Big Modlist for Survival, Building, Looting, Quests [Semi-Outdated]

Long modlist containing retextures, weapons, animations, voicelines, or gameplay mechanics for survival or if the mod is cool. Most of the overhauls wouldn't work together due to overriding of BA2 files or precombines, also they just don't look right together. Any issues you come across when downloading are to be addressed on the mod page or author's own comments, I am only here to give suggestions for mods.

Any links to patreon pages or discords servers will not have a paywall for any of the mods, you might just have to click around to find a download link. Also feel free to comment any mods that would go well with any section of the guide and you will be given credit when I get around to adding it. Or if you can find links to files for deleted mods then feel free to put it in the comments, so long as it isn't a sketch link I won't care.

Requirements

These are just mods which most or all of the mods listed will require or recommend.

Latest F4SE build:
https://f4se.silverlock.org/

AWKCR:
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/6091

Armorsmith Extended:
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/2228

Workshop Framework:
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/35004

Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch:
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4598

HudFramework:
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20309

Mod Configuration Menu (MCM):
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/21497

Buffout 4:
Greatly improves upon the limitations laid out by the engine and removes a few of the memory limits which are implemented by the engine. Also creates a dump for crash logs on your system for troubleshooting.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/47359

Note: Most of these don't go together so only have one given section in your load order at once. The large texture overhauls of terrain often require you place them at the bottom of your load order.

Desert Overhaul

This set of environmental mods is probably going to be the one that hogs the most space on your computer. Especially since the main mod used to achieve the effect is ~11gb and the largest file size for a mod on the entirety of Nexus Mods. However the outcome is pretty sick:

BADLANDS 2:
A landscape texture overhaul that overhauls the commonwealth with high resolution textures and replaces some moves around trees, grass, and rocks to replace the northern parts of the map with more deserts and dunes, the middle with some dead grasslands, and the glowing sea and swamps into lush pine forests. Pretty aesthetically pleasing.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46554

Desperados Overhaul:
Edits a majority of precombines, tree and landscape LOD and makes edits to terrain to make them more desert-like. Also changes some of the flora out with Joshua Trees, Yucca Plants, and sandy rocks. Highly recommended with BADLANDS 2. IMPORTANT: If you have issues with flickering or disappearing textures then you will either have to consult the many solutions to fix it or simply type "tpc" into the console every time you load the outside, though it may cause some CTDs when entering/exiting interiors.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/45169

BADLANDS2 and Desperados LOD:
Adds pre-generated LOD for BADLANDS and Desperados that you would otherwise have to generate and implement yourself to use the two together. A great time-saver if you don't feel like reading a novel-length guide on how to do it yourself.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/47957

Project Mojave:
Not actually an overhaul to the Commonwealth Wasteland but it fits with the desert theme. Recreates a chunk of the South-western part of the map from New Vegas and the entire strip and it's interiors. It also adds a few workshop objects from New Vegas.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/55215

Campsite:
Adds a way to set up camp in the commonwealth, place tents, fires, cooking pots, dog beds, temporary walls for shelter and simple settlement components. Good for setting up a spot in the Commonwealth to deposit items, sleep, and heat up.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11734

Brutality Hardcore Rebalance:
Removes the bullet sponge element of enemies and makes everyone die in 2-3 shots, including yourself.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11657

Desert-like Weather Chances:
Edits the chances from True Storms or the Vanilla weather selection to allow for more clear, overcast, dust storms, and radstorms to occur.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46784

NAC X:
Honestly you will need this if you don't want the lighting to look like garbage after all of the optimization you will likely need to do to make your game run smoothly with this many plugins.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46722

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Overhaul

Like with the other 2 overhauls, the primary visuals can have large downloads and be very resource-heavy. Some of these won't work together or won't work unless placed at the bottom of your LO. But like with the others, the outcome is quite nice:



A Forest:
A much lighter variation of tree overhaul which adds great looking foliage without disabling precombines or editing them.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/45330

Commonwealth Reclamation Project:
This will provide the majority of the scenery as it adds plants growing on buildings, lush forests and a lot of foliage. Will require you to place at the bottom of your load order. Like with Project Frostbite, I found it on The Black Pearl[discord.gg]
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xmKlfS5zacIP228l3u4oYpLOCEynxgxR/view

Delightful Ivy:
Retextures all of the vines in the game, has various options for shades of brown or green.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10436

Lush Ambience:
Adds the sounds of birds chirping, leaves blowing, and swaying trees. I don't personally like it as the sounds of birds relentlessly chirping gets annoying really quickly.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/38609

NAC X:
Especially good for this overhaul if you want to change the weather systems to exclusively produce radioactive weathers or heavy rain/fog.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46722

Regrowth Overhaul:
Adds Ivy Growing on the ground, foliage, and trees. Not supported anymore but I believe there is a more modern version under the optional files for BostonFPSFix. Here is the link to the Original[www.nexusmods.com] and a link to BostonFPSFix[www.nexusmods.com]

Resurrection
Unfortunately this is the only place and version I could find of this file as the original got taken off of the Nexus for stealing assets. There are 5 parts but only part 1 has a working archive, so don't bother downloading the other ones. This part will mainly affect roads and some smaller assets like vehicles or greebles on buildings.
https://dl-file.com/l0842164bf2i/Resurrection_Forest_Edition_v1.3.6.part1.rar.html

True Grass:
Adds several species of grass that look wild and with a good variation of living and dead grass. Load after other AIO flora mods to get the grass from this one.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/23469

Fallout 2287 - Gas Masks of the Wasteland:
Adds a new survival mechanic regarding the need for gas masks under certain conditions, adds new mechanics with damage to masks, filter duration, more mask variations, and npc auto equipping of masks.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17491

Campsite:
Adds a way to set up camp in the commonwealth, place tents, fires, cooking pots, dog beds, temporary walls for shelter and simple settlement components. Good for setting up a spot in the Commonwealth to deposit items, sleep, and heat up.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11734

