Discover the ultimate Skyrim Special Edition experience on Xbox with our handpicked selection of the best mods. Enhance your gameplay and explore new ways to enjoy the timeless RPG on your Console.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an epic action-adventure game that debuted in 2011 and was later remastered into Skyrim: Special Edition in 2016. After enthralling gamers for more than a decade, the game has begun to show its age, particularly given the Xbox’s limited capabilities.
While the game’s visuals and mechanics may not rival those of modern titles, its huge community is always hard at work making their beloved game better with mods.
Read More: Best Skyrim Crafting Mods You Can Use in Skyrim Special Edition
Previously, Skyrim Mods were exclusive to the PC platform due to tech limitations. But now Xbox players have the golden ticket to explore a reinvigorated Skyrim, thanks to the relentless efforts of talented modders, who’ve brought overhauls and bug fixes to the world of consoles.
Due to a bigger player base, Xbox users can treat themselves to a wider selection of mods than other consoles.
This game is an absolute must-play even in 2024, and with a few of the mods we’ll list below, you can enhance your experience playing Skyrim: Special Edition on Xbox. This article applies to the Xbox One, One S, One X, and Xbox Series S and Series X.
How to Install for Skyrim: Special Edition on Xbox
We will briefly review how you can set up and start downloading and installing mods for Skyrim: Special Edition on Xbox. Do note that you cannot Mod the basic version of Skyrim. You need the 2016 Special Edition (SE). Most of these mods support Skyrim’s 2021 Anniversary Edition AE, but you should be on SE for the best compatibility.
- First, open up a free account on Bethesda.net and link your Microsoft account.
- Then, open up the game and scroll to the Mods section, where you’ll be prompted to log in to your Bethesda account.
- After doing so, you will be greeted with a selection of mods that you can simply choose and download.
For further details, check our guide on Skyrim: Special Edition – Modding Explained (Both PC and Console).
Best Xbox Mods in Skyrim Special Edition
Skyrim: Special Edition is a great game in its own right. However, the Mods discussed in this guide will enhance your gameplay experience to the next level. The Mods here are from the Official Bethesda webpage, which you can visit to get the full library of all the mods.
In this list, we have cherrypicked the very best from various categories, which will be all you need to get started Modding Skyrim: Special Edition on Xbox.
Simply go to the mod of your choice from the website and select “add to library.” You can find all your mods neatly arranged in a folder from within the game’s mod menu, which can be easily downloaded.
So, without further ado, let’s get started on the best Xbox Mods in Skyrim: Special Edition. To simplify this list, we have divided it into Five major sections: Bug Fixes/Quality of Life Improvements, Visual Overhaul, Combat Overhaul, and Gameplay Improvements/Immersion and Player/Follower Mods.
Bug Fixes/Quality of Life Improvements
1. Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch [USSEP]
Download Link: Bethesda
We have the Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch to start our list. It is a mod dedicated to fixing every bug and glitch that was not officially addressed by the Bethesda developers in Skyrim: Special Edition on Xbox. This is the simplest mod that improves quality of life to a great extent; no more of those pesky, unpassable, bugged missions by Esbern!
2. Simple XP Buff – A Faster Skill Leveling Mod
Download Link: Bethesda
Simple XP Buff is a balanced leveling boost mod for Skyrim: Special Edition on Xbox. As fun of a game Skyrim is, once your stats reach the higher levels (around level 80-85), the time it takes to level them up is exponentially higher, making the game boring for some of you. This mod increases the leveling speed but in a very balanced way.
You can activate Standing stones, which will help level up your skills 40% faster, while other bonuses like Rested, Well-Rested, and Lover’s Embrace will also add a significant boost, respectively. It’s enough to make a difference, but not so much that it breaks the game.
3. Rich Merchants of Skyrim: Special Edtion
Download Link: Bethesda
Have a lot of loot that you want to get rid of and make coins in the process? Tired of the peasant traders of Skyrim who only carry scraps and can’t give you your loot’s worth? Try out the mod “Rich Merchants Of Skryim: Special Edtion.” This mod goes seamlessly with another mod discussed below in this list.
This simple mod increases the Gold capacity of the Merchants in Skyrim to over 10,000. Now, you can sell your items to your heart’s content. No more going through the tedious process of fast traveling to every nearby merchant per in-game day to sell a full inventory.
4. Trustinlies Price Overhaul
Download Link: Bethesda
While rummaging around the countless Chests and Containers across Skyrim, have you ever found the rewards lacking their worth? Well, this mod aims to change just that.
