{"id":4693,"date":"2026-05-11T09:55:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T14:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/?p=4693"},"modified":"2026-05-12T01:59:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T06:59:12","slug":"essential-mods-nexus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/essential-mods-nexus\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential Starfield Mods: Nexus"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-4693\" data-postid=\"4693\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-4693 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n                    <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_2hh4845 tb_first tf_w\">\n                        <div class=\"row_inner col_align_top tb_col_count_1 tf_box tf_rel\">\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col-full tb_b9gf845 first\">\n                    <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_8plv34   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <p>In this post, I will be writing about various mods that I use to enhance my Starfield experience. I&#8217;ll break this up into two parts for ease of use, this first part will be for mods found on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nexus Mods<\/a> and the second will be those found in <a href=\"https:\/\/creations.bethesda.net\/en\/starfield\/featured\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bethesda&#8217;s Creations<\/a> mods. So, let&#8217;s get to it!<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_kpoy988   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <p>First off, you are going to want to head over to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nexus Mods<\/a> and, if you don&#8217;t have one already, register a free account with them so you can start downloading mods from them. Next, download the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/vortex\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vortex Mod Manager<\/a>. You&#8217;ll be very thankful for Vortex once you start installing lots of lots of mods either from Nexus and\/or <a href=\"https:\/\/creations.bethesda.net\/en\/starfield\/featured\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bethesda Creations<\/a>. Once you have Vortex installed, take note that when you download mods from Nexus, always select the &#8220;Mod Manager Download&#8221; button and it will be automatically downloaded and installed by Vortex. Now for the list of mods that I consider essential for enjoying Starfield, at least essential for <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">me <\/span>to enjoy Starfield. You had better also check the very end of this post for info on Load Order. The order that the game loads these mods is <b>very <\/b>important and Vortex can help you with that.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_0nhx523   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/106\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Starfield Script Extender<\/a> &#8211; The Big One<\/h4>\n<p>This mod doesn&#8217;t do anything on its own, but it does enable hundreds of other mods to function. Those mods cannot function without it. Every time there is a game update, you will be stuck waiting for this and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/3256\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SFSE Address Library<\/a>\u00a0(they work together) to be updated so that any of your mods will work again. So, go ahead and download then install with Vortex both of these mods (SFSE and SFSE Library). No matter what, you&#8217;re most likely going to need them.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_qzzq36   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/658\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Baka Achievement Enabler<\/a> &#8211; If You Need That<\/h4>\n<p>By default, all mods from Nexus will disable the ability to earn achievements in the game. If you care about that sort of thing, you&#8217;re going to need Baka&#8217;s mod. It will allow you to use ANY mod and still earn achievements. I&#8217;m personally indifferent to them. Yay if I get one but I&#8217;m not going to go out of my way or change the way I play just to earn an arbitrary achievement.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_pzg6908   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/701\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vanilla Flashlight Improved<\/a> &#8211; Find Your Illumination<\/h4>\n<p>Let&#8217;s face it, the default flashlight contained in the game really sucks. If you want to be able to actually see anything with your flashlight, you&#8217;re going to need this mod. I use the &#8220;recommended&#8221; preset included with the mod, but you can select whichever you want of the three available presets. Now you will finally be able to see what you are trying to explore!<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_yitq451   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/1013\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Increased Space Loot Distance<\/a> &#8211; Less Distance, More Loot<\/h4>\n<p>In the vanilla game, you have to be within 500 meters to loot the cargo of any destroyed ships. That can be a real pain in the ass if there are a lot of destroyed ships around. This mod makes it so that ships now must be <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">5000 <\/span>meters away to loot. Now you can safely loot cargo without having to zip here, there, and everywhere. It&#8217;s both a time and sanity saver!<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_1lpb439   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/759\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instant Scan<\/a> &#8211; It Only Makes Sense<\/h4>\n<p>In the vanilla game, you have to scan each animal and plant about eight times to get it fully scanned. That number only goes down if you spend your precious skill points on the relative skill, but it doesn&#8217;t go down by much. That number is ridiculous. This mod can change how many times you need to scan anything. I use the &#8220;balanced&#8221; preset so that, to start with, I have to scan everything only three times and that is reduced by one each time if I choose to skill up. You can also choose to scan everything only once to begin with, but that&#8217;s your choice and not mine.