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Visit our Patreon!Visit our Ko-Fi!The most important mods you need to know about for Living Skyrim 5.
Living Skyrim wouldn't be the list it is unless we added an absolutely obscene amount of new NPCs for you to find and interact with. We'll start with the basics: Inconsequential NPCs, Citizens of Tamriel SE, and Populated Solstheim SE increase the population of the inhabited areas of the world, especially cities and towns. Man Those Borders Reborn and Immersive Patrols SE increase the amount of NPCs roaming the world, making every road feel populated and well used.
On the enemy side of things, we have Hand placed enemies - Light which increases the population of dungeons while More Bandit Camps increases the density of bandits across the world. There are even more enemy-related mods, especially on the creature side, such as many of Mihail's wonderful creatures and monsters and SkyTEST - Realistic Animals and Predators SE to increase the overall variety of the monsters and critters you'll find in the world.
And if that wasn't enough for you, there's also the literal hundreds, if not thousands, of new NPCs added by quests, new lands, city and dungeon overhauls, and more.
Living Skyrim boasts one of the largest collections of content mods available for Skyrim, with each mod hand-selected for quality and fun. Below you'll see a complete list of all of the available quests, including which vanilla quests have been expanded and modified.
With Living Skyrim 5, I've given up trying to balance magic and decided that it's just going to be extremely powerful. We've placed a few restrictions on magic with Spell Learning Restriction and Sorcerer, encouraging you to learn spells appropriate to your level and using scrolls and staves to level up your magic skills when you're starting out. Otherwise, magic is viable for pretty much any character to dip into.
Some magic systems have been revised, though, including alchemy and enchanting with Apothecary and Thaumaturgy. Trapping souls in soul gems is handled now by GIST - Genuinely Intelligent Soul Trap SE, and wards have been overhauled with Wards Functionalities Extended.
But that's not all. We've vastly expanded conjuration and necromancy in particular with Practical Necromancy. For other schools of magic, we have the entire collection of Darenii's spells, such as Abyss, Inquisition, and Natura to name just a few. As for shouts, we have Stormcrown making shouts into a viable build all on its own.
Tying it all together we have Mysticism - A Magic Overhaul and Smart Cast, which puts a neat little bow on all of your magical needs.
In Living Skyrim 5, our goal was to make combat feel similar to vanilla while also bringing it into the modern age by fixing bugs, removing exploits (especially by NPCs), and expanding on the systems that already exist in the game. To begin with, Blade and Blunt rebalances combat to be more difficult and encourage management of resources such as stamina. Alongside this, we also have True Directional Movement and TK Dodge RE to allow you flexible movement and positioning options in combat. But don't worry, enemies also get this buff somewhat via Combat Pathing Revolution.
If you prefer a more "strike from afar" style of gameplay, we have Archery, Archery Locational Damage, and Complete Archery Overhaul to enhance every aspect of archery. NPC archers also have to actually be good with a bow to be able to hit you thanks to NPCs Learn to Aim. We also have Throwable Items and its daggers and axes addon so that everyone can have a taste of ranged combat.
Finally, if you prefer getting up close and personal, we've got Dual Wield Block, Taunt Your Enemies, and Poisoning Extended so that getting into melee regardless of your build is effective and interesting.
A couple of other mods that are also of note are VioLens, which overhauls kill moves, No BS AI Projectile Dodge, which prevents enemies from having a sixth sense about when to dodge, and NPCs Take Cover, which allows enemies to take cover when appropriate. We have also slightly nerfed NPC mages by adding Enemy Magelock - NPC Magic Casting Commitment, which locks NPCs into place while they cast their spells to give you an opportunity to dodge and maneuver.
Overall you'll find that the combat in Living Skyrim is much more difficult and tactical than in vanilla Skyrim. Enemies will dodge, take cover, try to flank you, and more. You'll need to come prepared to take on even the most basic of fights.
It simply wouldn't be Living Skyrim if we didn't overhaul the diversity and complexity of enemies you're able to encounter in the list. We'll start with Lawless, which vastly expands the variety of bandits you're able to encounter in the list. Similarly, Madmen does the same for Forsworn enemies and The Restless Dead increases variety for undead enemies you'll encounter in the world. Dragons get a major buff and rework thanks to Dragon War, and there are more dragon types to encounter thanks to Diverse 4thUnknown Dragons. Last, but certainly not least for enemy variety, we also have Heritage Enemies 2 which expands enemy variety for almost every type of humanoid you might encounter.
All enemies receive more interesting defenses thanks to Know Your Enemy 2 and Know Your Enemy 2 - Armors. Additionally, Arena revises the difficulty of enemies you will encounter by scaling things more appropriately to your character's level to provide a challenge from beginning to end of the game. Enemies also receive a brain upgrade thanks to Enhanced Enemy AI SE.
I should also mention SSE Organic Factions, which adds new enemy organizations that vie for control of various regions across Skyrim, whether you get involved or not. They will recruit new members, promote leaders, and be a constant factor in all of your adventures.
Of special note is the Legendary Enemies mod, which brings the Fallout 4 mechanic of enemies having a chance to be Legendary into Skyrim. These foes present a significant challenge, but the rewards they provide are well worth it.
With Living Skyrim 5 you'll be able to craft just about every type of character you can imagine. Everything from a daring thief to a humble merchant is possible, depending on your build. To begin with, we have Synergy - Skills and Perks Reimagined that greatly expands the perk trees and also handles the leveling system in Living Skyrim 5. When you first make your character, you'll pick three starting perks to get you going and to serve as the core of your character. Then, you'll pick your racial traits based on the race you picked with Palladium Racials. Standing stones and religion have also been expanded with Mundus - A Standing Stone Overhaul and Pilgrim - A Religion Overhaul.
In previous iterations of Living Skyrim, we've had a "classic classes" approach to character classes. With Living Skyrim 5, we've replaced that system with Subclasses of Skyrim 2, which adds an entirely new, custom perk tree that will allow you to define your character's class. This massive perk tree allows you to mix and match bonuses to create a class all your own and adds another layer of progression to your character. There are hundreds of combinations here, so you can truly build your character in a way that suits your playstyle. Combine this with CARE - Core Attribute Remaster and Expansion, and we've got all of the pieces necessary for a true RPG-style character building process.
For the supernatural races, we've included Manbeast - A Werewolf Overhaul and Scion - A Vampire Overhaul, for good measure.
Skyrim is a game of two halves: economy and loot. As you might expect, Living Skyrim 5 completely overhauls both sides of this coin. To start with, just about everything in the game is lootable now thanks to MisterB's Lootable Things. And when you do loot, you'll find much more interesting and varied loot thanks to Narrative Loot and Dynamic Dungeon Loot (DDL) - Random Loot System. We also can't forget Open World Loot, which distributes and overhauls loot across every part of the game, including distributing other mod-added items such as armors and weapons.
Bartering itself has also been modified thanks to Merchant - A Trading Expansion, COIN - Coins of Interesting Natures, and NPC Bartering SE. Now you can trade with just about anyone, and when you do, the prices and values of items will be varied and interesting, creating a truly dynamic economy for you to interact with.
Last, but certainly not least, those of you with sticky fingers will be happy to see Khajiits Steal Too - Caravan Fence Option and Lock Related Loot.
Living Skyrim adds a number of player homes that are available for you to purchase or otherwise acquire by questing. See the list below for a complete list. There are also a number of mods that add player homes after completing a questline, such as the mansion available after completing Clockwork.
In general, stealth in Skyrim is quite powerful. To bring it more in line with other playstyles, Living Skyrim 5 introduces a handful of mods that make stealth less powerful but still viable as a playstyle. To begin with, NPCs receive a buff to their awareness thanks to Realistic AI Detection (RAID). Additionally, Suspicious City Guards and Store Entrance Doorbells will make it harder to be alone when you sneak into places. Guards are more likely to follow you when you're acting suspicious. That said, Mum's the Word makes it so that you can steal relatively worthless items without having to worry about them being marked as stolen, as long as no one spots you taking the items.
Stealth has also been made more immersive with Simply Knock SE, so you can check if someone is home. If you want to make certain you're not about to be caught, you can use Take a Peek to peek through the key hole of most doors and see what's beyond.
And of course, what thief or assassin would be complete without a full range of parkour options? Thanks to SkyParkour, you can climb onto roofs, vault walls or fences, and even cliffs if you're feeling brave. The Dova Jump animations also give you some ability to leap from rooftop to rooftop, for example. Just be careful, as standing on too steep of a slope will cause you to slip off thanks to Slip off Slopes.
Crafting in Living Skyrim is completely overhauled from vanilla to make it more interesting and engaging. This is thanks to the big five of crafting: Gourmet, Heim, Thaumaturgy - An Enchanting Overhaul, Apothecary - An Alchemy Overhaul, and Brewer - An Alcohol Brewing Mod. Whether you want to be a chef, smith, enchanter, or any other profession in Skyrim, you'll be able to. If you don't want to take up the trades on your own, you still have access to Honed Metal -NPC Crafting and Enchanting Services- to allow NPCs to craft and enchant items for you.
While Living Skyrim 5 isn't exactly a hardcore survival and roleplay list, that hasn't stopped us from including quite a few mods that allow you to roleplay as you'd like. Campfire adds an entire camping system to Skyrim, a perfect place to take a breather and write in your journal with Take Notes - Journal of the Dragonborn SSE. People are Strangers makes it so you don't know people's names until you talk to them, and Skald's Mail - A Courier Alternative places mailboxes across the land for a more immersive letter delivery system, instead of the courier hunting you to the ends of Skyrim to deliver a message. Candlehearth makes inns more useful by adding safe storage to all of them and also allowing you to book extended stays if you need to.
If you've ever wanted to roleplay as a simple citizen of Skyrim, you can certainly do so thanks to mods like Tavern Games - Mini Games in Skyrim, AJO - Andrealphus' Jobs Overhaul, and Trade Routes - Regional Economy SE. Whatever strikes your fancy, you'll be able to roleplay as whoever you'd like in Living Skyrim.
As of Alpha 1, Living Skyrim 5 does not include a survival mod. This is not planned to change.
Living Skyrim contains some of the most popular and expansive new lands, which include many new dungeons, quests, NPCs, and even more for you to find and interact with. From the classics such as Wyrmstooth, Midwood Isle Beyond Skyrim - Bruma, or The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal to some more recent new lands such as Olenveld, Siege at Icemoth, and Warden of the Coast, you'll find plenty of new places to explore.
Last, but certainly not least, Living Skyrim has an absolutely absurd plethora of new weapons, armors, and related equipment for you to find and equip.