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About this mod
A lightweight plugin that changes your skills to start at level 1. Offers several different versions for different playstyles. Complete with a FOMOD installer. 100% clean plugins, no dirty/wild edits. No scripts or overarching changes.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
YANS makes your character's skills start at level 1. This mod is intended for people who want a more fulfilling or challenging experience throughout their game. Before factoring in racial bonuses, the player is given 252 extra skill levels by starting at 15 instead of 1. Makes the game harder. When coupled with Experience and Slower Skill Leveling, it will change how you approach the game.
Bug Reports
Why this mod?
What are the requirements?
What are the recommended mods?
Experience - For skill capping and balancing.
Simply Balanced/Slower Skill Leveling/Gold Is Souls/Static Skill Leveling/Included YANS Plugin - For balancing.
What level do skills revert to when legendary?
What about racial bonuses?
Perks, Crafting Stations, etc.
Racial powers and Default Spells
Load Order and Compatibility
Patches
Reporting Compatibility Issues
Add or Uninstall Mid-Game?
You should never add/remove mods mid-game. However, adding/removing this mod mid-game will not make any changes. As the changes made by this mod only affect the starting skill levels, after a character is created, the mod will do nothing more to your save file.
Merging
Other Mod Recommendations (Just other mods I like)
Alternatives to this Mod
Bug Reports
Spoiler:
Please report any and all issues you encounter in the "bugs" section so other users who may experience the same or similar issue can more easily find it. All bug tickets specifically regarding skill level balancing must place this password: "EXP23" in the bug report. This is to verify that you have acknowledged installation of the requirement Experience and a skill level curve mod (of your choice/included in the FOMOD installer) before reporting balancing issues. Other issues do not require the password.
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Please report any and all issues you encounter in the "bugs" section so other users who may experience the same or similar issue can more easily find it. All bug tickets specifically regarding skill level balancing must place this password: "EXP23" in the bug report. This is to verify that you have acknowledged installation of the requirement Experience and a skill level curve mod (of your choice/included in the FOMOD installer) before reporting balancing issues. Other issues do not require the password.
Why this mod?
Spoiler:
There are a ton of mods out there that do nearly the same thing as this mod. Problem is, many of them either just make the edits to skills with no customization, no experience changes, etc; or change a boatload of other aspects of the game, including level lists, perks, stats, etc. This mod is intended to be light and barebones, with only the changes you want, for maximum compatibility with other mods in your load order. It includes ESP/ESL variants and merged ESP/ESL variants to accommodate any load order you may have. Perfect for large modlists such as those that feature 1000+ mods. This mod also offers an optional experience plugin and requests the use of "Experience" for balancing purposes.
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There are a ton of mods out there that do nearly the same thing as this mod. Problem is, many of them either just make the edits to skills with no customization, no experience changes, etc; or change a boatload of other aspects of the game, including level lists, perks, stats, etc. This mod is intended to be light and barebones, with only the changes you want, for maximum compatibility with other mods in your load order. It includes ESP/ESL variants and merged ESP/ESL variants to accommodate any load order you may have. Perfect for large modlists such as those that feature 1000+ mods. This mod also offers an optional experience plugin and requests the use of "Experience" for balancing purposes.
What are the requirements?
Spoiler:
A New Game is required. For balancing and official support from mod author, please read the "What are the recommended mods?" section.
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A New Game is required. For balancing and official support from mod author, please read the "What are the recommended mods?" section.
What are the recommended mods?
Spoiler:
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Experience - For skill capping and balancing.
Spoiler:
Experience detaches your skill levels from your total level. This also allows a skill cap to be placed on your skills based on your total player level, which can prevent the player from becoming too strong in one skill. When attached to YANS, this helps prevent you from going to 1-15 in the blink of an eye. With Experience you level up by killing enemies, exploring the world, completing quests, reading books and clearing dungeons. It's all entirely configurable in the experience.ini.
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Experience detaches your skill levels from your total level. This also allows a skill cap to be placed on your skills based on your total player level, which can prevent the player from becoming too strong in one skill. When attached to YANS, this helps prevent you from going to 1-15 in the blink of an eye. With Experience you level up by killing enemies, exploring the world, completing quests, reading books and clearing dungeons. It's all entirely configurable in the experience.ini.
