This guide assumes you have some experience modding Skyrim before and/or you've acquired enough experience through following Syn's Guide (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LqpIw3zlOMfS7EDoicp8uM2MWxJNUwPV-3Q7T43h52I/edit) that you should know by now to READ THE DESCRIPTIONS and MAKE SURE YOU'RE DOWNLOADING THE MOD FOR THE RIGHT EDITION OF YOUR GAME (SSE or SSE Anniversary Edition (AE))

Most of these mods are a core part of my current load order in Skyrim SSE. The rest are here to present alternatives. You're welcome to install different mods, of course.

Face/Body Enhancements

HIMBO has Schlongs of Skyrim (SOS) (https://www.loverslab.com/files/file/5355-schlongs-of-skyrim-se/) support. Yes, it's the dick mod. If you're on Anniversary Edition (AE), you HAVE to install this .dll (https://www.loverslab.com/files/file/20136-sos-ae/) for SOS to work. Or you can just install HIMBO with the NeverNude option.

Ill keep it real with you, SAM is kind of a pain to install. If you just want to play and go, I recommend HIMBO.

For bodies that support different types/presets, you'll need Bodyslide (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/201). This allows you to make your own custom body types, and outfits that will fit them (as long as Bodyslide presets for them exist/the modders provide you said presets). For CBBE, someone tipped me off to these more natural-looking presets (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/13896), but you'll need to generate the meshes yourself.

Texture only mods are more or less compatible between Skyrim LE (Oldrim) and Skyrim SE, AS LONG AS THEY'RE LOOSE FILES (i.e. nothing but .dds and what have you, or a .bsa full of said loose files). I combine Vitruvia's face textures with the normalmaps from this mod (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/81557), depending on whether I want my character to look younger/fresh-faced or more weathered/older. Some texture mods have a FOMOD, which brings up a menu that lets you choose which textures (diffuse, normalmap, specular) to what parts (face, body, hands, feet, etc) you want to install. For the ones that don't, you can either manually drag the textures you want into your currently active texture mod (for me, this would be Vitruvia's mod folder inside MO2) OR use MO2's Hide feature (https://files.catbox.moe/zjsotd.PNG) to simply hide the textures you don't want to use. Personally, I prefer MO2's Hide feature since it leaves textures intact (it simply appends .mohidden at the end of the file so it can't be read by the game), in case I ever want to revert to the original textures, which is a godsend whenever you're trying out different texture mods.

REMEMBER! YOU NEED TEXTURES TO BE COMPATIBLE WITH THE BODY MOD YOU'RE USING. UNLESS SPECIFIED, UNP TEXTURES WILL NOT WORK FOR CBBE BODIES, AND CBBE TEXTURES WILL NOT WORK FOR UNP BODIES. SAME LOGIC APPLIES TO MALE BODIES, SAM IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH VITRUVIA^ OR TEMPERED SKIN, THEY ARE MADE FOR BETTER BODIES (DEPRECATED) AND HIMBO.

(^ I heard someone did make a Vitruvia texture compatible with SAM, but it's super furry (i.e. super dark chest and body hair). You're on your own if you want it.)

Skills Overhaul/Roleplay

NPC Overhauls

NPC overhauls are somewhat of a pain, as you cannot install multiple without getting the dreaded black face bug, as two mods editing the same NPC conflict and will mess with the NPC's FaceGen data. Face Discoloration AE (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/42441) is NOT a fix for fucked up FaceGen data, it's merely a stop gap so said NPCs won't be walking around with a black face, out of sight, out of mind sort of situation. Useful for screenshots, though.

Not Necessary But Nice

Edit
Pub: 15 Jun 2022 00:12 UTC
Edit: 15 Jun 2022 00:59 UTC
Views: 164