Recommended Mods?

[Edmond Dantes]

What are the "essential" mods for this game? Thanks.

[Hykril Tynyx]

There are some good "quality of life" mods that don't alter the vanilla game much, so I can highly recommend these:

• ArmorGreen (makes your mech's armor damage indication in the HUD much better visualised compared to vanilla's bad gradient of red);
  
• Mod Options (because many mods need it for finetuning and it'll be a good addition anyway if you plan on using more mods later);
  
• Mech Attribute Viewer (to see the additional hidden info about the mechs);
  
• Advanced Zoom (simply useful);
  
• Engine DHS fix (essential fix);
  
• Better Lance Status (shows your lance's mechs status [damage] for better tactical management);
  
• Star Map Mouse Over (quick access to available missions info);
  
• XenoPax Optimize (optimizes a lot of engine-related mishaps and even gives a little bit of a better performance to the game overall);
  
• Restore Traits (if you have the DLC where "cantina upgrades" are available, it makes it so that your upgrades are kept instead of being removed when you move your mech to "cold storage" [which is insanely annoying, time-consuming, and wasteful]. It can also save your entire mech's loadout if you enable that option);
  
• Enable Infantry (was supposed to be in vanilla, but PGI dropped the feature because of the performance and time constraints) - this one is just a personal preference because I like to stomp those annoying little meatbags :)
  
• TTRulez AI Mod with Lancemate Orderz (allegedly improves the AI performance).

I also used some graphics-related mods which are still quite nice for vanilla experience, though it may prove taxing on your system:
- WAR FX (lite or full version);
- Source HD Textures (there are several options);
- MechShader (there are several variants);
- Prime8's Weapon FX (laser graphics will be better);
- Ultra Visuals And Weather.

Many people will instantly come blabbing about YAML, but be mindful - this mod alters a lot of things and requires digging into to understand some details, even before starting the game - all the mod options and what they do specifically. Play a little bit vanilla and then you'll have some idea of what might be improved upon in your opinion, then give the "most subscribed/downloaded" mods page a glance (here on the Workshop and on Nexusmods) to see if anything sounds good to you. Be aware that some mods from Nexusmods are not present on the Workshop and vice versa. However, also take into the account that not all the mods may be updated to fit the latest version of the game and might cause serious conflicts and crashes, so always check the comments and discussions surrounding the mod in question. Reportedly, Steam Workshop mods tend to screw up sometimes and not update correctly, so manual attention to mod management is very much advised. And most importantly - always carefully READ the mod description page to avoid any potential problems.

[Mr_Puddins]

I'm still playing through vanilla rn. Though, I did hear there's some good mods for the derpy AI.

[Alies]

There is a mod that removes unskippable animations of flight between planets, i think it's must have

[phfor]

WarFX shouldn't be used any more. It generates a lot of memory leaks.

[MaceX]

Some will disagree. But the No Friendly fire ones are nice. The AI likes to run in front of you when you are attacking.

[Wilhelm]

YAML is mandatory after one vanilla playthrough. at least for people who like some complexity in their mech tinkering.

i didn´t even bother to play more than a few vanilla missions.

[Mopar]

I prefer mods that add to the vanilla game instead of trying to change it. The mods I am using right now:

Compass Headings
Field Repairs
Leopard Colors
Lore Based Mech Variants
Mod Options

If I do another play through I will add:

Coyotes Missions
vonBiomes
TTRulez AI
330's Pilot Overhaul

I know a lot of people swear by YAML and it is a great mod. However I personally like the simple mech lab of the vanilla game. In fact I like to play with only minor customization of the mechs so as not to unbalance the experience.

[lordpooky]

I read that von biomes and coyotes had problems together

[Toothless Wolf]

Originally posted by Alies:

There is a mod that removes unskippable animations of flight between planets, i think it's must have

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2499290119&searchtext=jumpship

The Dropship animation is not skippable though. Its the games loading screen.

[lPaladinl]

Originally posted by Hykril Tynyx:

• TTRulez AI Mod with Lancemate Orderz (allegedly improves the AI performance).

I'm still trying to determine if this mod actually does anything. It's been hard for me to tell.

[Eagle_of_Fire]

This is the only mod I could ever say I absolutely need to run to enjoy the game. Even to this day I can't understand why PGI have not done something about the stupidly bad dolls...

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2543639565

[VigilanteJustice]

Your favorite mod, BY FAR, will be 'No Tonnage Limit' for Mech deployment. Trust me on this. You're a mercenary. You drop with whatever Mechs you want!

[Ironlegion]

Originally posted by VigilanteJustice:

Your favorite mod, BY FAR, will be 'No Tonnage Limit' for Mech deployment. Trust me on this. You're a mercenary. You drop with whatever Mechs you want! :ulthwe:

Don't need it anymore. They've changed it, going over-tonnage has a penalty of c-bills.

[Eagle_of_Fire]

Originally posted by VigilanteJustice:

Your favorite mod, BY FAR, will be 'No Tonnage Limit' for Mech deployment. Trust me on this. You're a mercenary. You drop with whatever Mechs you want! :ulthwe:

Not only this was never actually required but they "fixed" it by making it into the vanilla experience.

[Hidden Gunman]

Do a run through before YAML...and when you do it, start fresh. I tried it near the end of my first run through and it was a nightmare to sort out and fiddle with my mechs.