Brutality Hardcore Rebalance:
Removes the bullet sponge element of enemies and makes everyone die in 2-3 shots, including yourself.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11657

Winter Overhaul

Another large set of mods with large file sizes, an ENB is not nearly as visible when the heavier weathers are active on this one. But just like with the Desert Overhaul list, the outcome is quite pretty:


Project Frostbite:
Combines the textures and models from Winter Overhaul[www.nexusmods.com] and Winter Commonwealth Pines[www.nexusmods.com] but rebuilds the precombines and fixes LOD issues. Doesn't require either of the original downloads, the file is 100% safe and I found it on The Black Pearl[discord.gg]. This mod edits precombines so you need to place it at the bottom of your load order.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n6FBaNaJ6Moivq_BJBV0iC3GrGZzHhvl/view

Winter Overhaul:
Replaces a large majority of the textures to be caked in snow including buildings, vehicles, garbage, etc. Use on it's own if you don't feel like downloading the 11gb file from Project Frostbite.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/28665

Winter Commonwealth Trees:

Adds snow covered pine trees everywhere in the Commonwealth. Also included in Project Frostbite but you can always download it seperately.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/41099

Polluted Climate - Winter Edition:
Adds in a few weather systems with containing heavy snowfall and cloud cover. Compatible with NAC X.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/35083

Icepick Overhaul:
A more performance-friendly set of winter textures as it really only affects the terrain and roofs of buildings instead of every surface being caked in snow as it is in the Winter Overhaul.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/35059

Fallout 2287 - Nuclear Winter:
Adds new mechanics regarding food temperature, body temperature, wetness, new enemies, visible breathing, buildup of snow and frost on equipment or corpses, and new mechanics regarding how warm your clothing is. This is a must-have for a winter overhaul to your game,
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/37988

MW Krueger:

Ports a few armors from MW 2019, my preferred armor for the Winter Overhaul is the Taiga outfit, as it works well with the realistic insulation option from Nuclear Winter.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46640

FROST Survival Simulator:
If you hate the main story and being able to use firearms or relaxing then this mod is perfect. Highly recommended if you hate leisurely gameplay.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18898

NAC X:
I prefer this NAC over the original as this one has much more customization and accessibility to options, you can disable or ban weathers from occurring if you want solely overdraft or blizzard conditions 24/7.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46722

Fallout 2287 - Gas Masks of the Wasteland:
Adds a new survival mechanic regarding the need for gas masks under certain conditions, adds new mechanics with damage to masks, filter duration, more mask variations, and npc auto equipping of masks.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17491

Campsite:
Adds a way to set up camp in the commonwealth, place tents, fires, cooking pots, dog beds, temporary walls for shelter and simple settlement components. Good for setting up a spot in the Commonwealth to deposit items, sleep, and heat up.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11734

Brutality Hardcore Rebalance:
Removes the bullet sponge element of enemies and makes everyone die in 2-3 shots, including yourself.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11657

There are a lot

Weapon Packs

Combined Arms:

Adds 14 new modern weapons, has complete leveled list integration realistic to factions. Has options for customizable reticles.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/50505?tab=description

Russian Recon Pack:

Adds 2 new weapons with custom animations and sounds. The two new weapons use vanilla ammunition so ammo should be relatively easy to come by. Each weapon has it's own set of modifications available to craft or find.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/23932

Russian Assault Pack:

Adds 5 new fully modifiable weapons which have their own sets of animations and sounds.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/42283

Modern Firearms:
By far the biggest AIO weapon pack for Fallout 4. Contains literally hundreds of new weapons of various types with appropriate ammo calibers and modifications. I believe it is also mostly compatible with Q.M.W. So you can change your attachments on the go.
https://modern-firearms-fo4.info/downloads

Post-Apocalyptic Homemade Weapons Replacer:

Replaces all of the pipe-weapons with improved models. It also replaces the ugly ass default assault rifles with ones that look like they were made from scrap or made by frankenstein-ing a bunch of different rifles together.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/44177

China Lake and Holorifle:

Adds the China Lake Grenade Launcher and Holorifle from Fallout: New Vegas.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/22254

Individual Longarms

XM2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle - Sniper Rifle:

Extremely well-made sniper rifle mod with as many modifications you can think of and custom animations.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/36750

RU556 - Assault Rifle:

Pretty modular modern assault rifle. Custom animations and audio.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/22536

AK400 - Assault Rifle:

Adds one of the best modern rifles from the AK platform, highly modular with custom animations and audio.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/36873

Riot Shotgun - Shotgun:

Adds the Riot Shotgun from New Vegas. Also install this[www.nexusmods.com] to add custom animations.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/30087

Elysium AK - Assault Rifle:

Comes with custom animations and sounds. Has a pretty unique weapon model.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/31810

QBZ-191 QBU-191 - Assault Rifle:

High quality models, textures, animations and audio.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/54600

TOZ-194 Shotgun - Shotgun:

Cool Russian shotgun with custom animations, models, and textures.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/48581

Mossberg 500 - Shotgun:

Pretty versatile shotgun with a good amount of attachments and custom sounds.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46120

MWM4 - M4A1 - Assault Rifle:

Adds the M4A1 from MW 2019. Has a few variations and customization options.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/45174

MW - AN94 - Assault Rifle:

Adds the AN94 from MW 2019. Has a ton of customization options.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/51615

MK18 CQBR - Assault Rifle:

Adds a super customizable MK18 CQBR with a quest, custom sounds and textures, and sleek animations in 1st and 3rd person. Download the MK18 Armory Project[www.nexusmods.com] to get a large variety of parts for the MK18. Also this mod [www.nexusmods.com]adds even more modifications.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/42000

Heckler Und Koch - MP5 Complex - SMG:

Adds a very customizable MP5 and MP5K with a quest, custom sounds and animations for both 1st and 3rd person.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/41444

