With Starfield practically knocking at the gates, now's likely one of the last times we'll have the opportunity to truly delve deep into the rich madness of discussing the best Skyrim Special Edition mods proper. That's why we thought now was the time to take a good long look at what the best mods are, explain why you ought to install them - for free - to improve your RPG experience, and where to get them in the first place!

It's all easy, simple, and quick - no worries. We'll guide you through all the prep work needed to get these mods up and running, explain what's what, and give you all the prerequisites to enjoy the ultimate Elder Scrolls: Skyrim experience - once and for all.

READ MORE: What Fallout 4's Modding Scene Tells us About Starfield

Don't Forget to Do The Prep Work!

The first step of your Skyrim modding adventure is to get everything in order for things to work. There are several key things you'll need to do before downloading all the goodies listed below off of Nexus, and they are as follows:

• Get a copy of Skyrim Special Edition or Anniversary Edition
• Install SKSE
• Get a good Skyrim Mod Manager

Each of these is positively crucial if you're looking to get a good Skyrim modding experience. Obviously, you do need a copy of up-to-date Skyrim, to begin with, but SKSE - or the Skyrim Script Extender, as it were - is a much-needed expansion of the modders' available features. Finally, access to a proper mod manager, like Vortex, will make modding a total breeze, with access to backups, downloads, reinstall functionality, and mod load order - to list a few.

Get these tidbits all set up, and then we can move on to our favorite Skyrim Special Edition mods at last! And not to worry, all you need to do to install Skyrim mods nowadays is to click a few buttons, and you're set.

Now, Let's Get Started!

Since our goal is to, broadly, give you a list of phenomenal mods that you may or may not wish to download in the end, going in-depth on each and every one of our dozens of recommendations would get us nowhere. Instead, down below, we've separated all the awesome community-made mods for Skyrim into dedicated categories where we explain the key highlights and give you all the links you need to get them hooked up into your copy of the game.

For more info on each of the featured mods, we recommend checking up on Nexus itself using the provided links. So, no more dawdling - it's time to get to the good stuff.

Core Skyrim Special Edition Mods

Our core Skyrim Special Edition mods are, essentially, all you need to enjoy a top-tier baseline modded Skyrim experience. These don't necessarily add anything hugely exciting to the mix, mind. Instead, you get far superior UI, a way to organize your mods for Skyrim however you wish, a remarkably comprehensive community patch, and a wealth of other options.

Mod Configuration Menu, for example, is used to access modding backend options in a variety of other, more complex mods. Alternate Start will let you totally avoid the annoying starting sequence - if that's what you want. SSE Engine Fixes will make your copy of Skyrim far more stable and performant. Stuff like that!

SkyUI - the ultimate PC-centric UI mod

Unofficial Skyrim Patch - a must-have bundle of fixes and improvements for the base game

Skyrim RaceMenu - a character creator expansion

Alternate Start - an alternative intro sequence mod allowing you to role-play the way you want

SMIM - a comprehensive mesh improvement mod

SSE Engine Fixes - a hugely important stability improvement mod

Achievements Mods Enabler - allows you to unlock Steam achievements even with mods enabled

These mods combine to establish a healthier, more interesting, and more stable experience playing Skyrim Special Edition than ever before, and we recommend each of them for various reasons!

Gameplay Mods for Skyrim Special Edition

What we've got here is a delightful list of gameplay changes you can, but might not want to, install onto Skyrim. Specifically, these Skyrim mods do anything from introducing minuscule balancing tweaks via Perk choices all the way to completely revamping the game's combat system. Whereas it's highly recommended you install each "core" Skyrim mod, as outlined in the previous section, whether you want to install Skyrim mods featured here is a wholly different matter.

These are still the very best Skyrim mods available, of course. It's just that your average immersion mod or melee combat mod won't be to everyone's tastes! So, to that end, your mileage may vary in this category.

