Best Fallout 4 Mods That Fix the Game’s Biggest Problems

The success of Amazon’s Fallout series has inspired thousands of people to either replay their favorite Fallout game or play the series for the first time. Naturally, many of those people will likely turn to Fallout 4: the latest non-multiplayer entry in the Fallout series and the game that feels closest to the show in many respects.

While Fallout 4 is a good game, it often falls short of providing the definitive Fallout experience you may be looking for. It’s a game that launched with quite a few problems that even recent updates haven’t addressed. Thankfully, there is a plethora of user-created mods out there that directly address many of those problems.

Before we dive into those, though, keep in mind that modding a game can be a tricky thing even in the best of times. It’s best to do a little research into the basics of modding Fallout 4 and to be aware that not every mod will play nicely with every other mod. Still, with a little experimentation, you can turn Fallout 4 into arguably the best Fallout game yet.

Fallout 4: Best Role-Playing Mods

The vanilla version of Fallout 4 just doesn’t offer the kind of expansive role-playing options seen in previous installments. While even the best mods can’t entirely address that glaring issue, these mods drastically improve the Fallout 4 role-playing experience.

Roleplayer’s Expanded Dialogue and Full Dialogue Interface

If you were one of the many disappointed by Fallout 4’s base dialog system, you’ll be happy to know that there are a surprising number of mods out there that address that significant issue. 

Roleplayer’s Expanded Dialogue, for instance, actually adds hundreds of new dialog options that are largely based on your character’s attributes. Whereas the base game often only accounts for high Charisma when offering unique dialog options, this mod offers a variety of dynamic dialog choices based on every statistic (and even non-statistic choices like whether you’re wearing Power Armor). It also adds some hilarious, often NSFW dialog to the game. It’s one of the most impactful individual mods you can download (though it does require the support of supplementary mods). 

If you like the base Fallout 4 dialog options but hate the fact the game doesn’t tell you what your character is about to say, then install Full Dialogue Interface instead. This mod not only displays every option in the game but greatly improves Fallout 4’s base dialog selection interface. 

Download Roleplayer’s Expanded Dialogue and Full Dialogue Interface

Hot Diggity

There are many mods out there designed to overhaul/expand Fallout 4’s surprisingly dull Perk system, but Hot Diggity is one of my favorites. It overhauls the Fallout 4 leveling process in ways that not only grant you access to a greater variety of far more interesting abilities but allows you to access them in a way that gradually enables a variety of creative build options.

Download Hot Diggity

Crime and Punishment

While Crime and Punishment adds a variety of features to Fallout 4 that allows you to become a post-apocalyptic criminal if you choose to do so, the biggest draw of this mod is its universal “Karma” system. That system adds necessary weight to your actions and forces you to consider the consequences and benefits of your choices in ways that the base game simply does not. It’s not perfect, but it helps fill a major void in the vanilla game. 

Download Crime and Punishment

Another Life

Another Life serves two main functions. The first is to allow you to restart the game and enjoy a variety of alternate starting sequences. I love Fallout 4’s intro, but how many times do you need to see it? The second is to allow you to choose between 36 different “Occupations” that essentially serve as RPG classes complete with their own starting Perks, gear, and companions. You can still build your character as you’d like, but that feature gives you a much more interesting starting point that lets you lose yourself in your character and the world they’ll soon inhabit. 

Download Another Life

Fallout 4: Best Settlement Building Mods

Fallout 4‘s much-hyped ability to build settlements soon proved to be little more than a fun distraction for digital Lego enthusiasts everywhere. Even they may have soon become frustrated by the surprisingly limited nature of that system’s mechanics. These mods aim to both expand that system and better incorporate it into the overall experience.

Sim Settlements 2

Perhaps the most impressive Fallout 4 mod out there, Sim Settlements turns your settlement into a living place that feels more integrated into the rest of the Fallout 4 experience.

Though this mod does many things, its marquee function is the way it effectively automates many parts of the settlement building process. As the name suggests, it turns settlement management into something that feels closer to a SimCity game. That allows you to focus more on things like settler needs, settler storylines, and progression mechanics that make settlements feel more goal-oriented. It may not be for those who treat the settlement system as an elaborate creation tool, but it will give everyone else a reason to finally care about that aspect of the game. 

Download Sim Settlements 2

Place Everywhere and Scrap Everything

These are two different mods that join forces to make Fallout 4’s settlement building significantly less frustrating than it so often is. 

Place Everywhere removes the rigid item placement requirements that Fallout 4 imposes to allow you to place pretty much any item pretty much anywhere. While that ability can lead to…unfortunate results, the mod greatly expands your ability to craft truly creative settlements. 

