There's something to be said about being able to survive the howling winds of Windhelm with nothing but a loin cloth and cold iron sword; Dovahkiin is not only Dragonborn, he is -- for playability purposes, of course -- resistant to all types of weather and hunger. After our previous graphics and content overhaul (which will be updated soon, no doubt), we thought it was time to venture into the world of hardcore survival mods for some seriously challenging gameplay.
"Hardcore" is used with great reason, here: These realism mods will require, in some cases, monitoring levels of nutrition, warmth, realistic darkness, first person body awareness, more challenging combat, less carrying capacity, and more. Pick-and-choose mods as you see fit! The true hardcore survivalist will, of course, use as many as possible -- we have great respect for those of you who can play like this. It's extremely challenging and, depending on the player, can either be one of the most interesting survival games or one of the most tedious real-world simulations out there.
Before we get started, it's time to mention mod conflicts and the infamous crashes: Our recent guide on Skyrim troubleshooting and mod installation instruction will help you keep your Skyrim installation as clean as possible, so please, at least skim over the sections about mod management tools (Wyre Bash and Nexus Mod Manager are highly recommended) prior to installing these.
This is a true overhaul, so we have a wide array of mods that should be on your shortlist. We'll start with hardcore survival stuff, move to environmental effects (which are more universal, even to non-survivalists), and then cover general realism and immersion for gameplay and other mechanics.
Skyrim Hardcore Survival Mods
Hardcore survival, as the name suggests, isn't for the faint of heart. These mods will fundamentally change how the game is played, but are easy to remove if they don't fit with your playstyle. We highly recommend completing one playthrough before installing these, since they may make it exceedingly difficult to access some areas of the game (due to cold weather, food accessibility, stuff like that).
We'll cover other, non-survival changes below (gameplay mechanics, UI changes, graphics, audio, and everything else). Let's get started.
Frostfall - Hypothermia Camping Survival
One of the major go-to survival mods out there, Frostfall, adds a number of highly-customizable realistic mechanics changes to Skyrim.
In short: This mod brings Jack London's "To Build A Fire" to Skyrim.
Frostfall's most notable updates are the inclusion of hypothermia, camping equipment (several other mods do this, too), cold water survival, and factors in several character-specific attributes to determine each of these components. Cold weather survival, for instance, will use worn clothing, the weather, time of day, encumbrance, shelter, and more to determine how long your Dovahkiin can fight the biting winds.
In spirit of ultimate immersion and realism, Frostfall adds craftable camping equipment for increased survivability in the event of an unexpected blizzard, torches will provide some level of heat, weathersense rings -- acting like mood rings -- will change color as the weather grows worse, camp fires provide warmth (now adding a reason for wood cutting), and cloaks from the Cloaks of Skyrim will also keep you warm.
Good news: The mod doesn't activate on its own and requires the character to read a book before initiating survival gameplay, so if you have one character that you'd like to play 'hardcore mode' and one that you're happy with as-is, this'll work nicely for you.
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=11163
Steam Workshop download: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=13685&searchtext=frostfall
Hypothermia by Nitor
Separate from Frostfall, this Hypothermia mod boasts a large compatibility list, making it more of a modular framework for plugging-in favored survival mods than a full-on survival kit. Hypothermia is highly-configurable which, at its most basic level, "provides a core body temperature for the player" which is "observable in your magic effects menu." Temperature will vary based on numerous factors -- similar to those above -- like weather, location, resistance, clothing, and fatigue.
As core temperature is negatively effected by cold weather or other factors, player characters will find themselves slowed in movement and regeneration, losing stamina, reduced (or removed) ability to perform dexterous tasks like lockpicking, a loss of fast travel options, blurred vision, and eventually death. Perhaps this is even more "To Build A Fire" than the previous mod; as if on a death spiral, your character loses all ability (hopefully the only shelter isn't behind a locked gate) and will rely upon campfires, bonfires (like those found at Giant camps), and other sources of heat (from various campsite mods or other mods, listed below) to stay alive.
Rain and water also heavily impact survivability, so it might be wise to stay indoors or pitch a tent during a storm. For those that like their lycans, there is full werewolf and vampire support, too.
Hypothermia's creator (Nitor) recommends the use of these fully-compatible mods (only use one of each major type):
- McGuffin's Camping Lite
- LtMattmoo's Camping (working on one minor issue)
- Camping Kit of the Northern Ranger
- Northborn's Fur Hoods
- Cloaks of Skyrim by Nikinoodles
- WIC Cloaks
- Darwins Nightmare by bootliquor
- Imp's More Complex Needs
- HardcoreSkyrim by Sithums
- Total Realism Basic Needs by ManSh00ter
- Both Usable Lantern and Better Wieldable Lantern
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=6745
Steam Workshop download: Not available.
