- The best Fallout 4 mods – from small fixes to complete overhauls
- Armorsmith Extended
- Better Settlers
- Fallout 4 – Textured Optimization Project
- Full Dialogue Interface
- Lowered Weapons
- Sim Settlements
- Start Me Up Redux
- True Storms
- Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch
- Vivid Fallout
Image via Bethesda
Fallout 4 remains one of the biggest and best open world games you can pick up, with countless quests to complete and different areas to explore as you wander through the wasteland looking for your lost son. Being a Bethesda game, mods were developed for the game almost as soon as it was released back in 2015 and the community hasn’t slowed down in the years since. If you’re wondering which mods are worth picking up, here are our picks for the best mods for Fallout 4.
The best Fallout 4 mods – from small fixes to complete overhauls
Fallout 4 mods run the gambit from fixing the many bugs and glitches that pepper the experience to complete overhauls of the dialogue tree to make it a more intuitive and straightforward experience. There are thousands of mods available for the game, but these are the best ones that enhance the gameplay of Fallout 4 and make it one of the best open world games you’ll ever play.
Armorsmith Extended
Image via Nexus Mods
This Fallout 4 mod offers players an almost complete overhaul of the armor and clothing systems in the game. It includes massive changes to the armor modding system, allowing players more options to customize more than just the stats of their equipment. It also allows the player and their companions to wear almost anything in the game. This is easily one of the best mods to Fallout 4 that completely changes how the game plays.
Better Settlers
Image via Nexus Mods
If you take control of more than two settlements in Fallout 4, you’ll quickly notice that the settlers on offer aren’t exactly diverse. It isn’t unusual to find the same person at two different locations at the same time, which can make the game feel small and breaks the immersion. Better Settlers fixes this issue, adding more than 230 unique settlers to the game. Not only does it fix their repetitive appearance, but it also improves their AI so that they behave in a more human and sophisticated way.
Fallout 4 – Textured Optimization Project
Image via Nexus Mods
Though the game was generally well-received upon launch, the graphics were never the focus of Fallout 4. These graphics certainly haven’t aged in the years following the game’s release, so some industrious modders created the Texture Optimization Project. This Fallout 4 mod gives the entire game a massive graphical overhaul, making it look and feel more like a modern AAA game than it did at launch. This is easily the best graphical update that Fallout 4 has ever gotten.
Full Dialogue Interface
Image via Nexus Mods
One of the biggest complaints about any Bethesda game is that it creates a bit of guesswork when it comes to their dialogue tree. Sometimes the game only offers players a choice between two or three-word responses that don’t let them know exactly what their Sole Survivor is going to say. It didn’t take long for modders to take it upon themselves to fix this issue. The Full Dialogue Interface mod for Fallout 4 lets players know exactly what their character is going to say ahead of time. With it, you’ll never accidentally upset one of your companions again.
Lowered Weapons
Image via Nexus Mods
One of the more amusing aspects of Fallout 4 is that the Sole Survivor has absolutely no sense of muzzle discipline. If a weapon is currently equipped, then they will point it directly in front of them, even if that means aiming it at allies or shopkeepers during dialogue. For players who want a greater sense of immersion, the Lowered Weapons mod gives players the option to lower their weapon until they are in an active combat situation. Not only does this make the game feel more realistic but it also frees up more of the screen to see where you’re going.
Sim Settlements
Image via Nexus Mods
One of the most annoying things in Fallout 4 is how helpless settlers tend to be when the player isn’t around to guide their every move. The Sim Settlements mod gives settlers a bit of autonomy. They’ll take it upon themselves to tend to crops, build objects, and even go on patrol to keep the settlement safe. This might not appeal to players who want to micromanage how their settlements grow and develop, but for those who think it is odd that these survivors can’t manage to grow some crops without someone to hold their hand, it can be a welcome addition.
Start Me Up Redux
Image via Nexus Mods
The opening to Fallout 4 is one of the best of the series, but even it can get old when you try to play through it multiple times. The Start Me Up mod for Fallout 4 gives players the chance to choose different backgrounds for their characters. Players can choose to be a vault dweller that was released from the vault by mistake or as a wastelander born and raised outside the vault. There are more than 800 unique lines of dialogue in this. The Redux version of the mod fixes many of the bugs and issues the original caused, giving players the best and most unique version of Fallout 4.
True Storms
Image via Nexus Mods
The True Storms mod for Fallout 4 creates a more dynamic weather system for the Commonwealth. There are dust storms and radioactive rains to contend with, offering an extra bit of challenge and variety as players wander across the wasteland. Seeking shelter from an incoming storm is surprisingly fun and watching the rains pass can be a peaceful experience.
Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch
Image via Nexus Mods
We don’t know if you had heard, but Fallout 4 has a lot of bugs. Open world games like this usually are, as the systems required to keep the game running often interact with each other in surprising and unexpected ways. While there have been plenty of patches for the game over the years, none have really clamped down on all of these bugs. This mod, called the Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch, gets closer than Bethesda itself has ever come to providing a seamless gaming experience. It removes most of the bugs in the game and gives players a smooth journey across the Commonwealth.
Vivid Fallout
Image via Nexus Mods
Vivid Fallout focuses entirely on making the landscapes and backgrounds of the Commonwealth more vibrant and detailed. Water textures are improved. The trees are more detailed. The horizon is more than just a pale line in the distance. You spend a lot of time traveling through the wasteland and this mod for Fallout 4 makes that part of the game far more pleasing to the eye.