Mods in video games have long been a way for fans to extend the life of their favorite games. Mods add content, overhaul the game's core functions, and improve things that the development team couldn't solve or couldn't figure out – at least, not without community help.
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No gaming series is more of a poster child for the lifetime-extending power of mods than the Elder Scrolls series. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was the first properly 3D game in the series, and while it was revolutionary for its time, it's a dated game in 2021. Luckily, the modding community for the game is as strong as ever. What are the best Morrowind mods that everyone should try?
Updated March 15, 2024 by Erik Petrovich: Whether you want to install new Morrowind Mods to short up the third Elder Scrolls' game's gameplay flaws or its far-from-modern graphics, there are lots and lots of options to choose from. Some of the best Morrowind mods can be taken in tandem with one another without conflict, like Morrowind Enhanced Textures or Beautiful Cities of Morrowind. But to get a really modern Morrowind, you may have to look beyond the game and to its sequel, Oblivion, for the Morroblivion mod. These three mods have been added to this list of the best Morrowind mods as examples of ways that the game can be completely transformed in 2024.
Installing Mods For Morrowind
One thing to keep in mind when installing Morrowind mods is that it is a two-decade-old game. As such, mod management tends to feel unintuitive and complex, and the original game wasn't made with modding in mind and tends to be pretty restrictive.
Different operating systems, editions of Morrowind, and even the game's launch location require different, additional steps interested modders should research before beginning to install mods.
Mod Managers
Using a mod manager is the best way to control and install mods in Morrowind. There are two main mod managers available: the Nexus Launcher and Wrye Mash. Mod managers allow a player to control the load order of addons, see real-time data on crashes to locate the problem, and a variety of other advanced functions. It's almost never a good idea to manually install must-have Morrowind mods.
- Nexus Launcher (Vortex): The easiest, but least complex, mod manager. Connects directly to the Nexus and offers direct download and installation. This is the easiest choice for beginners, but not too useful for some advanced or visual overhaul mods
- Wrye Mash: Not as newcomer-friendly as the Nexus Launcher but with many more features. Mods must be added to the launcher manually and it offers a lot more control to the player over installation, especially with very large mods.
Common Pre-Requisite Mods
There are a lot of mods that just about every game-altering addon requires. These mods must be sorted in the load order before their related addon so that the game can load script extensions, memory updates, and other basic alterations necessary for more complex mods to run.
- Morrowind Code Patch: A pre-requisite that most Morrowind mods use. Fixes bugs, scripts, data files, crashes, corruption problems, and other general coding errors.
- Morrowind Script Extender: Allows many mods to function, also improves game performance and functionality.
- Morrowind Graphics Extender: Fixes lots of visual issues and extends the visual functionality of Morrowind, including view distance and lighting.
- Morrowind Optimization Patch: Fixes many mesh errors in the game and improves performance across the board.
- MGE XE: Huge graphics and rendering-oriented mod used by mods that change weather, landscapes, or long-distance features.
15 Beautiful Cities of Morrowind
The Beautiful Cities of Morrowind mod is one of the best Morrowind mods because of just how extensively it overhauls Vvardenfell and beyond. Though it doesn't add any new content, Beautiful Cities of Morrowind adds details to every corner of every city and settlement (even camps), restores features from concept art not present in the game, and in all ways enhances one's immersion in this more than 20-year-old game.
All of the major cities in Morrowind get a major facelift with this addon, as well as almost every interior area in the game – practically all populated indoor and outdoor areas that could be improved, without running into conflicts, are improved.
Beautiful Cities of Morrowind Mod Prerequisites
- Beautiful Cities of Morrowind DLC Requirements: Bloodmoon, Tribunal
- Other Prerequisite Mods: Tamriel_Data, OAAB_Data
14 Morrowind Enhanced Textures (MET)
If you want to experience what makes Morrowind so unique amongst Elder Scrolls games without having to suffer the original game's two-decade-old graphics, MET is the mod for you. Arguably the best Morrowind texture mod, Morrowind Enhanced Textures upscales everything in the game to 16 times their original size.
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Created with the help of primitive AI upscaling tools back in 2018, Morrowind Enhanced Textures lets you see individual chain links in armor, turns faces from blurred blobs into recognizable people, and gives the game's environments a near-photographic quality. There are several versions that offer different levels of quality – but no matter how good the game's textures might look, it unfortunately won't increase the number of polygons on characters and objects.
Morrowind Enhanced Textures Mod Prerequisites
- Morrowind Enhanced Textures Mod DLC Requirements: None
- Other Prerequisite Mods: None
13 Morroblivion
Though technically not a Morrowind mod, Morroblivion combines the story and world of The Elder Scrolls III with the Oblivion game engine. A kind of sister mod to high-profile projects like Skyblivion and Skywind, Morroblivion is an impressive, nearly complete version of Morrowind playable with HD graphics.
Oblivion doesn't look great nowadays as a more than decade-old game itself. Still, it's exciting to revisit Vvardenfell with the game mechanics and combat systems of Oblivion, and despite being a work-in-progress for so long, it's a surprisingly complete experience from leaving Seyda Neen to downing Dagoth Ur.
