0 of 0
About this mod
Corrects the Frost and Fire dragon imbalance that is caused by USSEP.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
Inspired by this and this Reddit post, and the fact that I've (been moving towards a more vanilla Skyrim and) decided to remove any dragons overhauls I was using in my load order, I've made a correction for the prevalent Frost and Fire dragon spawning, which doesn't follow a logical pattern when using USSEP.
The problem
There is a discrepancy in the way dragons spawn in Skyrim, where one would expect each strength of dragons (Dragon, Blood Dragon, Elder Dragon, Ancient Dragon, etc.) to have a Frost dragon and a Fire counterpart. This would logically lead to the most variation, insofar as 'varied' is a thing when there's only a Frost and Fire class of dragon ;)
Bethesda unfortunately didn't take logical distribution into account and decided to create a levelled list spawn for two Frost Dragons at level 27, while every other spawn strength does have a Frost and Fire version. This was clearly an oversight, and resulted in seeing much more Frost type dragons in a playthrough. Bethesda tried to correct their own oversight with DLC 1 Dawnguard, adding two Fire dragons at level 59 to the levelled list (so you have a semblance of coherence regarding dragon spawning). The result is a Frost type and Fire type dragon for every Dragon strength, except for some weird reason at levels 27 and 59. It doesn't make sense, and the fact that Bethesda only tried to correct this with Dawnguard shows it clearly an oversight.
This oversight was also noted by the USSEP team, who 'fixed' this unbalance in Frost and Fire Dragon type by re-using the Legendary Dragon mesh for a weaker Fire variant that starts spawning at level 27. While this does solve the problem of seeing Frost and Fire dragon type more evenly, it also creates a new visual problem: you will see the Fire Dragon model mesh + texture too much in your playthrough, because the mesh + texture is used not only by Fire dragons spawning at level 27, but also by Fire AND Frost type dragons spawning at level 36. Weirdly enough, USSEP left the same 'bug' in tact when it comes to the two Fire dragons spawning at level 59, which should've received the same treatment as the Frost dragon at level 27. So USSEP only half fixed the problem (and that in a sloppy way).
The below table will visually demonstrate the problem for both Vanilla Skyrim and USSEP Skyrim; problem areas highlighted in yellow.
The solution
My solution is to incorporate a proper fix: I actually created a new texture for the missing Fire type dragon at level 27, and a new texture for the missing Frost type dragon at level 59. This will result in a balanced representation of Fire and Frost dragon types, and a balanced representation of unique models and textures with some increased visual variety :)
In short: there is much less Dragon elemental type and Dragon visual type repetition when using my mod. See table below for my solution.
Things I did:
1. Create a new texture for the missing Fire Dragon type at level 27, credits go to New Dragons Resource by RoboBirdie on which I based this texture. See image section for screenshots.
2. Create a new texture for the missing Frost Revered Dragon type at level 59 (note, the resolution for this texture is the same as vanilla Fire Revered Dragon, so complain to Bethesda). See image section for screenshots.
3. Created the relevant records in Xedit needed to place the new Fire Dragon and Frost Revered Dragon in the game (npc records, outfits, etc.). All my new records follow vanilla logic exactly, so no bugs are to be expected if you play vanilla. In total my mod contains only 13 new records.
4. Added the missing Fire Ball and Ice Storm shouts to Revered Dragons (both shouts were in the game files, complete)
5. Created and added the missing Fire Ball and Ice Storm shouts to Legendary Fire and Legendary Frost Dragon (these shouts I had to create myself).
6. To be thorough, I've also edited Naaslaarum (the twin of Voslaarum) so that they use my new Frost dragon texture, resulting in a pretty cool visual effect when encountering these dragon twins :)
about 4 and 5: I see no reason why Bethesda would cut Fire Ball and Ice Storm shout from high level dragons DLC1EncDragon06 and DLC1EncDragon07, leaving them only with one elemental attack, the Dragon Breath. My guess is simply because of time constraints, but I also read somewhere that dragon A.I. is wonky so giving them an extra shout in addition to the Dragon Rend shout high level dragons have, they might be getting confused when you add too many shouts or something. I haven't noticed any of this in testing, though.
Notes
1. My new dragons do not have LODS, one because I'm too lazy to create them, two because in 2023 it's no problem at all for computers to load in Full LOD Dragon models. To completely improve consistency between my mod and vanilla dragons, I suggest downloading the optional file No Dragon LOD which removes the LOD from all vanilla dragons.
2. This mod is for USSEP only because it requires it does forward (script) fixes by USSEP; it also takes into account any other fixes made by USSEP.
