The team from Bioware has been on a roll regarding all things Dragon Age. Last summer the developers showed off behind the scenes footage as well as some concept art for the upcoming game. Then, on the unofficial Dragon Age day (December 4th), the fans got a number of short stories featuring both old and new characters alike. And, finally, the team has participated in TGA 2020 with the official teaser trailer for the next game in the Dragon Age series narrated by one and only Varric Tethras. That means a new playthrough of the Inquisition to catch up on the lore and dive right into that Thedas goodness – I don’t make the rules!
However, with DA:I being released in 2014, there are some rough edges that might need to be smoothed a bit for an especially pleasant playthrough. If you are someone new to the series or want to refresh just how dreadful a certain Wolf is, check out the list below!
Please check out the installation guides provided in the mods’ description on the Nexus.
Visual Enhancements:
Enhanced Character Creation
Have you ever spent an embarrassing amount of time creating your Inquisitor with that dusky green background only for them to glance at the Breach – and lead you to groan at how the colors turned out? Then you will be pleased to know that it is one of the things addressed in Enhanced Character Creator! This mod completely overhauls the character creator to allow for greater customization and functionality. Every single race and gender has been overhauled by the creators.
Female Complexions
This mod adds various complexions to be used for female Inquisitors. The complexions used in the mod are Calpernia, Morrigan, Sera and Yennefer. Each complexion replaces complexion 3.
Male Complexions
Similar to the previous mod, this one adds complexions for male Inquisitors. Replace complexion 5 for human, elf and dwarf, and complexion 1 for qunari.
SK Hair Pack
I love Bioware to bits, but real talk here: we need some better hair and eyebrow options than what the vanilla DAI and MEA offer. SK Hair Pack tackles just that, adding assorted hairstyles for the Inquisitor.
Consider browsing Dragon Age: Inquisition Nexus for more hairstyles-oriented mods, there is a great number of them. Special mention goes out to Hairstyle Day DAI & Misc Hairstyles for Frosty.
SK Hair Re-Texture
This mod re-textures most hairstyles and beards/mustaches. Contains two versions; Realistic and Smooth. Includes 4k version and is Trespasser compatible.
S.O.S. Brows on Fleek
Similar to previous mods addressing hairstyles, this mod adds a collection of 2k and 4k eyebrows for Elves, Humans and Dwarves.
Another shoutout goes to Eyebrows 4 Women.
Inquisition Vallaslin Changes
Here is a mod for the lovers of the elven folk – or Solavellan shippers.
Immersive Starting Armors
If you are sick of the green jumpsuit you start the game in, this mod is just for you! It adds different starting armor appearances for all races and classes.
Consider browsing the Nexus by the companions’ names to see a large selection of mods that enhance or revamp their appearance like this Cassandra mod.
Gameplay Changes & Fixes:
War Table – No Waiting
A must-have mod for a quick and smooth playthrough, this mod sets the required time for the War Table missions to zero with every mission being completed immediately after activating. That allows you to clean up map quests in a quick and efficient way, sending out exactly the Advisor you want to deal with the problem at hand! No more “Eh, Leliana is busy, I guess Cullen could do it instead”, the forces of Inquisition are fast, resourceful and ready for your command.
More Inquisition Levels
In their infinite wisdom, the devs from Bioware have originally limited the Inquisition’s max level to 20. If you play more than just the main story, you reach this point quite fast and it doesn’t feel good to be limited by a cap. Thankfully, this mod allows you to level your Inquisition to 30 and receive a total of 34 perk points (vs. the original 19).
Quicker Looting
During your time adventuring in Thedas, you will have quite a few opportunities to loot chests, enemies’ bodies, the grotesque remains of enemies’ bodies, ore, flowers and more. This mod disables the looting animation that has the Inquisitor bend down and shuffles their arms about, speeding up the entire process.
Increase Inventory Capacity
Let’s face it, with quicker looting from the previous mod, you’re likely to quickly fill your inventory to the brim… Or not if you increase its overall capacity with this mod!
Armor – No Class Restrictions Remade
This mod removes all class restrictions from looted and crafted armors in the base game and DLCs.
General:
More Banter
Let’s face it, you most likely bring the characters you vibe with the best while out in the Hinterlands or the Hissing Wastes and hope for them to have a fun chat here or there. The reality, however, can be disappointing, leading to stretched out periods of silence juiced up with an additional war cry let out in the middle of combat. Enter the More Banter mod that guarantees that you hear banter about every 15 minutes. By default, the game has some sort of counter running in the background that activates somewhere between 10 – 20 minutes. When this happens, the game will either play banter (if available) or do nothing. By telling the game to ignore the random ‘yes or no’ chance of the counter, the mod forces banter to play no matter what (unless you’re in a loading screen, in which case the banter should play afterward).
Dialogue Wheel Overhaul
This mod completely changes the way the dialogue wheel works to make it more transparent, coherent, and functional, marking all dialogue options with mood tones like in Dragon Age 2 or Mass Effect: Andromeda and introducing a myriad of fixes.