Greater Saarthal Tweaks and Fixes
⚪ Last updated 2022⚠️ Install Order · 6 steps
Install in this order, then this mod last — most mods fail to load without their framework and dependencies in place.
Preview

🔍 Analysis
- 👍 2.4% endorsement rate — high engagement, a strong quality signal
- 🏆 #11 of 21 Locations - Vanilla mods in this game by downloads
📋 About This Mod
The mod Greater Saarthal by sa 547 is very nice, but has some elements I was not satisfied with. My mod improves upon the original mod. If you download my tweaks and fixes be sure to leave a kudos for sa547. And thank you to sa547 for having open permissions!
My version does not have the original as a requirement.
The original mod adds more content to the otherwise spartan and uncomfortable archaeological excavation site of Saarthal, once the first capital of Nord civilization but for a time buried and forgotten under meters of ice and snow. Looking at Saarthal, would anyone want to work there without any sort of protection, be it from the raging ice and snow? Or from hostile intruders who are interested in pillaging the site and killing anyone who stands in their way? And if you're in a bind, freezing and bleeding to death, chased by an angry snow cat, running out of food and water and much-needed potions in the middle of this wasteland, where can you go to? If you enjoy playing the game with immersion mods, this should be able to remedy the problems noted above, by turning Saarthal into a safe haven where, behind walls you can warm up and get some decent rest.
My mod changes the following:
- Removed Hunter guards. Instead, I added two proper College Guards. Hunters seemed like a weird faction to add to Greater Saarthal..
- Added five Saarthal Miners, which use restored unique vanilla voice lines that had been cut from the game (Cutting Room Floor does not add the miners back). Inspired by this mod, but I made sweeping changes, amongst others: the miners mine outside of Saarthal until Tolfdir unlocks the entrance a part of the College of Winterhold questline, only after that they go inside.
- The miners and guards both have proper AI packages for working, idling and sleeping (everyone has a place to sleep).
- Removed the (free) horse and added a cow instead for balance reasons.
- Revoved the possible dog companion, seemed like bloat to me
- Adds patch for Nordic Ruins of Skyrim
- Added ownership to all items so you cannot take them for free; you need to steal them.
- If you are Arch-Mage you can take the items for free
- Added a lock to the safe that is part of Greater Saarthal.
- The facegen included in my mod was made using SUEMR SSE with Bijin AIO 2019 Support, Eyes AO Clipping Fix and Double Sided Vertex Human Mouth Fix SSE so it takes vanilla bugs into acocunt.
If there are any bugs please let me know.
This mod enhances the Greater Saarthal mod by sa547, replacing hunter guards with College guards, adding five miners with restored voice lines, and improving AI packages. It removes the free horse for a cow and requires the original mod, offering a more immersive archaeological site experience.
✨ Key Features
📊 Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Community-approved with 217 endorsements and over 9,000 downloads
- Restores cut voice lines for miners, adding depth without extra assets
- Improves immersion with realistic AI schedules and a balanced cow instead of a free horse
⚠️ Cons
- Requires the original Greater Saarthal mod, so you need two mods for the full experience
- Last updated in 2022, so it may have compatibility issues with newer Skyrim versions or mods
- Changes to guards and miners might conflict with other mods that alter Saarthal or College of Winterhold
For Skyrim players who enjoy immersive location overhauls and want a more believable Saarthal excavation site. If you already use Greater Saarthal and want better guards, miners, and AI, this is a must-have. Skip if you prefer vanilla locations or don't want to manage multiple mod dependencies.
💡 Beginner Tips
- Install Greater Saarthal first, then this mod, and ensure load order places this after the original.
- If you use a mod manager like Vortex or MO2, let it handle the overwrite to avoid missing files.
- Check for patches if you use other mods that alter Saarthal or the College of Winterhold questline.
📊 Mod Details
- Game
- Skyrim Mods
- Author
- bientje
- Version
- 1.2
- Downloads
- 9,035
- Endorsements
- 217
- Category
- Locations - Vanilla
- Created
- 8/22/2021
- Updated
- 4/26/2022
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