20 Best Skyrim Graphics Mods – The Graphics Mods You Need to Enhance the Overall Visual of Skyrim on PC
Skyrim is an open-world fantasy RPG developed by Bethesda Game Studios as the fifth installment of The Elder Scrolls series.
It was first released in 2011, and the game has been remastered for the next generation systems as well.
This game has been released in various platforms, including PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, VR, and PC.
As with the PC version, the fanbase for this game remains strong because the players can easily add various mods to this game, allowing them to enhance their gameplay experience significantly.
Among the various mods that you can use for Skyrim, the graphics mods are probably one of the most popular mods used for this game.
The graphics mods allow you to enhance the visual aspects of this game, which can often completely overhaul the look and feel of the game, so that it can keep up with the next generation of platforms.
With the graphics mods, you can apply the customizations for various aspects of the graphics, whether you want to apply them individually or as a whole.
If you want to enhance the overall visual of Skyrim and make it look even more stunning than it already is, you should apply some graphics mods available for this game.
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Our list of Best Skyrim Graphics Mods
Here are the 20 best Skyrim graphics mods that you can install to enhance the overall visual of Skyrim on PC:
Pure Water
Pure Waters mod turns the water in Skyrim into clean, natural, and realistic-looking water.
It provides a complete overhaul for the water found throughout the game, including streams, rivers, and so on.
The water will just become more realistic to look for, with transparency and reflection resembling the real thing.
It uses the high-quality textures that make the water in this game look stunning in high definition.
Features:
- It applies various color enhancements to various types of water.
- It has the transparency effect that improves the look on big shorelines.
- The reflections of water are improved with more realistic-looking reflections.
- The textures include the various graphics for rain, ripples, and foam.
- The underwater element is also getting a visual overhaul to make it more realistic.
Dust Effects by Hhaleyy
Dust Effects by Hhaleyy is the improved version of the Dust Effects mod for Skyrim, which provides you better dust effect particles in this game.
By this simple change in graphics, you can see the overall visual improvement throughout the game, making it even more realistic than before.
This mod requires quite a big computing power, so it is recommended to use only if you have a powerful PC.
The dust particles are made to become more detailed in this game.
Features:
- It improves the dust particles to be more detailed in this game.
- It affects the overall visual throughout the game world.
- The dust particles are presented in high definition compared to the vanilla version.
- It can replace the existing dust-related mod that you use for this game.
- It adds flowing dusts and much more realistic animations for it.
Ethereal Cosmos
Ethereal Cosmos is the mod that will apply a big overhaul to what you see above Skyrim.
When you look at the sky, this is where the mod will affect the view.
It changes the textures for the constellations, stars, and galaxy in Skyrim to make it look much more ethereal than before.
You can see the effects of this mod when you look at the sky at night in Skyrim.
It will give you a wonderful view of the stars, constellations, and other heavenly bodies in this game.
Features:
- It makes the Skyrim nights look even more ethereal than before.
- It adds more fantasy elements to Skyrim at night.
- It has better textures for the stars, constellations, and galaxy in Skyrim.
- It is designed to be lore-friendly, so it merges beautifully with the Skyrim views.
- It makes the Skyrim nights even more beautiful than before.
Skyland – A Landscape Texture Overhaul
The landscape that you can see in Skyrim is vast, and they are beautiful even in their default vanilla edition.
However, if you want to improve the look of the landscape in this game even more, you can apply the mod called Skyland – A Landscape Texture Overhaul.
This mod will change the textures of the landscape in Skyrim so that it will look much more beautiful and realistic.
Features:
- It offers high quality landscape textures for this game.
- The materials for the textures are handcrafted to make them as detailed as possible.
- Bridges and snow are added to this texture overhaul.
- You can see the scenery better in this game when using the new textures.
- The roads included in this mod can work perfectly with Blended Roads, making them look better overall.
Vivid Weathers Definitive Edition
The good thing about this game is that you can see the weathers change from time to time as you explore the world of Skyrim.
Vivid Weathers Definitive Edition is the mod that you can use to enhance the visual appearance of the weathers in this game.
Moreover, in this definitive edition mod, you will see the weathers in more detailed textures and more realistic visuals.
Features:
- All aspects of the weathers in this game become more vivid.
- It applies an in-depth overhaul that can make the overall visuals for the weathers look stunning.
- It combines various good features from various good weather mods.
- You can see enhancements in the clouds and fogs in this game.
- This mod can be used on low-powered PC because it doesn’t require too much resources.
Enhanced Lights and FX
With the change in lighting, Skyrim can look even more realistic with stunning graphics.
Enhanced Lights and FX is the mod that can enhance the lights and effects on this game to make it even more realistic to look at.
It uses high quality textures to match the next-generation graphics.
This mod changes various aspects of the lighting and effects in this game to create a more dramatic ambience to the game, making it feel more real.
