In the world of Skyrim, the standard “Difficulty” isn’t all that difficult. Now, don’t get me wrong. Playing the game at more challenging levels of difficulty may be a fair bit challenging for a new or relatively casual player, but this is much more to do with the enemies only hitting harder and requiring more hits to take down.
Those looking for a true “Dark Souls” level challenge to their Skyrim playthrough is genuinely as challenging as it is rewarding to look no further. In this guide, we’ll be going over some remarkable Difficulty Mods that will improve AI, overall combat, the usage of spells and abilities, and much much more. If you’ve always wanted to play Skyrim how it was meant to be played, we’ve got you covered.
1: Wildcat & Ultimate Combat
While you can undoubtedly get either of these two mods separately, it’s much more recommended that you get them together as they greatly complement one another to improve the combat of enemies in Skyrim massively.
Wildcat adds a wide and varied spectrum of new and different combat features to your playthrough. These can range from stamina costs for regular swings of your sword or firing an arrow to various overextensions in an attack leaving you open to attacks of opportunity, to name a few.
On the other hand, Ultimate Combat significantly improves the enemy’s AI, causing them to work more tactically in groups and block and dodge your attacks. The mod also gives them their special attacks while ensuring that more extensive and more powerful enemies, such as Giants and Dragon Priests, have much more improved stats than the vanilla game.
Both of these mods are entirely configurable to your specifications and will, in and of itself, make your Skyrim gameplay much more enjoyable than the standard vanilla setting.
2: Wounds
Next on our list is the mod, Wounds. This takes injuries to the next level.
Whereas in the vanilla game, injuries were mostly undefined, being relegated to a simple decrease in the Health bar, with Wounds, that is entirely changed. You can now get various specific injuries such as cuts, bruises, concussions, and even broken bones, each with stat penalties and inflictions.
What makes this even more challenging (and fun) is that these wounds will, if left untreated, actually become worse to the player. What may start as “simply” a broken bone, if left untreated, may result in potentially leaving the Dragonborn entirely incapacitated.
This mod makes every fight a genuine one with consequences. Ones that, should you ignore them, lead to your ultimate undoing.
3: Stamina Matters
The third on this list, Stamina Matters, is a simple but highly effective mod that essentially makes Stamina a much more vital commodity. Instead of how it was treated in the vanilla game, where you could essentially perform numerous Power Attacks even with a relatively low amount, Stamina Matters forces you to take your Stamina usage into heavy consideration when playing.
When combined with the Wildcat/Ultimate Combat combo, you will genuinely find yourself treating every swing of your sword as a scarce commodity that only is meant for sure hits.
4: Slow Affects Attack Speed
Another simple mod addition, Slow Affects Attack, ensures that Frost spells to slow your attack speed in addition to your movement speed.
Significant on its own, this mod truly shines when used in conjunction with the earlier mentioned mods.
5: Location Damage (SKSE Plugin)
If you’ve always wanted to specify your localized damage attacks, Location Damage (SKSE Plugin) is the mod for you. Not to be confused with the original Location Damage mod (which is broken), this version of the Location Damage mod gives each part of an individual’s body its health readings. Hit a leg long enough, and the opponent will effectively become disabled and unable to get up. Hit an arm long enough, and they will not be able to use that army anymore.
As with all these mods, the effects work for both you and your opponent and make the effects from Wounds all the more debilitating.
6: Reasonable Reloading
Reasonable Reloading is a small but detailed mod that forces you to reload after each crossbow shot. This is a far cry from the original vanilla version of the game, where your character instantly reloads and can fire off the next shot. Now, you will have to actively reload each crossbow bolt before you can fire the weapon off again, costing you potentially those precious few seconds you’d otherwise have.
7: No Saving in Combat & No Crime Teleport
Another double mod suggestion, both of these mods do exactly as their name suggests. No Saving in Combat keeps you from being able to save while in the middle of combat, stealing away your safety net while amid a powerful opponent or while fighting an entire group. No Crime Teleport, on the other hand, disables fast-travel while you have a bounty for a crime.
8: Realistic AI Detection
If you’ve laughed at just how stupid and scripted enemies are in games, prepare to have your mouth shut. Realistic AI Detection effectively removes enemy movement scripts while significantly increasing their vision and hearing. This means that enemies can see you easier, hear you better, and are much less predictable on their patrols.
