Dark Souls 3 is a very popular game that has a large following, so like any good community, there are bound to be a ton of mods that change the way we play the game and make it more enjoyable, or more accessible, depending on what you need. Some mods are quite exhaustive, taking the game to the next level in terms of gameplay innovation, making it feel like you’re playing a completely different game. This article will cover 25 of the best mods that everyone should try to incorporate in their game for a unique experience.
25. Revenant Reshade
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/14
The Revenant Reshade is primarily a texture and atmosphere mod, which allows you to increase the grim atmosphere of Dark Souls 3, amplifying the graphical qualities and making the game look much more appealing. It adds many effects such as film grain or a vignette, which are excellent for a more aesthetic appearance.
24. Enhanced Blood
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/985
The blood effects that Dark Souls 3 has are great, but sometimes you just need a bit… more. Blood spatters more aggressively, sticking to characters and the environment, plus it improves the general look of the blood, making it appear more deeply red, aiding the general look of it. The mod includes a readme and is quite easy to install, so you can get it running easily and get to splattering!
23. Recolored Visual Effects
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/787
This one is one of the simpler mods on the list, since it just changes the color patterns of some spells, for a fresher look. Sorcery is also affected, with the spell effects having special colorations that look amazing and bring a new aesthetic look to gameplay.
22. Hollow Lighting Mod
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/602
Another visual mod on the list, the Hollow Lighting Mod changes the atmosphere of the game, offering darker shades, as well as more colors and skyboxes. It is a very stable mod, which will not hinder your ability to see what is happening on-screen. The HUD and menus aren’t affected at all, so you can enjoy a more atmospheric playthrough with no drawbacks!
21. Enhanced Rings
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/1179
This is a quality-of-life mod that modifies the effects of the rings in the game, making them more powerful. Obviously, this mod cannot be used online, since it can be considered abuse and ban-worthy. Use it offline to make the game easier and more pleasant to play. More information on all the rings can be found on the mod site.
20. Dark Souls 3 Low End Spec Textures For Performance Optimization
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/524
Unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to play games on high-end systems, so this mod is great for those situations. It has many features that make the game less demanding and allows you to play it on basically any system. Check the mod page for more information.
19. Finn the Human
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/553
This mod simply changes the basic Knight set and weapon to Finn the Human from Adventure Time. No bells and whistles on this one, just a fun little addition for fans of the show.
18. Level 802 All In-Game Items
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/599
Sometimes you don’t know what build suits your playstyle best, and that’s where this mod comes in! It gives you a save with a level 802 character with all in-game items so you can mix and match anything you want and test builds to your heart’s content. Obviously, this can be considered abuse, when you can just mold everything as you wish, so you might want to use this mod in offline mode exclusively.
17. Bloodborne Dash for DS3
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/433
We all know Bloodborne has some of the best mobility-oriented combat in the series, mainly due to the fast-paced nature of the game, and now you can add the iconic Bloodborne quickstep to Dark Souls for faster gameplay. The quickstep replaces the mid-roll.
16. Dark Souls 3 Poorly Translated Edition
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/316
You can’t always have the grim, macabre themes that many popular mods have, sometimes you need to have some goofiness that adds more enjoyment to the game. That’s where the Dark Souls 3 Poorly Translated Edition comes in. It takes all of the text in the game and runs it through Google Translate a bunch of times in random languages, so nothing stays the same. It’s just a fun little mod that is great to have.
15. Comfort Mod
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/536
Some small tweaks are added in this one, such as some HP/FP regeneration, and other small features that make an offline playthrough of the game more comfortable. Visit the mod page for more info.
14. Irregulator
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/298
The Irregulator mod adds randomization to certain items, spells, and movesets. Quite fun if you need a bit of a challenge for a normal playthrough.
13. DS3 Static Item Randomizer
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/361
Randomization is always a fun mechanic to have in your game. The DS3 Static Item Randomizer… randomizes all items in the game, including key items, making the game more difficult and more interesting to play.
12. The Blades of Ashina
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/572
The Blades of Ashina mod adds a many weapons from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, with unique movesets. As it is currently, this mod is being expanded constantly, so new updates are coming out frequently.
11. Minimalistic HUD
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/585
The HUD in many games can be cumbersome, with large visuals that can disrupt your gameplay, so this minimalistic mod changes the HUD to not take up much of the screen. It is sleek, with a very nice, pleasant design.
10. Dark Souls 3 Enemy Randomizer
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/484
As always, randomizers can make the game an amazing experience for you, and this one is amazing. It randomizes all NPCs, bosses, and enemies, with no effect on side quests. It makes the game more difficult, with more unique experiences.
9. Incandescent ReShade
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/12
This is a lite re-shading mod that won’t affect your game in any way. It simply improves the general atmosphere, lighting, shading, and effects, while staying true to the original format and game style.
8. Blue Sentinel
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/723
The Blue Sentinel mod adds a nice anti-cheat feature to the game, so you can report cheaters, kick them from your game, as well as flag them. There is a lot more information regarding the specifics of this mod, so check out the mod page on the provided link for anything you want to know.
7. Wex Dust
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/405
This mod changes the behavior of the Red Eye Orb, allowing you to search for a world to invade anywhere. Instead of having to be in a specific area to fight there, you can simply use it at Firelink Shrine and it will just transport you to any random area in the game available to invade.
6. Honest Merchant
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/607
*slaps roof of mod* This bad boy can fit so many deals in it! This mod takes the corpse that needs the key at Firelink and turns it into a merchant which offers fair prices for almost any item in the game. The way you interact with him to get your items is by using different gestures for different shop sections.
5. IGP11
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/28
This texture mod allows you to dump and replace any texture in the game, ideal for applying shader effects without affecting the GUI.
4. DS3 Mod Engine
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/332
One of the most useful mods out there, the DS3 Mod Engine allows you to load any mod you want in an easy-to-use interface that is very easy to install and get going. For detailed instructions on how to install the engine and subsequent mods can be found on the mod page.
3. DS3 Fog Gate Randomizer
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/551
This one is a tough cookie. A special type of randomizer that changes where the various fog gates take you in the game. You could cross a fog gate in Anor Londo and end up back at Firelink, which can either make a very frustrating experience or a very fun one, depending on you.
2. Hunter’s Combat
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/498
Trick weapons are made available through the use of this mod! You can channel your inner Hunter by using some of the iconic weapons from Bloodborne in Dark Souls 3. There are numerous weapons, and other gameplay mechanic changes, like the new healing animation which is the same animation that the Blood Vial has in Bloodborne.
1. Pure Ambiance ReShade Preset
https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/15
One of the best and most powerful mods available at the moment, the Pure Ambiance ReShade Preset adds a ton of extra visual features, such as GemFX, Dynamic DOF, SweetFX, camera movement, and much more. Visit the mod page for more information on this amazing mod.