Highlights

  • Skyrim's enduring popularity is thanks to its incredible modding support, offering players endless ways to enhance and personalize their experience.
  • Mods like Forgotten Creatures and Show Player in Menus improve gameplay without altering the vanilla Skyrim experience too drastically.
  • From immersive follower mods like Sofia to gameplay overhauls like Valhalla Combat, Skyrim mods continue to elevate and expand the game's world.

Bethesda might not have the most stellar reputation right now — given their track record in modern times — but there's no denying the fact that they still have a bunch of brilliant and imaginative titles under their belt to this day. One need only look at the sheer enduring popularity of Skyrim to understand why this is the case.

The fifth entry in the popular Elder Scrolls series is still going strong to this day as one of the most played games around, mainly due to its incredible modding support. The game might've been released in 2011, but the sheer number of mods that tweak — if not completely improve — the overall experience is so immense that most people will never notice the age of this game.

Updated on April 9, 2024, by Ritwik Mitra: Skyrim is an amazing open-world RPG that continues to stand strong to this day as one of the greatest video games ever made. What helps this game remain relevant is its incredible modding community, transforming the game and offering everything from improved graphics to complete overhauls. These mods personalize the experience for every player, which makes this title such an involved experience for many. The best Skyrim mods elevate the quality of the game, let players enjoy fresh content, and whisk them away on wondrous adventures that augment the time players spend with this title. There are always more mods being created for Skyrim, and as such, more have been added to this list as well.

29 Forgotten Creatures

Downloads: 210,626

Forgotten Creatures mod for Skyrim

Not all mods need to add wild and unique inclusions of their own to make the game more engaging. After all, some players still treasure the vanilla experience and only want to improve this feel with mods instead of completely overhauling it.

This is where the Forgotten Creatures mod comes into the picture. It provides a re-texture of many enemies in the game without compromising too much on the vanilla design, which is exactly what many players want with their mods.

28 Show Player In Menus

Downloads: 1,042,102

Show Player In Menus mod for Skyrim

Sometimes, it's the simplest of Skyrim mods that end up making the game feel as modern as possible. Such is the case with the Show Player in Menus mod, which is pretty self-explanatory.

It lets players look at the Dragonborn whenever the inventory is opened, which is helpful for obvious reasons. Suffice it to say, that players will have a great time checking out what the Dragonborn looks like in real time as they switch and swap their equipment.

27 Vanargand Animations - Crossbows

Downloads: 1,283,216

Dwarven Crossbow in Skyrim

Crossbows were added in the Dawnguard expansion and are pretty fun to use in the game. Of course, modders have no problems with overhauling the animations of this weapon and improving some gameplay systems too.

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Vanargand Animations does this exact task and makes the act of using crossbows more fun. Players who want to focus on this weapon for their playthrough should definitely check this mod out.

26 Skyrim Together Reborn

Downloads: 1,342,371

The Skyrim Together Reborn mod

Skyrim Together Reborn is easily one of the most impressive achievements in the modding community. It deserves a spot on this list simply because of the technical expertise required to integrate such a massive change in the first place.

This mod adds co-op into the world of Skyrim, which is amazing for obvious reasons. However, this mod isn't very compatible with others and is pretty buggy, which is why it doesn't rank higher.

25 Animation Queue Fix

Downloads: 1,472,501

Zaria in Skyrim

Skyrim is a pretty old game, so it's only a given that some of its mechanics are going to be pretty dated as well. The animations in this game are a great example of the same, with bugs occurring if too many animations are queued up at once.

To take care of these issues, players can download the Animation Queue Fix. It's a must-have mod for players who have downloaded a bunch of custom animations and don't want NPCs to glitch out every single time multiple complex processes are being executed at once.

24 Sofia — The Funny Fully Voiced Follower

Downloads: 1,855,932

Sofia from Skyrim

Various fan-made mods of Skyrim add new and unique followers to spice up one's experience with the game. However, out of all these followers, one has to admit that Sofia is easily the most popular and well-developed one of the lot.

