most useful mod to change up how the magic system works.
155 new spells are added across all the schools of magic, complete with custom effects and animations that blend in with the existing spells. From burying a victim in the earth to conjuring another wizard to fight for you and even to lobbing volcanic lava bombs, you won't ever run out of killer new spells to try out here.
Superior Lore-Friendly Hair
There are more than a few hair and body replacement mods out there, but this one stands apart for a couple of reasons. First up, it's significantly smaller in overall file size than the others, leaving you more room to install other Xbox One mods.
The changes are also specifically meant to evoke a proper Elder Scrolls fantasy feel, so you won't get any weird, outlandish hairstyles that don't match the surroundings. All the various high-definition changes to the hair also modify a specific texture within the game -- rather than adding a new one -- so you won't run into any compatibility issues.
Apachii Sky Hair SSE Main
If you prefer a much wider range of options over the previous smaller mod, Apachii Sky Hair is the way to go. Rather than changing the hair effects for other characters you interact with in the world, this one offers 42 new hair styles to choose for your own character. Whether male or female -- and even including some Khajiit options -- you are bound to find something you like here.
Unique Uniques
Try saying 'unique uniques' five times fast! When you're done with that, go download the mod, because it results in some killer visuals for unique weapons across the game.
Weapons like the Pale Blade, Dragonbane, Angi's Bow, and Red Eagle's blade all get major retextures to look more interesting and set them apart from their standard weapon counterparts.
Moonlight Tales Special Edition
Baixar o programa ultraiso v9.6.5.3237.exe free trial. Much like how the archery overhaul changes ranged combat, Moonlight Tales completely and totally revamps the game's werewolf mechanics. Lunar cycle mechanics are introduced, along with an entirely new perk tree based around lycanthropic transformations, custom animations and sounds, and a lot more. If you've always wanted a more in-depth shapeshifter-type character in Skyrim, be sure to add this one to your load order straight away.
Diverse Dragons Collection
More than a mod, this is actually a super mod collection that adds 28 unique dragons to the game that all look remarkably different for more variation in the game.
Multiple levels of dragon strength are also added that scale with player level, ensuring a challenge no matter where you are in the game. Get ready for some serious fights, because they've all got new breath weapons as well!
Ordinator - Perks Of Skyrim
If you've played through Skyrim repeatedly, the existing perk structure can get repetitive and boring, even after trying out different character types. Ordinator gives you a brand-new leveling experience by replacing every single perk in the game with 400 new options that all have unique names and different bonuses.
Best Weather Mod Skyrim Se
Placing tripwires as a thief, planting a rallying banner for buffs as a warrior, converting healing spells into damaging holy fire as a mage, and more are all possible with these perk changes.
The Forgotten City
The Forgotten City is one of those creations that showcases why the PC and Xbox One mods are pretty much always going to beat out the PS4 versions (which don't allow new assets and thus can't include large new areas like this one).
The 'mod,' which is really more of a free DLC, includes a full, extra six-hour experience beyond the base game, revolving around a murder mystery in an underground city.
There's a dynamic story here with multiple possible endings, and it's frankly better written and executed than a lot of the vanilla Skyrim quests. Add in voiced characters and music on top, and this is a mod to immediately try out when you've already explored all the other nooks and crannies of the map.
Obviously there are hundreds of other mods well worth your time, but right now, these 11 are some of the best available.
What did you think of our picks, and what other Xbox One Skyrim mods would you recommend? Let us know in the comments below, and explore even more more options here:
Published May. 24th 2018
Graphics
Static Mesh Improvement Mod
It’s a terrible name for a mod that you absolutely need to get. Basically, it spruces up a huge pile of 3D models, making all of Skyrim look nicer in hundreds of tiny ways. You’ll probably not even notice it most of the time, but it works its magic everywhere. It’s also a key ingredient in several other mods, so it should be one of your first downloads.