Darwin's Nightmare
Survival of the Fittest was never more true (OK, well, it's probably more true in that 'real life' thing everyone keeps talking about). The Darwin's Nightmare mod by the ever-elegant bootliquor makes sweeping changes to the game's economics and implements a basic needs system, opting for more of an immersion overhaul than truly hardcore survival (but there are plenty more mods for that, as below).
Skyrim will be poorer overall, meaning there's less random crap to sell, the speech tree will now be the quickest route to wealth (which is probably most realistic), diseases and poisons will now cause a slow death if left unattended, wildlife is completely redone, and living in the wilds is a much more deadly, realistic option.
This mod is a must-have for any woodsman or smooth talker.
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=8029
Steam Workshop download: Not available.
Northern Ranger Camping & Survival
First of all: the Northern Ranger camping mod is fully integrated and compatible with the Frostfall mod and the separate Hypothermia mod, so don't be afraid to use two of them at once. That said...
"Camping Kit of the Northern Ranger," as the official name goes, adds modular camping equipment (a tent, bed, firepit, pots and pans, chests, chairs, pelts, and screens) that can be individually placed within your self-designated campsite. Markers are placed on the ground and then activated to create the fully-functional, survivability mod-compatible campsites. A "pack up camp" button makes for awesome portability.
On top of this, the mod adds a camping shop outside of Riverwood for a quick start (the "Amberwood Camping Shop"), but if that causes conflicts with terrain or village modifications, an alternate version can be install that instead adds the camping equipment to the Riverwood Trader.
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=10573
Steam Workshop download: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=12982
Imp's More Complex Needs
This one's a bit too hardcore for my personal play style, but more than ten-thousand downloaders have loved its changes, so don't take my word for it!
Imp's More Complex Needs integrates a complete nutrition system to Skyrim, requiring careful tracking of caloric intake (which is hard enough to manage in the real world), water, proteins, and other basic nutrients. The mod ships with both a 'complex' (twelve trackable elements) and 'basic' (five trackable elements) mode, hopefully making things a little less intrusive for players who don't aspire to be nutritional coaches.
Penalties will be incurred whenever one of the nutritional levels drops below a preset value, so keep careful track of your feeding routine. Thankfully, the mod includes a timescale adjuster, making it possible to prolong the effects of food or water and reducing the intrusiveness of the mod.
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=10639
Steam Workshop download: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=13056
Alternatively: Total Realism - Basic Needs provides a similar system without the heavy focus on nutrition (purely eat/drink) to reduce the amount of time spent buying food and drink.
Skyrim Hardcore Compass Mod
This simple mod offers three new variants for your compass: Removal of undiscovered locations from the compass and removal of quest pointers from the compass are implemented by default, in addition to removal of found locations and/or removal of all enemies and locations from the compass (making it simply a N/S/E/W compass).
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=1810
View our Skyrim Realism & Immersion overhaul mods on the next page.
Skyrim Realism & Immersion Overhaul Mods
This section of our Skyrim Hardcore Survival Overhaul will specifically cover realism and immersion mods, so while there won't be quite as many core mechanical changes, there will be graphics updates (darker nights), UI changes (crosshair and compass updates, true first person awareness), and a few mechanical tweaks. We'll start with graphics.
Skyrim Realism Mods - Gameplay
For items that didn't quite fit the "hardcore survival" theme, but still fit the realism and immersion angle (and likely many of the hardcore players' preferences), we've included this Realism & Gameplay listing.
Real First Person View
Feet! We have feet! And legs! Clearly there's nothing more advanced than a fully-aware first-person view in gaming technology -- or, at least, that's what the game companies would have us think. This modder made it so that you can now see your legs, arms, and whatever else is in view when looking around; now I can live out my dreams as Johnny Bravokhiin. Hoo, hah, huh!
In the words of Jack Skellington: WHAT... IS... THIS?!
Skyrim Nexus Download (Recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=6002
Steam Workshop Download: Not available.
Scenic Carriages
As the name may have given away, this mod performs a slight overhaul on the carriage system in Skyrim: Instead of acting as a disguised fast travel, carriages will now manually carry the player character to his or her destination (you actually watch the scenery go by, sort of like that intro cut-scene).
The mod is still a bit bumpy around the edges, but overall is a great way to add scenery to the game. The time required for travel does make it a bit extreme for some playstyles, though, so unless you're OK with leaving Skyrim open as an interactive screensaver during travels, it may not be for you.
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=15094
Steam Workshop download: Not available.
