The launch of The Elder Scrolls 5:Skyrim was a milestone for open-world games, and its success paved the way for a slew of successors. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one such example — as the third installment in an acclaimed series, it exchanged the more linear style of gameplay for a huge open world.
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Skyrim modders were quick to notice the game's success, and have been hard at work adding elements from The Witcher universe into Tamriel. The flexibility of Skyrim’s admittedly aging game engine has allowed it to transform in unexpected ways. If you’re craving Elder Scrolls gameplay, with some added Witcher flair, then you have some great options to play with.
9 True Directional Movement - Modernized Third-Person Gameplay
Skyrim was originally designed to be played in the first-person. While third-person combat is technically possible, it feels incredibly clunky in most situations. True Directional Movement, by Ershin, completely overhauls third-person gameplay. Combat is much more fluid, and it even features a custom target lock-on system.
Everything feels much more natural and evokes the same combat intensity found in The Witcher games. The mod even adds floating enemy health bars and works surprisingly well with ranged combat.
8 SmoothCam
SmoothCam is a mod by mwilsnd and features a highly customizable third-person camera. The camera uses smooth frame interpolation and a raycasting crosshair to make aiming less of a pain. One notable feature is the addition of an arrow flight prediction path. Any time you draw back a bow, a line will appear giving you the estimated destination of your arrow. This makes it much easier to shoot in the third person and helps avoid stray arrows.
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The mod is highly detailed, and it essentially offers you a huge range of different camera settings to best fit your preferred play style. This allows Skyrim to play more like a modern third-person action game, which perfectly fits the style of The Witcher series.
7 The Ultimate Dodge Mod
ShikyoKira created this mod to bring modern dodge mechanics to Skyrim. It gives you a customizable keybind to designate as a dodge button. While it seems simple enough, it has a big impact on combat. The ability to either step-dodge or roll away from attacks makes everything feel more dynamic.
Is an arrow is flying at your head? Simply dodge past it. Dodging is a big part of avoiding lethal damage in The Witcher games, so bringing the feature into Skyrim is a nice touch. It's worth noting that gaining the ability to dodge may encourage you to bump up the difficulty. Combat may become too easy otherwise.
6 Better Third Person Selection
Items in Skyrim need to be directly looked at to be picked up. This means that 30 gold coins scattered on the ground will have you wasting time, as you try to meticulously pick them all up. Better Third Person Selection fixes this problem. Author Shrimperator has made it so that any nearby items will now intuitively provide a pop-up so they can be easily taken.
This is especially important since you will probably be playing the game with a third-person perspective, and looking directly at items can be difficult. The Witcher already has a similar feature, so this mod will feel right at home.
5 Witcher-Style Power Attack Animation
Geralt moves like a dancer when he attacks, gracefully spinning and slashing without losing out on lethality. Witcher-Style Power Attack Animation, by Orakin2020, will turn your Dragonborn into a deadly monster slayer. It replaces the default attack animations for two-handed greatswords and swaps them out for Geralt's spinning strikes.
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The mod requires downloading Leviathan Animations, by Verolevi, which lays the groundwork for The Witcher attack animations. Being able to swing your greatsword around with the ease of a blade master really sells the Witcher experience.
4 TW3 Armor - Geralt Of Rivia
Moving like a Witcher is only half the experience, to really ‘walk the walk,’ you also need to look the part. Thankfully mod author Banderger has brought Geralt’s armor into Skyrim. Tons of Witcher gear is included, such as the Ursine armor and the Viper school gear. There are even enhanced versions included, with their appropriate appearance changes.
The mod supports both male and female presets. To acquire the gear, simply go to your nearest smithing station to craft them for yourself.
3 The Witcher 3 Weaponry
Every self-respecting Witcher needs to have a pair of steel and silver swords, and The Witcher 3 Weaponry by Oaristys provides. This mod adds over a dozen swords into the game. They all have unique names and stats and will require various levels of smithing to create. The only requirement is to have the “Steel Smithing” perk.
The weapon models themselves are quite beautiful and look straight out of the games. Some even come equipped with a custom scabbard model, which pairs very well with The Witcher armor.
2 Water Hags - Mihail Monsters And Animals
Water Hags are nasty water-dwelling creatures found in the swamps of the Witcher world. They are said to be immortal naiads who fell in love with men but lost their eternal youth in exchange. As a result, they are cursed to roam lakesides in decrepit aging forms, unable to die. MihailMods created this mod to bring them to life in Skyrim, and they are just as ferocious here.
The mod includes six variants of the Water Hag and adds various Water Hag houses along the banks of water sources. There is also a new disease, “Swamp Fever,” which will reduce all your weapon skills by 50 percent if contracted from their attacks.
1 Foglings - Mihail Monsters And Animals
Foglings are another creature from The Witcher world, who dwell in darkness due to their vampiric nature. They aren’t particularly bright, but in packs, they can become dangerous. MihailMods is the mod’s author, and he describes the Foglings as the minions of more intelligent vampires.
There are four variants of these pesky bloodsuckers, and they drop a new ingredient called Fogling Dust. This dust is more potent than the Vampire Dust found in the base game, and is a possible result of the Fogling's futile attempts to improve their vampiric powers.
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