These are my top 50 picks for mods on starting the game out. If you’ve never played, or quit and and are thinking of returning, these are my best recommendations for the smoothest and most user customized experience. These mods require no additional steps from you to work, just download and play. Majority of them do have options for tweaking to your personal tastes though.

These mods assume you have already installed F4SE. If you have not, get it here. https://f4se.silverlock.org/ – [silverlock.org]

Mod Configuration Menu

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/21497 – [nexusmods.com]

Framework for other mods that allows you to tweak and configure their settings in game at anytime.

FallUI : Inventory

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/51813?tab=description – [nexusmods.com]

Most user friendly hud framework to date. Easy to set up and tweak with no modding experience required. Recreate huds of the older Fallout titles, tweak the vanilla, or build your own all from the mod configuration menu. I use a personally tweaked version of the 3D hud.

FallUI : Workbench

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49300?tab=description – [nexusmods.com]

Expands the crafting menu size, adds additional weapon information, and allows less tedious multi-crafting.

FallUI : Sleep And Wait

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49070 – [nexusmods.com]

Expands wait and sleep menu. Wait and sleep for longer amounts of time. Removes a lot of additional time ( In real life ) the vanilla menu wastes on delayed speed.

FallUI : Map

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49920 – [nexusmods.com]

Improves map interface with quality of life changes.

FallUi : Item Sorter

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49656 – [nexusmods.com]

Sorts inventory into categories with icons and neater names for faster, more convenient searching. Select the unofficial patch version if you choose to use the unofficial patch. You can also choose to remove the weight of miscellaneous items if you’re a hoarder like me.

FallUI : Confirm Boxes

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/48958 – [nexusmods.com]

Removes a lot of tedious pop up boxes in the game. Change the shape / color of them and other menus, to stand out more or be modernized.

DEF_UI Iconlibs Rescaled and Fixed

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/31088 – [nexusmods.com]

Required by FallUI: Inventory to provide colored and properly sized icons.

DEF_ACW Ammo Count Widget Redone

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/36162 – [nexusmods.com]

A better ammo counter that can be tweaked to your liking in the mod configuration tool.

FAR – Faraway Area Reform

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20713?tab=files&file_id=178925&nmm=1 – [nexusmods.com]

Improves the quality of LOD while also lowering it’s file size for performance. Makes LOD textures load in faster and reduce stuttering.

PhyOp – Overhauled Optimized Textures

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/27038 – [nexusmods.com]

Improved quality of textures with reduced file size for faster load in and less stutter. I use Light Base Game + Light DLC. Read the page mod page description for the differences between Light, Dark and the Custom version.

Game Configuration Menu

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/33759 – [nexusmods.com]

Allows you to tweak majority of the game settings to your personal tastes through the mod configuration menu. Includes options for DLC content.

Arbitration – Combat AI – Stealth – Speed – Damage – Gameplay Overhaul and Tweaks

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/2037 – [nexusmods.com]

Lightweight AI improvements without bloatware. Choose the modular version and select what you want. I personally only use the combat enhancements and stealth overhaul.

SKK Fast Start new game

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/29227 – [nexusmods.com]

Normally this would be used after you’ve already played the game. I recommend using it even on your first play through as the intro is very slow / tedious and not that important. An un-skippable replay of the intro is in a story quest, so save yourself the trouble of sitting through it twice and just do it once. Any new characters you may want to make in the future will only take about 2 minutes now as well.

SKK Auto Unlock loot and terminals

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/32150 – [nexusmods.com]

The lockpicking and terminal minigames are fun for the first few hours, then become tedious. Skip the pain of them and keep your game play faster paced by unlocking locked items at a single press of button. Or have the mod automatically unlock stuff within a certain radius of you. Uses a holotape to be tweaked.

Global Stash (Connect all Workshops and Workbenches) by SKK

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/41511 – [nexusmods.com]

Automatically crunches your junk items into the main scrap materials to make your inventory load faster and be less cluttered. Links all your workshops and settlement items together so you don’t have to keep traveling back and forth to access them. Uses a holotape for tweaking.

