Is Oblivion the best Elder Scrolls game ever made? Yes. I mean, probably. I don’t want to start a fan war.
But could the game be better? Of course!
The first time I tried to play Oblivion with mods was back in 2008. And since then, I haven’t been able to play any of my favorite single-player games without mods again.
Oblivion changed my perception of mods and why they can be fantastic additions to a game. And in this post I’m keen to share my picks for the best Oblivion mods with all you TES fans!
Before I begin, let me just point out that there are many Oblivion mods that tweak certain technical aspects of the game. I’ve only added a handful of those, as I really wanted to focus on other types of mods like gameplay changes, new additions, stuff like that.
To start off the list, though, I’ve added three mods in my early spots that are actually rated really high by the community.
I’m just ranking them lower on my list to raise your attention towards them first – they’ll really help you make other mods on this list work much better.
However, denying that the game was buggy as hell would be like trying to cover the sun with your thumb.
This mod was made by the community to help fix Oblivion as a whole. It’s safe to say that the job was done as properly as can be, as this mod currently “fixes over 2,500 bugs and 70,000 object placement errors”, as its description reads.
That’s a lotta stuff.
A must-have mod if you plan to play the game in the 2020s and beyond – even if you don’t want to install any other mods on your game.
As the name suggests, Oblivion Mod Manager allows you to properly sort mods and see them more clearly than you can with the original Oblivion launcher.
It really makes a difference when you have hundreds of mods installed.
If you’re planning on downloading more than a handful of mods to change the shape of your game, you’ll want to have Oblivion Mod Manager installed first. It’s a big time saver.
This other must-have mod on my list is OBSE, a special mod that ensures the game extends its scripting capabilities to allow more complex mods to work.
This is another one that you’ll need to install if you plan on getting some of the better mods listed here.
Writer’s note: Starting from the 37th spot and downwards, all of the mods that you’ll find will be ranked as per usual on my lists. I just wanted to introduce you to these three mods first so you can download them before the rest!
I think it’s to the surprise of no one that the distant views in Oblivion were terrible.
It’s understandable, though, as the game was released for PS3 and Xbox. And even PC capabilities weren’t really great back in the 2000s.
In any case, this amazing mod aims to completely restructure the way we see stuff in the distance when playing Oblivion.
It improves textures as well as distant rendering, which makes those mountains a few kilometers away, as well as towns and cities, look far better and much more “defined”.
Man, as someone who never really liked the way one levels up in Oblivion, this mod was an absolute godsent back in the day.
I can’t believe it’s been more than 10 years since I tried it!
Basically this mod changes the way the XP system works in the game.
You won’t only get XP for performing certain actions, as it is in the vanilla game. Instead you’ll also get experience for exploring new areas or doing trivial things like feeding off corpses as a vampire.
It gets crazy.
If you’ve played classic RPGs before you’re probably familiar with this type of level-up system.
Tamriel is a place full of life, creatures, magic, and beauty.
However, the underwater regions of Cyrodiil are as dead as a corpse.
This mod’s aim is to add new things and creatures to be found under the waves. So you actually have a purpose to go there other than to find the eventual sunken chest.
You’ll probably need a potion of water-breathing or two once you have this mod installed. That’s if you’re not an Argonian, of course!
Better Dungeons changes every single cave in Oblivion into something that looks much better, while also adding a few more challenging aspects and features to each dungeon.
A fantastic mod altogether, although you might only want to install it if you’ve already finished the game once. Just to not lose the essence of the classic Oblivion caves.
If you’re bothered by little things like the moon not having enough resolution, the grass not being tall enough, or all bottles being basically the same… then you might have mild OCD.
But you’ll also want to check out this mod.
It changes every single standard bottle in the game for much more alluring versions of themselves.
The mod adds a staggering 108 bottles in total, changing the way potions and beverages look for the better.
I know this might not be the first thing that you think about improving in Oblivion, but wait until you add this mod and see how nature looks afterwards.
It adds thousands of new textures to make the grass feel much more alive and realistic.
By far one of my favorite mods – even with how much of a small tweak it seems to make.
This mod will completely revolutionize the way your HUD looks by adding many new bars and features to it, all of which you can tweak to suit your needs.
You’ll get a much better grasp of your character’s needs and the overall environment of the game if you install this bad boy.
Add new bars and remove others that you don’t need. Hey, it’s your game, you do you.
COBL basically works as an all-in-one that improves Oblivion and how it deals with mods.
It allows various mods of the same type (such as hair mods or eye mods) to work perfectly with each other, free of any bugs.
That’s not all, though.
COBL also adds many new things to the game, including the ability to sort your alchemy items much easier. As well as new types of beers, foods, containers, and many more things.
It honestly feels like a package of mods that works flawlessly. I really recommend you check it out.
Alright, I’m not going to tell you that this is my favorite mod on this list.
But when it comes to small additions that make a world of difference, this has to be one of the best out there.
If you play Oblivion then you know how all of the structures feel as if they were separate from the outer world, mainly because they are.
Whenever you enter a house, things outside kind of just stop happening. With this mod you’ll be able to be sitting anywhere inside a house and look outside the windows. And you’re really looking outside.!
You won’t see any NPCs walking around or anything… but hey, it’s still makes the game feel much more alive.
I think we’ve known this since the game first released, as it always seemed to be one of the main complaints that the community had.
That’s probably why UI mods have always been so popular, and this has to be one of my favorites.
The “red” UI has always been popular among Oblivion players. And I remember that this mod (or a similar one, at least) was around when I played back in the 2000s.
In fact, this one seems to be such an improved version of the one I used that it’s probably a completely new one.
In any case, check it our if you want your game UI to look much better & offer more useful options in your menus.
