The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim has proven to be practically immortal in the fourteen years since its release. This partly comes down to Bethesda re-releasing the game over and over, although it is largely due to the modding community. Skyrim‘s modding community has a strong claim to being the best in gaming, and all aspects of the game have been improved dramatically.
This includes many of the overlooked settlements in the vanilla version of the game. Skyrim has many reused assets and many regions aren’t as special or as unique as their lore-accurate history would have many believe. Still, this is something that the modding community has improved, making Skyrim‘s exploration incredible even in 2025.
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RedBag’s Falkreath Makes Skyrim’s Southern Hold Unique
A True Woodland City
Falkreath hold is dense with woodland and deserves a capital that better reflects this. While the standard, re-used buildings and their straw roofs are fine, RedBag’s Falkreath on Nexus Mods gives Falkreath character. With carved-shaped wood and Viking-style knotwork, it brings the Norse aesthetic to Falkreath and helps set it apart from the rest of Skyrim.
RedBag also adds an arena to the area, allowing the player to challenge locals to duels. The locals themselves now live in an area that better fits into the surrounding woodlands, with the deer motif as part of the Hold’s sigil being used throughout. RedBag also does a similar mod for Rorikstead and has shown strong attention to detail with their mods.
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Cities of the North Make Lesser Holds Shine
Unique Tilesets To Set Them Apart
For those looking at trying to mod multiple locations at once, The Cities of the North project on Nexus Mods is perfect. It consists of four separate mods for Dawnstar, Morthal, Falkreath, and Winterhold, giving each a unique tileset to help the cities be distinguished. This includes exteriors and interiors and prevents these minor holds from all looking the same.
The locations of existing buildings largely remain the same, with a few additions here and there. It’s the perfect mod for those looking at something lighter for their load order while still helping the minor holds feel unique in ways they didn’t in the base game. It’s ideal for Vanilla+ modlists, especially without a beefy PC to play a fourteen-year-old game.
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The Quaint Hamlet of Soljund’s Sinkhole Makes A Forgotten Mine A Home
And Gives It Singular Architecture
It would be difficult for anyone to remember Soljund’s Sinkhole in vanilla Skyrim. It’s a relatively boring mine in The Reach, with the dungeon as part of the mine being the most memorable section, but The Quaint Hamlet of Soljund’s Sinkhole on Nexus Mods changes this. It gives the buildings unique architecture and makes the mine an actual settlement.
New NPCs and misc quests have been added to the area too, all being fully voice-acted. Pair this with new interiors, and Soljund’s Sinkhole goes from a boring mine to a memorable location in The Reach that is well worth a visit. It makes exploring The Reach feel that much more rewarding compared to the vanilla version of the game.
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Skyfall’s Fortified Morthal Makes It A True Town
Not Just A Village In A Swamp
