In Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios has managed to expertly transfer all the fun of the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop into wonderfully rendered polygons and dramatically acted dialogue. Still, mods make just about everything better, so, sorry, Larian, here’s a list of stuff people can do to your magnum opus.
Table of contents
The best mods for Baldur’s Gate 3
Character customization and graphics mods
Customizer’s Compendium
If, like me, you lost about an hour in the character creator and still felt you could have done more, then the Customizer’s Compendium mod is for you. Modder AlanaSP has done tremendous work making additional options available, including pulling formerly NPC-only options. You only need the base game, as it is not reliant on other mods. This sounds like a small detail, but it means the creator will have a much easier time ensuring it continues to work as the game is updated.
JWL Histories and Occupations
If you couldn’t find the perfect background for the character you want to run, so you ended up running someone else, you are in luck. The JWL Histories and Occupations adds 26 new backgrounds to apply to your next run’s character.
No More Filth
The No More Filth mod from Margerard will remove all the blood and grime that builds up on your character. Keep your adventures pristine instead of having cutscenes that look like they were dragged to Baldur’s Gate backward through every ditch.
Vivid Landscapes
While Baldur’s Gate 3 does look gorgeous and is one of the prettiest games of 2023, it can still be upgraded. If you have an avid PC and are keen on eye candy, then the Vivid Landscapes mod is for you. It amplifies the texture resolution and effects of various surfaces and locations in the game, creating a more visually pleasing world.
The mod is actually a collection that you can modularly install, meaning that you can pick and choose which aspects of the BG3 world you want to graphically boost. The most popular one, HD Ground and Terrain Textures can be obtained from Nexus Mods, with the rest of the mods in the collection available on that mod’s page.
New Character Creation Presets
At the time of writing, this mod does not work with the base game, but it represents a tremendous effort from modder Toarie to add fantastic presets to the character creator. If you want a wonderful-looking character but need help creating them, checking to see if the New Character Creation Presets mod has been updated is vital. I avoid putting mods that do not work with the current version of a game in my lists, but this one is worth it, and I hope it will be fully compatible with the launch version soon.
Tav’s Hair Salon
Larian’s stellar RPG has a ton of fantastic elements of the genre, allowing you to embody any personality under the sun. However, it strikingly lacks character customization options, and, on top of the mods we’ve mentioned above, Tav’s Hair Salon by Toarie works wonders by giving you many more hairstyles to choose from. Being fabulous is intrinsically tied to fantastic hair, so with this mod, you can easily achieve peak looks
Also, make sure you grab the complementary Icon and Race Patches for Tav’s Hair Salon so you’ll be able to see all the custom hairstyles the original mod adds to the game from the character creation screen.
Eyes of the Beholder
The Eyes of the Beholder mod by labotor is a small but significant change that greatly enhances your character customization process. They say that the eyes are a window to the soul, and this mod allows you to truly emphasize the soul of your character. With dozens of custom options and a somewhat tedious installation process, the Eyes of the Beholder Mod adds a myriad of different eye colors and shapes that let you embrace your inner Witcher or other fantasy creature.
Weapon and armor mods
Basket Full of Equipment
Unlike some of the best clothing mods, the Basket Full of Equipment mod adds over 700 new items to the game, including weapons, armor, and even spells. Equip yourself with a selection of Dark weapons or new items for all your armor slots. Modder AnteMaxx has been working on this mod for over three years, and it shows.
Legendary Items
Few things in RPGs hit quite like a Legendary item drop. This mod by Oiff will add all new ones to your game. We are talking about swords of every variety, from flame to venom, daggers that cripple, hammers that hunger, and thorns that heal. Legendary Items is a fantastic addition to your game.
Fancy Dresses
Walking around town in Baldur’s Gate 3 is as common as it can be, but why not make it that much more fabulous and give your party the Victorian glamour they deserve? With Fancy Dresses, made by Seira123, your characters can wear glorious regal attire and emit an aura of elegance and stature across the world of Baldur’s Gate 3. All the classes are represented here, with the Necromancer types even having their own somewhat less fancy dress made of human bones. How fun!
Elven Weaponry
Elves. The most overrepresented race in the fantasy genre, and one that is often as generic as they can be, ticking off all the Tolkien-derivative pre-requisites and rarely going beyond what the great writer established as the standard fantasy elf. However, with the mod collection Elven Weaponry by kharneth, adding tons of thematic weapons and armor into Baldur’s Gate 3, you can actually enhance your game with unique and awesome-looking equipment that defies the generic nature of the fantasy elf.
There are dozens of mods in this collection, adding in all sorts of weapons for all the different classes in the game, as well as a ton of armor and other equipment, truly turning elves into the masterclass smiths of BG3.
Gameplay mods
Achievement Enabler
As mods continue on their path of becoming integral to most video games, especially RPGs, the developer practice to disable achievements for modded games remains in place. While it is understandable in some cases where players wish to power trip and install character-enhancing mods, others running benign graphics or UI stuff shouldn’t be punished.
If you’re among the latter, then Achievement Enabler is the solution for you, as it will enable achievements in your modded Baldur’s Gate 3 instance and allow you to resume trophy-hunting as usual.
Transmog Enhanced
The one thing everyone in every single RPG has run into is cool-looking armor with crappy stats attached to it. With Transmog Enhanced, this issue can more-or-less be completely eradicated from Baldur’s Gate 3, as Eralyne’s stellar mod lets you change the looks of any armor piece into whatever you want, including armor added through mods. No longer will you be forced into wearing god-awful mismatched sets of equipment just because a few stats are better.
Choose Your Stats
Choose Your Stats will allow you to drink a special potion to increase or decrease stats points, movement, initiative, and more. You can also use it to add resources like Bardic Inspiration or Darkvision or do countless other things.
Carry Extra Weight
Lostsoulman strikes again with the Carry Extra Weight mod. Nothing is complicated here; it just allows you to carry much more weight than you can typically. This is a must for the loot hounds who need to grab everything from everybody that they leave in their wake.
5e Spells
Are you looking for a whole arsenal of new spells to fling at enemies? DIZ91891 has you covered with this collection of 5e stalwarts that didn’t make the game. 5e Spells will also alter existing spells that Larian has changed. The mod included Cantrips and spells from 1st to 9th level, so have fun experimenting with them all.
Party Limit Begone
Are you looking to mob on enemies and roll with a party that cannot be stopped? Party Limit Begone by SildurFX will increase the party size to 16 and the multiplayer slot to 8.
WASD Character Movement
If the point-and-click RPG movement style isn’t for you, look no further than the WASD Character Movement mod. With this mod, you can use your keyboard’s WASD to move around the game’s space when not in combat.
User interface mods
Improved UI
Quite a few other mods require the Improved UI mod, so installing it can give you all the benefits it brings and allow for further modding. It also solves some minor issues for many other mods.
How to install mods in Baldur’s Gate 3
Most of the mods for Baldur’s Gate 3 have similar install methods, but all of them tend to have detailed instructions on their pages on Nexus Mods.
- You will need to go to the App Data folder on your PC.
- Find the Larian Studios folder.
- Navigate to the Baldur’s Gate 3 folder.
- Open the Mods folder and copy the mod files in there.
It is also recommended that you install the Baldur’s Gate 3 Mod Manager, which will allow you to seamlessly and easily manage all of your mod installations and load orders, as well as the Script Extender, which many, many mods depend on.
How to mod in Baldur’s Gate 3
Learning how to mod step by step can be a monumental task. Luckily, guides like the previously linked exist, so don’t fret. Modding involves taking game files and adding your additions to them in terms of code or other files like audio.
Here are the programs you will need:
So, there you have it. You know everything you need about the best mods in Baldur’s Gate 3. Good luck, and happy modding!
