The world of Fallout 4 is a grueling one. From being chased by Deathclaws or getting mauled by ghouls, there's already quite a bit of challenge within the basic, vanilla version of the game itself. However, Bethesda didn't want to just stop there, which is why Survival difficulty is an official feature in Fallout 4. This difficulty turns the game into a full-on survival experience, with real stakes and no manual or autosave. Players can only save when sleeping. Moreover, the Sole Survivor will be subjected to thirst, hunger, and exhaustion.
While this difficulty alone is pretty good, there are a few mods that make it even better. However, Fallout 4 could use a bit more "survival" in its gameplay. Despite the Sole Survivor being a fish out of the water, things get easy very fast for them. Thankfully, new Fallout 4 survival mods that play into the game's survival aspect are still being made by the community. These mods, like many others for the game, enhance survival mode quite a bit and ensure that players are as desperate as can be when exploring the Commonwealth and trying their hardest to ensure that death doesn't creep up on them from out of nowhere.
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Updated May 3, 2024 by Ritwik Mitra: There's no denying that Survival mode in Fallout 4 i s a welcome inclusion that changes the way players interact with this game. It's a blast to engage with, and players must keep track of the stuff they're hoarding while eating, drinking, and sleeping at regular intervals. While the vanilla inclusion of this system in Fallout 4 is good, players will especially love the changes some mods bring to the table. These can make the gameplay feel more oriented towards the survival genre, being pretty hardcore and challenging. Keep in mind that most mods are broken courtesy of the next-gen patch, so remember to boot up an earlier version of Fallout 4 to enjoy most of these excellent tweaks.
1 Equipment and Crafting Overhaul (ECO) - Redux
Downloads: 404,407
- Creator: Dank Rafft
- Download Link
The crafting system in Fallout 4 is decent and gets the job done, but comes with its own restrictions to make things somewhat grounded in reality. While some players may appreciate this, some players have spent a lot of time in the game and want to put their materials to good use. These players could use a fresh change of pace that helps them tackle this aspect of the game in a meaningful manner.
Players who want to make Fallout 4 feel like a rewarding survival game can use this mod to enhance the suite of options at their disposal, while also ensuring that equipment is balanced and fair. Customizing each and every aspect of a player's armor is a blast, and some changes are groundbreaking.
2 True Perks
Downloads: 343,776
- Creator: WhiskyTangoFox
- Download Link
One of the biggest complaints about Fallout 4 was the simplistic nature of the perk system. Even a hardcore survival playthrough would be bogged down by meaningless perks that did nothing to ingratiate themselves in the eyes of most players. While most mods have tried to bring back skills in some capacity, this mod aims to try something different.
Instead of messing around with a new skill system, this mod makes every perk as unique and engaging as possible instead of performing simple, banal actions. It's a great way to enhance one's playthrough in survival mode, making the act of unlocking every perk extremely meaningful.
3 MAIM
Downloads: 286,182
- Creator: eclix
- Download Link
Most survival games make combat as punishing as possible, forcing players to either avoid this scenario altogether or make sure they're stocked up before taking on enemies. Regardless of how engaging Fallout 4's survival mode may be, most people agree that the easy nature of combat trivializes certain changes this game mode brings to the table.
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With the MAIM mod, every gunfight becomes a battle to remain as healthy as possible after a bloody battle. A single shot can be lethal for the Sole Survivor, making it important to stay behind cover at all times. The wound system means that players must bandage themselves up and treat severe injuries as soon as possible before breathing their last.
4 Feast And Famine
Downloads: 188,143
- Creator: WhiskyTangoFox
- Download Link
Most of the items in Fallout 4 are pretty basic and don't function how one would expect. In this instance, players would prefer to make these systems more realistic. Food being one of the game's underwhelming aspects. With the advent of this mod, food is obtained from more logical sources and can be used in a wealth of recipes. Now, players will like cooking food in the game, which is not usually praised in Fallout 4.
Given how players engage with this mechanic time and time again in survival games, it's easy to see why overhauling the food system is one of the best ways to make Fallout 4 feel more like a survival game than ever before. It's a must-have mod for survival gameplay fanatics.
