( Updated : October 23, 2021 )

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For example, Lighting mods, SMIM, and stuff like that. How do I make Skyrim the ultimate visual experience? I have the 2k texture pack. Skyrim: The 15 Best Graphics Mods You Need To Install В· A Quality World Map В· Skyrim Realistic Overhaul В· Forgotten Retex Project В· Veydosebrom. Here are the best mods that focus on graphic enhancement and Combined with its active modding community, there is a multitude of ways to. Skyrim HD is a long-running texture mod that replaces over You could always mix and match, and even throw in an ENB for good. This guide has both graphics and gameplay parts, two in one. For graphics mods installation, the [installation] order matters the most - so, for the best. Best Combination of Graphics Mods - posted in Skyrim Mod Talk: Hi, Ive seen a few lists out there of recommended combinations of graphics. This excellent mod combo adds another level of realism and immersion to your gameplay experience. When it comes to candles and torches, Skyrim. Skyrim Graphic Overhaul is a large mod, but mostly because it's a combination of many mods from other developers, all packed into a single file.

Today, [ALL] the modding guides received massive updates. It's the biggest update as for today. My mods were also updated, and now are being hosted on a single page for your convenience. Read the changelog of every guide itself to see the more detailed description of "what's new". It's also briefly presented in this video on the YT channel. This project is completely free. Still, it takes insane amount of my time to build and expand it - the modding guides and other related modding content already took me over working hours in total. The more independent I will fee myself as an author - the less stress and more free time I'll have - and so, the faster new updates and modules will arrive, and new projects will appear as well. But support only if you really want it and able to:. Choose [ONE] of the next 5 tree overhauls. The choice is purely a matter of your personal taste, and each of mods is described below. Note 1: Always read the grass mod pages carefully, as each mod usually requires changing settings in Skyrim. Implement them. Note: you can also make grass to be more "windy" sway more noticeable under the wind by adding the next line under the [Display] in Skyrim. Experiment to your leisure :. Now, donwload the mod below. It corrects a vast amount of incorrectly placed world objects. There are plenty of mods here, so they were grouped into a expandable subsection - click "show" to unwrap it:. Texture packs changing the look of cities, guild halls and some other noticeable locations or location types like bandit forts. Some places have more than one mod for you to pick from, so once again choose one that you prefer the most between several variants - or you can try to manually mix'n'match them yourself :. Various "specialised" armor, weapons, jewels and other artifacts retextures - meaning that those items are most likely already retexture by the mods you have now, yet, these mods provide either better quality or distinct appearance by introducing new models together with improved textures. There can be several options for a same object - for example, several mods retexturing daedric armor, so there you will have several options to pick from. Note: there are some additional options for some armors and weapons like Frankfamily faction armors or Vpulse08 weapon replacers , yet as they are highly numerous but made by same authors, those are linked later in this section. The last few links are gathered exactly here for 2 reasons. Some of these works are absolutely exceptional quality and so, should be installed the very last to ensure nothing overwrites them. Some of the mods you may already have though - as some of them I've made sure to link separately because of the great quality. Note: make sure to choose "Skyrim" game version to download the mods, not "Skyrim Special Edition". You have a general vision of how you wanna see your graphics but don't know which basic mods are needed to achieve this look or just don't have time to compare then to make conclusions? Then, this section is what you need! Below you can find several "plug and play" mod lists which list core mods needed to achieve certain look of graphics before going through the guide itself - let's say cinematic, or vibrant and saturared, photorealistic, vintage - so you don't have to worry about testing mods yourself. Just choose the mod list that you like the most, by reading its description - and then simply mimic it in no time. And, if you want maximum details, don't forget about "retexture everything possible" section as well. Important note 1: each of modules assumes you already implemented Stability part of the guide. I won't be able to provide any troubleshooting if you didn't make the Stability part. Implement it. Golden middle. Great for most of players and most of tastes. Somewhat cinematic, but not too much. With a slight fantasy touch, but still realistic. Not too saturated and not too bleak. Textures improved greatly but still keeping the vanilla look mostly. Well, you got the idea. Note: both weather mods are optional and situational - they may give not intended look with some ENB presets which aren't directly supporting them. Grim and Somber ENB, for example, is already giving amazing dark fantasy look and so weather mod is simply not needed. Optionally, you can try to use this cloud mod on top of one of weather mods above, but it's somewhat experimental approach:. This setup will be a good option in several