Spoiler:
fSkillCapBase=15.0 (controls base skill cap) -> What the skill cap starts at when you are level 1. I recommend 5.
fSkillCapMult=2.0 (controls increase to cap per level) -> How much the cap increases on level up. I recommend 1.
Skill Cap Formula: fSkillCapBase x fSkillCapMult = player level required for 100.
The recommended Base (0) and Mult (1.25) will give you a skill cap of 1 at level 1, and 100 at level 80. Perfect for long playthroughs.
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fSkillCapBase=15.0 (controls base skill cap) -> What the skill cap starts at when you are level 1. I recommend 5.
fSkillCapMult=2.0 (controls increase to cap per level) -> How much the cap increases on level up. I recommend 1.
Skill Cap Formula: fSkillCapBase x fSkillCapMult = player level required for 100.
The recommended Base (0) and Mult (1.25) will give you a skill cap of 1 at level 1, and 100 at level 80. Perfect for long playthroughs.
Simply Balanced/Slower Skill Leveling/Gold Is Souls/Static Skill Leveling/Included YANS Plugin - For balancing.
Spoiler:
Static Skill Leveling: This mod (and it's add-ons) are now considered the "official" way to use YANS. Static Skill Leveling gives 0 experience when you use skills, and instead, lets you choose skills to increase after you level up and sleep in a bed. I do understand not everyone wants to use Static Skill Leveling, and I will still support the other methods of experience balancing. However Experience and Static Skill Leveling paired together completely remove the original issues with this mod, which is skill experience balancing. Additionally, with this mod path, you will not need to patch your perk overhaul mods - which is a huge bonus.
Simply Balanced (Legacy Support): This mod includes configurable options for weapons, magic, potions, poisons, skills, enemy types and experience. While we would be focusing on the experience portion of this mod, it is easy for a user who is not used to configuring MCM menus to change the balancing of their entire game on accident, or set experience rates too low or too high. On the plus side, you can configure each skill separately. This would allow a player to set smithing at 50% and one-handed at 15% for example, which can prevent skills that aren't used as often from being too grindy.
Included YANS Plugin (legacy support): It was tested by the mod author the most out of all other options listed, and appeared to do a good job at slowing down the experience rate, without making it grindy. This plugin does not modify Smithing, Alchemy or Enchanting. This is to prevent higher levels in these skills from being far too grindy.
Slower Skill Leveling (Legacy Support): It appears the mod author of this mod went above and beyond to really balance out the leveling. When I tested on my end however, it appeared the x5 option was really the only one that slowed down the 1-5 leveling, and then it seems to become pretty grindy. I'd choose my plugin over this one, but you're free to choose on your own of course. As a side note, the mod install comes with all 5 different plugins installed, so you'll have to manually disable/delete the ones you don't want to use.
Gold Is Souls (Static Skill Leveling Alternative): A great alternative to Static Skill Leveling and skill experience adjustments, Gold Is Souls gives 0 experience when you use skills, and instead, forces you to buy each skill level instead. Couple it with Experience which should (in theory), only allow you to buy skills until you reach the skill cap.There may be other good alternatives to skill experience adjustments as well, feel free to mention those in the comments if you find them, and I'll add them here.
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Static Skill Leveling: This mod (and it's add-ons) are now considered the "official" way to use YANS. Static Skill Leveling gives 0 experience when you use skills, and instead, lets you choose skills to increase after you level up and sleep in a bed. I do understand not everyone wants to use Static Skill Leveling, and I will still support the other methods of experience balancing. However Experience and Static Skill Leveling paired together completely remove the original issues with this mod, which is skill experience balancing. Additionally, with this mod path, you will not need to patch your perk overhaul mods - which is a huge bonus.
