Requiem is a mod that claims to make Skyrim more immersive and challenging. I grabbed my old Skyrim (this mod doesn?t work with the new Special Edition of Skyrim), installed various cosmetic mods and finally installed Requiem. Absolutely none of the other mods alters the gameplay and I didn?t mess with Requiem options to play exactly as planed by the author.
Installing Requiem is not very easy, but is not that difficult either. Assuming you have Java run-time 8 installed it?s only a matter to fallow the instructions. The important thing it?s to adjust the load order manually because the program LOOT doesn?t do a good job with Requiem, but the Reqtificator program tells you if anything is wrong. I installed ?Alternate Start? (at the end of load order but before Reqtificator patch: ?Requiem for the Indiferent.esp?) and didn?t had any problems, compatibility patch was not necessary. But I had to be careful with other mods, especially with children NPC, I tried to install RS Children and had a lot of texture problems, but I didn?t try with the Requiem compatibility patch though. Any mod that change witch clothes an NPC is wearing (general replacers don?t have this problem), can make the NPC naked or with only underwear. I installed a mod to modify Babette apparence and had to edit manually the patch created with Reqtificator to give her some clothes even after placing it?s name at the config file for Reqtificator. Since she is marked as a child she never apear without underwear, but it?s weird not giving her any clothes.
My character is a Rogue/Wizard with powerful close range attacks and conjurer spells but not good defense. With this character requiem is difficult and easy at the same time, difficult for most part. Many bosses are too powerful to even try, others I spend hours at the same pattern to inflict very little damage and managing to stay alive, saving basically at every hit. Most enemies, even basic wolfs can kill me in two or three hits. With time I could defeat a lot of enemies conjuring a wolf or a hound to take damage for me while I defeat the enemy in two or three hits. It?s a satisfying combat system, I use a wizard robe instead of an armor to have enough mana to conjure a creature two times in a row and run for a third or forth time.
It?s fun for most part, but it?s not for everyone. Everything at default Requiem requeres patience and some strategy. You don?t have fast travel, money and arrows have weight. I had to constantly managing my inventory and save money to travel on carriages. The first dragon took me several hours just hiding and hitting the dragon with weak fireballs and lightning sparks. When I was finally done with de dragon I run back and forth to Whiterun carrying the dragon remains for profit.
I started the adventure getting out of the prison, but not the ?Vanilla? start, I simply run out of ?Alternate Start? prison avoiding death by the ghosts and jump of the cliff into the river. It?s an easier way to gain some experience before fighting the first dragon. Requiem world doesn?t evolve with the player, every enemy type have a fixed level, bandits become easier to deal with time. But I felt that I encounter more high level enemies after I evolve so the game never stops to challenging me. On the other hand when I travel by foot I feel more comfortable defeating the animals on the way, I still save every time since with my build enemies always hit hard.
I love the perk system of Requiem, makes much more sense than vanilla Skyrim. Light Armor proficiency was changed to Evasion, and it covers clothes as well so I don?t have to be stuck with a particular set to get a better defense, and it focus on hit and run tactic so light armor priorizes movement and makes power attacks more powerful when heavy armor priorizes defense. Lock picking perk is now mandatory and I have to spend more time and some points to be capable of picking Adept or higher locks, it?s slow and I even have a quest I can?t complete but it really gives a sense of progress, ?vanilla? lock piking perks were worthless so I really like it. Stealth becomes more difficult and it?s almost impossible to make a pure stealth gameplay without spend many points in this category, and even then is very difficult to be stealth at open areas. It?s exciting trying to be stealth and suddenly having to kill everyone because I blew my cover.
Magic recoveries very slow, and health don?t recover instantly with a spell anymore, so I have to be very careful and sometimes evading enemies for an eternity. The bad side it?s some battles can take hours to finish, the good side is that I finally have a purpose to use that robe that recharges mana at 250% rate instead of a full armor set. Most of the time I have to think of a way to lure a few enemies at a time instead of facing everyone at the some time. When it?s one powerful enemy I have to evade him for a long time between each conjuring so I don?t get hit.
Some perks are difficult to evolve, like restoration. I only use healing aura, this spell only makes your health recover very slowly and last a long time so I don?t have to keep using it. And pick pocketing is a little easier than vanilla, I get 30% chance with thief boots even without any perks, but I never keep evolving it at Skyrim because is something that is based on pure luck, so I always save before try and find a bit tedious count on pure luck to do anything.
Requiem is a very good overhaul, it?s an attempt to bring old school mechanics to Skyrim and succeeds on that, but you have to spend a good time and effort especially at first hours of gameplay, is definitively only for hardcore players. I recommend only if you?re like me that already spend hours at this game and wants a new challenge refusing to let go this wonderful world of Skyrim. Think of this as a ?new game plus?, with new mechanics at the same world that you already love. If you don?t like Skyrim, Requiem will not change your opinion, but if you already turned Skyrim upside down exploring every corner of this world and are familiar with mods I definitively recommend it.
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For those who wants to replicate my screenshot the mods are: ?Unofficial Skyrim Patch?, ?HHairstyles?, ?Tetrachromatic ENB?, ?XP32 Maximum Skeleton Extended?, ?HDT Bounce and Jiggles UNP? (reduced TBBP_Belly option), ?Spice Gear Collection and Minidresses HDT for SMWO?, ?BodySlide UUNP HDT Minidresses Collection?, ?MRB ? MJ?s Realistic Body?, ?Fair Skin Complexion?, ?FNIS?, ?BodySlide and Outifit Studio? (to adjust the clothes for MRB body), ?Poser Hotkeys? and ?Halo?s Poser? (for this kung fu fighter pose ^_^).
I loved MRB body because it?s more realistic with less exaggerated proportions than SMWO that I used as a base. It?s not an easy setup but the results are very good for my taste and the body physics are very natural. You have to open BodySlide and do a ?Batch Build? using UNP Special and MRB preset for all bodies and armors, then after everything done run FNIS application to enable the body physics and avoid crashing.
I installed ?Fair Skin? for a less muscular body, since it suits better my current character. The only environment mod is ?Tetrachromatic ENB?, you have to fallow the instructions to install this ENB and I didn?t feel necessary to isntall any other lighting, climate or texture mods. This mod is intended to work without any lighting or climate mods and texture mods don?t make huge difference for me. I preferred to not mess too much with lighting in this setup since Requiem is already difficult, other ENB?s and most of lighting mods tend to make the game very dark and I didn?t want to have to deal with torches that would make stealth and combat even more difficult at dungeons even with wearable lanterns it?s not easy to deal with dark in these mods.
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