skyrim mod fast travel in survival mode

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Skyrim survival mode: How to enable survival mode and survival mode tips in Skyrim: Anniversary Edition

How to survive a harsher Tamriel in the Anniversary Edition.

Survival Mode in Skyrim is a particularly unforgiving experience, but for players who like a challenge, it's a great way to experience something new in the 2021's Anniversary Edition.

This page explains everything you need to know about Survival Mode in Skyrim, such as how to enable Survival Mode , survival mode differences - including changes to travel and camping - as well as our Skyrim survival mode tips .

A feature which ties nicely into the addition of survival mode is fishing - which you can also use in a non-survival mode playthrough.

On this page:

How to enable survival mode in Skyrim, and what to do if not in settings explained

What is survival mode in skyrim survival mode changes, including fast travel, explained, skyrim survival mode tips and tricks, from survival mode camping to cooking.

Survival mode can be found in the Settings are of the menu, by selecting Gameplay then enabling Survival Mode.

If it is not in the settings, then you are likely in a new save - and you have to complete the tutorial of Skyrim first.

Once you complete the 'Unbound' intro quest with either Hadvar or Ralof, you'll receive a pop-up notification about Survival Mode. It gives you a brief explanation on what to expect from the mode: such as you needing to eat, to be more wary about catching diseases, the need to sleep, etc before asking you whether you want to enable it or not. If that sounds like fun, you select yes.

From there on out, you'll be playing Skyrim on Survival Mode - which means it's a fair bit harder, but who doesn't love a good challenge?

Nonetheless, if Survival Mode turns out to be too difficult, it's easy to turn off. Head to Settings, go to Gameplay and you'll be able to disable it without having to worry about any consequences.

The opposite of this is also true, as you're able to enable Survival Mode on any previous saves you have started or imported into the Anniversary Edition.

Survival Mode in the Anniversary Edition is a new, exciting way to make your time in the continent of Skyrim a little more challenging and fun.

When enabling Survival Mode, players will need to meet certain requirements in order not to get sick and die. These requirements are: be well-fed, warm, physically well, and well-rested.

However, these requirements won't always be easy to meet as Survival Mode puts a heapload of restrictions on you. These are:

• No Fast Travel: You want to just do a quick trip to Riften to pick up something you forgot? That's no longer possible in Survival Mode. You'll have to walk!
• Reduced Carry Weight: Skyrim's carry weight restrictions are already pretty unforgiving at times, this makes it so you really do need to just pack the essentials.
• Level Up via Sleeping: In vanilla Skyrim you can level up wherever and whenever, but here you can only do so after you sleep.
• Reduced Stamina/Mana: If you're hungry, cold or fatigued, you'll suffer from a reduction of Stamina or Mana, represented by the darkening of the Stamina/Mana bar.
• Warm/Cold Meters: Depending on whether you're hot or cold, you'll be shown a Snowflake or a Sun at the top of your HUD. This can affect you to the point you can die if you don't cool down or get warm.
• Health: When in Survival Mode, health doesn't come back after waiting for a little while. You'll need to eat, sleep or use a health potion in order to get back to tip-top shape.

There's a lot of factors to consider with survival mode - here are some tips and tricks to help you along the way:

• Want to know what's affecting you right now? Head to Active Effects in the Magic menu and you'll see what being hungry, tired and cold does to affect your gameplay.

• Don't enter water when cold - you'll more than likely catch a disease and there's a high chance you can die and lose your progress.
• Warm soup can heat you up - In the frozen tundra with nowhere to go for another 10 miles? Don't fret, eat some soup. It'll not only keep you fed, but will keep you nice and toasty. If that doesn't work, there's always a torch to keep your bones warm.

• Cook your food - sometimes it gets desperate when you're in a dungeon and there's no food to eat but the raw fish you caught outside, but it's always better to cook your food before eating it. Just like real life, eating raw food can lead to food poisoning in Skyrim.

• Fishing is the best way to get food quickly and easy, as long as you know where the best fishing spots are.
• Craft camping gear - Included in the Anniversary Edition content through the Content Creation Club, crafting camping gear will make it so you're able to set down camp in the wilderness, giving you a warm fire, a place to cook and a place to settle in for the night.

• The colder you get, the slower you are. It also affects your stamina and how fast you swing your weapons and the effectiveness of your stealth.
• Travelling in a horse and cart to far off places will make you tired and hungry, so don't get into one if you're already pretty fatigued and hungry, otherwise you risk dying on the journey to your location.

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• Bethesda tries its hand at paid mods in Skyrim Special Edition once again
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Skyrim Survival Mode Tips & Tricks: How to Survive

Skyrim   Survival Mode adds a new layer to Bethesda’s fantasy RPG by introducing mechanics like hunger and fatigue. Indeed, the cold wilds and dank labyrinths now impact your character in more ways. To help you, well, survive, here are some tips and tricks we use that you may find helpful. 

Tips and Tricks for Surviving in Skyrim Survival Mode

How to turn on survival mode in skyrim.

Similar to fishing , Survival Mode is included as part of the free Anniversary Edition patch, though there are some mods that are beneficial to have, like Camping and Adventurer’s Backpacks. These must be purchased separately if you haven’t yet picked up the Anniversary Edition upgrade.

Survival Mode can be activated as soon as you leave the tutorial area in Helgen . It makes the game more challenging by adding new elements and mechanics such as hunger, fatigue, and temperature.

After you leave Helgen, you’ll see a notification telling you about Survival Mode. This can be toggled on or off anytime in the Gameplay Settings panel .

Skyrim Survival Mode Mechanics Explained

Hunger   — Over time, your character will grow hungry. This will decrease your total stamina . To alleviate this, you’ll need to eat cooked food. Simply eating raw food won’t be enough, and doing so can actually lead to diseases. Consider building something like the Fish Hatchery to create a steady source of food.

Since cooking and alchemy are so important in this mode, you’ll want to keep our alchemy recipes list handy for things like potions that cure diseases and various poisons. You’ll also want to keep an eye out for specific ingredients like Salt Piles and food items like Cheese Wheels. You can also cook Clam Meat now for warming Clam Chowder.

Fatigue   —  The Dragonborn just can’t keep going on one adventure after another as before. You’ll actually need to rest in Survival Mode. If not, fatigue will decrease your total magicka . Ideally, you’ll want to sleep in beds found indoors (i.e., inns, sanctuaries, or houses that you buy). Simply sleeping outside add the well-rested buff to your character.

Cold vs. Warmth   — Climates and weather are probably the two most important factors to consider if you have Survival Mode enabled in Skyrim . Exploring out in the cold will decrease your total health , and swimming in frigid waters will exacerbate this effect. Eventually, your character will simply die.

To counter this, you’ll need to find sources of heat  in Survival Mode. Examples include building a campfire in the wilderness (more on this below), eating hot soup, and wearing different types of clothing that increase warmth .

Other Key Factors   — Here are a few other things to take note of if you’re playing Skyrim ‘s Survival Mode:

• Fast Travel  — Direct teleportation by clicking on a location on the world map won’t work. However, it’s still possible to ride carriages or fly on a dragon.
• Leveling Up  — To level up, you need to sleep in a bed.
• No Health Regeneration  — Health doesn’t regenerate over time, so you’ll need to cast Restoration spells, drink potions, or eat food.

Camping, Fishing, and Adventurer’s Backpack Creations

From my experience, Skyrim Survival Mode can be brutal. The cold wilds can be unforgiving — and that’s not even considering the enemies and wildlife you’ll come across. After tinkering around in the mode for a few hours, I recommend having these Creation Club mods enabled to make the experience not only slightly easier but also a little more realistic.

• Fishing   — Fishing becomes a great source of food that you can cook. Moreover, you can build a Fish Hatchery to have a steady supply of fish.
• Camping   — This mod allows you to craft Camping Supplies (each one requires 1x Leather and 3x Firewood). For Firewood , you can easily use a Woodcutter’s Axe to chop logs. You can find some logs just outside of Belethor’s store in Whiterun. When you’re out in the wilderness in Survival Mode and you need a source of heat or a place to sleep, you can use Camping Supplies to create a campsite automatically.
• Adventurer’s Backpack   — These backpacks can be crafted, some of which increase carry weight.

Should I Play Skyrim Survival Mode or Other Mods?

