The video game has been modified

Yes, with 2200+ Mods, the game has changed quite a lot. I will try to describe, in the most comprehensive manner, what exactly the list is and what goal it's trying to achieve. I will start with what the list isn't.

What the list isn't

This is not a list for thieves, pickpockets, or assassins. Such archetypes and skill trees have been nerfed. Why? I simply don't enjoy such builds and it is to discourage you from playing these types of builds. RAID is set to high on both interiors and exteriors; furthermore, no additional tools for assassins are added, unlike QWEST! which has Sneak Tools. The quest mods, combat, magic and gameplay overhauls are chosen for warriors, paladins, mages, and wizards.

This is not a list for Legacy of the Dragonborn (LotD) and item hoarders. LotD is not in simply because I do not like how it forces you to become an item hoarder. I made QWEST! for the ultimate LotD experience, and now I'm making the complete opposite. LotD also displays the lowest quality armor and weapons mods in my opinion (Looking at you, Immersive Armors and Immersive Weapons). To compensate that lack, I've handplaced hundreds of items throughout the world such as spell tomes, weapons or gave unique NPCs unique gear like in From Software's games. You're free from hoarding random items, and you have cool player homes with room for displaying what you want, not what LotD deemed worthy. This is the kind of behavior I hope to avoid. Even the Dev Aveza, my favourite part of LotD, is in, without being held back.

This is not a list centered around "immersion and roleplay". Mods like Sunhelm are deliberately not present. Survival Mode is not patched in and incompatible out of the box. Keep it Clean is also not in. Furthermore there are enemies from other games such as The Witcher 3 and Dark Souls Series.

What the list is

You will be OP.

Here is a few examples of what can be done within the list stat wise. Despite all the list's difficulties, you will be op and therefore early also will be harder than in most lists.

Gameplay - Combat | ADXP MCO, dodging, AIs and Parrying

ADXP MCO is the core combat mod of the list; in a nutshell, it's attack commitment. If you attack, you commit to it therefor you cannot moove. You also loose stamina. It's the core, all animations revolve around it. Don't worry though Everyone's Stamina Matters makes it so your enemies are also struggling.

Now to dodge, there's TK Dodge RE, to overhaul AI there's SCAR, to make sure you hit all enemies we got Precision. Finally, to overhaul parrying we got Elden Parry combined with Elden Counter.

Now for some other mods to make an ever more Dark Souls-inspired combat experience;

ZUPA forces 3rd person and plays an animation when drinking a potion, like how there's an animation for Estus in Dark Souls.
Elden Rim will allow you to perform Weapon Arts. I highly suggest checking its modpage to understand how.
Hotkey Potions is an add-on to ZUPA, so you don't have to go in your inventory to drink a potion!
Heartbreaker allows you to rip people's hearts straight from their chest. Metal, isn't it?
SmoothCam and True Directional Movement for the camera control, so it's actually usable in 3rd person.
Seamless Combat Camera will force you in 3rd person for every fight. You will only be able to fight in third person, and that's intended. There are no first person combat mods in the list which means that; if disabled; you have vanilla combat against enemies with way more mechanics and tools.
Bow Rapid Combo give way more tools to archers as melee charaters have so much.

Gameplay - Combat | Enemies

Enemies will be drastically changed; I have made a very thorough merge of many popular enemy overhauls, completely patched to work together. We are talking about mods like:

Skyrim Revamped - Complete Enemies Overhaul which buffs almost all enemies in the game.
Briraka's Draugr Overhaul and Draugr Upgrades and Improvements which makes named draugr more unique and brings varieties like fire draugr to the game.
OBIS the unavoidable bandits overhaul, with its Patrols addon.
Better Vampires NPCs with Ubervamps which makes them an actual threat. I also added my own, unique, non available on nexus mod; Sovn's Ebony Vampires - Porting Requiem Enemies to Vanilla Skyrim.
Heritage which brings more enemy variants to almost all classes.
High Level Enemies which, instead of the usual more variants, adds level 60+ enemies into leveled lists.
Real Bosses because Skyrim Revamped does not touch bosses, for some reason, so this overhauls those to make sure the minions aren't stronger than the actual boss.
SkyTEST for animals only so they are an actual threat passed level 5.
Dragon Combat Overhaul UPGRADED BABY YEAH will make you run for your life when facing dragons. Especially coupled with Deadly Dragons, Diverse Dragons Collection and Splendor.
My very own Sovn's Enchanted Spheres - Porting Requiem Enemies to Vanilla Skyrim to bring some actual bosses in Dwarven ruins.
A set of 30+ Mihail Mods, which adds new enemies that dot the landscape. You can find them in the modlist under "MM -".
Skyrim Immersive Creatures is now fixed, implementing a ton of new enemies which will obviously help a lot bringing diversity to the world!

Those are only the most prominent overhauls present. The above list isn't exhaustive.

