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The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimis an amazing game, no doubt about it. However,Skyrimhas been out for a decade now, and the graphics have certainly seen better days. Luckily, thousands of mods are currently available to rectify the problem. With a little work,Skyrimhas the potential to look stunning with the right mods installed.
These graphics mods serve as an excellent base to get the player started. There exists a literal multitude of graphics mods. In fact, some only deal with the re-texturing of a single object! The mods here provide the broad strokes to getSkyrimto look its very best. More of them can always be added alongside these essential enhancements.
Updated July 13, 2025, by Hamza Haq:The very first mods a Skyrim player feels the need to install in their game are, in most cases, graphics mods. Mods aimed at making the outdated, washed out visuals of a 14-year-old game better, in some cases so much so that it ends up looking better than most modern AAA games. Combat mods, overhauls,player homes, and new followers might make the game more interesting to play, but it’s the graphics mods that make a player want to play it in the first place. Skyrim is a beautiful place, and these mods aim to enhance that fantasy to epic proportions, allowing visitors to the land to immerse themselves in the role of the Dragonborn, saving people, slaying dragons, cavorting with daedra, and doing everything an adventurer in a foreign land want to do, and appreciating the scenery along the way.
Security Overhaul
Downloads: 2,868,300
Skyrimholds a lot of goodies locked away behind closed doors and tantalizing chests. Even non-stealthy players likely find themselves spending large amounts of timestaring at the lockpicking screento see what loot there is to discover. Unfortunately, every lock inSkyrimappears exactly the same, whether they’re encountered in palatial estates or dank caves.
Players who love expanding on the immersion of the game really shouldn’t leave home without the Security Overhaul mod. The locks ofSkyrimnow have a more varied appearance and complement the environment in which they are found. For example, a chest beneath a body of water will have barnacles attached to it. If they haven’t already, fans should give this mod a shot.
Simplicity Of Snow
Downloads: 2,571,994
It should come as no surprise that Skyrim, being a northern province of Tamriel, getsa lotof snow. The wintery conditions that characterize the land of the Nords set the game apart from the ashy, swamp-ridden lands of Vvardenfell and the lush greenery of Cyrodiil. Nevertheless, the quality of the snow from this 2011 game hasn’t aged very well.
The title of this mod is apt. Simplicity of Snow is a lightweight mod that can work alongside other snow texture mods for an overall cleaner appearance. Snow will look more natural and less like it was painted onto the environment. Fans who tend to employ large load orders should appreciate the utility of this mod.
Footprints
Downloads: 4,604,346
A good half ofSkyrimis covered in snow, and while updating the look and feel of the snow itself with Simplicity of Snow, which is an excellent first measure, players can go a step further with Footprints.
Essentially, what the mod does is convert the flat plane of snow into an interactable environment that reacts to what’s happening on top of it. Players trudging through a snowy landscape will leave deep footprints behind them, winter wolves will leave pawprints, and ice trolls will leave their own markers. Built-in Particle FX ensures that the effect is consistent and pretty, blending into the game like it was always a part of it.
Lux Orbis
Downloads: 2,370,522
The underwhelming lighting quality of vanillaSkyrimis hard to miss.Ancient dungeonsand deep caves aren’t all that impressive when it comes to their lighting effects. Interior locations lack realistic shadows despite the familiar presence of candelabras and braziers. Fortunately, players don’t lack options when it comes to worthwhile lighting mods.
Lux Orbis is one ofSkyrim’s premier lighting mods. Put simply, with this mod, light will conform more to reality. Players will certainly notice the difference while inside an interior. The shadows cast by flames are immediately more apparent. The windows of residences also have a more “lived-in” appearance when viewed from the outside. All of this makes for a highly immersive environment that old and new fans will instantly appreciate.
Enhanced Blood Textures
Downloads: 8,235,945
Skyrimcertainly isn’t the most violent video game in existence. Nevertheless, enemies can still be dispatched in a variety of rather gruesome ways, including decapitation. The blood isn’t overdone and the textures, by this point, fail to impress. Luckily, an awesome mod exists that givesSkyrim’s blood a much-needed update.
The appropriately titled Enhanced Blood Textures adds more visceral realism to the proceedings. Not only does the blood itself look better, but there’s also more of it. Players can also customize how much of it they want. An updated playthrough ofSkyrimwith better textures won’t be complete without this mod.
Skyrim 202X Parallax
Downloads: 19,632,179
As far as retexture mods are concerned, the Skyrim 2020 Parallax mod by Pfuscher is still relevant in 2022. As an all-in-one package, this mod is a gargantuan texture pack composed of approximately 2,000 files. Fans who want to install everything the mod has to offer can expect several gigabytes worth of content.
However, the results are worth it.Skyrim’s architecture, landscapes, and everything else in between will look sharp and crisp in a way that’s hard to forget. The mod is also compatible with others on this list, such as Static Mesh Improvement, Blended Roads, and ELFX.
Forgotten Retex Project
Downloads: 1,913,444
It’s worth noting that even the largest retexture packs can’t cover every object in this massive game. Some of the less important items, such as junk and clutter, are often overlooked. Luckily, fans don’t have to hunt down a myriad of individual mods to satisfy their needs for enhanced clutter.
TheForgotten Retex Projectis a great mod for improving the more mundane items scattered throughout the world. It’s also worth noting, however, that even unique quest items, like the Crown of Barenziah, are given some love as well. From cookware to ancient diadems, this mod is one that surely shouldn’t be forgotten.
Veydosebrom Regions
Downloads: 2,337,089
Much ofSkyrim’s gameplay is experiencedin the outside environment. As such, the foliage must look its best. Veydosebrom Regions is a great choice as it diversifies and sharpens the game’s plentiful vegetation. Each region ofSkyrimis given its unique feel to it by expanding the variety of flora.
The mod is very lore-friendly in its approach, so nothing should feel unusual for anElder Scrollsgame. When installing, choosing “Standard Quality” is the best choice without making the environment too dense with grass and shrubbery.
Cathedral Player And NPC Overhaul
Downloads: 381,978
Skyrimis teeming with NPCs. By now, these NPCs are showing their age. For them, a great choice for an all-in-one graphics mod is Cathedral Player and NPC Overhaul. Fans who don’t want the NPCs ofSkyrimto look radically different from their vanilla designs should consider this mod in their load orders.
With this mod installed, characters will still look the same way that players remembered them, but with a vast improvement to their face textures, eyes, and hair. As a result, NPCs now possess more originality to them, which fans will be able to notice right off the bat.
Praedy’s Sky AIO - SE
Downloads: 810,538
Praedy’s Sky is an all-in-one mod to completely revamp the night sky, mainly reimagining the moons and the stars with a new look. Players can pick and choose what they want to see in the sky when the sun goes down. The choices include sixteen different nebula textures, five new auroras, four types of galaxies, and multiple new moon options. All retextures can be found in 1k, 2k, 4k, and even 8k for a PC that can handle it.
When it all comes together, theSkyrimnight sky feels like it’s out of a modern AAA title instead of a 13-year-old game. This mod only retouches the Night Sky meshes; the clouds and weather are changed by weather mods like Cathedral Weathers or NAT.
