The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion – 38 Best Mods, Ranked

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is considered by many to be one of the finest open-world western RPGs of all time. This game features a lush and diverse world coupled with some groundbreaking mechanics — for its time, at least — that have helped it garner a stellar reputation ever since its widely anticipated release. That being said, there’s no denying the fact that this Bethesda game hasn’t aged all that well, with most people using this title as a way to churn out memes and nothing else.

However, that’s not to say that Oblivion is completely unplayable. There are several ways in which this title can be rendered playable, mainly through the use of mods. Given how massive the modding community is for most Bethesda games, it’s easy to see why so many fans love downloading a wealth of fan-made fixes and content to make Oblivion as engaging and fun as possible for them. These mods tweak multiple aspects of Oblivion‘s gameplay to make it feel more modern and exciting for those who may find the game to be a bit dated at times.

Updated on March 23, 2025, by Rhenn Taguiam: Despite the age of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, it remains one of the most celebrated Bethesda titles after fully bringing the acclaimed fantasy franchise to the best realism could offer at the time – complete with a graphical marvel of an open world, fully-voiced cast, and a plethora of activities that really immersed players in Cyrodiil. However, players who want to play Oblivion today might encounter bugs and inefficient mechanics that can ruin the gameplay experience, which is why specific mods can be great additions to their playthrough. These include improvements on saves, character creation, scaling, and even overall graphical presentation.

38

Better Saves

Make Saves More Meaningful

Saving is an important aspect of any RPG, especially those where decisions can’t be backtracked and can haunt players throughout their playthrough. In the case of Oblivion gameplay where saves are plentiful but not a lot of things can be done with them, it can make things extremely confusing very fast. With Better Saves, players can reconfigure their approach to Oblivion saves with a more “cyclic” style of saves.

Thanks to this mod, players are now able to enjoy auto-created saves every five minutes and whenever they save the quick save keys. Using quick loads will now auto-load the last save, and saves are disabled during combat – especially during falls or when controls are disabled. This mod starts with three saves for consistency but could be configured to tailor the player’s needs.

37

Oblivion Character Overhaul Version 2

Finally Break Away From Generic Characters

Despite Oblivion wowing players as soon as they venture into the region of Cyrodiil, the game does have an infamous character creator known for rather wonky options. With Oblivion Character Overhaul Version 2, players now have the means to create more “modern” characters – at least, with the mod taking inspiration from the more streamlined character creation options from Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls: Online.

Players installing the mod will now enjoy more modernized characters that will retell the story of Oblivion but with the modern art style the series is more acquainted with today. On a technical level, all race and gender options have unique textures and head meshes as well as a new age slider and hair options to replace the original game’s. Modern character modeling conventions are now applied to the mod, making resulting characters much livelier to interact with.

36

Cyrodiil Re-Loaded

Get A Fresher Take On Cyrodiil

Players loved Oblivion for the unique depth it added not just to the world and visuals but also to lore and interactions, especially since this is the first game in the series to feature fully-voiced NPCs. Unfortunately, players who start a playthrough of Oblivion today might slowly realize its technical limitations – particularly its limited range of voice actors, rather weird NPC habits, and odd interactions. With Cyrodiil Re-Loaded, players have an opportunity to relive their Oblivion experience and experience it in a new light.

The mod overall features 50+ new NPCs, all of which – including older NPCs – receive hundreds of new voice lines. The mod also features new quests and storylines, complete with improved AI interactions to ensure more consistency with behaviors and quirks.

35

Oblivion Scaling Unclusterfucked

Downloads: 20,254

Despite the fanfare over Oblivion’s overall visual presentation and storytelling, the game does suffer from having one of the worst leveling mechanics throughout the entire Elder Scrolls franchise. After all, the game does auto-scale with the player’s level – ensuring players encounter much stronger enemies when they reach thresholds. Unfortunately, this leaves players with little room to adjust – and with Skills not giving them the best opportunities to get stronger, players are predisposed to be left more vulnerable than their enemies.

