Skyrim Mods

TES V: SKYRIM MODS

This list both PC mods (re: links to my preferred guides) and console mods! For the console list, I provide my list in load order, meaning that things should (hopefully) work as intended. You can install the mods in any order (on console), but will have to manually rearrange them to make them work properly and with as little conflict as possible.

Also! Please note that the PC mod guide by Lustful Lana contains 18+ content. If you do not want to install those sorts of mods, you can skip over that section of the document. However, the document is oriented toward individuals who do want an adult experience, so keep that in mind.

(PC)

SO YOU WANNA MOD SKYRIM: A GUIDE BY LUSTFUL LANA
VIEW HERE.

While following this guide, as it provides customizable experiences and provides the framework to build onto, I have made notes and such regarding how I personally tailored the list to my gameplay preferences. This includes selecting/deselecting mentioned mods, and installing others that were not on this list. I will try to break those down as best I can. This will be split into two sections: Notes/Changes and Additional Mods (split into categories).

Notes/Changes (Show/Hide)
  • Instead of downloading things via mod manager (exception later), I did manual installations and imported mods into Mod Organizer 2 via archive. This way I always had the files on hand. I prefer concrete installs.
  • Skipped instructions for mods relating to beast animations. Wasn't something I particularly wanted, but I don't shame anyone for wanting to fuck the werewolves (I love me werewolves too, just wasn't looking for it this time around).
  • Had to look up a separate guide to make the engine modifier work. That tutorial can be found here. After that, set the engine as a startup option within Mod Organizer 2 to make reloading it more convenient.
  • I noticed throughout the process that Faster HDP would crash my game. I narrowed this down during the testing process by enabling/disabling mods until the crash instance happened. To fix this, I browsed around and found a test build version of the mod that solved the issue. Instead of downloading the linked version in Lana's guide, download this version of the mod.
  • Chose BHUNP over CCBE. My dragonborn is more athletically built and I wanted to keep that canon to her; ishza loves her muscles tyvm. When installing, just keep everything base/don't change anything when prompted.
  • I did not install an ENB, as I've heard they can be notorious causes for degraded performance and/or bugs. Of course, if you believe your system can run these sorts of mods, I would say download them. I simply chose to focus on overhauls that compensated for any visual tweaks lost. You can also use ReShade, however this made my game stutter so I did eventually uninstall ReShade and just run my game vanilla in terms of lighting. It still looks incredible with all of the mods.
  • For most overhaul sections, I opted to use mods from my mods list opposed to those provided. These mods will be listed in the "Additional Mods" section by category.
  • For character-specific mods, I added most everything from the document, except for the Witcher 3 eyes.
  • Since I installed BHUNP, the bodyslide presets I installed are: XS Sporty Hardbody, Max's BHUNP 3bbb bodyslide preset 2021, and Iris.
  • I kept Schlongs of Skyrim (SOS), HIMBO, and Tempered Male Skin. For male bodies, I installed The New Gentleman.
  • Out of the options on the document, I installed opensex as it was a midway point in terms of customization and operation. I will note that the menu can be daunting, so definitely look in the Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) settings in-game and change the controls as you see fit. There is also an "auto" function, which I use in tandem with the menu to help learn the controls.<.li>
  • When finishing going through the official guide, I went through the optional section and installed: Expressive Animations. I also read the linked post about stopping Steam's updates from happening automatically, and would recommend you do the same unless you feel confident enough to continually check for/reconfigure mods for game updates.

Additional Mods (Show/Hide)
    FIXES, PATCHES, AND UI MODS
    • Trainwreck - Crash Logger
    • A Matter of Time
    • Immersive HUD - iHUD
    • SkyHUD
    • Skyrim Cheat Engine
    • PowerofThree's Tweaks
    • ImGUI Icons
    • MCM Helper

    TEXTURES AND WORLD OVERHAULS
    • True Storms
    • Insignificant Object Remover
    • Arctic - Frost Effects Redux
    • Inferno - Fire Effects Redux
    • Wet and Cold SE
    • Enhanced Blood Textures
    • A Quality World Map - Vivid with Stone Roads

    TECHNICAL OVERHAULS
    • Better Vampires (+ Survival Patch)
    • Moonlight Tales Special Edition - Werewolf and Werebear Overhaul
    • Imperious - Races of Skyrim
    • Trua - Minimalistic Faiths of Skyrim
    • Andromeda - Unique Standing Stones of Skyrim
    • Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim
    • SHOUT - A Complete Immersive and Dynamic Overhaul of all Shouts
    • Joetunn - A Troll Overhaul (Neocities didn't like the umlaut over the O, so I've spelt it out)
    • Diverse Dragons Collection
    • Immersive Movement
    • Realistic Conversations (+ Longer Pauses Patch)
    • Relationship Dialog Overhaul
    • Immersive World Encounters

