This guide is for beginners, who are new to modding and mayhaps have never modded a game before. Some might question whether this guide is really needed or not - however, this guide is meant to ease the worries of those who have never modded a game/Baldur's Gate 3 before, and feel uncertain whether they can and should try it out.

There is no complex magic involved, but there are also plenty of things which can go wrong and lead to instant frustration if the modding attempt fails and eventually the game becomes unplayable because of such.

I will not only show you with examples on how to install for the first time a mod in Baldur's Gate 3, but I will also give advice on how to approach modding and explain what can be done to prevent issues and how to handle them if they still occur.

Why is that important? Because I love mods!

I am convinced that any kind of game which allows mods is a great game, as they allow for more than just adjustments and fixes. Mods allow a community to grow, to challenge the developers with user created community content and in the process keeping the game alive for many more years to come - way beyond a game's "natural" lifecycle. Mods are "limitbreakers" which can enhance your personal experience with a game.

And I want everyone to be able to enjoy Baldur's Gate 3 to the fullest. With or without mods!

We start with making a copy of Baldur's Gate 3. We are going to use that copy for modding.

Right-click on the game's entry in your Steam Library -> Manage -> Browse local files





Copy & paste the folders bin and Data to a new location.

For example: C:\BG3-Modded\

As some mods alter game files, it is much easier to work those mods into a copy, so that you can remove the modded files easily while preserving the original files - without the risk to accidently delete or break something important.

If you do not have enough storage space for a copy, you can still mod your game without issues. You just need then to make sure that you take notes about

• which files were added to the game
  
• where the files were added to the game
  
• which files were altered
  
• where the backup files of the original remains

Once you have removed the mods a file integrity verification of the game can redownload missing files and help you restoring the game to vanilla. It is no big deal, but working with a copy keep things easier without you having the worry to redownload the game.

A copy of the game which is placed separately from the original game will be unaffected by game updates. That allows you to continue your game with the current mods you are having in the current game version of the copy, without having to worry that a game update could break your playthrough due to file incompatibilities with mods which got outdated due to a patch.

Considering that most players start having issues with mods when the game gets updated, this factor is a big boon and great argument to invest your time in working with a copy for modding the game.

You do not have to if you do not want to.
But for the examples in this guide I am using mods which can be downloaded at Nexus Mods.

https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3

The benefit for beginners here lies in Nexus Mods being a long standing trustworthy source for mods. Using such a source reduces the risks for "catching" unwanted malware, and due to the very large playerbase represented via Nexus Mods it is also a great source for additional information when it comes to modding.

To make all mods visible there, make sure to set the settings for adult content to your liking.



You can find the options within the Site Preferences of your Account (click on your profile image to open up the account menu).



The account with Nexus Mods is free.
A premium subscription is never needed to access the mods on Nexus Mods.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3024252010
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3018203217
Should you change your mind about mods, know that you can revert your game to vanilla any time without worry. It is also very easily done. Keep the links to these guides at the ready, knowing that modding Baldur's Gate 3 is not a one way track and there is nothing to worry about. Well, there is just one important thing you must always keep in mind about modding.

A savegame which has a mod dependency cannot be restored to "vanilla". You will either have to continue using that savegame only with the mods you used before, or you would have to restart the game from the beginning.

Not all mods create dependencies. But you must understand what it means. For example: a mod which adds items to the game, creates a dependency. As in: the newly added items cannot exist without the mod. So if you play a game with added content like that, you must keep the mod all the time. That is a mod dependency. The moment the mod gets e.g. removed you can no longer use that savegame without issues.

Native Mod Loader
https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/944

WASD Character Movement
https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/781

Native Camera Tweaks
https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/945

There is no need for you to use this guide if you feel confident enough and find the installation instructions of the mods sufficient. This guide is not meant to be a substitute or even replacement manual. This guide's purpose is just to make it clear: modding Baldur's Gate 3 is easer than you might think.

