Enhance Starfield: 6 Must-Have Free Mods
- Starfield now supports mods on PC and Xbox.
- Color Filter Removal and Darker Nights enhance visuals.
- Vanilla Flashlight Improved offers better lighting.
- Headshot Kills Any Actor mod adds combat realism.
- Shades Stealth Takedowns allows for stealthy gameplay.
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6 Free Mods for a More Immersive Starfield Experience
Starfield has finally received its Creation Kit and Creations suite, allowing PC and Xbox players to download official and community-built mods directly in-game.
It's still early days, but there are already a number of great mods worth your time.
Here are six free mods that will subtly but meaningfully improve your Starfield experience.
Make the Galaxy Look Better with Color Filter Removal and Darker Nights
I am absolutely digging a pair of mods that dramatically improve the visual look of the game on both PC and Xbox.
The first is GTA_R0CKS Color Filter Removal.
This mod peels away Starfield's color filters, lending itself to a much cleaner image.
Color Filter Removal pairs delightfully well with HopeFulWishing's Darker Nights.
This mod lowers the game's ambient lighting to make for a darker, more imposing image during evenings on planets and moons.
Everything feels notably spookier, and it hasn't been too hard to see things.
It makes the game more compelling as spotting distant structures feels more ominous.
What About Pitch Black Nights?
If you're exploring the Starfield Creation suite, you'll likely come across another mod from HopeFulWishing: Pitch Black Nights.
This mod makes the environment even darker.
However, in my experience, it's too dark for regular gameplay.
For regular gameplay, I recommend Darker Nights.
This mod is made even better by a simple flashlight mod that increases the amount of light you emit.
Vanilla Flashlight Improved is a Considerable Improvement
Litbeep's Vanilla Flashlight Improved (VFI) casts way more light with your flashlight, making it actually useful for seeing further in dark areas.
This combines really well with Darker Nights and Color Filter Removal to make for some excellent nighttime planetary exploration.
The mod also removes the banding effect that the stock flashlight has, resulting in a cleaner flashlight texture.
Headshot Kills Any Actor for Better Combat and More Realism
This mod from SKKmods not only improves the regular flow of combat in Starfield but also frees up the rigid nature of many quests by letting you kill essential NPCs.
To activate this mod, you'll need to use the item added to your inventory once the mod is installed.
This item will give you a menu that lets you choose who can be killed with a headshot, from regular enemies to essential NPCs.
Be cautious, as killing an essential NPC will likely break any quest they're associated with.
Shades Stealth Takedowns: Knockout or Lethal
Shadedness' takedown mod immediately changed how I was playing Starfield, inching the game toward more immersive sim territory.
This mod adds a new Takedown skill in the Physical Skills tree with four ranks to ascend through.
Now you can sneak into an enemy base and take down enemies from behind without much fuss.
When used with the Sense Star Stuff ability, it almost feels like playing Dishonored in space.
Starshards Help You Unlock New Skills Faster
Starshards by _Ravageron is a neat little mod that spawns various starshards on planets for you to collect.
Not only does this add an extra activity to planetary exploration, but you'll also get a skill point for every three shards you collect.
This will come in handy if you're planning on adding more skills to the skill tree.
The Creations mod suite is rapidly growing, so there will undoubtedly be more mods worth your time in the future.
Improvements to the visual style of the game and its combat can go a long way to making Starfield feel fresh again.
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