These are some great mods for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that vastly improve the gameplay variety and quality of the game. While many Skyrim mods focus on making the game look better, some small mods vastly improve the gameplay variety of Skyrim.
I believe such mods are important in amplifying the game’s replay value and making it more enjoyable for returning players. Some of them focus on making the game’s features more accessible and comfortable to use, while some of them add all-new lore-friendly features.
Convenient Horses
One of the more famous and popular mods among the ones included in this list, Convenient Horses improves the mounts of Skyrim in every aspect. You can now use a horn to call your mount near you, and as you ride, your mount gains experience and levels up.
With each level, you can invest a perk point in one of the three categories: Strength (which improves the horse’s carry weight and its resourcefulness in combat), Endurance (improves its stamina, allowing you to gallop further), and Speed (improves its movement speed).
There’s a variety of horse equipment available for purchase, and they alter the appearance of the mount. Not only that, but horseback combat is improved, and you can harvest materials on horseback. An essential mod for players who use horses in the game.
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/9519
Complete Alchemy and Cooking Overhaul
Complete Alchemy and Cooking Overhaul, also known as CACO, improves the alchemy and cooking of Skyrim in every way. You can now craft bombs and potent poisons to include in your combat playstyle, and it’s possible to create alchemist builds with this mod.
This is a rather large mod that adds a lot of new features while improving the existing ones. In regards to cooking, with each food item you create, your cooking skill improves. An experienced cook can add seasonings and combine a lot of alchemical ingredients and spices in their meals, improving their quality and giving the player various buffs when consumed.
With this mod, it makes sense to prepare food and potions before heading out into the world, and you’ll be able to survive efficiently and complete your objective more easily with various combinations of items you make.
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/19924
Missives
This is a simple mod that vastly improves the radiant quests of the game – or rather, adds new ones. In each settlement, you can now find notice boards with a lot of side missions to deliver items and letters, kill enemies, and more. Each of these missions offers you reasonable rewards.
By accepting a few of these missions before heading out, you can complete them with a little effort and improve your character in the process. With this mod, the game becomes a little similar to Dragon’s Dogma and the great variety of notice board quests it offers.
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/17576
Headhunter
Headhunter – Bounties Redone is a mod that overhauls the bounty hunting of Skyrim. It makes hunting the criminals and perilous creatures of the game more immersive by requiring you to cut off their heads and turn them in, in order to receive your rewards. And you can capture the human criminals instead of killing them, as well. For players who like to make a name for themselves with mercenary work, this mod is perfect.
