Questions about modding

[Good Night Owl]

So normally I'm absolutely against modding in a multiplayer game. More specifically, i'm against modding that gives you a big edge over your fellow players (in the hunt). However in light of Iceborne, my disapproval of The Guiding Lands overshadows my disliking of modding by quite a bit.

I'm considering getting a mod to significantly reduce the grind in guiding lands, but I want to know something first:

1. Are players who mod their experience separated from players who do not mod? How are players paired if they use mods? If you're using a skin do you see it, but other players don't?

2. Does having a mod alter your progress in some way? Like if I use a mod, then later uninstall it will it corrupt my save somehow? I know that there's risks in modding just in general but I want to know if this is occasionally a problem, or always.

I don't want to give myself that edge over other people that I play with by getting paired with people who don't mod, and if I have to, i'll play solo.
Thanks!

EDIT: I'm not worried about getting banned.

[mewlynx]

There is no consequence for modding in this game. They aren't officially supported, but the worst that can happen is that you screw your save file or something, bans aren't a thing.

[Good Night Owl]

Originally posted by maelynx:

There is no consequence for modding in this game. They aren't officially supported, but the worst that can happen is that you screw your save file or something, bans aren't a thing.

I'm not worried about bans. I want to know how player pairing works. I don't want to be paired with people who don't mod. Is there a way to backup a save file?

[Senpai]

1. Nope, you get paired the same way as those who don't mod. If you use a modded skin, only you will be able to see it, everyone else will see it as the default weapon/armor skin.

2. Kinda? Depends on what kind of mods you use. The latest patch gave some users problems with loading their save, because they were running mods that gave them dummy items or something, but it was fixed by removing the items while staying offline. I think in general, skin replacers and visual mods are safe, but things like transmog or cheating mods aren't as safe.

Backing up your save file is a good idea, even if you don't mod. Save file corruption can happen to anyone. You can find your save by searching up SAVEDATA1000 in your Steam folder. The default path should be:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\[YOUR STEAM ID HERE]\582010\remote

Oh yeah, remember to remove your mods when the game gets an update, at least until the mods themselves get updated. Otherwise you'll run into crashes and errors.

[JebKerman]

There's no modded/non-modded matchmaking. You pair with people regardless of whether they have mods, but the vast majority of mods only effect you/your version of the game's reality.

[Good Night Owl]

Thanks, guys!