Trustinlies Price Overhaul increases the prices of hides, pelts, meats, silver items, and dwemer items to make them more balanced and immersive. The creature drops have also been tweaked to make Dungeoning more profitable. It also makes ingots 10x more valuable, and weapons/jewelry now sell for the total value of the materials used +10%.
5. A Quality World Map – Vivid with Stone Roads
Download Link: Bethesda
A Quality World Map – Vivid with Stone Roads adds a new perspective on Skyrim, boasting intricately crafted world map textures that even include most roads. The roads shown were artistically selected by the talented modder IcePenguin. Additionally, this mod includes a detailed map of Solstheim. The new realistic maps add spice to your Skyrim gameplay while making it more immersive.
This Mod includes the world map in 5 different types according to what kind of realism or immersion you are going for: Vivid with Stone Roads, Vivid with Flat Roads, Paper, Classic with All Roads, Classic with Main Roads, any of which you can choose from.
6. XP32 Maximum Skeleton+Realistic Ragdolls and Force
Download Link: Bethesda
This mod combines Realistic Ragdolls and Force by dDefinder and XP32 Maximum Skeleton- XPMS by XP32 and brings them over to Xbox. These mods together make animations smoother, more realistic, and immersive.
The XP32 Maximum Skeleton mod is a multi-purpose skeleton for animation in Skyrim that allows animators to animate body parts independently and removes incompatibility with other mods.
Realistic Ragdolls and Force reduce the extra force applied on ragdolls to a more reasonable level and replace ragdolls so that they bend and twist realistically and fall at a faster velocity. Increase friction to fix ice-like ragdoll sliding.
7. Ring of Increased Carry Weight
Download Link: Bethesda
Ring of Increased Carry Weight is a handy mod for all you treasure hunters and hoarders out there. Adding a ring that boosts your carry weight by 1000 is a simple quality-of-life improvement. Another ring adds 1000000 carry weight. Pick whichever ring you want! The Rings can be bought from Belethor’s General Goods in Whiterun for around 200 gold.
Say goodbye to that annoying ‘Over-encumbered’ warning and loot to your heart’s content.
Visual Overhaul
1. Graphics Pack
Download Link: Bethesda
Graphics Pack is the culmination of 61 of the best modders in the Skyrim Modding community. This mod completely overhauls all game textures, from Drapery Curtains to Dawnguard Metals and Torture tools. It also improves content across Solitude, Windhelm, Whiterun, Riften, Raven Rock, Skaal Village, and Fort Dawnguard.
The mods are also scaled to 1k resolution for optimized performance on Xbox.
2. Obsidian Weathers and Seasons
Download Link: Bethesda
From the Modders Dr. Megaloblast and Arindel, who are well known throughout the Skyrim Modding community for producing the best Lighting and Weather mods, comes Obsidian Weathers and Seasons.
This Mod brings Sharp, Ominous, and Atmospheric lighting and weather to the world of Skyrim. Obsidian Weather accentuates proximal detail while obscuring distant landscapes in mysterious rolling fogs and atmospheric scattering.
Obsidian is a collaborative work that combines artistic styles that enhance Skyrim for her beauty while preserving her dated modesty.
3. Wet and Cold
Download Link: Bethesda
Next on our list is Wet and Cold. As the name suggests, this mod adds special weather-dependent visual effects and NPC AI enhancements.
The player’s skin will be wet during and just after swimming, with dripping and light splash footstep sound effects. Raindrops will blur your vision while looking up; cold weather will cause your breath to become visible; snow will accumulate on your weapons and armor, etc.
During rain and blizzards, NPCs will return to their homes. Adults will walk briskly. Children will run. Argonians, beggars, and working-class NPCs will remain outside.
4. Lively Graphics Overhaul
Download Link: Bethesda
Next up on our list is Lively Graphics Overhaul for Xbox One. This graphics mod injects life, vibrancy, and renewed energy into the game. Say goodbye to the tired, washed-out visuals of the past.
Once you’ve experienced it, you won’t need a side-by-side comparison; the transformation will be instantly noticeable when you enter Skyrim’s world. Immerse yourself in Skyrim’s revitalized and more colorful realm and step up from the vanilla version.
5. Realistic Water Two
Download Link: Bethesda
Realistic Water Two adds crisp and vivid textures to Skyrim’s waters and fixes its interactions with the environment. After Skyrim SE was released, its water system was revamped to show the flow of water depending on the environment.
