First off, I can't tell you how much I'd appreciate some help here. I've been away from Skyrim for a few months now and can't wait to return ..with your help.

So I'm restarting Skyrim. I didn't finish the game the first time, but I feel like my role playing of my character has gotten off track and the game now feels less immersive and more like a sloppy collection of random quests.

So here is my question:

I want to mod Skyrim to be a whole new experience. Very immersive. Very deep. Very realistic. And most of all with VERY MUCH improved Combat.

Which mods would you recommend? And do any of the following mods exist?

1. A mod to make combat much more tactical? Right now I feel like I just run around tapping my mouse button as fast as I can. I want it to feel deadly and tactical. Would you recommend Duel? Duke Patrick? Skyre?
2. I play a Ranger. Is there a mod that adds more bow abilities? For instance, having multiple arrows fired from the bow at once? Or raining down several arrows on the enemies, or pinning an enemy to the ground, etc?
3. Leveled areas. I want to be able to have my a$$ handed to me if I wander too far too soon. What's the best mod to make the world feel more dangerous? (note, I do have the Monster Mod installed and love it, but I'm not sure how it handles leveling creatures, etc)
4. More "boss" battles i dungeons?
5. MORE CHOICE in QUESTS. This is as big as combat for me. I never really felt like I could choose how to handle situations. Even Oblivion made me FEEL like I could take control of situations and find my own way sometimes. Are there mods out there that help in this regard or would upping my speech skill help at all?
6. And just for kicks? Rope arrows a la Thief.


Again, I sincerely appreciate any time and help that y'all can give.
Great site for a great game.

1. I can't personally recommend Duke Patrick or SkyRe, but I hear good things about them. Neither are to my particular taste. I -can- personally recommend Duel.
2. Duke Patrick adds options, though not those particular ones. I'd like to say I do this, but http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=17353, while cool, is not the major feature of my mod. It's something I want to expand on soon.
3. I know these mods exist, I don't know enough about them.
4. As with 3.
5. Arthmoor seems to be tackling this a lot lately, but this is going to be slow progress.
6. What would these do?

Thanks for the reply. Rope arrows can be fired into wooden structures to create an impromptu escape route, allowing the player to climb the rope to reach higher areas. I should clarify that I've seen these exist, but I was just looking for a suggestion as to which is the best one?

For a more tactical experience, adding perks to NPCs will make the game MUCH harder. As in, you will probably be dying frequently on Novice difficulty until you get the hang of it. For that, look up RePerkussion (my own creation) or just get ASIS (which is a far more comprehensive mod with tons of features including NPC potions and more enemy spawns) by Plutoman.

Seriously, Skyrim becomes extremely hard when NPCs have perks.

For a Ranger, you may enjoy my Hunting in Skyrim mod, and Woodsman's Shack player home. Links in my sig

I have a personal plugin which revamps encounter zones. Essentially, each area has a defined level range, which is 20 wide - and the farther you get into the wilderness, the more deadly it is. It generally scales best with a slower leveling mod, as you'll start to feel powerful around level 30+, and have to explore. But exploring too early will lead you into areas will you'll get walked on for even considering it.

I haven't released it yet as I'm integrating it into ASIS, but if you're interested, send me a PM. And, check out http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/18436.

Otherwise, browse around and check out what's interesting.

I use ASIS for the increased spawns and Challenging Skyrim (Super Hard) for zones. Going into Bleak Falls Barrow at level 4 I had Death Lords to fight (level 30-75). Luckily I had 6 companions and used the ACE BYOG +100% damage to weapons which allowed me to complete it (on the 4th try). Unrealistic? I do not think so. Throw enough people at one enemy (no matter how low a level (companions were level 6-10) and you can take them down. Now if I had 2 or 3 death lords spawn, then I would have had to wait quite a few levels before trying.

If you play solo, Challenging Skyrim has a a more suitable zone leveling.

Either way, use Immersive HID and disable enemy health bar. Then play