Frostfall - Hypothermia, Camping, Survival
One of the large complaints about Skyrim was that while a lot of the terrain looked cold, it didn’t feel cold. Frostfall fixes that by slowly killing you. It designates different areas of the map with a coldness rating and being outside in a cold area will basically give you hypothermia - your stats start to drop and keep dropping to the point where any fight will see you instantly dead, then it just flat out kills you as you freeze to death.
It’s the little intricacies that really make this mod though - if you get wet through rain or swimming, you get cold much faster; different armour types have different values of keeping you warm; freezing cold water will kill you almost instantly; you get colder at night and in snow storms; and you have to warm yourself up by standing next to a fire or being somewhere much warmer.
It changes the whole game in a massively dramatic way. You suddenly have to pay attention to the weather and the day/night cycle, and you’ll be keeping an eye out for places to duck into to warm up (or constructing a tent or a fire to keep you warm, both of which the mod adds abilities to create if you have the materials). Frostfall is an incredibly comprehensive mod that makes the Skyrim experience much more survivalist without getting annoying, I can’t recommend it enough.
Spend Dragon Souls For Perks
A niggle I have with the Dragons of Skyrim is that fighting them doesn’t tend to be worthwhile. They don’t generally drop anything amazing and most of the shouts I find aren’t worth unlocking. So, being able to Spend Dragon Souls For Perks makes sense - it gives me more incentive to fight dragons. It’s balanced too - if a perk has a level requirement of 50, it takes 5 souls to unlock (60 would take 6 souls, etc).
Dynamic Merchants
So you’re constantly selling all of your best loot to Belathor in Whiterun, but he doesn’t seem to be doing anything with it. He’s a crap trader - you’re giving him the best stuff and he’s not getting any richer. Lets fix that. Dynamic Merchants makes traders you use frequently richer and gives them better and more stock.
Enchanting Freedom
By default only certain types of item can be enchanted with a certain type of spell. It’s probably for balance, but it just feels restrictive. Instead, install Enchanting Freedom and you’ll be able to enchant anything with anything - shields that fortify sneak, rings that set you on fire, whatever.
Improved Interior Lighting
Makes the lighting in a few interiors like Breezehome better. You need the Realistic Lighting mod from earlier installed for this to work.
More Village Animals
Adds extra animals to farms, making farmers look like legitimate farmers rather than a bloke with a pet bull and a chicken.
Kerplunk - Watery Rocks
Rocks in rivers look wetter. It’s probably the least exciting mod on the list, but, well, might as well, right?
Better Dynamic Snow
Snow looks deeper and better-textured giving treks along mountain passes a prettier feel.
Follower Map Markers
Allows you to get a map marker for your companion in case/for when you lose them.
Birds and Flocks
Adds flocks of birds to the wilderness. They look lovely and make it feel much livelier.
One of the large complaints about Skyrim was that while a lot of the terrain looked cold, it didn’t feel cold. Frostfall fixes that by slowly killing you. It designates different areas of the map with a coldness rating and being outside in a cold area will basically give you hypothermia - your stats start to drop and keep dropping to the point where any fight will see you instantly dead, then it just flat out kills you as you freeze to death.
It’s the little intricacies that really make this mod though - if you get wet through rain or swimming, you get cold much faster; different armour types have different values of keeping you warm; freezing cold water will kill you almost instantly; you get colder at night and in snow storms; and you have to warm yourself up by standing next to a fire or being somewhere much warmer.
It changes the whole game in a massively dramatic way. You suddenly have to pay attention to the weather and the day/night cycle, and you’ll be keeping an eye out for places to duck into to warm up (or constructing a tent or a fire to keep you warm, both of which the mod adds abilities to create if you have the materials). Frostfall is an incredibly comprehensive mod that makes the Skyrim experience much more survivalist without getting annoying, I can’t recommend it enough.
Spend Dragon Souls For Perks
A niggle I have with the Dragons of Skyrim is that fighting them doesn’t tend to be worthwhile. They don’t generally drop anything amazing and most of the shouts I find aren’t worth unlocking. So, being able to Spend Dragon Souls For Perks makes sense - it gives me more incentive to fight dragons. It’s balanced too - if a perk has a level requirement of 50, it takes 5 souls to unlock (60 would take 6 souls, etc).
Dynamic Merchants
So you’re constantly selling all of your best loot to Belathor in Whiterun, but he doesn’t seem to be doing anything with it. He’s a crap trader - you’re giving him the best stuff and he’s not getting any richer. Lets fix that. Dynamic Merchants makes traders you use frequently richer and gives them better and more stock.
Enchanting Freedom
By default only certain types of item can be enchanted with a certain type of spell. It’s probably for balance, but it just feels restrictive. Instead, install Enchanting Freedom and you’ll be able to enchant anything with anything - shields that fortify sneak, rings that set you on fire, whatever.
The Might-as-wells
While none of the following will make drastic changes to your game, they will make small improvements that you might as well have.Improved Interior Lighting
Click to enlarge
Makes the lighting in a few interiors like Breezehome better. You need the Realistic Lighting mod from earlier installed for this to work.
More Village Animals
Adds extra animals to farms, making farmers look like legitimate farmers rather than a bloke with a pet bull and a chicken.
Kerplunk - Watery Rocks
Rocks in rivers look wetter. It’s probably the least exciting mod on the list, but, well, might as well, right?
Better Dynamic Snow
Snow looks deeper and better-textured giving treks along mountain passes a prettier feel.
Follower Map Markers
Allows you to get a map marker for your companion in case/for when you lose them.
Birds and Flocks
Click to enlarge
Adds flocks of birds to the wilderness. They look lovely and make it feel much livelier.
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