Modders have put an awful lot of effort into making sure Skyrim has continually evolved and expanded in the years since it was first released into the world.
Many have focused on changing the game by overhauling iconic locations, creating fresh mechanics, or simply adding interesting details that can make the province feel more alive to it, with a few even going as far as re-creating areas from previous Elder Scrolls games or attempting a little bit of satire.
If you prefer to play using the third-person camera, rather than always viewing Tamriel from the point-of-view of your Dragonborn, but sometimes find this puts you at a disadvantage in battle, a new mod might be worth adding to your load order.
Wish you could play Skyrim in third-person without making ranged combat more difficult?
The mod in question is called ‘Third Person First Person Aiming’, and is the work of modder Zzyxzz, whose previous work has stopped Skyrim’s dramatic combat music from interrupting your pleasant fantasy vibes and made Fallout 4’s power armour better at stopping bullets and lasers.
This time, they’ve decided to create a means by which those who prefer being able to see the effort that’s gone into designing their character at all times, but find this makes certain combat scenarios a bit trickier to negotiate, can enjoy the best of both worlds when it comes to Skyrim’s camera options.
The mod does this by giving you the ability to set up particular points, such as when you’re aiming a ranged spell or have just drawn your bow, at which the game will automatically switch to the first-person view, before returning to third-person once this action is complete.
It does this with some help from the Skyrim Script Extender and Parapets’ ‘MCM Helper’, both of which will allow you to tweak the exact scenarios or actions that trigger the swap from first-person to third-person to suit your personal preferences via a simple menu.
Currently, there are a couple of teething issues with the mod, such as it having some difficulty remembering your custom camera distance setting when switching back to third-person and not being able to handle two-handed spells, but Zzyxzz looks to already have plans to resolve these via future updates.
They also seem open to adding more features to the mod based on suggestions from fellow players.
Regardless of whether you’re now loading up your stealth archer build to test out this mod, make sure to follow us for more updates on The Elder Scrolls 6 and the interesting world of Skyrim modding.
You can also check out our mods of the month for January 2023 or our new series where we delve into the rich history of The Elder Scrolls 5’s setting: