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About this mod
This mod changes what sort of loot you can find in Thalmor locations, giving them a stronger sense of faction identity. It is the first Faction Specific Loot module.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
"Spread Your Wings,
Auroran! Golden! Eagle!"
Auroran! Golden! Eagle!"
What does it do?
Skyrim actually has different loot sets depending on faction. In theory, what you find in a Draugr boss chest and what you find in a Bandit boss
chest are different. Except to me it never really felt that way. No matter if I was in the depths of a Dwemer facility, the shadowy headquarters of a band of highwaymen, or popping open the chest a bear inexplicably kept in his cave, I'd find the exact same sort of stuff. Faction Specific Loot attempts to change that by taking advantage of and expanding on the systems and items that already exist in Skyrim. Ideally, when playing with this mod you won't open up a box and think to yourself "How did this get here?" or "Why wasn't the boss using this on me?".
This first entry of Faction Specific Loot focuses on the Thalmor.
This is done by both expanding and limiting what can appear. The Thalmor lose access to a lot of the materials that they "shouldn't" have. They get enhanced access to the materials they "should" have.
Part of Faction Specific Loot alongside Faction Specific Loot - Children of the All-Maker and Faction Specific Loot - Blades of Mephala.
What does it do, but a bit more specific?
In my prior mods, I generally have a bit in the compatibility section where I list the changes the mod makes in great specificity. That's simply not possible here.
What this mod does:
- Sets the lowest quality gear used by the Thalmor or found in Thalmor locations is Elven. Steel and iron are out.
- Equipment placed in Thalmor locations is elven quality at minimum.
- Ingots found in Thalmor locations are limited to: Moonstone, Malachite, Silver, and Gold. Moonstone and Malachite because those are the materials Thalmor armorers would be working with, Gold and Silver because they are valuable and useful for funding Thalmor operations.
- You can't find divine amulets in Thalmor locations, Alinor doesn't follow the Imperial Cult.
- Thalmor wizards can now be found using destruction staffs.
- Wardrobes in Thalmor locations can contain Thalmor Robes.
- Where you would have found generic enchanted robes you will now find Thalmor Robes.
- Sealed Thalmor Orders, a low-weight high-value item. Can be found in Safes, on Thalmor Wizards(rarely), and in Knapsacks.
- Knapsacks are re-imagined as "agent kits" they contain things like sealed orders and a disguise or Thalmor Robes.
- Soul Gems in Thalmor locations are more likely to be filled.
- Health/Magicka/Stamina potions found in Thalmor locations are more likely to be Magicka potions compared to vanilla.
What does it do, but with examples?
I still don't feel like I'm properly explaining what this mod does and how it feels. Maybe I'm overthinking this, maybe I'm not. Maybe people are getting scared off by the mess of this description. I don't know man, this series is the most ambitious thing I think I've tried to do with modding and I just want it to go well.
Here are some example situations comparing what happens in vanilla and what happens in Faction Specific Loot.
Encountering a Thalmor Soldier:
Spoiler:
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Vanilla: Wears either Elven Light, Elven, or Glass armor. Carries either Steel, Elven, or Glass weapons.
Faction Specific Loot: Wears either Elven Light, Elven, or Glass armor. Carries either Elven or Glass weapons.
Faction Specific Loot: Wears either Elven Light, Elven, or Glass armor. Carries either Elven or Glass weapons.
Exploring a Thalmor Dungeon and seeing what is lying around:
Spoiler:
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Vanilla: You generally may find Iron, Elven, or Steel hand placed by the developers, while iron may make sense in some cases(let's say prisoner belongings in a Thalmor detention center) it often appears in places where it doesn't(Thalmor Barracks within the Embassy). In some cases these items are leveled items which use the same lists as Thalmor Soldiers.
Unofficial Patch: Many of the leveled items are replaced with unleveled elven weapons. This appears to have been done because the "dummy weapons" that indicate where the weapon spawns are often a specific type, such as sword, where the leveled lists Bethesda used for them are not specific and can spawn any 1 handed weapon type.