Skyrim HD
Skyrim HD is a long-running texture mod that replaces over 600 textures. Everything from the sky and mountains to the interiors of ramshackle hovels has been done up. There are two complete versions, one of which is a 1K resolution ‘lite version’ for less powerful PCs. Optionally, you can download just the cities, landscapes, dungeons or miscelleanous packs. This is specifically for old Skyrim, but there are plenty of great alternatives for the Special Edition.
Skyrim 2018 Textures
Another huge, broad texture mod, this time specifically for the Special Edition. The latest version of the mod only comes with one complete file, but the 2017 version is more modular. You can pick what you want retextured, whether it’s just the roads, only mountains or all of Riften. The mod’s creator advises people with the old version to keep it, as it has some files that haven’t been added to the 2018 version yet.
Best Weather Mod Skyrim Special Edition
RealVision ENB
More than most other mods, the lighting, post-processing and colour tweaks made by ENBs and Reshade mods are down to personal preference. In OG Skyrim, I was rather partial to RealVision ENB, and it still makes the seven-year-old game look absolutely gorgeous, though it does come at the cost of performance. You definitely won’t be able to use a PC that ran Skyrim in 2011.
SkyrimSE Re-Engaged ENB
When the Special Edition first launched, flashy post-processing options were limited while we waited for ENB to be updated. SkyrimSE Re-Engaged started out as a Reshade mod (it has since made the jump to ENB) and proved to be the best alternative, and while there’s now no dearth of competition, it continues to be my favourite. There are seven presets, not including vanilla, each dramatically different and designed with a specific weather mod in mind, and if there’s something you don’t like, you can adjust it.
Realistic Lighting Overhaul
If you don’t want to fiddle around with ENBs or take the inevitable performance hit that comes with the most impressive ones, Realistic Lighting Overhaul might be just your horn of mead. It’s a comprehensive lighting mod that doesn’t use any post-processing or screen injector tricks, so there’s no performance cost. It’s not as dramatic, either, but that’s the point. It aims to light up Skyrim realistically, based on actual light sources, whether it’s the sun or a candle.
Enhanced Lights and FX
Enhanced Lights and FX is similar to RLO, but it’s more dramatic and stylised. ELFX wants to make Skyrim pretty, not just realistically lit. Both mods are great, so it really depends on what kind of atmosphere you want to generate. You could always mix and match, and even throw in an ENB for good measure.
Skyrim Flora Overhaul
Since Skyrim is full of forests, Skyrim Flora Overhaul has a pretty dramatic effect. It includes lots of new, high-quality tree models, even more grasses and plants, and loads of visual tweaks that generally make forests look deeper and more imposing. There’s a grass-only and trees-only version, too, which obviously have less of a performance impact. This is one of those changes that’s worth sacrificing some frames over, mind.
Simply Bigger Trees
Simply Bigger Trees does exactly what it says on the tin, giving Skyrim’s forests a growth spurt. It’s a surprisingly significant improvement, and though it’s only partially compatible, I like to pair it with SFO. Some of the trees get overwritten, but there’s still plenty of variety and the forests look considerably more striking.
Realistic Water Two
Realistic Water makes the pools, coasts, rivers and lakes of Skyrim distinct, so it doesn’t look like they’re all full of the same murky bath water. If you see some H2O in the game, it’s probably been improved. There are so many tiny touches that make this mod brilliant, like curated sound effects and animated icebergs. The Special Edition introduced a new water flow system, which is nice and all, but it was applied to all bodies of water indiscriminately, which made less sense. Realistic Water also fixes that.
Better Roads
Better Roads makes Skyrim’s trails and highways more interesting, giving them a bit more character and adding some lore-specific touches. More walls and fences have been added – touches of civilisation – while bridges have been made a bit more diverse and in keeping with the architecture of the areas they’re built in. Generally, they’re just less drab. It’s a subtle improvement, but Skyrim’s a much better place to walk around with this in your mod library.
Climates of Tamriel
Climates of Tamriel is a massive weather and lighting mod that replaces all of Skyrim’s boring weather with hundreds of different weather variations, from sunny days to cataclysmic storms and everything in between. It’s predominantly a visual mod, but there are plenty of audio improvements to go along with it. Climates of Tamriel is at its best when paired with an ENB like SkyrimSE Re-Engaged ENB and Realistic Lighting Overhaul’s interior lighting.