cases. If it's your first time ever modding the game, for example, and you don't know what you want from the game yet, or want to improve visuals slightly to later see the big difference compared to heavy-modded setup. Or if have basic or decent experience with modding TES games, but still, want to preserve original visual design as much as possible - improving the game look, but not changing the shaders approach, improving the textures without changing them, etc. If that's the case - this setup is for you :. This is not the full list of settlement-related mod I'm using - but rather a "base" of them. But for now, I hope you'll find this list useful too. Please note that to install all these mods is quite a fps-heavy thing - this list is oriented on strong gaming rigs. Hey there folks! This is a one-time popup - close it and it won't appear again. Good luck on the path! Sneak peeks? Join our Discord. Buy best games Chat Support my work. Ever wandered which modding capabilities Witcher 3 has? Dive into ultimate TW3 modding now! Many players also see the answer a somewhat obvious, but it's not quite like that. Generally, when modded properly and if the stability section of the guide is applied, both Skyrim SE and LE are fully stable - there are no memory related crashes until you overload your game with ridiculously heavy setup just too heavy for your system ofc, and unlike the popular misconceptions, LE doesn't have memory-related issues as well since late due to combination of ENBoost and Crash Fixes memory allocation upgrades , engine related crashes are fixed more or less equally too. This said, SE is somewhat [less] stable in a long-time perspective and when being heavy-modded and some SE versions of massive mods being ported hastily or not by mod authors themselves which results in more bugs compared to LE versions of the mods, more crash cases generally throughout a game world which appeared in SE and never existed in LE to begin with. This said, it doesn't mean SE will be crashing hard or something - but with medium-to-heavy modded game, you'll have sometimes have more headache with it. In return, SE requires a bit less stability mods read - its stability section is shorter than LE one and so, somewhat less time required for this part. But this is only about stability section itself - roughly said, if you can apply LE guide stability section in an hour, in SE you'll need 30 minutes. Yet, this is a a pretty neglectable difference as you'll most likely spend many more hours of joyful modding the game's graphics and gameplay parts. Tldr: Stability is almost the same for both SE and LE today - you can run a fully stable heavy-modded game without issues in both versions, with LE having a slight benefit in a long timespan. Additionally, parallax 3D look imitation for objects for SE is supported only for terrain, while LE has a complete parallax support for all objects in general. The difference is still really noticeable and it's not guaranteed SE will ever catch up to LE in this matter. Tldr: If you're aimed on a graphics enhancement most of all, LE is definitely a better pick. In SE this issue doesn't exist. LE modding stage is active as well - but SE receives more new mods in general. At the same time, considering that LE modding stage is active for 5 more years, it still provides more mods in general - this is usually not related to "prominent" mods, but when it comes to "devil in details" part, SE often lacks some nice mods here and there. Tldr: both versions have mods other version don't have, so choice here is personal. You can also port mods so both version can actually benefit from this difference - read below. Model and texture mods can be ported via few clicks in CAO further in the guide , most of plugins can be ported without issues as well, and animations can be ported too. Tldr: with just a little practice, you can port almost all mods asides from really huge ones and SKSE plugins, yourself - so difference in mods arsenal for two game versions can actually only come in handy. As you can see, the are actual reasons to mod exactly SE or LE, but as for today, it's rather a matter of a personal perspective depending on your modding goal. I'm supporting and updating guides for both versions so technically, nothing stops you from modding both haha , so read, think and make choice yourself - and best of luck with modding :. Minor update 5. For the changelog of the update 5. A massive update featuring both lots of new mods and UX improvements. Huge amount of mods that previously were grouped into a humongous chunks of lists, were sorted and divided into subsections, as well as new expandable subsections added for easier navigation and not that "scary" look of some of them. Q: What are the PC specs needed to run the same modded setup as you do, to have [best] possible graphics and gameplay? Yes, this guide is made for ALL rigs - no matter if your PC srong, not that much or a complete potato - you can find recommendations, and build best possible modded game. A: You technically can ofc, but that's not mandatory. This is a guide - it gives you an ability to compare and choose. Open mod pages, browse the images, read the description. Install what you like and don't install what you don't like : Lastly, there are pre-made mod lists for you to mimic. Q: I have the game in language other than English, is it a problem? A: The guide is made for original, i. English version of the game. Graphics mods will ofc work fine in most of cases, but as for the gameplay mods, there is no guarantee that they will work with non-English version of the game, or work at all. Moreover, many translations are