Baldur's Gate 3: 12 Best Mods, Ranked (2024)

Baldur's Gate 3 is a choice-heavy game in a big, open world. Following in the footsteps of classics like Dragon Age: Origins and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the developers of Baldur's Gate 3 knew they needed to be open to the rich and active modding community these games tend to attract. As a result, they've been vocal about modded save files for Baldur's Gate 3 - even releasing mod-friendly advice for launch day. This, along with articles from helpful third parties, can teach anyone how to mod Baldur's Gate 3.

To help you get going on the wild and wonderful adventure that is Baldur's Gate 3 Mods, here are ten of the best and where you can download them. If any give you trouble due to incompatibility with new versions of the game, then try this Mod Fixer for Baldur's Gate 3, declared the defacto Mod Fixer by Nexus Mods.

Updated by Abigail Angell on January 22, 2024: With the coming of the new year, we've looked in on these mods to make sure they are still actively being maintained. Formatting has been updated to provide a clearer picture of what each mod has to offer, and we've found two new favorites — Basket of Equipment and The Camp Event Notifications Mods — to enhance our offerings of the best mods available for the game.

12 5e Spells

Add Your Favorite Spells From D&D 5e

• Balanced.
• Ideal For Increasing Level Cap.
• Great For Dungeons & Dragons Fans.

While Baldur's Gate 3 has done something really wonderful in terms of its story and world, many missed out on their favorite spells such as Lightning Lure, Vicious Mockery, Raise Dead, Charm Monster, and Tasha's Caustic Brew. Luckily, modders like Celes came to the rescue with the mod 5e Spells.

This mod almost doubles the number of spells currently in the game with additions from cantrips all the way up to level nine. While spells above level six will only be accessible if you're using other mods that change the level cap, it's still great fun even if it is the only mod you have installed.

11 Rogues Extra

More Subclasses For Our Broody Friends

• Balanced.
• Great to play even without other mods.

Created by the same person who brought us Casters Extra, Rogues Extra adds a variety of new options for Rogue players in Baldur's Gate 3. Subclasses included in the mod are Soul Knife, Phantom, Mastermind, Scout, and Swashbuckler. It also adds several cantrips and progressions missing in the base game for our sneaky friends.

In a similar vein to Casters Extra, you can expect the mod to update slightly behind the base game. However, the mod page is always prompt and clear about whether the mod is updated. This earns a lot of respect, as these updates take additional time to do and prevent players from accidentally bricking their game.

10 Backgrounds Enhanced

Give Each Background An Additional Skill Proficiency

• Increases Roleplay opportunities.
• Gives Backgrounds more mechanical meaning.
• Unobtrusive.

For players that need a little more customization when making their character, Backgrounds Enhanced is a must-have mod. This mod gives each background in the game an additional proficiency - making you able to experience more of what the game has to offer without compromising on flavor.

For instance, the Folk Hero gains the Athletics proficiency - something that fits them well enough you might not question it unless you knew it was a mod. As another example, the Sage gains proficiency in Investigation - a no-brainer for a background that proclaims to be about finding and collecting knowledge.

9 Fast XP

Reach Breakpoints In Your Build Faster

• Excellent for later playthroughs of the game.
• Get to the best parts of your Multiclass faster.

The Fast XP mod is one that repeat players may increasingly turn to. Its purpose is to speed up the early game level progression, helping you get to your power break points and multiclass levels faster. While it could be argued that this heavily reduces the difficulty of the game, most players don't seem to find the experience unpleasant.

Mechanically, the mod causes you to earn twice the normal amount of Experience Points until you hit level six, at which point Experience Gain continues at the Vanilla rate. Choosing level 6 as the fall-off point is quite smart, as this is when most builds such as the Shadow Monk or the Barbarian come online.

8 Enhanced Gear Progression

More Variety In Armor Drops

• Gives more late-game relevant armor options.
• More options for Heavy Armor Users.

One point of the gain that many players are unsatisfied with is the gear - you seem to either find magical items or mundane gear from level one all the way until the end of the game. This means that you could very well find yourself without a decent upgrade for most of the later stages of the campaign.

Enter Enhanced Gear Progression, which changes the way that loot is generated at traders, inside containers, and at character creation to give you a real feeling of progression throughout the game. Additionally, it adds full plate and splint in all of its forms as well as lootable copies of Gale's Robes and Daisy's Dress.

7 Basket Of Equipment

Look Beautiful And Be Deadly

• Play out your ultimate Power Fantasy.
• Dress up you and your companions in the latest fashion.

Basket Full of Equipment is a comprehension equipment mod that provides armor, camp clothes, accessories, dyes, and weapons. In its default state, these new options provide mechanical benefits that can make your character truly overpowered from the moment you step onto the Nautiloid. Examples include gloves that let you teleport as a bonus action, weapons that grant the ability to Eldritch Blast, and access to Mithril Armor and Full Plate from level one.