Similarly, Scrap Everything removes the pre-set scrapping limits and allows you to scrap any objects in a given space when building your settlements. Again, you can do some pretty crazy things if you want to with this mod, but it’s mostly there to ensure no arbitrary scrapping restrictions get in your way. 

Download Place Everywhere and Scrap Everything

Homemaker – Expanded Settlements

If you enjoy Fallout 4’s settlement building but wish it had more personality and objects to play with, then this mod may be for you. 

Rather than overhaul the core settlement-building process, Homemaker grants you access to over 1000 new objects to place in your settlement. Some expand the general functionality of those settlements, but the general purpose of this mod is to allow you to create settlements that don’t end up looking so samey. 

Download Homemaker – Expanded Settlements

Robot Home Defence

This seemingly simple mod allows you to add a variety of robots to your settlement. As the name of the mod suggests, many of those bots will help defend your settlement against attackers. However, this mod also allows you to craft various “support” bots that not only assist your settlers in various ways but can follow you across the wasteland. It’s just one of those mods that adds something to the game you didn’t realize was missing until you try to live without it. 

Download Robot Home Defence

Fallout 4: Best Crafting Mods

For as much as Fallout 4 tried to incorporate a more elaborate and modern crafting system, that aspect of the game never felt complete in its vanilla form. These mods help realize the potential of that concept.

Weaponsmith Extended and Armorsmith Extended

These are two of the most popular Fallout 4 mods out there, and it’s not hard to understand why. Each not only greatly expands the number of weapons and armor pieces you’re able to craft but also the basic functionality of Fallout 4’s crafting system. They help make exploring Fallout 4‘s crafting system a genuinely interesting pursuit, which in turn enhances the rest of the game.

Download Weaponsmith Extended and Armorsmith Extended

Craftable Ammo

For whatever reason, the vanilla version of Fallout 4 didn’t let you craft ammunition. While Fallout 4‘s DLC later addressed that shortcoming, it did so in a limited and often cumbersome way. This mod addresses that bizarre oversight by incorporating an ammo crafting mechanic that fits the base game like a glove. 

Download Craftable Ammo

Manufacturing Extended

While Fallout 4’s Contraptions Workshop DLC added a manufacturing element to the game’s settlements, that mechanic often felt like an afterthought rather than a viable new way to explore new approaches to the game. This mod addresses that shortcoming by greatly expanding the functionality of those factories in ways both practical and entertaining. It’s not quite Factorio, but it’s a substantial improvement. 

Download Manufacturing Extended

Fallout 4: Best NPC and Companions Mods

There are many memorable NPCs in Fallout 4‘s world, but the majority of people you’ll encounter ultimately feel half-baked. That’s especially true of your companions who often either add nothing to the game or actively detract from the experience. These mods address both those problems.

Better Settlers

Fallout 4’s settlers are shockingly generic NPCs that largely exist to occupy space. Better Settlers expands the number of available settler character models in the game and makes a considerable effort to give each of those models something that makes them distinctive. It also comes with some seriously powerful customization tools. 

Download Better Settlers

We Are The Minutemen

The Minutemen were supposed to be one of Fallout 4’s biggest additions to the Fallout universe, but the group was often either annoying or just a non-factor. This mod addresses the numerous issues with the Minutemen’s quests and progression mechanics while adding a variety of reasons to bother assisting the Minutement in the first place. 

Download We Are the Minutemen

Companions Can Sneak

This aptly named mod essentially ensures that your companions won’t ruin your attempts at stealth by being spotted by enemies or simply wandering headlong into trouble while you’re trying to take a quieter approach. You’d be amazed by how much this mod improves that aspect of the game.

Download Companions Can Sneak

NPCs Travel

Play Fallout 4 long enough, and you’ll start to realize that its world can feel mighty empty even by wasteland standards. This mod adds 100s of new NPCs to the game that follow pre-set paths throughout that world. Some of those NPCs offer valuable functions, but all of them add a little flavor to the game and generally feel like they belong in the corners they inhabit

Download NPCs Travel

Fallout 4: Best Combat Mods

Fallout 4‘s more FPS-like combat makes its action “quicker” and more accessible but it sometimes comes at the cost of those aforementioned role-playing elements. Other times, Fallout 4‘s combat removes much of the seemingly intended challenge from the game. Thankfully, numerous mods out there significantly improve that aspect of the game.

Take Cover

While Fallout 4 features a more active form of FPS combat, it does little to help those who prefer to play in third person. Take Cover makes a small – but significant – improvement to that initial oversight by adding a cover system to the game. It’s not the most robust cover system out there, but it’s not supposed to turn the game into Gears of War. Instead, it expands Fallout 4’s combat in a logical and practical way. 