"Wow Sovn, this is some madness! How am I supposed to survive?" Well listen here buddy, the Encounter Zones are handmade.

That's right, I heavily modified Open World Loot's encounter zones. For the first couple levels early on, you will want to fight bandits. They should be as bad at combat as you. As you progress through doing Missives or normal quests due to Experience, you will get more enemies with more perks, and you will be able to do more and more stuff.

More on that in the next chapter of this guide.

Gameplay - Leveling

Bandits are the best enemy in the beginning; they barely know how to fight (except their leaders) and aren't that organized. As you progress, you should be able to tackle stronger enemies such as draugr, forsworn, mages, dwarven constructions, dragons, and finally vampires and dragon priests.

Vampires are deceptively strong, do not fight them early, you will get murdered. Why? Because the game is semi-leveled; lemme explain:

Normal enemies still scale with you, they start at lower levels and have a lot of variants between level 1 and 90.
Bosses are higher level by default, between level 15 and 250 (that includes quest mods). There are a lot of static bosses that are straight up god-like, such as Master Vampires and Dragon Priests.
All enemies get perks depending on their level. A level 1 enemy has 1 perk and a level 60 enemy has 60 perks.

"But how do you get to the higher levels yourself? How do you even train your combat skills if everyone kills you" - I am glad you asked! Let me introduce you to the 2 core mods for Player leveling:

Experience
Static Skill Leveling - Experience Mod Add-on
Static Skill Leveling Alternative Level Up Menu

You will level up by discovering places, killing any enemy, and doing quests. Your stats do not influence your leveling at all, that is Experience Here is what the add-on changes: You will be able to allocate your skill points before you select the bonus in Health/Stamina/Magicka in the skill menu. This allows you to refine your character.

But that isn't all there is to help you on your quest to becoming a god among men. Let's talk about the main overhauls.

Gameplay - Main Overhauls | Perks, Races, Standing Stones, Magic, Religion and Alchemy

So I mostly play with EnaiRim, especially the full overhauls, and that isn't going to change too much. Lemme show you:

Ordinator for main perks.
Growl for werewolf perks.
Sacrosanct for vampire perks.

They have been choosen because they enable many different playstyles and also make you very powerful. Remember, we're not trying to nerf the player, just buff the enemies.

Palladium Racials

One of the deviations from main EnaiRim. Why? Because it allows both NPCs and the Player to use its passive effects, and it has parts of Imperious along with parts of other race overhauls. It will also bring a good diversity of potential builds.

Andromeda

Good old Andromeda; still as OP as the old days!

Odin for vanilla spells.
Arcanum and Triumvirate for added spells.
Forgotten Magic Redone for reward spells. (more info below)
Reliquary of Myth for artifact enchantments.

I really wanted a certain spell that loots bodies around you from Odin, so it's how this one got chosen over Mysticism. Many have suggested Arcanum in my old list, so I'm giving it a chance here. Trust me, there's more than enough spells for any type of mage with this setup, so no need for Apocalypse or similar large package mods! Forgotten Magic Redone's tomes have been handplaced throughout the world, quest mods included, so they're rewarded at completion of quests and key moments in the game. Let's be honest, that mod's spells are absolutely OP, and they're supposed to be lost, so why would a merchant sell them in the Bannered Mare? A notes with hints on where to get them lies on a bench where knowledge is gathered within Skyrim. Triumvirate just makes sense, due to some spells fitting the atmosphere.

Spell Tutor and FIZZLE

Spell Tutor overhauls the learning process, makes learning spells like a trial to actually learn them. FIZZLE makes sure you don't cast anything too high level too often.

Summermyst

You will find those enchantements on spell tomes, when defeating strong enemies. Good hunting!

Ultimate Shouts and Thunderchild

One makes shouts actually viable, the other adds new shouts! That's about it really, have fun with new cool stuff!

Wintersun

Provides quite a few deities to follow; to make your character even stronger than it already is.

Apothecary

I have sworn to never use kryptopyr's CACO ever again. This overhaul does exactly what it needs to do and is actually not a pain to patch. This is why it has been chosen. We use both the Main mod and it's Food addon!

You have all the tools to conquer the world thanks to the absurd strength and overpowered items, but those tools are also available to your enemies which will be forever challenging.

Gameplay - Less known available tools.

The main overhauls are what define most of your strenght; but a lot has been added on the side so you can clutch boss fights with a well prepared arsenal.

ScrollScribe SE - A Scroll Crafting Mod

You will very quickly notice how almost every bandit has access to magic.. sound annoying right? Especially since magic is quite overpowered in this list. Fear not, you have also access to very strong spells, that only get stronger, despite your lack of mana!

Welcome to Scrollscribe, simply go to an inn and use the power in your magic tab to see how you can craft scrolls! Just requires paper and soul gem dust!