Morroblivion Mod Prerequisites
- Morroblivion Mod Requirements: Must own Oblivion and all DLCs (Knights of the Nine, Shivering Isles), and Morrowind and all DLCs (Bloodmoon, Tribunal)
- Other Prerequisite Mods: None
12 Ashfall Survival Mod
Ashfall is a wide-ranging mod that changes a lot about the basic way Morrowind is played. Ashfall adds hunger, thirst, a sleep system, camping, cooking, weather effects, and other survival-oriented functions to an already difficult game.
It's the perfect addon for those who love to roleplay in the game, and it's fair enough that it doesn't feel out of place in the game's steep difficulty curve. If anything, getting used to the survival system makes a player get more used to the game's unrelenting nature.
Ashfall Survival Mod Prerequisites
- Ashfall Survival Mod DLC Requirements: Bloodmoon, Tribunal
- Other Prerequisite Mods: Morrowind Code Patch
11 Nerevar Stronghold
The Nerevar Stronghold addon gives players something sorely missing from the original game – a residence! This goes far beyond similar M orrowind mods than just spawning a simple home, though, instead giving the Nerevar their own stronghold complete with companions, guards, traders, and a manor.
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The Nerevar is one of the most powerful beings in Tamriel by the end of their adventure in Morrowind. This mod gives them a well-equipped fortress to return to after long adventures, which can be upgraded and altered throughout a normal playthrough.
Nerevar Stronghold Mod Prerequisites
- Nerevar Stronghold Mod DLC Requirements: Bloodmoon, Tribunal
- Nerevar Stronghold Prerequisite Mods: none
10 Tamriel Rebuilt
Tamriel Rebuilt adds a massive amount of content to the already huge game, in the form of allowing players to travel to the mainland of Tamriel, away from Morrowind. It's a huge overhaul that adds countless new zones, dungeons, and locale to the game.
The mod is based on in-game lore and dialogue that references the new locations but were never available in the base game. In addition to all of this, it features new questlines, new weapons and armor, new spells, and overhauls the combat mechanics. It's an all-in-one mod that reinvigorates the game with entirely new content.
Tamriel Rebuilt Mod Prerequisites
- Tamriel Rebuilt Mod DLC Requirements: Bloodmoon, Tribunal
- Tamriel Rebuilt Prerequisite Mods: Tamriel Data
9 Morrowind Graphics Extender
The Morrowind Graphics Extender mod gives access to multiple graphical improvements that will forever change the way you look at the surroundings of the third Elder Scrolls game. Most notably, it unlocks the view distance and allows players to see for much further distances.
Additionally, the mod comes packaged with better shaders, better lighting, and improved sunsets to add that extra layer of realism to this very old game. It won't make the game look like Skyrim, but it's a huge improvement over the game's old appearance that stays true to its roots.
Morrowind Graphics Extender Mod Prerequisites
- Morrowind Graphics Extender Mod DLC Requirements: Bloodmoon, Tribunal
- Morrowind Graphics Extender Prerequisite Mods: Morrowind Code Patch
8 Better Dialogue Font
The text in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is very difficult to read, almost as if it was meant to be read at a smaller font but had to be stretched. Luckily, the Better Dialogue Font makes all dialogue and readable text (such as in the Journal) much more legible.
Say goodbye to the minor headaches that accompany leaning into the screen to read what anybody says in this game. This mod simply replaces all the applicable text in the game with a higher resolution version, and it's available in multiple languages.
Better Dialogue Font Mod Prerequisites
- Better Dialogue Font Mod DLC Requirements: NONE
- Better Dialogue Font Prerequisite Mods: NONE
7 Morrowind Rebirth
Morrowind: Rebirth, like Tamriel Rebuild, is another total overhaul to the game – this time, though it doesn't let players access a new continent, it adds a lot of new content to the main continent. Every city, landscape, and dungeon is given better graphics and a total layout re-do. It's a Morrowind overhaul that's well worth installing.
Additionally, Morrowind: Rebirth balances out several aspects of the game and fixes bugs that were never removed from the game. It also adds new weapons, armor, dungeons, enemies, and spells, and a ton of other tweaks that make it feel like a completely new game.
Morrowind Rebirth Mod Prerequisites
- Morrowind Rebirth Mod DLC Requirements: Bloodmoon, Tribunal
- Morrowind Rebirth Prerequisite Mods: Morrowind Code Patch
6 Morrowind Comes Alive
Mods that enhance the sense of immersion in a game are unmatched, especially when re-visiting a game. Morrowind Comes Alive adds 1200 NPCs to every zone in the game, especially in cities, and gives the player many more interaction options.
The NPCs are randomized, so the player should theoretically never see two of the same person walking around. It gives every NPC a list of things to do, including traveling to other towns and entering shops. Morrowind can feel empty sometimes, and the way this mod breathes new life into the game is unparalleled.
Morrowind Comes Alive Mod Prerequisites
- Morrowind Comes Alive Mod DLC Requirements: Bloodmoon, Tribunal
- Morrowind Comes Alive Prerequisite Mods: NONE