Looking for some Skyrim dogs? Then you're in luck! It's that time of the year again for us to choose the best Skyrim mods, and there are definitely some cute stray dogs up there! Granted, our last article dealing with the topic was way back in 2019, when we offered a massive list of must-play mods for everyone to enjoy. Today, we'll do something similar, but we've managed to narrow things down to 5 must-have mods from the phenomenal Nexus website.

Now, it's worth pointing out that we're not looking to help you assemble a be-all, end-all modding load for your copy of Skyrim. That would have probably taken us the better part of the year, by now. Instead, consider these five mods to be extra-zesty additions to your existing (or new!) installation of Skyrim. And make that Skyrim Special Edition, too, because the modding community has long since moved on from the basic 32-bit build of the game, and you should, too.

On top of that, SKSE is a must-have. There's no going around that. Though some of these mods do have further requirements, too, and we'll be sure to point those out as well. Now, without any further dilly-dally, let's get to the good bit!

Pet The Skyrim Dogs

As everyone and their mum knows by now (unless they're the respective residents of Underrock, USA), Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls games have long since been a prime platform for modding of all sorts. Skyrim, in particular, owes the majority of its relevance purely to the modders' knowledge and capabilities in working with this game engine.

We can't help but wonder why, then, we had to wait until 2021 for someone to make a mod that would let us pet all those cute stray dogs that keep barking at us in Skyrim! Indeed, 'Pet The Dog' does precisely what the title suggests. Whether it's a stray dog, a war dog, a talking dog, a loyal dog, or a death hound, you can now be a dog follower with the ability to pet those cute canines you come across! with the promise of it being just a portion of the author's bigger offering. While the modder mentioned that their larger mod would let the player interact with the animals and NPCs in a variety of novel ways, we were more than happy to include this "demo" on our list.

At this point, Skyrim is a phenomenal coziness simulator, and not having the ability to pet the Skyrim stray dogs was just too darn much for us to take any longer. We can't wait to see what else the author will come up with in the future.

ODIN - Skyrim Magic Overhaul

Petting the dogs is all fine and good, you might be thinking, but where are the real changes to Skyrim's gameplay? It's a given that every single aspect of its gameplay should be poked and prodded until the game crashes, after all. Well, that's precisely where ODIN comes in, though without any crashes (so far)!

As per the author's pitch: "ODIN is what magic in Skyrim should have been." For what it's worth, we do agree with this assessment. This lovely magic rework not only improves and rebalances Skyrim's magic system as a whole, but it also makes both scrolls and staves fully viable in and out of combat. On top of that, ODIN also introduces a variety of new, lore-friendly spells to the mix. All of this - and heaps more - fully integrated and balanced to make for a lovely transition from vanilla to ODIN.

From what we've seen, ODIN's author was mainly inspired by legacy Elder Scrolls games. To that end, you may come across spells that let you raise stone walls around you, place teleportation anchors around the place (and move around them!), or even permanently raise the dead! That's right: with ODIN, you can finally live out your dreams of being a necromancer warlord in Skyrim. Lovely.

No, but really. What makes ODIN particularly enticing - to us - is that it's a part of the amazing "vanilla-plus" style of reworks. It just fits into the game perfectly, and you'd be remiss not to incorporate it into your copy of the game, too.

Haafingar Hall

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What would a Skyrim mod-list be without at least one housing mod? For this list, we decided to include one of the best, most consistently high-quality housing mods we've seen yet - Haafingar Hall.

Haafingar Hall is an incredibly customizable player home near Solitude, which should tell you all you need to know about the views it affords its owners. It's fully integrated with the rest of the game and its economy, too. Namely, buying it will set you back a hefty 23,000 Gold, but for that price, you're getting an incredible list of features that every Skyrim homeowner will drool over. Here's the list, as per the mod's author:

Seriously, people - the above is not an exhaustive list. Perhaps the best part about Haafingar, though, is that you can go on ahead and customize everything about it. From the weapon rack designs all the way to lights, floors, drapes, and more. It's all optional and interactive and tweakable to no end. As we said - a Skyrim homeowner's dream come true.

If you're looking to add just one player home mode to your copy of Skyrim, make it Haafingar. You can thank us later.

Size Matters: First Person Combat Animations Overhaul 2.0

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Since we made up our minds on a magic rework system, it only makes sense that we'd choose a melee combat rework mod, too. To that end, we've decided to go with one of the best we've seen yet - Size Matters.

Featuring over 60 all-new, entirely unique melee combat animations, including a novel implementation of katana and dagger combat styles that we haven't had yet, FPCAO 2.0 is a real treat for warriors and warriors-alike in Skyrim. According to the author, they got sick and tired of swinging every weapon "like [you] have back problems." Similar to the Pet The Dog mod, FPCAO 2.0, too, makes good use of the Dynamic Animation Replacer to embellish Skyrim's baseline animations with a number of fresh add-ons.

A potentially serious downside of this mod, though, is that it doesn't support all the extra weapon mods you might wish to install post-haste, too. Since there's some special weapon class functionality included, you may need to stick with a list of curated and supported mods that work with FPCAO 2.0, such as the venerable Immersive Weapons mod. Not ideal, to be sure, but we think the upsides outweigh the downsides in this case.

If you do opt to install Size Matters, you'll get a far more satisfying first-person combat experience. Weapons feel punchier and the moves feel like they actually have some weight and heft to them. Really, that's always been our main qualm with Skyrim and TES games in general. Clearly, the modding community at large agrees, too.

Project Proteus

Finally, Project Proteus is vastly different from any other mod on this list. Or from any other Skyrim mod in general, for that matter. Really, Project Proteus is more of a role-playing platform, rather than a simple mod, and it basically allows you to tweak anything and everything, as well as letting you play as any existing character in the game world. No, yeah, you heard that right. You can even control multiple characters in the same world/save!

Project Proteus gives you the functionality of an in-game god through the use of customized "spells" and UI. From being able to save specific character states to continue playing with an entirely different character in the same world instance, to editing every aspect of virtually anything you see in the game. Proteus lets you do all of that, and so much more.  Now, granted, this sort of stuff isn't for everyone, but a handy modder could use Project Proteus to create their ultimate Skyrim playthrough once and for all.

As sandboxy as TES: Skyrim may have been by default, Project Proteus basically amps that stuff up to eleven. If you're interested in this sort of experience, there's nothing else available that could fill the niche. Give Project Proteus a shot and see if it's the right choice for you, too.

What are Your Best Skyrim Mods of the Year?

Choosing just five top-tier mods for Skyrim Special Edition wasn't easy, we can tell you that much. The Nexus pages are completely inundated with phenomenal game addons, and going from one to the other is really one of the toughest things we've done, gaming-wise. That said, we think this list will serve you well if you're looking for some goodies to add to your existing copy of Skyrim.

If you're looking to build a new mod-list from the bottom-up, be sure to check out the curated Nexus Mod Categories.  Namely, we're huge fans of their Most Endorsed and Top Mod lists, as they're a phenomenal starting point for every wannabe modder.

Now, we believe you've got your weekend gaming cut out for you. Is your copy of Skyrim ready?

Get started with one of the best sandbox RPGs of all time today! Skyrim awaits!

Looking for some Skyrim dogs? Then you’re in luck! It’s that time of the year again for us to choose the best Skyrim mods, and there are definitely some cute stray dogs up there! Granted, our last article dealing with the topic was way back in 2019, when we offered a massive list of must-play mods for […]