The best Skyrim mods to install in 2022
Unofficial Skyrim Patch
Like every one of Bethesda’s games Skyrim is a bit on the buggy side. Despite heavy patching, the official development team never quite smoothed everything out. The Unofficial Skyrim Patch is a regularly updated mod that aims to fix hundreds of gameplay, quest, NPC, object, item, text, and placement bugs. For basic performance this mod is essential.
Relighting Skyrim
Have you ever looked at where the light shines from in Skyrim? All too frequently it’s from an illogical source (doors that shine – really, Bethesda?). Relighting Skyrim entirely reprograms the game’s light sources, ensuring light beams come out from fires and stars only, and not from planks of wood.
Static Mesh Improvement
A massive mod comprised of numerous Workshop files, Static Mesh Improvement works absolute wonders in removing all those horrible niggles from the objects of the world. Edges have their angles worked away so stones are finally smooth and bowls made round. Textures now run smoothly and those unsightly seams when two textures meet are eradicated. The extra polygons will affect performance slightly, but this really should be at the top of your priorities when it comes to making Skyrim beautiful.
FXAA Injector
The tool of choice for videogame photographer Dead End Thrills, FXAA Injector pumps a variety of anti-aliasing techniques into your Skyrim system to help create a much more sharp and vibrant image. Post-processing effects like bloom, technicolor, sharpen, and tonemap can be cranked up or down on a slider system to alter the visual quality to your own personal preference.
2K Textures
2K Textures actually provides textures up to 4K in resolution, a whopping eight times the resolution of vanilla Skyrim, and four times that of the official HD patch. The mod applies new textures to almost everything in Skyrim, from the floors to the skies, and everything inbetween. The effect is understandably astonishing, as is the system requirements (4 GB RAM and 1 GB video memory). A ‘lite’ version can be used on less powerful systems, or even a mix of full and lite elements for a good balance.
SkyUI
Skyrim is a very solid PC game, but there are telltale signs that it wasn’t solely designed to be played on a computer. The user interface is the leading clue; wholly built to be navigated with a controller. SkyUI completely rebuilds the HUD and interface of Skyrim, making it much more friendly for keyboard and mouse users. Alternatively, you can try the iEquip Skyrim mod, which is designed to keep you out of the menu for longer periods of times by giving you a powerful hotkey system.
Sounds of Skyrim
A massive mod made up of three packages, Sounds of Skyrim adds 450 new sound effects to create a realistically noisy world. It eliminates moments of unnatural silence with birdsong and wind out in the wilderness, and the hustle and bustle of human life in cities. Walk by doors and windows to overhear what’s going on inside. Approach cave entrances to listen to the drip and echoes within. Effects change depending on the time of day too, with nocturnal animals sounding out at night, and children shrieking during the day.
Moonpath to Elsweyr
Travel to Elsweyr, a tropical region inhabited by a great variety of new creatures. Hunt hyenas in the desert and stalk raptors in the jungle as you complete the six quests of this storyline revealing wonders of the area. The jungle areas are particularly impressive, and there’s a notable amount of care taken with creating the characters of Elsweyr, who are all voice acted for a little extra immersion. It’s worth grabbing the HD Texture Pack too as it boosts the mod’s visuals to 2K quality.
Dwemertech
The Dwemer left Tamriel years ago, but a small council of scientists stayed behind and are now planning to bring the Dwemer back to the world. A powerful mage is required to help them, and the rewards will be plentiful if they succeed. You’ll need a character with a skill level of 40 in Destruction, Alteration, or Restoration to start this quest, which will take you to an elaborate Dwemer base on Masser. 42 new spells make up part of the mix, but rather than being traditional magic these are Dwemer ‘bionics’, allowing you to tap into the technology of the dwarves. There’s an unusual sci-fi feel to the environments and props, making Dwemertech a exceptionally fresh experience within Skyrim.