What if you don’t want to try the default Survival Mode experience in Skyrim ? Well, that’s totally up to you. You don’t need to enable it. If you do want other options, you can try the following mods instead:

• Frostfall by Chesko   — The mod is akin to Survival Mode, but there are plenty of options that you can tweak as opposed to a single on/off toggle for the entire feature. We consider this as one of the best mods for Skyrim .
• Campfire by Chesko   — Similar to the above mod, this mod is also ideal if you want the added immersion and challenge. It includes support for multiple followers, including the ability to gather wood and construct items. Backpacks are included herein. There’s even a separate skill tree that’s used to bolster your camping and survival abilities.
• Fur Armor Set by Keung   — This Survival Mode type mod adds several armor sets with varying themes. They are considered “Frostfall aware,” which means they add warmth for your character.

Who is Survival Mod For?

Skyrim Survival Mode is for experienced players who want to play the game again in a new way or are just up to an extremely difficult challenge. If you’ve played through the game a few times, you should try out this mode and put your skills to the test.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this mode for new or inexperienced players since you’ll need a good grasp on all the basic mechanics to really understand how to survive. However, if you’re brave enough, all the more power to you.

• Makes the game more challenging
• Changes the entire experience
• More traditional RPG experience
• More immersive gameplay
• You can fish
• Slower gameplay
• No fast travel
• Hard and frustrating if you’re not experienced in the base game/not for beginners
• Cold weather will kill you a lot

And those are the main things you need to know about Survival Mode in Skyrim . It adds a bit of challenge to the overall experience, and there are plenty of other mods that fulfill a similar or even better role whether you own the Anniversary Edition or not. For more Skyrim help, including walkthroughs, builds, and other tips, consider heading over to our main guide page for the game .

Skyrim:Survival Mode

Survival Mode is a Creation that introduces a new gameplay mode for Skyrim Special Edition . It was released for PC through Steam beta on September 28, 2017 and became available on PC, Xbox One , and PS4 on October 4, 2017. It was free for the first week of release and then cost 500 CC Credits to purchase; it is now free again on all platforms with the release of the Anniversary Edition on November 11, 2021.

This Creation works well in conjunction with the Camping and Adventurer's Backpack Creations, which help alleviate some of the difficulties in Survival Mode.

• 1 Official Summary
• 3 Racial Passives
• 4 Tips for Survival Mode

Official Summary [ edit ]

Overview [ edit ].

Survival Mode introduces several challenging changes to gameplay and new gameplay features in order to transform the majority of the map into a harsh, cold wilderness. Survival can be played on any Difficulty setting, with Legendary difficulty recommended for the most challenge.

Most Survival features are disabled until after the quest Unbound is completed.

The specific changes are as follows:

• Hunger : Over time, you will become hungry, which will impact your total stamina , as well as your ability to wield most weapons . As you become hungrier, your total available stamina will decrease, represented by a dark region inside the stamina bar. Eat food to restore your hunger. If you eat enough, you will receive the Well Fed bonus. Cooked food reduces hunger more than uncooked food. If you eat raw meat , you may contract Food Poisoning , which can prevent you from receiving health benefits from food until the effect wears off. Hot soups can now be cooked by using fire salts , which reduce your coldness and also grant a bonus to your warmth rating.
• Fatigue (also referred to as Exhaustion): Fatigue decreases your total available magicka , represented by a dark region inside the magicka bar. As you become more fatigued, the effectiveness of potions will begin to decline, and your ability to recover magicka and stamina will begin to suffer. You will need to periodically sleep in a bed in order to reduce fatigue. In Survival, the Rested or Well Rested bonus is no longer granted automatically after sleeping. If you sleep outside, you will not be able to get a restful night's sleep, waking up Drained at best. If you sleep in a bed indoors, you will receive the Rested or Well Rested bonus as usual. The Well Rested bonus requires a minimum of 2 hours of sleep.
• Cold : Skyrim is now divided into warm, cold, and freezing climates. Traveling in snowy or rainy areas will increase your Cold. Cold decreases your total available health, represented as a dark region inside the health bar. As you become colder, your movement speed and ability to pick locks and pick pockets will begin to suffer. If you reach the highest level of Cold, your health will be reduced to zero and you will die from exposure to the elements. You can warm up by standing near a fire, eating hot soup, or moving to a warmer location. A sun or snowflake icon will appear near the compass to note whether you are currently getting warmer or colder.
• Warmth : The higher your Warmth rating, the more slowly you will feel the effects of cold environments. Most clothing and armor provide warmth, displayed on the item's description. Some armor is exceptionally warm, while others are ill-suited to protect their wearer from harsh climates. You can also temporarily increase your warmth rating by eating hot soup or holding a torch .
• Freezing Water : If you swim in a freezing area, you will immediately become colder and begin taking health damage. Exit the water as soon as possible in order to begin warming up and stop the loss of health. Using a Flame Cloak spell or the Dunmer Ancestor's Wrath ability can make you temporarily immune to the effects of freezing water.
• Disabled Fast Travel : If you wish to go somewhere, you must do so on foot or by horseback. You can also take a carriage or boat to your destination, but note that you may arrive hungry, cold, and in need of rest after a long journey. Fast travel is enabled while riding a dragon , but not every map marker can be flown to. [ verification needed — which? probably just walled cities, this is normal ] See the Transport article for more information on how to get around.
• No Health Regeneration : To replenish your health, you must use Restoration spells, food, potions, and apparel enchanted with health regeneration.
• Leveling Up : To level up, you must now sleep in a bed. You may still spend your perk points later once they have been granted after sleeping.
• Reduced Carry Weight : Your initial carry weight has been reduced from 300 to 150. Becoming over encumbered also quickly drains your stamina and causes you to become fatigued much faster. All lockpicks now have weight and the new types of arrows added in the anniversary edition have weight as well (including Bound Arrows from Bound Bow , which is probably a bug.) The Extra Pockets perk and The Steed Stone now each grant 50 extra carry weight instead of 100. If you use enchanted apparel to fortify your carry weight, and then exceed that higher weight limit, the only way to stop the stamina drain is to reduce your weight to under the limit and then remove an item of apparel e.g. remove and/or equip a shield. Immediately adding another enchanted carry weight item will not stop the drain, although it will let you move at the normal rate. Once the drain has stopped, you can put back apparel and items so as not to exceed the limit.
• Heavier Arrows: Which arrows are affected has changed in different versions of the addon, but currently, all arrows in the game weigh 0.1 instead of being weightless.
• Heavier Lockpicks: Lockpicks weigh 0.1 instead of being weightless.
• Disease : Creatures across the land now carry threatening new diseases , and previous diseases are now even more debilitating. Eating uncooked meat can now cause Food Poisoning. If you fail to cure a disease, it may progress into a more serious version over time. Being a Werewolf will no longer make you immune to disease.
• Afflictions : Time spent while unwell puts you at risk of contracting an affliction , which causes effects that can linger long after you have improved your condition. Afflictions will naturally wear off, or can be cured like other diseases. Some Afflictions include Weakened, Addled, and Frostbitten.
• Shrine Offerings : Shrines are no longer free; you must now make a gold offering in order to receive the shrine's benefits. Shrines you craft in a Hearthfire house or those found at Goldenhills Plantation CC can be used for free. Blessings are diminished if taken while fatigue is drained (or worse) and remain so until the next blessing.
• Vampires and Werewolves: Both vampires and werewolves can restore their hunger by feeding on their victims. While transformed into a Werewolf or Vampire Lord , you are immune to health penalties associated with the more severe stages of cold, but will lose the Warmth of any gear you were wearing in humanoid form.
• Standing Stones are less effective: For example, the Steed Stone only confers +50 to fortify carry weight.

