Skyrim mods for new players

[Otto-matic]

So after HN finally coughed up my copy of Skyrim today, I'm wondering what mods would people recommend for a new player or should I just go vanilla?

I've played Oblivion before with no mods (didn't like it that much), Fallout 3 with mods (liked this a little better, but never finished after I accidentally shortcutted the story).

[Bicketybam]

Make sure you get the Nexus Mod Manager at SkyNexus. (I much prefer the Nexus for mods rather then Steam Workshop, as much easier to find mod and see if they are updated etc)

As for mods, I would try some of these first :

SkyUI
Water
Realistic Lighting With Customisation
Categorized Favorites Menu
JaySuS Swords

Also check out the Bug Fix Category on the Nexus for things Bethesda have missed, best to sort by Endorsements or downloads

There are some other mods that are really good to use, but I don't know what you like or if you want to play more vanilla first. Some of the other ones that I have are things like :

Midas Magic
More Craftables
Smithing Perks Overhaul
UFO - Ultimate Follower Overhaul

That should get you started. I also have a look at MXR's youtube channel and he reviews different mods each week, some good, some bad etc. There's also a heap of other Skyrim Mod reviewers if you don't like him.

Hope that helps.

[André Axe'm]

Valve have been continually upgrading the steam workshop, it works pretty well now.

As for mods, definately SkyUI. Others that would be good for a vanilla type playthrough are the Sounds of Skyrim packs, Realistic Ragdolls & Force.

[Kendrite]

I've played a few dozen hours and am determined to keep my first play-through as vanilla as possible. I've only installed SkyUI, just because the original menu was so cumbersome.

Having said that it's been about 8 weeks since I touched it and am about to restart so will watch this thread with interest.

[Instinx]

The Unofficial Skyrim Patch is now available, so definitely that.

[Sathias]

Definitely the HD textures pack and Sounds of Skyrim. Fixed Followers Lite helps with follower issues, and if you are of a thievery persuasion, Shenks Thievery Overhaul.

[Bicketybam]

Oh, I thought of another one that is very useful Glowing Ore Veins. The default is just terrible compared to these.

[Shinanigans]

Anyone got a link to the best HD textures pack? I'd really prefer something that's all in one. All i could find on Steam Workshop was a bunch of random improvements to towns. Couldn't find one ring to rule them all, if one exists.

[Instinx]

Anyone got a link to the best HD textures pack? I'd really prefer something that's all in one. All i could find on Steam Workshop was a bunch of random improvements to towns. Couldn't find one ring to rule them all, if one exists.

The Bethesda HD pack is enough for me, other then that i just have a few smaller HD addons like XCE for characters and SMIM for amazing polycounts

[thefinn]

The answer to this depends on if you're after immersion, or more of an arcade feel too..

Grab the DLC Textures.

Patches:
Unofficial Skyrim Patch
HD Texture DLC Fix

Lots of immersive mods there...

Immersive HUD
Realistic Lighting with Customisation
Cowardly Horses
Realistic Ragdoll
Birds and Flocks
Guardian Stones Overhaul <- surprising what a huge difference this makes to early gameplay and to stop you levelling as fast
Enhanced Dynamic Weather System
Tougher Traps
WATER

All good mods... I have a heap more I have over 100 installed usually

I also made a thread about fixing shadows here on nexus:
http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/ ... articular/

[Otto-matic]

For the textures I used the Skyrim HD 2k Textures pack from Nexus. Seems to be pretty good. Noticed a difference straight away between the opening scene to get all the ini files, then when I watched it again after the mods.

[Shinanigans]

Anyone got a link to the best HD textures pack? I'd really prefer something that's all in one. All i could find on Steam Workshop was a bunch of random improvements to towns. Couldn't find one ring to rule them all, if one exists.

The Bethesda HD pack is enough for me, other then that i just have a few smaller HD addons like XCE for characters and SMIM for amazing polycounts

Durp. Realised there's a texture pack "DLC" on Steam for it

Some nice, mostly subtle improvements. The weapons/arms look much nicer and Windhelm isn't such an eye-sore. It's a nice overall improvement, which is exactly what I was after

Cheers!

[thefinn]

Yeah my bad there, that 2k textures is actually the one I use. I mis-spoke apologies.

I actually wrote up a "re-install" procedure for a really decent install for a high-end machine here:
http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/ ... p__5279986

[Bicketybam]

Durp. Realised there's a texture pack "DLC" on Steam for it

Some nice, mostly subtle improvements. The weapons/arms look much nicer and Windhelm isn't such an eye-sore. It's a nice overall improvement, which is exactly what I was after

Cheers!

Just make sure you grab the HD Textures Fix as it makes a difference. I first notice how the fires were wonky and then you see it on the 'fix' page what they corrected.

[PlasmaDavid]

Bit of a BUMP.

I'm hoping to snap up Skyrim when IT GOES ON SALE REALLY CHEAP during the Steam summer sale...

Any good compilation mods yet? Or is still a case of mix-and-match them yourself?

After seeing the difference the POOP compilation made to Oblivion, I'm not even going to bother with vanilla Skyrim.