Summary
When it comes to modding for beginners, there are worse places to start than themodern Bethesda games. For players on Steam, adding mods toFallout 4orSkyrimis as easy as clicking a couple of buttons in the workshop. Even for players who aren’t on Steam, Nexus is full of popular mods with full installation guides.
Modding can still be a daunting task for newcomers though. There are thousands of mods available, and sorting the best from the worst usually comes down to following user ratings. For players who are new to modding in general, or new to moddingFallout 4, this topic will cover the best mods for beginners to start with before diving into the wider world ofFalloutmodding.
1F4SE & Mod Configuration Menu
The Basics Of Any Mod Pack
Before any player starts the journey of moddingFallout 4extensively, two mods are essential downloads. Fallout 4 Script Extender (F4SE) enables all sorts of functions that more advanced mods rely on, so it’s a core dependency mod.
Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) provides an additional options menu for tweaking mod options, and a lot ofFallout 4mods are integrated with it, so players can adjust their options in-game. These mods don’t really do anything by themselves, but players will need them for other mods to work correctly.
2Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch
Bug fixing & Optimization
There’s no better place to start with modding than optimizing the game to get rid of any performance and graphical issues. That’s especially true withFallout 4, which has a lot of lingering optimization issues and bugs that have remained in the game through multiple patches, updates, and re-releases.
The Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch smooths out all of these issues, making the game much more stable and eliminating some performance-hitting physics glitches. The mod is still in active development, so it’s been updated to work with 2024’snext-gen update toFallout 4.
3Fallout 4 HD Overhaul 2K
Even More Updated Textures
The Fallout 4 HD overhaul project started development many years ago, and Fallout 4 HD Overhaul 2K is the latest iteration of the project, including all the work from the original mod, with a host of new updates. Beginner modders should be aware that this graphical update mod will affect the game’s performance requirements, but most modern PCs should still handle it comfortably.
The update to the graphical fidelity and texture detail is absolutely worth the additional VRAM needed. Nasty piles of radioactive trash,post-apocalyptic rubble, and assorted bags of gore never looked so good as with this graphical overhaul.
4Homemaker - Expanded Settlements
Better Building And More Options
Base building is one of the more limited systems inFallout 4, and expanding its variety and improving its function is a good place to start with modding. The Homemaker mod is a more lightweight mod that expands the original games' base-building variety. There are new build sets, new prefab buildings, and a ton of decorative items and lighting options.
It doesn’t overhaul anything, so it’s easy to install either via the Workshop or a mod manager like Vortex. As a bonus, it adds more logical snap points for a lot of building items, making it easier to work with theFallout 4building system overall.
5Better Settlers
NPC Variety
While players are expanding their settlement building, they can optionally use this mod to get a much greater variety among settlers that will move in. The Better Settlers mod adds 230 new settler variations to the base game’s roster of just over 40.
Interested modders can also add compatible community cosmetic mods, optionally included in the mod download, to give even more variety to the looks of their new settlers. The mod is lore-friendly and a good way to increase settlement variety when paired with the Homemaker mod.
6Sim Settlements 2
Full Settlement Overhaul
As an alternative to the two settlement mods above, Sim Settlements 2 is a full settlement overhaul mod for players who want to get a bit further from the base game’s intentions. It’s less of a beginner’s mod in the sense that it drastically alters the base game system, but it’s an easy self-contained install via a mod manager or the Workshop.
It’s well worth playing with, as Sim Settlements 2 is a much better realization of the settlement system. Not only does it add a lot more function to bothsettlements and their settlers, but it also adds an entire new questline to give more purpose to expanding and linking new bases.
7Atomic Radio & Tales From The Commonwealth
Lore Friendly Expansion
Players who’ve finishedFallout 4andwant to look into moddingare often just interested in expanding on what’s already in the game. Tales From The Commonwealth is a lore-friendly expansion mod that adds new NPCs and questlines to the game, and it comes with the associated Atomic Radio, a new fully voiced radio station in keeping with theFalloutaesthetic.
This is an expansion mod with a lot of care and effort behind it. NPCs and quests are mostly fully voiced, and the level of quality means this additional content feels like it fits right into the base game.
8Armorsmith Extended
Enhanced Armor Crafting
For players who want to expand onFallout 4’s itemization and crafting, Armorsmith Extended is a good place to start. Rather than adding an entire new system or overwhelming amounts of content, this mod focuses on armor crafting, to make it feel more varied and worthwhile. It’s a good addition to the game that makes armor crafting feel worth investing in.
As a bonus, it also streamlines some of the issues the base game has with combining armored and non-armored clothing, meaning players get more variety and visual coherence in their appearance customization with armor and clothes.
9Scrap Everything
Get Rid Of Clutter
Another category of mod that new modders should look into is simple quality-of-life mods. These are some of the easiest and most lightweight mods to install, and they can make a player’s journey ten times more convenient and enjoyable.
Scrap Everything is a useful mod for anyone who hates clutter, or just wants morecontrol over the look and space of their settlements. It lets players scrap everything within a settlement boundary, removing the restrictions from the base game that forced players to leave certain permanent objects in place.
10Cheat Terminal
Take It Easy
Cheat Terminal is a simple addition for any player who just wants to get intoFallout 4’s sandbox and mess around. There’s a laundry list of cheats that can be enabled and disabled via a simple holotape in the player’s inventory.
This includes options like infinite ammo, god mode, spawning weapons, adjusting stats on the go, and much more. It’s ahighly compatible mod, so it can also be useful for players who are testing the stability of other mods in their pack and don’t want to be interrupted by simple gameplay needs.