Racial Passives [ edit ]

• Weakness to Cold 25%
• Raw Diet (no food poisoning)
• (No change in Survival Mode)
• Resist Fatigue 25%
• Resist Cold (+15 Warmth)
• Resist Cold (+25 Warmth)
• Resist Hunger 15%, Resist Fatigue 15% and Resist Cold (+10 Warmth)

Tips for Survival Mode [ edit ]

• You can gain access to free beds and food by raising an NPC's disposition . Completing favor quests, such as chopping wood , is an easy way to accomplish this.
• Reducing carry weight is important. Hilda , Bone Wolf and other Pets of Skyrim can be very helpful if you become over-encumbered. They also provide instantly summonable access to stored crafting items, surplus arrows, food and other heavy gear you don't want to constantly carry.
• The most weight-efficient player cooked foods are Salmon Steak, Seared Slaughterfish, Rabbit Haunch and Steamed Mudcrab Legs at 0.1 weight to replenish 220 Hunger. Benefits-over-time foods like Vegetable Soup and Beef Stew are usually 0.5 weight and restore Health or Stamina for 12 minutes of play time. The most maximally restorative food available is Crab Stew which restores both Health (1pt/sec) and Stamina (2pts/sec) for 12 minutes.
• With the right perks (Unhindered or Conditioning), your Light Armor or Heavy Armor outfit will weigh nothing. Additionally, any other carried armor pieces of the same type of material (Leather, Elven, etc.) as the set you are wearing will also weigh nothing.
• Some armors are more Warm than others. The maximum warmth protection you can achieve by armor is 54 Points for Body Armor, 29 Points for Helmets and 24 Points for Gauntlets and Footwear.
• Temperatures drop once the sun goes down, making terrain that is passable by day potentially hazardous at night. It's useful to plan shorter trips and start the day with an idea of where you want to sleep that night.
• The Camping creation allows you to pitch a movable campsite for staying warm, cooking simple foods and sleeping (though you'll wake up drained since it's outdoors). Craft a Camping Supplies at a forge in advance and bring it along, or stow with a follower or pack animal for a future emergency.
• Staying warm while traversing snowy terrains can be a challenge, particularly in areas like Winterhold or Solstheim that lack transport. Besides wearing warm clothing/armor, carrying a torch (+50 Warmth) and eating hot soups as needed to reduce coldness, you can warm yourself by standing near campfires, smelters, forges, raised fire bowls, giant's bonfires, smoldering embers, wall torches, candelabras and the like. Stepping inside most caves or other indoor locations can help by providing protection from the weather, though they don't warm you like a heat source does. Note, however, that some locations are designated as cold, and will not help.
• Weather conditions in the area where you are traveling, such as Snowing, or Rain, will speed up the freezing rate. Shouting Clear Skies will clear up the weather and help slow down your freezing rate.
• To swim in cold water without freezing (possibly to death), either ride a horse, use the Flame Cloak spell beforehand, or waterwalk while wearing Ahzidal's boots .
• You cannot die of cold while in Werewolf or Vampire Lord form.
• Enemy Frost spells and shouts are much more dangerous, as they also increase the Freezing rate.
• Remember that Fatigue affects all potions, not just those that replenish your Health, Stamina and Magicka. This includes the effectiveness of potions that increase your skills, such as Enchanting or Smithing. Plan accordingly.
• Torches wear out over time and can get snuffed out in the rain, so loot them as needed from dungeon walls, etc. Use Magelight or Candlelight spells to search dark areas instead of torches to conserve torches for warmth.
• Certain battles, such as fighting Alduin , will be considerably harder due to the weather. Consider preparing Hot Soups and pre-assembling a Camp before tackling these enemies.
• The Ring of Namira is a great artifact for survival, as you can feed on dead humanoid enemies.
• You can gain health regeneration if you fortify your health regeneration, for example by the Lady stone , as survival only reduces it by 100%, but does not disable it.
• You can use dragon lairs to move around fast after you have unlocked the Bend Will shout. The dragons won't give you a dragon soul once they respawn so they can safely be left to fly back to be used later without the need to wait for the lair to respawn.
• Argonians may need to light a torch or eat a "hot" meal in order for heating sources to work in frigid situations the way they do for other races.
• It takes 11 hours of rest to restore you completely from absolute fatigue.
• It takes 1334 units of food to become well fed after being completely starved.

Content [ edit ]

• Hot Soups (12 new recipes)

Notes [ edit ]

• While the author of this Creation is unknown, they are referred to as 'QDR' in the game data.

Bugs [ edit ]

• It's sometimes possible to fast travel when survival mode is enabled. After leaving a location that returns you to Tamriel or Solstheim (e.g., a house, dungeon, city or even after taking a carriage), if you open the map quickly enough, you will be able to fast travel. After fast traveling, your survival status (tiredness, warmth and hunger) will be updated.
• If you're damaged, it's possible to heal to full health in a cold area if there's a source of fire for warmth. To do so, just stand in the cold until your missing HP bar is grayed out (or closed to grayed out) as a result of being cold. Then stand in fire and as you get warmer, your HP will scale back to full as the grayed out HP bar recedes. If your HP is very low, you may have to repeat this process a few times to get back to full HP.
• If survival mode is enabled, some NPCs may treat you like you are sick all the time, no matter whether any negative effect is active or not.
• This bug is fixed by version 1.1.177.3285177 of the game on Nintendo Switch.
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[Top 15] Skyrim Best Mods For Survival Mode

With the playing of Skyrim comes the realization that since this actually is a fantasy game, playing a realistic survival mode is something that is a great addition to any playthrough that you might do, whether it’s your first or hundredth. This makes the game several degrees more difficult and makes it so you have to take care of things that you could honestly completely leave out in a regular playthrough, such as eating and sleeping.

On top of making the game way more difficult/realistic in terms of combat as well, this mode is really challenging for any level of Skyrim player. Though the special edition of the game added a brand new survival mode, there are some mods that just do it better.

So, let’s take a look at the best Skyrim survival mods!

15. Fast Travel Costs

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/23383

Fast travel in Skyrim was used way too much as a crutch and was far too easy to get things done with it. If you were in combat and ran far enough from the opponent, you could just fast travel away for either very little or no cost at all.

This mod seeks to change all of that as it now makes any and all fast travel cost something, meaning it can no longer be used as freely as it once was. Each time you fast travel, a certain amount of gold is deducted and it varies depending on how far you want to go, therefore incentivizing more exploration and getting to places realistically.

What makes this mod great:

• Removes fast travel as a crutch that players can easily abuse
• Gives way more immersion to the game
• Gives players a reason to approach any altercation strategically

14. Vitality Mode

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/16308

It’s pretty crazy how unnecessary the necessities of life can be in Skyrim. This mod seeks to change that by making eating, resting and sleeping (among other things) so much more necessary for your character to be able to survive in the world.

Furthermore, it also takes Vampirism, Lycanthropy and Cannibalism into account, as players that have undergone any one of these 3 routes will need to feed more and on specific things. For example, Vampires will have to drink blood regularly, Werewolves will get more energy from raw meats and cannibals will get more health from feeding on meat and human bodies.

Why this mod is great:

• Makes you way more observant and careful over how you need to play the game
• Vastly improves immersion
• Makes many overlooked aspects of the game way more useful

13. Advanced Cooking 

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/63082

Cooking is quite possibly the most overlooked part of Skyrim. To me, it was always an afterthought, so this mod was one that actually added some depth to the cooking system of the game.

This adds layers to the cooking system which actually encourages players to engage with it more. It consists of different tiers of recipes that you can cook, with the best ones being locked behind higher tiers that can only be unlocked by using this skill more. It encourages players to use the skill as much as possible and to take more of a role to cook food.

• Makes a very overlooked part of the game more important
• Adds layers to cooking, making it something people have an incentive to learn
• Very lore friendly and immersive

12. Keep It Clean

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/17846

Skyrim doesn’t require the player to remain clean. When they don’t clean themselves, realistically, it should have an impact on the gameplay but unfortunately it doesn’t.

With the Keep It Clean mod, bad hygiene has an effect on how others view and interact with you, as well as the player having more of a chance to contract diseases. Your stealth can also be compromised as your god awful stench can give away your location and presence. Furthermore, this mod also upgrades most inns to have a bath house as well as adding soaps.

• Very immersive
• Gives an overlooked aspect of the game much more importance
• If you ignore this aspect, it can negatively affect your gameplay

11. Immersive Horses

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/64067

When it comes to playing a survival mode for Skyrim, the first thing that we need to remove is the fast travel as it allows for the player to dodge the hostility of the wilds. This is where horses come in as they have been integral to the journey of any fantasy warrior.

Immersive Horses is by far the best horse mod for survival mode for Skyrim as it not only adds new commands for your horse and where you can summon it, it also adds various breeds with their own strengths and weaknesses, adding to the personality and immersion with the horse.

• Gives horses way more importance and personality 
• Gives a reason to actually use the horses for traversal
• Adds to the immersion
• Horses are more than just vehicles now

10. Simple Taxes

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/14216

Survival is always more than just living like a hobo in the woods with nothing but a campfire and a tent to your name. It is basically also an overhaul to some aspects of realism in the game that make living in the towns and cities as realistic as possible.

This mod adds a taxation system on your assets in the game, making life function as it would have in an actual medieval/feudalist society. The things taxed are namely your house and your horse, so you will be taxed accordingly for those things, with great customizability with regards to how you want to do it.

