The Creation Kit is one of the strongest modding tools available, allowing hardcore fans to modify existing assets from Skyrim in new and exciting ways. The Elder Scrolls community is one of the most passionate groups in all of gaming, and this can be seen with its modding scene.
Dating back as far as Daggerfall, players have modded these titles to fix, change, or add features the game was missing. Some offer silly alterations that are made for laughs, while others can completely change the core gameplay experience. If Skyrim has started to bore you, check out these 10 mods to make the game feel fresh again.
10 Alternate Start: Live Another Life
Skyrim may be a fantastic RPG, but it is hard to roleplay certain characters when you start the game the same. No matter what, you are someone who got caught trying to cross the border to Cyrodill.
That is why Alternate Start: Live Another Life is such an amazing mod. You start in a prison cell—a common theme in Elder Scrolls titles—with the option to pray or lockpick your jail cell to escape. Praying offers plenty of alternate options, such as being a member of the Dawnguard or getting shipwrecked on a voyage to Skyrim. This mod breathes plenty of life into the first few hours of an otherwise formulaic opening.
9 3rd Person Camera Overhaul (3PCO)
Third-person combat in Skyrim is pretty bad, being at a weird angle and not tracking enemies properly. Getting stunned in third-person also shakes the camera around aggressively, making combat even more frustrating.
Meet 3rd Person Camera Overhaul, a mod focused on fixing Skryim's lacking third-person camera. The camera pans around the player when moving and properly backs up or closes in when needed, similar to third-person games like Dark Souls. With a customizable mod configuration menu, 3PCO marks a fantastic addition to anyone's load order.
8 Frostfall - Hypothermia Camping Survival
Skyrim houses a harsh climate in the Elder Scrolls lore, with Nords being one of the few races that can survive the harsh climate. Despite this, players can sprint naked in snowstorms with no consequence.
Those who are bothered by this or want a more hardcore experience should check out Frostfall. This mod tracks the player's current heat levels and requires them to stay warm. Clothing, campfires, and torches players can craft, and insulated shelters keep players warm in the harsh climate Skyrim is known for. This mod adds some nice survival elements to a game that could use it.
7 Morrowloot
Many laud Morrowind for its rich world, great magic system, and unique itemization. Knowledgable players could get access to Daedric gear early if they knew where to look, something that is impossible in Skyrim.
Until Morrowloot. This mod adds older Morrowind artifacts into the game, and also completely rebalances the game from both enemies and rewards. Most zones have higher base level ranges, meaning players will have a harder time clearing certain sections of the map until they grow more powerful. To compensate, plenty of hand-placed, high-level items have been added to some of the most daunting areas for low and high-level players alike to earn.
6 Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim
Magic has been less of a focus in the Elder Scrolls series as time has progressed. It originally allowed players to craft crazy spells, but schools of magic have slowly been getting removed since Morrowind, with spell crafting completely removed in Skyrim.
While spell crafting is not a feature in this mod, Apocalypse adds over 100 spells to Skyrim for players to learn, adding much-needed depth to casting spells. Fire spells that ignite nearby terrain, illusion spells that force enemy ghosts to attack themselves, and even adding necrotic spells to restoration. Finally, restoration can finally be a viable school of magic.
5 Legacy of the Dragonborn (Dragonborn Gallery)
Collecting items is a large part of Skyrim with the dozens of artifacts to obtain. Unfortunately, most of them collect dust and do little to celebrate the player's accomplishments.
Wouldn't it be cool to show others how many items you have found? Legacy of the Dragonborn lets players do just that! Solitude has a new museum for players to store their unique items into, but the mod does so much more than that. A new guild is added for players to manage, along with dozens of new quests and plenty of dialogue. This mod is a must-have for any player who's never used it before.
4 Immersive Creatures
The number of creatures that Skyrim has pale in comparison to Oblivion or Morrowind. Immersive Creatures aims to fix this.
This mod adds dozens of new creatures to fight throughout Skyrim, including goblins and new undead enemies. Variants of existing enemy types are also included, and everything this mod adds can be configured through a mod configuration menu. Overall, this mod breathes new life into Skyrim's denizens.
3 Wintersun - Faiths of Skyrim
Religion is brought up repeatedly both in-game and in lore, being a major focus point for Nords. The Thalmor may have outlawed worshipping Talos, but there are little gameplay changes involved with religion.
Wintersun adds religion as a new mechanic gamer can experience, allowing you to do favors for various gods for benefits. Bonuses are provided to players for doing this that fits the theme of the divine figure in question, such as gaining bonuses to fire damage when aligned with Mehrunes Dagon.
2 Interesting NPCs
Most of the NPCs players will find in Skyrim say a throwaway one-liner or provide little conversation options, leaving them as static characters that just aren't interesting to talk to.
While this can't be fixed without overhauling the entire game. Interesting NPCs make an earnest attempt to add new NPCs into the game, each with unique quests and dialogue choices. These characters have fleshed out backstories and goals, immediately setting them apart from most people in Skyrim. The quests are also surprisingly well made. Give this mod a try if you want more content to play that's presented seamlessly with the base game.
1 Enderal: The Shards of Order
It is almost cheating putting Enderal on this list, but this is technically a mod for vanilla Skyrim, but just calling Enderal a mod is a giant disservice to what has been accomplished here.
Enderal: The Shards of Order is a new game built using Skyrim's engine and assets. Not an expansion island, like Falskarr. This is a new game. Enderal takes place in a new setting not related to The Elder Scrolls, providing plenty of quests and gameplay alterations with it. This game plays like a classic RPG of old, but it also combines the charm of Skyrim's expansive world design and extensive character roster. This doesn't just freshen up Skyrim, it completely morphs it.