The Elder Scrolls V: Anniversary Edition of the game dropped in November of 2021, and it came packed with 500 pieces of mod content crafted by the Creation Club. Meanwhile, vanilla Skyrim players continue to craft brand-new characters and head out on another adventure.
These gamers are fully aware of the plethora of character-related content from the modding community, and they put it to good use to craft the most unique Dragonborn around. Some overhaul facial characteristics and body meshes, while others change everything from hair and eyes to character attributes. Most of these mods focus on the Special Edition of the game, though they also have 'Oldrim' equivalents.
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15 RaceMenu
Additional Character Customization Options
First, having the right foundation for building a better Skyrim is important, and that means adding RaceMenu to the load order. This popular plugin is a feature-packed arsenal of extra options, sliders, and body mechanics that go far beyond the vanilla Skyrim experience, allowing players to craft the ultimate avatar.
RaceMenu does have competition in the form of Enhanced Character Edit, but it's generally referred to as superior. Once installed, players can access it by pressing the ~ key to bring up the console and typing 'showracemenu,' triggering the character creation overhaul. It will also consider other body-related mods in the load order and utilize their functions accordingly.
14 High Poly Head SE
Improves Head Features On Characters & NPCs
Like it or not, Skyrim's vanilla body and head meshes aren't aging particularly well, but plenty of mods are available to bring the game up to modern standards. High Poly Head SE is currently available in version 1.4, making Skyrim's characters look their best.
There's a list of prerequisites to install before adding this to a "load order," but the results speak for themselves. With more geometry and greater detail, faces look cleaner, sharper, and more realistic. This can be applied to the main character, followers, and NPCs in Skyrim to overhaul the game's characters.
13 Imperious - Races Of Skyrim
Skyrim Races Gain New Racial Abilities
The province of Skyrim is home to many races from the world of Tamriel, but the game doesn't go nearly far enough to distinguish them from one another. Imperious - Races of Skyrim seeks to remedy this by implementing a set of values and statistics that gives each race its own set of inherent strengths and weaknesses.
For instance, Nords naturally resist cold, while Orcs are better suited for melee combat. The mysterious feline Khajit race in Skyrim is more nimble and swift, Imperials handle armor better, and Redguards are blessed with a tremendous stamina buff. Regardless of the race, certain perks are tailored to suit individual player styles.
12 The Atlantean Race - Powerful Warriors
Gain A New Warrior Race In Skyrim
Though slightly non-lore friendly, including the Atlantean race, players can build quite an interesting warrior character with a few perks. The race is defined primarily by physical strength and a natural affinity for moving about while underwater.
Atlanteans are a tough breed and make for natural pack mules. Stamina and carrying capacity are enhanced to the point where there's no real need to lug around a backpack for extra storage. They're also capable of zipping about underwater like natural-born fish, allowing for deep-dive Skyrim's various waterways.
11 KS Hairdos SSE
Hair Pack With 983 Hairstyles
Hair mods are vital for creating an attractive and cool-looking character, especially given how dreadful the vanilla game's hairstyles are. While many Skyrim modders go straight for the popular Apachii hairstyles mod, it's not always the most realistic option.
KS Hairdos SSE has quickly gained steam among the Skyrim modding community due to its relatively lore-friendly hair. The mod doesn't just offer better hairstyles and cleans up the texture work, offering a total in-game replacement from the standard stock hairdos.
Modders are encouraged to install the Salt and Wind add-on, which further retextures KS Hairdos for maximum realism and attractiveness.
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10 Beards Of Power
Additional Facial Hair Options
Aside from utilizing mods that can change up your hair-do, Many Skyrim players look for better facial hair options to enhance their characters' appearances, as the choices in vanilla Skyrim are limited. Facial hair can significantly alter a character's look and contribute to a strong, commanding aesthetic fitting in with the Nordic thematic styles in the game.
This mod introduces a range of beard and mustache styles for humans, elves, and orcs in Skyrim and includes substantial options for Khajiit. The styles range from natural to eccentric, with unique beard accessories for added customization.
Editing your character's facial hair is straightforward in the character creation menu. Beards are designed to align with face shapes, and you can tailor the beard to fit your character's facial structure as desired by simply adjusting the sliders.
9 Tempered Skins For Males & Females
Face & Body Texture Improvement
This mod contains mature content, including nudity.
Players who want to start as a human in Skyrim should tack a good skin mod onto the load to improve on what's already there. Tempered Skins for Males and Females offers a variety of options for players to customize the perfect look, right down to the choice of body musculature and chest hair.
The mods were designed to work well with enhanced ENB lighting presets, meaning they should look great no matter what. They're a definite step up from the rather bland and low-res textures included in the original game, and when combined with other body mods, they help transform the character roster.
The Tempered Skin Mods for Males and Females must be ed separately, as they are two different mods.
8 Ordinator - Perks Of Skyrim
Overhauls Skyrim's Perk Trees
By default, Skyrim's perk system offers far too much ease when leveling up and far too little room to customize the character experience. Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim is one of the most popular perk overhaul mods, primarily due to the way it handles leveling and application of perk points to the skill tree.
Every single perk tree has been reformatted to offer more options for players to build out their character's skill set. This has the added benefit of preventing over-specialization in a particular skill, which may unbalance the game and make it unnecessarily easy. Ordinator is one of the best Skyrim mods to refresh the game, and players should install it for their next playthrough if they haven't already.
7 Improved Eyes Skyrim
Detailed Iris Options For All Races
Like everything else in vanilla Skyrim, eye textures are showing their age, and that can detract considerably from the game's believability and immersion. Improved Eyes Skyrim overhauls eye textures while working directly with RaceMenu for greater character customization.
Every race gets improved eye textures with sharper detail, more exotic colors, and better shine. Some textures simply overhaul existing race-specific eyes, while others have a glint of the supernatural that can give every Dragonborn in Skyrim a sense of inherent magical power.
6 Scarified Dunmer - Overhauled - SSE
New Scar Complexions For Dark Elves
The Dunmer are generally considered troublesome in Skyrim, but some gamers prefer playing as one to explore the province. Scarified Dunmer is a mod that overhauls the race to for the ritual scarring that takes place within the culture.
The result is a more diverse set of complexions for the Dunmer race, allowing them to stand out more. Players can experiment with different looks to create a highly ritualized Dunmer Dragonborn who looks the part and fits in well with the surrounding characters.
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