Baldur’s Gate 3 has been consistently breaking peak concurrent player records in the CRPG category ever since its release. The sprawling RPG has also received a lot of love from modders, who have been working behind the scenes to make the vanilla experience even more enjoyable.
Set in the expansive world of the tabletop game Dungeons and Dragons, Baldur’s Gate 3 is an RPG that allows players to explore the continent of Faerûn as they face an ancient evil intent on destroying the world for good. The experience is nothing short of immersive from the get-go, as people get to create their characters, choose from a plethora of classes and subclasses, gather a powerful party of companions, and explore a branching storyline. Moreover, the narrative is supported by a complex choice and consequence system, which ensures that no two playthroughs are alike.
Games like Fallout and Skyrim made players realize how unofficial mods can enhance the original experience. Hence, ever since Baldur’s Gate 3 was announced, the PC community has been eager to find out if the game will be moddable post-release. Well, let’s take a detailed look at Baldur’s Gate 3’s mod support, shall we?
Does Baldur’s Gate 3 have mod support?
Larian Studios’ previous RPG, Divinity Original Sin 2, is known for its diverse mod support, and the developer has chosen the same path for Baldur’s Gate 3. Since Larian was bombarded with queries, they dedicated a section of the Official FAQ to modding, where they confirmed that the game would support mods after the full release, although it would be difficult to implement the same immediately on launch. Moreover, the studio also mentioned that they loved what the community did with DOS2 and could not wait to see what modders would come up with for Baldur’s Gate 3.
Players interested in modding the game need not undergo a complicated process since the files can be downloaded directly from community sites like Nexus Mods. After the download is complete, one should navigate to %LocalAppData%\Larian Studios\Baldur’s Gate 3\Mods before moving the files to the \Mods folder. Moreover, changing mod settings are also easy as each download contains a “modsettings.lsx” file, which can be edited through a simple text editor like Notepad.
Best Baldur’s Gate 3 mods
Modding is one of the easiest ways to enhance a game’s vanilla experience, and these Baldur’s Gate 3 mods are sure to make your journey through Faerûn even more immersive. However, we chose not to include any graphics or shader mods since those depend on individual preferences, and some might lean toward the original visuals.
Fast XP
You’ve seen the flashy trailers and have spent hours on character customization before jumping into Baldur’s Gate 3, eager to sample the game’s offerings. The tutorial welcomes you immediately and thus begins the infamous RPG grind, where you keep going around a specific area fighting the same enemies until you reach the level needed to start your character build. However, griding is not fun to some, and this is where Malcroix’s Fast XP comes into play.
As the name suggests, Fast XP allows you to skip the early game grind by offering two different methods of leveling up faster. Players can either choose to reach level 6 almost immediately after leaving the tutorial or halve the XP requirement for each level, effectively doubling the XP gain for the entire game. Players who desire an even shorter route to their desired level are also in luck since both these options can be used simultaneously.
Customizer’s Compendium
Customizing one’s character is a massive part of any RPG. Some players choose to spend hours in the character customization screen before coming up with an identical virtual version of themselves, while others go in with the sole aim of making their characters look as ridiculous as possible. Naturally, Baldur’s Gate 3 does not disappoint and offers a myriad of options for character customization, but AlanaSP’s Customizer’s Compendium is the perfect mod for players who want more.
Customizer’s Compendium blends in effortlessly with Baldur’s Gate 3’s character creator and adds tons of new customization options. It even unlocks several choices previously reserved for NPCs, giving players the ultimate creative tool to use as they see fit. Moreover, people hungry for even more can use Customizer’s Compendium along with Tav’s Hair Salon, which provides numerous new hairstyles for all races.
Party Limit Begone
At its core, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a party-based RPG, as players can build up a group of powerful fantasy heroes (or villains if they so desire) before taking on hordes of enemies in epic battles. Incidentally, each group can consist of in-game characters or real-world players, but the game enforces a permanent party cap of four. However, if you’re looking forward to roaming with a small army or want to play with more than four friends at once, SildurFX’s Party Limit Begone is the mod you need.
Even though the name makes it seem like the mod does away with the party cap entirely, it is not so. Instead, Party Limit Begone increases the single-player party cap to sixteen, while the multiplayer group cap is bumped up to eight. However, the mod requires a little workaround after the installation, as players have to create a new lobby, set their preferred party limit, and start a new game before loading in their main saves to continue playing seamlessly.
5e Spells
Baldur’s Gate 3 allows players to forge their own storyline in a faithful recreation of the Dungeon and Dragons universe. However, while Baldur’s Gate 3 is based on the fifth edition of the tabletop game, players interested in using a mage build might be left disappointed since the developers chose to omit several original spells. Celes’ 5e Spells aims to fix just that by adding a plethora of spells from the source material.
5e Spells add a wide variety of original D&D spells and cantrips to Baldur’s Gate 3, allowing players to choose from a powerful arsenal while playing as a mage. However, one should note that at present, the mod only contains spells up to level 3, even though the creator has discussed his plans of going all the way to level 9. Moreover, the mod also contains an option that modifies each existing spell and has them perform like they would in the tabletop version.
Fantastical Multiverse
Choosing a race is an integral part of the Baldur’s Gate 3 experience, and Larian Studios has tried not to disappoint by adding several interesting alternatives to choose from. However, the Dungeons and Dragons universe is truly vast, and developers couldn’t include every single race. Hence, players looking for even more race options must look no further than DungeonsAndSouls’ Fantastical Multiverse.
Fantastical Multiverse stays true to the source material and introduces 47 new races to the game. Not only are these races indigenous to Faerûn, but they also hail from other locations, including Eberron, Krynn, Etharis, Malipāla, and Eorzea. While a few new playable races include the Vedalken, Eladrin, Shifter, Hyur, and Kresnik, among others, they also offer different Racial Traits, vastly increasing the replayability of Baldur’s Gate 3.
These are some of the best mods Baldur’s Gate 3 players can enjoy as of the time of writing. Meanwhile, you can click here to read about how Asmongold showed his support for Baldur’s Gate 3.