This all changes with Oblivion Scaling Unclusterfucked, with its biggest changes involving how loot is scaled across the game. Specific armor types such as Dwarven, Ebony, and Daedric are now located in handpick places in the game world – all for players to find out. Quests also reward players more appropriately, ensuring they don’t need to throw away loot from a quest that wastes a few hours of their time. Values and rarities of gems have been substantially raised to ensure getting them was worthwhile, and armor sets were made even rarer so players can enjoy finding them. The game also tweaks how players encounter monsters based on their level, and monsters appearing in appropriate locations.

34

Kragenir’s Death Quest

Downloads: 17,170

Fans who have played enough Elder Scrolls games know that it’s in the cities where all the latest buzz is at. While towns do have the occasional story and merchant, cities are filled with relevant NPCs and mysteries for players to tackle and enjoy. However, in a game like Oblivion where towns are spread across its cities, not having unique interactions inside these hamlets might make them feel rather unnatural and unnecessary. This is something Kragenir’s Death Quest tries to remedy.

Related

7 Details About Ardenfall That Should Excite Elder Scrolls Fans

Ardenfall is an upcoming, Morrowind-inspired RPG with player choices, exotic landscapes, and immersive world-building that TES fans should know about.

The quest in itself is straightforward: Kragenir’s Tower has been sealed by the Knights of the Silver Nose. However, its seals have weakened as time passes, and players have to find the keys to prevent their escape. The mod itself includes more than 100 new quests and quite a lot of dialogue, with extra quests not just in cities but even towns. Unlike other quests in the game, Kragenir’s Tower is quite the comical quest line, providing a breath of fresh air in Oblivion‘s grim overarching story.

33

Integration: The Stranded Light

Downloads: 2,011

Fans looking for a new story in their The Elder Scrolls experience often encounter them in DLC or additional content, which is what makes mods like Integration: The Stranded Light quite a surprising discovery. When installed, the mod provides the game with more than 80 quests that tackle all things regarding the lore. The mod is touted to exemplify player choices and consequences of their actions, making their decisions more meaningful and impactful to the game experience.

With The Stranded Light, franchise fans can expect a deeper appreciation of The Elder Scrolls lore as quests tackle not just a connection between Cyrodiil and the Shivering Isles but even mysteries behind factions, races, and even Daedric Princes.

32

Race Balancing Project

Downloads: 3,152

If lore across the Elder Scrolls series is to be believed, the races of Tamriel have quite a rich history and heritage – especially with interactions among themselves, their religions, and the life in their regions in general. As such, it’s become quite a bummer for some to realize that Oblivion‘s take on races positioned them more as aesthetic templates with some numerical and technical advantages and disadvantages. Thanks to the Race Balancing Project, players can get more out of their chosen race throughout their Oblivion experience.

With the Race Balancing Project, Races, and Birthsigns are now more balanced – allowing any Race to approach any gameplay style they want while having lore-accurate “effects” to certain aspects of their performances. Modifications to appearances are also expected from the mod, making appearances of every Race more unique and meaningful. Not only that, this mod also overhauls the Magicka system to involve spell cost progression, penalties when wearing armor, and more specific regeneration rules.

31

Less Annoying Magicka Experience (LAME)

Downloads: 4,767

When players encounter spells in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, they might not have as much “oomph” regardless of the variety cast – and this can make the endgame spellmaking feature quite a bummer if players can’t experience the full gravity of their customizations. This all changes with Less Annoying Magicka Experience (LAME), a magic system overhaul that changes a lot of the existing Magick rules in the game.

A huge chunk of the changes are tailored to make spells more impactful to gameplay, with modifications such as spellbook optimization, spell duration changes, and even spells that have completely different effects. LAME boasts more than 100+ new spells for players to try and enjoy, making magic a more enjoyable gameplay path for them to take.

