-Dayv
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| Or helm I suppose |
Skyrim Redone by modder T3nd0 is perhaps the first time I've ever played a
mod and had no interest in ever playing the vanilla game again, it
makes so many amazing improvements, from combat AI to character build
customization, that I now wonder how I thought the normal game was so
great
SkyRe
is an overhaul mod, meaning it makes alterations to a lot of the core
mechanics of the game. I am generally wary of overhauls, as everyone
probably should be unless you get some sick enjoyment from crashes
and bugs, not to mention that not every modder is interested in
keeping the game balanced the way the original creators had to.
However, after extensive 'testing', SkyRe seems to hold together well
and even seems to make the game more balanced, an all-to-rare quality
of modding.
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| Doffing this one too |
SkyRe's
main goal is to “enhance
the depth of character development”, and it does this very well.
Probably the most obvious changes made are to the skill trees, all of
which are more expansive, with multiple branches and specialization
options to better customize your character.
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| Though the original constellations have kinda lost their minds |
Want
to specialize in two-handed maces? Try the Supremacy perk and your
power attacks will be hitting swaths of enemies in front of you like
some sort of Norse-themed Sauron. How about hyper-specializing in
fire spells? Take Raging-Inferno and you'll be launching multiple,
souped-up fire projectiles with each spell (though you'll be unable to
use other elemental spells). SkyRe adds a ton of options for play
style, even going so far as to add new types of weapons, such as
spears, tantos, and katanas (yup, you can be a samurai), all of which
have associated specialization perks in their respective trees.
A
particular favorite of mine was the Marksman tree, which has been
divided between longbows, shortbows, and crossbows. Longbow perks
deal more with sniping and getting the jump on enemies from afar (so
make sure your render distance is maxed out), while shortbows are
more about mobility and quick shots in tighter spaces. Crossbows,
though, crossbows are somehow even more fun.
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| Really doesn't seem possible |
The
crossbow sub-tree is more about customizing your particular bow,
allowing you to alter a bow to reload quicker, or shoot quieter, or
even pierce shields. Not only that but the first perk in the branch allows you to make your own bolts at a forge, that combined with the
fact that crossbows and bolts can show up on enemies all over Skyrim
(not just in the Dawnguard DLC areas), now you can just use crossbows
all the damn time!
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| Why the hell not! |
If
you're more the mage type, all of the magic trees have been expanded
pretty significantly, including the addition of a lot of spells to
help flesh each school out. If you've ever wanted to play a shaman
or druid-type character, check out the new Restoration school now
with disease and curse spells, as well as an Adept-level spell that
allows you to create an animal companion from a slain beast (and a
perk that makes it permanent). If your goal is more of a Dwemer tinkerer or a psychic warrior, give the Alteration school a look, it now has a branch that allows you to create some of those annoying little mechanical spiders as minions, as well as new 'push', and 'pull' type spells.
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| Obi-wan would be proud |
But
customization is more than just perk trees and weapon options, at the
heart of making a character is selecting their race, and T3nd0 made
some significant changes to those as well. While the vanilla Skyrim
races aren't awful, they are...well...just kinda boring. A lot of
the bonuses are passives you tend to forget you even have or spells
that quickly become useless as you level up. SkyRe manages to keep
the general flavor of each race but make their racial bonuses more
noticeable and useful.
As
a Dark Elf for example, your Ancestor's Wrath now triggers
automatically when you drop below 50% health, rather than having to
be cast (which makes more sense to me). Instead of wrapping you in a
cloak of flames, though, it increases the damage of fire spells and
gives you a chance to avoid projectiles, making it useful at range
and a little more skill-based. And keeping with the angry predecessor theme, if your health drops below 30%, you'll activate Ancestor's
Fury, summoning a couple of pissed-off Dunmer ghosts to help you.
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| and I assume lecture you on how terrible you are |
Each
race has simlar changes, with Nords doing more damage as their health
decreases, Wood Elves able to summon temporary animal companions
(which change depending upon the location), and Imperials give their
followers buffs with their amazing charisma. Each race feels a
little more real and a little more interesting.
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| Dark Elves are still ugly bastards though |
Skyrim
Redone by T3nd0 is maybe my favorite mod ever, and it really managed
to re-awaken the character-builder inside of me that has been
languishing since my last D&D group fell apart. It's a pretty
massive mod though, so I recommend you check out the mod page,
as
I have only begun to cover it here. Other additions include a new
skill tree (Wayfarer) that encourages wandering about aimlessly in
the wild, a bunch more spells, crafting of cloth gear for improved
enchanting, better balancing of overpowered perks (the amazing
double-enchant perk now requires 3 points, only reaching its full
power later), alchemical bombs and enchanted arrows, bolts,
and bear-traps, and quite a bit more.
Luckily it is also modular, so you can pick and choose what parts you
want from it (the Survivalism module is not for the faint of heart,
or even just the easily pissed-off. Really it's just for those
who want to do a ludicrous amount of RPing). Also handy, like any good
Skyrim mod, it's available through the Nexus Mod Manager, which makes
it easy to install and update, so just go fucking try it.
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