Are you tired of the same old basic Skyrim experience? Do you want something that will add to your latest playthrough, or change the way you play it entirely? Well look no further! In this article are some of the best mods that Skyrim has to offer for both players new to the modding scene and those who are familiar with the idea of Skyrim modding. So, without further ado, here are 10 of the Skyrim mods everyone should try.
10. Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch by the Unofficial Patch project team
First up, is the Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch. This comprehensive bug fixing mod is an absolute must have for any, and all modded Skyrim playthroughs, as it fixes hundreds of bugs in the quests, gameplay, and overall content the game has to offer. We’ve all had that moment at least once in any Bethesda game where a quest is rendered incompletable for no reason, a companion starts attacking random NPCs (or vice versa), or an NPC would just not do what was required of it no matter how long you waited, attacked it, or reloaded saves in an effort to get it to work. If you’re finally fed up with bugs and have decided enough is enough, then this mod is for you.
9. Campfire: Complete Camping System by Chesko
Are you planning on doing a survival mode playthrough, or just wanting something to incentivise going at a slower pace in order to get fully immersed in the world of Skyrim? Then this mod is what you’re looking for. As its name suggests this mod allows you to create campfires, and tents, and gives you the ability to campout in Skyrim's wilderness, providing various buffs, fending off the debuffs of a survival mode playthrough, and even providing a brand-new skill tree for your new and improved survival abilities, both the casual and hardcore fans of the game can find something to enjoy in the Campfire: complete camping system mod.
8. Inigo by Smartbluecat
Do you find the base game companions a touch boring? Are you wanting a follower that’s charming, has over 7000 lines of unique dialogue, and even sings on command? If any of those features sound appealing, then allow me to introduce you to Inigo. This delightful blue Khajiit specializes in the one-handed, archery, and sneak skills, and comes with his own unique ebony bow. He also has a fully developed backstory, a small questline, environmentally, and quest specific dialogue, as well as a number of features unique to this mod specifically. If you’re in the market for a companion to share your adventures with you can’t possibly go wrong with Inigo.
7. Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim by EnaiSiaion
For the aspiring mages of Skyrim, this mod adds up to 31 spells per school of magic, obtainable via exploration or bartering, giving a wide variety of new options to add to your spell catalogue. Whether it be simple damage dealing spells like shattering crystal which allows you to place an ice crystal down wherever you stand and detonate it later at any time, useful quality of life spells like locate object allowing you to highlight certain nearby objects of your choice that you would have completely missed otherwise, or just downright fun spells like acceleration rune which quickly launches whatever enemy that steps on it in the direction they were traveling, there are certainly a number of spells that even the players who tend to shy away from magic can enjoy.
6. Missives by IronDusk33
This mod adds job boards to every major city in Skyrim which provide a steady supply of quick and easy to access radiant quests for the busybody dragonborn always in the mood for a quick quest. The jobs range from 5 different quest types, courier quests, material gathering quests, your standard bounty quests, item recovery quests, and thief hunting quests, so you’ll never have to worry about doing the same thing over and over again. Whether you’re just shy of a few pieces of gold for your next weapon or armour piece, want a small little mission to encourage exploration, or want something less high stakes before the next big questline, this mod could be of great value to you.
5. Morrowloot Ultimate by Chocolatenoodle
Now here is something that will really spice up your next playthrough! Morrowloot Ultimate is a mod that delevels loot, and enemies found throughout the world. what that means is, instead of the world levelling with you the enemies and loot you find in the dungeons of Skyrim will have their own separate levels, meaning that at the beginning of your journey you could find a dungeon with enemies stronger than you could reasonably handle at that time, but is also brimming with rarer higher quality loot. But that’s not all this mod does, it also adds a few iconic artifacts from past games (like goldbrand, and Chrysamere) delevels quest rewards and artifacts (like Dawnbreaker, and the Blade of Woe, and the like) meaning upon receiving the artifact it will be the highest quality version of said artifact.
But enough about what’s added, this mod is great for breaking your usual Skyrim routine by making certain segments harder than the usually were, changing the way you would progress through the game's various quests and is great for the Skyrim player wanting a change of pace from their standard adventures.
4. Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim by EnaiSiaion
Next on the list is Ordinator. This mod drastically changes the basic perk trees of vanilla Skyrim for a grand total of 469 new perks opening the door for the player to do new and improved character builds that put those in vanilla Skyrim to shame. Do you enjoy using heavy armour? Alongside the basic “all heavy armour set bonus skills", you’ll now find the heavy armour skill tree now contains some perks that promote an army leader/juggernaut type of build like “rallying standard”, which allows you to place a banner the buffs the armour rating and melee damage of both you and your companions, and “reap the whirlwind” which causes you to do 125% more damage to an enemy after said enemy hits you with a power attack.
Do you prefer stealth? You’ll notice that the stealth tree now has perks that allow you to place boobytraps like tripwires, and oil slicks that knock enemies down to the floor, making them easy targets. And you can’t forget the magical skill trees, there is an absolutely ludicrous amount of magical perks, from a perk in restoration called “warrior’s flame” that can periodically either give you or one of your allies healing blessings, or damaging curses to your enemies, to the illusion perk “nemesis” that lets you create an illusory clone of the enemy you use it on. The sheer amount of customizability and creativity to be had with this mod makes it a must have for your next modded playthrough.
3. Project AHO by Haem Projects
Next up is project AHO, a large-scale quest mod with fantastic level design, a non-linear story, and secrets to find around every corner. Explore Sadrith Kegran a hidden outpost of Morrowind’s great house Telvanni right underneath Skyrim, and Bkhalzarf the ancient Dwemer ruin it’s built on top of, and uncover the secrets of the Aetherium Hyperspace Observatory, a mysterious dwarven creation located right in the heart of Sadrith Kegran. This mod is great for players who like thoroughly exploring areas for secrets and can appreciate beautifully designed areas, as well as players who enjoy quickly paced stories, which is why project AHO makes it to number 3 on our list.
2. The Forgotten City by Nick James Pierce / themodernstoryteller
This next mod is of quite high note, some xbox gamepass subscribers may recognize that this mod has the name of one of the games included on the subscription, that is because what originally was a Skyrim mod has since become its own standalone game. As the first video game history to win a national writer’s guild award for its script, The Forgotten City is a quest mod that is sure to enthrall the player with its time travel mystery storyline. Centered around a ruined dwarven city governed by something called the dwarves’ law, the player will travel back in time to find out what caused the destruction of the city and if they can stop it, and will discover a number of well written and drawn out characters, any of which could be the one who broke the dwarves’ law. This mod is great for players who enjoy mysteries and want to enjoy a captivating story with multiple endings, or those who have played the original game that spawned from this mod and are wanting to see said games origins, which is why The Forgotten City makes the list of 10 of the best skyrim mods.
#1 Legacy of the Dragonborn by icecreamassassin
For the final mod on our list we knew we had to save the very best for last, with quality that rivals that of the officially released content, Legacy of the Dragonborn is a massive mod that adds an incredible museum for you to display all of the treasures, accomplishments, and discoveries you’ve made throughout your playthrough, as well as an entirely new guild which you yourself create which has multiple large scale quests, a new archaeology skill tree that allows you to recreate relics from the ancient Nordic, Dwarven, and Falmer civilizations, the mod also adds countless artifacts from almost every entry in the elder scrolls series as well as some original ones included by the mod that you will have to find while exploring world.
But that’s not all, one of the most interesting things about legacy of the dragonborn is that it strives to include other mods into itself, there a quite a few mods that have patches for legacy and if you install these patches a display will be added to the museum for the corresponding mod’s unique items so you can have a special place even for your modded memories, there are actually 4 mods on this list that have patches for legacy, those being missives, Morrowloot ultimate, project AHO, and the forgotten city. Legacy of the Dragonborn is a phenomenal mod and is one of my personal favourites, it’s perfect for players who would rather grandly display the prized possessions obtained from their adventures than just stick them in a random chest, perfect for those who want new adventures in Skyrim, and perfect for people who just like a good old fashioned collect-a-thon, making Legacy of the Dragon one of the best Skyrim mods you should try in your next playthrough.
And there you have it, the top 10 best Skyrim mods for your next playthrough. All of the mods can be found on the official bethesda.net site, as well as nexusmods.com and are available on both Xbox and PC (sadly aside from the unofficial Skyrim special edition patch none of the mods are available on PlayStation.) you will have to make an account for either site to be able to download the mods, but hey, it’s a small price to pay for a much more fun Skyrim adventure.
Do you agree with our list? Do you have your own mod recommendations, or have thoughts on the placement of each mod? Then please feel free to leave a comment.
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