Features:
- Light sources will emit lights, whereas lights that have no sources will be removed.
- It adds more dramatic and realistic feeling to this game.
- Various effects are applied, such as water reflection, candle smoke, and much more.
- Interiors and dungeons get darkened.
- No unnecessary white lights illuminating the environment.
HD LODs Textures
HD LODs Textures provide the customized level of details for various objects found in this game, giving them high quality and high definition textures.
This mod will be applied in various buildings and landscapes in this game, so you can see them to be much more realistic with better visuals than the vanilla version.
It can enhance your exploration experience in this game.
Features:
- You can see the enhanced level of details on buildings and landscapes in this game.
- The new textures are made in high definition with high quality visuals.
- It gives a more stunning look at the Skyrim environment as you explore the game world.
- It also works with Dawnguard and Dragonborn.
- It covers every area in Skyrim, so you can see the visual overhaul consistently throughout the game world.
Skyrim Flora Overhaul SE
The flora in this game is just massive.
As Skyrim is set in a fantasy world where natural landscapes and forests are common, you can see lots of flora in this game.
It is one aspect that makes this game look beautiful.
Skyrim Flora Overhaul SE attempts to give you even more beauty to the environment of Skyrim.
With this mod, you can enhance the visuals of the flora in this game, making the scenery even more stunning with better trees, grasses, plants, and more.
Features:
- It improves the overall visuals of flora found throughout this game.
- There are new trees, grasses, and plants that you can find in the game world.
- It adds more deepness and realism to the forests in this game.
- The overall scenery and game environment are improved significantly.
- The level of details for the flora are also improved.
Realistic Aspen Trees SE
Realistic Aspen Trees SE provides the various types of realistic Aspen trees that you can find in this game.
The vanilla version of the Aspen trees found throughout the game might look kind of monotony when you take a closer look at them.
So, if you apply this mod, the aspen trees that you see throughout the game world will change drastically.
They will have different colors with textures that are made to make these trees look more realistic and beautiful.
Features:
- It changes the textures of the aspen trees in Skyrim to look more realistic with stunning graphics.
- The aspen trees that you see throughout the game will have diverse colors.
- The colors for the aspen trees are yellow, red, and orange.
- The leaf textures for the trees are made to look sharp with high definition.
- It also improves the overall level of details for the aspen trees.
Real Roads
The roads that you can walk on Skyrim come with various types and textures.
You can make them look more realistic by applying the Real Roads mod to improve the textures with 3D meshes.
This mod specifically changes the flat roads that are available on the vanilla version of the game to look more 3D and more realistic. It can improve the game environment significantly.
Features:
- It turns the somewhat dull-looking flat roads into lively 3D roads that look more realistic.
- It uses the 3D meshes for the new textures.
- It offers high quality textures with high definition and the high level of details.
- It has better shading and better geometry to match it with real roads.
- It doesn’t use lots of resources, so it can be installed even on low-powered PC.
Skyrim Realistic Weather Mod V1-4
Skyrim has its own climate system that allows you to experience various types of weathers throughout the gameplay.
The Skyrim Realistic Weather Mod V1-4 is the mod that allows you to make the weathers in Skyrim look more realistic, allowing you to improve the overall visuals of the game world significantly.
Aside from that, the chances of weathers in certain areas will also be affected.
Features:
- The weathers that you see in this game become more realistic.
- It turns the gloomy look of the vanilla weathers into the livelier one.
- Some regions will see different chances of weathers.
- The weather chances in this mod is based mostly on Norway/Subarctic areas.
- The changes in the weathers give more depth to the game world.
Total Character Makeover
Total Character Makeover is the graphics mod that you can use to change the level of details for the characters that you see throughout Skyrim.
This is the mod that you need if you want to see more beautiful characters appear in the world of Skyrim.
With it, you can make each character look more like real people, with details that are better than the vanilla version of the game. The characters will also have consistent looks.
Features:
- It uses the detailed textures for each character without using too much resources on your PC.
- The characters are designed to be lore-friendly, so you still recognize them as Skyrim’s characters.
- The characters have a better look overall, better textures, and more beautiful faces.
- It includes improvements for the whole body, not just the faces.
- The textures are made with high resolution.
Diversity – A Character Overhaul
For some players, the characters in Skyrim are designed with low polygons, making them not up to par with modern standards.
Diversity – A Character Overhaul is the mod that attempts to provide better-looking characters for this game, which are up to par with the modern standards.
The characters will be redesigned with better faces, better textures, better attractiveness, and more.
You can still keep the vanilla hair version if you want.
Features:
- This mod works with all DLC versions of Skyrim.
- It improves the facial structures of the characters in this game.
- It has better and more refined skin textures and makeup.
- The hairstyles are made to fit the character’s personality.
- You can still use the vanilla hair style with this mod.
