Skyrim Special Edition brought advanced support for modding with 64-bit on PC, meaning players can load up more heavy mods with fewer issues and instability. For all the mods listed in this round-up, we'll be using the Nexus platform and the Nexus Mod Manager to install them. Here are the best mods you should install for your next Skyrim playthrough.

1. Best Skyrim Spell Mods 2017
2. Magic Mod Skyrim

Feb 13, 2018  Apocalypse is the most popular Skyrim spell pack, adding 155 new spells that are unique, balanced, lore friendly, use high quality custom visuals and blend seamlessly into the vanilla magic system. Also includes scrolls.

See where you're going: A Quality World Map

The map isn't necessarily bad in Skyrim, but there are a few improvements that A Quality World Map by IcePenguin brings to the table. The mod includes a set of highly-detailed world map textures, complete with roads. This is a must-have for anyone who enjoys walking (or riding) everywhere without the use of fast travel. This mod also adds a detailed Solsteim map. And there's even a paper-style map!

Free at Mod Nexus

Start a new life: Alternate Start

When modding Skyrim, some bad things can happen, especially during the opening scene. This is a heavily scripted part of the game and one that can cause problems if you have mods that interfere with Bethesda's code. Alternate Start provides the option to skip the start of the game altogether, protecting against crashes, and can even allow for some interesting role-playing adventures.

Free at Mod Nexus

Call down the heavens: Apocalypse

This is an important mod for anyone looking to do a mage build. You get 155 new spells, all of which are added to existing vendors and loot lists, no script bloat for enhanced performance, compatibility with many other spell-related mods, and the ability for unique mage builds that do not focus on destruction or conjuration. You will need ASIS (Automatic Spells, Increased Spawns) for NPCs to be given new items and spells.

Free at Mod Nexus

Make torches useful: Darker Nights

As the name suggests, this mod makes the nights in Skyrim darker, depending on personal preference. For many, the evenings in Skyrim were far too bright, and Darker Nights provide the option of 6 different levels that can be set to create a more atmospheric experience during the late and early hours of each day.

Free at Mod Nexus

Skryim never looked so good: Enhanced Lights and FX

Enhanced Lights and FX is a sizeable mod that creates a more dynamic and realistic mood to the Skyrim landscape by adding actual lighting to all light sources and removing any light without a source, as well as the addition of numerous effects including smoke, volumic lights, and more. If you want dungeons, interiors, and Skyrim in general, to look better, you need to install ELFX. Just don't install the weather part of the mod if you plan to use True Storms.

Free at Mod Nexus

Walk-in wardrobe: Immersive Armors

Skyrim has a bunch of armors already available, but Immersive Amors is a mod that takes kitting out your characters (and NPCs) to the next level. 55 new sets are included, alongside 396 shields and various other miscellaneous apparel items. That's a lot of new items to play around with. Different sets and items have specific stats that are integrated into the game through quest rewards, placement in dungeons, and given to certain people.

Free at Mod Nexus

Countless ways for decapitation: Immersive Weapons

Much like the Immersive Armors mod, Skyrim has a number of weapons already available for you to use, but Immersive Weapons adds around 230 more, not to mention new weapon sets to make various new melee builds viable. Not only is it great to see and use the new weapons, but hothtrooper44 made sure that the mod doesn't have a negative impact on the lore, just in case you wish to play as close to vanilla as possible.

Free at Mod Nexus

Choose your starsign: Ordinator

The perk tree could do with some improvements to make each playthrough and build feel more interesting and unique. This is where Ordinator comes in, adding more than 400 perks to the game, completely overhauling each skill tree. You'll need to visit the Nexus page to see all the perks added, but it's a comprehensive list and Ordinator is a mod I simply cannot play without.

Free at Mod Nexus

Fus-Ro-Dah: Realistic Ragdolls and Force

The ragdoll effect in Skyrim can lead to some hilarious situations, including those moments when a giant will send you to outer space with a whack of its club. That's no good for role-playing and immersion, which is where Realistic Ragdolls and Force can lend a hand. Bodies now react to gravity and force more realistically. It's a small, but effective, mod.

Free at Mod Nexus

Shimmering splendar: Realistic Water Two

With the updated water flow system and more included in Skyrim Special Edition, mods that affect the natural liquid are now more important when the aim is to create a more realistic-looking environment. Realistic Water Two takes Bethesda's improved system and takes everything to the next level with higher quality effects and textures, not to mention more accurate water body movement depending on the location (sea, river, pond, etc.).

Free at Mod Nexus

Seriously. Run.: Run for your lives

Run for your lives is a package of two handy mods, developed and uploaded by the same author. Run for your lives and When vampires attack affects the way NPCs react to dragon and vampire attacks, namely those who are unable to fight back. Instead of witnessing absolute carnage due to citizens of Skyrim not fleeing to the safe indoors, installing these mods lets you fight off deadly beasts with guards by your side.