However, players who are looking for a visual update without the game-breaking side effects can use the camp clothes' conversion mod in conjunction with the original, which makes all of those armor options camp clothes instead. As a result, you can have your characters dressed in the Dryad's Costume, Gortashes' Robes, Dark Justiciar Armor, and more without changing any of their combat statistics.

6 Customizer's Compendium

A Massive Expansion To Character Creation Options

• Excellent options for horns.
• Increased color palettes for eyes and skin.
• This mod is used by several others to add additional hairstyles.

While most people seemed to be pleased with the Full Release Character creator, you can never make everyone happy. If you were hoping for Sims 4-level customization and were disappointed, try the Customizer's Compendium Mod by AlanaSP. Not only will this mod help you make the exact character you want, but it's also updated at incredible speeds.

Customizer's Compendium includes many more options for faces, ears, horns, and hairstyles. It also massively increases the color palettes for eyes, skin, and hair to almost ridiculous levels. Unlike many aesthetic-type mods, it doesn't favor femme-presenting characters over other body types, so everyone will find new options to choose from.

5 Native Camera Tweaks

Enjoy Baldur's Gate From New Angles

• Get a closer look at the game's beautiful world.
• Better camera settings for local co-op.
• Doesn't interfere with the combat-based camera.

The camera in Baldur's Gate 3 is something fans are torn about. On one hand, it functions as intended for a combat tactics game. However, it doesn't allow you to take in the wonderful world the developers of the game have painstakingly rendered. Native Camera Tweaks by Ersh fixes that.

Some of the features provided by the mod are a toggled free-roam camera, overriding zoom limits, and separate camera modes for Exploration and Combat. Not only that, but the mod also has support for local split-screen, something that many fans of the game were disappointed with in the game's Full Release.

4 Tav's Hair Salon

Can There Be Too Many Hairstyles?

• A truly absurd amount of hair options.
• Support for a variety of races and body types.
• Updated frequently.

Despite the importance of a character's hair to give them personality and charm, many games don't get the hair options right in their character creator. In terms of industry standards, Larian actually did pretty well at this. However, there's always room for more options in character creation, and Tav's Hair Salon provides.

This mod contains about 30 new hairstyles, although primarily for the skinny female body type seen in the taller races (Tieflings, Humans, and Elves). Races such as Githyanki have a few hairstyles, and the options for masculine characters are limited. If you decide to give this mod a whirl, keep in mind that Customizer's Compendium is required for it to work.

3 Party Limit Begone

Never Have To Choose Between Friends Again

• The best way to experience all companion stories in one run.
• Allows for travel dialogue between every character.

One of the best parts about Baldur's Gate 3 is its charming companions. Each has its own banter, cutscenes, and opinions for you to discover as you play through the game. However, you need to choose only a couple of your favorites because your party size is limited to four.

If you don't want to choose (or want to be able to take companions while playing multiplayer) then Party Limit Begone is a must-have installation. This is likely to mess up the balance of the game due to inflating your action economy, but if you are one of the players who are enjoying Baldur's Gate 3 for the story, not the challenge, then this is no obstacle.

2 Improved UI

Clean Up Your Gaming Experience

• Declutters the Native UI, especially when using other mods.
• It is required by many mods to work properly.

Improved UI is high on the list due to its bedrock mod status. The creator claims that the mods' primary goal is to clean up the UI and support other mods. It does both of these jobs very well. Arguably, however, the best feature of the mod is the ability to customize the Origin Characters to your heart's desire.

In terms of UI cleanup, this mod hides unnecessary buttons such as the Trade icon during dialogue with non-vendor NPCs as well as removes the popup that occurs when mods are being used in the game. For modders, Improved UI removes the scroll limit in character creator for faces, hair, and color palettes.

1 Camp Event Notifications

Never Miss Dialogue Or Cutscenes Again

• Get notified whenever a camp event becomes available.
• See events, even for companions not currently in your party/visible.

The Camp Event Notifications Mod was truly game-changing for many players, since Baldur's Gate 3 is prone to causing FOMO with its massive world. Even when you've done all the right things, sometimes you miss out on content because you didn't speak to the right person at the right time. This is especially true if you're running a large party — the camp gets crowded. However, this mod makes it easier to detect when new content has become available, so you'll never miss out.

To do so, the Camp Event Notifications Mod uses the speech bubble mechanic included in the vanilla game. Usually, this speech bubble appears over a companion's head when they'd like to speak to you, but with the mod, it can also appear over your head whenever new content becomes available at camp. This prompts you to visit and take a long rest, so you can experience the cutscenes immediately.