This mod is the release of a mod developed by me initially for the Legendary Edition, now available here also for the Special Edition and Anniversary Edition versions of Skyrim. The .esp is converted to Form 44 format, and all the .NIFs (meshes) and .DDSs (textures) are optimized in the correct ways to run in both SE and AE, requiring absolutely no further work on your part.
When possible, my releases to SE and AE are flagged as .ESLs, which means they don't take up an .ESP slot in the users load order. However, this is not always possible. Below, you can check the three possible scenarios and check which scenario applies to this specific release. Since the other two will be crossed out, and the correct one will be marked in yellow:
The mod is flagged as .ESL, so it won't take up space in your load order, and yet it will be read and executed perfectly by your game;
The mod is not flagged as .ESL, just like a normal .ESP, because it has FaceGen data on it, so if it was flagged, whoever is not using the last official updates for SE or AE, including most pirated Skyrim users, will have the NPCs added by this mod having the gray face bug. However, if you have the latest update installed, you can flag this mod as an .ESL using SSEEdit, at your own risk, but generally with no problems;
The mod is not flagged as .ESL, just like a normal .ESP, as it requires the use of .SEQ files. In all the tests I did, even regenerating the .SEQ files after flagging the .ESPs as .ESLs, the dialogues stopped working. So, to maintain the integrity of dialogues and even quests added by my mods with .SEQ files, you should not attempt to flag this file under any circumstances, and you should use it in the exact way I made it available for download.
One last comment: there is a common misconception that all LE meshes need to go through NifOptimizer in order to be used in SE or AE, with the most varied arguments defending this, and a few absurdities about what would happen if it wasn't done. This is just another one of the myths that this community believes without any basis, and that it spreads only because it saw many people repeating the same thing. DO NOT OPTIMIZE meshes, neither mine nor any from other mod's. Most meshes are ready to run directly from LE to SE. NifOptimizer should only be used in cases where they DO NOT WORK DIRECTLY WITHOUT BEING OPTIMIZED. Using NifOptimizer indiscriminately without need, and without knowing how to do it correctly, leads to terrible consequences, being able to damage UV's, Normal Maps, the very 3d structure of the models, and much more, in short, causing more problems than the possible problems you could have with 1 in every 100 meshes needing to be optimized, something you would later do manually and individually when proven necessary. JUST DON'T PASS MESHES THROUGH THE NIF OPTIMIZER EXCEPT IF THEY JUST DON'T WORK IN THE SPECIAL EDITION OR ANNIVERSARY EDITION AFTER YOU TESTED THEM YOURSELF FIRST. It's a fact that yes NifOptimizer can solve problems in problematic Nifs, but in this case, and if these Nifs are mine, just contact me and I'll solve the problem for you. If you have really in-depth knowledge of how to correct any negative consequences of using the program on the problematic mesh, that's ok, do it, but if not, just contact me and I'll solve it, since the nif having the problem would be caused by a little oversight of mine while I was producing it, so would be my responsability to fix the problem as well.Unfortunately, because the use of NifOptimizer was recommended in many tutorials as a possible step, a lot of people took it as mandatory, and many fools started to use it as gospel and to convince others, but remember, it's not because it's on the internet that is real. There is absolutely NO such thing as an "old nif format". NiTriShape works perfectly in SE and AE, it is NOT necessary in any way to convert the .nifs to BSTriShape format for them to run smoothly in game, and this messy conversion can even lead you to severe ingame problems. Unfortunately, 3 or 4 paranoids managed to create a legion of players who live in constant panic of corrupting their games, and in an attempt to avoid it, they end up diving into a corruption many times greater, created by themselves, unnecessarily.But don't just take my word for it based on my years of experience and dedication to this activity, listen to Arcane University's own words about it, possibly the best center of studies on modding for The Elder Scrolls available on the internet: (image extracted from the link: https://wiki.beyondskyrim.org/wiki/Arcane_University:NIF_Data_Format)
Play more, have more fun, and let the authors be responsible for the technical condition and functionality of the mods they release. And if you don't trust them enough to use mods without trying to fix what often doesn't need to be fixed, just stop using those mods. Take care, and if you have any doubts, look for me on my Discord server, Mihail
My question is, how did you get these NPCs to fight on horseback by default, but nobody else has figured out how to make other NPCs work with mounted combat? Great mod btw.
I wonder if the difficulty patch still works with it.
Edit: I finally encountered them, and they were in fact, not weak and were consistently one shotting me through heavy plate at level 30. They do die easily enough though, very glass cannon. So overall I say these are fantastic. They look and feel like part of the game, are placed in great spots, create interesting and fantastic fights- but they hit very very very hard. There are some areas where it places too many spawns of them which is a problem, but if not for that I think they would be fine for a high difficulty challenge enemy. The two before the labyrinthian dragon boss for example- that felt good. The small army of them attacking you during said dragon fight? Not so much. They out DPS the boss so it was essentially impossible without parry mods.
there is no need of a difficulty patch, friend, they allways were relatively weak enemies. except of course if the load order of the user is full of combat mods that mess with modded enemies.
