Skyrim

Just a heads up for anyone starting fresh, steer clear ofLocational Damage. It was exactly what I was looking for: having bitches die when they take a god damn arrow to the dome. It's got 2500 endorsements so I didn't think anything of it, but it's apparently pretty fucked up. Firstly, it's wonky as hell, sometimes a head shot will instakill, sometimes it does normal damage, sometimes the guy runs for another .5 - 1 second before falling over. Other times you can shoot them in the body and it'll kill them instantly.

That'd be bad enough, but it also causes pretty bad stuttering and/or CTDs. Myself, it's only stuttering, and I thought it was actually on account of other mods (and it wasn't too severe so it's taken a few days to grow into an annoyance and cause me to find the solution). The most recent post gives a link for some memory mod, which I gave a brief whirl to but that caused me to CTD after a very short while in game. When I turn off the mod, I get CTDs too, so I think I'm pretty fucked into keeping it.

Jabberwhacky_sl said:

Just a heads up for anyone starting fresh, steer clear ofLocational Damage. It was exactly what I was looking for: having bitches die when they take a god damn arrow to the dome. It's got 2500 endorsements so I didn't think anything of it, but it's apparently pretty fucked up. Firstly, it's wonky as hell, sometimes a head shot will instakill, sometimes it does normal damage, sometimes the guy runs for another .5 - 1 second before falling over. Other times you can shoot them in the body and it'll kill them instantly.

That'd be bad enough, but it also causes pretty bad stuttering and/or CTDs. Myself, it's only stuttering, and I thought it was actually on account of other mods (and it wasn't too severe so it's taken a few days to grow into an annoyance and cause me to find the solution). The most recent post gives a link for some memory mod, which I gave a brief whirl to but that caused me to CTD after a very short while in game. When I turn off the mod, I get CTDs too, so I think I'm pretty fucked into keeping it.

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Instead of that just use the deadly combat mod, it has a type of location damage but it debuffs or causes bleeds/crits instead of MORE DAMAGE!.

my favorite mod for skyrim is requiem - its a balance overhaul that makes the game tougher and combat a lot more lethal - especially starting off you can die in 1-2 hits if you are not blocking.

Not recommended for first time players, but maybe after you have gotten used to the game you could start over and use this mod (you really want to use it with a new game, I have no idea what kind of problems it would cause trying to use it on an existing game)

Stuff it does:

• everything does alot more damage (melee, archery, spells)
• unless you are doing 2 hand weapon kiting, you will have to block / interrupt your opponents attacks if you want to be melee.
• Large monsters have significant knockback which makes melee with them a lot more challenging.
• Stat system changed - you get a lot less carry weight.
• Health - increases 2hand damage, 1hand damage, health, carry weight.
• Stamina - increases run speed, 1hand damage, dagger / bow damage.
• Magicka - increases magic resistance.
• Spells are a lot more powerful but also a lot harder to use if you are not a caster oriented character.
• Tradeskills rebalanced to not be as powerful.

There is more to it than that and they have a mod menu where you can adjust settings and see the calculated bonuses from your attributes.

Oh and random notes if anyone starts a new game with this mod -

• Archery is really strong (both for you and npcs) but undead are practically immune to arrow damage (although they do have silver arrows that may help).
• Monsters no longer scale up in level with you, so if you come across a random encounter with a strong opponent (vampires, casters, storm atronach) you may have no way to defeat them and just have to run away.
• Monsters with high regeneration (trolls, spriggan) have their regeneration halted temporarily if you use fire on them (torch/spell/magic weapon)
• By default, you have to have in your possession specific books to unlock the initial smithing perk and the specific armor type smithing perks (can be disabled)
• Wearing heavy armor without any perks in heavy armor constantly drains your stamina
• Casting spells in heavy armor costs a lot more mana
• Armor has a much larger effect on stealth difficulty and stealth in general is a lot harder
• sneak attack range on bows is based on your archery skill - you can still kill from really far distance, you just won't get sneak attack bonus until you have higher archery skill
• can't pick locks unless you invest in lock pick perks (can be disabled)
• can't pick pockets unless you invest in pick pocket perks (can be disabled)
• they reorganized the doom stones into 3 categories - fighter, mage, thief - once you pick a stone, you can only swap between stones of that type
• no more legendary levels - max is level 81 - once you hit 100 skill you can choose to legendary it which only refunds the talent points but does not reset your skill to zero

spoiler - about vampires

I just started playing again a week ago after not playing for a year - I should have bought dragonborn when it was on sale over the holidays, but at the rate I play it will probably go back on sale before I get to the point where I would go there anyways.

Nemesis_sl said:

until modding becomes easier (I'm not holding my breath), I'm afraid that I may never return to this game which held such awesome promise for me

I can't stomach sitting through a couple hours of downloading, BOSS/MO sorting, and ultimately CTD'ing time and time again. It never seems to work, even when I try to trim the number of mods I'm using to a bare minimum.