Therefore let us start with the very basics: the information you need to pay attention for when downloading a mod.



Last Updated
This information is important because it can tell us two things:

• a mod which is not updated recently might be outdated and incompatbile with the game
  
• a mod which is not frequently updated might be made so stable that it hardly breaks the game, making mod updates less necessary -> easier to handle

Requirements
Many mods use other universally great mods as basis. In this specific example think of the Native Mod Loader as sort of "door opener". Without the "door opener" the WASD Character Movement mod will not work / the WASD Character Movement mod would need to have its own "door opener".



The Posts tab on the mods pages are like a guestbook/comments tab. Or posts like forums posts tab. Users often communicate feedback using the Posts tab, and the latest / pinned posts tend to have crucial information you want to lookup.

In this specific case we see the author has pinned a post where they confirmed that the mod is up to date and compatible with the latest version of the game. Making this mod trustworthy and good to try out.



Not all mods are installed the same way. Therefore pay close attention to the installation instructions. Just because mod D is a simple drag and drop, mod B and C might need additional steps. If you ignore those steps the modding might not only botch but you might also frustrate while not knowing why it is not working. If you are certain that you followed instructions to the letter, make a post and ask the mod author for further assistance. Maybe you might even find a helpful hint among the posts of the fellow users.

The reason why we are preferring the manual installation for these mods is for learning purposes. Vortex often fails to install mods or autoupdate them in... undesired timings. Using the manual installation here will give you a better understanding about how easy it is. And it will also help you to figure out later on what to do if something is amiss. Things which Vortex cannot help you, and where Vortex tend to sabotage you.

Select Manual Download for all three mods and then select Slow Download (we want to keep the free version)





When downloading you can see a feature of Nexus Mods which is really helpful: the reminder of requirements and the access to older versions of the mods, if necessary.



Extract the content of all three downloaded archives into the same location, and you get a bin folder



That bin folder contains all three mods.

Now move that bin folder into the prepared game's copy folder

C:\BG3-Modded\

And confirm the prompt that it is okay to overwrite the existing files in that folder.


With that you have installed your first two mods (plus the needed "door opener").

First you exit Steam



Then you launch the copy via the executable you find in the subfolder

C:\BG3-Modded\bin\bg3.exe (Vulkan) or C:\BG3-Modded\\bin\bg3_dx11.exe (DirectX 11)

Make sure to exit Steam first before launching the copy.
Otherwise, Steam will force the original version in the Steam folder to launch instead of the copy.




Good to know: Pressing "F10" hides the GUI, allowing you to take breathtaking screenshots

That will help you with the controls while using the WASD/Camera mods.



Press "POS1/Home" to focus back on the character or use the F-keys (F1, F2, F3, F4)

Make sure to make good use of Nexus Mods features to track and endorse a mod.



Endorsing a mod gives the mod "a push" within the sites algorymths for trending items. A popular mod is more likely to be well maintained by the mod author than a mod which is neglected due to low download numbers.

And yes, mod authors get paid by Nexus Mods depending on the download numbers. It might take some time until a user gets recognised as professional mod creator, but Nexus Mods makes it easy for contributors to earn some money with their creations. It is not much, hence some mod creators opt out of Nexus Mods and do a patreon instead. But nonetheless: the more a mod gets downloaded the more money the mod author can expect.

Tracking a mod notifies you whenever there is a change / update to a mod.
It will be shown via the bell icon while you are browsing the site.



That makes it easy to keep the mods you like and use up to date.

Basket Full of Equipment
https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/97
Download the version with Mod Fixer

LaughingLeader's Baldur's Gate 3 Mod Manager
https://github.com/LaughingLeader/BG3ModManager

Unpack the content of the BG3ModManager_Latest.zip archive into a location of your choice. I recommend to put it into

C:\BG3-Modded\BG3MM\

Then use the executable BG3ModManager.exe to launch the app.