This. It fits the theme though. As draugr they're not particularly tanky but they are kinda charging you on horseback. Was not expecting their dmg the first time I came up against them lol.
worksa, are you playing with combat or difficulty mods? at lvl 10 they are not able to kill me easely, much less when i am on lvl such as 30. their damage is indeed low, well, low as a draugr mounted on a horse can realistic be, but indeed low, is a thing you can literally check on their settings, on tesedit, it is not a matter of opinion. also, if you are playing on legendary edition, then i may believe they can turn into very difficult foes, because even a wolf does, but legendary edition is a non-lore friendly difficulty, where nothing makes sense, neither is realistic. in my personal opinion, skyrim ends in master difficulty, legendary is just artificial difficulty that turns the game into a bad experience.
since i believe images speak louder than words, lets analyse together the stats of the horsemen:
Starting with the weapons, as you can see the Glaive they use causes basically same damage of a Draugr Greatsword used by Draugrs all the time, just 1 point more because is a stronger weapon with bigger reach;
They have no natural damage, so the attacks only cause the damage that the weapon has as damage value. As you can see, most attacks keep the 18 dmg points, and the main ones duplicate it, like the horse stomp, so on these you get 36 points of damage, what is still low even for lower characters and those power attacks are easely avoidable;
As enemies they start at lvl 13, and scale to you untill lvl 35, so at lvl 30 you are facing Draugr Cavalry of lvl 30, to maintain the challenge, like vanilla Draugr do. Their stats are a relative combination of what the stats of a draugr and a draugr horse together would have, and at their weaker state they are comparable in health to a bear, that stands at lvl 12 in vanilla.
As you can see, except if you use lots of mods changing difficulty, or if you are playing on Legendary Edition where nothing makes sense, they are indeed pretty weak, or at least pretty average, enemies to face in the world.
Dude, I literally went through the Labyrinthian last night, and they were not fun to deal with (during the boss fight) lmao.
If I didn't have a follower and a dog, its really impossible (or nearly impossible) to beat alone. They're really strong and ironically were a bigger problem than the boss dragon. The dodge mods help me have a better chance at evading but man it was really difficult.
Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the cavalry encounters I find outside. They're nicely made
Just for extra context I don't have mods that increase their health and damage but they hit really hard and fast considering I had no mods that alter their stats. The only combat mod I have is MCO and Valhalla Combat, so they don't adjust health and damage
edit: Apparently they have a natural perk which gives them increased damage so I suppose that's why they hit a lot harder than normal despite the weapon stats you showed earlier, which is found at the npc itself and not the race; plus their speed makes it even scarier when dealing with them in Labyrinthian fashion
the perk is just a muliplier that oscilates between 1,75 to 2,5, friend. if the base damage of the cavalry is 18, the multiplication results in values around 40, around the same of a vanilla bear, nothing special. the only one that has base damage of 40, that can be increased via perk to around 70/80 is the horse stomping, extremely easy to avoid because how long it takes to be executed, and its still a very normal value.
are you playing on legendary? if yes, i strongly suggest returning to lower lvls, there all stuff goes crazy and non-immersive, regarding damage values and stuff such as that.
I've installed the mod and completely forgotten about it, had a great brick laying moment later when I got charged by a bunch of these mad lads. they're delightfully terrifying
you gat a good fantasty i realy like your iders and your monsters its a most hav for me cant wait to find them, i like the ider off bigger monsters with defrend fighting stiles where you hav to think and find out how to beat them, im tirred of mobs that just gets more life and hit hardere, that dont make it more fun just borring, but here you gat mobs where you feel small and they new so i dont know whats going to happen, after i build my skyrim up over 10 years and im going to play it for the first time, this its just a good estre thing to hav to fill out some fo the game ty for the great mods
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The mod is not flagged as .ESL, just like a normal .ESP, because it has FaceGen data on it, so if it was flagged, whoever is not using the last official updates for SE or AE, including most pirated Skyrim users, will have the NPCs added by this mod having the gray face bug. However, if you have the latest update installed, you can flag this mod as an .ESL using SSEEdit, at your own risk, but generally with no problems;The mod is not flagged as .ESL, just like a normal .ESP, as it requires the use of .SEQ files. In all the tests I did, even regenerating the .SEQ files after flagging the .ESPs as .ESLs, the dialogues stopped working. So, to maintain the integrity of dialogues and even quests added by my mods with .SEQ files, you should not attempt to flag this file under any circumstances, and you should use it in the exact way I made it available for download.JUST DON'T PASS MESHES THROUGH THE NIF OPTIMIZER EXCEPT IF THEY JUST DON'T WORK IN THE SPECIAL EDITION OR ANNIVERSARY EDITION AFTER YOU TESTED THEM YOURSELF FIRST.