Simply Balanced (Legacy Support): This mod includes configurable options for weapons, magic, potions, poisons, skills, enemy types and experience. While we would be focusing on the experience portion of this mod, it is easy for a user who is not used to configuring MCM menus to change the balancing of their entire game on accident, or set experience rates too low or too high. On the plus side, you can configure each skill separately. This would allow a player to set smithing at 50% and one-handed at 15% for example, which can prevent skills that aren't used as often from being too grindy.
Included YANS Plugin (legacy support): It was tested by the mod author the most out of all other options listed, and appeared to do a good job at slowing down the experience rate, without making it grindy. This plugin does not modify Smithing, Alchemy or Enchanting. This is to prevent higher levels in these skills from being far too grindy.
Spoiler:
Please, Please, Please give FEEDBACK on the experience plugin so I can improve it in the future. Whether it felt unbalanced in a certain skill or all skills, too slow or too quick, this matters.
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Please, Please, Please give FEEDBACK on the experience plugin so I can improve it in the future. Whether it felt unbalanced in a certain skill or all skills, too slow or too quick, this matters.
Slower Skill Leveling (Legacy Support): It appears the mod author of this mod went above and beyond to really balance out the leveling. When I tested on my end however, it appeared the x5 option was really the only one that slowed down the 1-5 leveling, and then it seems to become pretty grindy. I'd choose my plugin over this one, but you're free to choose on your own of course. As a side note, the mod install comes with all 5 different plugins installed, so you'll have to manually disable/delete the ones you don't want to use.
Gold Is Souls (Static Skill Leveling Alternative): A great alternative to Static Skill Leveling and skill experience adjustments, Gold Is Souls gives 0 experience when you use skills, and instead, forces you to buy each skill level instead. Couple it with Experience which should (in theory), only allow you to buy skills until you reach the skill cap.There may be other good alternatives to skill experience adjustments as well, feel free to mention those in the comments if you find them, and I'll add them here.
What level do skills revert to when legendary?
Spoiler:
Level 15. There is an optional plugin to change it to 1 for those who want it. Personally, I'd recommend installing a mod that gives you perks in a different manner as it is far less "grindy".
Some good options:
Radiant Quest Point System ( Rethinking Perk Point ) - Awards perk points from radiant quests.
Quests Award Perk Points - Awards perk points from main quests.
Skyshards - 1 Perk Point for every 3 Skyshards you collect.
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Level 15. There is an optional plugin to change it to 1 for those who want it. Personally, I'd recommend installing a mod that gives you perks in a different manner as it is far less "grindy".
Some good options:
Radiant Quest Point System ( Rethinking Perk Point ) - Awards perk points from radiant quests.
Quests Award Perk Points - Awards perk points from main quests.
Skyshards - 1 Perk Point for every 3 Skyshards you collect.
What about racial bonuses?
Spoiler:
The YANS (No Bonuses) version removes all racial skill bonuses. All skills start at level 1. The original intent of the mod.
The YANS (Less Bonuses) version lets your skills start a bit higher, but not as high as vanilla. Increases: 1+4 to Primary, 1+2 to Secondary.
The YANS (Vanilla Bonuses) version gives default bonuses to skills, but still less than vanilla without this mod. Compatibility version. No race edits. 1+10 to Primary, 1+5 to secondary.
The YANS (More Bonuses) version gives higher bonuses than vanilla to skills. Increases: 1+14 to Primary, 1+9 to Secondary.
The YANS (Max Bonuses) version lets the skills with bonuses start as high as vanilla would start the skills, but the rest are level 1. 1+24 to Primary, 1+19 to secondary.
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The YANS (No Bonuses) version removes all racial skill bonuses. All skills start at level 1. The original intent of the mod.
The YANS (Less Bonuses) version lets your skills start a bit higher, but not as high as vanilla. Increases: 1+4 to Primary, 1+2 to Secondary.
The YANS (Vanilla Bonuses) version gives default bonuses to skills, but still less than vanilla without this mod. Compatibility version. No race edits. 1+10 to Primary, 1+5 to secondary.
The YANS (More Bonuses) version gives higher bonuses than vanilla to skills. Increases: 1+14 to Primary, 1+9 to Secondary.