Immersive HUD - iHUD
It's incredible how much a crosshair can detract from immersion and realism. The Immersive HUD mod makes UI transparency easy to set for the compass, crosshair, and markers, enabling a seamless UI for the least intrusion from overlays when exploring.
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=3222
Steam Workshop download: Not available.
The Dance of Death - Killmove Updates
The killmoves have grown on us, admittedly, but primarily due to fan updates like Dance of Death. This mod allows customization of the chances for decapitation, killmoves, and immunities, but more importantly, it allows a forced perspective -- so if you never want to leave first person to view a kill move, you don't have to.
Leveling up weapon skills will unlock new kill moves, so if murdering people in one shot wasn't enough incentive, you'll now get cool moves while doing it.
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=10906
Steam Workshop download: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=20292
Deadly Combat
The Elder Scrolls games have never been famous for their challenging combat: Hit the thing, back up while it's caught in an animation, then hit the thing again. Deadly Combat adds a new disorientation effect when characters are hit by spells, projectiles, or weaponry and further threatens survivability with attack staggering and interrupts. If you're looking for more of a challenge, this is it.
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=5485
Steam Workshop download: Not available.
Realistic Animals and Predators
Skyrim seems to be lacking a pretty fundamental part of any ecosystem: A proper foodchain. There's the dragonborn at the top, and then... there's everything else.
Realistic Animals and Predators revamps the foodchain in Skyrim, modifies predator and pack animals to behave (and spawn) according to their real-world disposition, and even modifies their routines to make them search for water once per day. Predators will now go hunting a few times a day, so finding multiple embattled species of animals won't be as uncommon (read: never occurring) as native Skyrim.
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=10175
Steam Workshop download: Not available.
Skyrim Realism Mods - Environment
For a full graphics overhaul, see our previous guide. That said, this section will specifically go over "realism-enabling" graphics mods; darker nights and dungeons, better light sources, weather (with realistic and frightening thunder sounds!), and the like.
Immersive Skyrim Thunder V5
Waking up in a cold sweat to the roaring thunder and bright flashes of lightning is a feeling challenged only by the realization that, somewhere in the house, gaming computers have been left powered on. With Immersive Skyrim Thunder and EDWS (below), we can bring intense (and genuinely frightening) storms to Skyrim.
Immersive Thunder adds a number of sounds exhibiting the thunderous wrath of the Nine Divines. I promise: The first time you hear thunder strike, you'll spin 180 degrees. This is especially intense in dragon encounters... highly recommended mod.
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=1702
Steam Workshop download: Not available.
Enhanced Dynamic Weather System
Coupled with the Immersive Skyrim Thunder mod, EDWS adds wind FX, better rain management (no rain in cold environments, more rain in appropriate environments), rainstorms and light rainfall, blizzards, and more dynamic weather states.
This mod couples nicely with the More Rain and More Snow mods, for those who want even more varied weather in Skyrim. Make sure you load any lighting mods before EDWS in the load order (I normally set EDWS last).
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=8739
Steam Workshop download: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=9485
Realistic Colors and Real Nights V3.0
This really falls more into the graphics side of things that we've covered previously, but because of the level of immersion gained by having truly dark nights and dungeons (and beautiful environs), we couldn't skip an opportunity to mention RCRN a second time. Version 3.0 is now out, adding a number of new lighting interactions: Clouds will now intercept sun rays, causing properly-cast shadows, torch lighting is required to make it through the darkest of nights, fog reflects light naturally, and spells give off light when cast.
The video tells it all:
There are multiple presets for this mod available, so be sure to look into the differences beforehand (darker, lighter, and 'normal').
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=1875
Steam Workshop download: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=14200
Wearable Lanterns
Now that proper light is required in many locations, it makes sense to try and take advantage of various light sources wherever possible. The relatively new Wearable Lanterns mod makes lanterns, well, equip-able (to slot 55, to be precise). There's not much more to it.
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=17416
Steam Workshop download: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=72925849
Sounds of Skyrim - Dungeons
In combination with the Realistic Lighting mod (above), Sounds of Skyrim makes dungeon delving a surprisingly creepy endeavor. Hearing howls and skittering from all corners in Skyrim's darkened caverns will turn your Dovahkiin into a Dovahweenie.
Couple this mod with Sounds of Skyrim - The Wilds for ultimate realism.
Skyrim Nexus download (recommended for best compatibility): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=8601
Steam Workshop download: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=9106
Hopefully all these mods gave you a great starting point to configure Skyrim the way you want to play it! If you need help troubleshooting your game or finding more mods, let us know in the comments below. That's what we're here for!