Heckler Und Koch - G36 Complex - Assault Rifle:

Adds a G36 to the game, has plenty of customization options, animations, sounds, and a quest.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/28443

FN P90 - SMG/Compact Assault Rifle:

Adds a P90 with plenty of customization options, custom animations, sounds, models, textures, and leveled list injection.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/22871

Browning M1918A2 - Assault Rifle:

Adds a 20th century browning machine gun. Has Leveled list injection.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/55217

SVT-40:

Adds a very customizable Russian rifle with leveled list integration, vendor spawns, and two unique variants.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/22017

M1 Garand - A WW2 Classic - Assault Rifle:

An M1 Garand with a unique variant "This Machine" from New Vegas.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20687

Cowboy Repeater aka Winchester Model 1892 - Repeater:

Adds a lever-action repeater.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/45880

Service Rifle:

Adds the service rifle from Fallout: New Vegas.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/32361

Individual Pistols

9mm Pistol (Browning Hi-Power) Redux:

Adds the 9mm pistol from Fallout: New Vegas, along with plenty of customization options.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20143

PJAR - Makeshift Pistol:

Adds a makeshift Luger P08 to the game which is exclusively obtained from crafting it at a chem station after picking up the magazine near Vault 111.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/45131

N99 10mm Pistol:

Recreates the 10mm pistol from Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/40072

HK USP .45 by Toounx:

Very customizable USP .45 with a changeable tactical knife.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/42805

Desert Eagle:

A port of a mod from New Vegas which adds a highly customizable Desert Eagle.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10011

M3D - Sig Sauer P220:

Sig Sauer platform pistol, animation pack for this weapon here[www.nexusmods.com].
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18796

Glock 19X:

A highly customizable Glock 19X with custom animations and sounds, has leveled list integration.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/44404

Beretta M9-FS Pistol (92FS):

A new Beretta M9 with new meshes, textures, sounds, and animations. Lots of modifications too. Imported animations from the BF4 Beretta M9 here[www.nexusmods.com].
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/34589

.45 Auto Pistol (Fallout: New Vegas):

Adds the .45 auto pistol and Joshua Graham's unique variant from New Vegas' Honest Hearts DLC.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/21142

12.7mm Pistol (Sig Sauer P127):

Adds a remade version of the 12.7mm pistol from Fallout: New Vegas.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/23434

OTS-33 Pernach - Pistol:

Adds the OTS-33 with custom animations, sounds, and modifications.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/21629

Individual Revolvers

Hunting Revolver and Ranger Sequoia:
Adds the hunting revolver and Ranger Sequoia unique variant from New Vegas. Each have their own list of modifications available.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/37535

A Collection of Mods Overhauling the Vanilla .44 Revolver:
Double Action Revolver[www.nexusmods.com]
Realistic .44 magnum fire sound[www.nexusmods.com]
The Fantastic Forty Four[www.nexusmods.com]

MTS-255 Revolver Shotgun:
A cool Russian hunting shotgun which you will mainly find being used by the Gunners. This mod[www.nexusmods.com] adds new 1st person animations to it.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/31240

Smith & Wesson Model 1917 Revolver:
WW1 revolver with it's own leveled list integration and a unique variant.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/39325

RSh-12:
A cool Russian Double-action revolver which is pretty unique because it fires from the bottom chamber rather than the top.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52504

Chiappa Rhino - .357 Revolver:
Adds the Chiappa Rhino revolver.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/40621

Plasma Revolver and Colt Python:
Adds the Colt Python and a unique variant which takes plasma ammunition.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/40576

Capital Wasteland .32 Caliber Pistol:
Has a few modifications and is injected into leveled lists to be equipped by enemies who also carry pipe weapons frequently.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/50396

Webley-Fosbery Autorevolver:
A pretty interesting revolver based off of a real-life 19th century revolver. Comes with 2k textures and custom animations.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/38587#

M2045 Magnum Revolver Rifle:
A very heavy but powerful Revolver Rifle.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17170

Remington New Army:
Replacer for the Western Revolver from Nuka World or a standalone version available.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/29162

Cavalry Revolver:
Adds a Cavalry Revolver.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18762

Handmade Revolver:
A handmade revolver similar to the pipe weapons found in the game.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18457

10mm Revolver Colt 6520:
A chunky revolver chambered in 10mm.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/16129

Schofield Revolver:
An early-game, break-action revolver.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/16129

Smith & Wesson 500:
A very powerful and very customizable .50 cal revolver.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/31401

Rhino M1 Revolver:
A really powerful .45 caliber revolver. Ported from a mod for Fallout: New Vegas.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9803

Misc. Weapons

Only Death Could Part Us SMG/Rifle:
Adds an extremely modular unique weapon to the game which has dozens of modifications to turn it into any firearm you want.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/44776

Wasteland Imports - Throwables:
Adds some of the explosives that you could craft with the Mad Bomber perk in New Vegas.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3793

Tomacuzi-9 - SMG:
A monstrosity.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/32713

RPG-7V2 - RPG:
Adds an RPG-7 with animations and sounds.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/26446

BF1 Animation Pack:
Adds animations from Battlefield 1 for vanilla hunting rifles.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/30307

BF1 Animation Pack - Deliverer:
Adds BF1 animations for the Deliverer pistol in the vanilla game.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/30928

Musso Bowie Knife:
A biga knife a aa.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25968

Hair

Azar's Ponytail Hairstyles:
Adds some new hairstyles, including non-ponytail cuts.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/8126

Lots More Female Hairstyles:
Adds a bunch of combinations of hair.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10543

Lots More Male Hairstyles:
Adds a bunch of combinations of hair making new styles.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10695

Lots More Facial Hair
Adds a bunch of Facial Hair combinations.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10746

Far Barber:
Simulates hair growth for male and female characters, curing your rads can also make your hair fall out. Has integration with some hair mods.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/15271

