New to SKYRIM

[Anomaly1964]

As the title says, JUST got Skyrim off STEAM. I keep hearing about mods...

Which ones are a MUST have and how do I apply them?

Thanks!

 

[norseamd]

Requiem. The must have mod for any beginner.

 

[Bateluer]

Ah, to pop the cherry.

Easiest way, head over to http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/?

Install the Nexus Mod Manager from the link at the top and create an account.

So far as which mods you want, I'd point you to the Top Files All Time list. If you've played Skyrim on the console before, grab the Alternative Start mod so you skip that 20 minute cutscene intro.

If you're into the whole have to eat and drink and can freeze to death, then Realistic Needs&Wants plus Frostfall.

I'm not into ENBs myself, but you'll want the Skyrim HD texture pack, Climates of Tamriel, and most of Cabal120's mods.

Immersive Weapons, Armors, and NPCs.

I'm also partial to Vilja in Skyrim, probably the best companion mod available. Though Sophia is funny as hell, and Inigo is pretty good too.

 

[BSim500]

I wouldn't even attempt to play Skyrim without SkyUI which fixes the absurd HUD for PC's and makes the inventory actually useful on a monitor up close. Examples:-

Stock (have to manually click on every item to see stats with "designed for TV" over-sized fonts):-
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y76/StarkeRealm/2011-11-19_00002.jpg

SkyUI (displays them in a table with all stats visible for easy comparison and customizable fonts):-
http://static-4.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/3863-1-1324522565.jpg

Aside from high-res texture packs, etc, there's also a couple of "Darker Nights" / "Darker Dungeons" plus "Brighter Torches" style mods which adds about 1,000x more atmosphere during the night / underground. Unofficial bug fixes are always good. Too many others to mention from fine-grained climate control (Climates of Tamriel, etc) and enhanced lighting to *ahem* nude skins.

Like many others I must have spent 2 days playing around with various ones before I even started the game proper:-
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/categories/?

 

[Anomaly1964]

I wouldn't even attempt to play Skyrim without SkyUI which fixes the absurd HUD for PC's and makes the inventory actually useful on a monitor up close. Examples:-

Stock (have to manually click on every item to see stats with "designed for TV" over-sized fonts):-
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y76/StarkeRealm/2011-11-19_00002.jpg

SkyUI (displays them in a table with all stats visible for easy comparison and customizable fonts):-
http://static-4.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/3863-1-1324522565.jpg

Aside from high-res texture packs, etc, there's also a couple of "Darker Nights" / "Darker Dungeons" plus "Brighter Torches" style mods which adds about 1,000x more atmosphere during the night / underground. Unofficial bug fixes are always good. Too many others to mention from fine-grained climate control (Climates of Tamriel, etc) and enhanced lighting to *ahem* nude skins.

Like many others I must have spent 2 days playing around with various ones before I even started the game proper:-
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/categories/?

You have to pay to join NEXUS?

 

[Bateluer]

You have to pay to join NEXUS?

No. But having a paid premium subscription gets you access to their faster download servers. Asshats like to DDOS their free services.

 

[Anomaly1964]

No. But having a paid premium subscription gets you access to their faster download servers. Asshats like to DDOS their free services.

Do I need to download the file manager or can I do it manually and us 7-zip?

When I try to download the 2K textures it says I need a premium account for large files?

 

[Anomaly1964]

Do I need to download the file manager or can I do it manually and us 7-zip?

When I try to download the 2K textures it says I need a premium account for large files?

I figured it out...DOH

 

[Markbnj]

Requiem. The must have mod for any beginner.

Must-have for someone who has never played vanilla yet? Not sure about that.

OP, there are waayyy too many mods to give a list here. My last play through I had like 30 of them .

The big ones were: Frostfall (survival, camping, exposure, etc.), Pure Waters, Pure Weather, Immersive Patrols, Static mesh improvement mod, high-res texture packs, a horse mod.

Google around, there are a bunch of "recommended mods" lists at places like Nexxus.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Beware, modding can be addictive. I spent more time modding than playing.

The one MUST have is the UI one (SkyUI?).

If you google there are lists and instructions for the most popular/must haves.

There is another (forget the name off the top of my head) that is a complete expansion that is really good. (starts with an F).

 

[mmntech]

I tried ENB but it ground Skyrim to a crawl. I really need to upgrade my computer sometime in the next year.

First obvious "mod" to get is the official high resolution texture pack.

