Overview
This is a comprehensive list of the best mods available for Oblivion, categorised by function, along helpful links and insight – all so that you may have the best possible experience.
Introduction
>> Guide still under construction! <<
This is a comprehensive list of the best mods available for Oblivion, categorised by function, along helpful links and insight – all so that you may have the best possible experience.
I found myself reinstalling windows, or switching hard drives and being too lazy to back them up and eventually losing my mod configurations. I always mod the game again before starting another playthrough, and to centralise everything and make sure I never miss a mod again, I decided to make my list here, where it can also be public for you, the other players to benefit from it. I hope you like my list and that I was helpful.
I recommend that you create a separate folder called Modding somewhere other than your Steam Library where you’ll keep your mods. From there, you can organize them in subfolders for better cleanliness. I made folders based on functions. So I have Graphics, Gameplay, Immersion etc but you can create them however you want. Another advantage of sorting them like this is that if you plan to back this up for a hardware replacement or an OS install, you can easily figure out what goes where. Also, I wouldn’t bother with NMM updates, as most of these mods are not getting updates anymore, so downloading them and keeping them here will be just as good.
Most of these are installed via a few clicks in NMM, while other require a bit of extra tinkering. Explaining that in a short fashion would be counter-productive and confusing, and giving an extensive tutorial is outside the purpose of this guide. But don’t worry. A quick google will reveal any unclarity you may have.
It is not my purpose to list every mod in existence, that is the job of the Nexus. I am just listing my selected favorites which I run (almost all at once) in my game. These are certainly my subjective opinion and is open to criticism, but ultimately, this is my mod showcase, not encyclopedia. You may also notice I don’t have any Wrye Bash mods. I just don’t like the program, so I chose not to benefit from its mods. You however, can customize your game however you want. That’s why you are a PC gamer – you have the choice to have whatever experience you want, however you want it.
All the mods listed below are being used by myself simultaneously. There are some great mods that I haven’t included due to conflicts and drastic drop in framerates. On my rig (specs in my profile description) the mods below still allow my game to run at a stable 60 FPS, as it should.
Tools and Requirements
While modding by hand is possible, it’s ineffective, time consuming and will very likely – no – certainly result in you messing everything up. So, here are some mod managers that you can use.
[link]
How convenient that the website we get our mods from also supplies us with a mod manager. This is what we will be using for the vast majority of our mods. Easy to use, and a great way to visually organize our mods.
[link]
This is the older tool to mod with. While most mods are now NMM compatible, some of them will still need this one. It is optional, but worth getting.
There are also some files that need to be attached to the main game in order for some mods to function, and they are also listed below. Even if you won’t end up using them, you might as well install them anyways, as the most important mods require them. When downloading from the Nexus, modders will show you a popup warning on what is needed. If you download the following you have all that it takes.
- Oblivion Script Extender [OBSE][obse.silverlock.org]
- Oblivion Graphics Extender [OBGE][www.nexusmods.com]
- Blockhead (OBSE Plugin)[www.nexusmods.com]
[Base Game][www.nexusmods.com] + [Shivering Isles][www.nexusmods.com]
These mods are essential as they provide literally thousands of bug fixes such as missing dialogues, ill-placed objects and so on. I won’t go in detail about this. This is a mandatory mod. Period.
Graphics, Visuals and Environment
These mods make Oblivion look like a less older game. The added graphical fidelity will boost your desire to replay this masterpiece of a game, albeit at the slight cost of performance and framerate stability, depending on your build.
[link] + [d3d9.dll][www.enbdev.com]
Hands down the best ENB for Oblivion, with some of the best settings I’ve encountered. I personally disabled DoF, but other than that, I love it!
[link]
Improves graphical effects of spells. Makes being a wizard much more fancy.
[link]
Great mod that makes dungeons seem less copy-pasty and unreal. Adds plants to spots of sunlight and better cave lighting.
These mods alter the textures of most in-game items and make them higher resolution. Great eye candy for the picky modders!
- Gold[www.nexusmods.com]
- Armor[www.nexusmods.com]
- Varla and Welkynd Stones[www.nexusmods.com]
- Amulets and Rings[www.nexusmods.com]
- Weapons[www.nexusmods.com]
- Staffs[www.nexusmods.com]
- Wine Bottles[www.nexusmods.com]
- Clothes[www.nexusmods.com]
[link]
Improves the look of the sun.
[link] + [SI Addon][www.nexusmods.com]
Certainly not the only or best water enhancement mod out there, but in my opinion, the best one, as it doesn’t change it so much that it stands out, and blends in with Oblivion quite well.
[link]
Greatly improves foliage quality with high-res leaves texture and leaf density.
[link]
A classic with dozens of features that are listed in the mod description. Little to no performance impact, but great environmental and immersive gain!
[link]
A better alternative to the mod above, this gives water a realistic feel, full of light effects and such. Obviously, it requires OBGE to be installed.
[link]
Requires Blockhead and OBSE (mentioned in Tools and Requirements) to work. Greatly improves the faces and bodies of all races. A must have!
[link]
Adds new and better grass textures, along with more density. Makes forests and fields detailed and seem less empty.
