15 Essential Starfield Xbox Mods Your Next Playthrough Shouldn't Be Without

June 25, 2024, 10 p.m.

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15 Essential Starfield Xbox Mods Your Next Playthrough Shouldn't Be Without

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If Bethesda games, like Starfield, are known for anything other than their massive worlds, it would be their modding communities. Thanks to the Creation Kit modding tool that has been supplied with most of Bethesda's projects, very few titles have had the capacity for modding that the company's games do. The capacity for modding is so great that these mods have even made it to consoles, with Starfield supporting player-made content for the Xbox Series X/S.

Mods can greatly change the experience of a game. Provided that mod authors have made it, anything can be added to a game, from lightsabers to replacing dragons with Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends in Skyrim. Starfield is no exception, and many of the most popular mods for Xbox objectively improve the gaming experience. These can include bug fixes, AI improvements, and new skills.

15 Batten's Shipwrecks Mod Adds POIs To Encourage Exploration

Adds 20 Destroyed Ships To Discover

Starfield's galaxy is enormous, which means that there are plenty of locations and planets to explore. The new Shattered Space DLC expands the map even further, giving players more opportunities to become immersed in the world. On the other hand, it also means that it can get repetitive. After a while, players may get tired of seeing the same points of interest.

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The Batten's Shipwrecks mod gives players more reason to continue exploring. The mod adds 22 crashed ship POIs, each with its own unique look. Players can find abandoned escape pods, old debris fields, more recently crashed ships, and more as they explore. There's about 0.5% chance of a crashed ship spawning upon landing at a new location, and each modded crash site has a chance to also spawn repair parts, survivors, or pirates, keeping things fresh.

14 Better Living - Outpost and Ship Stuff Adds Home Decor And Necessities

Make Home Even Sweeter

Starfield allows players to achieve the truly impossible: own a home. The game has 10 different home locations that range from a literal shipping container to a dream home or penthouse apartment. Players can decorate their homes using a variety of items, including furniture and decor to spruce up their living spaces.

If the decor options already present in the game aren't enough, the Better Living mod adds even more options. The mod introduces everything the aspiring interior decorator might need, including but not limited to furniture, lamps, kitchen decor and storage, animated TV screens, wall decor, houses and habs, and much more. The mod also has the option to add several NPCs like some dancers and a DJ. These can be combined with the included fully stocked bar and adjustable boomboxes to turn any crash pad into the life of the party.

13 Star Wars Droids Creates A Star Wars Crossover

These Are The Droids You're Looking For

Star Wars and Starfield exist in different universes, but that doesn't mean it has to stay that way. The Star Wars Droids mod brings the iconic robot designs from the Star Wars franchise into the world of Starfield. The mod replaces a few Model A robots and minibots with Star Wars robots like DT Sentry Droids, IG Assassin Droids, Battle Droids, and more.

The mod also allows players to craft Droid skins at a workbench for Vasco to wear. Although this mod is not compatible with other robot mods, it can be used with mods that adjust Vasco. The creator of the mod is currently working on revamping robot movements to correspond to their Droid lookalikes, for an even more immersive Star Wars experience.

12 Ascension - Gameplay Overhaul Improves Combat And Progression

Level Scaling Is Removed

Starfield uses a level scaling system, so enemies level up along with the player. This ensures that, no matter where players are in the world, enemies will provide enough of a challenge. Not everyone loves this feature, though, and the Ascension - Gameplay Overhaul mod sets out to completely rework the combat system.

The mod changes an impressive amount of features, including weapons, armor, leveling, scaling, and perks. With this mod installed, players can move through the galaxy more like playing an RPG, but instead of becoming stronger with each level, the character becomes more skilled. The overhaul makes combat more engaging, leaning more on skill than a pure show of power, making this a great mod for anyone who's looking for a more balanced game experience.

11 Shade's Vehicle Tuner Makes Vehicles Even More Fun

Now With Camping

The all-terrain land vehicles of Starfield make exploring planets a lot quicker and more fun. Shade's Vehicle Tuner mod takes the vehicle a step further, adding some tweaks to vehicles. The mod adds new weapons, provides cargo space for storage, auto-harvests as it drives, and more. Players can also summon their vehicles directly to them so they can take off from anywhere.