    CHARACTER OVERHAULS AND CREATION
    • RS Children Overhaul
    • Night Mother - By Mandragonasprouts and Xtudo
    • Dwemer Beards SE
    • Dentist for Orismer

    CLOTHING AND ARMORS
    • Instead of listing them all, I will say that I effectively downloaded all of DeserterX's clothing and armor mods.
    • BHUNP Ranger Armor - By Alecu and XilaMonstrr
    • BHUNP Rogue Armor - By Alecu and XilaMonstrr
    • Dark Witch Armor - By Operator Cactus
    • Pride Capes v3 - By TheSilverSpoonhead
    • Apachii Divine Elegance UUNP HDT Full (+ relevant patches)
    • Redguard Armor - By HalfdanWolfheart
    • Redguard Assassin Armor - By gearshout
    • EGIL Shadow of Akavir BHUNP
    • FB - Einherjr Armor 3BA-BHUNP

    LEWD AND LASCIVIOUS
    • Open Animations 3PP
    • OCum Ascended
    • OApproach
    • oComfort
    • OMerchants - OStim Standalone
    • oPleaseLetMeGo
    • OTrainers - OStim Standalone
    • Night Blooming Violets for OStim Standalone
    • Momentary Solitude - Ladies for OStim Standalone

    MISC.
    • Barenziah Quest Markers SSE
    • Sounds of Skyrim Complete SE
    • Skyrim Horses Renewal SSE
    • Crafting Manuals - Inventory (ESPFE)
    • Halo Poser SE (Normal Version)
    • Photo Mode - By PowerofThee

(CONSOLE; XBOX)

*DISCLAIMERS: Just because these lists/load orders work for me (most of the time, anyway), doesn't mean they will work for you. Please make sure to read mod descriptions prior to installing, as there may be information about updates/compatibility!

Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch [USSEP] A vital bugfixing mod that addresses (almost) every bug within the game, and aids modders by providing the framework to change many aspects of the game. This mod is practically the baseline for your modding experience, as many (if not all) will require it.
Berserker - A god of War Font Changes the in-game font to one similar to that within the God of War franchise, by Santa Monica Studios. Most available languages are supported as well.
Cheat Room (XB1) Adds a cheat "room" that is accessible through alteration spells, and allows the player to manipulate their character's level, stats, and inventory.
Cutting Room Floor Restores cut content to Skyrim and its DLCs, including NPCs, questlines, villages, and more.
SkyHUD - Dissonance Preset by Fhaarkas SkyHUD itself is a mod that alters the user interface and allows for customizeability to create a more cinematic experience. I personally love the Dissonance preset, as it includes a slim compass, alters the placement of the stat meters, fixes letter spacing issues, and generally compacts things in a nice way.
Enhanced Blood Textures Revamps the way blood works, including adding more realistic splatters and spirts, increasing the amount based on type of wound, adding pools and trails, and altering the color/composition for creatures and machines alike.
Diverse Dragons Collection XB1 Adds over 20 new dragons to the game, each with a unique model and texture, as well as new abilities that scale with the player's level.
[XB1] Better Combat AI Enhances the way NPCs approach combat scenarios by giving unique fighting styles (re: beserkers, archers, etc.) and making them take a more tactical approach to combat overall.
World Encounters Overhaul Increases the amount of world encounter spawn points and gives Skyrim a more lively feel. Also adjusts the chances of certain encounters happening based on their general likelihood (e.g., you're more likely to find a group of hunters about than the raving madwoman).
Relationship Dialogue Overhaul - RDO Adds over 5,000 voicelines to NPCs based on several factors, including world circumstances and relationship with the player. Also works to restore dialogue that was cut from the game and fix certain bugs.
A Quality World Map - Vivid with Stone Roads Enhances the world map by adding color to reflect the climates, making roads more visible, adding more detailed textures to the landscape's overview.
Phenderix Magic World [XB1] One of the largest mods for Skyrim, this mod adds over 160 new spells (including new elements and spell types), almost completely overhauls the enchantment system, and adds hours of new content for those looking to play a magic-based build.
Divine Cities - Premier City Overhaul Revamps the major cities of Skyrim and Solstheim by adding new life to the carriage system, NPCs, and aesthetics of the holds. New content includes companions, pubs, shops, vendors, and "domestic" tasks to do within player homes (such as sweeping, journaling, and sitting by the fire).
Divine Cities: Villages An add-on to the previous mod that focuses on the smaller settlements and villages.
[XB1] Lampposts of Skyrim: Special Edition Adds lighting to the major roads of Skyrim through the introduction of... Lampposts!
Hot Springs of Skyrim Adds new hot spring locations across Skyrim, as the landscape is shaped by seismic activity. There are, with this mod, now 10 new locations to explore and take a break from it all.
Visible Windows High Res Revamps the textures of windows to make them feel more realistic/fitting to their surrounding architecture.
Immersive Patrols Makes the streets of Skyrim feel more lively by adding Stormcloack, Thalmor, Imperial, and Dawnguard patrols. These changes will reflect your gameplay (e.g., wiping out an enemy faction's camps will diminish their patrols, as well as your own), and these patrols will attack each other (and the player) on sight if their relationship is less than savory.
RS Children Overhaul Changes the appearance of all the existing children in the game with higher textures, and adds some basic clothing and accessories that will give more unique appearances to story-relevant children.
Amadioha's KS Hairstyles II Adds several hairstyles created by Kalilies & Stealthic, and provides a console port for their official mod "KS Hairdos SSE" (which includes over 900 hairstyles, but has to be split for console ports due to the immense size).
Amadioha's KS Hairstyles IV Adds several hairstyles created by Kalilies & Stealthic, and provides a console port for their official mod "KS Hairdos SSE" (which includes over 900 hairstyles, but has to be split for console ports due to the immense size).
Amadioha's KS Hairstyles V Adds several hairstyles created by Kalilies & Stealthic, and provides a console port for their official mod "KS Hairdos SSE" (which includes over 900 hairstyles, but has to be split for console ports due to the immense size).
King Ports - KS Hairs Luna's Pack Adds several hairstyles created by Kalilies & Stealthic, and provides a console port for their official mod "KS Hairdos SSE" (which includes over 900 hairstyles, but has to be split for console ports due to the immense size).
Tempers Favorite KS Hairdo's Female Edition Adds several hairstyles created by Kalilies & Stealthic, and provides a console port for their official mod "KS Hairdos SSE" (which includes over 900 hairstyles, but has to be split for console ports due to the immense size).
Warrior Woman - HG Hairs Adds several hairstyles for female characters that have a more traditional "viking" aesthetic.
Johnny's Hair Pack Adds several hairstyles for both male and female characters.
KS Hair - Eivor - Male Only AAdds a new hairstyle for men, that is not compatible with beast races.
The Eyes of Your Soul Replaces vanilla eye textures with more HD ones, as well as adds a wide variety of new eyes.