often outdated which leads to various bugs and conflicts. If you want to be able to use Skyrim modding stage and this guide on its fullest, use English version of the game. I won't be able to give any troubleshooting support for non-English versions. Q: I also want to install ENB, where's a tips for it? A: Sure! Whatever you want - it is here ; Just read a bit further. A: Please read "How to start" section carefully. Read it and install all the things needed before starting to install mods themselves. Q: That doesn't help! If not, feel free to join our Discord server and community members or I will try our best to help you : Q: Where are you from? A few words about you? A: Ukraine. Web-developer in past, fitness trainer and nutritionist now as hobby. A: Sure - I will update and improve it. Unstoppably : Q: Ok, guide just received massive update, but how can I see the little new additions? A: I add mods and fix text errors few times per week. A: One of the main goals of the guide always was to keep your game stable. There are some absolutely great and popular mods, but the thing is popularity now always equal same great quality and stability. Some mods are not included simply because they have major or too many minor issues and not fitting concept of stable heavy-modded game. Nothing more besides that. A: Note: if you don't understand what this means atm, just remember this line in general and return when you will need a hint about it optional action, will be mentioned several times below in the guide. Download this. Unpack the archive and use the. Usage itself is pretty intuitive and straightforward, with little tip about SE to LE meshes conversion. Q: Can you just upload your Skyrim folder with all your mods somewhere so I can just download it and not to choose and install mods one by one? A: Unfortunately, no. The reasons: Firstly - I can't do this as many mods from the list are Nexus-exclusive and mod authors didn't give a permission to re-upload their works somewhere. I respect their work. Secondly - everyone has absolutely different PC specs and different taste, and my setup can be absolutely unplayable for many people from both these aspects. Trust me - when you're making your mod setup by yourself the result will be way better because most of mods are absolutely matter of taste. Q: But there are a lot of modpacks in internet! I saw them! Even Nexus itself should have modpacks soon! A: Of course. Modpacks are easy to find and get, but it's also one of the main reason of myth about "heavy-modded stable Skyrim isn't possible" exists. For very same reasons, modpacks simply can't run the same good for everyone. In worst case, it will just break your game eventually. From that point, you can either play the game as is, which will lead to glitchy gameplay and eventually a lot of wasted time, or you'll have to go to point zero and learn about all the mod in the modpack yourself, basically, doing what you had to to from the very beginning, but once again, wasting some time. Modpacks are like those ads in internet that are promising you 6-pack in 7 days without diet and training. There's no "magic button" in case of TES or FO games, and it's no matter who made it - random internet person or they are distributed by some popular authors or websites - it doesn't change anything in terms or aspects listed few lines above. Now, the first and most important rule. Keeping it will drive you to the peaks of glory with hundreds or even more mods should you want so and beautifully stable game. Before you start reading, watch this short video: Great, now let's go! To choose an ENB preset is absolutely matter of taste. However, in this list I've included the most fresh presets that work with latest ENB binaries. All presets are also markered with one of 3 colors: Green , Yellow or Red depending on their performance impact , so you'll be aware if this or that preset is an FPS-killer. If you see that you have let's say stable FPS with any of "yellow" ENB presets - you can run almost any ENB preset, even hungry one and be sure that your game will be stable and you will not face noticable stutters and FPS drops. But if you have like 30 FPS - you'll need to think about the ENB - to install performance-friendly one, or refer to "low-end" section in the end of the guide , or not to install ENB at all and only use ENBoost the very last option, if you're following the guide attentively and don't have a complete potato instead of PC, you won't need this option. Regarding the lighting mods compatibility: Many lighting mods also have their own weather modules. Don't use these modules even if ENB is compatible with this lighting mod. Lighting mods weather modules. So even it's not listed in lighting mods compatible at ENB preset page, you can try this. Open enbseries. Save the file. VW - Vivid Weathers. Aurelia - Aurelia - Weathers and Interiors. So, here we go with ENB presets list. Visit the presets pages to read attentively about all the details and also see some screenshots and videos to how it looks like. Just install the ENB you like the most and keep following my guide. In most of cases, even a bit outdated ENB will work just fine with the latest binaries unitl it's not from like , or can be made to work fine with a few tweaks you can in most cases read in that ENB comments section. Or, you can simply use older binaries, but for the best possible visual result ofc it's always a good idea to use ENB preset that is up-to-date. One of most unique presets on Nexus and one of my favourite. A bit desaturated, an amazing and balanced combination of realistic, fantasy and cinematic visuals. It has some really unique weathers and effects. This ENB is a brilliant creation. It looks great, realistic and fantasy-like at the same time. Original version has about 80 custom weathers. It's pretty saturated so some people can find it less lore-friendly for Skyrim. But my personal advise is to try it for sure! It also has 3 levels of performance options. This is a preset I'm currently using version for VW. Not so saturated as Tetrachromatic, and also with fully-working night eye as well as tweaked adaptation effect, that is great for mages - you'll not more blind yourself with your fire spells in dark dungeons. Amazingly performance-friendly. Maybe the best ENB in terms of performance between all modern presets. Weather mods compatibility: Vanilla weathers, but with Vivid Weathers textures install it and delete it's. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX only interiors, without enhancer. It also has several LUTs color templates you can switch directly ingame. Amazing visuals and great performance! Weather mods compatibility: none. Don't use any weather mods. Try it for sure! Weather mods compatibility: NLVA. Do not look for a lot of realism in these ENB's as that is not the goal or aim behind them. Colleciton has 6 presets that support latest ENB binaries. If you like such fantasy and vintage look, try them for sure! Lighting mods compatibility: none. Don't use any lighting mods. It's very bright so may be pretty "matter of taste". It's really FPS-hungry, maybe one of the most I've ever used, but its visuals absolutely worth it. Lighting mods compatibility: any interior lighting mods. Exterios lighting modules are not recommended. Stunning and bright colors for fans of photorealism as well. Weather mods compatibility: COT. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX. One of it's main features is that it has 7 presets included and you can change them ingame! On the other hand, it's pretty FPS-hungry. But powerful rig can handle it. Even it's pretty old, give it a try. Weather mods compatibility: NLA obviously as well. Can be used with vanilla lighting as well. Has 4 versions: for Vanilla weathers, Black and White version and 2 more version for weather mods. Just use "gameplay" DOF with it. Weather mods compatibility: NLA. It also has smart installer with many performance and other options. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX core files. It's very "matter of taste" one, but if you like photorealism and strong exposure - try it. Though, as for me, ELFX works just fine. Lighting mods compatibility: ELFX don't use enhancer. Not so bright and a bit more fantasy-like. It supports huge amount of new land mods which is also great. Weather mods compatibility: technically almost all weather mods. Lighting mods compatibility: technically almost all lighting mods. Take into account that it has additonal. Don't use any weather mods besides its own. Don't use any lighting mods besides its own. Weather mods compatibility: VW. It has pretty good performance and about 20 very original custom weathers. Presets differs - from realism to great saturation. Though, as for me, personally, ELFX worked just fine. Lighting mods compatibility: All of them. Weather mods compatibility: Vanilla or NLA. Weather mods compatibility: Vanilla. This preset basically updates it to the latest ENB binaries. Weather mods compatibility: All of them. Weather mods compatibility: Aurelia. Also more somewhat vibrant. Lighting mods compatibility: Vanilla. VERY special preset. Well, you'll see. So many awesome presets! I hope you'll find the one and only for you. This list is, of course, doesn't have all possible ENB presets existing on Nexus, but to place them all here would simply have no sense. That's why I've uncluded some really qualitative or original ones here. You, of course, may and should choose the one you personall like :. As an option, you can compare texture images manually and keep the ones you like, mixing these mods. But in most cases, you won't need this, especially if you're a newcomer to Skyrim modding. Same is applied to each further "choose" notifications. You can also try to combine this with Skyrim HD I'm doing this and combination looks great , installing textures one after one manually and comparing texture files. Also install SMIM patch from its optionals. It has it own original view and it will be great for those who want to bring some "spring" colors in Skyrim. But on the other hand it looks less lore-friendly. Just a matter of taste : Note: it's recommended to use "no grass no trees" plugin, if you plan on using a grass mod and don't want the mod's new trees. If you'll be using Tamriel Reloaded as you main texture pack, I strongly recommend to install the next mod over it and overwrite. It contains tons of greatly improved textures and normalmaps from this mod. Basically, a qualitative addon to it. One thing you'll need to ensure is to [not] choose the watercolor addon there's one listed below. Note: this mod has a couple of corrupted meshes which can crash your game during certain loading screens. Thanks to Marmotte for notifying about that. Great landscape retexture mod. Install it if you like it's textures more than texture in already installed big landscapes mods, or mix it partially. An landscape texture pack, alternative to Vivid Landscapes or landscape part of bigger mods above. It combines various textures from different mods and adds parallax support to them. You may want to install it choosing not to overwrite anything at all, to only get lacking textures, or download it manually and pick whatever textures you like, and then install them. Caves and mines