Top 15 best Starfield Nexus mods?

There’s no question that a lot of time and effort goes into crafting the massive games that Bethesda are at this stage renowned for. However, even with all the work they meticulously do, there’s always going to be more that could have been done – tweaks here, additions there. Thankfully, Bethesda games are incredibly modder-friendly, and so it’s possible for community members to take it upon themselves to create little fixes, add some quality of life features or even create entirely new quest lines and maps that can slot seamlessly into the game.

At this stage, Starfield has only been out for a few weeks and Bethesda are yet to release the Creation Kit for the game which will make modding so much easier. That’s not to say that there aren’t already a handful of great and helpful mods that you can install to make Starfield just that bit nicer for yourself, though. Here’s a brief look at some popular mods that might just enhance your enjoyment of Bethesda’s latest world (or should that be galaxy? Universe maybe…?)

(NB: Endorsements come from individual members of the Nexus Mods website, indicating approval and appreciation for specific mods. All values correct at time of writing: 21/09/23).

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Modding Necessities

If you’re going to be modding, both of these specific mods are pretty much a necessity…

Starfield Script Extender (SFSE) – 9,297 Endorsements

Starfield Script Extender (SFSE)

Adds additional scripting capabilities and functionality to the game. In more basic terms, it allows for bigger and more in-depth mods to be created and installed into the game while lessening the likelihood of bugs and instability that can lead to crashes and the game becoming, generally, unplayable.

Baka Achievement Enabler (SFSE) – 7,407 Endorsements

Baka Achievement Enabler (SFSE) at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

When using mods, achievements are typically disabled. Not all mods will cause this, but most of them will. That’s where this handy mod comes in, ensuring you can mod the game to your heart’s content while still earning those sweet achievements.

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General Mods

With the above installed, all of the following should work and, hopefully, make your time in Starfield all the more fun.

1. STARUI Inventory – 18,491 Endoresements

StarUI Inventory at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

The most popular mod on the Nexus Mods website, Star UI aims to make all inventory screens in Starfield much more reader friendly. With this many endorsements and over 400,000 unique downloads, it’s safe to say it achieves that goal.

2. Improved Combat AI – 1,228 Endorsements

Improved Combat AI at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

Ever felt like the enemies in the game seem to prefer standing still rather than actively engaging with you? This mod makes NPCs more active and, by all accounts, act more intelligently.

3. Increased Scan Distance – 639 Endorsements

Increased Scan Distance at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

A simple one, this mod increases your scan distance.

4. Ship Builder Tolerance Tweaks – 1.051 Endorsements

Ship Builder Tolerance Tweaks at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

This mod aims to give you just a little more wiggle room when it comes to building your ship, allowing different modules to overlap just a little more.

5. Jetpack Overhaul – 1,012 Endorsements

Jetpack Overhaul at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

Changes the way jetpacks work, as well as giving optional tweaks for energy consumption and thrust.

6. Richer Merchants – 1,426 Endorsements

Richer Merchants at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

Another simple one, this mod increases the amount of credits all merchants have to barter with.

7. Dark Mode For Terminals – 1,404 Endorsements

Dark Mode for Terminals at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

Do you feel like you’re getting flashbanged every time you open a terminal? Then this is the mod for you!

8. Visible Skills Descriptions – 1,896 Endorsements

Visible Skills Descriptions at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

A major quality of life change, this mod allows you to see locked skill descriptions without having to open their levelling menu.

9. Infinite Ship Storage – 663 Endorsements

Infinite Ship Storage at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

Want to be able to carry/hoard more stuff on your ship? Well now you can!

10. Faster Airlock and Hatch and Door Animations – 763 Endorsements

Faster Airlock and Hatch and Door Animations at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

Do you wish airlocks and hatches would open quicker? This mod will allow you to make the animation when doing so anywhere from 1.25x faster all the way up to 50x faster!

11. Clean Vanilla Hit Marker – 431 Endorsements

Clean Vanilla Hit Marker at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

This mod removes clutter around your crosshair, making it easier to see what you’re actually aiming at.

12. Rewarding Activities – 317 Endorsements

Rewarding Activities at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

This mod is effectively an overhaul to the experience you receive for doing a bunch of activities in the game, e.g. exploring new locations, picking locks, etc. Comes with 3 different customisation levels.

13. Arial Font (All Languages) – 39 Endorsements

Arial font (all languages) at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

Finding the text in Starfield quite hard to read? This simply changes it all to Arial, one of the most readable fonts out there! (There are other font mods, but this is easily the clearest and easiest to read in-game).

14. Easy Digipick (Lockpick) – 2.897 Endorsements

Easy Digipick (Lockpick) at Starfield Nexus – Mods and Community

This mod changes the Digipick minigame, making the whole experience much smoother and, if needed, easier.

This has been a brief glance at a tiny handful of the already thousands of mods that have been created for Starfield. This number will only continue to grow, especially in 2024 when Bethesda releases the Creation Kit. It’s possible there will be mods that do things better than any of those listed currently do, and it’s a guarantee that there’ll be massively game changing mods in the future – and we’ll be sure to cover more of them in the future.

What mods have you been using in Starfield already? Did we miss some great ones? Are there any mods you’re hoping to see in the future? Let us know in the comments below…