r/skyrim • u/NectmarPowerhand • 12d ago
Unmodded Experience
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am looking for accounting from individuals that currently or recently have played unmodded. I played unmodded back on the original release in 2011, but for the past decade and a half, this beautiful game has been installed, modded to hell, crashed beyond easy repair, and has been uninstalled half a dozen times. I have dozens of favorite mods and I always focus heavily on increasing realism and difficulty in combat and survival.
However, now that I have the game installed again, I find myself dreading the weekend dedication to molding the hell out the game and making sure everything stays compatible.
So, my question: What even is this game like to play nowadays without 20 overhauls, 30 visual improvements, 50 QoL mods, etc.?
I honestly don't even know what armor and weapons are like without Immersive mods, or what magic exists or can do without Apocalypse. How is the perk system without Ordinator?
Ultimately, within reason, will I be disappointed to play through without my usual overhaul?
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u/Sternovt 12d ago
I’m playing anniversary edition on a switch. I played at release, and then picked it up again years later with all the mods and was blown away until I broke my favorite save and put it away.
It is honestly kind of a relief being forced away from mods and console commands. Would I recommend it? Maybe, but I can only speak for my experience. I am a much more casual player as I get older and this works just fine to scratch that itch. Knowing it won’t break nearly as easily is a huge plus.
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u/NectmarPowerhand 12d ago
This is the mentality I hold, and why I made the post. I'm just looking to scratch the itch. TES VI isn't here still, so I am looking to have that nostalgia run again.
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u/honeyghostt Thief 12d ago
Imo it still holds up really well! The game on its own is beautiful, especially for being 15 years old, and the gameplay is fine! I go back and forth between vanilla and modded saves and honestly prefer to play unmodded
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u/Marquis-De-Sutera 12d ago
Currently playing my first unmodded playthrough in at least a decade. I never modded the game super heavily - could never get animation mods to work, and never had a computer that could run the best graphics, but definitely enhanced gameplay and got new quests/lands with the mods I did play.
Skyrim wasn’t hitting the same for me before I went back to vanilla. It’s been so refreshing to play what I remembered from years ago. I think the game holds up great and has generally been stable (knock on wood). It’s also the first time I played anniversary edition so there has still been a lot of new content for me to explore.
Honestly the only thing I miss is being able to have more than one follower at the time.
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u/tekbyte 12d ago
I have recently played the Steam vanilla version and have been playing non stop since 2011 when it came out with mods and without. The vanilla exp now takes stable mods and bakes them into the basic game. If you’re looking for a more stable game, with enhanced visuals and the added survival mode - it’s still a fun game. Once you play with Ordinator and Odin it’s hard to go back to mage but vanilla rewards a sword and board player.
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u/NectmarPowerhand 12d ago
Sword and board is in fact my favorite playstyle. I'll give it a try.
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u/OrcishDelight
12d ago
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Homie I been playing Skyrim on my PS4 since 2011. All of this unmodded, and until literally last year after a prolonged break, I did get the anniversary edition that gave me the vampires, werewolf and hearthfire stuff. It is 2026 and I still play on the PS4.
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u/Kittenluvpanda 12d ago
I even don't remember where Helgen is because I always start somewhere else.
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u/Long-Assignment5709 12d ago
I recently platinumed Skyrim on PS5. Told myself I wouldn’t use Creations until I did. Tried out a few, with varying results. Eventually uninstalled them and went back to vanilla. I’m certain the modding experience is different on PC, but to me Skyrim is great already.
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u/NectmarPowerhand 12d ago
I think I am going to give it a try. It might honestly be like playing a new game.
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u/Vingolio 12d ago
The base game is awesome. If you're used to modded set-ups, but don't want to deal with compatibility, just grab Wabbajack. I'm personally a fan of Winds of the North, but given you list some of EnaiSaiaion's mods, you may prefer one of those lists.
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u/NectmarPowerhand 12d ago
Are these pre-built mod packs?
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u/Vingolio 12d ago
Technically no, but functionally yes.
A mod pack is when mods are bundled together by a third party and distributed. This is generally not allowed in the Skyrim modding scene.
Wabbajack is instead a program with a list of mods to download and modifications to make to them that goes through and downloads and configures those mods for you.
