Onboarding (MO2)

Now that Synergy VR is downloaded and installed, you’ll manage the list and launch the game through Mod Organizer 2 (MO2).

Before you play…

You don’t need to understand everything about MO2 before your first launch. Synergy VR arrives configured and playable, and the setup below is mostly a series of choices rather than a list of chores.

Scroll down (or filter!) the left pane until you reach a folder labeled START HERE - EXPAND TO SETUP. It’s light blue and easy to find.

Expand it and you’ll find four numbered steps plus a folder of optional mods. Work through those in order.

Step 1 — Preferred Runtime

A VR runtime is the software layer between the game and your headset. Step 1 asks you to pick one, and nothing here is enabled to start with. This is a decision for you to make. Selecting nothing means you’re using SteamVR.

OpenComposite

OpenComposite Unleashed (the “OCU” in that first row) is the right choice for most players. It talks to your headset’s native OpenXR runtime and skips SteamVR entirely, which usually means a few frames back and one less layer to go wrong. The row’s name doubles as its instructions, and they mean what they say: enable it, then right-click it, choose Open in Explorer, and run the Configurator you find there.

Enable OC - ENB Fix only if you play through Virtual Desktop (the “VD” in the row). Wired, or on another streamer? Leave it off.

SteamVR

Stick with SteamVR if you have a really good reason, like a treadmill, body trackers, or some other accessory that needs it. Then enable one of the three binding sets, which replace Skyrim VR’s stock controls:

• Controller Bindings - Kvite is default in OCU, and a good place to start.
• VRIK Controller Bindings - Standard only differs slightly from vanilla.
• VRIK Controller Bindings - Easy Shout is the same as VRIK Standard apart from the binding for use shout/power.

Step 2 — ENB Preset

SNIP’s ENB - REALISM is now the default preset. It was previously labeled as a work in progress, but now it’s the default.

The others are alternatives, not additions. Enable one ENB preset at most:

• HOSE NATIII - SYNERGY ENB - Performance is the previous default. It was built for this list and tuned for VR, with nice daylight and nights dark enough that carrying a torch is worthwhile (immersion!).
• HOSE NATIII - SYNERGY ENB - Quality is the same as HOSE’s preset with things cranked up for those with GPU power to spare.

Step 3 — Performance Options

Both entries here trade frames for scenery, and both are unchecked by default, which automatically leaves you on more performance-friendly presets. Check Grass Density - Quality for thicker grass, or LOD Distance - Quality for more detailed distant terrain and structures. Each one costs frame rate outdoors, so add them one at a time and see how you (and your hardware) feel about it.

Step 4 — Werewolf and Vampire Bodies

These give you a first-person body when you transform, instead of a floating camera with hands. Werewolf and Vampire Lord - Male are on by default, so if that suits you, there’s nothing to do here. Swap them if you like, but remember to turn off the defaults if you enable the alternatives.

Optional Mods

Everything here is tested against the list. Most is off by default, because most of it comes down to personal taste.

Convenience

• Weightless NG removes the weight from things that clutter your inventory (books, potions, gems, and the like), so hauling your traveling library costs you nothing.
• VRIK Closed Fist closes your hands while your weapons are drawn, which makes it clearer whether the game considers you to be in combat.
• Unlimited Sprinting removes the stamina drain from sprinting. On by default.
• Insects Begone REDUX removes the spiders and bugs.
• Fuz Ro D-oh adds support for unvoiced dialogue, keeping subtitles on screen long enough to read.
• Paraphernalia - VR Dragon Riding is a lightweight take on dragon riding as fast travel. No requirements, and safe to add mid-playthrough.
• More Gold for Merchants ( Wealthy Merchants on Nexus) gives traders more gold via SkyPatcher, so unburdening your pack doesn’t require as many trips.

Immersion

• Durability VR degrades weapons and armor with use. This applies to yours, your followers’, and your enemies’, and it’s highly configurable.
• Physical Dodge VR lets you lean or step aside to trigger a dodge. If you have the space, Why press a button when you can just move?
• DovaVR Locomotion drives movement from arm swings instead of the thumbstick. You will look ridiculous, and you will get your steps in.
• Be Seated lets you sit down more or less anywhere — a tavern bench, a rock in the wilderness — and actually eat or drink there.
• No Enemybar and no Names ( Minimal Enemy Healthbar VR on Nexus) is on by default. The mod offers several variants. This is the one that drops both the floating health bar and the enemy’s name.
• Swap Drop and Hold Redux lets you grab a weapon to equip it, tap and hold the trigger to drop it, or yank your equipped weapon across to the other hand to swap. No menus involved, and now on by default.

Utilities

Prisma UI Additem Menu adds an in-game menu for spawning any item from the game or from any mod in the list. It’s a great way to test something or recover from a glitch. Oh, and to cheat.

Launch the game with the Run button at the top right of MO2, and give the mod menus a moment to register themselves before you start poking at them.