Free at Mod Nexus

Must-have tool: Skyrim Script Extender 64-bit

Finally, the extremely talented modders behind the exceptional Skyrim Script Extender has released a version in beta that works wonderfully with Skryim SE. What this tool allows you to do is install mods that require additional functionality that the base game engine simply cannot offer. I'm talking a better UI experience that wasn't designed for consoles, more feature-packed mods, and more.

Just make sure you download and install the version for SE and not the old Skyrim. Afterward, you need to launch the SKSE64 .exe and not the Skyrim executable through Steam.

Free at SKSE

How the UI should be by default: SkyUI

This is currently an early testing build of the excellent SkyUI mods, but it's well worth checking out now. What it does is revamps the entire UI, allowing you to more easily navigate your inventory and such, seeing more information at a glance.

Free at Mod Nexus

Better looking ropes: Static Mesh Improvement Mod

SMIM is a huge mod. And by huge we mean massive in both scale and size of the download. Totaling nearly 1GB, this package contains a bunch of improved 3D models for various things like robs, chains, lanterns, and other objects. It's particularly effective if you're one to notice when things look slightly out of place or aren't high-quality assets.

Free at Mod Nexus

Uncover hidden secrets: The Forgotten City

How does an expansion sound? The Forgotten City has you covered with an award-winning unofficial experience, backed by superb writing, original orchestral score, and voiced dialog that offers around eight hours of gameplay. You're tasked with entering an underground Dwarven city and uncover a mystery, and it's non-linear too with multiple endings.

If you've finished the main plot numerous times and are soon running out of things to do, give The Forgotten City a go.

Free at Mod Nexus

Make Skyrim feel more alive: True Storms

The weather effects in Skyrim are pretty good, but since everything was compiled way back in 2011, there's definitely room for improvement. Cue True Storms. This is a must-have mod for anyone looking to create a more immersive Skyrim experience with the weather really adding to every outing. It brings fog, variable weather, high-quality sound effects, new textures, dust storms, and more.

Free at Mod Nexus

Fixes Bethesda never made: Unofficial Skyrim: SE Patch

This is a must-have download for anyone, even if you do not wish to get into modding your Skyrim install. As the name suggests, it's a compiled package of fixes, improvements, and additions to the title. Hundreds of gameplay, quest, NPC, object, item, text and placement bugs have been fixed. Seriously, there's no reason as to why you shouldn't install this patch.

Free at Mod Nexus

Choosing the best mods

The absolute must-have mods for Skyrim include SKSE, SkyUI, and Alternate Start. The rest depends on your system specifications, your desired playstyle and what type of content you want to add to the world of Skyrim.

But what are your favorite mods for Skyrim Special Edition? Are there any you have for Skyrim that have yet to be ported? Sound off in the comments. We'd also like to thank modders for their continued support in extending the enjoyment of games, particularly Skyrim. You guys are incredible.

Modders are an amazing bunch of folks. For nearly 25 years now, impassioned gamers have taken to the creative side of the spectrum, making custom content ranging from updated graphical overhauls, to new weapons, characters, and sometimes, a whole new game's worth of content. This is all well and good, modding can prolong the life of a game indefinitely — hence why more than a few people still play Skyrim pretty much exclusively six years after its release. Apart from upgraded textures and new weapons, there is another, seedier side to modding.

Skyrim is one of the games that has one of the most mods available for it, and a healthy number of those are related to the sensual shade of things. Naked characters, customizable bathing suit parts, and sizzlingly characters are just a few of what an interested gamer can expect to find in the annals of modding websites. Literally, anything you could think of has been done in multiple versions for every race, gender, and class. So hide the kids, lock your doors, and bring your stash of censor bars. We're about to get into the 'adult' underbelly of Skyrim modding.

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15 A Tempting New Race

Companions become a large part of Skyrim as soon as you start recruiting them, they can carry additional loot, help in the heat of battle, and offer some banter on the lonely trail. Plus, who else is going to annoyingly stand in the doorway when the Dovahkiin is trying to get through?

The Temptress Race mod allows the use of a custom race of Temptresses, females blessed by the goddess Dibella, able to use their seductively good looks to control the flow of combat. They’re able to use their own seductive brand of spells that can calm or frenzy all nearby foes. Interested players can play as one of the pre-made Temptresses, or find them around the game world hanging out in temples to recruit.

14 Why Won't It Load Slower!?

The load screens in Skyrim can become a constant companion, especially if you’re playing on consoles. Most of the loading screens offer helpful tips and a closer look at enemies or items in the game world, which are able to be observed in more detail while you’re waiting for the next dungeon to load. After awhile, these load screens can become seriously stale and an excuse to check text messages or take a bathroom break. Gamers may find it a bit harder to leave when all the loading screens have been replaced with 'adult' scenes inspired by the busty ladies of Skyrim.