Faction Specific Loot: All non-leveled equipment is replaced with Elven. Weapon-type specific leveled lists are created and used which properly match the "dummy weapons", ensuring that if the enemies are leveled to wield glass, then so is the stuff they have laying around.
Unofficial Patch: Many of the leveled items are replaced with unleveled elven weapons. This appears to have been done because the "dummy weapons" that indicate where the weapon spawns are often a specific type, such as sword, where the leveled lists Bethesda used for them are not specific and can spawn any 1 handed weapon type.
Faction Specific Loot: All non-leveled equipment is replaced with Elven. Weapon-type specific leveled lists are created and used which properly match the "dummy weapons", ensuring that if the enemies are leveled to wield glass, then so is the stuff they have laying around.
Exploring a Thalmor Dungeon and opening a normal chest:
Spoiler:
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Vanilla: Literally any sort of weapon or armor material. Any sort of ingots. Any sort of jewelry, including divine amulets(including Talos!).
Faction Specific Loot: You can only find Elven and Glass armor and weapons. You can find silver and gold ingots as they are universally valuable, as well as moonstone and malachite as they are what Thalmor armorers appear to work with. Any sort of jewelry can spawn, but divine amulets are excluded as the Aldmeri Dominion does not follow the Imperial Cult.
Faction Specific Loot: You can only find Elven and Glass armor and weapons. You can find silver and gold ingots as they are universally valuable, as well as moonstone and malachite as they are what Thalmor armorers appear to work with. Any sort of jewelry can spawn, but divine amulets are excluded as the Aldmeri Dominion does not follow the Imperial Cult.
Exploring a Thalmor Dungeon and opening a "boss" chest:
Spoiler:
Show
Vanilla: Literally any sort of weapon or armor material. Any sort of ingots. Any sort of jewelry, including divine amulets(including Talos!). Enchanted necromancer robes(why tho???). Any kind of soulgem.
Faction Specific Loot: You can only find Elven and Glass armor and weapons. You can find silver and gold ingots as they are universally valuable, as well as moonstone and malachite as they are what Thalmor armorers appear to work with. Any sort of jewelry can spawn, but divine amulets are excluded as the Aldmeri Dominion does not follow the Imperial Cult. Enchanted Thalmor Robes. Any kind of standard soulgem, no black soulgems as the Thalmor do not appear to engage in widespread necromancy. Soulgems are more likely to be filled(50%, 25% in vanilla) instead of empty(50%, 75% in vanilla).
Faction Specific Loot: You can only find Elven and Glass armor and weapons. You can find silver and gold ingots as they are universally valuable, as well as moonstone and malachite as they are what Thalmor armorers appear to work with. Any sort of jewelry can spawn, but divine amulets are excluded as the Aldmeri Dominion does not follow the Imperial Cult. Enchanted Thalmor Robes. Any kind of standard soulgem, no black soulgems as the Thalmor do not appear to engage in widespread necromancy. Soulgems are more likely to be filled(50%, 25% in vanilla) instead of empty(50%, 75% in vanilla).
Exploring a Thalmor Dungeon and opening a wardrobe:
Spoiler:
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Vanilla: A selection of clothing based on the "status"(rich, normal, upper, etc) of the container.
Faction Specific Loot: A selection of clothing based on the "status" of the container, as well as Thalmor Robes.
Faction Specific Loot: A selection of clothing based on the "status" of the container, as well as Thalmor Robes.
Encounter Zones Optional File
There is an optional file that sets the two Thalmor encounter zones, the Embassy and Northwatch Keep, to have minimum level of 19, which is in line with the level that elven gear should start appearing. Encounter zone edits are out of scope for what this mod should be, but I think it's a good change and fits with the mod and highly recommend using the optional file.
Bonus article in articles for people who care about the history of the mod, the broader goals for Faction Specific Loot, and the nervous stress of the author.