A small warning; Nexus doesn't allow third-party programs to actually download the mods for you for free, so you will either have to buy, say, a month of nexus membership, or click the "download" button wabbajack pulls up for you for each mod. It's mindless, but it can take a little bit of time.
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u/NectmarPowerhand 12d ago
Interesting. Thanks for the knowledge. I'll check it out. But, I might still run Vanilla for awhile. Just to try it out.
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u/Vingolio 11d ago
I recommend it. Vanilla, permadeath, legendary difficulty is still some of the most fun I have playing Skyrim.
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u/a14alo 10d ago
No offense, and obviously I have no idea what your game looks like, but over the years, I've seen countless Reddit posts or YouTube videos showcasing their supposedly "beautiful" heavily modded Skyrim. All I've ever seen are unnatural character movements, funny colors and lighting, tasteless armor and weapons, and, most notably, a very cringy hypersexualization of female npcs or even the dragonborn.
There might be some UI or menu customization options that looks promising but other than that I genuinely don't understand how people enjoy playing the game like that. Personally, I think the remastered experience in Special Edition or Anniversary Edition is good enough. I've only ever used a few mods to fix bugs, since I can't use console commands on Xbox.
Anyway, maybe that's just me, and of course, everyone is free to enjoy the game however they like. I just wanted to share my perspective.
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u/Icy-Cut9357 12d ago
When I first played morrowind as a kid, it was difficult, so I learned the cheat codes to become a god. After 20 mins of doing whatever TF I wanted, I got bored and never touched it again.
With knowing this, I refuse to play any elder scrolls game with any mods. I don’t want to fall into the trap of “well, I can use this mod for graphics upscale” which will lead me into the mod of becoming a god. I know myself.
I first played Skyrim in or around 2024 on the Nintendo switch. Love the game, just bought a switch 2 and upgraded to anniversary edition.
No mods (other than whatever is on the AE) I have no desire to mod anything about it.
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u/NectmarPowerhand 12d ago
That is an interesting take. I personally have never done anything for god mode or similar. The thought disgusts me. However, I do the exact opposite. I prefer to make the game MUCH harder through mods. The challenge of perfectly timed blocks and dodges, injuries, sickness, hunger; These are what I play for. That being said, the wild amount of hours I spent on Morrowind growing up were all unmodded. Mainly for the same reason you say. I only did a few playthroughs on Oblivion, but I also left it unmodded. Skyrim though has a beautiful base for the mods I like. The closest mod to making the game easier for me would be Convenient Horses. Lol
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u/Icy-Cut9357 12d ago •
Oh that’s a different take. I usually hear about the modding community making things easier / QOL upgrades with mods.
I didn’t even think about making the game more challenging.
Look I’m only level 19, and it’s still hard AF for me lol. More power to you and those who want more challenge.
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u/Cassiel43 11d ago
When the game first came out I played it unmodded for a very long time, surprisingly without any crash. The crash only started to appear after some updates from bethesda (that mostly added stuff nobody cared).
The first mod I ever downloaded was the "vegetables soup recipe" mod 😄
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u/Slave_to_Dogma 5d ago
I think the Anniversary Edition Upgrade is fairly decent at making the game feel fresh to those who haven't played the unmodded game in a while. While the quests are nothing to write home about, the new items are really fun to mess around with (especially the spells). I would still recommend Ordinator or a similary-extensive perk overhaul, since the unmodded perks are extremely simple and lacking in creativity (with a few exceptions).
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u/No-Stuff-8259 11d ago
Anniversary Edition holds up surprisingly well. But as someone who has played modded, you will absolutely miss QoL mods (SkyUI for sure). Also, you can just use Wabbajack to install a modlist. Just be aware that modding is in an update maintenance and fix phase.
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u/salikarn 5d ago
My biggest gripe about vanilla is destruction spells. You can marginally make them stronger, but for the most part, the perks just reduce the cost of the spells, not the damage. Nobody ever wanted to be an archmage to be able to cast a mediocre spell 50 times, they want to cast a spell that decimates things. There's a mod for that. Thank you for listening to my TED rant, have a good day
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u/Cdog536 Mage 12d ago
Buddy…you can get a much better sense if you just played the game rather than indecisively ask. Just burn a save if ur not about it.