Majestic Mountains
Starting with one of the more unsightly aspects of Skyrim, Majestic Mountains does what many don’t consider. While there are many different mods to add textures to water and lightning, very few mods make a point of fixing the mountainous ranges throughout Skyrim. Majestic Mountain does just that.
This mod adds textures and details to rocks, hills, and (of course) mountains and mountain ranges all across Skyrim. Clouds are now more transparent, allowing you to see through them easier. Simultaneously, rocky crags are more pronounced and defined, meaning that manipulating the vanilla’s shoddy appearance to jump through will be largely reduced, forcing a more immersive and realistic playthrough as a result.
At first blush, this may seem like a bit too much praise for a single mod that only does a single thing. However, once you’ve installed it, you will not be able to go back to looking at the very “gamey” mountains in the vanilla version again.
Static Mesh Improvement Mod – SMIM
Another criminally underrated mod, Static Mesh Improvement Mod, or SMIM, is a visual mod that alters the static models found throughout Skyrim, such as fences, tables, chairs, and other like objects.
Again, like Majestic Mountains, upon first seeing it, one might doubt its place on this list of the best visual mods to install, especially when considering the more well-known graphical options presented. However, while many of those mods are excellent (with some even being on this list), they do not fundamentally change the more static and foundational items in the game, instead of keeping them largely the same with only a few tweaks.
SMIM entirely revamps these items so that they are fully immersed in the gameplay. This means that standard objects will appear as realistic standard objects rather than excessively beautiful or slightly better vanilla versions.
Realistic Water Two (SE)
Next up on the list is Realistic Water Two. This is likely going to be much less contentious, as even a cursory glance between the vanilla version and this modded version is miles apart in terms of quality. While the Special Edition of Skyrim certainly made some improvements to the water visuals, they still largely share many of the same runny aspects that pull at their overall enjoyability and appearance.
Realistic Water Two handles all of these issues beautifully by making the water appear like, well… water.
DynDOLOD
If Realistic Water Two was understandable, then DynDOLOD is downright expected when discussing essentials for the Skyrim visual experience. This mod adds details to Skyrim’s landscape’s far-off parts, effectively cutting pop-in models by a huge margin.
Not only that, but depending on your settings, DynDOLOD can be incredibly forgiving to your overall processing power while still making the game look amazing. While all of these mods are essentials, DynDOLOD causes the world to feel much more real and less like a video game.
ENB
For anyone that has heard of ENB, everything you’ve heard about it is true. In terms of turning your Skyrim world into a customizable wonderland to fit your prerequisites, ENB doesn’t have an equal. If you want a Skyrim experience that feels much more in line with Dungeons & Dragons, you can do it. If you want an experience that is considerably more horror-filled, you can do it. If you want something that plays like it’s straight from a Fantasy film, you can do that too.
Unlike all the other mods on this list, ENB offers the player complete control over their overall visual experience. We’ve included a more enhanced version of the vanilla Skyrim as a preset, so you know what you’re getting into, but be sure to play around with it and experiment. You may find a look at Skyrim that truly feels right to you.
Noble Skyrim Mod HD – 2K
Next on the list is Noble Skyrim Mod HD -2K. This visual mod completely alters the look and textures of various architectures throughout the northern province. These can range from homes and buildings to caves and mines as well.
What makes this mod so great is that, while it already works well when combined with the previously mentioned mods, it also works excellently on its own, making buildings much more realistic in appearance. Particularly when combined with SMIM, this mod completely turns homes and buildings into truly breathtaking structures that you won’t want to leave. If you combine this with ENB, you’ll feel like you’re in a fantasy home.
Vivid Weathers Definitive Edition
For those that wish that the weather looked a bit more realistic and immersive, Vivid Weathers Definitive Edition is probably what you need. This mod does exactly as its name implies by making all the weather in Skyrim much more vivid. Cloudy nights while raining will appear much more grayed and depressing, while cloudlessly sunny days will appear much brighter.
While not a particularly essential mod in itself, this mod works exceptionally as a supplement to many of the other mods we’ve talked about already.
Enhanced Lights & FX
Enhanced Lights & FX is a less intensive version of ENB. Don’t let that confuse you into believing this mod is subpar by any means. While ENB is something of the “gold standard” of lighting and effects throughout Skyrim, it can be equally daunting and intimidating for those who don’t need nearly as many alterations in their game.
Enhanced Lights & FX can create beautiful and immersive lighting effects that will draw you into the game to a degree you didn’t think possible. What’s more, it does all of this with a comparatively minimalist menu screen compared to ENB, meaning that you can get much of the same effects without nearly as much experimentation and potential frustration.
Skyrim Flora Overhaul SE
Skyrim Flora Overhaul SE dramatically improves the forest overgrowth throughout Skyrim, giving the game a decidedly more “chaotic” look and appearance. Unlike in the vanilla version of the game, which feels like a forest-lite experience, this mod turns the northern lands into something truly still part of nature and much more fantastical and fantasy-like as a consequence.
This mod gives over 18 different new tree models and over 65 new plants and grass types to wander through. Trees are much taller, with forests feeling old.
Total Character Makeover
Finally, we have Total Character Makeover. This mod gives not only gives you several different additional face options to choose from when starting the game, but it also overhauls all of the NPC characters, giving them much more appealing faces and appearances.
The reason this mod is here two-fold. The main reason it is here is that this is an excellent base mod for character faces in the game as a jumping-off point. While there are certainly others out there that are better, this mod is one of the only ones that work well independently.
The secondary reason references the first. This mod is often a requirement for many of the other NPC face models as a solid foundation. Because of this, not only is it a considerable upgrade from the vanilla version, but it will be the foundation point in which most other mods operate to make faces even better.