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Featuring excellent voice acting and some truly well-written dialogue — almost overshadowing Bethesda's character writing in many aspects — Sofia is a great companion mod to add to the game if the base game's companions end up being rather boring and one-note.

23 Valhalla Combat

Downloads: 1,879,637

Skyrim Oakflesh active on the Dragonborn during combat

Modern combat systems have evolved quite a bit, and it can be pretty challenging for new Skyrim players to enjoy the rudimentary combat mechanics of Skyrim. Thankfully, some mods have taken up the responsibility of modernizing the combat system.

Valhalla Combat strives to integrate modern fast-paced combat mechanics into Skyrim, including parrying, timed blocks, a better stamina system, and other changes. It's a pretty impressive mod that Skyrim players should check out.

22 Precision - Accurate Melee Collisions

Downloads: 1,994,813

Image from Skyrim showing two people about to engage in combat on a bridge.

Melee combat in Skyrim is pretty serviceable, but can get rather boring and monotonous after a point. Thankfully, many mods for Skyrim change the combat, and players will be spoiled with the sheer number of options at their behest.

One of the simpler combat mods that change the mechanical aspects of combat in Skyrim is the Precision mod. Now, hitboxes in the game are more accurate and won't frustrate players who feel like they avoided an attack only to receive damage instead.

21 Gesture Animation Remix (DAR)

Downloads: 2,070,276

Gesture Animation Remix (DAR) mod for Skyrim

NPCs in Skyrim can feel pretty lifeless and similar, which can hamper immersion a bit. Players who want the people in this game to emote realistically and in a unique manner can enjoy the same with the Gesture Animation Remix mod.

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It's a simple yet great mod that does a great job of injecting more life into the world of Skyrim and its residents. Players who prioritize immersion over everything else in the game will love the changes brought about by this mod.

20 Wyrmstooth

Downloads: 2,268,264

five year update february 2021

There are many expansion mods present in Skyrim, with Wyrmstooth being pretty notable in its own right. It tasks the Dragonborn with hunting down a particularly aggressive dragon to a whole new domain made painstakingly by modders!

Wyrmstooth is a massive technical achievement in its own right, which is enough for players to download and check out the mod for itself. Players who remember the areas of Skyrim and its expansions by heart will be quite well-serviced with this mod that will reinvigorate the magic of exploration in them once again.

19 Bandit Lines Expansion

Downloads: 2,694,337

Bandit, Skyrim, screenshot near tower hideout

There are many enemies that players will encounter in Skyrim. While most of these are towering and intimidating fantasy creatures that can flatten the player at a moment's notice, there are several human enemies that players can encounter in the game as well.

Bandits are the most common human enemies in the game, and players might get irritated listening to the same voice lines playing over and over again. With the Bandit Lines Expansion mod, these issues will quickly become a thing of the past with the whole host of additional lines that are added to the pool for these annoying enemies in the game.

18 Falskaar

Downloads: 3,116,476

A horse bucks on a cliff at sunset

Skyrim's modding community has gone above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to integrating a ton of total conversion mods that allow for a fresh and unique experience, with Falskaar being one such mod that easily stands in a class of its own as an excellent fully-voice conversion mod for fans of Skyrim.

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Any player who's tired of making the same old trek through the land of Skyrim over and over again would enjoy playing through a new world with more than 20 hours of gameplay, supplemented by voiced dialogue and great level design.

17 aMidianBorn Book of Silence

Downloads: 3,803,029

aMidianBorn Book of Silence mod for Skyrim

There's no denying that Skyrim is a game that shows its age in more ways than one. Despite the release of a Special Edition that enhanced the visuals of the game, most people would agree that the title's graphics can be a bit hard to get into, especially for those who prefer their video games as visually impressive as possible.

