Essential Gameplay Mods You need in Skyrim right now

If you ever played Skyrim to it's fullest, you probably noticed that some gameplay mechanics can be daunting or downright annoying. I feel the same and there are many mods to help with that. I'd like to showcase some of them here which I think are really essentials you need right now! The first in the list will probably trigger flashbacks for some ...

1. Stones of Barenziah - Quest Marker

Download: Nexus Mods

These things are so annoying to find

The Stones are a running gag in the community and rightfully so: There are a total of 24 of them and you need to find all of them to complete a quest. Unforunately there are no hints or quest markers so trying to find them is painful if you have less than 8 hours are day to play this game. This mod simply adds markers where you can find them in Skyrim. Very simple - yet very effective! Download right now.

2. Skyrim Together Reborn

Download: Nexus Mods

So many players

This mod is really really cool and a wish for many Skyrim fans since the release of the game. It adds a multiplayer component to the game in which (with some setup) you can explore & quest the game together with your friends. The mod is WIP but is fully functional for many aspects like questing together, synchronzed combat and sharing items with other players. It will only become better in the future so highly recommended to give it a go!

3. Combat Evolved

Download: Nexus Mods

That sword hits hard

Hard to show with pure images but this mod is something else. Combat Evolved changes the combat system for Skyrim entirely: It changes the behaviour of the AI like forcing the enemy to circle you if they outnumber you or straight up hit harder. It's kinda like making the game more unforgiving for actions that should be punished really like storming into a group of bandits and not getting a scratch.

It's a mod that isn't everyones cup of tea but would still encourage you to give it a try. After all every mod is free!

4. Skyrim's Got Talent - Improve As A Bard

Download: Nexus Mods

Finally the instruments serve a purpose

Probably very known that you can play songs with certain instruments into the game but apart from that there isn't much use to them. This mod fixes this! If you play an instrument you start to level up your Bard skills and at some point you will receive a Buff from that. NPC's also react to songs you play & finish so it's a nice addition to the instruments you find throughout your playthrough.

5. Skyclimb

Download: Nexus Mods

Is this Assassins Creed??!

I never would have thought that we get a mod where we can finally climb in a cool way in Skyrim. It's really just baffling & amazing. I really urge to try this out, it's already alot of fun to climb mountains the and the such in vanilla but with this mod it reaches the next level.

6. Faster Horses

Download: Nexus Mods

Finally

This is more like a personal dispute with myself and the game mechanics. At some point you realize that using a horse is somewhat useless or impractical compared to just fast travel and simply running to your target if it's in reach. This mod gives a reason to use your horse more and I love it!
It's so simple yet to effective that it changes some numbers to make them more practical:

1. Walking Speed from 125 to 150
2. Running Speed from 450 to 600
3. Sprinting Speed from 600 to 950
4. Swimming Speed from 210 to 300

Sounds simple enough but it really makes a difference. If you like exploring the game without fast travel then you should look into this mod!