Quick Trade

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/16229 – [nexusmods.com]

Enables the ability to quickly trade with companions, settlers, and merchants by pressing R and skipping all the dialog. Uses the mod configuration menu to add a user defined hotkey to disable the feature when using multiple mods that replace the R key menu.

Quick Draw – Faster Draw Animations – Now Works With Custom Weapons

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/7796 – [nexusmods.com]

Removes slow animations when equipping weapons. I personally use Quick Draw 2.0 – Weapon Jiggle Remover version all the way at the bottom.

Fallout 4 Less XP Based On Difficulty + Sandman Fix

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/24037 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/15151 – [nexusmods.com]

Lowers the exp gained based on the game difficulty. I personally play on Very Hard with the MK.I version so I only get 0.5% of the normal game exp. Your looking at maybe 3 – 6 Exp killing normal enemies and I believe like 12 on legendary enemies. Makes leveling more dependent on quests, so you see more of the game without being ridiculously high level as vanilla leveling is too fast. The second mod makes the Sandman perk grant exp, since it doesn’t for some reason.

Classic Holstered Weapons System

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46101 – [nexusmods.com]

Adds visible weapon holstering like previous Fallout games.

No Crafting Experience + No Crippled Limb Pop Ups

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/15203 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11082 – [nexusmods.com]

Removes the annoying experience gain from crafting or modifying an item. Now you won’t accidentally level up 10 – 20 times trying to build a settlement. Also removes the pop up notifications from being crippled that interrupt the flow of combat.

Fallout 76 Ammo Crafting

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/47750 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52021 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52230 – [nexusmods.com]

These are technically 3 different mods, but they all fit together to fleshing out a single system the best. Brings in gunpowder and ammo crafting from Fallout 76 for a lore friendly and convenient way to obtain and scrap ammo. Includes grenades and better recipes for them.

Plugging A Leak after Tradecraft

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/22353 – [nexusmods.com]

This fixes a quest bug that unfairly locks you out of a companion and a pair of upgraded glasses. Recommended you return to this page to read about Trade Craft when you reach that quest.

Dracos Legendary Effects Detachable and Craft-able Versions

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/15411 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/32621 – [nexusmods.com]

Another package as these two fit so well together that I find it impossible to play without them combined. Overhauls the legendary system to no longer be an rng farm fest. Craft any legendary on any weapon you wish at anytime, as long as you have the materials. Or choose to never have a legendary weapon spawn in the game outside of the Unique weapons placed by the developers. The second mod stops legendary weapons from spawning as drops on enemies.

Whose Quest Is It Anyway

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/51979 – [nexusmods.com]

Changes the generic you can’t drop this item message to an informative one that tells you what quest the item belongs to.

Unlimited Fast Travel – F4SE / Survival

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25568 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/26163 – [nexusmods.com]

Another 2 that must go together.

Restores disabled features in survival, and allows you to fast travel from anywhere.

Console Name Fix

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25568 – [nexusmods.com]

Fixes the names of various items in the console, for someone who intends to use it to modify the game world.

Vault Outfits Redux

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/37989 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/45014 – [nexusmods.com]

Overhaul of the vault suits to look like 76’s. With a great retexture to make it even better. Adds missing Fallout 4 vault suits for you to collect, and some lore friendly skeletons with vault suits.

Vault 81 – Timed Mole Rat Disease (60 minutes)

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/15012 – [nexusmods.com]

Makes a bugged in game disease expire after 60 in game minutes instead of being permanent so you don’t always have an annoying icon and reminder of it.

Crafting Highlight Fix

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/27479 – [nexusmods.com]

Disable ugly shaders and highlighting at workbenches.

CryoFix

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49383 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/50947 – [nexusmods.com]

2 fixes for the bugged Cryo effect that can cause enemies to respawn permanently frozen in your save.

Encumbrance 76

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/42384 – [nexusmods.com]

Fallout 76 overweight mechanics and strong back perk changes.

PerkPointsPerLevel

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3938 – [nexusmods.com]

Set any number of perk points you want to gain each level. I use 2.

AnotherOne Immersive Radiation

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52637 – [nexusmods.com]

Changes radiation from just lowering your health and killing you to the penalty inducing style of older Fallouts and giving you a chance to cure it before dying.