Thankfully, there are several Skyrim mods worth checking out for players who want to make the game look as good as ever, with aMidianBorn Book of Silence being a great highlight in this regard. Players will love exploring the land of Skyrim and looking upon familiar creatures, items, locations, and everything else, but with a new, modernized visual improvement, one that enhances the game without feeling like the original design has been sacrificed.

16 Apothecary - An Alchemy Overhaul

Downloads: 4,470,004

Apothecary - An Alchemy Overhaul mod for Skyrim

There's no denying that Skyrim has a wealth of gameplay systems to engage with, encouraging build variety and ensuring that players experience something different every single time they start another playthrough. One aspect of the game that most people don't check out until much later on is alchemy, especially since the Dragonborn is bombarded with potions the very moment they start exploring.

Players who decide to concoct their own potions may find the system to be a bit too limiting for their tastes. This is where this overhaul mod does a great job of rewarding the time players spend making potions. The fact that this mod adds new decoctions for players to mess around with is another huge bonus.

15 Serana Dialogue Add-On

Downloads: 4,823,778

elder scrolls 5 skyrim serana vampire

Several companions in Skyrim are all pretty memorable in their own right. With the advent of the Dawnguard expansion, players were introduced to one of the best and most fleshed-out companions in the entire game, Serana.

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This vampire is a force to be reckoned with, and her narrative plays a key role in the events of Dawnguard as well. With this mod, her dialogue and NPC behavior are both expanded upon and improved considerably, leading to a player's experience with her as a companion being enhanced in a satisfying manner.

14 Dynamic Animation Replacer

Downloads: 4,900,468

skyrim-draugr-feature

It's easy for Skyrim's world to feel static at times, especially given how wooden some of the NPCs are. In the real world, people perform different actions depending on context, while the majority of residents in Skyrim just stand around without really showing any life. Immersion can take a huge hit for players who are more used to the modern trappings of this genre that try to make their open world both look and feel alive.

The Dynamic Animation Replacer mod can be a game-changer here. With this simple mod, the residents of Skyrim feel more alive. NPCs actually move around and perform contextually sensitive actions, making it seem like they have a life outside the Dragonborn coming by to interact with them every once in a while.

13 Apocalypse — Magic Of Skyrim

Downloads: 6,402,082

Skyrim Apocalypse Magic Of Skyrim

Skyrim's magic might be the most robust magic system in the series, but some players would inevitably be unsatisfied with the limitations of these skill trees.

Thankfully, with the Apocalypse mod, around 155 new spells and incantations are introduced into the main game, allowing players to role-play exactly like the kind of character they wish to be.

12 Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch

Downloads: 7,112,891

Skyrim Helgen Keep

If there's one thing that's synonymous with most Bethesda games, it's that the majority of these games are full to the brim with a ton of bugs that have become less and less endearing over time, with people being less forgiving of the broken states in which most of these games are released.

So, for people who want the smoothest possible experience with Skyrim without having to deal with a slew of bugs that can range from annoying glitches to game-breaking events, the Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition patch is the first and best Skyrim mod that should be installed for this otherwise brilliant game.

11 Alternate Start — Live Another Life

Downloads: 8,367,320

Skyrim-intro

For people who keep on starting a new game with Skyrim and end up having to bear through the intro time and time again, the Alternate Start mod is perhaps the perfect fit for them.

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With this mod, players can choose the background of their choice without having to be a prisoner over and over again. How these alternate lifestyles are integrated into the main game is pretty deft, making for a rather unique and enjoyable experience for fans who wish to start yet another life in Skyrim.

10 Immersive Weapons

Downloads: 8,915,237

Immersive Weapons mod for Skyrim

The feeling of getting a powerful weapon in an RPG is infinitely satisfying. Skyrim elicits the same response when players end up laying their hands on incredibly rare and powerful weapons.

However, these weapons feel rather rare and hard to obtain at times, with players getting bored of the vanilla selection of weapons after a point as well. Thankfully, the Immersive Weapons mod sees to it that players get more weapon variety in their copy of Skyrim that feels right at home too!