The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim has become an absolute ageless classic, one of the landmarks in gaming history that gamers will look back on with fondness for years to come. There are many reasons for that, but not all of them are thanks to Bethesda's unique video game design style and constant re-releases of their greatest-ever project.
One driving reason why Skyrim has had such a long, distinguished lifespan is because of the vast modding community committed to keeping the game alive and breathing. Every day, mods are uploaded by passionate creators to the Steam Workshop, Bethesda.net, and a variety of other sites, primed for consumption for eager Skyrim players who are still enjoying this amazing game more than a decade later.
Where To Find Skyrim Mods
Skyrim's mods can be found all over the internet, on various applications and websites. However, they are not all born equal. Some are more effective than others and may host far more mods than other options. Regarding Skyrim, players are given three options, conditional on which version of the game they are playing. As many players still play on the original 32-bit version of Skyrim, commonly known as Legendary Edition, or LE, the instructions for how to mod that version are far different from the Special and Anniversary editions, known as SE and AE respectively.
For the original version of Skyrim, players are granted the fortuitous advantage of still having access to the Steam Workshop. This allows players to very easily pick and choose what mods they install, and control what content is active in their playthrough. The Steam Workshop hosts many mods—a grand majority of them, arguably—meaning Legendary Edition players are unlikely to need to venture out of the Steam launcher for their mod needs.
The SE alternative to the Steam Workshop is the Bethesda.net mod site, which allows players to install mods directly from the main menu of the game. However, this site is arguably ridiculously clunky, and rarely works the way it should, and good luck tracking down compatibility patches for any mods. It's honestly practically a no-go unless you're looking to add a couple of small mods to your game and mainly play a vanilla playthrough.
Thus comes the third and arguably the best option: Nexus Mods. A third-party website, quite genuinely any defining mods can be found on the site, along with any patches that may be needed, and even an installation process made easy through third-party mod managers. This option is viable for both LE and SE players, as both the old and new versions of Skyrim are hosted on Nexus Mods. Nexus is the go-to site for all your modding needs, and while more complex than just hitting subscribe on the Steam Workshop or the Bethesda site, the process is far superior in its efficacy and customization.
How To Install Skyrim Mods
Once you have decided which method you wish to use, installation is rather easy. For the first two options of the Steam Workshop and Bethesda.net, one simply needs to pick and choose their mods, wait for them to download and install automatically, and then simply establish their load order. The load order determines what order mods load in, and many potential mod conflicts can be resolved by deciding which mod has higher authority by being loaded after another mod.
Fortunately, this is rarely necessary unless your mod count is getting into the hundreds, but in that fairly realistic case, it is better to be using Nexus Mods and a dedicated mod launcher anyway. Using a platform like Mod Organizer 2 or Vortex launcher will allow users to install mods directly from Nexus Mods onto their launcher, and from there customize installation and load order at their amusement. It may feel like the more complex option, but it is deceivingly simple and surprisingly effective.
Rather than directly downloading mods off the Nexus site, users can choose to have the files downloaded directly to their mod launcher of choice, allowing them to install it in a dedicated directory while their Skyrim install is untouched. From there, one simply has to organize their load order, ensure that they have all the necessary compatibility patches between mods installed, and have Skyrim Script Extender installed if they need it, and from there the modded install is ready to go!