• Makes all your purchases in the game require more thinking as to whether or not you can actually afford it, especially in the long run
• Greatly improves immersion
• You can choose whether you want to be taxed daily, weekly or monthly

9. Diseased

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/53111

A disease overhaul, this mod makes diseases aspects of survival to be taken way more seriously. In the vanilla game, you would just feel a little drowsy but be cured of all ailments upon drinking a potion of cure all, regardless of how much the disease had actually progressed.

This mod changes that up by making diseases much more threatening. The more they progress, the greater the effect they inflict on the player. This time, however, instead of drinking just one potion, you will need to read up on the actual disease itself in order to find the right specific cure for it. If not treated in time, the player can even die from it.

• Gives diseases way more importance
• Gives the player a reason to actually pay attention to the game at all times
• Adds higher stakes to exploration
• Incentivizes reading up for the cure

8. Chasing The Dragon

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/23019

When talking of combat in Skyrim, we never really think twice about chugging health, magicka or stamina potions in order to come out victorious in battle because there really aren’t any side effects of it in the vanilla game. Well, what if I told you that you could get addicted to these potions?

Chasing the Dragon is a great mod that makes it possible for the Dragonborn to become addicted to the very potions that help them in their battles by adding a toxicity meter. This adds negative aspects on potions as well as the positive ones, and if the toxicity is really high, the player won’t regenerate any of the attributes.

• Makes the player think twice before chugging down different potions
• Adds stakes to potion usage

7. You Hunger

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/49421

Food is just about everywhere in Skyrim and regardless of where you go, you are sure to find something or the other. Even some long abandoned Dwemer ruins have bread here and there for you to just scoop up and replenish your health with.

That is where You Hunger comes in, a mod that makes food very scarce as compared to the vanilla game, so you really have to ration your food and have to be more strategic about when to use it. You can even die of hunger, so keep that in mind!

• Makes hunger something to really take into consideration
• Improves immersion

6. Scarcity

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/8647

It’s almost way too easy to find any kind of loot and sell it in Skyrim. This mod seeks to make any and all kinds of loot much scarcer in the game, which ultimately makes it so much more rewarding when you eventually do come across something unique which you can sell for a great price.

This mod really does have a great improvement on the bloated economy of the game and really gives the player more of a reason to explore and acquire different goods.

• Improves the economy of the game 
• Makes rare items mean much more because of their scarcity
• Gives the player more of a reason to go out and explore

5. Frostfall

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/11163/

Crossing a frozen wasteland or swimming through freezing cold waters was never a problem in Skyrim because that never really had any sort of status effect on the player.  Well, with the Frostfall mod, all this changes as now, weather effects and temperatures actually mean something.

Now, if you’re walking through these icy tundras on your own and are not sufficiently equipped for them, that means you are now susceptible to weather related ailments such as hypothermia. This will make you very vigilant about the clothes you wear.

• Makes the weather system of the game actually mean something
• Makes the frigid outskirts of Skyrim much more of a threat that needs proper preparation
• Makes the colder regions of the game serve their own purpose way better

4. Wearable Lanterns

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/7560

A very small change, but surely a welcome one. Dungeons in Skyrim can be very dark but all the vanilla game really offers to remedy this is the addition of carrying torches or casting a light spell, which can be a true burden if you’re getting swarmed by enemies as the torches do very little damage or the spell runs out.

Wearable lanterns is a great mod as it now allows for the player to wear a small lantern to their belt which they can also craft themselves as well. This is a great add to exploring in the night time or dungeon diving. This works super well with the Campfire mod as well.

• Allows freedom of usage of weapons in dungeons by giving us light
• Allows for great night time exploring

3. Survive the Night

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37042

Night time in Skyrim isn’t at all scary, unfortunately. However, this mod really changes this into something straight out of Amnesia. Though this isn’t the most realistic, this is one mod that really cranks up the survival aspect to 11, making being out from 9 pm to 5 am highly dangerous.

To top this off, this mod also adds an insanity meter, making it so it is in the best interest of the player to run and find shelter to keep safe from the horrors of the night.

• Completely transforms Skyrim into a horror game at night
• Makes it in your best interest to find shelter in order to survive
• Always keeps you on your toes

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/51473

This is a must have for anyone who wants to do a survival playthrough of the game. This mod essentially requires the player to keep a lookout of 3 things; hunger, thirst and sleep. All 3 of these needs need to be addressed daily, with the player having to eat and drink thrice a day and needing to get a full night's sleep as well.

This mod also includes waterskins that need to be filled up with water repeatedly. If any of the aspects of the mod are ignored, the character becomes weak and has negative status effects applied to them whereas the opposite happens if they take care of their basic needs.

• This is a must have for any survival playthrough
• One of the most immersive mods
• Makes the player vigilant and require them to fill all 3 needs

1. Campfire

Download Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/64798

This is widely regarded as one of, if not the, most essential survival game mods for Skyrim. It’s pretty shocking when you check the amount of campfires and campsites around the world but see that there is no option to make one for yourself.

Campfire changes this and not only adds the option to sit by these fires, but also to make your own fires and campsites in order to rest by them whenever you want to. It also adds an entirely new skill tree that is all to do with camping and how you can improve yours.

Why this mod is great

• Really makes you enjoy the nature of the game
• Can camp anywhere
• Allows you to gather resources and make your own campsites

You may also be interested in:

• [Top 10] Skyrim Combat Mods We Love!
• [Top 10] Skyrim Mods That Add More Enemies
• [Top 10] Skyrim Best Vampire Mods We Love!
• [Top 10] Skyrim Best Swords and How to Get Them
• [Top 15] Skyrim Best Builds of All Time
• [Top 10] Best Skyrim Horror Mods For a Brand New Experience
• [Top 10] Skyrim Best Mods for Mages
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Skyrim Anniversary Edition: 10 Tips For Survival Mode

Surviving in Skyrim isn't as easy as you might think. Here are some tips to get you started.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been ten years since the release of Skyrim , but here we are. Skyrim: Anniversary Edition includes everything from the Special Edition and improves upon it by adding some Creation Club content, such as Fishing, Rare Curios, the Saints & Seducers questline, and Survival Mode.

RELATED: Every Skyrim Port Ever Released, Ranked From Worst To Best

Survival Mode takes everything you know about Skyrim and flips it on its head. Not only does Survival Mode reduce your maximum carry weight and get rid of fast travel, but you now have to keep an eye on your fatigue, hunger and comfort levels. There’s a lot to be aware of while playing Survival Mode, so here are some tips and tricks to make your life easier.

10 Carry Food At All Times

It’s important to make sure you always have some food on you in Survival Mode because it’s in your best interest to avoid getting hungry. Your stamina and weapon skills will suffer if you do, so it’s best to keep around 10 percent of your carry weight dedicated to food since you don't have much space to work with.

There’s also no health regeneration in Survival Mode. The only way you can heal is through food, potions and restoration spells so you better level up your restoration stat if you want to learn some of the best healing spells out there . It's worth the grind.

9 Grab A Bow And Arrow Immediately

The best way to get meat in Survival Mode is by hunting game, so make sure you have a bow and a fair amount of arrows before you leave Helgen. It shouldn’t be too hard since most enemies at the beginning carry arrows and you’ll likely have a bow by the time you encounter the bear as you escape Helgen.

You have to learn to be self-sufficient in Survival Mode so getting your own meat is a must. The ultimate goal is to end up with one of the best bows in the game and you’ll get there eventually.

8 Map Out Your Journey

Seeing as there’s no fast travel in Survival Mode, you should plan your journey ahead of time. It’s best to stick to main roads as you make your way around Skyrim since they will eventually lead to a town or inn.

RELATED: Skyrim: Map Locations That Even You Didn't Know Existed

In fact, Bethesda released an official survival map of Skyrim , so make sure you have one printed out and by your side at all times. The map not only shows the location of major cities and towns, it even includes temperatures, campfires and cooking pots. It’s a very useful tool to have.

7 Make Sure You Wake Up Well-Rested

When your character gets tired in Survival Mode, it’s time to find a place to sleep because fatigue reduces your total magic. That being said, not just any bed will do the trick. It’s best to get that well-rested bonus by sleeping in an owned bed or an inn. Doing so will reset your tiredness and give you 10 percent more experience for eight in-game hours.

It’s important to note that you can’t level up in Survival Mode unless you sleep. Luckily, there are plenty of great player houses you can purchase in Skyrim , so getting a good night’s sleep shouldn’t be a problem.