Import the Basket Full of Equipment archive as it is via the menu.



If the import was successful it will look like this



Ignore DiceSet_06 and Honour. Those are game files which are mistakenly recognised as mods. But they are actually essential game files which have been added with patch#5.

As you can see Basket Full of Equipment is on the right side, and considered inactive.

Grab it with your mouse, and drag it to the left side. Then Save (Mod) Order



For a very brief moment you will see a confirmation at the bottom of the app which tells you everything is ready to go.




Close the Mod Manager and launch the game.

Find the mod item as described in the mod description page.

With the release of Hotfix#16, Baldur's Gate 3 version number 4.1.1.4425968, the previously mentioned modfixer has started causing issues in form of preventing quest items from registering.

While the guide of installing Basket Full of Equipment still works as described, it is strongly recommended to avoid any mods which use modfixer for the moment to ensure proper functionality for your game.

Fortunately Basket Full of Equipment comes with an alternative version which is not using the Modfixer at all. However, for that the installation of Norbyte's Script Extender is necessary.

Personally I do not recommend Norbyte's Script Extender, due to issues and lack of support I have experienced, in particular with the Party Limit Begone mod mentioned further in this guide. However, I have to to give kudos to Lune's BG3 Sex Framework, which not only works greatly and shows how a quality mod can look like with good coding, but also comes with great installation and troubleshooting instructions to make it work flawlessly with Script Extender.



Their mod can be found here:
BG3 Sex Framework
https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/6045

Using a special troubleshooting version of Norbyte's Script Extender

which can be downloaded here:
Norbyte's Baldur's Gate 3 Script Extender
https://bg3se-updates.norbyte.dev/Channels/Release/ManualInstall.zip

Basket Full of Equipment still works fine, even without the need of the modfixer which is known to cause issues and technically obsolete if you are able to use Script Extender.

It could not be any easier. Unpacking the archive gives you the files DWrite.dll and libprotobuf-lite.dll which you put in the game's bin folder as described above. So basically it goes in the same folder where the game's executable is.



If installed correctly Baldur's Gate 3 will launch with Norbyte's Baldur's Gate 3 Script Extender activated.

If you used the game's copy it is a simple matter of delete the copy then you do as instructed here in the Delete the Game's Cache section
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3018203217
If you did not use a copy of the game to mod, do as instructed in the guide - from top to bottom - without missing a single section and a single step. That will revert your game back to vanilla.

The Mod Manager has also the option to remove single mods which have been installed with the mod manager.



Make sure to always save the new order before launching the game. This method is not as thorough as using the guide above.

I had planned one more mod I wanted to present you here

Party Limit Begone

I already had the text written, screenshots prepared, and the section was de facto finished. But I have deleted it. The reason why I have deleted it and why it is missing in this guide is because the mod is currently faulty and suspected to continously causing issues throughout a playthrough. Hence I cannot and will not recommend that.

It is a tad sad as I know many popular mods make use of Norbyte's Baldur's Gate 3 Script Extender - and yeah, for that too I had an section with text and screenshots ready. But that too would not want to work when I wrote this guide. It constantly gives the error that a version of the Script Extender for the current game version is missing. And the author's website is indicating that indeed an update for the current game version is missing as the last update on its release is dated to 30.11.2023.

I will not stop you from trying it yourself. Just saying that I do not trust to play the game with mods which have a history of breaking, and breaking so badly that it can ruin a playthrough, regardless of how popular those mods are. With Party Limit Begone I intended to make an exception because at some point it worked well without the mod. As in: you used the mod once, make a savegame, then uninstall the mod. The savegame would still benefit from the effects of the mod without the dangers of breaking.

It seems that has changed, so it is no longer on my list. Users who have started their playthrough with the effect of being able to take along more party members might continue benefitting regardless whether the mod is broken right now or not. However, I cannot offer guidance on the mod for you nor do I recommend it for the moment.