retextures. Install it based on your own taste can be used on top of mods above. Note: do NOT overwrite this mod by anything after you've installed it - it has exceptional quality. Fine, Let's move. Like a "Real Roads" mod, just better and should be used instead. Besides having double and sometimes tripple the resolution on all applied trunk textures, the meshes have improved shapes to reduce edges and there are optional versions with more foliage, larger tree sizes and custom textures, as well as fully supporting allmighty 3D LODs for DynDOLOD explained below in the guide. This mod is great alternative if your PC can't handle Skyrim Flora Overhaul, and my personal favorite - while giving great performance and plenty of options to choose from, it maintains vanilla look of the trees, but with much greater quality. Note: this mos also contains Realistic Aspen Trees mod as an optional choice during installation. Only moment here is that it's placing plenty of new trees across the game world as well - so if using it, test the game deepy if you'll be using landscape overhauls. Yet, it's giving a really fresh touch to Skyrim trees look and definitely worth a try. For those who want to transform Skyrim into something more green and blooming. Supports 3D LODs as well. Install it if you like its textures more than previous ones. If no - skip. Very fps-friendly alternative to previous mod, but ofc not so rich detailed. Compatible with SFO. Grab it!. So, basically, it will only install textures not covered by other mods. You can also try this retexture addon for it. Install it if you want more fantasy-like colored water. Install it if you want your water to be more transparent and light-blue. Download the file manually somewhere, add to your mod manager and install as usually. If you want only waterfalls from this mod instead, get them here. Files are hosted by the original author of the mod. If you'll have a free moment, rate the mod here. You can also use darker grass textures patch if your ENB preset is too bright. There's also a textures replacement addon available. That's what I'm currently using myself. You can also see a video showcase of it here. Can be used together with other grass overhauls. No Grassias Mod removes overgrown grass and clipping issues caused by grass mods adding it to land textures that aren't suppose to have grass. Though, this mod takes it somewhat too much often, and leaves chunks of terrain bald. A completely optional mod. This mod is my personal favourite. Can be installed on top on any of previous mods in this section. Standalone mod if you want something like "very light" version of Enhanced Landscapes. Don't use it if you are using EL already. Amazing landscape overhaul that's making Skyrim look more like Try it for sure. Another landscape overhaul focused on making Skyrim regions more different to each other. It mostly focuses on trees - removing at some regions and adding in other regions, resulting in pretty original change in how Skyrim worldscape feels. A really unique mod that places not big amounts but rather separate trees here and there across the Skyrim - only in places where these trees will look really in place and nice! It also features unique trees from Enderal which are looking majestic and fitting many Skyrim regions great as well. Make sure to install the update file as well. A fresh work from flora mod divine, Vurt, which adds several really huge pines to the tundra with animated branches. A blue-colored fantasy overhaul for the Rift region. Fantasy trees and flora additions for the whole Skyrim now. Amazing dark fantasy style overhaul for Skyrim featuring dead and living trees with new forested areas. Personally using it now. Beautiful and with huge coverage, tropical overhaul for Skyrim. A massive "treefication" of Whiterun region. You may also be interested in patches for it. Beautiful mods that adds various ruined structures and alters flora in some places of Skyrim. Inspired by previous one, but more lightweight and a bit different. You can see a video showcase of it here. Purely cosmetical mod. Beautiful authentic stone additions to the tundra region. More mushrooms! Adds non-functional Oblivion gates here and there in Skyrim. Use this mod or the one below. Use this mod or the one above. To install it or not - its' just a matter of taste. Look at pictures at mod page and decide : FungusAmungUs 2. Read the mod page to see difference between version. Really neat little mod. Simple as that - various flower fields across the Skyrim. May look not lore-friendly to some players. Adds much more snow and some clutter to Windhelm. The only thing weather changes may be not compatible with ENB preset you're using, but it's still just a visual details, it will not cause crashes. It will change the look of Skyrim completely. If you don't want spring overhaul - you don't need it. Cons: not updated for a long time and likely won't be updated in future. Cons: have also water retexture mod included, so you'll need to reinstall Realistic Water Two or use its water. Also this mod big flaw is that almost no ENB presets are tweaked for it. File is hosted by the original mod author. Brilliant weather mod! Pros: bigger amount of weathers comparing with COT and Purity. Has an MCM menu to configure brightness and saturation ingame without tweaking any. Covers most of unofficial DLC-sized mods. Has plenty of ENB presets tweaked for it. Cons: the most saturated weather mod, some weathers could look less lore-friendly than in COT or Purity. Natural Lighting and Atmospherics Awesome mod, but it changes vanilla weathers only. Also it has some awesome lighting effects. If you