30

NorthernUI (Oblivion Style)

Downloads: 39,075

Oblivion‘s UI isn’t the greatest, but fans can live with it since it doesn’t come in the way of the overall package. However, those who just like a cleaner interface or are playing this game for the umpteenth game can go for a UI upgrade that makes the title look more polished than ever before.

Related

Oblivion: The Best Graphics Mods You Need To Install

These mods can leave Oblivion looking like it’s a game that was just released yesterday.

A simple UI upgrade can do wonders for a game’s presentation, and this can be seen when players download the NorthernUI mod for Oblivion. The game’s menus are certainly more tolerable, making it easy on the eyes of those who are worried about the title’s dated presentation. It’s certainly not a critical mod that players must download, but it serves as an alternate option that fans can check out if they’ve played the vanilla game to death and don’t mind changing things up a bit.

29

Voices For Female Dremora NPCs

Downloads: 59,031

The Dremora is an aggressive race that players will encounter many times in Oblivion. This Daedric species will serve as a thorn in the protagonist’s side every step of the way, trying to hunt them down and end their lives whenever gamers wander into the world of Oblivion. While this species is pretty tough in its own right, one thing that irritates players is the fact that there are no female Dremora in the game.

Thankfully, many mods add multiple female models of the Dremora, making the title feel more fleshed-out and sensible. However, none of these Dremora have a proper voice, which can break immersion to an extent. This all-purpose mod adds a bunch of voices for female Dremora, which goes a long way in making their inclusion feel more natural in the game.

28

Through The Valleys Collection

Downloads: 83,367

Modding games can be pretty fun, but the act of downloading every mod one by one can become a downright chore after a point. This can make for a rather annoying time, but players can alleviate these issues by downloading curated mod collections where other people have done the work for them. One such collection is labeled Through the Valleys and serves as a great combination of fun mods that players can download to enhance their Oblivion experience.

Related

Elder Scrolls Game Tier List

The Elder Scrolls 6 is likely still far off, and the rich history that preceded it has seen several ups and downs prior to Skyrim’s success.

This mod preserves the original aesthetic of the game, making it perfect for those who have never played it before or purists who don’t appreciate changes that take too many liberties with the art style. It’s a painless way to mod the game that most people will have a great time with.

27

Ascension – Immersive Vanilla ‘Overhaul’

Downloads: 142,307

Oblivion is a fun game, but it’s far from balanced. Leveling feels like punishment, and players can become extremely wealthy in no time at all if they’re slightly diligent about looting. So, most players probably wouldn’t mind a mod that brings a bit more balance to the game’s systems.

This mod is perfect for those looking for a muted change to Oblivion without tinkering too much with the core aspects of the game. Players who want to preserve the vanilla experience while refining some rough edges will be pleased with what this minor overhaul mod brings to the table.

26

Creature Spawn Chance Fix

Downloads: 189,945

There are times when players explore certain areas in Oblivion only to find them devoid of any life, which can suck the joy out of the game’s exploration aspect. This is because Oblivion has a rather odd system when it comes to spawning creatures. After players load a cell, a single roll will determine whether all creatures or none of them are spawned. This is a bug that is fixed with one of the best Oblivion mods players can get their hands on.

This mod ensures that each roll that governs the chance for a creature to spawn is generated individually whenever a cell is loaded. In layman’s terms, this ensures that locations are organically populated whenever players explore the land of Cyrodil, allowing for a natural inflow of enemies that gamers can encounter during their travels without the world feeling too plentiful or devoid of creatures with no middle ground.

25

Natural And Atmospheric Oblivion

Downloads: 199,309

Given how exploration is a huge part of what makes Oblivion special, it’s easy to see why so many players would love a mod that enhances the weather in the game. This is especially important for those who have played through this game before and would like a change of pace.