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_nztm576   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/4484\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fast Planet Trait Discovery<\/a> &#8211; To Skip an Annoying Hurdle<\/h4>\n<p>I don&#8217;t like the &#8220;planet trait&#8221; mechanics in the game. For whatever reason, it makes planet exploration less fun for me. So, I use this mod to make it so that when I scan a planet, all traits are immediately found so I don&#8217;t have to go looking for them. It&#8217;s a massive time saver and keeps the game fun for me. I can still go to those spots on the map and look around, if I choose to.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_d1pm290   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/4570\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">No More Temple Puzzles<\/a> &#8211; No More Floating Around Needlessly<\/h4>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve played the vanilla game, you&#8217;ll know that to earn a new Starborn power, you have to enter a temple then float around and catch some glowing cloud things. Once you&#8217;ve bumped into enough of these (there are too many, IMO) the rings in the room explode and you can now gain your power. Well, this mod just cuts all of that floating out so that as soon as you enter the room, the rings explode and allow you to just go in and collect your new power. Words cannot express how grateful I am that this mod exists!<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_6rew262   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/5538\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Flat Perk Tree<\/a> &#8211; It Makes More Sense to Me<\/h4>\n<p>I really don&#8217;t understand why Bethesda made it so that you have to select a bunch of unneeded skills in order to unlock being able to select skills you actually need. This mod erases that stupidity so that you can now select any skill to spend your points on no matter where it is on the tier map. You still have to do the tasks to unlock the higher grades of each skill, but no longer do you need to get so many of the tier 1 skills to unlock tier 2. Now you can select a Tier 1 or a Tier 4 skill when you need to.\u00a0<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_t7rd883   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/11818\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shades Glowy Stuff<\/a> &#8211; I Can See Clearly Now<\/h4>\n<p>It&#8217;s really, really easy to miss things in this game that you need to pick up. Whether it be resources, data, skill boosts, whatever. Shades Glowy Stuff makes certain things glow according to the settings you set yourself in the Game Setting menu. You could make all data slates glow bright blue or ammo bright yellow so that you can actually see them in the game and not accidentally pass them over. The colors, intensity of the glow, and what objects should be highlighted are all configurable in the game menu once this mod is installed. It&#8217;s such a fantastic mod!!<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_l4wf397   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/12464\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hank Runs<\/a> &#8211; Run, Don&#8217;t Walk!<\/h4>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve already played the &#8220;Red Tape Reclamation&#8221; quest, then you know at one point you will have to follow a man named Hank on a long and winding trip outside of Cydonia as he causally walks at a slow pace. It&#8217;s a frustratingly slow walk and Hank is a jerk to listen to. This mod fixes this by making Hank either jog (faster than a walk but slower than a run so you can hear all or most of his dialog) or make him do a full-speed run to save your time and sanity. I originally chose the job option until I just got sick of hearing Hank complain and switched it to the full &#8220;run&#8221; option. Now I no longer dread this quest.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_ysh7342   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/10042\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Personal Atmosphere Restores Hazard Protection<\/a> &#8211; Save Yourself, Yourself!<\/h4>\n<p>This is such a no-brainer that I can&#8217;t understand why Bethesda didn&#8217;t think of it and that it instead had to be added in by a mod. The hazard protection of any spacesuit will run out relatively quickly depending on how hazardous the environment is. You&#8217;ll have to go to some very hazardous environments just to do certain quests and your suit&#8217;s protection will run out FAST. If you have the Starborn power of &#8220;Personal Atmosphere&#8221; then you are in luck! This mod alters that power so that it restores your suit&#8217;s protection whenever the power is activated. It will even restore a tiny bit of lost health too!<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_l9y1681   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/14032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">No More Contraband<\/a> &#8211; Like it Was Never There<\/h4>\n<p>I have never cared for the whole contraband system in the game and I especially hated having to wait for a contraband scan every time I went to an inhabited planet since I never carried any contraband. I was so pleased when I found this mod that erases it from the game completely. The contraband objects are still there for the taking and selling, if you want, but can also just be totally ignored. No more contraband scans or any other of that nonsense with this mod!\u00a0<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_s1fw334   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/12222\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Constellation Decoration<\/a> &#8211; Not Essential, but Essential<\/h4>\n<p>All that this mod does is add a few decorative objects in the form of Constellation&#8217;s logo. It&#8217;s a nice added touch, I think. You can add the objects to your ship&#8217;s interior or exterior, or to you&#8217;re player&#8217;s homes and bases.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_egmw574   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/11631\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Constellation Modular Outfits<\/a> &#8211; Explore in Style<\/h4>\n<p>I love this mod for its sheer amount of customization! You can actually build the look you want as the pieces are interchangeable and stackable. As soon as I get the resources (usually some rolls of polytextile along with some pigment or cosmetic), I use the Resource Bench to build these outfits for my character. I even like to have a few color variations on hand in case I want to change things up once in a while.\u00a0<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_t3cb845   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/450\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Easy Speech<\/a> &#8211; Taking the Randomness Out of Persuasion<\/h4>\n<p>The &#8220;persuasion system&#8221; never made a lot of sense to me. You could pick the most logical option to persuade someone with only for it to fail then pick something stupid and it works. This mod makes it so that no matter which option you choose, the persuasion check will pass. I still like to pick and choose the best answer during these mini games (part of the role playing) even though I know anything will pass every time.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_aeb8937   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/7044\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Groundpounders Uniform Fix<\/a> &#8211; How It Should Have Been<\/h4>\n<p>This should have been done by Bethesda to start with, if I&#8217;m being honest. For whatever reason, the Freestar Militia in the Groundpounders mission are all dressed like Freestar Rangers. I have no idea why. Probably an oversight on Bethesda&#8217;s part. This mod fixes all that so that the militia actually is dressed like militia.\u00a0<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_h275749   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/8714\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hair Overhaul<\/a> &#8211; A Really Real Hair Retexture<\/h4>\n<p>As a part-time texture artist, I can appreciate good textures, and these are! I highly suggest you check out this cosmetic mod and add it to your game. It updates the hair textures of everyone in the game to look more realistic and just overall, better. There&#8217;s also now an addon that I also highly recommend: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/15259\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hair Overhaul &#8211; New Colors<\/a>.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_r50a561   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/924\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Iris Photorealistic Eyes Overhaul<\/a> &#8211; Seeing is Believing<\/h4>\n<p>This is another cosmetic mod that overwrites all of the icky default eye textures in the game with new, far more realistic and better-looking options. If I remember correctly, you can pick and choose which eye textures overwrite which eye colors. Eyes are important as you look at them 9\/10 times when you&#8217;re speaking to someone. So, good eye textures are a must for this game.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_47ft459   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/12991\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Resource Descriptions<\/a> &#8211; Why Wasn&#8217;t This Already There?<\/h4>\n<p>This mod does just as it says, it adds descriptions to all of the resources and most other objects in the game that you can pick up and examine. I have always wondered why Bethesda didn&#8217;t do this themselves. It&#8217;s an essential addition for lore and immersion.\u00a0<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_d210172   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/8364\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Starfield Hair &amp; Beards<\/a> &#8211; A New Style for Everyone<\/h4>\n<p>This is such a cool mod as it adds a ton of new hairstyle options to the game. If you don&#8217;t like any of the options that came with the game, I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ll find something that suits your tastes in this bundle. If not, there are a few other hairstyle mods such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/16118\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eris Hairstyles<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/16126\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Taliohs Hair Collection<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/16942\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Taliohs Hair Booster Pack<\/a>.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_toll338   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/16178\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enhanced Sona<\/a> &#8211; A New Look &amp; New Life<\/h4>\n<p>This mod does a lot for the relatively minor character of Sona. (She is the one Sarah Morgan rescues in her loyalty mission.) Not only does this mod give Sona a unique look rather than the default &#8220;every child looks just like Cora&#8221;, but it gives her a new room in the Lodge, a new routine (she wanders around the Lodge, sleeps, etc.) and customizable outfits. The outfits can even be used on Cora as well!<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_1qc1153   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/5848\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cora Changes<\/a> &#8211; Make It Make Sense<\/h4>\n<p>Bethesda was really, really lazy when creating the children in this game. The rather important character of Cora looks nothing like her parents in the game. All that this mod does is tweak her complexion to look more like her parents. It can also change her hair color and\/or hairstyle for even more uniqueness.