Gameplay mods are an important offering from theSkyrimmodding community, especially given how long in the tooth the vanilla game is at this point. When it first came out,Skyrimdidn’t have the best gameplay mechanics right out of the box, but it’s even worse at this point. As Bethesda preps for production on theElder Scrolls VI,one can only hope they will take this into account.
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Meanwhile,Skyrimplayers are still having fun in 2020, and that’s sure to spill over into the new year. Here’s a list of mods that should provide some extra immersion and convenience to the gameplay experience as wemove out of 2020, and into the 2021 gaming arena.
Updated June 16, 2025, by Thomas Bowen:Despite being almost a decade old, Skyrim remains an incredibly popular game with an active and sizable playerbase. One of the biggest reasons for this is the huge variety of mods that are available for the title; some of which can completely change the gameplay experience for players. These mods are also a great tool for squeezing a bit more life out of the game and can keep players busy long after the main story and many side quests have been completed and turned in.
15Bears Of The North
While the wildlife found in the vanilla version ofSkyrimis perfectly serviceable, some of the creatures that the Dragonborn encounters while on his adventures can be a little underwhelming when compared to their real world counterparts. JPSteel2’sBears of the Northmod seeks to address this, at least when it comes to the game’s bears, anyway.
The mod completely overhauls the look and feel ofSkyrim’s three types of bear, with each one being given new models and textures. Fur is more realistic, their body shapes are far more true to life and, perhaps most importantly, their size has also been greatly increased. This results in bears that are far more realistic than they once were; not to mention, a lot more intimidating.
14Immersive Fat Idiot Son
Rufus is a good kid at heart, but he’s not quite the sharpest arrow in the knee. Having him accompany the Dragonborn on his adventures can therefore lead to some pretty funny moments, but also plenty of frustrating ones as well. In fact, Nerd of Prey has gone out of their way to make Rufus as annoying as possible; hence the mod’sImmersive Fat Idiot Sontitle.
There are over 100 unique lines of dialogue attached to the character as well as a short intro quest. Rufus cannot die, does a terrible job of holding onto items and will randomly start fights with bandits and monsters that will more than likely get players killed. He does provide players with plenty of love though.
13Pet The Dog
That it somehow took almost a decade for someone to mod in the ability to pet dogs inSkyrimis really quite remarkable. Thanks to popular and prominent modder jayserpa and theirPet the Dogmod, however, the Dragonborn can finally show their appreciation to man’s best friend.
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The mod includes three unique animations and can be activated simply by approaching any friendly dog while having no weapons, magic or fists out. The animations aren’t perfect, but should be more than adequate for all but the most demanding of dog lovers.
12Night Sky HD SE
There are some truly stunning visual mods forSkyrim, although few are quite as beautiful as PraedythXVI’sNight Sky HD SEmod. It allows a ridiculous amount of control over the night sky and includes 2 constellation meshes, control over the number of visible stars and textures that are up to 8K in resolution.
With the exception of a handful of textures, the modder created everything themselves and has done an excellent job of packaging it all together. The mod is easy to install, simple to customize and can completely transform the way that players feel about nighttime inSkyrim.
11Rally’s Solstheim AIO
Rallyeator is one ofSkyrim’s most prolific modders, having published more than a hundred mods for the game over the past five years. Many of these have focused on overhauling locations in the game and can often completely change their appearances.
Rally’s Solstheim AIOis a collection of some of their best work which, as the title might suggest, centers around the island of Solstheim. It includes reskins for Raven Rock, Tel Mithryn and Riekling Outposts and also makes some general tweaks to the overall landscape of the island. The results are fantastic and bring a whole new vibe to the areas that they change.
10Creature Resistance Tweaks
VanillaSkyrimmonsters are rather bland when it comes to combat, as most of them take damage based on the same criteria and multipliers.Creature Resistance Tweaksadds new flavor to fighting monsters by imbuing them with inherent resistances to particular attacks, which creates a better combat experience.
For instance, Flame Atronachs will become 100% resistant to fire, but will be 20% vulnerable to frost damage. Hargravens will be resistant to magic, and gargoyles will be resistant to poison. This should provide an extra level of challenge for players who want to switch up their tactics in-game.
9Item Durability
Many fantasy games offer a game mechanic that erodes the quality and durability of armor and weapons through repeated combat.Skyrimhas no such mechanic, which is whyItem Durabilitywas created. Though not as advanced as other variants in similar games, this should provide anextra level of immersionfor players.
Weapons and armor may be tempered back up to quality after they’ve suffered too many knocks. Blacksmithing skill determines the effectiveness rate, which makes it a more important perk than before. This is a nice way of adding realism to the game’s item system.
8StayDown
Skyrimplayers who like to bring followers alongin their adventures now have a mod that adds some realism dynamics to the equation.StayDownwas designed as a remedy for the inexplicable healing of followers after they’ve taken too many hits. It seems to have been inspired by many games which require players to personally revive comrades so they can stay in the fight.
That’s precisely how this mod operates. It fiddles with multiple game settings to create a scenario where a follower will go down and require the player to help them back up again. No more followers with Wolverine-style healing factors.
7TDG’s Lower Experience Gain - Enhanced Edition
VanillaSkyrimhas a tendency to level up players way too easily, which detracts away from the play experience.TDG’s Lower Experience Gainis the best fix for this problem. It cuts all sources of XP to 25% of their original rate, which means a slower, more realistic character progression.
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This is an especially handy mod for players who love to install content add-ons such as Beyond Skyrim - Bruma, Falskaar or other mods that expand the worldspace. By slowing down the rate of XP, the player can grow into the Dragonborn role in a more realistic fashion.
6Helmet Overlays - Improved 1st Person Experience
Wearing helmets takes on a whole new meaning with his quirky gameplay mod.Helmet Overlaysallows players to experience a bit more immersion with visible first-person boundaries depending on which helmet is being worn at any given moment.
This makes things more realistic, but it also makes combat much harder at the same time. It’s perfect forSkyrimplayers who want to feel like they’re in the thick of the fantasy world, with all the disadvantages that come with it. Not all helmets are supported, but hopefully community updates will remedy this issue.