It's a fact that yes NifOptimizer can solve problems in problematic Nifs, but in this case, and if these Nifs are mine, just contact me and I'll solve the problem for you. If you have really in-depth knowledge of how to correct any negative consequences of using the program on the problematic mesh, that's ok, do it, but if not, just contact me and I'll solve it, since the nif having the problem would be caused by a little oversight of mine while I was producing it, so would be my responsability to fix the problem as well.Unfortunately, because the use of NifOptimizer was recommended in many tutorials as a possible step, a lot of people took it as mandatory, and many fools started to use it as gospel and to convince others, but remember, it's not because it's on the internet that is real. There is absolutely NO such thing as an "old nif format". NiTriShape works perfectly in SE and AE, it is NOT necessary in any way to convert the .nifs to BSTriShape format for them to run smoothly in game, and this messy conversion can even lead you to severe ingame problems. Unfortunately, 3 or 4 paranoids managed to create a legion of players who live in constant panic of corrupting their games, and in an attempt to avoid it, they end up diving into a corruption many times greater, created by themselves, unnecessarily.But don't just take my word for it based on my years of experience and dedication to this activity, listen to Arcane University's own words about it, possibly the best center of studies on modding for The Elder Scrolls available on the internet: (image extracted from the link: https://wiki.beyondskyrim.org/wiki/Arcane_University:NIF_Data_Format)
Play more, have more fun, and let the authors be responsible for the technical condition and functionality of the mods they release. And if you don't trust them enough to use mods without trying to fix what often doesn't need to be fixed, just stop using those mods.
Take care, and if you have any doubts,
look for me on my Discord server,
Mihail
Mihail's Draugr Cavalry - Remove Windward Ruins Horsemen
Edit: I finally encountered them, and they were in fact, not weak and were consistently one shotting me through heavy plate at level 30. They do die easily enough though, very glass cannon.
So overall I say these are fantastic. They look and feel like part of the game, are placed in great spots, create interesting and fantastic fights- but they hit very very very hard.
There are some areas where it places too many spawns of them which is a problem, but if not for that I think they would be fine for a high difficulty challenge enemy. The two before the labyrinthian dragon boss for example- that felt good.
The small army of them attacking you during said dragon fight? Not so much. They out DPS the boss so it was essentially impossible without parry mods.
except of course if the load order of the user is full of combat mods that mess with modded enemies.
their damage is indeed low, well, low as a draugr mounted on a horse can realistic be, but indeed low, is a thing you can literally check on their settings, on tesedit, it is not a matter of opinion.
also, if you are playing on legendary edition, then i may believe they can turn into very difficult foes, because even a wolf does, but legendary edition is a non-lore friendly difficulty, where nothing makes sense, neither is realistic.
in my personal opinion, skyrim ends in master difficulty, legendary is just artificial difficulty that turns the game into a bad experience.
Starting with the weapons, as you can see the Glaive they use causes basically same damage of a Draugr Greatsword
used by Draugrs all the time, just 1 point more because is a stronger weapon with bigger reach;
They have no natural damage, so the attacks only cause the damage that the weapon has as damage value.
As you can see, most attacks keep the 18 dmg points, and the main ones duplicate it, like the horse stomp,
so on these you get 36 points of damage, what is still low even for lower characters and those power attacks are
easely avoidable;
As enemies they start at lvl 13, and scale to you untill lvl 35, so at lvl 30 you are facing Draugr Cavalry
of lvl 30, to maintain the challenge, like vanilla Draugr do. Their stats are a relative combination
of what the stats of a draugr and a draugr horse together would have, and at their weaker state
they are comparable in health to a bear, that stands at lvl 12 in vanilla.
As you can see, except if you use lots of mods changing difficulty, or if you are playing on Legendary Edition where
nothing makes sense, they are indeed pretty weak, or at least pretty average, enemies to face in the world.
If I didn't have a follower and a dog, its really impossible (or nearly impossible) to beat alone. They're really strong and ironically were a bigger problem than the boss dragon. The dodge mods help me have a better chance at evading but man it was really difficult.
Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the cavalry encounters I find outside. They're nicely made
Just for extra context I don't have mods that increase their health and damage but they hit really hard and fast considering I had no mods that alter their stats. The only combat mod I have is MCO and Valhalla Combat, so they don't adjust health and damage
edit: Apparently they have a natural perk which gives them increased damage so I suppose that's why they hit a lot harder than normal despite the weapon stats you showed earlier, which is found at the npc itself and not the race; plus their speed makes it even scarier when dealing with them in Labyrinthian fashion
if the base damage of the cavalry is 18, the multiplication results in values around 40, around the same of a vanilla bear, nothing special.
the only one that has base damage of 40, that can be increased via perk to around 70/80 is the horse stomping, extremely easy to avoid because how long it takes to be executed, and its still a very normal value.
are you playing on legendary? if yes, i strongly suggest returning to lower lvls, there all stuff goes crazy and non-immersive, regarding damage values and stuff such as that.
also when the pack returns, this one wil be included on it.