5 Degrade And Salvage
Downloads: 99,485
- Creator: WhiskyTangoFox
- Download Link
There are plenty of great weapons in Fallout 4, and the ability to mod them is certainly appreciated. However, this system can become rather monotonous to deal with after a time, and players won't be faulted for wanting a change here.
With this mod, players interact with weapons in a meaningful manner by using appropriate crafting components. Players also need to maintain their modded weapon at regular intervals, which isn't as irritating as most people would assume.
6 South Of The Sea - Atoms Storm
Downloads: 539,409
- Creator: Baerthe, Cryptd**k, Carnagefiend, Wanaming0, HaplessAccreditation
- Download Link
The Glowing Sea is one of the most challenging locations to explore in Survival mode. Managing a player's radiation level is already annoying as is, and stacking up hunger, thirst, and sleep levels on top of this can make things pretty tough. So, any mod that enhances the area of the Glowing Sea is bound to enhance the exploration in this area and make it even more harrowing to trek through.
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South of the Sea is easily one of the most popular mods in this regard that players adore. Both the Glowing Sea and Quincy Marshes are improved with this mod, adding a wealth of new locations, loot, and enemy encounters. Suffice it to say, exploring these areas in Survival mode becomes even more harrowing, especially with this mod featuring some really difficult moments that can become downright nightmarish if things go out of control.
7 Bullet In The Chamber - Expanded Weapon Mechanics
Downloads: 113,544
- Creator: eclix, GELUXRUM
- Download Link
A huge part of the reason why players check out Survival mode is to enhance the immersion they experience while playing Fallout 4. Suffice it to say, any mod that makes things more immersive for the player would add to this experience considerably. This is where the Bullet in the Chamber mod comes into the picture, making gunplay more realistic and engaging than ever before.
The sheer number of features this mod brings to the table is great, letting players manually check their ammo count, drop their cartridges in the middle of reloading, have an extra bullet in the chamber if they reload with a partially full clip and other such inclusions. It may seem like a small change, but players who prioritize immersion in Survival mode will love the changes this mod brings to the table.
8 Feral Infestations
Downloads: 95,434
- Creator: FlashyJoer
- Download Link
Feral Ghouls are one of the more prominent enemies in the game whom players will encounter time and time again. The violent manner in which they throw themselves at the player and get in their faces makes them the best version of this classic enemy to ever appear in a Fallout game. They may be rather easy to deal with, but some mods make these enemies more challenging to deal with in an immersive and engaging manner.
Feral Infestations brings forth the infestation mechanic from State of Decay into Fallout 4. Players will be notified of certain infestations that will slowly grow over time if the Sole Survivor doesn't nip this problem in the bud. These can reach a total of three levels, with a maximum of six infestations being active at one time.
9 Survival Stats Widget
Downloads: 225,411
- Creator: Neanka
- Download Link
Some of the best mods are gigantic projects, total overhauls that rework entire games from the ground up, vastly expanding the vanilla experience or even transforming it entirely. Yet a mod doesn’t have to be large or overhaul core mechanics to be good; even tiny mods can sometimes be excellent.
Fallout 4 Mod Turns the Commonwealth into A Volcanic Wasteland
If there's one thing Fallout 4 is known for, it's the vast wasteland that players can explore, and this mod overhauls the visuals of the Commonwealth.
Survival Stats Widget is as small as it is impactful. It makes a small change to the HUD, adding meters that let the player track their Hunger, Sleep, and Caffeination at a glance. Since so many survival mods put a premium on being well-fed and well-rested, it’s nice to know right away how good one is doing in those areas.
10 N.E.S.T. Survival Bunkers
Downloads: 131,620
- Creator: sgtpectoralismajor
- Download Link
Fallout is all about survival in an irradiated wasteland: it’s even in the name. While the Vaults may be some of the most iconic places where people have survived the end of the world, they aren’t the only ones. N.E.S.T. Survival Bunkers introduces some welcome variety on that front.
Adding 30 bunkers, shelters, and holdouts to the game, this mod gives the player a variety of options, whether they’re looking for a new place to explore or just somewhere to bunk down for the night. The designs of these shelters are based on Cold War bunkers, so they feel realistic and fit in well with the rest of the setting. Just don’t expect them to always be safe.