like it, you should defenitely try NLVA see below. The newest one as well. Mod authors spent hundreds of hours to take and mix the best weathers and other effects from Vivid Weathers and Natural Lighting and Atmospherics. Quality about quantity. The result is fantastic! Today it also has very big amount of ENB presets tweaked for it. These 2 are absolutely independent things. You need [only] weahter mod from it's files to have it's weather. This is related to ENB installation, which you already have. Aurelia - Weathers and Interiors Note: this one is a new weather mod. Pros: awesome lighting mod with the widest amount of options so the most configurable. Most fresh one. Also get this one too. Important note: if you'll be using ELFX Enhancer module, you need to delete a few records in Unofficial City Patch related to Dragonsreach to avoid conflicts and missing cells in the game. Don't worry, it's absolutely easy. Exit TES5Edit. Also, if you're aimed on a heavy mod list - don't choose exteriors option it may lead to numerous conflicts with settlement mods. Important note 3: Do not use Weathers or Hardcore modules. Also this combination of mods has the best compatibility with ENB presets. Also get a patch for Relighting from Skyrim Exterior Fixes files section here. Not officially compatible with most of ENB presets, so check the look yourself. Now you there's a one optional mod you can. It's compatible with all of lighting mods above, but in a "complex" way - besides adding amazing shadows, it also modifies or adds billions of lighting sources, which may cause weird visuals when using with other lighting mods. So test deeply before keeping it, or just use it alone. Let me put it more clear and simple: until you're pretty experienced with xEdit and CK, and don't have several dozens of hours of free time - don't use this mod on top of other lighting mods. Use one or another. The quality of these shadows is sometimes simply stunning! Just look on the screenshots and you'll get what I mean. But once again, this mod installation is optional and highly NOT recommended on top of other lighting mods. But for the best result I kindly advise to install them in the same order as in guide. In overall, many of mods in this section can be made compatible, but in that case - read compatibility notes carefully at mod pages. Why "Hold the City Overhaul" isn't in this list? It's bugged af and mod author ignores most of bug reports for months. It has a great modular installer so you can choose whice part to install and which not to install. This feature allows you to install it with other similar mods with maximum compatibility. Note: use the latest [old] version of the mod - the "shiny WIP" one is stip in early development and has plenty of bugs. Note: remember that you can use Modular version to get only things like Orc Strongholds, some minor villages other mods don't cover, and use them together with other complex overhauls. It adds really big amount of objects to towns, making them look very detailed. Cons: It's a most performance-hit mod from all the similar mods. But it's quality worth it. It's all about your rig power. I would say it's at the middle between performance hit, details amount and lore-friendship. Pretty good compatible with other similar mods. Yet, if it's something you desire - try it for sure. You can download standalone mods for each city covered seperately if you don't wan't this AIO version. Just read the mod pages attentively and you'll be fine. Take into account that it may cause some clipping when conflicting with cities mods, so test properly before keeping it. You can also simply remove the trees you don't like via console. Yes, even if you're playing not as pure mage. You still will go through College questline sooner or later, and you still will be visiting it from time to time. This mod is just enormous in it's College overhaul aspect. Aesthetical visual overhaul of structures and building, new buildings, new cells, new dungeon, greatly improved College NPCs AI, new NPCs, imemrsive magic learning experience, new dungeon, quest and dozens of other tiny details. Choose this mod or the one below. Bigger and better fort iteself with new fortifications and buildings. Chapel, library, bathhouse and prison inside. As you progress through the quest-line, Fort Dawnguard will gradually be cleaned up and restored until its back to its original glory. Choose this mod or the one above. Also take into account that it's pretty freshly released, so you may have to wait for various compatibility patches to appear though with the nature of the mod, there won't be many hard compatibility issues in first turn. You can see a showcase of it in my video here. Use it or the mod below. The North Tower is also converted into a player home with safe storage. Some patches available. Should also have better compatibility with big Whiterun-affecting mods. Don't use with other mods that changes Whiterun majorly. Should be mostly fine with mods that adds trees in the city. Compatibility - same as previous mod. It adds beautiful green grass to Whiterun streets, but it eats plenty of FPS and even more if you have city mods. Whiterun not looking to be the trading hub everyone calls it? Then this mod is exactly what you are looking for. Don't forget to install a fix patch for it. Same instruction as with the mod above. A patch for Better Solitude Docks is also available. Besides being highly detailed and not just adding symbolical clutter or buildings, new buildings are functional, NPC wear near armors etc. Not compatible with other Dawnstar overhauls. Gives Winterhold a really glorious look. Restored