Compatibility:
This mod extensively replaces the containers and leveled lists used in Thalmor dungeons.This mod alters many Thalmor leveled lists.
It is unlikely to be compatible with things that change this.
Mods With Known Compatibility Status
red: incompatible, no known patch. Included in the list as warning.orange: incompatible, patch in progress. Included in the list as a warning and to let users know one is in the works.
yellow: incompatible, known patch. Included in the list to inform users of the patch.
green: compatible. Included in the list only if I receive questions about a mod and it turns out not to need patches, or if it is something people are likely to think it conflicts.
Thalmor Use Elven and similar mods: They are redundant with Eagles of Alinor, which does the same thing and more.
Heavy Armory: version 3.3 requires a patch, I am not certain about 4.0 but it likely does as well. I have a partially completed patch for 3.3, but have no plans to further work on it for the time being.
aMidianBorn Content Addon: requires a patch. Patch is being worked on, but creating all the necessary enchanted variants is soul-crushingly tedious. It will happen, and when it does it will have a standalone page for itself, it's almost more of an expansion than a patch. Don't expect it anytime soon, but I can release an unfinished "good enough" version if people want.
Lux: requires a patch to forward some changes to some cells, patch provided in optional files.
Weapons Armor Clothing and Clutter Fixes: requires a patch, patch provided in optional files.
Cutting Room Floor: requires a patch, patch to be provided on a standalone patch page here.
Legacy of the Dragonborn: requires a patch to add cards and paintings to Thalmor loot. Patch provided in optional files.
"To kill Man is to reach Heaven, from where we came before the Doom Drum's iniquity.
When we accomplish this, we can escape the mockery and long shame of the Material Prison."
When we accomplish this, we can escape the mockery and long shame of the Material Prison."
My Other Mods
If you like this one, perhaps check out:
Thalmor Use Elven The Thalmor use elven weapons at minimum.
Jenassa in Chitin or Jenassa in Chitin - SPID To give our mercenary armor that suits her.
Irileth in Chitin puts Irileth in chitin armor.
Aranea of the Temple or Aranea of the Temple - SPID Dunmer priestess wears the robes of the dunmer priesthood.
Aela in Wolven puts Aela in the wolven armor of the Companions' Circle
Dunmeri Ghosts - Dunmeri Gear To make sure Barenziah's Crown was escorted by true dunmeri warriors.
Civil War F Off - No Season Unending Makes the Civil War, um, "fly" off.
Elementalist's Fletching If you'd like some elemental arrows in your life.
The Jarl's Household Guards To give the Jarl's personal guards a more unique feel.
Imperial Honor Guard Gives Tullius some proper protection.
Waymark - A Road Signs Mod Adds more signposts and road signs to Skyrim.
The Redoran Council Guard Gives the Councilor of Raven Rock's personal guards a more unique feel.
Climate-Aware Stormcloaks Reintroduces the cut sleeved Stormcloak Cuirass by giving it to Stormcloaks in cold locations.
Necromancy is Taboo Upstanding members of society no longer sell spells from the reviled and feared school of Necromancy.
Stones of the Stars A Morrowind and Oblivion inspired Standing Stones overhaul.
Children of Nirn A Morrowind and Oblivion inspired Race overhaul.
Jailors and Turnkeys Differentiates the jail guards from the generic guards.
Civil War Officer Corps Adds Stormcloak and Imperial Officers to lead patrols.
Gold is Septim and Has Weight Gold is Septim and has a weight based on historical currency like a big nerd.
Faction Specific Loot - Children of the All-Maker Handcrafted overhaul of Skaal item pools.
More Dangerous Enemy Poisons Enemy poisons last longer and are more dangerous.
Fletching - Craft Arrows Anywhere New power to craft arrows wherever you please.
College Ghosts - College Robes The College Ghosts in Labyrinthian now wear College robes.
Faction Specific Loot - Blades of Mephala Handcrafted overhaul of Morag Tong item pools.