Improving Skyrim / Recommended Mods thread (Mostly about Requiem)

[mastroego]

I've been advocating a lightweight Requiem build for quite some time.
We probably share some choices there, I bet, too. Not like I'm going to check every item...

 

[cretin]

I've been advocating a lightweight Requiem build for quite some time.
We probably share some choices there, I bet, too. Not like I'm going to check every item...

https://loadorderlibrary.com/lists/moonshadow-wip

list isnt too long and tis separated by categories

It seems very tasteful and well thought out. Actually when my new PC arrives I'll install this I'm pretty sure.

 

[Ramnozack]

I've been advocating a lightweight Requiem build for quite some time.
We probably share some choices there, I bet, too. Not like I'm going to check every item...

https://loadorderlibrary.com/lists/moonshadow-wip

list isnt too long and tis separated by categories

It seems very tasteful and well thought out. Actually when my new PC arrives I'll install this I'm pretty sure.

Why not just play lalaland, has 3bftweaks, good graphics that arent too demanding, and is otherwise pretty lightweight.

 

[mastroego]

I've been advocating a lightweight Requiem build for quite some time.
We probably share some choices there, I bet, too. Not like I'm going to check every item...

https://loadorderlibrary.com/lists/moonshadow-wip

list isnt too long and tis separated by categories

It seems very tasteful and well thought out. Actually when my new PC arrives I'll install this I'm pretty sure.

It's still like 2 or 3 times as many mods as I have. If not more.
Not saying it's bad of course. Lots of stuff I don't know.

 

[cretin]

I've been advocating a lightweight Requiem build for quite some time.
We probably share some choices there, I bet, too. Not like I'm going to check every item...

https://loadorderlibrary.com/lists/moonshadow-wip

list isnt too long and tis separated by categories

It seems very tasteful and well thought out. Actually when my new PC arrives I'll install this I'm pretty sure.

Why not just play lalaland, has 3bftweaks, good graphics that arent too demanding, and is otherwise pretty lightweight.

cant even find that on wabbajack.

 

[Late Bloomer]

cant even find that on wabbajack.

Not that I would endorse this modlist but here is a link

https://github.com/rsdbhamre/Lalaland

 

[cretin]

yeah I ended up finding it through the discord maze and I'm immediately turned off because not only is it roughly 4x the size, it involves manually fucking around with files to install. Defeats the entire *point* of using this program in the first place. Moreover, the mod author has pins about increasing pagefile to address memory crashes - great sign of a poorly made mod full of bloat.

 

[cretin]

then again moonshadow requires the paid upgrade so LOL i might have to go with a bloatware list

ironically wildlander is one of the smallest lists.

 

[Ramnozack]

lalaland uses graphics from the AVO modlist which is a modlist dedicated soley to graphics. Its optimized enough you should be able to run it no problem, might have to turn the ENB off if you have a potato though. They simply used that list as basis for the graphics and then added the requiem stuff on top of it. Doesnt really require any fucking around with files other than downloading two things from google drive and putting them in the wabbajack download folder, pagefile stuff is for when you have a potato and run out of vram and have to use system ram, not bloatware. Its a pretty good list with simple requiem 3bftweaks gameplay and good graphics, but if you have a potato with a 256gb HDD, then moonshadow might the way to go for you

 

[Chippy]

I've never played Skyrim before, but might give the Anniversary Edition a go now. I don't want to read through all the 257 pages, so, in brief, what mods are recommendable? I run a GTX 980 with a 1920x1080 screen, so some graphic mods which aren't too demanding might be interesting.

Get skse, SkyUI, the unofficial patches for the base game and DLC, QuickLoot RE, Consistent Sensitivity, SSE Display Tweaks (for high refresh rates without breaking the physics), Skyrim Upscaler (DLAA for superior antialiasing or DLSS/FSR/XeSS for lower energy consumption or something). I missed the part about GTX 980, however FSR2 could still be viable if performance issues occur, though you should be fine with 1080@60.

Try to avoid graphical upgrades, like texture packs and shit - they're usually quite hardware demanding and most often suck.

What this poster is really asking (like I am) is what mods make the best boobs in Skyrim these days?.

p.s. Skyrim SE reduced by 75% or so now on GOG.

pps: we should have a Skyrim boobs and ass thread. Seriously: who plays this game for anything else?.

 

[Chippy]

Stupid question, you are running it through ModOrganizer2, right?

Yes, Why? Shouldn't I?
In the intructions guide, it is required to launch the patch in order for the mod to work.

These mod organisers work? I had a perfectly running game years ago, then used an organiser and it gave all the babes schlongs broke my game.

 

[Chippy]

I would love to replay Skyrim. I'm afraid of the amount of shit I would end up installing, I've been out of the scene completely since 2014. Though I've learned a lot by modding New Vegas and Morrowind.
One day, though.

I'm gonna devote about 1 weekday per week to the GOG SE version and see how it plays out over time. Then one day is a possibility.