Misc. Customization

LooksMenu:
Modifies the engine to make character customization better.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12631

LooksMenu Customization Compendium:
Adds a bunch of customization options for male and female characters.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/24830

Extended Facial Sculpting:


Adds A LOT of new options and variability for facial sculpting your character or npcs. Putting sliders to the max now makes even more terrifying outcomes than before.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25087

Visual Rework

Wolfmeat:
Retextures Dogmeat to have more wolf-like fur colors and patterns.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/2315

New Companions

Ellen - The Cartographer:
Over 1200 lines of voiced dialogue, her own affinity system, a personal quest, and voiceline support for DLCs.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/15962

Misc. Mechanics

No Negative Affinity and No Affinity Cooldown:
Overhauls the affinity system to remove negative affinity or edit how much it is effected by certain events.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3276

Liga Of My Companions:
Handle and command up to 16 companions, also modifies and adds a bunch of features for more specific commands or dismissal options.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25699

Companions Go Home:
Lets you send your companions back to their original homes. Also allows you to dismiss them to Home Plate in DC.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10029

Ambiance

Literally any ENB:
Choosing an ENB is purely up to the style you are trying to go for, there are endless choices for any specific style so choosing one is entirely up to your specific taste. Most mod pages will have installation instructions but they are barely varied. Just make sure to grab the ENB binaries off of the ENBDEV site.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/categories/13/

Project Reality Footsteps FO4:
Adds more realistic audio for footsteps on various surfaces, also adds sounds like occasional rustling of gear or crunching of leaves. Also has an option for snow incase you want to hear snow getting crunched under every step.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/35904?tab=description

Stimpacks Help You Breathe:
Adds a visual and audio effect when using stimpacks.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46361

Reverb and Ambiance Overhaul:
Adds echos, and reverb to all sounds based off of how tight a space is, a small metal pipe with have a lot of reverb, same with a large empty hall.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10189

Ambient Wasteland:
Adds more varied ambient background noises such as dogs barking or distance combat.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25343

Radiant Birds:
Changes bird sounds to be more realistic and more audible.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/2397

Scarier Geiger Counter Sounds:
Makes the Geiger Counter sounds more realistic and ominous.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/45354

No More Cash Register Sound When XP Gain:
Removes the ear-jarring cash register sound every time you get XP.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/100

More Where That Came From:
Adds 111 new thematically appropriate songs to the Diamond City Radio.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/637

JSRS Sound Mod:
Overhauls firearm sounds using assets from an Arma 3 mod.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52931

Interiors Enchanced:
Makes ambient light and fog in interiors more toned down and less overwhelming.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/8768

Fallout 4 Dynamic Lights and Shadows Overhaul:
Removes some fake light sources and makes lights cast more realistic shadows.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/34572

Wild West VATS Sound Effects:
Replaces some of the VATS sounds with sounds from The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17938

Classic Karma Sounds for Crime and Punishment:
Replaces the karma sounds in the Crime and Punishment mod with the Karma sounds from previous Fallouts.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/50282

Texture Replacers

50 Shades of Rust:
Replaces the colorful paint on a lot of structures with thick coats of rust. I don't recommend pairing this with the Winter Overhaul as the textures provided there cover many of the structures here with snow.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/42388

The Hunting Rifle Set:
High quality retexture of the hunting rifles, I recommend downloading the .esl file. Comes in 2k or 4k textures.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49185

Fallout Texture Overhaul Stars:
4k textures for the stars at night.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/145

Xrayy's Surface Clouds Changer:
Has a few options under the files tab for changing the darkness/brightness of the surface level clouds.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49944

Vivid Fallout - Landscapes:
Retextures the default terrain to be much higher resolution while also being more performance friendly than the default terrain.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1769

Fallout 4 HD Overhaul:
Replaces literally all textures in the game with up-resed or improved textures, do not use any of the full overhaul lists with this mod.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52423

Realistic Sanctuary Roads:
Adds darker Asphalt textures to the roads in Sanctuary. There are a lot of variations in the files tab on Nexus.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17509https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17509

Realistic Roads:
Retextures roads to be much darker with sharper textures.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12137

Fallout 4 Ultimate Window Overhaul:
Adds new reflections and textures to all windows in the game.\
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/43458

Dark Sci Fi Vault Retexture:
Retextures vault interiors to have a darker color pallet and Sci Fi aesthetic.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/44251

Animation Replacers or Camera Improvements

BF1 Animation Pack:
Adds animations from Battlefield 1 for vanilla hunting rifles.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/30307

BF1 Animation Pack - Deliverer:
Adds BF1 animations for the Deliverer pistol in the vanilla game.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/30928

Tactical Reload Framework:
Adds a different animation for reloading based on if your magazine is empty or not.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49444

Tactical Action Extension Package:
Adds toggleable animated actions such as prone, dodging, and rolling. Kinda buggy and takes some getting used to.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/38715

NPC Drinking Fix:
Adds sounds and facial animations to NPCs drinking.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/53980

Russian Stimpacks:
Replaces stimpacks with the medkits from the Metro Series. They have animations for healing yourself or companions, will also replace the 3d models of stimpacks laying on the ground.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/55170

First Person Death Cam:
Makes you die in first person, you can watch your own head fly off of your own shoulders.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/27537

Player Comments and Head Tracking:
A combo of two other mods that do the same thing but this one has a bit more functionality. An alternative would be to download Combat Comments and Player Head Tracking.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/22166

One Handed Revolver:
One handed animations in 1st person for revolvers. Has an option file for double action revolvers.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20377

Natural Expression Fix:
Makes the facial expressions while a character is talking less eye melting. Makes them more realistic and toned down.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/19307

Much Better 3rd Person Animations Tactics:
Makes the 3rd Person Animations more tactical.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49437

Custom Camera:
Allows you to customize the in-game camera with the MCM.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/29905

