Which version of Skyrim is the best for modding? Legendary, Anniversary, and Special Edition compared

The continued relevancy of Skyrim in the current day and age owes a great deal to the modding community. On the other hand, its impact on gaming and popular culture is also intertwined with its memetic value. The longevity of its shelf life has to do with the fact that it keeps getting added back to the shelf. The rapid re-release of the game has become an overused meme by itself.

Some would argue that Skyrim being ported to all the latest platforms - such as tabletop - is not necessarily bad. But this can cause some unnecessary learning woes for those looking to get into modding the game,

On PC alone, there are three versions of the game:

• Legendary Edition (2013), the original 32-bit Skyrim, clubbed with all three of its big DLC expansions
• Special Edition (2016), featuring an overhauled lighting system and 64-bit engine, also with the DLCs.
• Anniversary Edition (2021), Special Edition with a huge collection of official Creation Club Content.

Almost no mod other than basic textures are compatible between the first two due to the engine change, and moreover, even Special and Anniversary Editions have modlist migration issues.

---

Which edition of Skyrim should you get for modding: Special vs Anniversary Edition?

Legendary Edition

By process of elimination, Skyrim Legendary Edition is an outdated relic if you want to mod the game comprehensively. The old 32-bit engine is much less stable at baseline than the upgraded Special Edition.

Moreover, the modding community has almost completely migrated to Special Edition now. Very few Legendary Edition mods are left that do not have a better Special Edition alternative.

Special Edition vs Anniversary Edition: Extra Content

Now for the big dilemma: Special Edition or Anniversary Edition? The modding compatibility between the two versions has two fronts.

The most obvious change is that Anniversary Edition adds 74 extra plugins (.esp files). Together, they change many in-game records - most importantly worldspace changes, leveled lists (i.e. what appears on the loot tables), and actors (non-playable characters).

While they will not outright cause the game to crash, they can potentially cause a number of inconveniences. The worldspace and actor edits are very minor and can, at most, cause quests to bug out. The huge variety of added content, however, will mess with the game balance of your modlist. In 2023, most mod authors are vigilant about these changes and release patches depending on the severity of conflicts.

The creation club mods Fishing, Rare Curios, Saints and Seducers, and Survival Mode have been made completely free and ships with the base Special Edition since November 2021. Even the Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch now requires them, so consider them as good as part of the base game.

Special Edition vs Anniversary Edition: Game Version

Many modding essentials in this game depend on the unofficial script extender, or SKSE64. The version of SKSE has to match the version of the Skyrim executable you are currently running. For example, at the time of writing this article, the latest version of the game is 1.6.640 on Steam and 1.6.659 on GOG. While SKSE64 versions are available for both, many SKSE-dependent mods are yet to be updated to the latest release.

For all intents and purposes, the best idea is to return to the pre-anniversary update version of Skyrim, 1.5.97. Better yet, you can use the downgrade patcher to get the best of both worlds: all the anniversary content and the 1.5.97 executable, supported by almost all mods.