I have just started downloading skyrim from steam onto my laptop and was wondering if anybody knew some mods I HAVE to get. I've heard of a few but nothing has really stood out to me so far. Any suggestions?

Try playing the game first. Until you do that, you won't have any idea of what in the game you want to change.

I do recommend getting SkyUI though before you start, the vanilla UI is unbearable!

I've played skyrim before, just on console. Now I want to know what I should get to enhance it. I'm mainly looking for some more weapons, better smithing options, and some quests that would be fun at low or high levels.


Edit: Oh, I would also like to have some more horses and stuff.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/9557
Download this one after you've completed the original intro at least once. It's worth playing through, imo.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/27371
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/28170
These make dealing with dialogue and messageboxes less frustrating. They're not so much an alteration, as they are fixes. Absolutely "essential."

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11163
This is the only mod I'll recommend here that isn't really an "objective improvement," but it adds hugely to immersion and makes traveling more dynamic and exciting. Suddenly heat sources and shelter become real gameplay elements.


Can't really think of anything else I'd consider universally essential, tbh.