A Dentist for Orismers by redtox Enhances the teeth and tusks of orcs, both for the player and for NPCs, both by adding different textures and increasing their prominence.
Dwemer Beards | by Anuiel, NVNNN, & pmb52086 Adds a variety of new beards in a Dwemeric fashion, including intricate braiding and forged beads/decorations.
Cloaks & Capes [XB1] Adds craftable fur and linen capes, both in plain varieties and branded with the logo of the various holds.
Cloaks of Skyrim [XB1] Adds almost 100 new craftable styles of cloak to Skyrim, and includes levelled-lists and static look. Also includes plain varieties and those for hold guards.
King Ports - Skyrim Attire UNP by ZzJay Adds and ports a collection of dresses that can be found in a special chest within the Temple of Mara.
King Ports - Redguard Fashion by Tasheni Adds and ports various outfits and armors to fit the cultural garb of the Redguards. This mod includes shawls, headwear, amored and unarmored clothing, and more.
King Ports - Nereid Pirate UNP Adds and ports a unique pirate outfit with several variations and layerable pieces.
King Ports Expressionator For the virtual photographers out there, this mod adds a lesser power spell to set the expression on the player character's model. Also allows for adjustments to the expression's intensity.
Viking Armors by M0ckin9bird Adds several armor pieces, inventory items, and settlement-style dresses to fit the viking-esque setting of Skyrim.
Elven Lake Dress by Ellxe Adds a craftable, light armor classified dress that's inspired by a more "seductive" style and comes in a variety of colors.
Wilderness Witch UNP 1K Provides the port for a stylish, "witchy" outfit which includes a base, gauntlets, and boots.
Toughened Traveler UNP 1K Adds a casual, worn leather outfit for both male and female characters.
Hunting Grounds Outfit Male & UNP 1K Adds a unique leather outfit for those who have allied themselves with Hircine.
Skyrim Flora Overhaul {XB1} | by vurt Completely overhauls Skyrim's environment through texture upgrades and new additions. This mod includes several new tree models, over 100 new textures for all flora, and adds environmental compatibility (e.g., snowy trees are bent by the snow).
Shout - A Complete Immersive and Dynamic Overhaul of all Shouts Alters and overhauls nearly every shout in the game by increasing damage/duration, reducing cooldowns, and adding new and unique effects to certain shouts.
Trua - Minimalistic Faiths of Skyrim Creates a more immersive system for the in-game shrine blessings, including the ability to pray for extended bonuses and adjusting these bonuses at the base level.
Andromeda - Unique Standing Stones of Skyrim Replaces the vanilla effects on the Standing Stones with two new abilities per stone, and provides a unique bonus for those who discover all Standing Stones.
Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim Overhauls the perk system by adding several new perks (for a total of 469), adjusting the stats of base-game perks, and providing players with an avenue to create a plethora of new character builds.
Sounds of Skyrim - Complete Edition Adds over 400 circumstantial and immersive sound effects to the game's world, making it feel more lively whether the player is in a major city, or out in the sparse wilds.
Better Vampires 8.7 XB1 Completely overhauls the vampire race to make the experience as easy or brutal as you desire. There's a customization power in the spell menu that allows for various stats to be changed, such as when NPCs will grow hostile, how much the sun damages you, and much, much more.
[XB1] Moonlight Tales Special Edition - Werewolf and Werebear Overhaul Completely overhauls the werewolf race to add an extensive perk tree, "innovative roaring system" (yes, this is official wording), adds werebears as a new species, lunar transformations and cyclic effects, and much more.
Imperious - Races of Skyrim Makes the races of Skyrim feel more diverse by overhauling racial abilities, powers, and stats, and by giving each race three new abilities, and a "birthright" quest to unlock their true inner potential.
Classic Classes and Birthsigns Allows for the player to revert back to the older game systems and choose a birthsign and class (as well as create a custom class) upon creating their characters.
Race Height Tweaks Adjusts the heights of Skyrim's races to make them more accurate to the written lore. Elves are proper tall, and humans come in many different sizes.
Divine Skins and Bodies for Men and Women Gives character models new textures and meshes, as well as overhauls some existing files (e.g., scars now have toning that better matches the chosen skintone of the character).
Night Mother - By Mandragonasprouts and Xtudo Replaces the Night Mother to look more haunting, giving her an appearance more akin to the draugr, but with those touches of preservation that show the Dark Brotherhood's care for her.
The Paarthunax Dilemma Adds the option to keep Paarthunax alive and maintain allyship—albeit a tense one—with the Blades. Also increases the difficulty of slaying him, as he had said he was going to teach others the Way of the Voice. Either way, makes the main quest's resolution feel more impactful.
[XB1] Rich Merchants of Skyrim: Special Edition Adjusts merchant inventories and gives each vanilla merchant approximately 10k gold.
Stones of Barenziah Quest Markers Solves the problem of never completing the Stones of Barenziah quest without a guide (for us forgetful players) by adding quest markers to each location.
Magical College of Winterhold Aesthetically enhances the College of Winterhold and gives it a more professional and enchanted look. Each NPC has a uniquely decorated room, there are now study lecterns in the library, and the Archmage quarters feels more authoritative and functional.
Lush Overhaul Revamps the meshes of trees, plants, and other flora to make them more lush.