 

[mastroego]

Stupid question, you are running it through ModOrganizer2, right?

Yes, Why? Shouldn't I?
In the intructions guide, it is required to launch the patch in order for the mod to work.

These mod organisers work? I had a perfectly running game years ago, then used an organiser and it gave all the babes schlongs broke my game.

It's unthinkable not to use them.
Of course you need to start a game with it. And better stick with your setup too.

I forced myself to do it, finally, and playing through the game, finally, felt like a coherent experience.
I've shared my "minimal" Requiem setup before in this thread. If you're interested I can dig it up.

 

[Chippy]

Stupid question, you are running it through ModOrganizer2, right?

Yes, Why? Shouldn't I?
In the intructions guide, it is required to launch the patch in order for the mod to work.

These mod organisers work? I had a perfectly running game years ago, then used an organiser and it gave all the babes schlongs broke my game.

It's unthinkable not to use them.
Of course you need to start a game with it. And better stick with your setup too.

I forced myself to do it, finally, and playing through the game, finally, felt like a coherent experience.
I've shared my "minimal" Requiem setup before in this thread. If you're interested I can dig it up.

That's cool, I think I might just got through my mod list for vanilla Skyrim, download all the mods and check compatiblilty for SE, and then run them through this Modorganizer2 thing after installing according to my records.

It's probably a 'jizz at the game and see if it lands on the jiggling boobs approach' and it'll probably take ages, but I'll give it a go.

 

[Chippy]

I keep thinking I'm playing BG and installing mods from there in a specific order to overwrite other mods. AFAIK you can install them in any order and then let the Modorganizer2 sort them out. Unless the mod creator specifically mentions an install order.

Also discovered this mod here: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/39043

Which does this: This mod incorporates almost every perk from Growl, Bloodmoon Rising and Werewolf Perks Expanded into a single tree. The combined werewolf tree features a total of 47 perks compared to vanilla's 11 which allows for a lot more gameplay options.

Sounds like fun. Just need to get up to speed on the latest vampire bloodlines mod for SE now and any hybrid mods that allow you to play both.

 

[Late Bloomer]

AFAIK you can install them in any order and then let the Modorganizer2 sort them out. Unless the mod creator specifically mentions an install order.

Mod Organizer 2 lets you know which files are taking priority. The left hand pane will have a symbol that looks like lightning bolt with either a + or - sign for those cases.

As a foundation for your load order use this

https://loot.github.io/

You can point MO2 at it from the drop down menu, giving you the ability to launch Loot from MO2.

As you have stated, make sure to follow the advice of the mod authors if they do state where they prefer their mods to go in your load order.

As a general rule, you can safely follow this if you are wanting to be more hands on.

Patches and bug fixes
Big mods and overhauls that affect the entire game
Quest mods (big or small)
Environments/weather Overhauls
Large add-ons that add cities/towns/land masses
Adds buildings to current cities/towns
Plants and foliage mods for the entire game
Gameplay changes/tweaks/add-ons such as combat/magic/perks/etc
Changes/add-ons to NPCs
Visual/textural/atmospheric changes
Sound/audio/FX alterations
Sorting, menu, and player & NPC inventory
Cheat items
Character model replacements
Weapons/armor/clothing add-ons/additions
Crafting related mods
Misc. items, as well as small scale foliage
Weapon/armor/clothing alterations
Specific mods that need to be loaded at the bottom as directed by the mod author
Mods that remove graphical effects, like disabling godrays, to improve performance - this goes last to ensure that all mod added effects get disabled too.

 

[gurugeorge]

I keep thinking I'm playing BG and installing mods from there in a specific order to overwrite other mods. AFAIK you can install them in any order and then let the Modorganizer2 sort them out. Unless the mod creator specifically mentions an install order.

Also discovered this mod here: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/39043

Which does this: This mod incorporates almost every perk from Growl, Bloodmoon Rising and Werewolf Perks Expanded into a single tree. The combined werewolf tree features a total of 47 perks compared to vanilla's 11 which allows for a lot more gameplay options.

Sounds like fun. Just need to get up to speed on the latest vampire bloodlines mod for SE now and any hybrid mods that allow you to play both.

MO2 is really amazing for if you want to have several different modded versions of the game. Effectively, you can be working on one mod setup (profile), totally break it, and in the next breath go to another settled profile and just continue playing the game - which gets around one of the biggest problems with modding Bethesda games, which was always that you'd get into some modding nightmare and be unable to play the game again until you'd sorted it out. (The situation has been complicated by the more recent possibility of having per-profile mods that work outside the data folder, but that's a whole other thing and it's best to understand the simple way of using MO2 before you get into those types of mods.)