6 Cook Vegetable Soup

You’ll quickly notice that most cooked meals require a whole lot of salt. While it’s a good idea to buy as many salt piles from merchants as possible, another option is to just avoid salt altogether and solely eat vegetable soup.

Sure, it may not be the best diet, but vegetable soup is all you need in Survival Mode. It requires no salt at all, restores 300 health and gives you passive health regeneration for five minutes. You can even find its ingredients very early on as there are plenty of leeks, potatoes and cabbage in Riverwood and the farms around Whiterun.

5 Wear Light Armor

Light armor is going to be your best friend in Survival Mode because of how lightweight it is. If you want to wear heavy armor, you will be over-encumbered in no time, so you almost have no choice but to go with light armor.

Make sure you work your way towards the Unhindered perk as it makes light armor weigh absolutely nothing. It’s one of the most useful perks in all of Survival Mode. If you’re worried about your armor rating, don’t be. Light armor is a fine choice because you’ll still be able to easily hit the armor cap of 567 through some smithing perks.

4 Carry Fur Armor For The Cold

If you’re worried about staying warm in the cold and blustery land of Skyrim, make sure to grab some fur armor. It can’t be crafted, but the armor is worn by bandits and Hold Guards, so it won’t be long before you have all four pieces.

RELATED: Skyrim: The Best Armor Sets & How To Find Them

Fur armor is perfect for staying warm in the cold areas of Skyrim, such as the Pale, Winterhold and Eastmarch. Just know that, even though fur armor can be improved, it’s not affected by smithing perks. This means it can’t be improved further than flawless without boosting the smithing skill over 100.

3 Stay Around Fire

If you ever find yourself getting dangerously cold to the point of freezing in Survival Mode, make sure to get as close to fire as you can. Simply taking out a torch will warm your character up. You could also stand near a fire or eat some hot stew to feel warm.

Even the Dark Elf's racial ability, Ancestor’s Wrath, helps with warmth since it surrounds you with fire. As you can see, there are plenty of ways to deal with the cold in Skyrim - you just have to get creative.

2 ​​​Be Mindful Of Diseases

Normally, if you contract a disease in Skyrim, it’s not a big deal. All you have to do is pray at a shrine of Talos or use a potion of cure disease and you’re good to go. That hasn’t changed in Survival Mode, but diseases are much more debilitating this time around.

If left untreated, diseases in Survival can progress to severe and even crippling, making their negative effects much more pronounced. It’s important to constantly check your active effects to make sure you’re not dealing with a disease. Argonians and Wood Elves have 50 percent disease resistance, which makes them a good choice for Survival Mode.

1 Increase The Difficulty

If you’re playing Survival Mode, it’s very likely that you’re a hardcore Skyrim player who isn’t playing the game for the first time. Survival mode is all about giving yourself a challenge, so why not make the game even tougher by setting the difficulty to adept or higher?

On top of that, you might as well download some mods to help with immersion . It’s going to make the experience even better. Playing Survival Mode on Skyrim: Anniversary Edition with these mods might be the best way to play the game.

NEXT: Skyrim: The Best Skills For A Thief Build

17 Mods That Turn Skyrim Into A Survival Game

While Skyrim is one of the best open-world games ever, its survival aspects can be too easy. These cool mods make things like disease more realistic.

• The modding community for Skyrim has transformed the game into a competent survival title, introducing challenges like hunger, diseases, and temperature changes.
• Mods like Realistic Needs And Diseases and Fast Travel Cost enhance immersion by adding consequences to gameplay choices and making fast travel more strategic.
• Mods like Requiem, Advanced Cooking, and Wearable Lanterns offer unique and personalized experiences, making Skyrim more lore-friendly, immersive, and realistic.

Even without any mods or add-ons, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is still a pretty engaging game. There's such a large map to see and so many different quests to finish that players who plan on finishing the game vanilla-style aren't likely to get bored any time soon. For those wanting to change things up and introduce challenges into the game, turning Skyrim into a survival experience might just be the solution. Countless mods out there change the gameplay in a way that makes it essential for players to focus on details like hunger, diseases, and even temperature changes.

RELATED: Skyrim: The Most Powerful Enemies, Ranked

Given how active the modding community for Skyrim is, it's easy to see why the gameplay of this game can be overhauled in such a major manner. No one could've expected this simple open-world RPG to turn into a competent survival title, but the power of mods has managed to turn this, and many other things, into a reality that impresses many people.

Updated November 18, 2023 by Ritwik Mitra: Skyrim is one of the greatest video games ever made, and it's easy to see why players just can't get enough of this wonderful RPG. Even now, more than a decade after its launch, Skyrim still sees an impressive player count as players spend hours upon hours in this incredible title.

The modding support for this game has contributed a lot to letting players enjoy a wonderful time as they tweak every aspect of the game or overhaul major systems altogether, making for a unique, personalized experience every single time. Players who love Skyrim and can't get enough of this great game can check out a wealth of mods to turn the open-world RPG into a brilliant survival RPG!

1 Realistic Needs And Diseases

Downloads: 119,212.

• Creator: perseid9, Uploaded by Ro84
• Download Link

Any player will love a mod that heightens their immersion while playing Skyrim , and the Realistic Needs And Diseases mod is a perfect fit for players who want to make the game more nerve-wracking than ever before. With this mod, players have to be extra careful while exploring the world of this game.

The Dragonborn needs to manage their hunger and thirst levels all the time. Overeating can cause players to feel rather bloated, which reduces their stats in combat. Based on how healthy the player's eating patterns are, the Dragonborn can either be really muscular or skinny and weak, which does a great job of forcing players to interact with the game in a way they never have before!

2 Usable Vanilla Lanterns

Downloads: 30,837.

• Creator: Ixion XVII

Having a light source in Skyrim is important if players want to turn the game into a hardcore survival experience, with revamped nights making it a pain to see in the dark. This makes it important to find lanterns that can light the Dragonborn's path whenever required.

With this mod, most of the vanilla light sources that look like lanterns but can't be interacted with in the game are swapped with functioning lanterns. It may sound like a small change, but players seeking out a hardcore survival experience will love this immersive change that reduces player frustration if they run out of lanterns.

3 Survival Mode (Creation Club)

Downloads: n/a.

• Can be downloaded from the in-game Creation Club store

The Creation Club was met with huge fan outcry, prompting fans to roll back their changes and only allow a few select mods to qualify for the paid category. The Survival mode that players can download in the Creation Club is a great way to make the game more challenging to play.

7 Game Bugs That Became Iconic Features

In fact, most people would argue that this mod is downright necessary for players who want to turn Skyrim into the ultimate survival experience . It's a great and simple way to add numerous balanced survival mechanics to Skyrim and force players to approach the game differently.

4 Fast Travel Cost

Downloads: 13,100.

• Creator: Narue

Fast travel is one of those gameplay features that makes traversing the open world easier, but it also really breaks the immersion. Moreover, it can be easy to abuse to get out of sticky situations by running far away from an enemy and then fast traveling away.

The Fast Travel Costs mod tweaks fast travel so that every time a player uses it, they lose a bit of gold. The amount depends entirely on the distance traveled. This makes fast travel a more strategic choice and forces players to consider when to use it and when to not use it. It also ensures players can't escape the harshness of other survival mods by just skipping any travel time.

Downloads: 114,163

• Creator: The Requiem Dungeon Masters

If having too many mods is a concern, then Requiem is an excellent choice for players who want to start small and expand from there. Though, Requiem is anything but small. It changes many aspects of the game, making Skyrim much more lore-friendly, immersive, and realistic.

The most important change Requiem introduces is to stop the scaling of the enemies in Skyrim . This means that early on, some areas in the world will feel incredibly difficult and will encourage the player to engage in combat with a more strategic mindset.

6 Advanced Cooking

Downloads: 3,238.

• Creator: Corpsehatch

While other mods on this list will make cooking more interesting with new recipes and ingredients, Advanced Cooking tweaks the actual mechanics of cooking to be more skill-based. After all, why would the Dragonborn know instantly how to cook the heartiest, most powerful meal?

Advanced Cooking introduces a sort of cooking skill system. The higher the player's level, the better recipes they can cook. This prevents players from abusing how overpowered some of the recipes in Skyrim are and just how easy they are to make.

7 Immersive Horses

Downloads: 229,686.

• Creator: sevencardz, CyborgArmGun, KrittaKitty

With some survival mods and the principles of survival gameplay, fast travel is a big no-no, as it allows players to go past the hostility of the wilds. Due to this, having a good mod that overhauls the horses of Skyrim is a necessity, and there's no better one for this than Immersive Horses.