ruined houses into shops, a stable with 4 horses, adds custom-voiced merchants, a Player cabin, a protective stone wall around the town. Compatible with all previous cities mods! Imcompatible with mods that change the same area. Obviously not compatible with mods like JK's Skyrim. Some minor clipping may occur though, which is not critical and you can remove clipping objects by typing "disable" in console when clicking on them. For best possible results, I'd recommend to use it with Pfuscher stonefloor textures for Markarth. Meaning when installing you can overwrite everything and NOT overwrite stonefloor texture. Additionally, this mod also retextures dwarven ruins. Compatibility - same as the previous one. Has minor visual incompatibilities with JK's Skyrim. Apart from the usual fish merchandise there are new food items: fish cans and salted fish. Compatible with the mod above. Also grab the fix from Files tab. Parallax version is recommended. Sadly, mostly not compatible with mods that change this town. Mostly incompatible with similar mods. Compatible with most of popular mods that change Rorikstead. Not now. Performance and lore-friendly retextures of the cities. Take a look on screenshots and see if you like them. Download the files manually somewhere, add to your mod manager and install as usually. Files are hosted by the original author of the mods. Well, worry no more! Don't use with similar smaller mods above, ofc. Compatible with all town mods above as it's affecting only interiors while mods above are affecting only exteriors. Interiors only, so can be used with any town mod. Mod has plenty of patches in Files section, but there's also additional little patch collection archive is not suitable for mod manager installation - download manually, pick what you need, zip, add to mod manager, install. Each mod separately can be also found in author's profile. Conflicts with PCE and with any other mod modifying the same cell , so if using together, delete Blue Palace records from them. Blue Palace Overhaul 5. Compatibility instructions - same as for the mod above, and ofc, choose one or another. Compatible with Blue Palace overhauls. It gets rid of the stucco from the inside of the dome and replaces it with four different pictures. The leisure centre has plenty of NPCs walking around which include a merchant in the bar area. Patch for Immersive College of Winterhold is available in Files section. Hearthfire compatible. I personally don't use it because prefer more lore-friendly look, but it's an amazing one. Looks different and still great! It adds tonns of different insects to Skyrim making it look much more alive. Someone may like this, someone not. Also my personal opinion is that it boosts Alchemy too much as you can collect hundreds of ingredients per minutes and some of new potions from these ingredients are a bit overpowered. It covers many armors, weapons, creatures and unique items. Approve overwriting. Badass visual mod that makes all enchantments even those added by mods like Summermyst have beautiful animated visual fx. Texture need to be converted using CAO. But maybe you will? Read the mod page and see if you want it. But it's still optional and up to you to install it or not, as it adds more birds to the game. If you will use it, install this mod after Skyrim Immersive Creatures is installed. Install texture files basing on your taste as many of this mod plants can look oversaturated and not very lore-friendly. Download the archive manually somewhere, unpack it and delete folders besides "meshes" and "Eng". Then go inside "Eng" folder, grab all 4 plugin files and place them in main folder so plugins will be next to "meshes" folder. Delete empty "Eng" folder. Zip what you have now, add resulted archive to mod manager and now, install as any other mod. Stunning retexture of shock spells. One texture. Amazing result. And here is awesome retexture for this mod, if you like more green walls. A simple over-colored retexture of Mountain Flowers. Different colors according to elemental type. Pack what left back into archive, add to mod manager, install. Also adds visibility distortion during snow storms. Works its best together with True Storms mod. A matter of taste. Grab this one. Immense size can and will cause clipping though, so this mod is mostly for screenarchery purposes. It also changes the inventory art as well as the lighting effects while equipped and casting. Enderal verson is also available. There is a video in the description to see the effect in action. It doesn't add any new buildings or anything new at all, but greatly changes the look of the city at the same time. Optional mod. These 2 mods are my personal favourites for the named cities look. You can a get an understanding of how it looks in a modded game with ENB on here. I'd recommend black version. DSR Patches included. Comes with installer and plenty of options. Default version is not compatible with Gemling Queen Jewelry, but you can use both still by using standalone version of this mod. Will fit better when used with similar bow mods like Real Bows. The major part of your Skyrim beautification is already done! Good job! I was mentioning this in the ENB section of the guide, but now the time has finally come. Now let's finish the last details related to worldscape - but not the last in significance! It's also generally recommended to use it if you have a modern rig. Body mods female : Body mods texture replacers are absolutely matter of taste. Pretty unique mod. Please note that it's NOT compatible with mods that affects races in any way, but thankfully to mod author, there are patches for popular