The YANS (Max Bonuses) version lets the skills with bonuses start as high as vanilla would start the skills, but the rest are level 1. 1+24 to Primary, 1+19 to secondary.
Perks, Crafting Stations, etc.
Spoiler:
You can take the first perk of any tree without meeting a level requirement. This is vanilla behavior. Level 20 will be needed for more perks. If you cannot take any perks at all, you are experiencing an issue with another mod. This mod was tested with minimal mods to ensure proper behavior.
You cannot improve weapons and armor until you are level 14 in smithing. This is vanilla behavior. I will not making a "fix" for this, because it actually makes sense that you wouldn't be able to improve weapons and armor until you've obtained some sort of skill in smithing.
You may notice some other things, such as speech checks, missing/fail due to the lower level. Increasing your level is a surefire way to get beyond this. Let me know if you are unable to start or finish a main quest (Even after increasing your level). This shouldn't happen, but hey, it is Skyrim.
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You can take the first perk of any tree without meeting a level requirement. This is vanilla behavior. Level 20 will be needed for more perks. If you cannot take any perks at all, you are experiencing an issue with another mod. This mod was tested with minimal mods to ensure proper behavior.
You cannot improve weapons and armor until you are level 14 in smithing. This is vanilla behavior. I will not making a "fix" for this, because it actually makes sense that you wouldn't be able to improve weapons and armor until you've obtained some sort of skill in smithing.
You may notice some other things, such as speech checks, missing/fail due to the lower level. Increasing your level is a surefire way to get beyond this. Let me know if you are unable to start or finish a main quest (Even after increasing your level). This shouldn't happen, but hey, it is Skyrim.
Racial powers and Default Spells
Spoiler:
Does not make any edits to anything other than the racial skill bonuses(controls what level the skills are at in addition to the base level). Vanilla is 15 + 10 for the race's primary skill and 15 + 5 for the race's secondary skills.
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Does not make any edits to anything other than the racial skill bonuses(controls what level the skills are at in addition to the base level). Vanilla is 15 + 10 for the race's primary skill and 15 + 5 for the race's secondary skills.
Load Order and Compatibility
Spoiler:
This mod should be loaded as low in your load order as possible. The plugins are clean and lightweight. No dirty/wild edits are present so you can be sure that the mod will not make any undesired edits to your load order.
This mod is not compatible with the following types of mods:
1. Perk Overhauls (if using the experience plugin).
2. Race Overhauls (Except the YANS [Vanilla] main file)
If you find a compatibility issue with a mod PLEASE REPORT the issue in the forum.
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This mod should be loaded as low in your load order as possible. The plugins are clean and lightweight. No dirty/wild edits are present so you can be sure that the mod will not make any undesired edits to your load order.
This mod is not compatible with the following types of mods:
1. Perk Overhauls (if using the experience plugin).
2. Race Overhauls (Except the YANS [Vanilla] main file)
If you find a compatibility issue with a mod PLEASE REPORT the issue in the forum.
Patches
Spoiler:
Patches (as they are made available) should be loaded after this mod and the conflicting mod.
EX:
[Your mod here]
YANS
[Supported Patch]
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Patches (as they are made available) should be loaded after this mod and the conflicting mod.
EX:
[Your mod here]
YANS
[Supported Patch]
Reporting Compatibility Issues
Spoiler:
Please confirm that my mod is the cause of the conflict before reporting. I am one person (who is pretty busy) and I don't have all the time in the world to make patches!
There are two ways to find conflicts for this mod.
1. SSEEdit- The preferred method. Simply load your modlist into SSEEdit and search for conflicts. If my mod comes up in the list, you have a conflict. You may then report the compatibility issue.
2. Top of Load Order (The Slow Way) - Place this mod high up in your load order then start a new game. If the changes made by this mod are not present, then you are experiencing a conflict. Simply keep moving the mod lower in your load order until the issue is found.
For large load orders, the following sequence will narrow it down fastest. This sequence will work no matter how many mods you have installed.
Start: Place YANS halfway down your load order.
IF YANS changes are missing, move it halfway further down your load order. (Ex: Start 50/100 mods, move to 75/100.)
