The modding scene forFallout 4, while not as active asSkyrim’s, is vibrant. There are tons of mods that expand the game’s world, adding features Bethesda simply doesn’t have time for. Bethesda’s older titles can be a headache when it comes to modding, but over the years, their games have become more stable. Skyrim can run dozens of mods without too much trouble, and Fallout 4 is no different.
The main issue with Bethesda mods is that there aretoo many of them. Obviously one can’t installevery modunless they’re looking tocrash their game. Instead, players have to pick, choose, and curate a collection that best suits their gameplay. This list can help players who don’t know where to start looking. Fire up yourmod manager, take adeep breath, and try installing some of theseawesome mods for Fallout 4!
10/10 Homemaker - Expanded Settlements
Quite simply, Homemaker adds hundreds of new objects and pieces of furniture to the base building in Fallout 4. The vanilla base building experience can feel lacking, with limited options to choose from. Plus, everything in the base game looksdirty— we want to feel like we’rerebuildingthe wasteland, not justmoving garbage around. Homemaker gives that feeling.
The only real drawback is that thesheer number of new objectscan betough to navigate. Fallout 4’s base-building system was made with consoles in mind. The UI islargeand lacks features likedrop-down menus. The developers clearly never anticipated having several hundreds of objects to sort through.
9/10 Start Me Up Redux
New VegasandMorrowindget through their intros in about five minutes. InSkyrimandFallout 4however, the introductory sequences go on for what feels like an hour. For games aboutplayer freedomthat encouragemultiple playthroughs, it’s just too much. It’s no wonder alternate start mods are so popular.
Start Me Up Redux is the revived, updated version of Start Me Up. Not only does it let the player skip the long intro, it lets them take on a newbackstoryif they want, meaning they’llno longer be a parent looking for their son. The mod even alters the game’s dialogue to reflect this. It’s awelcome changethat really frees up new roleplaying opportunities.
8/10 Armorsmith Extended
Armorsmith Extended is a great mod that adds a ton of new features. It lets players combineany piece of armorwith just aboutany outfit. Obviously, this really opens up the character customization options. The mod also adds in some new armor pieces and improves customization for existing armors.New colors and modsmake it feel almost as fully featured as weapon customization.
Armorsmith Extended adds a ton of new features, far too many to list here, all of which just generally make armor a more fun experience. The changes are all small on their own, but they come together to make the moda vital part of any load order.
7/10 Better Settlers
Better Settlers does exactly what it says; it improves the game’s generic settlers. It may seem like a small change, but it addsa welcome level of variety. With the mod, settlers actually look unique and interesting. They no longer all wear the same boring rags and brahmin-skin outfits; instead, they can spawn with things likesuits, funhats, or evenarmor,weapons, andStimpaks.
Better Settlers comes with some great optional patches, too. TheCommunity Clothing Patchadds in armors fromEli’s Armor Compendium. An optionalmortalitypatch makes it so settlers can be killed (by other NPCs, and not just the player), which gives a lot more depth to settlement raids.
6/10 Maxwell’s World
There aren’t atonof good quest mods available for Fallout 4, but there are a few, andMaxwell’s Worldis one of them. It’s a very large, lovingly crafted mod that takes place in ahaunted amusement park. The mod contains newweapons, newmusic,andsound effects, the awesome newamusement park area, pretty decent voice acting, and more.
Maxwell’s World is not a mod for people who enjoy serious, lore-friendly stories. But it is entertaining, and very much worth playing. The care that went into making it is obvious, and it should last most players a couple of hours, making it almost like amini-DLC.
5/10 True Storms
True Storms is thepremier weather modfor Fallout 4. As the name implies, it completely revamps storms but also has a number of effects on other weather. For example, fog effects and radiation cloudsno longer pass through walls. Also, with this mod,rad storms sometimes bring hordes of ghoulswith them. This is a pretty intense feature, but like every other part of the mod,it can be toggled on and off.
True Storms has awesome particle effects for rain, gorgeous lightning strikes, and immersive sounds. It actually began as asound overhaul mod, and it shows. The storm and rain effects all soundfantastic.
4/10 Eli’s Armor Compendium
Eli’s Armor Compendium adds a host of new armors and clothing items to Fallout 4. Almost all of the new items look great, and many of them can be modded or recolored at the armor workbench. In addition to adding a new shop that sells Eli’s armors, the mod also adds them toloot listsso they blend in with the rest of the game.
Eli’s Armor Compendium is probably thebest mod for new lore-friendly armorin Fallout 4. There’s not much more to say about it;it just makes the game better. The modder who made it even went on to get a job in game development, which is a testament to her 3D modeling skills.
3/10 The Beantown Interiors Project
This is the perfect mod for anyone who’s ever been disappointed by the number of closed doors in Fallout. The Beantown Interiors Project opens several previously sealed-off or boarded-up houses, letting the player go inside them, explore, and loot. The number of boarded-up houses in the base game ispretty disappointing, so this mod is a natural fix.
The Interiors Project lends the game a ton of depth in a way that’s not awkward or forced. Places like Concord, which previously feltempty,come to life with opportunities. Buildings that were previously just obstacles to move around suddenly provideample coverand otherunique surprises!
2/10 Tales From the Commonwealth
Tales of the Commonwealth is a massive mod that adds newquests, newcompanions, dozens of newcharacters, and thousands of lines of dialogue to Fallout 4. Because the characters and quests of the mod are so spread out, and there are so many of them, the mod even has a wiki-style page to walk players through some of its content. It’s a great mod for ongoing playthroughs, adding a lot of depth to the game’s world.
Tales From the Commonwealth adds something that Fallout 4 is desperately in need of —interesting characters to talk to. It’s a nice change of pace for a game most of thereallyinteresting characters are companions, and there is only a handful of them.
1/10 Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch
If we could only install one Fallout 4 mod, it would be this one. Nearly every Bethesda game has anunofficial bugfixmod. And for nearly every Bethesda game, it’s practically anecessity. From bugged-out merchants to texture glitches to game-breaking issues, the list of features fixed by this patch has thousands of entries, and it’s consistently updated with more. Players may not even notice most of the mod’s functionality, but they would definitely noticeif they didn’t have it.
The Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch, or UFO4P, earns its spot asone of the most popular mods of all time. It was created by the same dedicated team who created the Unofficial Skyrim Patch. It’s amazing to see such dedicated fans committed to fixing these games, and they deserve as much support as they can get.