Not only does it add a bunch of commands and a whole system for summoning a specific horse to the player's location, but it also brings in a few new breeds. Moreover, horses won't just be docile vehicles from now on. They can also attack and move in different ways, making them more adjusted for combat.

8 Simple Taxes

Downloads: 35,600.

• Creator: Mattiewagg

Survival isn't just about living and camping in the wild. It's also about managing money and the economy in an era of medieval cities and merchants. Without making things too complicated, the mod Simple Taxes introduces the burden of taxation on the Dragonborn's shoulders.

With money already scarce, the player now also has to budget with taxation in mind. Property like horses and houses will need to be paid for, although their respective cost and whether these systems are active can be tailored depending on the player's wants and needs.

9 Wearable Lanterns

Downloads: 692,630.

• Creator: Chesko

One of the most annoying features of Skyrim is the inability to carry a lantern on one's belt for some extra light during the night or in dungeons. Instead, the player is forced to sacrifice either hand to carry a torch or cast a mage light. Wearable Lanterns change this.

The Dragonborn can now carry a lantern on their belt, one which they've crafted themselves as well. This becomes especially useful in Campfire as well since the two mods complement each other when making a campfire or paper lanterns.

10 Hunterborn SE

Downloads: 388,174.

• Creator: unuroboros

Survival deals a lot with cooking food in Skyrim , which is a generally underappreciated mechanism of the game. As such, it's nice to have a few additional recipes with new effects to make survival a bit more plausible. Slaying a dragon will now not only yield a bit of loot but also some ingredients for hearty food.

Skyrim: 21 Amazing Mods That Add Exciting New Areas To Explore

It's not just new recipes that the mod Hunterborn introduces. The process of actually hunting and preparing the animal for cooking is more complex as well. Foraging for food in the forests of Skyrim has also been changed to feel more realistic, so there's a real reason to get cooking.

11 Diseased

Downloads: 1,721.

• Creator: Manaflow

If the diseases in Skyrim feel far too easy to deal with, rest assured there's a mod called Diseased that addresses this flaw to perfection. Rather than having diseases just be temporary negative status effects, this mod makes players care about diseases as they can even present life-threatening symptoms.

Players will have to learn from books how to make cures and appropriately take care of themselves when they eventually do come down with a sickness. In the first care scenario, players can even die if they're not treated in time.

12 Chasing The Dragon

Downloads: 18,638.

• Creator: Ghenna

In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt , the concept of toxicity was introduced as a gameplay mechanic. The use of potions would yield some negative effects on top of the positive ones, which made the whole system feel much more realistic and with concrete stakes.

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Now, a similar mechanic has been introduced with the mod Chasing The Dragon. Overuse of potions will now have some much-needed risks, rather than just being an easy thing to do. Higher toxicity levels will actually stop the player from regenerating any of their attributes. Players can also become addicted to some potions.

13 Mealtime

Downloads: 50,746.

• Creator: aviform

When thinking about survival, food is one of the first things that come to mind. There's not a huge amount of variety in Skyrim as it is, which is why mods like Mealtime are absolutely crucial in making the game feel a bit more immersive.

With over a hundred new recipes added to the game, each food item provides a unique value of health to the player. Some even have special effects that players can discover as they learn all the different recipes.

Downloads: 154,736

• Creator: isoku

Paired well with the Mealtime mod, the iNeed mod is a must-have for anyone who wants some basic survival in their game. The Dragonborn will now have to think about three sets of needs: hunger, sleep, and thirst. All of these have to be addressed roughly three times a day, with the exception of sleep which only needs to be filled once at night.

Skyrim: The 5 Best Race Powers (& 5 That Are Terrible)

Thirst in particular is a really interesting mechanic, as it introduces waterskins as items that can carry some water and need to be periodically refilled. Not tending to the needs will make the character weaker, whereas being well-rested, fed, and hydrated gives positive status effects.

15 Scarcity

Downloads: 77,985.

• Creator: Syclonix

Part of survival that's easy in vanilla Skyrim is just how easy it is to find almost any type of loot and sell it for money. When managing needs like hunger, as long as the player has money they can simply buy all their food. However, with Scarcity, this becomes trickier.

Skyrim: 10 Ridiculously Long Quests With Terrible Rewards

Loot of all kinds is now much rarer and when the player does find something truly exceptional, it makes that find even more rewarding than usual. It's a necessary fix to the bloated economy of the game, which gives players incentive to go out and hunt food on their own when in a pinch.

16 Frostfall

Downloads: 643,573.

Previously, crossing a river in a frozen environment or swimming in a cold ocean wasn't a problem at all for the Dragonborn. However, with this mod, things change drastically. Frostfall makes the weather of Skyrim mean something to the player.

Depending on the location the player is in , the mod will introduce various temperature effects on them, including hypothermia. It also forces the player to consider what kind of clothing they're wearing in each area.

17 Campfire

Downloads: 1,072,695.

It's pretty surprising that a game like Skyrim , with so much nature, doesn't have a camping system. Camps can be found all around the world, but actual camping isn't an interaction or a gameplay feature that's really available to players.

The Campfire mods finally makes this possible. Players can set up their camp by gathering resources and buying tools needed for camping. It even introduces a brand new skill tree that has to do with all things camping.

50 Best Skyrim Mods In 2024

By Joey Carr on April 18, 2024 at 11:28AM PDT

GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the game that built the foundation for the modding community. Released in 2011, Skyrim was an immediate commercial and critical success, surpassing all expectations and redefining what an open-world game could be. Over the years, it has kept a thriving player base as well as a fantastic modding community, with players able to download thousands of unique mods.

However, not all mods are created equal and there are some that you should prioritize downloading over others. Today, we'll be going over the 50 best mods you can download in Skyrim, which range from gameplay mods to massive DLC-sized mods.

As a note, this list includes mods for both the base version of Skyrim and the Special Edition version, as the mods are slightly different for both editions. You can click the link for each mod to see what edition it's specified for.

Created by: SkyUI Team

Up first, we have arguably the most recognizable mod for Skyrim of all time. SkyUI is available for both the base version and the Special Edition and it's largely meant for PC players. It completely changes the interface and adds a plethora of features users can take advantage of when they're browsing all of the in-game menus.

Skyrim 202X

Created by: Pfuscher

Next up is Skyrim 202X , which is by far the most downloaded mod for the Special Edition of Skyrim. This mod adds high-resolution textures to a number of different objects in the game, including full-scale cities, dungeons, weapons and armor, and much more. You won't even recognize Skyrim after downloading this mod, even with the Special Edition's new coat of paint.

Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch

Created by: The Unofficial Patch Project Team

We're sticking to the top overall mods for the Special Edition for now, as the Unofficial Patch is the second-most downloaded mod on Nexus Mods. As you can likely tell from the mod's title, the Unofficial Patch does its best to get rid of every major bug left behind by the developers. While there are still some nagging bugs left behind, your copy of the Special Edition won't feature nearly as many issues when you have the mod installed.

Immersive Armors

Created by: Hothtrooper44

Immersive Armors is the first mod for the base version of Skyrim on this list, aside from SkyUI. The mod completely overhauls the armor system in Skyrim, adding dozens of new armor sets that are flawlessly added to the world so your immersion isn't broken. In addition to new armor sets, you can also find new types of armor and clothing, such as capes, earrings, eye patches, and more. All of the new armor can be crafted, but you can also find all of it through various means in Skyrim.

A Quality World Map and Solstheim Map

Created by: User_3142012

If you're a longtime Skyrim player, you likely know how confusing the default map can be. It's difficult to pinpoint where you are and where certain cities and points of interest are located. With the Quality World Map mod, you can customize how you see your map in Skyrim. The main selling point of the mod is the hand-drawn roads, allowing you to see how to get to places much easier. The mod also features different types of mods, including a paper map and one with higher textures.

Created by: Expired

The default character creator in Skyrim is quite substantial, letting you customize your character down to their facial features. However, if you want to go even more in-depth, you need the RaceMenu mod, which opens up a world of new possibilities for the character creator. You can customize your character even further, adding body paints, revamped facial features, and better-looking character models in general. You can download RaceMenu for any version of Skyrim.