Download Take Cover

See Through Scopes

Another aptly named Fallout 4 mod, See Through Scopes removes that dreadful “zoom” animation from the base game and instead allows you to organically aim through a variety of scope types on the fly. It’s pretty much impossible to go back to the way things were once you’ve used this mod. Even if you don’t want to completely overhaul the Fallout 4 experience, it offers an objective improvement to the game’s intended functionality. 

Download See Through Scopes

Immersive Fallout Combat

Bethesda RPGs with shooting tend to have a bullet sponge problem, but Fallout 4’s combat is an especially egregious example of that generally regretful design decision. While this mod improves Fallout 4’s combat in a variety of ways, its biggest contribution to the game is the addition of a wider variety of dynamic enemy animations that make them significantly less spongey. It’s not the definitive Fallout 4 combat mod, but it’s probably the one most players are looking for.  

Download Immersive Fallout Combat

Mornedil’s Combat Rework

Mornedil’s Combat Rework offers an alternative solution to Fallout 4’s bullet sponge problem. The mod removes Fallout 4’s health scaling system, which means that you won’t just be mindlessly pumping rounds into enemies for the entire game. Instead, you often have to utilize more advanced combat tactics such as targeting limbs. Crucially, this mod applies similar rules of combat to the player, which means that you also must be significantly more careful during gunfights. 

Download Mornedil’s Combat Rework

No Combat Boundaries and Search And Destroy

These two mods offer slightly different things that ultimately contribute to the same goal: making it tougher to run away from fights. 

No Combat Boundaries prevents you from simply being able to head through a door or similar loading environment to escape combat. Now, enemies will pursue you into those locations. Search and Destroy makes it so that enemies are more aggressive when attempting to detect and hunt you. What I love about these two mods is that they make the game more challenging without completely turning the game into a hardcore survival experience. Of course, there are plenty of mods out there that do just that. 

Download No Combat Boundaries and Search and Destroy

DirectHit

DirecHit certainly isn’t as expansive as some of the game’s biggest combat overhaul mods. What it does, though, is modify the way the game calculates damage relative to the armor characters are wearing. So, a shoulder pad won’t just grant a universal armor buff but will instead decrease the damage done to that shoulder. When properly combined with other Fallout 4 mods, DirectHit makes targeting, armor choices, and weapon types so much more important than they used to be. 

Download DirectHit

Fallout 4: Best Wandering and Immersion Mods

Fallout 4‘s world is actually one of the game’s greatest initial strengths. However, enough time spent playing Fallout 4 will make you realize just how limited that aspect of the game can be. These mods will help you maximize the joys of simply wandering around.

Lowered Weapons

This may sound like a combat mod, but it’s more of an immersion mod. By allowing your character to drop their weapons when not actively firing them, this mod ensures those weapons take up significantly less on-screen real estate. As a result, it’s easier than ever to appreciate the craft of the game’s world (and any additional graphics mods you’ve installed). 

Download Lowered Weapons

Improved Map With Visible Roads

There are many mods out there that improve Fallout 4’s generally dreadful world map, but the relative simplicity of this mod makes it a personal favorite. It adds a number of details to the in-game map (most notably, roads) which ultimately makes it easier to scout what’s ahead and properly explore the world without having to resort to fast travel. 

Download Improved Map with Visible Roads

Mutant Menagerie – Life Finds A Way

Fallout 4 isn’t the worst game out there in terms of enemy and wildlife variety, but repetition is inevitable over a long enough period of playtime. Mutant Menagerie prolongs that inevitably by adding numerous new enemies, plants, and wildlife to the game as well as a variety of perks and items that make those new additions feel like an intended part of the universe. It’s quite simply one of the best Fallout 4 mods out there. 

Download Mutant Menagerie – Life Finds A Way

Atomic Radio and Videos of the Wasteland

Fallout 4’s radio is great, but you can only wander for so long without eventually getting tired of the same old songs. Unless you prefer the ambient sounds of silence, download the Atomic Radio mod. It adds hours of lore-friendly tracks and commercials to the game and genuinely feels like what might happen if Fallout 4’s radio got a proper DLC expansion. It also comes with the excellent Tales from the Commonwealth mod that adds a variety of new content to the game. 

If audio isn’t quite enough for you, give Videos of the Wasteland a shot. It adds various Holotape videos to the world and allows you to easily view them through a variety of devices. You can play with how expansive you want this to be, but even a simplified version adds a nice amount of visual variety to the game. 

Download Atomic Radio and Videos of the Wasteland

True Storms

There are a few mods out there that add some dynamic weather to Fallout 4’s world, but True Storms is your best bet. The storms it adds to the game look and sound fantastic, and everything is integrated in a way that ensures the storms feel like they were always meant to be part of the game. Some of the storms even impact gameplay, such as rainstorms that grant stealth benefits and radiation storms that conceal feral ghouls. 

Download True Storms