Ordinator: Perks of Skyrim - a total rework of the game's skills and Perk trees

Immersive Citizens: AI Overhaul SE - a comprehensive immersion bump-up via improved AI and interactions

Immersive Patrols - enjoy improved enemy and friendly patrols across all of Skyrim

Convenient Horses - a huge improvement to the game's horses

Precision: Accurate Melee Collisions - introduces Havok-based, physics-driven melee collisions

Skyrim Together Reborn - a Skyrim multiplayer mod

Another thing worth pointing out is that some of the mods featured in this category overwrite one another, meaning they're partially or totally incompatible. Something to keep in mind!

Graphics Mods for Skyrim Special Edition

Do you feel that Skyrim Special Edition just doesn't cut it anymore, graphics-wise? This is the category for you, if that's the case! From texture revamps all the way to comprehensive flora and fauna improvements, this category's whole purpose is to revitalize your copy of Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and help it get up-to-speed with, heck, even Starfield in some respects. Why not give it a shot, then?

Skyrim Flora Overhaul SE - a total flora overhaul, precisely what it says on the tin

Skyrim 202X by Pfuscher - a massive bundle of high-res textures for the game

Enhanced Lights and FX - upgrades the game's entire lighting engine with a focus on immersion

Realistic Water Two SE - a total waterway overhaul

Enhanced Blood Textures - improved blood and gore

Vivid Weathers: Definitive Edition - alternative weather and lightning revamp

Weapons Armor Clothing and Clutter Fixes - get rid of annoying bugs and visual inconsistencies in gear

LeanWolf's Better-Shaped Weapons SE - reworks all the base weapons to look more like weapons

Immersive Equipment Displays - shows off all equipped gear on your character

Footprints - makes all NPCs and the player generate footprints in the snow

Much as is the case with gameplay mods, many of these Skyrim Special Edition mods won't work well together, so you'll need to be vigilant. Verify that the Flora Overhaul isn't borking something when you try to change your atmospheric mod, for example, and that it's not overwriting the water graphics mods you may have installed.

New Content Mods for Skyrim Special Edition

For those who crave more content in Skyrim, there's not much else to discuss other than, heck, going out and adding more! Each mod featured here adds a wealth of new content, be it new weapons, dragons, abilities, or - believe it or not - all-new maps and world to explore.

Apocalypse: Magic of Skyrim - adds over 150 unique new lore-friendly spells and more

Immersive Weapons - adds over 200 all-new lore-friendly weapons and beyond

Cloaks of Skyrim - introduces an all-new clothing item in over 100 varieties

Immersive Sounds Compendium - massively improves game immersion by adding new sounds

Legacy of the Dragonborn - a DLC-sized content mod with lore-friendly additions

Diverse Dragons Collection - adds more dragon creatures to the game

Skyrim Immersive Creatures SE - adds dozens of new creatures to the game

The Paarthurnax Dilemma - lets you continue the Paarthurnax quest and save the old dragon

Unique Uniques SE - makes all of Skyrim's "unique" weapons actually, genuinely unique

One caveat to keep in mind here is that the more content a mod adds, the less stable will it generally be. To that end, it's entirely possible that even though these are some of the best Skyrim mods ever produced, they might not be perfectly stable. If that's not a hugely relevant concern, though, you're golden!

Wrap-Up!

And there you have it - that's our summary of the very finest Skyrim Special Edition mods you could (and should!) install at this time. While it's a given that other mods will be coming out in due time, too, as Morrowind itself is still being modded, even today, large batches of the modding community will inevitably move on to Starfield and, indeed, Elder Scrolls 6. In other words, Skyrim's modding heyday has already come and gone, and you can reap virtually all of its benefits immediately.

What's stopping you? From the Unofficial Skyrim Patch to the Skyrim 202X texture revamp, there's a phenomenal selection of community-derived content here. Launch Skyrim in its fully up-to-date, customized format and know that you'll never look back again, once that happens.

CHECK OUT: The Ultimate List of Single-Player Games for PC