I get that it's my fault, and I'm probably just stupid. but there's gotta be an easier way.

waiting for someone to release a comprehensive "best of" mod that does it all for me.

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What exactly are you looking for? There's plenty of people running the game modded, that I'm sure we can cover your mod wants. The game isn't hard to mod successfully at all. I'm running 100+ with less than 2 hours of tinkering (3/4 of that from the SexLabs stuff).

Are you just stacking multiple mods that cover the same thing or what? Are you running with DLC or vanilla? Are you using SKSE/SkyUi? Are you using an organizer (which one?)?

Sulrn_sl said:

Are you just stacking multiple mods that cover the same thing or what? Are you running with DLC or vanilla? Are you using SKSE/SkyUi? Are you using an organizer (which one?)?

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I went for a couple simple texture/object/visual mods that, as far as i could tell, were not overlapping or conflicting. then added some basic mods to improve gameplay while retaining as vanilla a feel as possible.. UI, map update, blood, weapon and armor updates... there were several, but under 30, and I thought I did my homework in terms of checking for compatibility

basically i want a "vanilla feel" with the best visuals and gameplay I can get.

I have no DLCs, so I was going with just the vanilla modifications.

Clear out your mods / reinstall Skyrim. Download the free HD DLC from steam, reinstall SKSE, get your preferred mod manager (I use MO with no issues).

From the workshop install: SkyUI, Towns and Villages Enhanced (get the non DG/DB cities), Enhanced Cities (Helgen will not work with vanilla intro), Sounds of Skyrim (3 parts), Pure Waters, SkyForge Weapons/Shields, Dragonbone Ebonsteel Armor, Dance of Death(vanilla), Project Reality: Climates of Tamriel + Wearable Lanterns (Separate mods), Backpack, Leveling Merchant Wallets, Amazing Follower Tweaks, Item Recycling, and Smeltdown.Optional: Enhanced Soundtrack 1 +2, Camping Kit of the Northern Ranger, Live Another Life/ Random Alternate Start, Character Creation Overhaul, Auto Unequip Arrows, Weapon Variant Expansion, Unread Books glow, Apocalypse Spell Package, Become a Bard, Left Handed Rings, Mjoll Facelift, Aela Facelift, Caliente's Better Body Enhancement (**workshop is never nude**) + CBBE Vanilla Armor - Bandit Pack, Ponytail Hairstyles, Flaming Red Hair.

From GEMS/Nexus: Unofficial Skyrim Patch, Race Menu, Increased Bounty and Guild Rewards, Equipping Overhaul, Civil War Overhaul, Winter is Coming.Optional: Synnx Perky Reborn & CBBE (nude version).

Use your mod manager to install Nexus files. Launch the game Launchpad via steam so workshop can sync. Restart your mod manager and launch the game from there.

Very clean, no issues, improves a vanilla play through without anything looking out of place. YMMV on combat/sex mods so I didn't suggest any. Synxx Perky and Character Creation Overhaul drastically change the leveling curve, but you may or may not like it on an initial vanilla run. Definitely suggest both + random alternate start though.

Sulrn_sl said:

advice

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thanks!

too many steps, though. even if it's gonna work, it's like my 10th time trying this shit since I bought the game when it came out.. I'm so hesitant to try again.. I'm sure the day will come where I've got nothing else to play and I'm motivated enough to give this another try.

I do appreciate that you took the time to spell it out for me.

<3

Hatorade_sl said:

Instead of that just use the deadly combat mod, it has a type of location damage but it debuffs or causes bleeds/crits instead of MORE DAMAGE!.

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I looked at Deadly Combat, but it's not what I want at all. First and foremost, it doesn't make headshots deadly, it just gives some stagger. This isn't about "MORE DAMAGE" it's about immersion. I have all sorts of amazing lighting and weather and graphical mods, but it all goes out the window when this bald bandit is attacking me while three arrows are sticking out of his head. Also, 'locational damage' is literally 15th on the list of things that mod changes. The mod I listed actually has special effects too; I don't think you read it, because it is far from just "MORE DAMAGE". You can even shoot the weapon out of enemies' hands.....if the mod worked lol

I'm prolly gonna reroll/reinstall due to that damn Locational Damage mod, and I'm curious about magic. I've always thought the magic system sucked (more likely, I suck at it) because it was just "spray fire until A) mob dies or B) run out of mana". There seem to be quite a few very popular magic mods, but which of them makes magic interesting right from the get go? Something other than just holding my hand out while backpedalling and hoping the monster dies before I'm OOM.