ImmersiveWeapons

Created by: Hothtrooper44, Ironman5000, and Eckss

We couldn't add the ImmersiveArmor mod without also including the ImmersiveWeapons mod. Designed for the base version of Skyrim, this mod does the exact same thing as the ImmersiveArmor mod, only this time with weapons. You can find all new weapons, either through crafting or in the world, and fresh variants of the weapons you know and love. Both of these weapons are 100% lore-friendly and only add to your Skyrim experience.

Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim

Created by: Enai Siaion

The perk system in Skyrim is widely considered to be one of the weaker points of the game, featuring a convoluted system and some unnecessary clunkiness to the character-building. With the Ordinator- Perks of Skyrim mod, you can actually enjoy unlocking new perks. The mod overhauls the perk system, revamping every single perk tree and allowing for a larger variety of character builds. There are 469 new perks with the mod, so this can completely alter any previous experience you have with Skyrim.

JK's Skyrim

Created by: Jkrojmal and Teabag86

Are you tired of the same old cities and towns in Skyrim? In addition to downloading a texture pack mod like Skyrim 202X, you can also install JK's Skyrim , which enhances Skyrim's cities to a new level. Locations like Whiterun, Solitude, Markarth, and others are overhauled visually, making them look much more distinguished. There are over a dozen locations enhanced with the mod.

Relationship Dialogue Overhaul

Created by: cloudedtruth

If you're fed up with hearing the same old lines of dialogue from Skyrim's NPCs, then you need to download the Relationship Dialogue Overhaul mod. This single mod adds over 5,000 lines of unique dialogue for dozens of NPCs and uses the characters' same voices. In addition to completely new dialogue, there's also cut dialogue added that's in the game files, but has never been heard in the base game.

Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim

After a while, the magicka system in Skyrim can grow boring if you've played through the game a few times. Luckily, the Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim mod exists, adding 155 new spells into the game, as well as new visuals and animations. All of these new spells are lore-friendly and can be accessed in a few different ways, including through scrolls, staves, vendors, and more. The new spells are added across the different magicka branches (Restoration, Destruction, etc.).

Alternate Start - Live Another Life

Created by: Arthmoor

One easy way to experience Skyrim differently is to change up the opening sequence. While several mods offer an altered version to the start of the game, the Alternate Start - Live Another Life mod is my personal favorite. It sees your character thrown into a dungeon and clinging to life when something magical happens. The mod still allows you to pick your character and you'll be able to select certain choices that have an impact on the rest of the game.

Beyond Skyrim - Bruma

Created by: The Beyond Skyrim - Cyrodiil Development Team

Beyond Skyrim - Bruma is a DLC-sized mod that allows you to travel to the very northern part of Cyrodiil and explore the county of Bruma. There are Ayleid ruins to go through, NPCs to speak to, and enemies to defeat throughout the newly explorable area. This mod is larger than the Dragonborn DLC in terms of size and scope, so it's one you don't want to miss out on as a hardcore Skyrim fan.

The Dance of Death - A Killmove Mod

Created by: DaedalusAI

An underrated aspect of the combat system in Skyrim is the killmoves, which allow you to eliminate an enemy in a unique way. With The Dance of Death mod, you gain access to several different killmoves previously inaccessible in Skyrim. You also have more control of what killmove you perform, which doesn't sound like a big deal but it can really change up your combat experience.

Convenient Horses

Created by: Alek

Convenient Horses is the best horse mod for Skyrim, allowing you to customize your mount to a completely new degree. You can now equip horse armor, whistle for your horse to come to you, store items on your horse, and gather materials while on horseback. Your followers now also have access to a horse as well as all of the other features I just mentioned. Your horse even has access to a charge attack and faster dismounts, making them viable for combat in Skyrim.

Skyrim Immersive Creatures

Created by: lifestorock and jackstarr

Another way you can change up your Skyrim experience is through a new onslaught of enemy creatures. The Immersive Creatures mod adds dozens of new enemies to see and fight in Skyrim, as well as adding fresh variations to existing enemies. There are all sorts of creatures to find, including some in dungeons, in and around the water, and on land.

Deadly Dragons

Created by: 3JIou and Redshift

Let's face it, dragon fights can get really old, really quickly in Skyrim. After your first couple of dragon encounters, they all start to mix together. Fortunately, you can download the Deadly Dragons mod to turn any dragon encounter into one to remember. This mod gives different dragons varying health, damage rates, types, and abilities. No one dragon fight will feel the same after downloading the mod and you'll actually be presented with a challenge during each encounter.

Amazing Follower Tweaks

Created by: Dheuster

The follower system in Skyrim feels extremely outdated if you play in 2024, especially after experiencing games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Dragon's Dogma 2. That's why mods such as Amazing Follower Tweaks exist, which aims to revamp the entire follower system. With the mod, you can have multiple followers, manage their inventories, outfits, weapons, and even level them up. New follower types are also added, so you can have a vampire, werewolf, bear, or other creature as a follower. This mod does much more than that as well, so it's well worth a try.

Created by: AlexanderJVelicky

Falskaar is one of the most successful large-scale mods in Skyrim's history. It adds a totally new explorable area to the map and over 20 hours of gameplay, including newly voiced NPCs, fresh quests, and several dungeons to explore. The quests are not considered canon, but they are well-done and keep your attention while exploring the new locations. If you're looking for some new DLC to consume in Skyrim, Falskaar should be one of your first stops.

Lucien - Immersive Fully Voiced Male Follower

Created by: Joseph Russell

While you can always pick up a follower along your journey in Skyrim, why not save yourself the trouble and add a premade one? Lucien is a male follower who comes with several perks, such as a level-up system, 5,000 lines of dialogue, and more. As you progress in Skyrim, so will Lucien, giving you a true companion to grow with.

Cutting Room Floor

One easy way to add more content to Skyrim is to experience what the developers have already added to the game. However, there are several pieces of content in the game files that never made it to the final build. The Cutting Room Floor mod restores all of this cut content into the full game, allowing you to experience everything the developers designed. This cut content includes new locations for the most part, but there are also new NPCs quests, locations, and items.

Apothecary - An Alchemy Overhaul

Created by: Simon Magus, DeltaRider, and Oreo

We've already included mods to overhaul the perks, magicka, weapons, armor, and followers in Skyrim, so why not Alchemy as well? The Apothecary mod gives you a completely new Alchemy system to master, featuring new effects, recipes, and XP rates, along with a plethora of more features. Whether you're an Alchemy master or someone who never partakes in the system, this mod alters how you'll play the game.

Legacy of the Dragonborn

Created by: icecreamassassin

If you're looking for a complete tectonic shift in how you play Skyrim, you need to download the Legacy of the Dragonborn mod. This mod adds over 100 hours of gameplay, complete with new quests, locations, NPCs, items, and more. It essentially acts as dozens of mods in one, so I don't recommend mixing this mod with others on this list. This mod is best served as a standalone mod that you play through an entire save with.

Better Jumping

Created by: meh321 and z65536

The jumping mechanic is one that truly shows Skyrim's age, as it's totally outdated and almost unusable in today's age. However, with the Better Jumping mod, you can now jump while sprinting, double jump, and adjust how high you jump. It's a small gameplay change, but one that can make a huge difference during any playthrough.

Achievements Mods Enabler

Created by: xSHADOWMANx

One of the major downsides to downloading mods in Skyrim is the inability to earn achievements in-game. If you download the Achievements Mods Enabler mod, though, you can bypass that restriction. This is especially useful for newer players who have yet to earn many of the achievements in Skyrim but still want to use mods.

Campfire - Complete Camping System

Created by: Chesko

Not every mod has to be about constant action, improving visuals, or upgrading your character in Skyrim. Some mods aim to simply increase your immersion, and few do it better than the Campfire mod. This allows you to construct campfires for you and your followers to sit around. The fires can be built brighter and higher with resources you collect around the map and you can use the fire to cook food or interact with your followers with unique dialogue.

Realistic Needs and Diseases

Created by: perseid9

Skyrim can be too easy for many veterans of the game. If you fall into this class, or simply crave a more difficult experience, then you'll want to download the Realistic Needs and Diseases mod. This essentially turns Skyrim into a hardcore survival experience, making it so your character needs to eat, sleep, rest, drink, and do everything else a human requires. You can also be infected with diseases that need to be cured, otherwise you'll perish.

Frostfall - Hypothermia Camping Survival

Building off the Realistic Needs and Diseases mod comes the Frostall mod. This adds a cold-weather system to Skyrim that cannot be taken lightly. From frigid temperatures to cold water, you need to be mindful of every surrounding on the map if you want to stay alive. This mod requires the Campfire mod to work, as that's going to be your primary way of staying warm with this mod installed. I don't recommend mixing Frostfall with Realistic Needs and Diseases, though, as the mods might not mix well and are two entirely different experiences.