4K Parallax Skyrim
4K Parallax Skyrim is a massive graphics mod that you can install for Skyrim, which provides 4K textures for this game to replace the lower resolution vanilla textures.
Moreover, it has 3D meshes that can activate the parallax effects in this game, making this game looks more beautiful with next-gen graphics.
It changes various objects in this game into 4K graphics that can provide a better look for the overall game world.
Features:
- It replaces the vanilla graphics with 4K graphics.
- It has 3D meshes that can activate the parallax effects on this game.
- It works primarily for the ground landscape in this game, providing 3D look and parallax effects.
- This mod is compatible with other similar Parallax mods for this game.
- It adds more depth and liveliness to the environment in Skyrim.
Static Mesh Improvement Mod (SMIM)
The Static Mesh Improvement Mod (SMIM) is a large mod project that allows you to change various aspects of the static objects found in this game.
You can improve the meshes used for these static objects with better textures, such as buildings, furniture, rocks, and so on.
It makes the overall graphics for this game look more stunning.
Many graphics mods available for Skyrim have used the SMIM to provide better visuals for various objects found in this game.
Features:
- It improves the visuals for the static objects found throughout the game.
- It can turn various aspects of the game environment to make them look better.
- High quality textures can be applied to any static objects in this game.
- It can take the graphics of this game to the next-gen level.
- You can get rid of low-polygon objects and replace them with high-polygon objects.
High Quality Food and Ingredients
In Skyrim, you can find ingredients and eat the foods that you have made with those ingredients.
However, as with various graphics aspects of this game, the food and ingredients are provided in low quality polygons.
Thankfully, you can improve the appearance of the food and ingredients with this mod.
High Quality Food and Ingredients is the mod that you can use to improve the visuals of food and ingredients in this game.
Features:
- It replaces the low textures of the food and ingredients with high quality textures.
- The food and ingredients in this game will look more realistic.
- Various foods and ingredients get the new texture upgrades.
- It is still a work in progress, with many more foods available to use the new textures.
- It improves your experience when cooking in this game.
Footprints
Skyrim is an open world game where you can explore various natural environments within the game.
Of course, the existence of footprints would make the game look better and more realistic.
With this mod, you can add footprints for various characters and creatures in this game.
It will create footprints for different types of characters, creatures, races, and so on.
Features:
- It makes the exploration in this game more interesting with the existence of footprints.
- The footprints are available for various characters, races, creatures, and more.
- It makes the grounds look more realistic.
- It supports various DLC for Skyrim.
- It supports boot detection, so different footprints will be displayed according to the boots worn by the characters.
The Eyes of Beauty SSE
The Eyes of Beauty SSE is the graphics mod that focuses on the improvements of the character’s eyes in Skyrim.
It improves the look and feel of each character’s eyes in this game, making them look more beautiful.
It is a standalone mod that can be applied both for male and female characters in Skyrim, and you can replace the vanilla eyes with the new eyes from this mod.
Features:
- The improvements for the eyes can be applied for various races in this game.
- It makes the eyes of the characters in this game look more beautiful overall.
- The eyes are designed to be lore-friendly, so there are no out-of-place customizations.
- It is a standalone mod.
- It adds high quality textures for the character’s eyes in this game.
Supreme Storms
If you like the storm effects in Skyrim, you can make the storms even more stunning by applying the Supreme Storms mod.
This mod allows you to change the vanilla version of storms and rains in this game into the intense version of it.
The storms will be much more intense and crazier when you apply this mod, making it almost impossible for you to fight the dragon during this weather condition.
Features:
- It turns the usual storms in this game into intense storms.
- It affects the rainstorms and snowstorms in this game.
- It reduces your view during the intense storms.
- It applies new textures to this weather effect.
- It is compatible with other similar environmental mods for Skyrim.
Vivid Landscapes – All in One
Vivid Landscapes – All in One is the mod that you can apply to improve the appearance of the landscapes in Skyrim.
This mod will allow you to improve various aspects of the landscape in this game, providing better overall views of the game world.
The meshes are improved with new textures and parallax effects.
The good thing about this mod is that it is all in one, meaning you can download all the vivid landscape effects in one pack.
Features:
- It makes the landscape in this game more stunning and gorgeous.
- New improved textures are available.
- New meshes are available with parallax effects.
- It improves the views for various landscapes, such as mountains, dungeons, creeks, and more.
- Various texture variations are available.
Conclusion
These graphics mods are available for you to change the appearance of Skyrim.
By applying these mods, you will be able to change various graphical aspects of the game and make it look more stunning and beautiful.
You can turn the regular Skyrim into the next-gen Skyrim with ease simply by installing these mods.
Some mods are available for the vanilla Skyrim, but others are available for Skyrim Special Edition and the DLC.
Apply these mods and enjoy a better experience in your exploration in Skyrim!
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