Jabberwhacky_sl said:

I looked at Deadly Combat, but it's not what I want at all. First and foremost, it doesn't make headshots deadly, it just gives some stagger. This isn't about "MORE DAMAGE" it's about immersion. I have all sorts of amazing lighting and weather and graphical mods, but it all goes out the window when this bald bandit is attacking me while three arrows are sticking out of his head. Also, 'locational damage' is literally 15th on the list of things that mod changes. The mod I listed actually has special effects too; I don't think you read it, because it is far from just "MORE DAMAGE". You can even shoot the weapon out of enemies' hands.....if the mod worked lol

I'm prolly gonna reroll/reinstall due to that damn Locational Damage mod, and I'm curious about magic. I've always thought the magic system sucked (more likely, I suck at it) because it was just "spray fire until A) mob dies or B) run out of mana". There seem to be quite a few very popular magic mods, but which of them makes magic interesting right from the get go? Something other than just holding my hand out while backpedalling and hoping the monster dies before I'm OOM.

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Apocalypse Spell Package is a great addition. You get access to some of the new spells pretty early, but there is still some backpedalling to begin with. One of the new spells you get early on; Amalexia's Grace, is very handy.

Apocalypse Spell Package at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community

Also if you use ASIS, enemies get access to the new spells too.

ASIS at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community

Recently reinstalled and have been dicking around with mods. Here's the best I've been able to come up with for both graphical enhancement and performance. I tried several ENB configs and hated them all. Most were either too saturated and lame or were more for screenshots over gameplay. Game looks great and runs smooth (50 - 60fps) on a gtx 570, i7 3.14, 16gb ram (I think only a max of 8 can be used for Skyrim), and a SSD. Here's my list of mods, tweaks and utilities:

Necessary Utilities:
Skyrim Nexus - mods and community- To manage your installations load order. I tend to DL manually and activate through NMM instead of using the "Install Using Manager" button.
BOSS- To create your load order and alert you to any dirty edits that need cleaning.
TES5Edit at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community- To clean your dirty edits.
Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE)- Script extender necessary for many mods.

Unofficial Patches:
Unofficial Skyrim Patch at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community- Skyrim
Unofficial Dawnguard Patch at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community- Dawnguard
Unofficial Hearthfire Patch at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community- Hearthfire
Unofficial Dragonborn Patch at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community- Dragonborn
Unofficial High Resolution Patch at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community- Hi Res

Texture/mesh/graphic Mods (I tried to list in install order NOT load order, but I may have transposed a few mods):

Character:
CBBE, UNP, whatever are all fine. Just go through the list of the most popular and see which ones you want. All are easy to install and figure out, just make sure that your face/body/skeleton/armor mods are compatible. You will want to pickup:
RaceMenu at Skyrim Nexus - mods and community

Gameplay:

There are tons more, but running these will give you a good base to start off with. This guide:Skyrim Project Stability-Increase performance and NEVER freeze again at Skyrim Nexus - mods and communitywill help you stabilize your PC and mod list to minimize CTD's. I haven't had a single memory issue or CTD since I've optimized this mod list.

Double

Well apparently it just took 7 months since I posted in here to actually give Skyrim with mods a shot. Just started messing with it last night. Got some texture packs installed, SkyUI, and the alternate start. Ended up just picking the original starting anyway, since I didn't want to change too much up for my first play through. Love the inventory UI though, so much better than what was there before. Also installed all the patch mods.

I load the game through the SKSE link, but it shows up as me playing Skyrim on Steam, and still have the Steam overlay, so that's cool.

Going to try and focus on the main quest, and not get so distracted by all the side quests, and ohhh shinies. lol

haha, ya, I've already gotten a bit distracted at the first town, but I know this is what happened last time. Got distracted, and then overwhelmed with so much extra stuff to do, that I quit. So I'm trying to keep focused. Not working so well though.

Crone_sl said:

haha, ya, I've already gotten a bit distracted at the first town, but I know this is what happened last time. Got distracted, and then overwhelmed with so much extra stuff to do, that I quit. So I'm trying to keep focused. Not working so well though.

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Stop tracking everything but the quest you want to do, also turning off the compass icons really help.

Hatorade_sl said:

Stop tracking everything but the quest you want to do, also turning off the compass icons really help.

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Not sure what's different than last time, but I'm actually enjoying it this time around. Just figured out, derp derp, how to dual wield last night. I'm wielding a sword in one hand, and fire in the other. Hoping to get some Battle Mage type character going on, but not sure if this will work.

Crone_sl said:

Not sure what's different than last time, but I'm actually enjoying it this time around. Just figured out, derp derp, how to dual wield last night. I'm wielding a sword in one hand, and fire in the other. Hoping to get some Battle Mage type character going on, but not sure if this will work.

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Nothing wrong with fireball in one hand and sword in another, light them up then cut them in half.

The most annoying thing with dual wield is equipping your weapons. If you have 2x of the same weapon without any enchants or smithing tempering, you can hotkey it, but otherwise it usually does not work.

If you have sky ui however, there is a way to set up gear group sets which can be used for dual wield combos or weapon+armor combinations and it works well.