Also looking for mod recommendations

[ElricOfGrans]

I have been away from Skyrim for a while and not kept up with the mods coming and going. I have just about finished installing STEP Extended and want a couple of extra things to finish off the game to best suit me. I will be running everything STEP Extended and adding Frostfall at the end. I do not use an ENB, other than ENBoost. What I use will need to be compatible with this baseline.

 

Firstly, I want a mod to adjust the lighting in Skyrim. The brightness in TES games always bugs me: I like darker nights and really dark caves, so lanterns and light spells mean something. It also adds to the atmosphere.

 

Secondly, I want a mod (or set of mods) that rebalance the skills and perks. Many of the vanilla skills are useless (or near enough) and there are a lot of really bad (or boring) perks. I am not sure what the best approach here would be, particularly with keeping compatibility to STEP. A rebalance of the combat system may be required here too (or included as a part of it).

 

Finally, and possibly related to the second, I want better magic. Skyrim magic is pretty dull, even compared to Oblivion. I know there are a million mods for this, but I am not sure about compatibility with STEP (and possibly compatibility with magic skill/perk changes in the second request). Like the STEP philosophy, I want an enhanced vanilla experience, not crazy spells that do not fit the setting.

[cccow]

Check out mods included in the below packs. The descriptions on the pack page should indicate how to make them play nicely with Step. Saying that, the more you add the more astute you need to be with keeping on top of things. You should check out Dreadflopp's patches & instructions to see if they cover any of the extra mods you end up using (https://wiki.step-project.com/User:Dreadflopp/Dreadflopps_Modular_patches):

 

https://wiki.step-project.com/Pack:Dovahkiin_Reborn for magic and perk overhauls. There are others but not sure how nice they play with Step, though I'm sure some people have got them working - see for e.g. perma & requiem for this

 

https://wiki.step-project.com/Pack:Skyrim_Gameplay_Rebalance for combat and difficulty mods

 

https://wiki.step-project.com/Pack:Survival I think this is still in a workable condition & includes Frostfall - not sure if you want any of the other ones mind.

 

 

 

For lighting its a careful balance as Step includes lighting mods. You could look at ELFX https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/27043/? If not using an ENB the enhancer certainly darkens interiors, though you would need the 'no ELE' version of the Step patch. An alternative set up using ELE & ELFX (but without the enhancer) is done in Neovelans Skyrim Revisited on this site, though he does use an ENB.

 

For nights there is Realistic Nights https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/49472/? Though I am unsure how this plays with the STEP lighting options.

[ElricOfGrans]

Thank you for the direction.  I have picked up Enhanced Ligjhts and FX and gone over those packs.

 

I decided that TTRSO seemed like the perfect solution for tweaking the skills and perks.  It looks as though it should be compatible with STEP's Complete Crafting Overhaul, but can anyone confirm if that is correct?  I also thought I would not install TTRSO's Stealth/Pickpocket/Lockpicking and use Steal Skills Rebalanced instead (a mod I am surprised is not in STEP Extended).  Again, can anyone confirm if they work together properly like that?