Now that this has been out for a year or so, I assume that there's a number of must-have addons for the game. I still want to try and get through it at some point (although I've also been saying that about Bloodborne for over a year now), so I was curious what the top of the charts are for addons. At this point I'm pretty sure I'm just going to knock it down to easy and coast through the combat, since I still don't find it comfortable or intuitive after playing all three games, but if there's any quality-of-life stuff I should be looking for, let me know. Thanks!

Are we talking mods here? I really have never touched mods for this game and love it. They did a great job just updating it over time. The updates that came out of the new DLC for the UI and menus is beautiful and really work so much better. I have seen some minor tweaks as far as mods out there but most stuff was just like inventory and fast travel from anywhere, which I never had problems with. This was never a Bethesda game that had a mod focus for me.

I managed to start a new game ( after holding it off as well ) and finish Blood Borne within a week, Rory. You can do it too. ;)

The new patch that just came out did a lot for usability with the interface. Otherwise, the game is in a much better state than the first 2 were and doesn't really need much. You should be fine to just jump right in. Especially on easy.

If we're talking mods, then I can't help you. CD Projekt has released a bunch of free DLC for this game, so you might as well download them. The only paid add ons were Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine which have been reviewed very well.

Can I hijack this thread for just a moment to ask another question: I bought this game and its season pass back when it first came out, played it fairly obsessively until Arkham Knight came out and that plus several other games had me drift far enough away from the game I realized I may as well just wait for all the content to be released and then play it as a full package. But having started a new game and getting near the griffin fight, I'm struggling to remember if all the free add-ons don't become unlocked until you're ready to leave White Orchard or if I've missed something unlocking them.

I know that I had the armor sets and hair styles they released with the game, for example, but don't remember figuring out how to update other characters' costumes once they were released or f I did anything special to activate that armor and hair or if they just became available once the "tutorial" was over.

@nodima: The hair you have to buy at a barber. The armor you have to find/purchase also. Everything else should unlock right away. Alt character costumes are settings on/off toggles in the options.

These are the two mods I've used:

• All Quest Objectives On Map - All of your active quest locations are shown on the map at the same time which is very useful for deciding where to go and what to do. You can also track quests right from the map without having to move over to the quest log.
• Disable Intro and Storybook Videos - I found the videos irritating, and they were often longer than the actual load times (especially with an SSD). No videos means you're not waiting longer than is necessary, and you don't have to hammer the 'Skip" button during the videos anymore.

Thanks! This is what I was referring to; mods for the game. I know there's stuff that will let you pick up all items in a range around you, and I think there's one that automatically applies oils based on who you're fighting, which sounds handy. Honestly I found all of the oil/alchemy stuff to be far more of a chore than I wanted to deal with when I was playing this, so anything that lets you just get in and out of fight without taking a nap before every one would be handy.

Some of the mods I would recommend for a re-playthrough:

1. Fast Travel From Anywhere

2. Always get full EXP

3. Starting Kaer Morhen Armor and Weapons Scales/Levels With You

4. More Activatable Skill Slots and Mutagens

5. Over 9000 Weight Mod

6. Debug Console Enabler

7. No Dirty Lens Effect

Also in your gameplay settings - make sure to turn ON Alternative Movement Response, OFF Fisheye Witcher vision effect, and OFF automatic finishers.

Fast travel from anywhere breaks quests progression, or so I heard.

Yeah it can break a quest if you fast travel DURING a quest when you aren't supposed to (and skip a cutscene). I just use it whenever I am not in a quest and don't want to use Roach to travel too far.

Over 9000 Weight Mod is indeed a godsend. No worrying about ever being encumbered.

@castermhief117: Thanks for the list, I'll give some of these a shot!

@rorie: Some of the UI mods I'd have considered near essential have been rendered useless by the improvements in the latest patch so those are out. I started the game again last week with only the full xp mod but some of my favourites from my first 130 hours include:

Script Merger - Very useful in case of conflicts

Always Full XP - So that low lvl missions in the late game are actually worth doing

Slots Slots SLOTS - A bit clunky but allows you to run with lots more abilities

No More Rolling Down Stairs - Don't know if the new patch fixes this but, trust me, this is damn near essential for me

Jump In Shallow Water - Does exactly what it says on the tin but you'll need to follow the link in the top comment to get the version which works with the latest patch

How did I not know this mod existed?

@sgtsphynx: Yeah, it's one of those 'This isn't already in the game?' mods. Another one is Face Them, which means old Gerry actually looks at people as he's interacting with them outside cutscenes. Don't know if it's compatible with the latest version though - The last update broke quite a few mods and not all have been updated.

Friendly HUD lets you modify the HUD to your liking, add 3D objective markers in world so you don't have to constantly check your map/minimap, and meditate without menus.

I recommend starting with the second easiest difficulty, because there are quite a few difficulty spikes with some encounters. That way you can get used to a slightly more difficult combat and you can knock the difficulty level down another notch for those difficult encounters.

@dudeglove: I want to be the one choosing to do it. ;)

The game has been fine since release, all the DLC is free except for the 2 expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. Hearts of Stone is a new really good unnerving quest chain that also reworks the north-east section of the world with new settlements, mobs, and characters while Blood and Wine has an entire new continent and story within it. Both are worth it. Can't really talk about mods other than Immersive Cam, adds a fully customizable camera, adds Immersive Motion (finer control over how Geralt controlls) and adds Slo mo combat settings. I can't play without it. Other than that I added some face textures to Geralt to make him look more like the Witcher he should be. Base game Geralt looks like a normal dude with white hair and weird eyes. This is how he should look: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CkYL1LwWsAQO3hy.jpg

That weight mod was a must for me. I hated the inventory management in that game. Also, I would turn the free DLC on but I wouldn't really seek it out unless you run out of content. The free DLC quests are pretty uninspired compared to the normal quests in that game.

If you think its a chore applying oils just dont do it, its never requiered and even though it gives you a slight damagebuff its neglectable and its there only for players that wanna roleplay. I dont see a point for an addon which applies it automaticly.

Skellige’s Most Wanted was a fantastic quest. One of my favorites. Really played with the basic ideas of the game and Witchers in a fun way.

@rorie: I'll second @dgtltys suggestion, Friendly HUD. It creates 3D markers for your quests (can be activated in several ways), gives you real time meditation, deep control over the UI and many other things. It even has an in-game options menu! One of my favorite features is making the minimap only appear when I use Geralts Witcher senses. The less screen clutter, the better.

It's been updated for Blood and Wine as well.

It's very important on the higher difficulties (a 50% damage buff is pretty huge), but if you're going to play on easy anyway I doubt there's any reason to worry about it.