There are multiple versions of this mod so once all these scenes get used up, gamers can download a new one and spend most of their playtime entering and exiting the same building over and over again to catch a glimpse of these expertly crafted 'mature' content.

13 A Tale Of Two 'Mature' Sisters

Mods that add new followers to Skyrim number in the thousands; from magic wielding anime characters to arrow shooting Macho Man Randy Savages, there is no shortage of new and unique companions to choose from when adventuring across Skyrim. The hottest has to be the Sisters of Battle mod that drops two of the most professionally designed companions seen in a mod right into the game world.

Featuring two horned twin sisters, Dallas and Xevaria, they were both imbued with different types of creature blood that grant them unique abilities that aid in combat. Dallas is able to cast powerful frost and fire spells, while Xevaria possesses massive strength and the ability to summon spirit wolves. Worthy companions in battle, and not bad to look at either, these twin sisters should accompany every Dovahkiin at least once.

12 Chainmail Is So In This Year

The Obligatory Chainmail Bikini mod is one of the most well known Skyrim mods that adds a custom chainmail swimsuit for female characters. How much protection would a chainmail bikini really offer when fighting a frost troll? Not much, but the heroine wearing it is going to be a complete bombshell while she tries her best to ward off those incredibly powerful troll claws.

Although probably pretty basic compared to most of the other mods out there, the chainmail bikini is mandatory for any female adventurer in Skyrim. In a fantasy game filled with dragons, elves, and magic, there are a few things that can be as implied as a chainmail swimsuit. Don’t try and go swimming with this thing on though, chain mail tends to be a bit heavy when trying to stay buoyant.

11 The One That Made It All Possible

Are you tired of the same old wooden looking women walking around Skyrim? The one that started it all, Calientes Beautiful Bodies Edition replaces the vanilla female body in Skyrim with more voluptuous options. The mod comes with three pre-made options, including slim, vanilla, and curvy.

A lot of love went into this mod, as the resolutions of the bodies included in CBBE are twice what they are in the regular Skyrim female body. This one really opened the door for every other naughty Skyrim mod out there and has been downloaded over eleven million times to date. CBBE is used in conjunction with a lot of the other mods on this list, so if you’re planning on having heavy chested Nords walking around Skyrim, and doing questionable things with them, CBBE is a must.

10 I Don't Know How They Don't Get Cold

Appearing just a couple months after Skyrim was released, modders were already making everybody get butt nekked.’ The female mod makes all the races nude, meaning that players have to be prepared to accept the horror of naked Argonians and Khajits, not to mention Orcs. Although, I’m sure there is a group of people out there who are really into that.

The nude female mod seems to have been part of some serious self-realization for modder Davven, as the first sentence in the description for the mod is, “I decided to accept I am a nude modder and finished the job.” Jesus, what happened to you Davven? The nude male mod buffs up and disrobes all male characters in the game world, and claims to make them “hairless and dirtless.” How dirty were they before? Some people have way too much time to think about these things.

9 Slide To The Left, Slide To The Right!

The Body Slide mod is probably the most used in conjunction with CBBE, due to the fact that it lets gamers alter whatever physical attributes on their characters through the manipulation of sliders. This means that chests and rumps can be large to the point of handicapping a normal person, but this is the Dovahkiin dammit; toddler-sized breasts are not going to slow down the Dragonborn!

Best Skyrim Spell Mods 2017

The really amazing thing about the Body Slide mod is that countless players have spent hours tinkering with the sliders to create preset body types that can be downloaded on their own, meaning that adventurers can make voluptuous Nord women populate every city, or petite, sporty Khajit ladies a reality. The only real handicap is your own imagination, meaning that whatever type of body you’re into it can be made with a little bit of tinkering, or a quick download.

8 Those Hips Could Sink Ships

The normal walk for female characters in the world of Skyrim is about as hot as a bag of cement. Stiff legs give way to a wooden gate that completely destroys the allure of any woman gamers may have had their eye on (to a point, at least). If you don’t want the females of Skyrim to walk like awkwardly animated mannequins anymore, this mod is for you.

The FNIS Sexy Move mod will randomly select 1 out of 9 different sexy walk or run animations for any female the Dovahkiin comes across in the game world. That is a seriously impressive piece of modding that must have taken some heartfelt work to get right. There is no limit to the dedication that modders will put into their work, especially when it comes to making female NPCs walk like their hips were both dislocated.

7 Junk In The Trunk

Ever look around at the rumps in Skyrim and wonder how in the nine divines that every citizen was blessed with a serious pancake butt? Seriously, these people spend most of their days walking around, fighting monsters, and standing in one place, how can their posteriors be so inferior? Worry no more, as this butt bounce mod will add sufficient viscosity to both those cheeks.

