Modder ‘doodlez’ has released a few must-have mods for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition. These mods add to the game Subsurface Scattering, Dynamic Cubemaps, Water Caustics, Rain Wet Effects, and Water Parallax Mapping. So, let’s take a closer look at them.

The first mod makes characters in Skyrim look more realistic by adding Screen-Space Subsurface Scattering. This makes their skin look more like real skin with light bouncing around in it. Back when Skyrim first came out, very few games used this effect. Thus, it’s pretty impressive to see a mod that adds it in now.

Next up is the Dynamic Cubemaps mod. This mod does some cool stuff to make reflections in the game look better. It takes information from the screen and puts it into these raw cubemaps, which then make things like reflections look smoother and more realistic. Additionally, it adds fresnel as a form of cheap specular GI for dielectric surfaces. This applies to both exteriors and interiors. You can grab these mods from here and here.

Water Parallax is what most of you have guessed. This mod adds parallax mapping to the water, which adds depth to the water surface to simulate greater detail.

The Wetness Effects Mod adds advanced rain effects to the game. It’s pretty cool because it makes the rain in Skyrim act more like real rain. It keeps track of how much rain falls, where it flows, and even how it dries up after the weather changes. So, when it rains, you’ll see puddles forming and sticking around, just like in real life. Plus, shores near water bodies will look wet too.

Finally, Water Caustics add caustics that are mapped directly to the water shaders by projecting the water surface to the underwater object.

Speaking of Skyrim, here are some big fan expansions for it.  Wyrmstooth is one of them, adding new quests and dungeons to the game. This other mod brings elements from The Witcher games into Skyrim. Dragon Hall Tavern is a huge 2GB mod that adds quests, new places, an arena, and more. Then there’s  Land of Vominhem, Apotheosis and Legacy of the Dragonborn. Don’t forget to also check out this Castlevania-inspired mod. Oh, and here is another one that adds the cool Nemesis system from Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor to it. Lastly, we have this mod that adds six new islands to explore.

You might also find these other mods for it interesting. This Call of Duty Mod adds to the game 12 new fully functional weapons from it. Then we have this mod that adds to Skyrim over 7000 voiced lines via AI. There is also this mod that adds to the game The Witcher 3 Ciri/Geralt Voices. Another cool mod is this one that adds destructible objects to the game. You can also download this mod that makes NPCs smarter, enabling dynamic AI and allowing them to seek cover.  Oh, and let’s also not forget this mod that adds unlimited dynamic light sources. In theory, all of these mods should be compatible with the Dialogue Expansion Mod.

Be also sure to check out our Best Skyrim Mods article.

Enjoy and stay tuned for more!