Although the rivers looked more immersive, the game added this flow to all bodies of water, including small ponds, which look bizarre. This mod fixes these issues by removing this flow effect from water bodies that shouldn’t have it and enhancing it for the ones that should.
6. Vivid Weathers Definitive Edition – a Weather and Visual overhaul for Skyrim SE
Download Link: Bethesda
Get ready to be amazed by this unique weather mod, Vivid Weathers. This extraordinary mod combines the best features from mods like COT, ESS, SS, Vivid Snow, Vivid Clouds and Fogs, Real Skyrim Snowflakes, and many more, resulting in a mesmerizing weather experience like no other.
With over 500+ weather effects and 150+ Cloud effects, Vivid Weathers transforms your Skyrim journey into a visual masterpiece. Furthermore, it adds adjustable interior brightness, and revamps the colors and atmospheric conditions of the game, resulting in breathtaking new effects. The best part is that you don’t even need ENB to experience its stunning visuals.
7. Enhanced Night Skyrim
Download Link: Bethesda
Created by CptJoker, Enhanced Night Skyrim is a mod ported to Xbox by Katarn343 that aims to beautify the night sky of Skyrim without affecting the game’s performance. The sky is adorned with stars featuring high-resolution textures, the Aurora Borealis, and nebulae.
Gameplay Improvements/Immersion
1. Immersive Citizens – AI Overhaul
Download Link: Bethesda
Next up on our list, we have Immersive Citizens – AI Overhaul [XB1]. This mod enhances the game’s overall immersion by significantly boosting the Artificial Intelligence of friendly citizens.
Citizens now boast a “Survival Instinct” feature, allowing them to assess danger and respond more authentically during attacks. Beyond combat, their day-to-day lives have been enriched with expanded non-combat behaviors, featuring improved schedules, occasional travel, and nuanced responses to the world. NPCs will now dynamically react to factors like weather, professions, and relationships, ensuring a diverse and evolving experience.
This improvement makes them behave and respond much more like real humans, adapting to their surroundings and reacting appropriately to threats.
The detailed list of changes can also be checked out here.
2. Immersive Movement
Download Link: Bethesda
Immersive Movement overhauls how your character, NPCs, animals, and creatures move in Skyrim, aiming for greater realism and immersion.
You’ll notice changes that make movement more natural, introduce a touch of challenge, and stay true to the game’s lore. Plus, it seamlessly integrates into your existing load order without conflicting with any other mods.
3. Realistic Conversations
Download Link: Bethesda
As great of a game as Skyrim is, the game’s AI is quite backdated. For example, NPCs seem to have a longer pause between sentences, and the tone and flow of sentences break immersion and overall sound robotic. The Realistic Conversations mod makes Skyrim’s NPCs talk more naturally and interact like real people.
They won’t shout greetings from afar or overdo it, making the world feel less robotic. NPCs are smarter too. They remember previous conversations and adjust their interactions accordingly.
Moreover, their expressions and emotions are enhanced, making them feel alive and making your gameplay experience more immersive.
4. Ordinator – Perks of Skyrim
Download Link: Bethesda
Ordinator – Perks of Skyrim takes Skyrim’s Perks to another level and increases the depth and fun of character-building. It’s a lightweight script that overhauls all perk trees and adds a total of 469 new balanced perks.
This mod goes seamlessly with another mod “50 pct More Perk Points” which is discussed later in this article.
5. 50 pct More Perk Points
Download Link: Bethesda
As the name implies, 50 pct More Perk Points simply increases the number of perk points you earn. You get a 50% bonus to earned perk points, which means you get an extra perk point at every odd Level up.
If this mod is installed while your character is at a higher level, it will still refund you the extra perk points that you missed.
6. Summermyst – Enchantments of Skyrim
Download Link: Bethesda
Summermyst – Enchantments of Skyrim adds over 120 new enchantments to all the existing weapons and armor. This also adds to the loot pool meaning you can find items already applied with the new enchantments, buy enchanted gear, and enchant them yourself.
The new Weapon enchantments can silence targets, steal their armor, throw them into the air with a stone spike, add insult to injury by changing their name, reset your shout cooldown when you kill enemies, reduce their Health percentage to yours, or ignite them with Oblivion’s fire, which explodes on a power attack.