9: Revenge of the Enemies
Coming in at number nine, Revenge of the Enemies is a gift for hardcore fans everywhere that truly want a challenge in their playthrough. Enemies will now scale better with you and increase their AI while also adding various subtypes and ranks to them.
And if you thought that was all, you haven’t seen anything yet.
The mod overhauls all of the bosses in the game so that they are all infinitely more challenging to face and give enemies different and unique abilities based on their rank, class, and type.
If you’ve always wanted to truly feel like you were fighting for your life in the game, this is the mod you need.
10: Bring Your Silver
The logical addition for combat with various monsters like Ghosts, Undead, Vampires, and Werewolves, Bring Your Silver essentially adds established resistances to creatures that should have them. For example, Werewolves and Vampires are much more resistant to non-silver weapons, while Ghosts can only be killed by Silver or Daedric weapons.
When combined with other enemy overhauls, this can make dungeon crawling a “hell” of a difficult time.
11: OBIS
OBIS, or Organized Bandits in Skyrim, is a must-get for players regardless of the difficulty level you are looking for. These standard enemies are much more balanced in combat, reasonably increasing their difficulty level.
However, the main draw is in the large number of included bandit groups that now rove through Skryim. Taking the place of the standard vanilla bandits, these organized bandit groups come in various specializations, from groups of Berserkers to Elemental Archers, to corpse looters, to name a few.
12: Deadly Dragons & Dragon Combat Overhaul
Another vital mod grouping, Deadly Dragons and Dragon Combat Overhaul, completely turn dragons in Skyrim from big, stupid lizards that a few bandits and guardsmen can kill to truly deadly creatures that the world NEEDS them Dragonborn to help defeat.
Deadly Dragons allows you to adjust their stats as well as give them additional abilities and combat resistances. The mod also adds several different species of dragons for a much more unique and varied encounter system.
On the other hand, Dragon Combat Overhaul truly is what makes these beasts more than just giant fire-breathing CPUs. Instead, dragons are now much more intelligent and unpredictable, meaning that you will not need to “wait them out” before they land. The mod also adds realistic physics to their landing and swinging their tails. Now they won’t merely touch down on the ground without so much as a stagger on your part or allow you to get behind them as if their tail is just for show.
With these two mods in place, you will truly feel like you are the hero of legend when you kill one of these flying beasts of death and destruction.
13: Skyrim Unhinged
An excellent option for those that want a truly wild and insane encounter system, Skyrim Unhinged turns the world into your enemy. Random Assassins or Vengeful Ghosts can attack you; enemies can attack you out of nowhere in cities and towns and many other crazy additions. If you’re looking for refuge, this mod isn’t going to give you any.
14: Populated Series
A simple, if expansive, inclusion, the Populated Series is a series of separate mods that realistically populate various areas throughout Skyrim. This includes roving bandit groups and armies as well as merchants. Not only does this mod make the world of Skyrim more difficult, but it also makes it more vibrant and alive.
- https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/73186
- https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/73177
- https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/73212
- https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/73221
- https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/73194
15. DFB – Random Encounters – MCM
Another excellent inclusion to the overall population in Skyrim, DFB – Random Encounters – MCM, adds an assortment of different encounters throughout the northern province. You can also fully configure the settings based on what you want, adding or removing certain species for your personalized world.
16. Skyrim Immersive Creatures
Another stellar addition, no matter the difficulty settings, Skyrim Immersive Creatures brings in numerous different creatures and monsters from throughout the Elder Scrolls’ rich lore. What’s more, you can adjust any creatures you do not want in the game, making it completely customizable.
16. ASIS & Improved INI files
Finally, we have ASIS and the Improved INI files. When used correctly, this mod takes enemy opponents to a whole new level of skill and difficulty. They will now all have some of the same perks and abilities that you have and allow humanoid enemies to use health potions when they are wounded. This takes these CPU enemies from being mindless opponents to near PVP battles where each encounter will feel like you’re fighting another person.
Conclusion
And so there you have it, folks. With these mods, you’ll be able to turn your gameplay difficulty from dealing with a bunch of stupid damage sponges into difficult opponents that will test everything you have and then some. In exchange, you’ll truly feel like a god among as you kill these enemies that truly are meant to be killable.
