Mods are the lifeblood of most Bethesda titles. It is thanks to the talented modding community that Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim still have thousands of active players. Skyrim has seen the most mods out of any Bethesda game thanks to the accessibility of the Creation Kit and just how passionate players are about the game.
Most mods for Skyrim either fix issues with the game or implement new content for players to experience. Some of these mods even bring fan-requested features into Skyrim including companion overhauls and a new take on spell crafting. Here are ten Skyrim mods that add features that should have been in the main game. This list is in no particular order and written with the PC Special Edition version in mind.
10 Open Cities Skyrim (By Arthmoor)
As each Elder Scrolls game has increased in size, each main entry has needed to include more doorways and loading screens. This extended to entering major cities in both Oblivion and Skyrim, something that was seamless in Morrowind.
For those that yearn for the return of open cities, look no further than Arthmoor's Open Cities Skyrim mod. This mod makes it so Skyrim's main cities are part of the open-world instead of an instanced zone, meaning that main gates don't need to be loading screens anymore. It's a fantastic boost to immersion and allows for mounts to enter towns. Just note that any mod that alters a city will need a compatibility patch with Open Cities Skyrim to work properly.
9 Honed Metal (By skyliner390)
Blacksmiths and enchanters can be seen crafting throughout each of Skyrim's cities yet they can't craft items for the player. Meet skyliner390's Honed Metal, a mod that allows NPC proficient with a crafting skill to build, temper, or enchant gear for the player.
Simply provide the crafter with the required materials and a sum of Gold to begin the process. After a few days pass, the order will be completed and players can pick up their new item. The more proficient a crafter is in their field, the better the items they can make for the player. Honed Metal is a fantastic alternative to leveling Smithing or Enchanting.
8 Frostfall - Hypothermia Camping Survival (By Chesko)
For a region that is lauded for its harsh winters and tough living conditions, Skyrim never demands the player to fight the harsh climate at any point. Those that want the lore of Skyrim to impact gameplay should consider installing Chesko's Frostfall - Hypothermia Camping Survival mod.
Hypothermia is the largest addition in this mod. Players must keep themselves warm with fur armor and padded gear to survive in Skyrim's harsher climates. Players can set up camp at any time to shelter themselves from the harsh elements. Frostfall is a better alternative to Bethesda's own Survival creation and presents a greater challenge. Make sure to download the Unofficial SSE Update mod from Sthaagg Memnochs to keep Frostfall compatible with Special Edition's script extender.
7 LC_Build Your Noble House (By Locaster)
LC_Build Your Own Noble House by Locaster takes the best aspects of Fallout 4's settlement system and integrates them into a beautiful player home in Skyrim. Players get to claim a plot of land and expand it similarly to Hearthfire's homes. The difference is that the result is a self-sufficient keep that grants the player passive resources and income. For those that want to take Hearthfire's crafting to the next level, give this mod a try.
6 Nether's Follower Framework (By Netherworks)
Most of Skyrim's follower mods either see little support past launch or are heavily reliant of scripts, an issue that can cause instability for heavily-modded playthroughs. A more lightweight alternative to most follower overhaul mods is Nether's Follower Framework by Netherworks.
With this mod, players can have up to ten followers at once. Each follower can be customized to fulfill certain roles such as healing or drawing enemy attention. Outfits can also be configured for each companion that they dynamically swap to based on location. Top this off with minimal scripting and it's easy to see why Nether's Follower Framework is so widely used by the modding community.
5 Vokrii - Minimalistic Perks of Skyrim (By Enai Siaion)
Skyrim made radical changes to character builds by replacing attributes with skill trees. Perks from these trees can change a build's playstyle, but most of Skyrim's vanilla perks were straight numerical buffs.
Enai Siaion's Vokrii - Minimalistic Perks of Skyrim fixes this issue by overhauling every main perk tree in Skyrim, adding and replacing perks with more interesting options. Speech, for example, now grants Shout bonuses and animal taming perks in addition to bartering perks. Clerics, poison assassins, heavy attack builds, and even Alteration mages are more viable than ever before. Players can finally branch off from stealth archery at higher levels and play something more unique without compromising Skyrim's balance. This is how the perk trees should have been in vanilla.
4 Spell Research (By IronDusk33)
Mages are considered dangerous and not to be trusted amongst the Nords of Skyrim. However, all a character needs to become a mage is a few Septims to learn how to summon a Daedric minion. Not only does this go against immersion, but it also means that mages have no way of expanding their arsenal without investing thousands of Gold into Spell Tomes.
Spell Research by IronDusk33 adds a few alternate ways of learning spells such as researching spell archetypes or destroying ancient artifacts for knowledge. Coupling Spell Research with one or two spell package mods turns this mod into pseudo-spell crafting without the game-breaking baggage that came with the system in past games.
3 Alternate Start - Live Another Life (By Arthmoor)
Every Skyrim player starts the same: players are wheeled in from the border of Cyrodill to be executed before a dragon attack occurs. It's engaging the first time through but not for the one-hundredth time. Alternate Start - Live Another Life by Arthmoor allows players to start Skyrim in one of over a dozen scenarios that range from being a guild member to being left for dead. It's mandatory for players with script-heavy load orders and allows for a more diverse early-game.
2 Combat Gameplay Overhaul (By DServant)
DServant's Combat Gameplay Overhaul attempts to update Skyrim's outdated combat to modern standards. Some of the features in this mod include mid-air attacks, procedural leaning, a dodge button that isn't scripted, grip changes similar to Dark Souls, and the ability to wield two-handed weapons with one hand. Calling this overhaul massive would be an understatement. A fully configurable Mod Configuration Menu allows this mod to work in any playthrough and makes Skyrim's nearly decade-old combat feel much more modern.
1 Legacy Of The Dragonborn (By icecreamassassin)
Bethesda has done an incredible job at creating unique items with The Elder Scrolls franchise, Skyrim included. Players obtain hundreds of history-defining relics throughout their journey only to store them in cupboards and chests in their house. Instead of letting them collect dust at home, why not make a museum with those items?
This is the premise of icecreamassassin's Legacy of the Dragonborn, but don't let that description fool you. Legacy of the Dragonborn is equally a major quest mod as well as a museum. Fan-favorite artifacts from past games make a return alongside dozens of new quests. This feeds into Skyrim's gameplay loop so well it's shocking a system similar to Legacy of the Dragonborn's museum wasn't part of the base game.