Description

The Problem:

Many shouts are completely unbalanced and not worth using in Vanilla Skyrim. Some shouts become less worthwhile with additional words, some are never worth using because their cooldowns are just too high, and some aren't worth using in the first place AND become worse with additional words (see examples below). In addition, shout cooldowns are too high overall. Shouts take so long to recharge that it barely matters if the dragonborn forgets to use them in a fight, because they wouldn't have made much difference anyway. Shouts should be an integral part of the player's arsenal, but for that to happen the cooldowns have to be reduced.

Example 1: Vanilla Fire Breath deals 50 damage with a 30 second cooldown for the first word (1.7 DPS) but only 90 damage with a 100 second cooldown (0.9 DPS) for the third word! There is no reason to ever use more than the first word of vanilla Fire Breath. You could use the first word twice for the same amount of damage as the three word combo in less time. Fire Breath is also too weak and not worth using compared to other shouts, as 2 staggers from the first word of Unrelenting Force for example are much more valuable than 50 damage from the first word of Fire Breath in the same cooldown time. This mod adjusts Fire Breath so the progression goes 4.2 DPS -> 4.7 DPS -> 5 DPS, increasing its utility and making each additional word worth using.

Example 2: Vanilla Kyne's Peace has a cooldown of 40 seconds for one word, up to 60 seconds for three words. Vanilla Unrelenting Force has a cooldown of 15 seconds for one word, up to 45 seconds for three words. Relative to Unrelenting Force, Kyne's Peace is not worth using. It is just about never worth it to lock yourself into a 40-60 second cooldown to pacify animals around you, when you could use the first word of Unrelenting Force 3-4 times in the same time span to stagger ANY type of enemy on demand. This mod reduces the Kyne's Peace cooldown relative to Unrelenting Force to fix this problem.

The Solution:

This mod lowers and balances the cooldowns for all shouts except Dragonrend, because it is already balanced with this mod's cooldowns. While other mods exist to lower shout cooldowns, this mod focuses on keeping all of the shouts as balanced as possible relative to each other. The cooldowns are also kept high enough that Amulets of Talos and Blessings of Talos do not become overpowered when the dragonborn uses them.

Vanilla Cooldown - Shout Name - Modded Cooldown

15, 20, 45 - Unrelenting Force - 12, 16, 25
40, 45, 50 - Dismay - 20, 25, 35
20, 25, 35 - Whirlwind Sprint - 10, 12, 15
20, 30, 40 - Become Ethereal - 15, 20, 25
30, 40, 50 - Elemental Fury - 15, 20, 25
5, 10, 15 - Clear Skies - 5, 8, 12
30, 50, 100 - Fire Breath - 12, 15, 18
5, 5, 300 - Call Dragon - 5, 5, 120
30, 45, 60 - Slow Time - 20, 25, 30
180, 180, 180 - Call of Valor - 45, 45, 45
30, 50, 100 - Frost Breath - 12, 15, 18
50, 60, 70 - Animal Allegiance - 20, 25, 30
30, 40, 50 - Aura Whisper - 10, 15, 20
20, 30, 40 - Marked for Death - 10, 15, 20
300, 480, 600 - Storm Call - 120, 180, 240
40, 50, 60 - Kyne's Peace - 15, 20, 25
30, 15, 5 - Throw Voice - 15, 10, 5
60, 90, 120 - Ice Form - 30, 40, 50
30, 35, 40 - Disarm - 15, 20, 25
5, 5, 300 - Summon Durnehviir - 5, 5, 120
5, 5, 90 - Soul Tear - 5, 5, 40
30, 60, 90 - Drain Vitality - 15, 25, 35
10, 90, 120 - Bend Will - 10, 45, 60
30, 45, 60 - Cyclone - 20, 25, 35
20, 30, 40 - Battle Fury - 12, 16, 20

Compatibility/Load Order

Compatible:
-Mods that do not affect shouts
-Mods that only add shouts, without touching vanilla shouts
-Mods that only affect draugr shouts, as this mod does not touch draugr shouts
-Mods that only affect Dragonrend or Dragon Aspect, as this mod does not touch Dragonrend or Dragon Aspect

Not Compatible:
-Mods that alter vanilla shouts, such as Thunderchild. If you want Thunderchild's additional shouts with my tweaks to vanilla shouts, load this mod below Thunderchild in your load order.

My other mods

If you like this mod, feel free to check out my other mods:

Faster Destruction Leveling

Magicka Cost Level Scaling

Forged Midnight - Nightingale Armor Texture

Fully Improvable Nightingale Armor