Fallout 4 might be popular with gamers and critically acclaimed, but its combat system is starting to look pretty weak. It’s rudimentary at its core, without much in the way of variety or tactics. However, with the inclusion of just a few mods on the load order, Fallout 4’s entire combat experience can be transformed from the ground up.
These mods can change anything, from the way players aim down a scope, to how they sneak around and remain undetected. They can introduce survival mechanics, enhance enemy AI, or even change the way damage is inflicted on specific body parts. Using a combination of mods is a surefire path to building the perfect firefight.
Arbitration
• Download the mod HERE
Arbitration is a massive combat system overhaul that affects many different mechanics. It doesn’t just overhaul how damage is dealt, but also how combat works in terms of immersion and realism. At its heart, Arbitration is an AI enemy overhaul, which is good news for gamers who want more authentic enemies, rather than bullet sponges.
It also overhauls stealth, falling damage, Molotov cocktails and grenades, and even how weapons are lowered when not in combat. Players can choose which of these overhauls they want to be activated, allowing them to customize the combat experience precisely to their own desires.
Tactical Distraction System
• Download the mod HERE
Stealth is a solid component of Fallout 4, and it helps when gamers are low on ammo and need to rely on the shadows for safety. Tactical Distraction System is a mod that builds on that premise by adding in ways to lure or distract enemies, which is great for those who like to think strategically.
Now, players can lure enemies out into the open, whistle at them to get their attention or toss a bolt in order to distract them and move past, undetected. For gamers who love Metal Gear Solid-type stealth games, this is a must-have mod that completely changes the combat experience for the better.
See-Through Scopes
• Download the mod HERE
Fallout 4’s scope system is clunky and boring, to say the least. When aiming down a scope, the screen crossfades from black to a different interface, and that can cause players to soak up unwanted damage while dragging them out of the immersion of the game.
See-Through Scopes keeps things in-world by causing players to automatically peer down the scope, while still seeing the world around them. It’s an amazing mod that completely reinvigorates long-distance combat and precision aiming while making everything feel much more realistic, proving why Fallout 4 is one of Bethesda’s best video games.
The Deadly Commonwealth Expansion
• Download the mod HERE
Enemy factions in Fallout 4 are fairly routine, but they could do with a shakeup. The Deadly Commonwealth Expansion is one such mod that overhauls the base game’s enemy factions with new variants, just for the sake of spicing things up.
Raiders, Gunners, Super Mutants, Ghouls, and the Children of the Atom get a complete makeover with new weapons, armor, and AI changes. The mod also adds in several voice-acted bosses, unique NPCs that behave differently in a firefight, and skirmishes between individual factions.
Combat Zone Restored
• Download the mod HERE
Apparently, a lot of content was cut out of the Combat Zone in Fallout 4 when the game initially shipped. This mod seeks to overhaul this popular location so that much of that content gets added back in. Given the buggy nature of the Combat Zone, this is probably for the best.
The mod changes the original introduction to the character of Cait, while also reworking the basement, altering the NPC fight bets, and allowing players to battle it out for caps. It doesn’t seem likely that all the cut content (such as the bartender) will be restored, but it’s worth installing, nonetheless.
Mornedil’s Combat Rework
• Download the mod HERE
Many gamers find it too easy to simply aim for the head and pull the trigger, which is why Mornedil’s Combat Rework was created. It forces players to think tactically during combat, rather than just wait for enemy melons to drift into the crosshairs. This is similar to many Skyrim combat mods that help juice up the bland vanilla mechanics.
The mod changes how health scaling works while increasing combat damage. It also overhauls limb damage, which allows for non-lethal disarmaments. Players can also suffer crippling blows, which means they’ll need to be careful when wading into a firefight. The mod page offers a full description of everything that has been changed.
Search And Destroy
• Download the mod HERE
Stealth mechanics in Bethesda games are woefully unrealistic, and that’s putting it mildly. Mods like Search and Destroy help to mitigate the ill effects of the vanilla experience by making stealth a bit more immersive and realistic. This mod in particular affects how enemies can detect a player, and how long they will search for them.
Foes will now spend twice as long hunting down players as before, while also increasing their detection range. They will also spot unwary players running around outside, even when out of compass range, which necessitates greater subtlety of movement. The mod was designed to rob players of a sense of safety, keeping them on high alert.
P.L.U.N.D.E.R. – Survival Combat Overhaul
• Download the mod HERE
This mod is designed for survivalists who want a decent challenge, as well as those who like many of Fallout 4’s best immersion mods. It overhauls everything from fire-based weapons, which can make for dangerous and deadly environmental hazards, to hitboxes and their respective damage quotients.
Even loot is affected, with enemy NPCs carrying realistic items like lighters and stimulants, and factories containing useful resources for settlement building. Realism is a major goal with P.L.U.N.D.E.R., making it a one-stop solution for many of the game’s less balanced and nonsensical creative decisions.
Better Locational Damage And Optional Gameplay Overhauls
• Download the mod HERE
This particular combat mod focuses almost exclusively on locational damage, and how it is distributed based on enemy type. It overhauls the combat mechanics in a big way, starting with headshots, which can now be countered with appropriate helmets. The strength of headshots is also determined by the weapon, and how it relates to the target.
It also introduces bleeding mechanics, which can be fatal depending on the severity of wounds, finishing moves with bare hands, knives, and rifles, better blocking, and limb dismemberment when using bladed weapons. All the modules are designed to make combat feel grittier, more realistic, and with more penalties for rash decisions.
Live Dismemberment
• Download the mod HERE
Players who enjoy a good dose of blood and gore will appreciate what Live Dismemberment brings to the table. As the name suggests, it overhauls the hit mechanics on various NPCs to allow for the dismemberment of limbs, which can lead to all sorts of useful, albeit grotesque effects.
The mod’s mutilation factor can be customized for realism, or excess, depending on player preference. There are seven levels of carnage that can be selected, which means either brutal realism, Hellraiser-style horror, or something uncomfortably in between.