This is not a "black list" of mods. We're not S.T.E.P. We won't dictate what makes a mod "good" or "bad" or tell you what to put in your game or not (that said, actually S.T.E.P. is a great guide to read through for new comers).

We accept all mods as unique pieces of art. All mod authors are artist and all works greatly contribute to the modding community. We are thankful for each and every work of art.

As we say in our optimization guide, Skyrim's engine is weak. Sometimes tough mods when paired together are too much for the poor little puny engine that could not. By following the steps in our optimization guide and utilizing the memory patch mentioned in Chapter II, you should be good to go. But, if you are building your mod load around SoT and want to know which mods play nice with it which do not, then you have come to the right place.

The below mods are not evil/bad/horrible/poorly written/anything else negative one might think we are trying to say, but rather a list of resource intensive mods like SoT. As mentioned above, using the latest tools and tweaks pretty much puts Skyrim where it should have been from day one and stabilizes (almost) anything you can throw at it. So, these should be fine, but if you use lots of these and/or high-res texture packs then you are more likely going to encounter issues.

Also, CrushBoss (our optimization guru), has an insightful notice on mod count.
Click here to view it.

(Know this: any mod that uses cloaking scripts may affect performance.)

The mods listed below are ones that are known to not get along with SoT (in loads without the new memory patch). Still, many (if not most) of our users use one or more of these along with SoT just fine. It depends on if you optimize your game and also on your mod load as well as cpu specs. More advanced users will mostly likely be able to tweak everything to work, however newer users to the modding community should take caution when adding one of the following mods to a load order with SoT.

The list displays the name of the mod, as well as the reasoning as to why the mod may have issues playing nicely with SoT. Also, we have offered some suggestions in regards to the mod's settings which may help you.

Reasoning Key:

Cloaking Scripts - Scripts that run constantly around the player
Resource Demands - This is a vague category that includes any and all resources (scripts, memory, processing etc.)
FDT - Failed During Test (The mod did not function correctly when used in a SoT game during previous testing.)

Mod List (in no particular order):

Wet & Cold by Isoku
Reason: Cloaking Scripts/Resource Demands

Guidance:

• Disable player and NPC drip effects

• Disable 1st and 3rd person breath effects and NPC breath effects

• Disable creature support

• Set the "update interval" to its max

Frostfall by Chesko
Reason: Cloaking Scripts/Resource Demands

Guidance:

• Disable player drip effects

Lush Trees and Grass by OpticShooter
Reason: Resource Demands

Skyrim Floura Overhaul by vurt
Reason: Resource Demands

Enhanced Blood Textures by dDefinder1
Reason: Cloaking Scripts

Guidance:

• Disable Screen Blood Effects

• Set scripts to run every 5 to 6 seconds (from its default of 2.5)

Dragon Combat Overhaul by Apollodown
Reason: Resource Demands

Fire and Ice Overhaul by Apollodown
Reason: Resource Demands

Footprints by jonwd7
Reason: Cloaking Scripts/Resource Demands

Player Headtracking by Maegfaer
Reason: Cloaking Scripts/Resource Demands/FDT

Sounds of Skyrim - Civilization by Cliffworms
Reason: FDT

Run for Your Lives - by Arthmoor
Reason: Resource Demands

Guidance:

• Use a non-script alternative such as "NPCs Protected Redux" by blattgeist

When Vampires Attack by Arthmoor
Reason: Resource Demands

Guidance:

• Use a non-script alternative such as "No Vampire Attacks" by win2009

SkyTEST - Realistic Animals and Predators by etayorius
Reason: Resource Demands

Guidance:

• Use the light version

skyBirds by steve40
Reason: FDT

Burn Shock Freeze Effects by pauderek
Reason: Resource Demands

Lanterns of Skyrim by mannygt
(NOTE: This mod has NOT had any issues running along with SoT. It is only posted here so we can offer a friendly suggestion.)

Suggestion:

• Set script run time to every 180 seconds (rather than its default of 10) to help reduce script overhead.

Ultimate Follower Overhaul (UFO) by fLokii
Reason: FDT

Suggestion:

• Use instead either AFT or EFF as listed on our "Acclaimed Mods" subsite.

Locational Damage by Kahmul78
Reason: Resource Demands
(NOTE: This mod has not been updated in a very long time and is incredibly script intensive. Many people have claimed that by removing this mod, many of their symptoms were cured.)

ASIS by The ASIS Team
Reason: FDT

Guidance:
          Don't use many spawn mods at the same time. They stack with one another and cause everything from resource strain and script lag to unreasonable amounts of spawns. In short, use only SoT or ASIS, not both.

So, if you have one or more of the awesome mods listed above, you should consider adding in the memory patch as well as tweak your ini settings and the mod settings down if you haven't done so already. If that doesn't help you and you are still experiencing issues, disabling the above mod may be the only way to resolve your problem based on your unique mod load and system specs.

These mods are known to have issues when loaded with SoT. They still work, but cause strange anomalies for SoT.

Dead Body Collision Fix by LargeStyle
Problem: This mod will expose SoT's "spirits" (spawn points) letting the player see their actions and bump into them (when the player shouldn't actually know anything about them.)

Realistic Ragdolls and Force by dFinder1
Could "possibly" cause the same issues as listed above, however the verdict is still out on this one. Simply listing it here as a precaution.



Any and all high-res texture packs.
Problem: They drain your VRAM. Skyim is already barely slinking along with vanilla settings and adding script heavy mods to a game loaded with high-res textures pushes the engine over the edge. Many of the modding experts and respected authors have come to the same conclusion: It's either immersive and intense script mods or breathtaking beautification mods, but not both.
(We would just like to say right now that some of the texture packs available are absolutely stunning.)