Introduction
It’s been over 10 years since The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was first released, yet it remains one of the most popular and heavily modded games of all time. With the help of mods, Skyrim can be transformed into an entirely new experience. For anyone looking to mod Skyrim in 2024, here are my top 5 must have mods that will take your game to the next level.
1. SkyUI
The default user interface and menus in Skyrim haven’t aged particularly well. SkyUI overhauls the UI to make it easier to navigate, as well as adding lots of new functionality.
Some key features include:
- More organized crafting menus and inventory
- Search bar to quickly find items
- Sorting options to better manage inventory
- Customizable hotkeys
- Better control of favorites menu
- Various quality of life improvements
SkyUI is a crucial starting point for any modded Skyrim playthrough in 2024. It modernizes the game’s menus and presentation, while also laying the foundation for more complex mods that require SkyUI.
2. Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch
As a game that has been around for over a decade, Skyrim has its fair share of bugs leftover even after official patches. The Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch fixes thousands of bugs, ranging from minor problems to game-breaking issues.
Some highlights of what the patch fixes include:
- Quest bugs that prevent progress
- Crashes and freezes
- NPC behavior and pathfinding issues
- Incorrect or floating objects
- Game mechanic exploits
- Various text and scripting errors
The developers have spent years meticulously identifying and fixing bugs in Skyrim SE. No modded playthrough should be without this comprehensive bug fix mod.
3. Ordinator
Ordinator completely overhauls the perk trees of Skyrim, greatly expanding build variety and options for character progression. Some key features include:
- 20 new skill trees, over 400 new perks
- Playstyle diversity with multiple approaches per skill
- Unique mechanics related to each skill tree
- Crafting systems tied to various non-combat skills
- Perks that enable completely new builds and abilities
With Ordinator, leveling up becomes much more exciting. No longer are you forced to spend perks on boring incremental stat boosts, but instead you can unlock creative new abilities. It makes Skyrim feel like a completely new game.
4. Legacy of the Dragonborn
For lore fans, Legacy of the Dragonborn adds a spectacular new museum to Skyrim that lets you display and proudly exhibit the many artifacts you’ll acquire on your adventures. Some highlights include:
- Massive museum with over 60 exhibit rooms
- Thousands of items, quests, and displays to discover
- Integrates with various other mods to expand displays
- Archaeology skill tree and relic hunter guild
- Custom crafting systems to restore displays
- Player home with useful utilities
Legacy of the Dragonborn greatly increases the rewards for exploration and questing. As the curator of this museum, I felt immense satisfaction while tracking down historic relics and filling the museum’s halls. It’s a must-have for history buffs.
5. Interesting NPCs
Interesting NPCs massively expands Skyrim’s vanilla NPC roster with over 250 fully voiced new characters to encounter, each with extensive dialogue options and side quests. Features include:
- High quality writing and voice acting
- In-depth backstories and dialogue trees
- New quests, locations, and items
- Variety of characters from all races
- Seamless integration into the vanilla game
This mod makes the world feel so much more alive and vibrant. The characters I’ve met feel like real people with interesting stories to tell, rather than just generic NPCs. It’s a game-changer for roleplaying and immersion.
Conclusion
Mods breathe endless life into Skyrim, even over a decade after its release. For anyone looking to mod the game in 2024, these 5 mods offer necessary tweaks, overhauls, and enhancements to gameplay systems, roleplaying, exploration, and visuals. Modding guides always recommend essential mods to install, but I consider these 5 absolute must-haves for a truly next level experience. With these mods, you’ll spend hundreds more hours adventuring through a beautifully enhanced version of the epic open world that Skyrim provides.