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Can you believe that Skyrim has been out for over seven years at this point? Despite being old enough to ride a bike, Bethesda’s open-world RPG has remained alive all this time thanks to the achievements of the legion of modders on PC. However, the trouble with a lot of the graphical enhancement mods out there is that there’s often a cost in terms of PC performance – so it’s impressive that there’s a new mod out that claims to overhaul Skyrim’s visuals without costing a frame.
The Cathedral Weathers and Seasons mod is part of the Cathedral Concept, a “comprehensive visual overhaul” of Skyrim by the modding community – with the goal of enhancing the game’s looks without impacting performance.
Mahanati sada nannu bgm 2. We’ve previously talked about the foliage side of Cathedral Concept, now the team has released the latest update to the weather enhancement side of the mod. It offers improved textures, startling season changes, brightness and bloom settings, and more impressive weather effects – all without any noticeable performance decrease.
Possibly the most exciting part of the weather mod is that you, the player, has full control over the weather changes. While there is an MCM version of the mod that allows players to drily select and change all the various new weather systems, the more fun route is to take the regular version of Weathers and Seasons – and turn your character into a weather wizard.
This version gives the Dragonborn a new spell called “Cathedral Meditation power,” which brings all the power of nature directly into the player’s hands. This power gives the player “control of brightness, saturation, contrast, bloom, and tint” in real-time, seasonal perspective changes, alter the darkness of night-time, and increasing the probability of fog, overcast, rain, snow. If you’ve ever wanted to be a weather god, now’s your chance.
Spotify web player not working. Related: Check out our list of the 100 best Skyrim mods
You can find out how to get the mod, as well as everything it changes and the list of everyone who worked on it – it was a collaborative effort in the modding community – over at Nexusmods. Now please excuse us while we go touch the sky.
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Skyrim is unquestionably one of the best RPG games ever created. It is the fifth installment in The Elder Scroll series that was released in the year 2011. It’s been seven years since then, and you can still observe more than 10000 concurrent players on Steam (Source: SteamDB) playing the game. The game itself offers 100+ hours of content, and if that feels repetitive after a while, you can always use the Skyrim mods to enhance your gameplay.
In this article, we’ll be talking about some of the best Skyrim mods ever created that will keep you hooked on the game. We won’t focus much on the Skyrim graphics mod but we have mentioned the vital ones. Fret not, we will also mention some of the best Skyrim special edition mods for PS4/Xbox as well. If, in any case, the mods still don’t impress you, our recent article on the best games like Skyrim might help you out.
Best Skyrim Mods
Table of Contents
- 1. How to Install Skyrim Mods?
- 2. Best Skyrim Mods of All Time
- 2.1. Really Useful Dragons
- 2.2. My Little Pony Mod
- 2.3. Heart Breaker
- 2.4. Relighting Skyrim
- 2.5. Autotuned Singing Bears
- 2.6. Macho Dragons
- 2.7. Explosive Chickens
- 2.8. SkyUI
- 2.9. Race Menu
- 2.10. Audio Overhaul For Skyrim 2
- 2.11. Skyrim Unbound
- 2.12. Interesting NPCs
- 2.13. Immersive Armors
- 2.14. Immersive Weapons
- 2.15. Skyrim HD
- 2.16. Ultimate Follower Overhaul
- 2.17. Convenient Horses
- 2.18. Immersive HUD
- 2.19. Wet & Cold
- 2.20. Campfire
- 2.21. Frostfall
- 2.22. Requiem
- 2.23. Enhanced Blood Textures
- 2.24. Immersive Citizens AI Overhaul
- 2.25. Unofficial Skyrim
- 2.26. Surreal Lighting
How to Install Skyrim Mods?
There isn’t any single solution to install a Skyrim mod. It usually differs depending on the portal you download it from (for PC). In case you have a console (Xbox One or PS4), you simply need to add the mods from Bethesda’s library. For instance, if you download a Skyrim mod from Nexus mods, you need to follow their official guide to install the Skyrim mods manually.