Most players play Skyrim and marvel at the huge environment to explore, a deep world to get lost in, and masses of loot to collect. Others take a serious waist high look around and wonder how to make butts juggle like they were water balloons filled with Jell-O. Needless to say, the ingenuity of man will never cease, especially when it comes to butts.

6 Vampires You Can Sink Your Teeth Into

Magic Mod Skyrim

The vampires in the Elder Scrolls games have always offered a darker, more realistic take on the disease as opposed to other games and forms of media. No sparkle trails here —Vampirism twists and tortures the carrier, making them a nocturnal killing machine that needs to feed on the helpless sleeping citizens of Skyrim. With that morose view on vampires comes an adequately twisted physical component; any character that has contracted vampirism ages prematurely, turns pale, and is beset with glowing red eyes.

Unless you have the Seductress Serena mod, which changes Skyrim’s vampire NPCs from ghastly to gorgeous, all with a quick install. The mod adds vampire followers and tweaks Serena, the blood-sucking companion from the Dawnguard DLC, allowing her to be aesthetically customizable. In addition, it makes them all around easier to look at.

5 The Dovahkiin Gets Freaky

This mod promises “intimacy, romance,' and 'adult activities' for any player that walks through the world of Skyrim disregarding the story, combat, and dragons, and simply wonders, “Why can’t I boink all these people?” Well, wonder no more Dovahkiin, now you can with nexusmods’ mod of the month for September 2015.

This mod allows multiple actions and options for the 'curious' adventurer, allowing most NPCs to be roped into promiscuous acts with a few simple menu commands or spells. The mod is so popular that a half hour movie was made to showcase all the glorious scenarios made possible with installation. This is one of hundreds of mods that allow this type of behavior in game, with some of the options in the 'mature' library leaning towards the extreme.

4 Wetter Is Better

With all the hot mods in the universe, the Dovahkiin is still going to be dry as a saltine. With the Sporty Sexy Sweat mod, female Skyrim heroes will be constantly sweating, dashing any comparisons to the dust bowl any sharp tongued Dwenmer may make.

The mod was made in order to, “enhance the realism ... and all the fine details of the skin.” Adding a glossy sheen of sweat to any female character definitely enhances the realism; anyone who could throw around an ebony war hammer without breaking a sweat is definitely not human. How it enhances the details and attractiveness of the skin remains to be seen, however — a chick sweating can be hot, but all the time? If you’re traversing the snowy peaks of Skyrim, it’d be a tad bit alarming to be pouring sweat the whole time.

3 The Unmentionables Outlet

The Lingerie Shop, used in conjunction with the curvaceous character models of the CBBE mod, provides 40 different types of Lingerie to deck your female characters out in. Consisting of a storefront called Nikitaa’s Lingerie in Solitude, the shop comes with its own clerk and is adorned with several banners of real life ladies in lingerie. Apart from the extensive selection of ladies unmentionables, each piece of Lingerie has different effects on a models body, including a “push up” effect for larger chested Dovahkiin.

While it’s impressive to watch a beautiful woman decked out in heavy armor down a dragon or clear out an ancient crypt of pesky Draugr, it doesn’t compare to the complete chaos of a curvy sorceress casting devastating spells in her undergarments.

2 Daggers And Long Swords

Who said that the ladies don’t get a say in the modding community? SOS is a mod that allows gamers to adjust the size of male characters uh…”swords.” The mod also comes with its own shop front where a variety of different dongs that can be purchased.

To be clear, these are flaccid, so remember to pick up a “Mandrake potion” that will wake even the most stubborn Johnson to full attention at the new shop Morning Wood run by Bjorn LongSword. You’re able to buy potions that let you pick from three different load outs, and various types of bottled creature semen that will either enlarge or shrink your little Dovahkiin. 21 different package-accentuating pairs of undies are also available for purchase, meaning that no Nord is safe from your adventurer's bulge.

1 Maids And Pretty Much A Whole Game's Worth Of Content

Maids II: Deception is a sequel to the Oblivion mod Maids I: Euphoria, bringing hot home cleaning services to Skyrim. The result of a convoluted backstory involving the enslaving of women in Oblivion by using enchanted Hist Tree’s Sap, the last two descendants of the enslaved maid family are hiding out in Skyrim, ready to clean the crap out of some houses. At first glance, it seems like a scantily clad maid simulator but it is so much more than that.

Maids II: Deception is packed full of game changing features, including 17 main quests with additional side quests, 13,000 new lines of dialogue, a tropical Dwarven island, two new houses, a manageable brothel with its own economy…the list goes on. Of course, it also involves attractive maids that can be dressed up and pursued romantically, but that seems to pale in comparison to the other amazing features in this outstanding mod.