I play with a few QoL mods like Better Thralls to cut down on time and help alleviate what would otherwise be extreme, fun-killing tedium in the game in single-player. I've learned A LOT over the last few weeks since I started CE as a newbie, like making sure that if you play single-player you create and configure a dedicated server so you can change NPCSpawnrate. Otherwise, that cave or camp you just cleared will respawn just as soon as you're out of sight within seconds and you may have to go through it again for some reason when the default respawn rate on official and unofficial servers is typically 15 minutes. I set my NPCSpawn rate for about 75 minutes so areas stayed cleared for that time. I consider this a necessary adjustment for SP.
Agree you will want to adjust some numbers in your settings
mastroego once you get a sense of the game (and yes respawn time is #1), but this doesn't require either mods or a dedicated server.
For some reason, if I select Single Player in the main menu instead of Online, my NPCRespawnMultiplier is disabled and you're in for a world of tedium fighting through those mobs you just cleared literally seconds earlier instead of a minimum of 15 minutes like in Online play. It also gives too much exp and causes you to level up too fast in SP, imo. So I did need to configure an online dedicated server to get the NPCRespawnMultiplier to "stick". Basically, I learned
not to select Single Player in the Main Menu and select Play Online instead because it allows you to play your single player game on a dedicated server you created with a working NPCRespawn Multiplier, among other benefits.
One mod that I consider essential now is
Follower Remote. It got to be downright heartbreaking watching my thrall companions beheading, eviscerating, and/or dismembering that rare, juicy and
valuable named T4 thrall I was trying to beat into unconsciousness to convert on my Wheel of Pain. Follower Remote allows me to make my thrall switch to their knock-out truncheons in the heat of battle instead of using their bi-secting katanas that kill your target. Someone mentioned above that the Relic Hunter Treasure Seekers are among the best, most versatile T4 thralls in the game. Well, I went into that wine cellar yesterday (the
biggest wine cellar in the history of gaming, btw) and captured
three of them, including an RHTS archer (I like to dress my archers up in pretty Valkyrie type armor and perch them on my main buildings). But of course my thrall companion killed several of them so it took longer than it should have because I didn't have full control of my berserking thralls. I hope to change that with
Follower Remote.