Animated Ingestibles:
Adds eating and drinking animations for 1st and 3rd person.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/47361

Animated Radaway:

Adds a 1st person animation for injecting radaway.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49288

Gore

Popping Heads:
Makes heads explode in a similar fashion to the way they do in Fallout 3/New Vegas.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/55012

Mutilated Dead Bodies:
Adds a bunch of mutilated corpses to Raider and Super Mutant locations, also has an optional file to make them buildable in the workshop.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49299

Gore Overhaul 3.0:
Adds better meshes, blood color, and textures for all of the viscera in the game.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/21216

Useful

Achievements:
Removes the requirement to have a mod-free game to earn achievements on Steam. Useful if you don't have all of them and still want to run mods.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12465

Eating Off The Floor:
By pressing R you can consume any consumable item without having to pick it up and navigate to it in your inventory.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17945

Workshop Plus:
Not immersive, although it makes settlement building way less terrible. Enables flight and increases speed in the workshop. Also has options for auto-enabling clear weather while building, auto closing doors, etc.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/35005

Unlimited Survival Mode:
A F4SE plugin which removes some of the stupid hard-coded features added by toggling survival mode. Allows for quicksaving, fast travel, and console access. All of which can be disabled or enabled by you at will if you still want some of the restrictions.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/26163

Fallout Priority:
Always sets your Fallout 4 to be high priority when it comes to your CPU usage.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52515

RAW INPUT:
Disables mouse acceleration.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/27019

FO4 Photo Mode:
Adds a photo mode, has plenty of options for filters, effects, increasing/decreasing depth of field, contrast, etc.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49997

No More Twigs:
Removes all of the ugly and low resolution twigs sticking out of the ground that you can't remove.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/27392

Move (Get Out the Way):
NPCs and followers will move out of your way if you are trying to get past them in doorways or confined corridors.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4062

Insignificant Object Remover:
Removes a bunch of the tiny debris or stones which are barely noticeable but eat up your computer's resources.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9835

High FPS Physics Fix:
If you plan on removing the 60fps cap or you just want better loading times and less bugs, you will need this.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/44798

UI Changes or Quick Inventory Access

Quick Change Armor (Q.C.A):
Using the MCM you can set a hotkey to open a menu which simultaneously shows your character and shows your available armors without you having to open and close your Pipboy constantly.
https://www.patreon.com/tooun/posts?filters[tag

Q.M.W (Quick Modification Weapon)(Only mod weapon):
Assign a hotkey in the MCM and it will open a menu where you can attach any modifications available for your weapons with the exception of receivers, magazines, stocks, etc. Sights and muzzles are all available. Works out of the box with a good chunk of the vanilla weapons and most modded weapons without the need for compatibility patches.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/44985

Fallout 4 Wheel Menu:
Assign a hotkey to open the wheel menu where you can access all consumables or throwing weapons quickly without opening your pip-boy.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/36706

Valdacii's Item Sorting:
Adds tags for items based on if they are fuel, components, ammunition, currency, food, left arm armor, right arm armor, etc.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3877

Kill Tips and Hit Sound:
Adds customizable sound effects for kills and hits. You can also select various new hud elements such as a killfeed or information on different kills like distance from target and enemy type.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/41557

LevelUpMenuEx:
Replaces the crappy perk chart from the base game. Recommended mods to go with it:
Be Exceptional - Skills and Perk Overhaul[www.nexusmods.com]
Be Exceptional - Classic Perks[www.nexusmods.com]
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/28822

Immersive HUD - iHUD:
Allows you to toggle certain HUD elements on or off during specific conditions or during certain times. Such as crosshairs only in 3rd person, health during combat, compass with your weapon drawn, and so on.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20830

Full Dialogue Interface:
Shows you a full list of the dialogue and exactly what you will say, nice if you don't like the default system where selecting "Sarcastic" will result in you making a death threat.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1235

Crafting

Equipment and Crafting Overhaul:
Allows for portable crafting and modification of equipment and changes vanilla armor and clothing to be more modular. Works out of the box with most weapon mods and allows for specific modifications such as semi-auto/full-auto modifications.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/55503

Misc. Mechanics

Commonwealth Fishing:
Adds fishing as a new mechanic to obtain food or something to sell to vendors. Has full range of custom animations and audio.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/56109

Agony
Adds new meds such as bandages, Surgery Kits, Energy Pills, Pain Killers for use in survival. Each with unique first-person animations. Also has Far Cry esq healing animations like cracking your arm back into place.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25600

Immersive Hunting Overhaul:
Adds several new mechanics and animations for dismembering or disassembling the bodies of enemies and adding various uses for the new resources added.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/53964

Start Me Up:
An alternate start mod which allows you to select starting stats/gear and ditch your role as the sole survivor, or allows you to immediately go from the character creation screen to leaving your cryo pod.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18946

Locky Bastard:
Shoot, Kick, or Blow doors open. Depends on your luck and lockpicking/weapons skills. You can either instantly open them or break them completely.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/13380/

Complimentary Gameplay Enhancements:
Changes accuracy of NPCs, immersive movement speed based on direction of movement or size of weapon equipped, dead body collision, enemy FX changes, etc.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/45944

Lootable Cars:
Makes the more intact vehicles lootable, they usually have randomized scrap and consumables.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/13139

Far Barber:
Simulates hair growth for male and female characters, curing your rads can also make your hair fall out. Has integration with some hair mods.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/15271

Fallout 2287 - Nuclear Winter:
Adds new mechanics regarding food temperature, body temperature, wetness, new enemies, visible breathing, buildup of snow and frost on equipment or corpses, and new mechanics regarding how warm your clothing is.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/37988

Fallout 2287 - Gas Masks of the Wasteland:
Adds a new survival mechanic regarding the need for gas masks under certain conditions, adds new mechanics with damage to masks, filter duration, more mask variations, and npc auto equipping of masks.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17491