Breezehome FullyUpgradable

Created by: Sku11M0nkey

There are too many house mods in Skyrim to name, but arguably one of the best overall ones is Breezehome . This installs a wonderfully designed home right inside of Whiterun and features plenty of amenities, including a weapons rack, crafting stations, a follower's room, and more. This version of the mod also allows you to fully upgrade the home to feature even more amenities.

I recommend also looking through Nexus Mods for more home mods, as there are plenty to choose from across every location in Skyrim. You can also download the base Breezehome mod , which doesn't come fully upgraded.

Opulent Thieves Guild

Created by: Sokkvabekk

The Thieves Guild is an immensely popular faction in Skyrim, and the Opulent Thieves Guild mod only enhances your experience with it. The mod overhauls the guild's headquarters as well as the Ragged Flaggon, but only in stages. The locations become better-looking, new NPCs are added, and other fixes are made as you progress through Skryim and the Thieves Guild questline.

TrueHUD - HUD Additions

Created by: Ersh

While some players might not like anything on their HUD in Skyrim, others could lean in the opposite direction. If you're someone who wants more information on their screen, then TrueHUD is a perfect mod for you. The mod adds HUD details such as a boss HP bar, follower bars, and additional widgets that you can freely customize and move around.

Sounds of Skyrim - Civilization

Created by: Cliffworms

Sounds of Skyrim is a simple mod, but can add a significant enhancement to the gameplay and exploration of the game. The mod adds over 200 new sound effects that can be heard in the various cities and towns across the map. Some sounds include weather effects, random NPC noises, and doors opening/closing.

Ars Metallica - Smithing Enhancement

The smithing system in Skyrim leaves plenty to be desired, and the Ars Metallica mod fixes most of the issues players have with the system. It adds the ability to gain XP while mining and smelting, craft arrows and lockpicks, smelt down weapons and armor for resources, and more. You can also craft specific armor depending on what faction you belong to, so you can equip the appropriate gear for a certain quest.

Categorized Favorites Menu

Created by: favmenumodder

Trying to navigate through your favorited items menu in Skyrim can be difficult, especially if you have several items to choose from. The Categorized Favorites Menu takes care of that problem, separating all of your favorited items into distinct categories that are easy to see and pick from. You're also able to fully customize what categories appear on the menu when you go to select a favorited item.

Unread Books Glow

Created by: duggelz

If you're a history buff in Skyrim, then reading all of the available literature spread throughout the game is going to be extra important to you. To simplify the task of reading through every book in the game, you can use the Unread Books Glow mod, which makes books you haven't read before glow a bright color. This allows you to know whether you've read a book or not before interacting with it.

Moonpath to Elsweyr

Created by: MuppetPuppet and An_Old_Sock

True modding veterans of Skyrim might know the Moonpath mod already, but it deserves a place on this list. Moonpath to Elsweyr was one of the first DLC-sized quest mods for Skyrim and still enjoys regular updates to this day. The mod allows you to explore several different environments you can't experience in the base game, including deserts, jungles, and more. There are also new quests to complete, NPCs to meet, and enemies to defeat.

The Forgotten City

Created by: Nick Pearce

The Forgotten City is one of the most expansive and immersive quest mods you can download in Skyrim. It's a roughly eight-hour experience that features an award-winning script based on a murder mystery set in an underground city. You'd be hard-pressed to find a mod more worth your time than The Forgotten City.

Created by: mwilsnd

For anyone who prefers to play Skyrim in third-person mod, the SmoothCam mod is a must-have. The mod allows you to fully customize your third-person camera, giving you better aim and smoother transitions. There are over 100 customizable options with the camera, so you can completely tailor it to your liking.

Helgen Reborn

Created by: Mike Hancho

Helgen is the first location you visit in Skyrim, unless you install the Alternate Start mod, but you never really have to visit it again after the dragon destroys it in the opening minutes of the game. The Helgen Reborn mod aims to rectify that by offering a full voiced-acted experience that sees you restore the town to its former glory and uncover some of its secrets. There's a battle arena, interesting characters, an expansive storyline, and plenty of other sights to see in Helgen Reborn.

Wintersun - Faiths of Skyrim

Wintersun - Faiths of Skyrim is a lore-friendly religion mod that allows you to worship different dieties in Skyrim. You can pray at shrines and complete objectives for your chosen diety to build a stronger relationship with it that can eventually reward you with new strengths. There are several different dieties you can choose to worship, some of which you'll recognize from previous Elder Scrolls titles.

Stones of Barenziah Quest Markers

Created by: toaDime

The Stones of Barenziah are one of Skyrim's most expansive collectible item. There are 24 total stones on the map that you need to find to complete the "No Stone Unturned" quest. All the Stones of Barenziah Quest Markers mod does is add a small marker above each of the stone's location, making it much easier to spot them. However, one major caveat with the mod is you won't get to see the individual locations of the stones, so this quest still relies on your ability to know their general location.

Wildcat - Combat of Skyrim

If Skyrim's combat system is boring you, I suggest completely changing it up by using the Wildcat combat mod. This overhauls most of the combat elements in the base game and delivers a more seamless experience. Combat features more aggressive and smarter AI along with deadlier attacks, making every move count. To counter the stronger enemies, you can take advantage of timed blocking, which is extremely useful for boss fights.

Immersive College of Winterhold

Created by: Grantyboy050

The College of Winterhold is one of the most stunning locations in Skyrim, but the Immersive mod for the location takes it up a notch. The mod increases visuals across the board, brightening up the entire area and adding improvements to all of its buildings. The characters in and around the college are also overhauled, increasing your immersion when walking throughout the location.

Rich Skyrim Merchants

Created by: Eddie The Eagle

This is about as simple as a mod can be in Skyrim, but Rich Skyrim Merchants makes your life ten times easier. All it does is give the various vendors around the map more gold in their inventory, allowing you to sell a greater number of items to them. This completely eliminates the time spent waiting for a vendor's inventory to restock. The mod allows you to customize how much gold the vendors have, ranging from two, five, or ten times the normal amount.

Archery Gameplay Overhaul

Created by: DServant

If a bow and arrow are your main weapons of choice in Skyrim, then the Archery Gameplay Overhaul mod should be at the top of your list for mods to download. The mod adds a flurry of new features to the archery system, including new animations and effects as well as arrow enchanting. You can now make enemies bleed after shooting them, draw arrows faster, and see new animations when firing in first- and third-person mode, among other things.

Created by: Jonx0r

Wyrmstooth is another DLC-sized quest mod that centers around dragons. As Dragonborn, you're contracted by a company to kill a dragon that's wreaking havoc throughout Skyrim. However, as you progress through the various quests in the mod, you discover the dragon might have some ulterior motives with its destruction. The mod features an entire new area to explore, the ability to buy a castle, new weapons, spells, and other gear, and over 10 hours of gameplay.

Build Your Own Home

Created by: Supernastypants

I already mentioned some house mods previously on this list, but the Build Your Own Home mod is an entirely different beast in Skyrim. The mod gives you the ability to design a home from scratch, letting you customize every inch of the living space. You can choose the house's location, what's inside and outside, how it looks, and everything else in between.

At Your Own Pace

Created by: agd25

At some points during Skyrim's story, you're presented with several different questlines that can be difficult to keep track of. The At Your Own Pace mod tries to fix this by completely revamping all of the questlines in Skyrim. The revamp adds breaks, new ways to role-play, and a general slowdown of the game so you can enjoy everything it has to offer at whatever pace you'd like. You can read more about exactly how the mod achieves this on its Nexus Mods page.

Created by: JKrojmal

Darkend is another DLC-sized mod, but this one doesn't feature any sort of questline. Instead, you travel to a new island, fight never-before-seen enemies, and explore several different areas in the pursuit of a set of ancient weapons. The Soulsborne genre inspires this mod, so don't expect any quest markers or help when you arrive on the mysterious island. You'll have to figure things out for yourself in this punishing, yet rewarding mod.

Thunderchild - Epic Shouts and Immersion

Shouts are an incredibly unique and useful combat mechanic in Skyrim, and the Thunderchild mod enhances your experience with them. The mod adds 29 new shouts that all have different effects as well as several other features to the game. There are even bug fixes for the existing shouts in Skyrim, so this mod is truly an all-encompassing way to experience the mechanic.

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