The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim continues to defy logic with yet another announcement by Bethesda concerning a relaunch. The Anniversary Edition of the game dropped in November of 2021, and it came packed with 500 pieces of mod content crafted by the Creation Club. Meanwhile, vanilla Skyrim players continue to craft brand-new characters and head out on another adventure.
These gamers are fully aware of the plethora of character-related content from the modding community, and they put it to good use to craft the most unique Dragonborn around. Some overhaul facial characteristics and body meshes, while others change everything from hair and eyes to character attributes. Most of these mods focus on the Special Edition of the game, though they also have 'Oldrim' equivalents.
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15 RaceMenu
Additional Character Customization Options
First, having the right foundation for building a better character in Skyrim is important, and that means adding RaceMenu to the load order. This popular plugin is a feature-packed arsenal of extra options, sliders, and body mechanics that go far beyond the vanilla Skyrim experience, allowing players to craft the ultimate avatar.
RaceMenu does have competition in the form of Enhanced Character Edit, but it's generally referred to as superior. Once installed, players can access it by pressing the ~ key to bring up the console and typing 'showracemenu,' triggering the character creation overhaul. It will also consider other body-related mods in the load order and utilize their functions accordingly.
14 High Poly Head SE
Improves Head Features On Characters & NPCs
Like it or not, Skyrim's vanilla body and head meshes aren't aging particularly well, but plenty of mods are available to bring the game up to modern standards. High Poly Head SE is currently available in version 1.4, makingSkyrim's characters look their best.
There's a list of prerequisites to install before adding this to a "load order," but the results speak for themselves. With more geometry and greater detail, faces look cleaner, sharper, and more realistic. This can be applied to the main character, followers, and NPCs in Skyrim to overhaul the game's characters.
13 Imperious - Races Of Skyrim
Skyrim Races Gain New Racial Abilities
The province of Skyrim is home to many races from the world of Tamriel, but the game doesn't go nearly far enough to distinguish them from one another. Imperious - Races of Skyrim seeks to remedy this by implementing a set of values and statistics that gives each race its own set of inherent strengths and weaknesses.
For instance, Nords naturally resist cold, while Orcs are better suited for melee combat. The mysterious feline Khajit race in Skyrim is more nimble and swift, Imperials handle armor better, and Redguards are blessed with a tremendous stamina buff. Regardless of the race, certain perks are tailored to suit individual player styles.
12 The Atlantean Race - Powerful Warriors
Gain A New Warrior Race In Skyrim
Though slightly non-lore friendly, including the Atlantean race, players can build quite an interesting warrior character with a few perks. The race is defined primarily by physical strength and a natural affinity for moving about while underwater.
Atlanteans are a tough breed and make for natural pack mules. Stamina and carrying capacity are enhanced to the point where there's no real need to lug around a backpack for extra storage. They're also capable of zipping about underwater like natural-born fish, allowing for deep-dive explorations of Skyrim's various waterways.
11 KS Hairdos SSE
Hair Pack With 983 Hairstyles
Hair mods are vital for creating an attractive and cool-looking character, especially given how dreadful the vanilla game's hairstyles are. While many Skyrim modders go straight for the popular Apachii hairstyles mod, it's not always the most realistic option.
KS Hairdos SSE has quickly gained steam among the Skyrim modding community due to its relatively lore-friendly hair. The mod doesn't just offer better hairstyles and cleans up the texture work, offering a total in-game replacement from the standard stock hairdos.
Modders are encouraged to install the Salt and Wind add-on, which further retextures KS Hairdos for maximum realism and attractiveness.
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10 Beards Of Power
Additional Facial Hair Options
Aside from utilizing mods that can change up your hair-do, Many Skyrim players look for better facial hair options to enhance their characters' appearances, as the choices in vanilla Skyrim are limited. Facial hair can significantly alter a character's look and contribute to a strong, commanding aesthetic fitting in with the Nordic thematic styles in the game.
This mod introduces a range of beard and mustache styles for humans, elves, and orcs in Skyrim and includes substantial options for Khajiit. The styles range from natural to eccentric, with unique beard accessories for added customization.
Editing your character's facial hair is straightforward in the character creation menu. Beards are designed to align with face shapes, and you can tailor the beard to fit your character's facial structure as desired by simply adjusting the sliders.
9 Tempered Skins For Males & Females
Face & Body Texture Improvement
This mod contains mature content, including nudity.
Players who want to start as a human in Skyrim should tack a good skin mod onto the load to improve on what's already there. Tempered Skins for Males and Females offers a variety of options for players to customize the perfect look, right down to the choice of body musculature and chest hair.
The mods were designed to work well with enhanced ENB lighting presets, meaning they should look great no matter what. They're a definite step up from the rather bland and low-res textures included in the original game, and when combined with other body mods, they help transform the character roster.
The Tempered Skin Mods for Males and Females must be downloaded separately, as they are two different mods.
8 Ordinator - Perks Of Skyrim
Overhauls Skyrim's Perk Trees
By default, Skyrim's perk system offers far too much ease when leveling up and far too little room to customize the character experience. Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim is one of the most popular perk overhaul mods, primarily due to the way it handles leveling and application of perk points to the skill tree.
Every single perk tree has been reformatted to offer more options for players to build out their character's skill set. This has the added benefit of preventing over-specialization in a particular skill, which may unbalance the game and make it unnecessarily easy. Ordinator is one of the best Skyrim mods to refresh the game, and players should install it for their next playthrough if they haven't already.
7 Improved Eyes Skyrim
Detailed Iris Options For All Races
Like everything else in vanilla Skyrim, eye textures are showing their age, and that can detract considerably from the game's believability and immersion. Improved Eyes Skyrim overhauls eye textures while working directly with RaceMenu for greater character customization.