Campsite:
Adds a way to set up camp in the commonwealth, place tents, fires, cooking pots, dog beds, temporary walls for shelter and simple settlement components. Good for setting up a spot in the Commonwealth to deposit items, sleep, and heat up.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11734

Brutality Hardcore Rebalance:
Removes the bullet sponge element of enemies and makes everyone die in 2-3 shots, including yourself.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11657

All of Flashy(JoeyR)'s mods:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13BDIPGOgMszkcxfMyTIA7L-iXAz6bYLO

VAFS Redux - Bullet Time and Manual Critical:
Replaces VATS with a toggleable bullet time.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/36519

New Weapon Mechanics

Real Time Cover Penetration Framework:
Requires one of the optional files below the main file, allows for weaker surfaces to be penetrated by bullets depending on their caliber.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/55959?tab=description

Weapons of Fate:
Overhauls how bullets travel and behave in the game to make them more realistic. Giving them drop-off, trajectories, weight based on caliber, and damage drop-off.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12986

See Through Scopes:
Makes scopes see-through by default instead of an effect being put over the scope.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9476

Bullet Counted Reload System:
Reloads the amount of shots required to have a full pump/lever action weapon rather than defaulting to a long animation of reloading the whole capacity.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/41178

New Calibers:
Adds dozens of new ammunition calibers to the game. Mostly functional with modded weapons.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/8588

Scopes Framework:
Allows for custom crosshairs or textures for optics while zoomed in.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/30644

Classic Holstered Weapons System:
Allows for all lighter weapons like rifles, pistols, and melee weapons to appear on the player and NPC's bodies. Works flawlessly for modded weapons as well.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46101

Enemies

Combat Drones:
Adds patrolling combat drones that some factions have their own variations of, probably not optimal for you if you don't like being spotted immediately when going near a large compound.
https://files.icestormng-mods.de/d/693c1d4bc43c4460a58d/

Paleheads:
Adds the Palehead mutants from the Re2 and Re3 remakes. They share animations with ghouls and are added to their spawnlists. Has imported textures and sounds from the Resident Evil games.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/55426

Zombie Walkers:
Turns ghouls into slow and brainless zombies while making them behave more like zombies. They wander in hoards, turn human npcs to zombies, and are attracted to noise. All of these settings are changeable in the MCM.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20485

Feral Nights:
Goes well with Zombie Walkers, if you are not in a safe area at night such as a settlement or populated town you will be followed by a large horde of feral ghouls.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52449

Mutant Menagerie:
Adds a large variety of mutated animals and creatures to the game, some are friendly and some aren't.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/53550

Raider Gangs Extended:
Adds a large variety of raiders and raider factions.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/42414

Super Mutants XL:
Makes Super mutants more intimidating.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/50544

Horde - Locust Super Mutant Replacer:
Replaces Super Mutants with Locust enemies from the Gears of War series. Also adds some weapons from GOW.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52261

Glowing Animals Emit Light:
Makes glowing animals emit light and the effect is scaled to the creature's size.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9239

Durable Vertibirds:
Increases the health of vertibirds and their pilots so that they don't get shot down instantly anymore.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/2857

Pip-Boy Replacers

Tactical Tablet:
Replaces the pip-boy with a fully animated smart tablet. Not lore-friendly but it looks cool.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/55346

Pip-Boy Flashlight:
Gets rid of the radial light effect produced by the vanilla flashlight and replaces it with an actual flashlight beam. Has a bunch of options for textures and miscellaneous options regarding beam placement or brightness.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10840

Misc. Consumables

Military MREs:
Adds new MRE consumables to the game in 14 different flavors with different effects, also comes standard with leveled list and vendor injections.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25824

Wasteland Imports:
Adds some consumables, armors, and settlement objects from some of the older games (Mostly New Vegas).
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3793

Russian Stimpacks:
Replaces stimpacks with the medkits from the Metro Series. They have animations for healing yourself or companions, will also replace the 3d models of stimpacks laying on the ground.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/55170

Misc. Gameplay

A-10 Warthog CAS:
Adds the ability to mark a spot with either a signal flare or binoculars to call in a strike from an A-10. Comes with all of the sounds and voice lines you would want, along with the fully modeled aircraft.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/51184

Whispering Hills:
Quest mod/Horror Overhaul, adds a plethora of new enemies, soundtracks, and adds more fog. Replaces some vanilla creatures with cryptids while also adding it's own cryptids into the game.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46871

Subway Runner:
Connects most of the vanilla subway stations so that traveling from town to town underground is possible. Useful if you have modded your game in such a way that being above ground without the proper equipment is a death sentence.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18639

South of the Sea:
Adds over 65 new locations in or around the Glowing Sea.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/27870

Simple Bounties:
Adds new radiant quests which are handed out at some settlements or towns, similar to brotherhood radiant quests which have you clearing an area of enemies.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/54842

Capital Wasteland Robot Pack:
Adds the classic Mister Handy and Protectron designs from Fallout 3 and New Vegas, also adds securitrons.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52147

Grim - The Curse:
I am not sure how compatible it is with Whispering Hills but it is another Horror Overhaul mod.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46711

Minuteman Watchtowers:
Adds a bunch of watchtowers scattered across the map with loot. Could become safe places to set up camp in the wilderness.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/30363

Inside Jobs:
Adds a bunch of unmarked interior locations to various locations in the game.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/27320

Dauntless:
Adds a unique submarine player home near Fort Strong which allows for quick travel up and down the coast and into Far Harbor.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/14829

Atlas Summit Redux:
Adds a player home, mini quests, base building, new settlement objects, skill books, magazines, and 4 battle sims in a memory lounger.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/21961

Misc. Settlement Objects

155mm Howitzer:
Replaces the default artillery you can build after completing the quest given at the Castle with Howitzer batteries. The animations aren't great but they look a lot cooler than the default artillery.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25527