Enhanced Night Skyrim [XB1] Originally created by CptJoker, this mod changes the night sky by adding high resolution stars, increasing the amount of stars in the night sky, and adding a gorgeous nebula to create variety.
ELE Interior Lighting Overhaul Reduces ambient lighting from interiors, allowing light source to realistically illuminate their environments.
Skyrim Horses Renewal 1k Originally created by Fuse00 and ported to console, this mod completely revitalizes horses by creating new meshes, textures, and animations for Skyrim horses.
Joetunn - A Troll Overhaul Revamps Skyrim's trolls to make them more powerful and intimidating via physical appearance changes and stat buffs. Neocities didn't like the umlaut over the O, so I've spelt it out.
Immersive Citizens - AI Overhaul An incredibly immersive mod that improves the AI of friendly NPCs in order to make them more reactive to their environments, as well as evaluate danger and respond to it more realistically. Citizens now have improved schedules, are not confined to these schedules, and much more.
Cabbage Follower Adds a unique, non-marriagable follower that is... just a head of cabbage. Because why not. It also uses Palpatine lightning.
Realistic Conversations (XB1) Revamps Skyrim's "social logic", allowing for NPCs to talk more often to each other, greet the player at a reasonable distance, and will avoid repeat conversations with those they have already interacted with in a certain period of time.
XP32 Maximum Skeleton + Realistic Ragdolls and Force Adjusts the skeleton and bone mechanics, allowing for more fluid animations, amongst other things. This version also includes realistic ragdolls and force, which fixes the "ice-like" sliding of bodies.
Joy of Perspective [XB1] Adjusts the skeleton and bone mechanics, allowing for a more realistic perspective. Also allows for the player character to have an actual body when looking down, opposed to mysterious empty space.
Joy of Perspective - XP32 Max Skeleton Patch A patch that makes Joy of Perspective compatible with XP32 Maximum Skeleton.
Immersive Movement Reworks player, NPC, animal, and creature movements to feel more believable and realistic. Changes include adjusted speeds (e.g., sneaking is weighty and slow), heavy weapons and armor will impact the ability to move around/dodge in combat, apex predators move faster, and draugr move more "zombie like".
BIG: More Kill Moves and Decapitations Combines several BIG (Better Improvements for Gameplay) mods into an all-in-one file, and improves the lethality of Skyrim's combat. Changes include unlocking the ability to get more than one kill move (cinematic camera) during a battle, adding missing/cut kill moves for creatures, and unlocking the ability to decapitate enemies without specific perks.
Victoria's High Heel Walk Animations Plus BBP Adjusts the walk animations for the female player character, giving a more confident "fashion model" vibe. Also includes... breast bouncing. For realism, of course.
Undead FX [XB1] Reanimates the undead of Skyrim by giving those brought back to the land of the living a unique visual effect, making the usage of necromancy that much more intriguing.
Luminous Atronachs Gives atronachs the ability to properly emit light, in which the intensity and color is based on their element.
True Storms Special Edition [XBOX] - Rain Thunder and Weather Redone Completely redoes the weather system in Skyrim, including varying intensities of storm, adding unique weathers, and amping up the textures and effects of each weather type.
Lore-Friendly Weather Tweaks for True Storms A patch for True Storms that tones down some of the drama of the mod and creates a more universal visual experience, while keeping the brunt of the aforementioned overhauls.
Realistic Water Two SE Creates more fluid water through revamping surface textures, water effects, and animations.
Inferno - Fire Effects Redux + Smoking Torches and Candles + Candle Glow Creates more intense fires through revamping surface textures, flame effects, and animations.
Arctic - Frost Effects Redux Improves the textures, effects, and meshes applied to frost spells, as well as colder enivronments, for a more chilling experience. I'm not sorry for that pun.
Wet and Cold (XB1) Adds weather-dependent visual effects, as well as AI enhancements, to the player character and NPCs alike. The cold will actually wear on your character, they will be wet after taking a plunge into large bodies of water, and NPCs will avoid adverse weathers by going home, or to the nearest inn.
Underwater Grass Remover Removes underwater grass to improve the overall performance of the game.
Skyland AIO An all-in-one version of the Skyland mods, which feature high-quality texture overhauls covering everything from architecture and landscapes. A fun fact, this mod was created from 4K 3D scans of real world surfaces.
Skyland LODs Includes the LODs (level of detail settings) for Skyland AIO, including things such as landscape and architecture parameters, Texture Generation (TexGen), and other technical items.
Verdant - A Skyrim Grass Plugin Revamps the spawning and appearance of grass by adding more density, adjusting the appearance based on climate/hold, and so forth.
Color Patches Remover [XB1 / Series] Removes color patches that may appear with the use of mods, particularly those that edit in-game textures.
[XB1] Insignificant Object Remover Reduces the density of insignificant objects within the game, such as tiny pebbles, dead shrubs, and other enivronmental items that are actually spawned in as grass (and thus can strain the game's framerate).
Alternate Start - Live Another Life Spawns the player in a jail cell, where they may create their character, then interact with a statue of Mara to choose how the game starts. Provides an option for the vanilla start at Helgen, as well as race-specific starts. Likewise, there are community add-ons for this mod that will add a variety of additional start options.