\u00a0<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_oa8f187   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/16360\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Craftable X-Tech<\/a> &#8211; Make It Rain X-Tech<\/h4>\n<p>This mod allows you to create X-Tech at a Resource Bench using 1 X-Tech and 2 Caelumite to create 2 X-Tech. So, you have 10 X-Tech and 20 Caelumite? You get 20 X-Tech. This is especially helpful if you don&#8217;t have the Terran Armada DLC yet or just want to have lots of extra X-Tech to get all of those epic upgrades on your weapons and ship. Here&#8217;s a tip: If you need more Caelumite, check out all of the &#8220;Gravitational Anomalies&#8221; on planets with Temples. They have loads of Caelumite to be mined on and around them.<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_zncq282   \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n        <p>And now a word about Load Order. If you&#8217;re looking at your Vortex mod manager, on the left-hand column, go to Load Order. Now at the top in the menu bar is a button called &#8220;Sort by LOOT&#8221;. Click that. It will automatically sort your mods in the best order. Now click &#8220;Deploy Mods&#8221;. You&#8217;re done! Now you can play the game! This method is of course not 100% perfect but it&#8217;s probably better than what you could do all on your own. PLUS, not only does this work to sort your Vortex mods, but it will also sort your Creations mods! Pretty cool, eh?<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->        <\/div>\n                        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A list of mods from Nexus Mods that I find essential to my enjoyment of Starfield plus how best to use them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[138],"tags":[137,125,136,124,139,129],"class_list":["post-4693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-starfield","tag-essentials","tag-game-mods","tag-lists","tag-mods","tag-nexus","tag-starfield","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/wp-content\/uploads\/starfield-mods-list-header-nexus.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"builder_content":"<p>In this post, I will be writing about various mods that I use to enhance my Starfield experience. I'll break this up into two parts for ease of use, this first part will be for mods found on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nexus Mods<\/a> and the second will be those found in <a href=\"https:\/\/creations.bethesda.net\/en\/starfield\/featured\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bethesda's Creations<\/a> mods. So, let's get to it!<\/p>\n<p>First off, you are going to want to head over to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nexus Mods<\/a> and, if you don't have one already, register a free account with them so you can start downloading mods from them. Next, download the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/vortex\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vortex Mod Manager<\/a>. You'll be very thankful for Vortex once you start installing lots of lots of mods either from Nexus and\/or <a href=\"https:\/\/creations.bethesda.net\/en\/starfield\/featured\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bethesda Creations<\/a>. Once you have Vortex installed, take note that when you download mods from Nexus, always select the \"Mod Manager Download\" button and it will be automatically downloaded and installed by Vortex. Now for the list of mods that I consider essential for enjoying Starfield, at least essential for me to enjoy Starfield. You had better also check the very end of this post for info on Load Order. The order that the game loads these mods is <b>very <\/b>important and Vortex can help you with that.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/106\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Starfield Script Extender<\/a> - The Big One<\/h4> <p>This mod doesn't do anything on its own, but it does enable hundreds of other mods to function. Those mods cannot function without it. Every time there is a game update, you will be stuck waiting for this and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/3256\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SFSE Address Library<\/a>\u00a0(they work together) to be updated so that any of your mods will work again. So, go ahead and download then install with Vortex both of these mods (SFSE and SFSE Library). No matter what, you're most likely going to need them.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/658\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Baka Achievement Enabler<\/a> - If You Need That<\/h4> <p>By default, all mods from Nexus will disable the ability to earn achievements in the game. If you care about that sort of thing, you're going to need Baka's mod. It will allow you to use ANY mod and still earn achievements. I'm personally indifferent to them. Yay if I get one but I'm not going to go out of my way or change the way I play just to earn an arbitrary achievement.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/701\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vanilla Flashlight Improved<\/a> - Find Your Illumination<\/h4> <p>Let's face it, the default flashlight contained in the game really sucks. If you want to be able to actually see anything with your flashlight, you're going to need this mod. I use the \"recommended\" preset included with the mod, but you can select whichever you want of the three available presets. Now you will finally be able to see what you are trying to explore!<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/1013\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Increased Space Loot Distance<\/a> - Less Distance, More Loot<\/h4> <p>In the vanilla game, you have to be within 500 meters to loot the cargo of any destroyed ships. That can be a real pain in the ass if there are a lot of destroyed ships around. This mod makes it so that ships now must be 5000 meters away to loot. Now you can safely loot cargo without having to zip here, there, and everywhere. It's both a time and sanity saver!