In either case, if you download the mods from Bethesda’s official site, you should read the procedure as stated in their official support portal. Also, you should consider installing the Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) available on Steam for free to efficiently utilize the mods that support it.
Best Skyrim Mods of All Time
1. Really Useful Dragons
The craziest mods are obviously the most interesting ones. The dragons look pretty good but don’t you think that they need a makeover? Yes, they do!
If you are a fan of the series “The Railway Series”, you must be knowing about “Thomas the Tank Engine”. Well, this mod replaces the usual dragons with Thomas (a character from that series). You might just keep smiling at it when the arrives, and the imperial soldier says – “What in Oblivion is that?”. The characters inside the game have no clue about it as well!
You can even convert the dragon soul into Thomas the train. Have fun with it!
2. My Little Pony Mod
Tired of summoning horses? Well, with this mod, you can summon a magical and cute character from “My Little Pony” animated series.
You can even get this mod installed on the special edition of Skyrim. Also, you can enable multiple ponies to ride with. You would usually end up traveling with them as companions or could even try a race.
3. Heart Breaker – A Killmove Mod
If you want to make things more brutal and intensifying, you can add a fantastic kill move with this mod. The heartbreaker mod allows you to perform a finishing move which enables you to pull the heart out of your enemy (that’s violent!). Also, it adds a “Human heart” to your inventory.
4. Relighting Skyrim
The original game could look dull at some places or the lighting might seem abnormal (unrealistic). To fix this, you can try this mod which fixes the lightings on various locations. After applying this mod, you should observe a lot of places to be “brighter” or “balanced” in terms of the lighting effects.
5. Autotuned Singing Bears
Trust me, it is one of the most funniest Skyrim mods ever created. The bears that you encounter will not “roar” but sing an auto-tuned song. You can find this mod listed in the Nexus mods along with the instruction to implement it.
6. Macho Dragons
Not happy with the train character replacing your dragon? Well, do not worry, you have something more kickass. Inspired by an intercontinental world heavyweight champion, the dragon is replaced by the Macho character which also includes the sound clips for an authentic experience.
7. Explosive Chickens
One of the most interesting Skyrim mods is the chicken mod. With this mod installed, you can summon chickens that explode upon contact with your weapon hit. So, you can make a strategy to destroy the enemy once and for all by just summoning the chicken force. All it takes is just one hit to kill blast away your enemy.
8. SkyUI
It is one of the most popular Skyrim mods available out there. It changes the way you manage your inventory. It’s so much easier to manage the items with this mod installed. Normally, you would have to scroll a finite length to find a particular item from your inventory. But, this mod helps to organize the items in your inventory by categorizing them and enabling you to sort things by value/weight.
9. Race Menu
The game provides limited customization options. But, with the Race Menu mod, you get a lot of control to customize your character. You name an aspect, and it’s there. You can change things like height, body color, resize the face dimensions, depth, and so on. If you want to create a unique character to represent your personality, this is the best mod.
However, do note that this mod requires you to have SKSE installed.
10. Audio Overhaul For Skyrim 2
The game is undoubtedly a fantastic RPG game but the sound experience in Skyrim isn’t perfect. So, in order to enhance the sound experience, you can use the Audio Overhaul mod to improve the sound effects and turn it into an immersive experience.
It fixes the combat sound system, weapon impacts, surrounding (interactive) sounds, magic, movement, revert system, and a whole bunch of other improvements.
11. Skyrim Unbound
It is probably the best alternate start mod that you can get installed. This Skyrim mod lets you disable the intro sequences that you don’t have to worry about interacting with the characters along with the dialogues while you start the game afresh. Once you proceed with the alternate start, it provides you with a lot of options to manipulate your start as much as you would want. It lets you choose the location where you spawn, select the headgear, equip your desired armor, toggles clothing, load up with a specified amount of money, and you also get the ability to delay the spawn time of the dragons.
If you are someone who frequently creates new characters to start with, this is one of the Skyrim mods you should try.