The new Armor enchantments can warn you of nearby foes, reduce stagger from power strikes, earn gold every time you make a kill move, boost your chances of finding magical goods, or absorb the souls of dead enemies to prepare for a deadly soul burst.
7. Relationship Dialogue Overhaul – RDO
Download Link: Bethesda
Relationship Dialogue Overhaul – RDO includes over 5000 lines of fully voiced dialogue for NPCs in over 50 voice varieties, concentrating on friends, followers, spouses, and rivals. All conversation is spoken using the game’s original voices, created by re-adding old dialogue in new and appropriate locations and splicing multiple lines together to form brand-new dialogue.
Combat Overhaul
1. Phenderix Magic Evolved
Download Link: Bethesda
Phenderix Magic Evolved (PME) adds 170+ New Spells in an immersive and balanced method. It also adds New Elemental Archetypes, Summons, Legendary Enchanted Weapons, Staffs, Enchanted Artifacts, Elemental Unarmed Martial Arts, Boss Encounters, Loading Screens, Player Home and much more!
As your magic skills advance, vendors will offer more spell tomes for purchase. Unique tomes, though, are earned through defeating bosses. Alternatively, a cheat chest in Whiterun’s Dragonsreach provides swift access to all spells added by the mod. Your magical journey, your choice.
A Video guide to this mod can also be found here.
2. VioLens – A Killmove Mod SE
Download Link: Bethesda
VioLens – A Killmove Mod SE grants you unprecedented in-game control over your Ranged and Melee Killmoves.
The mod will allow you to customize finishers and kill move chances for melee combat, archery, and magic, as well as tweak camera angles, player kill move immunity, kill moves on dragons, decapitation requirements, decapitation chance, last enemy restrictions, and much more. With this mod at your disposal, you can truly tailor your Skyrim combat experience to suit your preferences.
Not only that, but this mod also tweaks Stealth combat and its kill moves and enables custom animations for assassinations on seated NPCs. On top of that, it also introduces kill moves for your werewolf form and performing kill moves on creatures.
3. BIG: More Kill Moves And Decapitations (A Better Improvement for Gameplay Mod)
Download Link: Bethesda
This mod combines several BIG (Better Improvements for Gameplay) mods into a single, hassle-free package. No need to remove your existing BIG mods or tinker with the load order.
When you activate this mod, here’s what happens: your Kill Move Chance jumps from 50% to 75%, and you can perform multiple Kill Moves in a single battle, even while detected in sneak attacks.
It adds missing Kill Moves for various creatures, including Dawnguard and Dragonborn additions. Plus, you can now decapitate foes before hitting Level 50; no perks are required, and your decapitation chance rises from 40% to 60%.
4. Enhanced Blood Textures
Download Link: Bethesda
Whether you’re swinging a greatsword or dual-wielding daggers, have you ever thought that there is not enough bloodshed? Look no further because this bonus mod is the perfect addition to complement any other mod from our list to make your combat experience even more immersive.
Enhanced Blood Textures overhaul enhances all the blood and gore textures in the game so you can bask in the glory of all your kills. This mod adds high-resolution blood textures and features such as kill-move animation spasms, low-health blood trails, damage-based blood spatters, blood pools, and green blood for spiders and oil for machines.
5. Apocalypse – Magic of Skyrim
Download Link: Bethesda
Apocalypse – Magic of Skyrim, which adds 155 new spells (31 per school) that are original, balanced, lore-friendly, employ high-quality custom visuals, and merge perfectly into the vanilla magic system. Scrolls and staves are also included for the new spells. The spells can be bought and looted like vanilla spells and are also balanced with the rest of the game.
A complete list of the new spells added can be found here.
6. Old Kingdom – Weapon Overhaul
Download Link: Bethesda
Old Kingdom – Weapon Overhaul is a mod containing weapons and textures from over 50 different mod Authors. It adds 60+ unique, highly detailed, and lore-friendly weapon textures.
Player/Follower Mods
1. Adorable Females
Download Link: Bethesda
Tired of the disheveled appearance of Skyrim’s denizens, with faces full of dirt, who are malnourished and possibly carrying a selection of diseases? Even though that would be lore-friendly, Shroudedlegacy‘s mod compilation swoops in like a beauty guru on a makeover spree to address this issue.
Who needs authenticity when you can slap on a face full of makeup, have porcelain skin, have teeth brighter than a floodlight, and have lips so full the Kardashians are looking for your cosmetic surgeon’s number? Download the mod “Adorable Females” today.
Because, clearly, your dragon-slaying journey should be nothing short of a runway strut.