Armor

Sentry Armor:
A heavy armor made out of scrapped sentry bot armor. Has power armor sfx.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/16321

Galac Tax Retribution:
Adds a variety of tacticool style star-wars esque armor. Also a new faction with voiced companions and quests.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/48041

CROSS_InstituteExpeditionarySuit:
Adds a cool Sci Fi looking institute armor with several variations.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/30857

B-35C Heavy Brotherhood Of Steel Armor:
Adds a unique heavy armor to the game which is injected into BOS leveled list, looks like a heavy version of combat armor.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17247

CROSS_MojaveManhunter:
A cool bounty hunter esque outfit which is inspired by the NCR ranger armor from New Vegas.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/32214

Primary Clothing

Private Military Company:
Adds some basic tactical gear, vests, headwear, and accessories.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/41332

Private Military Company Extended:
Adds more patches and customization options for the items added in PMC.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/44126

MW2R Shadow Company:
Ports some outfits from the MW2 Remaster.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/56031

MW Krueger:
Adds 3 outfits ported from MW 2019.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46640

Misc. Equipment

MW Price Gloves and Watches by F34R:
Adds an assortment of tactical gloves and watches with high-quality textures and models. Download link is private so only manual downloads.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ujDnBjLONe5CC9-zvlmrbo9T78z3fOsM/view

West Tek Tactical Optics:
Adds eyewear with modifiable night/thermal vision or enemy highlighting. Can also be put onto Dogmeat.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12220

Wasteland Imports:
Adds some consumables, armors, and settlement objects from some of the older games (Mostly New Vegas).
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3793

Casio W59 - Functional Watch:
Adds a functional digital watch
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/55422

Backpacks of the Commonwealth:
Adds a new backpack system to the game and a bunch of new backpacks or bags to find in the game. Also has options for leveled list injections.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/29447

Altyn Helmet:
Adds in an old school Altyn Tactical Helmet worn by Russian Spetznaz in the 20th century.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52494

New Functionality

Basement Living:
Adds buildable interior cells of varying sizes that you can build inside your settlement, the basement workshop shares resources with the workshop it was build inside of.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10967

Sim Settlements 2:
Complete overhaul to the settlement system, has settlers auto-assign themselves jobs, auto-build factories, farms, housing, shops, and has events like story quests or disease outbreaks. Good if you want more of a vagabond character who doesn't spend hours building each small detail of their settlements.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/47976

Sim Settlements 2 - Chapter 2:
A large expansion of features and quests from the original SS2 mod.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/55817

Settlement Objects Unlocked:
A little bit of a cheat but it just removes perk or quest limitations from objects in workshop mode.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18176

Scrap Everything:
Allows you to scrap pretty much everything but the ground in your settlement, use with caution.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/5320

Salvage Beacons:
You can dump all of your garbage into a container then place a salvage beacon on it to have settlers from a connected settlement come and collect it. You don't have to worry about them getting stuck or stopping on the way because everything is on a timer and doesn't require the settler positions to actually get to and from a settlement.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18757

Place Everywhere:
Probably the best mod for settlement building ever. Allows you to place anything anywhere, toggle snapping, toggle surface collision, toggle workshop timeout, change size of objects with numpad keys, do precise rotations on objects, etc.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9424

Northland Diggers Resources:Makes new scavenging stations which provide specific bonuses or collect specific resources when a settler is assigned to it.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9710

Move That Workbench:
Allows you to move the workbench in any settlement, including modded or custom ones.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/7507

Replace Pack Brahmin With Eyebots:
Replaces provisioner brahmin with eyebots, good for more cramped settlements and they are a lot less annoying.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/14395

All Settlements Extended:
Extends all vanilla settlements to have a larger build area.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25316

New Objects

DOOMBASED Settlement Stuff:
Adds a random assortment of stuff to build, some of it fits depending on what you are building. I mainly use it for the static vehicles and barriers.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/30693

Snappy HouseKit:
Bethesda building kits with working snap points.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11639

Settlement Supplies Expanded:
Adds 400+ new items to build in your settlements.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1145

Settlement Objects Expansion Pack:
Adds some new items and some vanilla items to the build menu in workshop mode.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10075

Sandbag Fortifications:
Adds a bunch of trench-warfare looking defenses and barricades to the workshop.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/21358

OCDecorator:
Manually add static loot sitting around your settlement, Place everywhere is recommended.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4270

Just Debris:
You can build various debris and trash in your settlements.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/21359

Flags of the Old World:
Adds about 300 flags with weathered textures of countries pre-war.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4296

Homemaker:
Adds 1000+ new buildable settlement objects. A lot of it is stuff from the base game.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1478

Better Armory Mod:
Adds new workshop items like weapon racks, ammo cans, posters, and storage.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/42123

Vanilla Locations

Camp Cochituate:
Adds a new settlement at an existing unmarked location on the Eastern Bank of Lake Cochituate.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/39481

Metro Oberland:
Adds a large metro station beneath Oberland Station, fully functional as a settlement.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/37797

Conquest:
Allows you to build up to 10 new settlements at locations of your choosing so long as it isn't too close to an existing settlement.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12511

Commonwealth GECK Project:
Adds a bunch of very large settlements at the following locations:
- Concord (Entire City Coverage)
- Lexington (Entire City Coverage)
- Nahant Society (Oceanological Center and Chapel)
- Boston Mayoral Shelter
- Gibson Point Pier (Includes Reeb Marina and Surrounding waterway)
- The Towers (Layton and Trinity Towers with area between)
- Federal Surveillance Center (Abandoned Shack Glowing Sea - Elevator quest then claim workshop)
- Natick Banks (Largest Settlement yet - Workshop in Substation Warehouse)
- Fallons City (Camp Kendall/Ticon/Greentech area)
- Coast Guard Pier
- Scrap Palace (Includes Robotics Pioneer Park)
- West Roxbury (Includes Fairline Hills area and Fallons Department Ext)
- South Boston (General Atomics Factory, Gwinnett Brewery, Four Leaf Fishpacking, South Boston PD)
- East Boston (Easy City Downs, East Boston Prep, East Boston PD)
Quincy Ruins (The entire City)
- Libertalia
- Fort Strong
- Boston Harbor
- The Fens
- Salem
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/34423

