Table of Contents

Animations

Animation mods have really taken off lately. What used to be it's own subsection of the Immersion guide, Skyrim's animation mods have long since earned themselves their own section! Most animation mods either require Nemesis or OAR (DAR but newer and works with more versions). Some require OSex but those aren't really covered here. Animation mods in the past were very messy and could overlap or break one another but those issues have mostly been fixed. Just keep in mind what each animation you have is for. There's also ways to set custom animations for certain bosses and enemy types but I am too small brained for that. If someone has any clue how to accomplish such a feat I'd love to have them teach me it sounds super cool! Also Pandora Behavior Engine exists and is making things easier for dog fuckers so if you fuck dogs you may want to check that mod out. Okay let's move on to the mods!

Vanilla Animations and Improvements

These mods cover fixes for the vanilla animations and add some smaller new conditions to help making the animations feel more alive.

Assorted Animation FixesFixes a lot of the janky vanilla animation issues.
Pristine Vanilla MovementGood baseline animation mod to touch up movement.
Super Fast Get Up AnimationMakes you get up faster
Expressive Facegen MorphsAdds new morphs to make the faces look better.
Expressive Facial Animation -Female Edition-Touches up female facial expressions. Grab the male version too!
Conditional Expressions - Subtle Face AnimationsMakes character faces a lot more expressive!
Dynamic SprintChanges sprint animations depending on the weapon drawn.
Dynamic SwimmingAdds new swimming animations.
Modern Female Sitting Animations OverhaulNew female sitting animations.
UNDERDOG - AnimationsVery high quality but very twitching animation pack. Not for everyone but it adds a bunch of new variables for animations in the game including a lot that are skill linked.
Self-targeting Staff Animation FixFixes a bug if your staff casts the magic on the player.
NPC Stuck in Bleedout fixFixes the infinite bleedout glitch.
Tools not weapons (pickaxe and woodcutter axe)Changes the animations for pickaxes and woodcutter axes so you don't hold them like you're planning to kill somebody.
Dynamic Female Wall LeaningNew wall leaning animations.
Jarl Sitting Animation ReplacerUses OAR to make the Jarl Sit animation mod cycle so you don't have to choose just one anymore!
Telekinesis wood choppingMages can now summon their own axes to chop wood!
Improved Table Sit Transition AnimationsFixes up table sitting animations.
More powerful mining animationsFixes the awful looking vanilla mining animations.
Drunk Sinking Head Idle FixFixes a minor bug with drunks at bars.
Random Male Wall Leaning AnimationsNew wall leaning animations for men!
Paired Animation ImprovementsA SKSE plugin that lets annotated events in paired animations work like in normal animations. Also causes the game to create synchronized animation bindings on demand, freeing up a few hundred animation slots for use by animation replacers.

Idle Animations

I've seen some people asking for recommended idle animations. Thanks to OAR/DAR the Idle animation scene is very mix and match and can have a ton of conditions depending on what you want. They can even apply to specific NPCs!

EVG Conditional IdlesCondition specific idle animations. Looks really good in the cold and rain!
EVG Animation VarianceAnimations to help distinguish NPCs personalities!
CHIMgardenThis guy just keeps pumping out great idle animation mods for the player and NPCs. You can use all of them together or just pick what you want but I really recommend you check out his stuff!
GiraPombaAnother great idle animator focused more on item interaction idles like alchemy and fishing!
Blind people DAR animationsGives a specific animation set to blind people!
TheCyclistAnother great idle animator more focused on animators that telegraph what the NPC or player are doing at any given time.
Seamless Varied Feminine IdlesGreat female idle animations
Dynamic Female Weather IdlesMore female idles focused on the weather!

New Gameplay Mechanics

These mods introduce new gameplay mechanics taking advantage of animation frameworks! Really cool stuff here that can completely change how you play Skyrim!

Note: Section on hold until the Gameplay section is complete!

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Combat Animations

Animation sets for Combat. This section won't be completed until the Gameplay section is finished!

Note: Section on hold until the Gameplay section is complete!

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Creature Animations

Changes the animations for various creatures in Skyrim. Some even add new attacks!

Note: Section on hold until the Gameplay section is complete!

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Poser Mods

This section is devoted to all the screen archers of the community with a list of various tools and poser packs! Definitely optional for those just looking to play the game!

Poser Hotkeys PlusAllows you to quicky and easily manage your pose mods without special spells or rings or whatever!
No Numpad HotkeysUnbinds the hotkeys from the numpad allowing you to use the numbpad for other things!
Loverlab Poser ListThere's so many pose mods and everyone has their favorites and least favorites. Some need to be converted too. Rather than list everything here's a pretty comprehensive list of the ones that people like the best!

Skyrim Guide Index