2. True Faces (Males Only)
Download Link: Bethesda
True Faces is a mod that adds original, realistic faces to Tamriel’s male characters. This means that their faces now respond appropriately and organically to lighting, and their bone structures are well delineated. No more floating faces in the dark!
What is this? after a million mods
3. Natural Eyes
Download Link: Bethesda
Brings life to Skyrim’s inhabitant’s soulless gaze from robotic to radiant with Natural Eyes. This mod replaces all the vanilla textures with high-resolution ones to make them more realistic. Dive into a world where eyes tell stories, not just blank stares.
4. Apachii Sky Hair SSE main
Download Link: Bethesda
Stylize your character with Apachii Sky Hair with a choice of 42 new hairstyles for females, 21 for males, 5 for female Khajiit, and 2 for Male Khajiits. The new hairstyles are high-resolution and do not conflict with any other hair mods.
5. GET No More Dead Followers (A Game Environment Tweaks Mod)
Download Link: Bethesda
Do you ever hold back on powerful spells or epic bow shots because you’re afraid of accidentally taking out your loyal followers? Do you worry about taking them to high-level areas as you question their survivability? Well, worry no more!
GET No More Dead Followers (A Game Environment Tweaks Mod) grants immortality to all your followers, including animal companions. This mod makes followers drop to one knee as their HP is reduced to 1. They are immobile for a while and cannot be killed in this state. This mod marks the 65 potential followers along with animals and makes them immortal.
6. Marriage All
Download Link: Bethesda
A quite simple mod that increases the romance status of all females/males who are marriage candidates to the maximum and enables you to marry the one of your choosing at any time. You still need to complete their quests and have an Amulet of Mara.
Also enables Serana to be married. This complements another mod which is discussed below in this list.
7. Serana Dialogue Add-On [Xbox] Version 4.1
Download Link: Bethesda
“Serana Dialogue Add-On” is your go-to mod for making Serana a vibrant, deeply engaging companion. With over 8,000 completely spoken lines by Kerstyn Unger, this critically acclaimed addon does more than just “Add-On”; it transforms. Explore new storylines, learn new character qualities, and interact with smarter NPCs. Don’t allow Serana to be merely a follower; interact with her. Using the Marriage All mod above that enables you to marry her.
Who wouldn’t want a badass Vampire wife, daughter to the most powerful Vampire lord? Now you can finally converse beyond the 5 predetermined Vanilla voice lines.
Ah, if only this mod existed back in my day.
8. My Home is Your Home
Download Link: Bethesda
Created by Volek and ported by Allie1718, My Home is Your Home is a mod that lets you assign each of your followers their own home. Dismissed followers can be found at their new home and you can also assign them to player homes. While there, they act naturally with the environment: wandering, eating, and sleeping. You can also assign work/sleep/guard areas for up to 60 followers and can fast-travel to their homes via dialogue with them if they are adventuring with you. The mod supports up to 250 followers.
Now you can finally have the castle of your dreams with a loving spouse, adorable children, and a loyal army of Skyrim’s finest companions standing guard.
Bonus
1. Alternate Start – Live Another Life
Download Link: Bethesda
As timeless as the meme “Ah you’re finally awake” is, those who are returning players or making different playthroughs are going to get tired of it at some point. Live Another Life provides an alternative means to start the game for those who do not wish to go through the lengthy intro sequence at Helgen.
You will be able to choose your race and then a new life for your character to lead. A wide range of options will be offered. What you choose will have a long-term impact, so choose wisely or the gods may abandon you again!
2. Cheat Room
Download Link: Bethesda
The mod “Cheat Room” is a ‘room’ created for cheating or to assist players on their wild excursions. Cheat Room is a somewhat substantial cheat mod, and some consider it to be more than just a cheat mod.
This mod does not change anything from the original game; it is fully clean. It can be securely installed and uninstalled, with the limitation of remembering to unequip a cheat item like the “God Ring” and/or halt certain active spells that require the user to finish them.
So that’s it for our favorite picks regarding the Best Xbox Mods for Skyrim: Special Edition in 2024. It’s important to remember that this list is subjective, and your opinions might differ from ours.
Whether you’re a returning veteran or a first-time player, incorporating one or more of these mods into your game will elevate your combat experience playing Skyrim: Special Edition in 2024 on the Xbox.
Read More: Skyrim Special Edition – Top 10 Best House Mods (For Both PC and Console)