mods like Imperious at the mod files tab. Eyes mods: You can install one of them or all if you like. The textures are all handmade and focused in a lore friendly experience, but of course, there's the standalone custom part too. All files are px and almost everything is customizable. Every eye color is now available in any combination of left and right eyes to every race. Fine, let's move. Great retexture of all vanilla hairs, also has 2 resolution options for better performance. You can also watch a showcase of it here. You can also try this one. Also get this fix for it. They are for female characters, but some of them look good on men as well. You can see a video showcase of them here. Absolutely stunning quality. UNP compatible. This mod adds new hairstyles for khajiits. And now let's add some physics : These mods are absolutely optional. Depending on do you want some more physics or not. Sometimes these effects can look a bit weird, so it's up to you. Try to install them and see their work in action. Swishing hair, flowing skirts, or the ever popular bouncing boobs. This mod is core one and you need to have it installed for any other "HDT" mod to work. It's required by many custom armor and outfit mods. You can install them all if you like. My personal favorite for these female NPCs. Also each of them comes many options during installation and some additional optional files for your convinience. Let's move. Needed only if you need some space in plugins amount. If you don't want to look here and there for separate mods and save many. You may also want to try this hair retexture for it. Meant to be used alongside Bijin and Pandorable. It's not fully standalone and thus will use [your] female skin mod for skin textures. Try it if you want to 24 of its females look a bit older. Mods that change single NPC or a few: Serana and her family overhauls. Note - Pandorable has many other great mods, browse her profile. It also requires ApahiiSkyHair to work, but there's also a version to work without it. Another gem from talented Pandorable. Mod is pretty underrated - screenshots don't do the justice. Also take a look at this additional patches page for it. Also has lots of patches for popular mods compatibility. Make sure to install the RS Children Overhaul mod itself first, and then install this one and overwrite. You can also optionall install this addon which adds 8 new adoptable children to the game, with the similar appearance style. It's absolutely beautiful and if you're bored of flat Skyrim UI - download it for sure. Unread Books Glow Pretty useful for collectors. Clear Console Really clear! MainMenu Main menu replacer that allows filtering by character name. Gamepad Plus Plus For those masochists playing modded Skyrim with joysticks. No ESP. Make sure to get all required mods. Colour Map Markers Simple as that. Pastel map markers An alternative. Take into account it's not compatible with Quality World Map. Simple Colored Map Markers A super-simple alternative: mod recolors quest markers to orange and player markers to green to be distinctive from the others. MiniMap for Skyrim Yep! Download the archive, add it to your mod manager and install as any other mod. It's a pure SKSE plugin so it doesn't take a plugin slot as regular mods. Fully configurable in. Needed mostly if you're planning to use weapon mods which add these type of weapons. Easy Wheelmenu A wheelmenu to make various skills and features from other mods available with a single key. Oblivion-like Loading Menu Absolutely beautiful work. Get the SkyUI main file version and make sure to download all needed patches from the Files tab, depending on other UI mods you have. More immersion with fixed controls. Mod works just fine in LE - download the file manually somewhere, add it to your mod manager and install as usually. Mod works just fine in LE - same installation instructions as with the mod above. Works as a vanilla replacer and alongside vanilla loading screens. The rest is up to you. Dont forget to get the billboards file too. Do NOT clean the mod plugins in xEdit. Do [NOT] install weather, exteriors and hardcore modules. Also get this and this. Lastly, some of ENB presets like Grim and Somber look fine with lighting mods, but still, look better with vanilla lighting - so if ENB preset you like doesn't officially support lighting mods, try both with and without ELFX to see which result you like more. Cloud mods only if not using weather mods. Enhanced Vanilla Trees Recommended options - large custom trees, foliage 4, realistic aspen trees support. Fantasy Forest Overhaul [or] The Blue Forest [or] Dark Forests of Skyrim Despite the mod name and initial purpose, it looks suprisingly good with photorealistic setup as well, so try it too. Natural Lighting Vivid Atmospherics Don't confuse these 2 mods - they are different. Fantasy Forest Overhaul [or] The Blue Forest [or] Dark Forests of Skyrim Despite the mod name and initial purpose, it looks suprisingly good with fantasy setup as well, so try it too. Lastly, some of ENB presets like Tetrachromatic look fine with lighting mods, but still, look better with vanilla lighting - so if ENB preset you like doesn't officially support lighting mods, try both with and without ELFX to see which result you like more. Mod list: Skyrim Realistic Overhaul Enhanced Vanilla Trees Recommended options - large custom trees, foliage 4, realistic aspen trees support. Now the grass. Grass on Steroids [or] Northern Grass Good. Palaces and Castles Enhanced Enhanced Interiors Open this mod and together with previous two ones in TES5Edit and delete all cell records that are conflicting with them.