Best Oblivion Mods

Well, we have the best NV mods, so why not a best oblivion mods.

Now, I don't have any choices to go here, so I figure everyone here who plays, can post their favorite mods and maybe, we can get a list goin like the NV thread.

Good idea. I haven't used many mods with Oblivion because I had a localized version in French (and yes, that's ghastly since the translation is rarely any good) and I've never felt that the game was worth buying a second time to get an English version (I blame Bethesda for not releasing multilingual versions of their games overseas).

I remember Nakia told me about some nice overhaul mods and there was a mod that made guards less psychic. I can't remember their names but I'm sure Nakia and Paul71 will be able to help you.

Well, hopefully we can get this thread goin. I don't know any.

There are quite a few overhaul mods. They are rather large. I do recommend the Unofficial Oblivion patch found on Nexus. I have played with it and found no problems. Right now I am not feeling so well but will try and get a link when I am a little better. Hopefully Paul71 will be able to recommend some mods.

What sort of mods are you looking for?

Overhauls? Gameplay altering? Textures? Quests?

It's easier to recommend if people are more specific

There are so many mods out for Oblivion it is hard to know what to recommend. Slof's outfits? Fighting overhaul? There is a mod that that places shrines that you have visited on your world map. Unfortunately I don't have my Old Oblivion list available right now. There companion mods galore.

OldCoot, what are currently interested in, tweaks, outfits, companions, quests?

jez should be able to give us the link for Slof's outfits. She also did a marvelous update on the horses which I never play without.

Nakia, this isn't what I am lookin for. It's just a list of mods that everyone thinks are great mods.

I want to do this like Cara's NV list.

OldCoot, I don't think that everyone will agree on the subject of good mods as playing style is important. I've tried listing good and interesting mods that brought something to the game so some of the mods I've included in my lists are not necessarily very popular or known (it's also interesting to try and get people interested in a mod that has been ignored).

I just want to warn you that it is a huge task. After making three lists (Fallout 3, Dragon Age Origins and Fallout New Vegas) I can say that it is one thing to make a list of mods that look good on paper and another to actually try them out and see how good they are (I'm still behind with FNV by the way).

The problem with Oblivion is that it is an old game so mods have been around for ages and it is probably one of the most modded game. I remember being flooded with mods when I've started my Fallout New Vegas list at the time the game was released, it is nothing in comparison with the situation with Oblivion.

Trust me on this but when Skyrim will come out will see a major tsunami of mods covering the entire spectrum and it will be hard to keep up. I honestly don't think I'll take upon myself the task of keeping a mod list as it is a lot of work (despite the fact that the way things are organized on the Nexus really helps).

Regarding Oblivion mods making such a list entirely depends on the way you're going to play the game since you can assume that there are mods for almost every aspect of the game.

I don't want to dampen your spirits, if you're looking for mods that are popular or recognized as being great by everyone then the top 100 mods from the Oblivion Nexus is the obvious place to get started. You will miss out on all the lesser known mods but there is no simple way to go about that (unless you have the time to sift through all the mod entries to make a list). The problem with the top 100 from the Nexus is that some really great mods never make the top rankings (there are some gems that never get the recognition they deserve) and there is also the fact that you will always find either some anime or some pixellated porn stuff on these lists (don't get me wrong I like animes it's just that all the manga girl content doesn't really fit in the settings of these games and make it harder to find more shall we say "lore friendly" mods). In other words any mod with boobs or the promise of boobs (in the case of Mary Sues and the like) will get downloads and ratings and there is nothing that can be done, that is the way of the internet.

Sorry if this sounds like a rant.

Anyway I can't help you as I have no intention of playing through Oblivion ever again (I prefer Morrowind) I would say that following Nakia's and Paul's advice is an easy way to get started, think about what you want to add to the game and start a list from there. After all that's what I did with my lists, I started with the mods that I wanted to play and found interesting and on occasions added a few recommendations.

I also prefer Morrowind. As for Skyrim, well, I didn't pre-order it so I doubt if I will buy it later. So, I will just let this post slip into history.

If i read right Slof has given her horse mods to another to work on and she has all together stopped making mods for NV(it keeps crashing for her... my mom too it seems) i do not know about the rest. seeing as i can not talk for her this all i will say because this is all i know.

there are SOOO many mods for morrowind! as for oblivion i know i have 5 gigs of mods i have in that game ALONE... and thats the ones i know of. i think i have a few floating around not in the folder i have for them. 99% of them are slofs as well i think i have all her mods.

i will say that one of my FAVE non clothing or man mods was a house i was able to get... but it was all in German.. but the house was so wonderful!

i have had hair mods.. clothing mods.. other mods ( LOL) harder mobs mod.. woodland creatures mods. shops that travel and then bad guys that try to kill them.

a necklace that lets you change you looks and stats whenever. oh man there are so many!

I will recommend the following mods that I have played. They fill what I found to be a very annoying loose end in Oblivion and that is Kvatch. It bothered me that Bethesda never addressed that issue.

Kvatch Rebuilt (KR) Exactly what it says a mod that rebuilds Kvatch and sends you on a quest to find a lost heir. You can become Count of Kvatch in this mod. I did find it lacking in voice acting but otherwise an impressive mod. I had no problems with it although I have heard rumors that some found bugs. Have no idea if they are true or not. Possibly conflicts with other mods which does happen.

Kvatch Aftermath(KA) Become Count and rebuild Kvatch. You will need a lot of money for this one but if you are willing to use God Mode and pick up Daedric Armor in the Battle for Kvatch you will get lots of Septims when you sell them. I found this a warm and very human mod and played for a long time. It has some hidden aspects that are interesting. You must read the readme and follow the instructions for uninstalling it or you will have problems. I forgot and ended up needing to reinstall Oblivion/SI.