12. Interesting NPCs
If you want to interact with the non-player characters and have a rich experience in the game, this mod should be the best thing you should try. A whole bunch of characters with tons of interesting conversations. If you were looking to add meaningful NPCs in Skyrim, there’s nothing better.
13. Immersive Armors
There’s a limited set of armor choices in Skyrim. However, when you apply this mod, it will introduce a variety of armors in a lore-friendly way. The armors look super cool to me. Why don’t you give it a try?
14. Immersive Weapons
Similar to the previous mod, it helps you enhance the variety of weapons offered in the world of Skyrim while enhancing your gameplay experience.
15. Skyrim HD – 2K Textures
Let’s face it, Skyrim isn’t the best when it comes to the cinematic experience (considering the latest game titles). If your PC can handle 2K-res textures, you might want to try this graphical mod to enhance the visual textures for an immersive experience on your gaming PC. It is indeed one of the best Skyrim graphics mods out there.
16. Ultimate Follower Overhaul
This Skyrim mod allows you to add multiple companions as you’d like. You can even add custom dialogues through the command option for the companions you will be adding. It includes a lot of detailed features to how you control and interact with your companion.
17. Convenient Horses
Don’t want to replace your horse with a pony ride? Fret not, with this mod, you can customize a lot of things to control your house. For instance, you can adjust the aggression level of the horse. It also lets you allow your companions to ride their own personal horse as well.
18. Immersive HUD
Not everyone likes to see the HUD interfaces and pointers. With this mod, you can adjust the transparency of the HUD, disable the crosshair and also be able to toggle them with custom hotkeys when you need them.
19. Wet & Cold
The clothing design isn’t really perfect as per the weather in-game. But, when you install this mod, it will affect the NPCs, companion, and your character by changing the clothing and adding interactive elements representing the interaction of your character with the weather (like water dripping from your cloth).
20. Campfire – Complete Camping System
If you were looking for a Skyrim mod that adds a survival edge to the game, the campfire mod is the one you should be installing. It introduces a host of camping equipment and also adds a separate skill tree to enable you to craft a lot of things in order to survive. What’s interesting about this mod is – you can even create your own unique camping equipment if you are a Modder.
21. Frostfall – Hypothermia Camping Survival
To complement the previous mod, you can install Frostfall. It adds some unique game mechanics along with the cold weather that definitely requires you to utilize the campfire mod in order to survive.
22. Requiem – the Roleplaying Overhaul
One of the best Skyrim mods out there which helps in making the game to include a better RPG experience. The mod is extremely useful which lets you level up your skills to crush your enemies and also makes it harder for you to tackle enemies that are more powerful than what your skillset can handle.
23. Enhanced Blood Textures (Xbox One)
One of the best PS4 Skyrim mods available is the Enhanced Blood Textures. Of course, being an old game, the blood textures aren’t that realistic. So, if you want to improve your gameplay experience while in a combat, the blood textures mod should help you in that.
24. Immersive Citizens AI Overhaul (PS4)
The friendly NPCs are dynamic in nature. However, to make it more unpredictable and immersive, you may add this mod to your library which will make the NPCs react to dangers in a more realistic manner. The number of unique conversations will almost double after adding this mod. So, have a great time interacting with the NPCs!
25. Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch (Xbox One)
If you’ve got the special edition on your console, you know that the game is buggy as hell. So, you might want to add this mod to your library. It includes a bunch of bug fixes and improvements that will make your Skyrim experience better.
26. Surreal Lighting (PS4)
This amazing Skyrim mod for PS4 lets you add vibrant colors, lighting, and a cheerful weather to look at. It is a simple mod that works by altering the saturation, contrast, and the brightness of the game which is very impressive.
Wrapping Up
Now that you’ve known about the best Skyrim mods of all time, you should get started exploring them one by one. Here, we mentioned a limited set of mods (that also contains the best Skyrim special edition mods) which are very impressive. But, in reality, there are tons more available (and still more getting introduced).
So, make sure to bookmark this article because we’ll keep it up-to-date if there’s something new worth installing.
What do you think about the mods we’ve mentioned? Did we miss one of your favorite Skyrim mods? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.