The most fun feature, though, is the ability to deploy a camp directly from your vehicle. The camp comes equipped with either some workbenches for on-the-go tuneups or a campfire with sleeping bags and camping items for players to interact with. Best of all, the mod is compatible with any of the land vehicles in the game, and even stacks with other mods.

10 The Community Patch Fixes Starfield Bugs

Owned By The Community

Bethesda games aren't exactly known for being the smoothest, bug-free experiences. Starfield is no exception, suffering from the typical bugs that many players have jokingly referred to as "features." With the Community Patch, players can now experience a relatively smooth game that has had hundreds of bugs fixed from the base game. The Community Patch is an effort by numerous mod authors and is meant to be owned and for the game's community.

Fixes included in this patch are also meant to correct errors from the base game, not just bugs. This mod includes fixes for misplaced objects, script errors, faulty missions, spelling errors, and much, much more. The mod does not include new content or balancing and is purely meant to refine the base game. It should be placed as high in the load order as possible and is compatible with almost any mod.

9 Unofficial Starfield Patch Uses The Creation Kit To Patch The Game

The Author Has Also Worked On Other Bethesda Titles

Although the Community Patch acts as a community-owned and contributed mod to fix the errors of the base game, the Unofficial Starfield Patch is an alternative by one individual. This comes from the maker of the Unofficial Patch series, which has been done for both The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim and Fallout 4. Like with both these Unofficial Patch mods, the Starfield version is considered to be a must-have if players don't want to use the Community Patch for whatever reason.

Players should choose either the Unofficial Starfield Patch or the Community Patch. They will not work together.

The mod is designed to be as compatible with other mods as possible and should be put as high up on the load order as possible. It features hundreds of fixes and does not have any unsafe changes, such as the deletion of stock objects. These fixes include changes to gameplay, quests, NPCs, objects, text, and placement bugs, delivering a more polished experience for the players on Xbox.

8 Improved Follower Behavior Improves Companion AI

And Stops Followers From Ruining Stealth

Bethesda NPCs have never been the most intelligent around. As entertaining as this can be, it can also be incredibly frustrating, such as when players want to exit a door and get stuck because of a follower or their stealth is ruined because a companion is a little too trigger-happy. Thankfully, Improved Follower Behavior features many fixes to follower AI, making them both more intelligent and more useful.

Some of these AI improvements include followers no longer staying as far away from the player, only attacking once a player is detected to prevent companions from ruining stealth, and matching a player's movement speed when they are close to them. There is much more in this mod, and these subtle fixes help the companions both act more like actual people and make them more competent. Both are incredibly useful.

7 Fast Start New Game Is Brilliant On Subsequent Playthroughs

Save Hours By Skipping The Intro

Like all other Bethesda titles, Starfield is a title that is meant to be replayed to eventually experience everything that the game has to offer. Although a game's intro is important to setting the tone of the title, as first impressions are vital, they can often be slow and a drag on subsequent playthroughs. Thankfully, the Fast Start New Game fixes this, allowing players to skip the game's intro and get right into the meat of the game.

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This mod works very similarly to the Alternate Start — Live Another Life mod for Skyrim. It allows players to choose where they want their game to start, such as Lodge or Neon City, and what loadout they start with. It is perfect for players with a pre-existing idea of who their character was before the game starts and is a good option for roleplayers. It also gives players the option of whether they want to join Constellation or not.

6 Better Dynamic Weather Improves Starfield's Weather Cycles

Bring More Immersion To The Game

One of the things that players may not think about on their starfaring adventures is the weather of the planets that they visit. Yet, when visiting these planets, dynamic weather is always a nice touch to add to the immersion of the setting. Unfortunately, the base game's weather system is a little underwhelming. Thankfully, Better Dynamic Weather addresses this and helps the worlds of Starfield feel more vibrant.

Better Dynamic Weather is a lightweight mod that keeps things simple in its improvements. It speeds up the vanilla weather cycles to make the game feel more alive without cluttering the game up with dozens of GB worth of content. For those looking for a greater change, Custom Dynamic Weather Cycles by the same author (AinsyMods) is an awesome alternative and is also available for Xbox. It is compatible with Better Dynamic Weather, too.