But to use MO2 effectively, there are three cardinal things you have to remember, otherwise modding with MO2 can get potentially as nightmarish and confusing as raw modding (some of this you won't understand until you've used MO2 a bit, but I'm putting it all here so that you have a reference point):-

1) Always keep Overwrite clear (the last item at the bottom of the left hand pane). Basically if there's anything in Overwrite, make a mod out of it (R-click on Overwrite, if there's something in it, and you'll find the option to create a mod out of it) and name it appropriately as a mod of its own for that profile. Overwrite is the same in all profiles, so it's possible, if you're tired or confused after a long session of modding, to get into a situation where files that are relevant to one profile are interfering with another profile and fucking it up.

2) With some of the bigger mods (e.g. Water mods) they're so interdependent with various other mods, that you will often need to copy and name or reinstall with a different name (in left pane) a specific named version of that mod per profile, with its own set of tweaks and dependencies with other mods specific to that profile.

3) If you do get confused, check the Data tab (in right pane) because that shows you what the game "sees" when you fire it up (i.e. it shows the virtual data folder MO2 creates for that profile). Moreover, if you hover over items in the data tab, you can see both the virtual path (or to put it another way, the orthodox path a non-virtual version of the mod would have if you were doing raw modding) and the real path of that item (which real files the virtual file system is drawing from to produce the virtual data folder the game sees in that profile). The functionality in the left pane of right clicking - information - conflicts helps in a similar way, but the Data tab + hovering over items is a quick and dirty way of gleaning similar relevant information in most circumstances.

 

[Chippy]

Late Bloomer & gurugeorge Much appreciated, thanks. Codex is always the place where answers are given. I have to say, that out of all RPGs, Skyrim is probably the most enhanced and the community has done the most with it.

If anything Bethesda seem to be the ones ruining it. Many of the mods on my list are not compatible with the SE after I've just upgraded from the LE. 'Familiar Faces is an example - where you can import a previous player character into a further game as a follower. So say someone creates a Kathleen Kennedy player character, you can import the bitch and do all sorts to her in a dungeon in another game. Just saying.

But these mods have caught my interest:
Warzones expansion pack: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/2365/?tab=description
Better Vampire Lords (further mod to Better Vampires): https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/89445
A Witcher's Adventure: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/38626

I might install this one if I'm brave. It says in the description that the Witcher perks are separate from other perks to avoid incompatibilities.

Also (I@ve asked this before, but would be interested in another opinion) would people go for Requiem or a perk overhaul mod like Perkus Maximus?. Not much point in asking I think. Requiem seem to be as old school as Skyrim will ever get.

Edit: In fact it seems that Requiem is almost incompatible with everything.

 

[TheHeroOfTime]

Is there any good quest mods lately? I think the last one I played was "Moonpath to Elsweyr" or something like that. Almost ten years ago lol.

 

[mastroego]

I will reiterate what I said earlier.
What you get with Requiem is a coherent game.
Not a perfect one perhaps, but a game with its own structure.

Trying to add this mod or that will very likely leave you frustrated with a patchwork game that never feels whole, or its own thing.
I've been there.
So at last I with Requiem, some immersion oriented additions, very FEW gameplay mods that do fit well with Requiem, and that was that.

 

[Hirato]

If anything Bethesda seem to be the ones ruining it. Many of the mods on my list are not compatible with the SE after I've just upgraded from the LE. 'Familiar Faces is an example - where you can import a previous player character into a further game as a follower. So say someone creates a Kathleen Kennedy player character, you can import the bitch and do all sorts to her in a dungeon in another game. Just saying.

You should have a look around, there are more than likely new SE mods that fill a similar niche.
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/62934

 

[Chippy]

Is there any good quest mods lately? I think the last one I played was "Moonpath to Elsweyr" or something like that. Almost ten years ago lol.

If I come across anything in my current experimentation to get a game modded and running I'll mention it. So far the 'Better Vampires' mod seems to have added a separate cave/area with quests, and I think there's another one with vampire weapons that have quests. These are both separate mods.

Also the 'Warzones' mod has added something called Warzones Assault that makes a siege/quest out of additional strongholds or something like that. I haven't played either, but from past playthroughs, both modders are excellent in their quality.

 

[Rean]

Warzones back on LE was a fucking mess. Awful performance, crashes, bricking saves. The author has been making those types of mods since FNV and it's been a disaster every time.
Go with something else if you're playing SE, there are so many things to choose from.

 

[Wayward Son]

I usually play with Character Creation Overhaul, Imperious Races, Andromeda Standing Stones, Realm of Lorkhan, and Wintersun. Makes for a decent amount of difference in the character creation aspect. All pretty lightweight too

 

[cretin]

I'm playing Arkay's Commandment. I like it a lot aside from the dumb meme mods added in (theres a laugh track when you die - this is the sort of thing very bored 10k hour + skyrim players get up to apparently), thankfully disabled without any problem, but the fucking thing is taking up 165gb on my SSD. ~75 of that is just the downloaded mod archives, which you need to keep unless you want to redownload it all whenever an update is pushed. All this nonsense just because MODDERSSS refuse to allow their mods to be in a single collection that could be delta patched instead of this retarded system.