A big part of what makes Skyrim such a beloved video game is the vast swath of mods available. Fans have created mods that cater to each and every gameplay element, becoming so crucial to enjoying the game that most people consider these mods to be essential to the Skyrim experience.

Perhaps the greatest example of "mod mandating" can be found in Skyrim's combat system, which in terms of mechanics, feels rather lacking in the vanilla version for modern standards. With a little help from the following mods, however, you can revamp enemies and battles to feel fun and challenging.

Updated on October 17, 2023, by Jack Pierik: As you might already know, the Skyrim modding community is always hard at work, continuing to deliver new content and improvements on a beloved and nostalgic game that is now over a decade old since its initial release. If you've done a few modded playthroughs, you also may have noticed combat-related mods have skyrocketed in popularity over the years; vanilla combat, after all, feels fairly dated at this point.

If you like overhauls, Sekiro-style combat, or feel like spellcasters need a little bit of love, you'll want to check out these new entries.

13 Wildcat: A Complete Combat Overhaul

• Download Link: Wildcat - Combat of Skyrim

Wildcat is one of the best combat overhaul mods to date, reworking everything from enemy AI, damage, and block timing, to faster-paced combat, injuries, staggers, stamina costs, and more. If anything isn't to your liking, Wildcat also has an expansive list of in-game settings you can tweak.

This mod makes every encounter gripping, dangerous, and challenging; you'll have to prepare, plan, and react accordingly. Yes, these rules even include those of you running a Khajit stealth archer build for the 15th time, or archmages spamming Destruction spells.

12 Inpa Sekiro Combat: Sekiro Style Combat Mechanics

• Download Link: Inpa Sekiro Combat

It's no secret that Sekiro has some seriously satisfying combat mechanics, so it follows that someone would replace Skyrim's vanilla combat system with Sekiro's at some point. Instead of stamina, both you and your enemies will have a posture bar, which drains every time you block or deflect attacks.

If your posture hits zero, you become completely vulnerable to attacks. There's also a poise system, where you and enemies alike can be staggered from hits and parries. Also, if you're only in it for style points, this mod lets you deflect arrows and spells if you time it right.

11 Spellsiphon: A Sensible Rework On Spell Mechanics

• Download Link: Spellsiphon - Immersive Combat

While Skyrim provides a plentiful array of spells to use, there is a fatal, immersion-breaking flaw in the vanilla experience: flicking through menus mid-combat to switch to a different spell. Not only does Spellsiphon fix this issue with a streamlined, reworked system, it also:

• Creates weapon and spell synergies, with a focus on combos and chains.
• Focuses on mechanics that serve a variety of functions, rather than an expansive list of spells with specific use cases.
• Adds skill-based magicka regeneration; magicka regenerates faster if you perform combos or synergies.
• Reworks bound weapons to make them more viable in the late game.

10 Archery Gameplay Overhaul

• Download Link: Archery Gameplay Overhaul

Being a stealth archer is one of the most common combat styles in Skyrim due to the winning combo of simplicity and effectiveness. After a few dozen hours, however, players will often get bored with the rather basic archery.

This is where the Archery Gameplay Overhaul mod comes into the picture. It adds a bunch of tweaks to improve archery in the game, such as enchanted arrows, better animations, bleeding effects, and a whole host of other impressive changes.

9 Ultimate Combat

• Download Link: Ultimate Combat

Per the lore, Skyrim hosts many of the most ferocious foes in all of Tamriel. Per the gameplay, maybe not so much. The enemy AI is predictable, to put it lightly, and not exactly innovative. This can get grating after a while, especially when players start overpowering their opponents with a mix of high levels and good gear.

Ultimate Combat aims to improve the battles of Skyrim by making them more realistic and challenging. Enemies have better AI, there are more Power Attacks to use in the game, and a poise system is also integrated into the mix. Stagger resistance, timed blocks, locational damage boosts — Ultimate Combat rewards us for thinking rather than mindlessly slashing.