Some other good ones that I use
-Better Females by Bella (Nexus) -- improves female faces to look more realistic
-No More Blocky Faces (Nexus)
-Xenius Character Enhancement (Nexus) -- another visual mod for characters
-RWB Realistic Wolf Behaviour (Workshop) -- common black wolves now run away from you unless attacked. White wolves are still aggressive though.
-Silversmithing (WS) - lets you craft silver weapons. Very handy in dungeons.
-Better Embers (WS) - improves the look of fires
-Betty Dynamic Snow (WS) - self explanatory
-Town Portal Spells (WS) - lets you use magic to warp to towns instantly without time loss. Spells can be purchased in their respective town.
-Essential Horses (WS) - horses are now an essential NPC and can't be killed
-Zelda Skyrim Modification (WS) - Lets you craft the green tunic, Hylian Shield, and Master Sword.
-That's Ice (WS) - better ice textures

 

[darkswordsman17]

OP you can also use Steam Workshop for mods. I'm sure people will tell you that Nexus is so much better but I never had any problems with the workshop mods.

 

[norseamd]

Must-have for someone who has never played vanilla yet? Not sure about that.

Shh.

 

[Dahak]

Been a while since ive played but these where the ones that I used

A Quality World Map
Auto Unequip Ammo
Blacksmit forge waterfix
Craftable Arrows
Enhanced blood textures
Fast Respawns and Rich Merchants (steam workshop)
Glowing Ore Veins
High quality 3d map
Immersive Armors
Immersive Weapons
Lore-Based Loading Screens
Mining more and faster
Organized Books
SkyUI
Unofficial Patch for -- requires dlc for it
Dawnguard
Dragonborn
Hearthfire
High Res PAck
Skyrim Patch
Unread Books Glow
W.a.t.e.r Water and Terrain Enhancement Redux
Wymstooth
Falskaard

 

[Anomaly1964]

Would I enjoy the game WITHOUT any of these?

 

[Dahak]

Would I enjoy the game WITHOUT any of these?

Oh most likely, most of the ones I have listed are minor fixes/inconveniences ones.
Except for the last two, they are like mini dlcs themselves


Another place you can look at some is gamespots' mods of the week, they usually have 4-5 community requested/recommend ones

 

[tidy]

.

 

[Morbus]

Requiem. The must have mod for any beginner.

You're joking, right?

Requiem is an excelent mod, but it's for the experienced only. Seriously, DO NOT install Requiem if you're a beginner. Just play the game for a couple of days and if you're not sick and tired of it by the (or even if you are), install Requiem and start over.

As for vanilla Skyrim, it's perfectly fine to go that route. It's not a perfect game, far from it, and the action is tedious and ever present, if that's your kind of thing, you're gonna love it.

 

[Super56K]

I personally think vanilla Skyrim is bland and buggier than if you just install the unofficial patch 'mods.' It's not a lot better with mods (and you can easily make it way worse), but I just don't have a really high opinion of the game and realize most people won't agree with my opinion.

When I do get an itch to play it usually goes like this:

Install Skyrim.
Get the mods that piqued my interest enough to re-install it.
Get all the other mods I've liked.
And then a few more I found while getting the others.
Game is now unstable and broken.
Remove some mods.
Wasn't those.
Remove some more, trying to nail down which mods don't like each other.
Keep at it until I give up and play something else.
Repeat above steps until I'm totally bored with it and uninstall.

 

[Dahak]

To further add to my list up top, even if you are not going to mod I would say at least install the Unofficial patches as they fix some things that Beth missed

 

[escrow4]

Neither. Play it vanilla first. I never understood the fascination with substandard buggy additions bolted on to an even buggier GameBryo engine.

 

[Morbus]

Because bugs don't dominate a game. An awesome game can be bugged to hell and back (Vampire Bloodlines) and a terrible game can have no obvious bugs.

Isn't it how it goes? Bugs can be fixed, but bad design is forever. The polished turd and all that.

What I mean is that, to some people, even if they have to under a couple of bugs that might potentially even break the game, it's all right as long as the game is better in itself. I remember enduring loads of crashes and all the dumb cuts when I originally played KotOR2, but I had a hell of time!

 

[Markbnj]

Shh.

Lol.

 

[Markbnj]

but I just don't have a really high opinion of the game and realize most people won't agree with my opinion.

I do, believe it or not. And that's despite having played every game since Arena at release and multiple times since. Modded up Skyrim can be much, much more immersive. Vanilla it's pretty but hollow. Modded it's much prettier, and a little less hollow. It's just enough to make it fun if only for the exploring and combat, for a time.

 

[Majcric]

Op, unless you have the 2.5gb 570 or you're using another card not in your sig, you'll have to really pick and choose your mods carefully.

Should you choose to upgrade you don't need to spend $350 to get a GPU replacement either.