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5 Amazing Companion Tweaks Make Followers More Useful

Helps Companions Carry More

Companions can feel a little underwhelming at times. Starfield is a game with variable difficulty, and not everyone wants their followers to carry them through their playthrough, but having a more useful companion, in general, is usually not a bad thing. The Amazing Companion Tweaks mod buffs followers and their stats. These only apply to named companions, not the unnamed crew members that players can have on their ship.

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These buffs include more health, oxygen, and Star Power, which are all increased by 50%. Followers also become undetectable when sneaking (meaning that they won't ruin stealth) and can carry an extra 30kg. Companion affinity also increases 20% faster, allowing them to become a friend or lover quicker. In general, followers become more useful, but since their damage output remains largely the same, they won't kill everything before a player has the chance to shoot their gun.

4 Better NPCs Make AI More Realistic

Less Robotic Responses & Interactions

Starfield leaves much to be desired when it comes to the many NPCs that populate its vast collective of worlds. Many come across as robotic, and their behavior has been the punchline of many jokes, but the Better NPCs mod comes in to save the day. It features dozens of behavior changes and tweaks to make NPCs feel more alive and immersive, removing some features that make them feel unrealistic.

The mod authors list every single fix on the mod's page on Bethesda.net. Some of the biggest include timing fixes that allow NPCs to act more realistically, such as less pausing between sentences, spending more time talking to each other, and idle animations triggering sooner after an interaction. Animations have been tweaked so that NPCs blink more, move their head in dialogue more and maintain better eye contact. For an immersive experience, this mod is probably one of the most important to install.

3 Non-Lethal Framework Lets Players Capture Foes

Begin A Pacifist Run

For a game with as much content as Starfield, it is a little odd that the title doesn't offer players ways of restraining foes who have been non-lethally incapacitated. Luckily, the Non-Lethal Framework fixes this issue, offering players more options with foes that they haven't blasted into ragdolls. This is the perfect mod for those who want to roleplay as a pacifist or someone who doesn't want to kill every enemy they meet.

To knock out enemies, use EM weapons.

This added dynamic is simple yet effective. It adds the ability to restrain hostile, humanoid NPCs with handcuffs. These handcuffs can be crafted, and when applied to a knocked-out enemy, it will disarm them and allow players to then kill or release them later. Released and killed NPCs will return the handcuffs, so they aren't consumed permanently. Released NPCs will return to their normal behavior after leaving the area.

2 Immersive Sabers Add A Chunk Of Star Wars Into Starfield

This Mod Is Lore Accurate

There seems to be an unwritten rule in the various modding communities of numerous titles. If a Star Wars-style lightsaber can be added to a game, then it will be added. Starfield is no exception, but it has the added benefit of being at least somewhat lore-friendly with the Immersive Sabers mod. Frankly, lightsabers are too cool not to have in a sci-fi RPG, and even if there isn't the Force, that doesn't mean the player shouldn't have some Jedi fun.

One of the first big mods for Skyrim was a lightsaber mod and it seems to have begun a trend in future titles.

The Immersive Sabers mod adds lightsabers of various colors. Although one of the designs is very much inspired by Luke Skywalker's green lightsaber, the others look in line with Starfield's aesthetic, making them more in place than they would otherwise be. The mod also adds a new perk tree for the lightsabers, as well as the ability to deflect with them so that players can feel like a Jedi or Sith (or something in between).

Related 10 Best Mods To Transform Starfield Into The Ultimate Star Wars RPG Starfield is the type of roleplaying game players wish they had for Star Wars. Now, thanks to some great mods, it can become just that.

1 Shade's Added Skills Is A Must-Have Mod

Shadedness Is A Premier Mod Creator

Shadedness is one of those mod authors that is on a quest to improve as many aspects of Starfield as possible. Of all Shadedness' mods, the most vital is Shade's Added Skills, which adds more skills for characters to acquire and use. These new skills have been made to be as balanced as possible while not changing any pre-existing skills. It improves stats like movement speed, critical hit chance against humans, and gun-bashing damage.

Outside the Added Skills mod, which is highly advised, Shadeness also has mods for more immersive looting, stealth takedowns, better Boost Packs, and the previously mentioned Vehicle Tuneup and camping mod. All of these mods can be installed for the Xbox version of the game. Starfield is massively improved by any of this mod author's works, but the Added Skills mod is the biggest of the bunch and will give players more to look into while they level up, improving the character progression of the base game.

Source: Bethesda.net (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)