3. If you use any other mods touching dragons in any way please check for conflicts in xedit; they should be easy to fix because my mod is so simple.
4. If there are any bugs or mistakes I made, don't hesitate to post a comment or bug report.
The problem
There is a discrepancy in the way dragons spawn in Skyrim, where one would expect each strength of dragons (Dragon, Blood Dragon, Elder Dragon, Ancient Dragon, etc.) to have a Frost dragon and a Fire counterpart. This would logically lead to the most variation, insofar as 'varied' is a thing when there's only a Frost and Fire class of dragon ;)
Bethesda unfortunately didn't take logical distribution into account and decided to create a levelled list spawn for two Frost Dragons at level 27, while every other spawn strength does have a Frost and Fire version. This was clearly an oversight, and resulted in seeing much more Frost type dragons in a playthrough. Bethesda tried to correct their own oversight with DLC 1 Dawnguard, adding two Fire dragons at level 59 to the levelled list (so you have a semblance of coherence regarding dragon spawning). The result is a Frost type and Fire type dragon for every Dragon strength, except for some weird reason at levels 27 and 59. It doesn't make sense, and the fact that Bethesda only tried to correct this with Dawnguard shows it clearly an oversight.
This oversight was also noted by the USSEP team, who 'fixed' this unbalance in Frost and Fire Dragon type by re-using the Legendary Dragon mesh for a weaker Fire variant that starts spawning at level 27. While this does solve the problem of seeing Frost and Fire dragon type more evenly, it also creates a new visual problem: you will see the Fire Dragon model mesh + texture too much in your playthrough, because the mesh + texture is used not only by Fire dragons spawning at level 27, but also by Fire AND Frost type dragons spawning at level 36. Weirdly enough, USSEP left the same 'bug' in tact when it comes to the two Fire dragons spawning at level 59, which should've received the same treatment as the Frost dragon at level 27. So USSEP only half fixed the problem (and that in a sloppy way).
The below table will visually demonstrate the problem for both Vanilla Skyrim and USSEP Skyrim; problem areas highlighted in yellow.
The solution
My solution is to incorporate a proper fix: I actually created a new texture for the missing Fire type dragon at level 27, and a new texture for the missing Frost type dragon at level 59. This will result in a balanced representation of Fire and Frost dragon types, and a balanced representation of unique models and textures with some increased visual variety :)
In short: there is much less Dragon elemental type and Dragon visual type repetition when using my mod. See table below for my solution.
Things I did:
1. Create a new texture for the missing Fire Dragon type at level 27, credits go to New Dragons Resource by RoboBirdie on which I based this texture. See image section for screenshots.
2. Create a new texture for the missing Frost Revered Dragon type at level 59 (note, the resolution for this texture is the same as vanilla Fire Revered Dragon, so complain to Bethesda). See image section for screenshots.
3. Created the relevant records in Xedit needed to place the new Fire Dragon and Frost Revered Dragon in the game (npc records, outfits, etc.). All my new records follow vanilla logic exactly, so no bugs are to be expected if you play vanilla. In total my mod contains only 13 new records.
4. Added the missing Fire Ball and Ice Storm shouts to Revered Dragons (both shouts were in the game files, complete)
5. Created and added the missing Fire Ball and Ice Storm shouts to Legendary Fire and Legendary Frost Dragon (these shouts I had to create myself).
6. To be thorough, I've also edited Naaslaarum (the twin of Voslaarum) so that they use my new Frost dragon texture, resulting in a pretty cool visual effect when encountering these dragon twins :)
about 4 and 5: I see no reason why Bethesda would cut Fire Ball and Ice Storm shout from high level dragons DLC1EncDragon06 and DLC1EncDragon07, leaving them only with one elemental attack, the Dragon Breath. My guess is simply because of time constraints, but I also read somewhere that dragon A.I. is wonky so giving them an extra shout in addition to the Dragon Rend shout high level dragons have, they might be getting confused when you add too many shouts or something. I haven't noticed any of this in testing, though.
Notes
1. My new dragons do not have LODS, one because I'm too lazy to create them, two because in 2023 it's no problem at all for computers to load in Full LOD Dragon models. To completely improve consistency between my mod and vanilla dragons, I suggest downloading the optional file No Dragon LOD which removes the LOD from all vanilla dragons.
2. This mod is for USSEP only because it requires it does forward (script) fixes by USSEP; it also takes into account any other fixes made by USSEP.
3. If you use any other mods touching dragons in any way please check for conflicts in xedit; they should be easy to fix because my mod is so simple.
4. If there are any bugs or mistakes I made, don't hesitate to post a comment or bug report.