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There’s never not a time to revisit the Commonwealth in Fallout 4, to save Nick one more time, or give Dogmeat a scratch, but I’d never do it without the best mods from the community. You’ve got your shaders, features, and new content, but in my book, the best mods improve the user experience. Fallout 4 has a few oddities that are easily fixed with a couple mods, like the unhelpful dialogue wheel. Whenever I fire up the game again, I never play without these mods.
Fallout 4 Script Extender
The Fallout 4 Script Extender isn’t just the best, it’s arguably the most important mod you’ll need; in fact, so many mods list F4SE as a requirement. On its own, the Fallout 4 Script Extender does nothing noticeable. It doesn’t add textures or boost performance or any of that.
Instead, what it does is extend the capabilities of scripts in the game. In practice, F4SE essentially sets up Fallout 4 to handle mods using scripts that are far more sophisticated. Otherwise, most mods won’t even work without it.
Full Dialogue Interface
I’m not a fan of the brief responses in Fallout 4. It rarely conveys the tone I’m looking for and offers very little information. I need to know every word that’s being said so it matches the character I’m roleplaying.
With the Full Dialogue Interface mod, your dialogue options are written out and listed, just like it was in Fallout 3, Skyrim, even the classics like Fallout. It takes out all the guesswork and sudden whiplash you feel when you pick a dialogue option, only for your character to say something completely wild or too extreme.
Snap’n Build 2.0
Every time I fire up Fallout 4 for a new playthrough, I end up doing the same thing, without fail: scrapping everything I can in Sanctuary Hills and building. I rather like the settlement system, even if many fans don’t, and I’ve spent hours tweaking things just right. However, the snapping mechanic is often infuriating, so I use Snap’n Build 2.0 to make it exponentially more responsive.
As a bonus, Snap’n Build 2.0 also adds a bunch of new pieces to build with, and they are nicely categorized by type, so you can find them easily. You’ll find a bunker set, old-world buildings, and my personal favorite, the little capsules you encounter outside Vault 111.
I’d also throw in Scrap Everything for good measure, as it’s a really good companion to Snap’n Build 2.0. With the two together, you can clean up your favorite settlement top to bottom to make room for your fancy creations.
Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch
It’s no secret that Fallout 4 released with what the community lovingly (or not-so-lovingly) call “Bethesda bugs.” I’ve seen a few of my own and while I was lucky to have avoided most of them, I never start a playthrough without the Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch. Like the F4SE mod, it’s non-negotiable!
Game studios can’t be expected to patch a game for eternity; I understand that. Thankfully, the modding community is awesome and took it upon themselves to make fixes to Fallout 4 that were either missed or have yet to be addressed. It also fixes a lot of stuttering, especially around Far Harbor, so it’s a nice overall performance boost, too.
DEF_UI
I am a massive fan of mods that add clarity to Fallout 4, like the aforementioned Full Dialogue Interface mod. One sticking point that needs to be addressed is the UI. For the most part, I love the design; it’s clean and green (or your favorite color), and most of the information you need from minute to minute is right there. My issue is that the inventory menu feels claustrophobic and chaotic.
With the DEF_UI mod, little icons are added to the left of every item, cutting down the time it takes me to locate specific items. Better still, the workshop displays more items at once as opposed to the original, claustrophobic menu. It’s a small change, but I noticed I spend far less time looking at my Pip-Boy.