8 The Ultimate Dodge Mod Reanimated

• Download Link: Ultimate Dodge Mod Reanimated

The aim of this mod is fairly self-explanatory. It adds a way to dodge in Skyrim so that combat feels more fluid and responsive. If you're intimately familiar with Skyrim's vanilla combat, this is a welcome change.

The original Ultimate Dodge mod is decent enough as it, but the revamped animations brought about by Reanimated makes it even better. Try it out in conjunction with Ultimate Combat, and you'll make Skryim's combat feel, at the very least, fresh and novel, and at best, reignite your spark for another full playthrough.

7 Animated Armoury

• Download Link: Animated Armory

The weapons of Skyrim might be quite numerous, but they do get rather boring to use after a point. After all, the vast majority of these weapons have the same moveset, so it's only their stats and aesthetics that govern whether the player would use them further down the line.

Animated Armoury takes care of this issue by integrating new weapons into the world of Skyrim that have unique movesets of their own. It brings about a change to the gameplay that isn't palpable at first glance, but makes a world of difference further down the line when it comes to improving the feel of combat in the game.

6 Mortal Enemies

• Download Link: Mortal Enemies

If there is one word new players tend to add to their vernacular regularly, it's "caveats." Skyrim's combat is bursting with caveats. Enemies are entirely too accurate but typically too weak; broadswords feel too airy; the list goes on.

Mortal Enemies changes this system by making enemies more realistic. They won't be able to move around with impunity while attacking and will be more inaccurate with their attacks. If this sounds like a reduced difficulty mod, it mostly isn't? But if you're worried it will make things too easy by proxy, combine it with some tougher mod fare and you'll be set.

5 Skyrim Unleveled

• Download Link: Skyrim Unleveled

For the most part, the areas where players can roam about in Skyrim are leveled along with the player to scale difficulty. However, players who want their playthrough of Skyrim to be a touch more... we'll say sadistic, should download the Skyrim Unleveled mod.

It turns Skyrim into an unpredictable mess, with areas in the world being at different levels. This can make the early game extremely challenging as players struggle to deal with enemies that might be way beyond their current level. It can also turn unexpected sections into cakewalks.

4 Blade and Blunt

• Download Link: Blade and Blunt

Another combat project that changes player style and enemy AI, Blade and Blunt is easily one of the most underrated mods on this list. It brings forth a plethora of tweaks to the combat system that makes for a highly engaging experience.

The biggest change brought about with this mod is to the stamina system. Everything from attacking to blocking has a more noticeable impact on stamina, making for a tense experience as players manage their stamina with each and every swing of a weapon.

3 Akaviri Martial Art

• Download Link: Akavari Martial Art

Sometimes, a combat mod doesn't need to be a well-balanced and convoluted affair. Sometimes, it should just allow the player to look extremely cool as they slice and dice their way through enemies.

The Akaviri Martial Art mod aims to bring forth this aesthetic and enjoyable change. Players who use a one-handed weapon will find their character slashing and cutting enemies in a satisfying style, which is lovely to behold and frequently deadly.

2 Combat Gameplay Overhaul

• Download Link: Combat Gameplay Overhaul

A mod so good that most people consider it to be integral to any playthrough of Skyrim, the Combat Gameplay Overhaul mod is the most popular combat mod for Skyrim by a country mile. True to its name, this mod tweaks the combat of Skyrim heavily without being too overbearing with its changes.

The end result is a fresh and enjoyable combat system that most people would absolutely adore in Skyrim. The amount of love put into this mod is clear for everyone to see and makes battles in the game incredibly engaging.

1 Attack Behavior Revamp

• Download Link: Attack Behavior Revamp

Out of all the mods in the game that add new movesets and animations during combat, Attack Behavior Revamp is the most comprehensive of the lot. It's hard to find any mod that brings forth the amazing changes from this one.

Players can now unleash complex combos, varied power attacks, and utilize new movesets for each weapon type. All in all, Attack Behavior Revamp is a great mod for Skyrim players who want to enjoy a more flashy and enjoyable combat system.

Next: Skyrim: Must-Have Console Mods To Get You Started