<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/759\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instant Scan<\/a> - It Only Makes Sense<\/h4> <p>In the vanilla game, you have to scan each animal and plant about eight times to get it fully scanned. That number only goes down if you spend your precious skill points on the relative skill, but it doesn't go down by much. That number is ridiculous. This mod can change how many times you need to scan anything. I use the \"balanced\" preset so that, to start with, I have to scan everything only three times and that is reduced by one each time if I choose to skill up. You can also choose to scan everything only once to begin with, but that's your choice and not mine.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/4484\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fast Planet Trait Discovery<\/a> - To Skip an Annoying Hurdle<\/h4> <p>I don't like the \"planet trait\" mechanics in the game. For whatever reason, it makes planet exploration less fun for me. So, I use this mod to make it so that when I scan a planet, all traits are immediately found so I don't have to go looking for them. It's a massive time saver and keeps the game fun for me. I can still go to those spots on the map and look around, if I choose to.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/4570\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">No More Temple Puzzles<\/a> - No More Floating Around Needlessly<\/h4> <p>If you've played the vanilla game, you'll know that to earn a new Starborn power, you have to enter a temple then float around and catch some glowing cloud things. Once you've bumped into enough of these (there are too many, IMO) the rings in the room explode and you can now gain your power. Well, this mod just cuts all of that floating out so that as soon as you enter the room, the rings explode and allow you to just go in and collect your new power. Words cannot express how grateful I am that this mod exists!<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/5538\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Flat Perk Tree<\/a> - It Makes More Sense to Me<\/h4> <p>I really don't understand why Bethesda made it so that you have to select a bunch of unneeded skills in order to unlock being able to select skills you actually need. This mod erases that stupidity so that you can now select any skill to spend your points on no matter where it is on the tier map. You still have to do the tasks to unlock the higher grades of each skill, but no longer do you need to get so many of the tier 1 skills to unlock tier 2. Now you can select a Tier 1 or a Tier 4 skill when you need to.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/11818\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shades Glowy Stuff<\/a> - I Can See Clearly Now<\/h4> <p>It's really, really easy to miss things in this game that you need to pick up. Whether it be resources, data, skill boosts, whatever. Shades Glowy Stuff makes certain things glow according to the settings you set yourself in the Game Setting menu. You could make all data slates glow bright blue or ammo bright yellow so that you can actually see them in the game and not accidentally pass them over. The colors, intensity of the glow, and what objects should be highlighted are all configurable in the game menu once this mod is installed. It's such a fantastic mod!!<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/12464\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hank Runs<\/a> - Run, Don't Walk!<\/h4> <p>If you've already played the \"Red Tape Reclamation\" quest, then you know at one point you will have to follow a man named Hank on a long and winding trip outside of Cydonia as he causally walks at a slow pace. It's a frustratingly slow walk and Hank is a jerk to listen to. This mod fixes this by making Hank either jog (faster than a walk but slower than a run so you can hear all or most of his dialog) or make him do a full-speed run to save your time and sanity. I originally chose the job option until I just got sick of hearing Hank complain and switched it to the full \"run\" option. Now I no longer dread this quest.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/10042\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Personal Atmosphere Restores Hazard Protection<\/a> - Save Yourself, Yourself!<\/h4> <p>This is such a no-brainer that I can't understand why Bethesda didn't think of it and that it instead had to be added in by a mod. The hazard protection of any spacesuit will run out relatively quickly depending on how hazardous the environment is. You'll have to go to some very hazardous environments just to do certain quests and your suit's protection will run out FAST. If you have the Starborn power of \"Personal Atmosphere\" then you are in luck! This mod alters that power so that it restores your suit's protection whenever the power is activated. It will even restore a tiny bit of lost health too!<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/14032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">No More Contraband<\/a> - Like it Was Never There<\/h4> <p>I have never cared for the whole contraband system in the game and I especially hated having to wait for a contraband scan every time I went to an inhabited planet since I never carried any contraband. I was so pleased when I found this mod that erases it from the game completely. The contraband objects are still there for the taking and selling, if you want, but can also just be totally ignored. No more contraband scans or any other of that nonsense with this mod!\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/12222\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Constellation Decoration<\/a> - Not Essential, but Essential<\/h4> <p>All that this mod does is add a few decorative objects in the form of Constellation's logo. It's a nice added touch, I think. You can add the objects to your ship's interior or exterior, or to you're player's homes and bases.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/11631\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Constellation Modular Outfits<\/a> - Explore in Style<\/h4> <p>I love this mod for its sheer amount of customization! You can actually build the look you want as the pieces are interchangeable and stackable. As soon as I get the resources (usually some rolls of polytextile along with some pigment or cosmetic), I use the Resource Bench to build these outfits for my character. I even like to have a few color variations on hand in case I want to change things up once in a while.