SKYRIM SE Quest Mod Reviews

These are the quest mods I’ve been playing on Skyrim Special Edition lately, and what I think of them. So if you’re looking for more stuff to do in Skyrim beyond vanilla content, here’s some advice. But first, since content may feel completely different depending on what kind of playstyle and character you have, a word on the character I’ve been using for these playthroughs.

Lilya Starblaze (High Elf mage)

Lilya Starblaze (33), Ravencrowned, Arch-Mage of Winterhold

Elder Scrolls addict that I am, I’ve played maybe a dozen different characters in Skyrim and tried a plethora of playstyles, but there are still a few perks/skills/playstyles I was never able to explore properly – so now I gave it a go. First off, I’ve tried Destruction builds on several characters, since it’s really the main ranged combat alternative to bows, yet I’ve never ended up really focusing on it because on higher difficulties, I always run out of magicka before finishing off my enemies, so I need a backup non-macicka-weapon anyway. (Which means Destro doesn’t level up as fast, which means the enemies start getting harder faster, so I need higher level spells, but I don’t have the skill yet and the higher level spells of course cost more magicka per point of damage point, oh, and did I mention I was already always out of magicka too soon…? You get the picture.) This time, I wanted to do Destruction properly. No perks in “backup” weapon skill trees, just Destruction. (I do carry a bow and dagger but hardly ever use them, at least not for damage.)

Despite focusing on Destruction for all damage, my armor spells still made Alteration my #1 skill…

Another perk I’ve neglected and wanted to give a fair chance is Mage Armor in the Alteration tree, which improve armor spells when you’re only wearing clothing. Even when I wear robes and hoods and such for magicka regeneration, I still tend to end up with armored boots and gauntlets, so this time, I wanted to test pure mage armor. As a result, I have now learnt that the maximum armor value you can get that way is 300, to which you can add the value of a shield. That certainly helps you survive a hit or two, but falls well short of the armor cap, which is, I believe, around 550. The Master Alteration spell will indeed get you to the armor cap of 80% damage reduction, but directly, rendering the Necro Mage perks irrelevant (plus it takes a long time to cast and has a shorter duration).

Please note: Unlike the character I’ve played Skyrim on YouTube with, this character has no pacifist tendencies. More frequently, she’s the kind of mage that announces her presence immediately by the light and noise of casting her spells. (This does includes the odd Conjuration spell such as Soul Trap and the very occasional summoning of a servant to help in battle.) I also wasted a few perk points on Enchanting trying to get more damage from staves before learning it only works on enchantments you make yourself. And as for Restoration healing and Lockpicking, they are skills I end up leveling on pretty much any character.

Nevertheless, Lilya has dabbled in stealth and in Illusion magic for missions that benefit from stealth, crowd control and the like. She’s leveled Illusion a little through spells like Muffle, Frenzy and Calm, though as of level 34, has not spent any perks there. Through one of the mods I’ve played, she also got an item that can turn her invisible, which, together with a Muffle spell, can make her very hard to detect – and being the player that I am, I haven’t been able to avoid noticing whether or not the quests CAN be done from a pacifist point of view, and scumming a few savegames on occasion to figure out if it’s doable or not. That might not interest the majority of players, but on the other hand, it’s probably the perspective that makes my reviews the most unique, so I’ve I’ll nclude a section on “Pacifist Potential” for most of the quests I’ll be reviewing here.

Last thing before I’ll start reviewing the quest mods I’ve played so far is to link up to their Nexus pages:

• The Forgotten City
• Ravengate
• Moon-and-Star
• The Wheels of Lull
• Shadows of the Past