Kvatch Rising (KRis) This one is the best technically and fits seamlessly into the main quest. You do not become count count in this one and to me it has an unfinished feeling but you can install it before you start the main quest and it will move along with the main quest.

Kvatch Rebuilt can be found on Nexus. The other two can be found on FilePlanet.

Anyone of the above solves that annoying loose end.

As for Skyrim I haven't pre-ordered it yet but I will definitely get it. I have a feeling if you loved Morrowind, like Oblivion you will want Skyrim.

I know I've said I wouldn't replay Oblivion but it turns out I can't run Morrowind on my Vista computer and the perspective of replaying Shivering Isles, the Grey Fox questline and the Dark Brotherhood is rather enticing especially since I've found a few mods that help getting rid of some annoying features (mainly level scaling I still have to cope with the stupid dialogue wheel).

I've decided that I'd use MMM and Francesco's mod with the three Unofficial patches as a starting point. Along with better textures (thanks to Paul71 for the links in the other thread) these mods come as a series of rather large packages.

Of course the Oblivion Mod Manager, OBSE and Archive Invalidation are on this list.

Obviously I haven't tested them and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Here are some of the additions I've considered and included in my load order:

Darnified UI
A must have given the poor UI in the unmodded game. It may be a bit small if you have trouble reading but if not I recommend it if only to stop with the constant scrolling.

Coloured Enemy Health
So simple and yet so convenient.

Sounds of Cyrodiil

Mr Bean
Silly but I'm a big Black Adder fan.

ThrottleKittys Hair Pack
Somewhat limited but small (which is good).

Facegen Files
I have such a hard time making a decent face, this is a life saver, Rivens Famous People adds many faces to choose from.

Play with an Xbox Controller
Actually works.

Tavern Goers
Because I like my bars and taverns to be crowded.

Tamriel Travellers, Universal Silent Voice and Roaming NPCs
I hope these three will play nice together.

Djangos Unique Features
Because vanilla is way too bland.

Sensual Walks for female NPCs
I don't care about boob mods but more feminine animations can be nice.

Coloured Map
So much nicer to look at.

Reneers Guard Overhaul
Because guards in vanilla Oblivion ruin the game for me.

All +5 Attribute Modifiers
Generally I'm not a cheater but there is one stupid thing in Oblivion and that's the amount of metagaming that is required to build a decent character. I don't want to spend my time tracking the skills I've levelled up on a scrap of paper so I can be sure that I won't miss out on a modifier when I level up. This seems to me to be a simple solution without scraping the entire system. Besides you still have to use various skills if you want to increase more than one attribute.

Natural Faces
Needed to make characters look a bit better.

Book Jackets
Stumbled upon this and decided to download it.

Let the People Drink
Why not?

Rogue Outfit, Iron Maiden Armour Set, Tyrael Armour, Assassins Creed Gear, Rapier Set, Frostmourne and Lich King Armour...
So beautiful that I'm torn between playing a male or a female character... I really can't make up my mind. The Tyrael Armour looks incredible in the screenshots and so does the Iron Maiden Armour.

This is in no way a fully tested list and I don't imply that these are the best mods available online.

I've had a look at the Kvatch mods but I'm still on the fence, I'll have to check out the one that has been updated recently and see how it works out.

Any mod recommendations are welcome. If you've had a look at the list I've posted you probably have a pretty good idea of the sort of stuff I dig. I must say I'm a sucker for a good looking character and I'd rather use some low level gear that looks nice than some high level gear that looks like it's been chewed by a pack of wild dogs.

I'm probably going to play a female... I have to figure out which race and how much metagaming/powergaming I want to get into.

EDIT: these blades look incredibly sweet, Realswords Dunmer

You have some listed there I have used and recommend but you have added some interesting ones. Tavern Goers sounds really good to me and that last one with the armour sounds like a must have.

Reneers Guard Overhaul, Thanks for reminding me. This is in my opinion a must have. Guards in Oblivion suck and suck badly.

Oblivion will be around for a long time so a list like this is always good.

By the way the modder who made the Realswords mod did an entire series of weapons based on almost every race in Oblivion. Judging by the screenshots these weapons look awesome. He also did a very nice job of making a sword based on the 1982 Conan movie (I've actually used this sword in Fallout New Vegas and it is awesome). The Father's Sword.

I'm also giving Better Redguards a try as I'm planning on playing a female Redguard.

A mod I really wish someone would make:

A mod to actually make freaking merchants sell halfway useful weapons/armour. I'm sick of being level fifteen and having nothing to buy from smiths but iron longswords

I have no idea if there is one. Did you search NEXUS?

Yeah, searched all over, and nothing. That's my problem with most MMOs and stuff, too: NPC merchants are almost always completely useless.

Oblivion is hard to get good equipment without a mod. You could console in something. Go to the WIKI and get an item ID add it to you inventory. I know that is cheating but if one could say adding a mod is too.

Nah, that's the thing: I don't wanna be able to easily get good armour/weapons. That's not why I want a mod like this. I want it so I can go to a shop, see a cool piece of equipment, and go "man, that looks cool, I should save up for that". I want it so that all my mountains of accumulated money actually have some semblance of use. Skyrim got the NPC merchants a lot more right than Oblivion did.

Yes Skyrim a few things better than Oblivion including merchants and the ability to make your own armour. Wish I knew a mod but I don't. Did you try asking on the NEXUS forum?