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/450\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Easy Speech<\/a> - Taking the Randomness Out of Persuasion<\/h4> <p>The \"persuasion system\" never made a lot of sense to me. You could pick the most logical option to persuade someone with only for it to fail then pick something stupid and it works. This mod makes it so that no matter which option you choose, the persuasion check will pass. I still like to pick and choose the best answer during these mini games (part of the role playing) even though I know anything will pass every time.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/7044\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Groundpounders Uniform Fix<\/a> - How It Should Have Been<\/h4> <p>This should have been done by Bethesda to start with, if I'm being honest. For whatever reason, the Freestar Militia in the Groundpounders mission are all dressed like Freestar Rangers. I have no idea why. Probably an oversight on Bethesda's part. This mod fixes all that so that the militia actually is dressed like militia.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/8714\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hair Overhaul<\/a> - A Really Real Hair Retexture<\/h4> <p>As a part-time texture artist, I can appreciate good textures, and these are! I highly suggest you check out this cosmetic mod and add it to your game. It updates the hair textures of everyone in the game to look more realistic and just overall, better. There's also now an addon that I also highly recommend: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/15259\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hair Overhaul - New Colors<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/924\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Iris Photorealistic Eyes Overhaul<\/a> - Seeing is Believing<\/h4> <p>This is another cosmetic mod that overwrites all of the icky default eye textures in the game with new, far more realistic and better-looking options. If I remember correctly, you can pick and choose which eye textures overwrite which eye colors. Eyes are important as you look at them 9\/10 times when you're speaking to someone. So, good eye textures are a must for this game.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/12991\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Resource Descriptions<\/a> - Why Wasn't This Already There?<\/h4> <p>This mod does just as it says, it adds descriptions to all of the resources and most other objects in the game that you can pick up and examine. I have always wondered why Bethesda didn't do this themselves. It's an essential addition for lore and immersion.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/8364\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Starfield Hair &amp; Beards<\/a> - A New Style for Everyone<\/h4> <p>This is such a cool mod as it adds a ton of new hairstyle options to the game. If you don't like any of the options that came with the game, I'm sure you'll find something that suits your tastes in this bundle. If not, there are a few other hairstyle mods such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/16118\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eris Hairstyles<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/16126\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Taliohs Hair Collection<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/16942\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Taliohs Hair Booster Pack<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/16178\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enhanced Sona<\/a> - A New Look &amp; New Life<\/h4> <p>This mod does a lot for the relatively minor character of Sona. (She is the one Sarah Morgan rescues in her loyalty mission.) Not only does this mod give Sona a unique look rather than the default \"every child looks just like Cora\", but it gives her a new room in the Lodge, a new routine (she wanders around the Lodge, sleeps, etc.) and customizable outfits. The outfits can even be used on Cora as well!<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/5848\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cora Changes<\/a> - Make It Make Sense<\/h4> <p>Bethesda was really, really lazy when creating the children in this game. The rather important character of Cora looks nothing like her parents in the game. All that this mod does is tweak her complexion to look more like her parents. It can also change her hair color and\/or hairstyle for even more uniqueness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusmods.com\/starfield\/mods\/16360\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Craftable X-Tech<\/a> - Make It Rain X-Tech<\/h4> <p>This mod allows you to create X-Tech at a Resource Bench using 1 X-Tech and 2 Caelumite to create 2 X-Tech. So, you have 10 X-Tech and 20 Caelumite? You get 20 X-Tech. This is especially helpful if you don't have the Terran Armada DLC yet or just want to have lots of extra X-Tech to get all of those epic upgrades on your weapons and ship. Here's a tip: If you need more Caelumite, check out all of the \"Gravitational Anomalies\" on planets with Temples. They have loads of Caelumite to be mined on and around them.<\/p>\n<p>And now a word about Load Order. If you're looking at your Vortex mod manager, on the left-hand column, go to Load Order. Now at the top in the menu bar is a button called \"Sort by LOOT\". Click that. It will automatically sort your mods in the best order. Now click \"Deploy Mods\". You're done! Now you can play the game! This method is of course not 100% perfect but it's probably better than what you could do all on your own. PLUS, not only does this work to sort your Vortex mods, but it will also sort your Creations mods! Pretty cool, eh?<\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4693"}],"version-history":[{"count":131,"href":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5105,"href":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4693\/revisions\/5105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dream9.art\/aiw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}