Every race gets improved eye textures with sharper detail, more exotic colors, and better shine. Some textures simply overhaul existing race-specific eyes, while others have a glint of the supernatural that can give every Dragonborn in Skyrim a sense of inherent magical power.
6 Scarified Dunmer - Overhauled - SSE
New Scar Complexions For Dark Elves
The Dunmer are generally considered troublesome in Skyrim, but some gamers prefer playing as one to explore the province. Scarified Dunmer is a mod that overhauls the race to account for the ritual scarring that takes place within the culture.
The result is a more diverse set of complexions for the Dunmer race, allowing them to stand out more. Players can experiment with different looks to create a highly ritualized Dunmer Dragonborn who looks the part and fits in well with the surrounding characters.
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5 Ethereal Elven Overhaul - SE
Revamp Of Skyrim's Elf Races
At first glance, Skyrim's Elven races appear unrealistic, almost reminiscent of alien-like features. While Skyrim is set in a fantasy realm, characters should still look natural in their environment. The Ethereal Elven Overhaul is a mod that makes Skyrim's playable races better, as it revamps elves to make them visually appealing while keeping them lore-friendly.
The mod softens their pointed, sharp facial features, adds customizable brow ridges, and introduces new options for noses, lips, and skin textures. It is fully compatible with existing body, skin, and hair mods, enhancing customization. Below is a table outlining the features included in the Elven Overhaul:
Ethereal Elven Overhaul | |
|---|---|
Mod Features |
|
This mod is based on the vanilla head. When switching to a high-poly head, your elves will revert to vanilla-style faces. Additionally, it does not support high-poly beards or scars.
4 Character Creation Overhaul
Additional Character Classes & Attributes
While many of Skyrim's character-related mods focus on the physical aspects of character creation, some go behind the scenes to work their magic on the attributes system. Character Creation Overhaul is one such mod, and it's popular among the Skyrim community for adding a deeper set of RPG mechanics into the game.
CCO focuses heavily on birthsigns, classes, skills, and attributes by allowing players to craft characters based on various important choices. This turns Skyrim into something vastly different from free-form exploration and a series of hilarious quotes that will last forever.
Character Creation Overhaul Features | Description |
|---|---|
Diverse Races & Genders | Races and genders have different strengths and weaknesses |
Birthsigns | Choose the constellation you were born under during character creation |
Traditional Class System | All 21 classes from Morrowind/Oblivion return to Skyrim |
Custom Class Creation | Create a custom class and choose a specialization, favored attribute, major, and minor skills. |
Skill Progression | Specialized skills, racial skills, and major skills are easier to learn, while untrained skills are harder to learn. |
3 Moving Wings
Strap On A Pair Of Fairy Wings
Skyrim's dark, Viking-inspired fantasy setting typically lacks whimsical elements, but the Moving Wings mod introduces a playful twist to the RPG. It allows playable characters of any race or gender to equip animated fae wings.
Players can choose from butterfly, dragonfly, or feathery angel wings styles. These are crafted at a tanning rack using collected ingredients. However, they are purely decorative and do not enable flight.
The wings function as quivers in the game mechanics, meaning that to use a bow, players must switch from the wings to a regular quiver and then back again after using the bow.
2 Winter Is Coming - Cloaks
Wrap Up Warm In A Winter Cloak
Inspired by the HBO series Game of Thrones, the Winter Is Coming mod introduces lore-friendly cloaks and hoods to Skyrim. This enhances the game's diversity while maintaining its authentic feel, allowing you to walk through snow-capped mountains and icy vistas with style.
These thick, fur-trimmed cloaks are compatible with all vanilla races and genders and can be found, purchased, or crafted at the tanning rack. Armored pieces can be tempered, and both hoods and cloaks are enchantable.
To craft these items, players need a Fur Crafting Kit. METALHEADxxLEE demonstrates the crafting process and how to equip the accessories.
Winter Is Coming Items | No. available in-game |
|---|---|
Bear Claw Cloaks | 9 |
Bear Hoods | 9 |
Armored Light Bear Hoods | 9 |
Armored Heavy Bear Hoods | 9 |
Wolf Skin Cloaks | 12 |
Wolf Skin Hoods | 15 |
Armored Light Wolf Skin Hoods | 15 |
Armored Heavy Wolf Skin Hoods | 15 |
1 Colovian Noble Clothes
Dress Like The Wealthy In Skyrim
Some Skyrim players seek elegant attire as a refreshing change from the typical bulky, blood-stained armor usually worn. Fortunately, the Colovian Noble Clothes mod offers a perfect solution. This mod significantly upgrades the style of noblewear in Skyrim, which is otherwise lackluster and exclusively worn by NPCs.
Lavish Colovian clothing is available to all players, ensuring that both male and female characters of any race and body type can enjoy these luxurious garments. With full compatibility for the weight-slider, the Colovian Noble Clothes mod allows players to look their aristocratic best while traversing the diverse landscapes of Skyrim.
Colovian Noble Clothes includes three color variants: blue and green, purchased at Radiant Raiment or in wardrobes, and a special black set designed for vampire nobility. This is only obtainable by defeating vampires in Skyrim and looting their corpses.
Source: METALHEADxxLEE/YouTube
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Platform(s)
- PC , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 , Nintendo Switch , Xbox 360 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- November 11, 2011
- Developer(s)
- Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda Softworks
- Genre(s)
- RPG , Action , Adventure
- Engine
- Creation Engine
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol
- How Long To Beat
- 35 Hours