[link]
Perhaps one of the most impactful on aesthetics, this great texture pack is essential. This improves many if not all of the textures of Oblivion. May impact performance if combined with many mods, but for any newish PC this should be fine.
[link]
Vastly extends the draw distance. Nothing ruins the experience more than seeing half the horizon as one huge flat muddy color. This mod fixes that.
[link]
A massive compilation of many small mods, this adds many unique, hand-placed landscape details throughout the world, and greatly improves immersion and prevents repetitiveness in environments. A word of warning though. This adds a lot of forests and other decor almost everywhere, so this may cause big instability issues, as Oblivion isn’t that well optimised as well as placing objects where other mods may as well. Example: custom player homes overridden by bushes.
[link]
In case you wander around the Oblivion Planes a lot, this mod will make lava look less like a jello pool.
Gameplay Effects and Changes
[link]
Oblivion’s leveling system is very flawed in the sense that if you want to have a perfect character you will have to micromanage and change your playstyle drastically in order to max out your attributes. This mod alters your attributes based on your skills, so you can just focus on playing!
[link]
Custom enchanting in oblivion is vastly underpowered. This mod allows you to make however many enchantments on your own items as you wish. Use with decency for best results.
[link]
Gives you natural health regeneration without making you overpowered. Useful when you just walk around and don’t want to consume health potions or mana.
[link]
Only useful if you play as a Khajiit, obviously. This makes the Night Eye toggable instead of timed effect, just like in Skyrim.
[link]
Magica is hardly ever enough for part-time spellcasters and even full fledged wizards. This mods adds an (adjustable) bonus to your magica pool depending on your magic skills.
[link]
Why should everyone level up when you do? This changes it so that NPC do not level up alongside you, giving the impression that you improve yourself, not the whole world.
[link]
Some quests offer greater versions of an item if the quest is completed at a higher level. This makes players want to skip certain quest lines until later. This mod fixes that, and will automatically level up those items as you do, so you can complete whichever quests you like without worrying on missing out on extra bonuses.
Immersion and Realism
[link]
Nothing breaks immersion more than seeing human npc’s wandering about in dark caves without any kind of light source. This mod fixes that.
[link]
Arrows in oblivion travel as if they were toys. This mod allows you to tweak the speed of flying arrows and give them a more realistic feel. I recommend the 225% version.
[link]
Make blood splash all over, just like butchering in real life would!
[link]
Gives immediate visual indications of low health, such as clouded vision when damaged and tunnel vision when near death. Certainly won’t help in escaping deadly situations, but it is a realism mod.
[link]
Ever notice when you enter caves at night that there is sunlight shining through the holes? Not anymore! From 7PM to 7AM all light sources in caves are removed! Better bring a torch!
[link]
You know how when you have enough skill in acrobatics you can basically float around rooftops? Not anymore. Adds realism to the way objects and most importantly – you – are affected by gravity.
User Interface
[link]
Removes the square borders on the map icon elements. Makes the map seem less obstructed, and more like the markings a real map would have.
[link]
Subtle change in how the loading bar appears. There is a mod for just about anything, so why not?
[link]
There are many mods but this keeps it the simplest, and I like it. Makes the world map colored (duuh).
[link]
Must be installed with OBMM! One of the most important mods you can possibly get. Amazing redesign of the user interface, fully customisable. This one requires a bit of tweaking to get it just right, but modifying a few lines in XML files sounds complicated, but shouldn’t take longer than 10 minutes to set up accordingly.
[link]
Replaces the Life Detection to a redish glow. You know… to feel like predator.
[link]
Lovely replacement for the small, undetailed loading menus of oblivion, with lore-friendly and some useful, however basic tooltips.
[link]
Being able to see in the dark is very useful, but that blue tint is awful. This mod offers alternatives to that.
[link]
Recolors the Spell Icons to match the type of attribute or skill it affects. Useful when you want to figure out what spell you have equipped without checking your magic tab or quick-wheel.
[link]
Always having to select item quantity when selling or storing items is annoying. By using this mod and pressing Ctrl, you automatically deposit the entire stack of items.
Miscellaneous
[link]
Adds the string (Read) after every book you have opened. Useful when you want to collect all the books or just know whether it is worth looting, as you already obtained it before.
[link]
While tehnically a retexture, this isn’t meant for quality, but to color code the soul gems for easyer spotting and sorting.
[link]
Over the course of your gameplay, you will encounter many keys, which will eventually clutter your inventory. Sure, you could minimize the “Keys” tab, but why do that when there is this handy mod that automatically hides them from your inventory? Even more, activating it will unhide the keys if you want to store some of them or give them to followers.
[link]
Simple, easy to use and no-nonsense journal mod. Great for keeping notes in-game. Adds immersion and can greatly help role-play runs. Makes it very fun to give your character personality.
[link]
Ever had bugged quest items stuck in your inventory or useless spells you never use? Simply press ‘Del’ and all your problems will go away.
Conclusion & Updates
NOTE: The list is under constant updating. I will put more mods here once I have tested their quality and stability, and if they pass my personal preference qualification. You, the reader, are free to point out any and all mods I may have overlooked, and if I deem them worthy, will update the list as well as give you credit.
Thank you for reading my guide. If it was helpful please rate it!