When it comes to mods that make water look better, this one takes the cake.
I’m not going to lie – there are many, many mods that aim to make the water realistic.
But most of them fail spectacularly.
Why, you may ask? Simple: they make the water too crystal clear, which makes it basically a see-through surface.
That’s pretty unrealistic and actually helps the game lose immersion.
But the Enhanced Water mod turns the water into a tone of blue that truly resembles real water, while it also improves the way water looks when it “moves”.
If you’re searching for mods that enhance the game’s graphics, this one is a must-have to add to your collection.
I’m adding another map mod to my list, but not because I think this one is better than the last one… but rather because I think more people will be able to get a good use out of this mod.
Elven Map Redux is a colored version of the traditional Oblivion map.
It does have a few enchantments that make it look better than the original one, too.
Try it out if you feel like the other map mod has too many features for your liking.
Even though this mod doesn’t enhance any graphical aspects of the game, it does work fantastically well to clean up the messy face textures that Oblivion has always been known for.
The game is pretty old, but even back in the days when it was new, you could tell that something was a bit off with the character faces in the game.
Natural Faces aims to correct those issues with shadings, and with certain textures feeling a but too “stretched”. Also with some parts of the lips not matching properly with the talking animations.
It’s a good mod, and not as simple as it might seem at first glance.
If there was one thing that was missing from TES IV and that TES V got quite right, that has to be the companion system.
This mod allows you to have a proper companion system in Oblivion, which includes almost a hundred NPCs to choose from and to have as companions following you around the lands of Cyrodiil… or into the depths of Oblivion.
CM Partners also allows you to create your own companions too, and have them be with you whenever you like.
That probably makes it better than the Skyrim companion system as a whole. Which is saying something.
I know how painful it is to have hundreds of keys in your inventory.
I feel your pain, my friend. However there’s a practical solution that will remove that annoyingly awful clutter and turn it into a manageable set of items that you can quickly scroll through.
This Keychain mod has a perfectly accurate name, as it gives you a virtual keychain item where all of your keys will be relocated to.
Open the keychain and select any key you need. Gone are the days of seeing those damn keys get mixed up with other useful items when scrolling through the “All” section.
Looking for an all-in-one graphic mod that you won’t have to install in parts?
If so, you’ll want to check out the Oblivion Reloaded mod.
It was made by the same people that brought us Skyrim Reloaded as well as New Vegas Reloaded, so they’re pretty good at creating graphical enhancements for games.
If you don’t believe me just check out this one for yourself.
Oblivion Reloaded removes many of the graphical limitations that come embedded into the Oblivion core.
It basically sets free the post-processing aspect of Oblivion and adds a ton of new tweaks to nature, climate, and creatures. A must-have mod for the graphics enthusiast.
I think that one of the fantasies that many of us had when we played Oblivion for the first time was to rebuild the once-mighty city of Kvatch.
This mod doesn’t instantly rebuild it… but it does give you the chance to embark on a quest, and at its end, you’ll be able to fully rebuilt the city. And even become its new count (or countess)!
It truly turns the dead city of Kvatch into one of the best places you can visit in the game.
A lot of work surely went to this mod, as I remember this was just beginning to be created when I played in the late 2000s. And as of this writing the mod was last updated in 2019!
Are you looking to overhaul the natural environments of your game?
Well I think there’s no better way than installing the Unique Landscapes Mod.
It basically compiles many of the landscapes that have been created by modders through the years and it turns everything into a single mod that makes your game feel as alive as can be.
New waterfalls, fantastic new locations to explore, and many new small additions that turn the lands of Cyrodiil into a region that feels much more in-touch with nature as a whole.
This mod is the one to end all other skeleton mods in the game.
Before we proceed, let me just point out that that “skeleton” refers to the structure of characters in the game. It’s not about actual skeletons at all; but rather the models that define the physics of each character.
This mod won’t do anything by itself. But you’ll notice the difference if you happen to install mods that ad races that have wings, or stuff like that.
It basically makes all parts of the body capable of interacting with others and moving. A fantastic mod altogether with lots of custom options.
In terms of graphical enhancements, this one takes the biggest slice of the cake.
There are many mods that make the game’s graphics more beautiful, but I truly believe this one to be the best of the bunch.
Combine this amazing mod with the Landscapes mod that I just told you about, and throw in the flora and grass overhauls, and you’ll be set to embark on one of the most unique adventures of your virtual life.
The shaders do require you to have a solid computer though. So make your your graphics card is up to par.
It’s not fair that you always get to be a criminal in Oblivion.
I mean, even if you decide to live the purest of lives after the tutorial of the game, you’ll always have your reputation tainted for having been the one who broke out of the Imperial Prison when the game started.
This mod allows you to select how you start in Oblivion, as your character arrives by ship instead of breaking out of jail.
You can choose your race, your favorite attributes, and you can even select the type of person that you are (which defines how much money you start with).
It’s even your choice to select your wealth, which allows you to tweak the difficulty even further. A really fun mod with lods of replay value.
I’m adding this one to the list because it was the first mod that I ever tried out for Oblivion.
I remember it was extremely popular back in 2009, when it hadn’t even been updated to its latest version.
Boy, has it become better than I expected!
The mod adds almost 300 new spells to the game, all of which you can learn to turn yourself into one of the mightiest wizards to ever set foot on Cyrodiil. Mages rejoice!
Born in the first half of the 90s, video games have been a part of my life ever since I was introduced to Age of Empires I by my dad. I'm a Mass Communications graduate with a specialization in Marketing, as well as a hardcore gamer. My aim is to bring you quality content so you can get the best out of your games and take your experience to the next level!