IF YANS changes are present, move it halfway further up your load order. (Ex: Start 50/100 mods, move to 25/100.)
Rinse and repeat moving about 50% through your mods until you have narrowed it down completely. With any luck, this method of finding the conflict will only require reloading the game a few times. Keep in mind, a new game is required for each test. Report the compatibility issue after you narrow down the conflict.
TLDR: Just use SSEEdit and search YANS against your load order for conflicts.
How to Report
In the "Forum" section of this mod, you will find 3 topics:
1. Perk Overhauls
2. Race Overhauls
3. Compatibility Issues
If the mod that is conflicting is not a perk or race overhaul, please post it in the "Compatibility Issues" section. Please post in the following format:
1. Name of Mod [Link]
2. How did you narrow down the conflict?
3. Description of Issue
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Please confirm that my mod is the cause of the conflict before reporting. I am one person (who is pretty busy) and I don't have all the time in the world to make patches!
There are two ways to find conflicts for this mod.
1. SSEEdit- The preferred method. Simply load your modlist into SSEEdit and search for conflicts. If my mod comes up in the list, you have a conflict. You may then report the compatibility issue.
2. Top of Load Order (The Slow Way) - Place this mod high up in your load order then start a new game. If the changes made by this mod are not present, then you are experiencing a conflict. Simply keep moving the mod lower in your load order until the issue is found.
For large load orders, the following sequence will narrow it down fastest. This sequence will work no matter how many mods you have installed.
Start: Place YANS halfway down your load order.
IF YANS changes are missing, move it halfway further down your load order. (Ex: Start 50/100 mods, move to 75/100.)
IF YANS changes are present, move it halfway further up your load order. (Ex: Start 50/100 mods, move to 25/100.)
Rinse and repeat moving about 50% through your mods until you have narrowed it down completely. With any luck, this method of finding the conflict will only require reloading the game a few times. Keep in mind, a new game is required for each test. Report the compatibility issue after you narrow down the conflict.
TLDR: Just use SSEEdit and search YANS against your load order for conflicts.
How to Report
In the "Forum" section of this mod, you will find 3 topics:
1. Perk Overhauls
2. Race Overhauls
3. Compatibility Issues
If the mod that is conflicting is not a perk or race overhaul, please post it in the "Compatibility Issues" section. Please post in the following format:
1. Name of Mod [Link]
2. How did you narrow down the conflict?
3. Description of Issue
Add or Uninstall Mid-Game?
Spoiler:
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You should never add/remove mods mid-game. However, adding/removing this mod mid-game will not make any changes. As the changes made by this mod only affect the starting skill levels, after a character is created, the mod will do nothing more to your save file.
Merging
Spoiler:
For those running very large load orders, you should be able to merge this mod into others without issue. There are ESL versions available as well. The FOMOD installer automatically merges the files installed by this mod.
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For those running very large load orders, you should be able to merge this mod into others without issue. There are ESL versions available as well. The FOMOD installer automatically merges the files installed by this mod.
Other Mod Recommendations (Just other mods I like)
Spoiler:
1. Skyrim Souls RE
2. Souls QuickMenu RE
3. Disable Fast Travel SKSE - No Janky Map UI
4. Better Third Person Selection (BTPS)
5. I'm Walkin' Here
6. Relaxed Bards
7. iHarvest [Use version 1.1.4 if you are using AE]
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1. Skyrim Souls RE
2. Souls QuickMenu RE
3. Disable Fast Travel SKSE - No Janky Map UI
4. Better Third Person Selection (BTPS)
5. I'm Walkin' Here
6. Relaxed Bards
7. iHarvest [Use version 1.1.4 if you are using AE]
Alternatives to this Mod
Spoiler:
Note: Will fill more in this list when I can. Feel free to recommend mods in the comments and I may add them here.
1. Unique Dovahkiin - Skill randomization and scaling SE (Recommended for advanced users only.)
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Note: Will fill more in this list when I can. Feel free to recommend mods in the comments and I may add them here.
1. Unique Dovahkiin - Skill randomization and scaling SE (Recommended for advanced users only.)