Sprint Stuttering Fix / Third-Person Movement Speed Fix

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/47760 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/28737 – [nexusmods.com]

Self explanatory.

Third Person Melee Tweak

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/15769 – [nexusmods.com]

Lets you do sideways attacks with melee weapons. Still pretty clunky, but an improvement nonetheless.

No Negative Affinity and No Affinity Cooldown + Visible Affinity.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10660 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3276 – [nexusmods.com]

Enables less tedious min / maxing all companion relationships without being penalized for doing certain things they don’t like. I personally use the no ♥♥♥♥♥ given with normal cool down version. Also allows you to check your affinity progress at anytime.

Better Vertibirds

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/41919 – [nexusmods.com]

Buffs vertibirds to no longer be made of paper.

No Local Leader for Crafting Stations or Stores

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/39840 – [nexusmods.com]

Removes needing to invest points into an otherwise meaningless perk just to make crafting benches and stores. Skk Global stash handles supply lines already.

AimStability Fix – Better Aiming

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/21191 – [nexusmods.com]

Reduces a lot of absurd weapon sway.

See Through Scopes

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9476 – [nexusmods.com]

Changes a lot of scopes to 3D and see through models.

Laser weapons 1st person re position

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/23102?tab=description – [nexusmods.com]

Makes Laser weapons take up less of the screen.

Smaller Institute Weapons

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3999 – [nexusmods.com]

Reduces some of the overall bulkiness of Institute weapons.

Workshop Framework

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/35004 – [nexusmods.com]

New workshop scripts, quality of life features, and makes settlement stuff more easily modifiable.

Stainless Steel .44 and Western Revolvers Retexture

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9820?tab=files – [nexusmods.com]

Adds missing Glow Sights in a non buggy way to the .44. Also grants it a nice texture, as a main story weapon surely deserves it.

Remove Ugly Flat Trash + Annoying Idles

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/19711 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/37081 – [nexusmods.com]

Modular installer to remove various trash decals that look bad and some rubble. 2nd Mod lets you choose certain animations to remove various annoying idles. I recommend the hammering, slog, and driveway ones to remove.

Blur Killer

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/16446 – [nexusmods.com]

Removes a lot of ugly blurring effects and increases performance.

Insignificant Object Remover

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9835 – [nexusmods.com]

Removes a lot of small rocks and unnecessary performance eating objects.

DLC covered as well here.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/53535 – [nexusmods.com]

Snap Snap

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/22992 – [nexusmods.com]

Adds more snap points to object building, makes some items snap together that didn’t in vanilla.

Recommend also using this to add guard posts to the list.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/13755 – [nexusmods.com]

Robot Fixes

A handful of fixes that fix robot graphic glitches, annoying mechanics, and crash inducing bugs.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17518 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/22539 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/44526 – [nexusmods.com]

Honorable Mentions

These are mods that Aren’t as necessary as the others above, and may appeal to more niche interests.

NamePlates

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/21636 – [nexusmods.com]

Adds floating, color coded nameplates and health bars to everyone.

Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4598 – [nexusmods.com]

Debatable unofficial bug patches. Some people swear by it, others hate it. I personally use it myself, but up to you.

Crimsomrider’s Convenient Resources

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20827 – [nexusmods.com]

Adds power generation to a switch, and food / water gains to the food stores.

Clean Hair + Brighter Eyes of Perfection

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/7564 – [nexusmods.com]

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1364 – [nexusmods.com]

Adds more vibrant colors to hair and eyes. Personally my favorite hair and eyes re textures.

Mouth Brightness Fix.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17865 – [nexusmods.com]

Fixes a bug with mouths that may be too bright at night.

Flyable Personal Vertibird

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/47187 – [nexusmods.com]

Adds craftable vertibirds you can fly. But is very script heavy.

Smooth Ghouls

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/50962 – [nexusmods.com]

If you don’t care much for how ghouls look and would rather they look like normal people.

Immersive Hunting

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/53964 – [nexusmods.com]

Adds a new and realistic framework for hunting.

This is all about Fallout 4 – Best Top 50 Mods List and Most Played in Fallout 4; I hope you enjoy reading the Guide! If you feel like we should add more information or we forget/mistake, please let us know via commenting below, and thanks! See you soon!