The Natural and Atmospheric Oblivion mod is a huge boon for these players. Not only does it redo the vanilla weather states present in the game to make the skybox even prettier, but it also adds extra weather patterns that make exploration feel even more engaging. It’s a simple yet refreshing way to make the moment-to-moment gameplay even more engaging, coaxing many players to clock in another playthrough.

24

OBL Mod Limit Fix

Downloads: 221,072

It’s easy to go overboard and download a wealth of the best Oblivion mods (both minor and major) that augment the experience. However, players must keep in mind that the Gamebyro engine is dated and unstable, meaning that there’s a huge chance that a gamer’s copy of Oblivion will become unstable if they don’t take preventive measures to ensure that the engine doesn’t buckle under the weight of all the mods.

This is where the OBL Mod Limit Fix comes into the picture, ensuring that players can increase the number of plugins Oblivion‘s Gamebyro engine can process while loading up the game. It’s a simple mod but one that is crucial for players who don’t want to limit themselves and miss out on some of the best Oblivion mods that can completely change their experience with this legendary game for the better.

23

Balanced NPC Level Cap

Downloads: 242,314

Oblivion‘s level scaling feature was meant to maintain a consistent level of challenge as players explored the world and leveled up. However, the unexpected by-product of this mechanic was that progression felt like a punishment at times, with non-optimal leveling choices leading to enemies completely obliterating the player at higher levels.

To avoid this unnecessary frustration, players can download a mod that ensures that the NPCs in the game don’t end up reaching astronomically high levels. This helps the game feel more sensible, especially since players won’t be struggling against run-of-the-mill enemies even after attaining the best equipment and stats.

22

Balanced Creature Stats

Downloads: 256,131

There’s a wide variety of creatures that players will encounter during their adventures in Oblivion. As one would expect, the difficulty of these creatures increases over time, but players at ridiculously high levels will be frustrated that these monsters somehow pose even more of a challenge to them because of the broken level-scaling mechanic.

Related

Oblivion: 7 Creatures With Grand Souls (And Where To Find Them) For The Most Potent Enchantments

Players looking to secure the best enchantments in Oblivion should seek the following creatures with Grand Souls.

To avoid this frustration altogether, players can just download a mod that ensures certain creatures don’t level up past a certain point. This helps things feel more realistic, especially since pathetic monsters won’t be able to boss players around at higher levels anymore, which should’ve always been the case.

21

Oblivion Rebirth Collection

Downloads: 352,139

Those who have played through Oblivion multiple times and want to enjoy this game with a fresh coat of paint will love what the Oblivion Rebirth Collection brings to the table. It overhauls the visuals of the game while both adding and tweaking numerous facets of the title’s gameplay, allowing for a new and engaging experience.

This mod adds new locations for players to explore, a revamped magic system, better leveling, improved stability, and visuals that look great. It’s a great collection that fans can download if they want to enjoy the best version of Oblivion in modern times without having to face the hassle of selecting the best mods and downloading them one at a time in a pretty painstaking and lengthy fashion.

20

Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul

Downloads: 411,252

This mod completely changes one’s experience with Oblivion, making it a mod that only players who have completed the game before should try out. Not only does it change the structure of the game itself, but it also makes the combat more challenging and tactical.

Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul is one of the most popular mods for the game, and it’s easy to see why this is the case. The early game might seem downright impossible at times, but those who get the hang of things will enjoy the added challenge and other such differences brought about by this mod.

19

Beautiful People

Downloads: 504,938

Regardless of how much people may love Oblivion, there’s no denying the fact that most of the characters present in this world are extremely ugly. Most faces are too round, plain, and downright uninteresting to look at.

Related

Best Final Missions In Elder Scrolls Games

The ending of a game, particularly an RPG, is hugely important, and the Elder Scrolls games are all about producing big finales in the last missions.

To remedy this situation, players can download one of the best mods for Oblivion: the Beautiful People mod. It enhances the faces of everyone in Oblivion to make them less of an eyesore, with some faces being a treat to look at, too.