Deep Thicket Settlement:
Once the quarry is drained and cleared of enemies it can be taken as a fully functional settlement which extends all the way to the bottom of the quarry and some of the surrounding area around it.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/34154

New Power Armors

Secret Service T-65 Armor (Fallout 76):
Adds the T-65 armor from Fallout 76, comes in 4k/2k textures and I would recommend downloading the .esl version to save a plugin space.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49922?tab=files

T-49 Storyteller Armor:
Adds the T-49 armor from ShoddyCast's Lore series on the Fallout games.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/14581

X-03 Hellfire Armor:
Adds the Hellfire armor from FO3's broken steel DLC. I would again recommend downloading the .esl file to save a plugin space.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/26251

Midwestern Power Armor Evolution:
Introduces a customizable version of the iconic armor from Fallout: Tactics.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/33121

T-51C Air Force Power Armor:
Idk it looks cool
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17941

Tribal Power Armor:
Adds the custom T-45d power armor worn by Ashur in FO3's Pitt DLC.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/22437

Red Shift Power Armor (Fallout 76):
Adds the Red Shift power armor from Fallout 76.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46589

X-02 Power Armor:
Adds the APA Mk.2 power armor from Fallout 3.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/53545

Classic Advanced Power Armor:
Adds a version of the X-01 power armor that has a more faithful look to the original APA seen in Fallout 2. Does not replace X-01 in-game.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/43164

Excavator Power Armor (Fallout 76):
Adds the Excavator Power Armor from Fallout 76.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/41884

Ultracite Power Armor (Fallout 76):
Adds a recreation of the Ultracite Armor from Fallout 76, will require you to explore the Glowing Sea to find Ultracite crystals to craft, although a full suit can be found in the Airport following the BOS' arrival in Boston.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/44804

TES-51 Power Armor:
Adds a very modular armor inspired by TES: Skyrim. Would probably go well with a Winter themed load order.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17956

Submersible Power Armor:
Adds a few variations of power armor inspired by the look of the big daddies from the Bioshock series.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/16011

Hellcat Power Armor (Fallout 76):
Adds the Hellcat PA from Fallout 76.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/55128

Power Armor Improvements

PRIME Plus -Hydraulica-:
Reworked PA movement audio.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52749

Prime -Hi Tech Power Armor Sound Rework-:
Reworked PA sounds to be more advanced sounding.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/52610

Power Armor Impact FX Overhaul:
Adds new FX whenever you land, walk, or jump in power armor. It can make you leave footprints on malleable surfaces however they won't appear if you have a texture replacer.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10840

Power Armor Bonuses:
Adds small bonuses while in power armor that make sense for you to have while wearing a giant powered tank. All options are in the optional files and they do things such as greatly increase carryweight, double your resistance to fire, and increase your speed.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/53515

Power Armor Animation Changes:
Makes it so that you use the quicker enter and exit animations for power armor that typically only happen in combat.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4408

No Aggro Impact Landing:
Makes it so that the impact from landing while in PA no longer turns friendly NPCs hostile.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9019

More Durable Power Armor:
Makes PA less flimsy and more durable.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3852

Jetpack Overhaul:
Removes the action point cost from jetpacks, also increases the horizontal movement speed greatly. Makes it more practical for travel in addition to traversing vertical space.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25851

Immersive Power Armor HUD:
Makes power armor actually feel like you are wearing a helmet, with a texture overlayed in first person which slightly restricts your field of vision.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/49536

The best way to optimize your load order is to reduce your plugin count by converting as many .esp plugins to .esl plugins. .esl plugins are just light versions of the plugins and will not count towards the ~250 plugin limit.

For my example I am going to demonstrate on Vortex the quick method for converting a large chunk of your .esp plugins to .esl plugins.

First you want to make your way to the plugins tab:


Then you will want to locate the "flags" tab to filter .esl convertable plugins, you can filter it by filtering by "could be light":

Finally, you will select all of the plugins that are convertable, as indicated by the hollow feather icon, then select the "mark as light" option on the bottom left. (Mine says "Mark as regular" as I have already done the process.):

[tane_]

thank you for the amazing mod list

[u/WholesomeFunkoCuck]

@Dank Rafft Thank you, I didn't even know about most of these conflicts and I have hundreds upon hundreds of hours modding Fallout 4. Kinda sucks that a lot of the mods that I use heavily appear on the list of ones to avoid.
I don't completely agree with the removal of AWKCR in place of various patches for the older mods that utilize it. Having a buggier but more AIO solution in place of several plugins to serve one purpose can help reduce your plugin count. As for the achievements enabler/Buffout 4 conflict, not every mod on the list is meant to appear with one-another. Buffout 4 has it's own cornucopia of incompatibilities with several mods on and off this list, along with it's own redundant features which other's might provide alongside their own content. It is simply listed in the case of you wanting that one specific feature given you are running mods lacking patches or compatibility with Buffout.
Thanks for your feedback

[DaKiLa]

Really well put together, well done

[Moninja92]

This was the moment a hero was born

[Margwa_slayer2]

Yay

[conny]

amazing work, cant wait to play fallout again combining many of the listed mods! <3

[u/WholesomeFunkoCuck]

Thanks

[AO_Inc]

I started playing FO4 again after 2 years and wanted a completely new experience and this showed me a lot of mods that I've never even thought about looking up. Super helpful and thank you for the guide. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[u/WholesomeFunkoCuck]

I may come in and add preview pictures to any given section where they are possible, any pictures are likely taken off of the nexus page or from a screencap of a video showcasing it if pictures aren't available on the download page.