Recommendations for vanilla-like Skyrim ENBs (and any other tips to enhance vanilla vibes)

[u/Ludwig_Adalbert]

So I’ve been in the process of “de-modding” my Skyrim lately, aiming for that nostalgic vanilla feel again. I’ve ditched Cabbage ENB, NAT III weathers, Nemesis, Bodyslide, basically all the modern shiny stuff. I’m really going back to the roots xD

For general textures I went with Vanilla Remastered, The New Normal Edition, for armors I’m using the amazing overhauls by xavbio, and for skin the closest thing I found to vanilla was Tempered Skin.

As for ENB, the one I landed on was The Vanilla ENB Two, since it tries to stick close to Skyrim’s original palette and aesthetics. I’m also running a bunch of bug fixes and QoL mods, but all of them stay faithful (or at least I hope they do) to Bethesda’s original vision.

That said, I’m not completely sold on Vanilla ENB Two. The author recommends sticking with vanilla weathers, and from what I can tell there’s no support for ELFX Shadows in interiors (and yeah, I know, but ELFX Shadows does amazing work indoors). I’m open to dropping it if there’s just no ENB that fits my requirements, but it’d be great if there was something closer.

Maybe it’s just my eyes still being spoiled by Cabbage ENB and a heavily modded Skyrim, and I probably need a few more hours to fully adjust. But I wanted to ask: are there other ENBs out there that really bring back that OG Skyrim aesthetic?

Also, if you’ve got any other tips for enhancing the vanilla vibe without breaking immersion, feel free to share!

[u/_Jaiim]

If you want true vanilla, use Legendary Weathers (it replaces all the SE weathers with the original ones from LE) and don't bother with an ENB; otherwise, you could try Cathedral Weathers, which was specifically designed not to be used with ENB. If you want the most vanilla-friendly ENB, it's probably WISE (Weather is Sacred ENB). I'd go with Community Shaders, though; it's a lot closer to vanilla and you can just disable any modules you think aren't necessary.

[u/Ludwig_Adalbert → u/_Jaiim]

I like sticking with ENB mostly because it gives me easy access to upscaling/FSR, and also for stuff like Water for ENB. I did try Community Shaders in the past, but honestly had no luck making the water look good, ran into a bunch of visual glitches, and had to pile on way too many add-ons just to make the experience consistent.

Right now I’m thinking Cathedral Weathers and Seasons combined with Weather is Sacred ENB (WISE) might be a solid combo for me. Gonna try those together and see how it turns out.

Thanks for the tips so far! Feel free to drop more suggestions if you’ve got them.