Mass Effect: Andromeda was... not quite up to the standard of the original trilogy of sci-fi RPGs from BioWare. While it wasn't a completely awful game by any means, there was a clear drop off from the adventures of Commander Shephard and his band of attractive and hilarious squadmates.
There were definitely parts about the game that could have been improved but where the developers and publisher EA dropped the ball, the fans were happy to pick it up in the form of mod support for the PC version. Here are 10 mods for Mass Effect: Andromeda that make the game much more playable.
Updated July 2nd, 2020 by Meg Pelliccio: Mass Effect: Andromeda was a real let down for fans, but many are hoping that the franchise will come back swinging with a new installment eventually. After all, its sibling franchise Dragon Age managed to recover from Dragon Age 2, so Mass Effect still has time to save itself.
Mass Effect: Andromeda continues to be a sore-spot for long time fans and anyone else that happened to play it, but that doesn't mean it's not worth playing. The game still offers an interesting new chapter to the Mass Effect franchise and with many player-made mods out there, the game can easily be made much better. Check out some of these mods that make the game a little more playable than it was previously.
15 More Skill Points Per Level
The rather handy More Skill Points Per Level mod does exactly what it says and offers players more skill points than usual every time they level up. Additionally, skill points are applied retroactively, so you'll still benefit from this mod even if you've leveled up quite a bit already, meaning you may find yourself with many skill points all at once.
This mod has a variety of options for players, so players can change how many points they receive per level and decide how easy they want to make it on themselves.
14 Quick Loot
The Quick Loot mod removes the "item pick up" window and instead all of the dropped items are automatically placed into the player's inventory, with the obtained items being shown on the screen as they drop. This will definitely speed up your playthrough somewhat.
The mod offers two different options, allowing players to choose if they want this to work only on containers (such as hidden caches, custom containers, etc), only on corpses (including wild animals), or everything all in one.
13 Tempest Superstore
If you're looking to go on a shopping spree, the Tempest Superstore mod ensures that the Tempest Kiosk stocks all materials, augmentations, weapon mods, nomad upgrades, and paint jobs, as well as consumables and more.
Additionally, the mod makes sure that there's plenty in supply, but if you really need more then a quick save and reload will replenish the stock. The only downside to this mod is that you have to update it every time you unlock a new weapon rank.
12 Better Loot
The perfect addition to pair with the previous Tempest Superstore mod is the Better Loot mod, which ensures that bar a few exceptions, all enemies and containers drop plenty of credits. The exceptions to this mod are Architects, hidden caches, and any containers that have a scripted inventory.
This mod will have you rolling in credits in no time, and ensure you can buy just about everything you need to make the game a nice, easy playthrough with a lot less grinding.
11 MEA Fixpack
It's no secret that Mass Effect: Andromeda was riddled with bugs on release, but players may be surprised to find that many issues haven't yet been fixed by BioWare. Fortunately, the MEA Fixpack mod can solve quite a number of bugs left within the base game.
This particular mod fixes a whole myriad of problems, ranging from quests such as "Running a Fever" now being completable, preventing conversations from getting stuck on repeat, or doors getting stuck, as well as many other irritating little issues.
10 Romance Knows No Limits
Technically you could play the entire Mass Effect series without romancing a single person. but why in the world would you want that! Some of the best moments in this franchise are achieved from becoming, ahem, intimate with your partners in battle. Unfortunately, there are some squadmates who are only romanceable via a male or female protagonist.
That's where this mod from user Atherisz comes in. With this mod, your character is not only able to romance any of your squadmates who have a romance path, but you can also have multiple romances going on at the same time.
9 SAM Audio Limited
Following the common trope of video game "helpers" who are more trouble than they're worth, your artificial intelligence this epic is SAM. While he is important to the story and can provide you with some useful tips, there are also times where SAM will tell you things that are blatantly obvious which you don't need to be pointed out. Yes I know I will die if I don't get in the Nomad quickly SAM, but I really need this assault rifle so get off my back!
Thankfully, there's a mod from user watafuzz which cuts out a lot of SAM's unnecessary comments about radiation, temperature, and life support levels which are already visible on-screen. The game already gives you enough information, we don't need redundant info from our A.I as well.
8 Squad Is Actually Useful
A core problem that players had in this Mass Effect title was that your squad just couldn't hold a candle to your former teammates back in the Milky Way galaxy with Commander Shephard. Names like Liam, Vetra, and Jaal can't compete with the likes of Garrus, Tali, and Liara. This applies from a gameplay perspective as well as a narrative one. While modders can't do much on a narrative level, they can help in the gameplay department.
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With this mod from user Forkinator, your squadmates are much more powerful and balanced according to their characters than they are in the main game. With these changes, the Krogan known as Drack is a melee powerhouse as most Krogan and Cora hits like an Asari Commando trained human would hit. Now you won't have to babysit your squadmates and can focus on having fun.
7 A Better Nomad
One of the few things that Andromeda improved on from the original trilogy was its primary vehicle: the Nomad. Compared to the original series' Mako and Hammerhead vehicles, this thing was leaps and bounds superior. However, it wasn't a perfect vehicle as there were still some things which could be improved. The good thing for players is that one modder agreed and decided to do something about it.
With this mod from user Watafuzz, some tweaks are made to the game's six-wheel powerhouse engine. For one, the damage inflicted on enemies via running them over scales with your level ensuring that crushing them with the Nomad is always effective. Also, the vehicle's top speed, mobility, and jump boosters all get an upgrade ensuring that this thing can go anywhere at any time.
6 Make Materials Easy To Buy/Sell
With all the shops and merchants you have to visit in RPGs, it's always a nice addition when a modder comes in and simplifies all this micromanaging and traveling for the player. For this, we have to bless our conquering hero user tabbed.
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In this mod, all crafting materials are now available on your main spaceship the Tempest. This cuts a bunch of time that you would otherwise have to spend going to different planets to get the materials you want to make that special suit of armor you had your eyes on. Not only that, but the materials are all in quantities of 100 000. Good luck clearing through all that in one playthrough.
5 Increased Inventory Size
Show of hands, who likes having to manage their inventory in any game they ever played? While we can't see you, we're going to assume not a single person raised a hand. If only there was a way to have unlimited inventory space and not have to worry about any of that again...
Oh wait, thanks to user Coockoo, we actually don't have to with this game on PC. With this mod, the item inventory limit is spiked up to 99 999. With this mod, you effectively become Hermione Granger in the final Harry Potter movie with that magical bag that holds everything you ever needed. Oh, by the way, a Harry Potter/Mass Effect crossover? Somebody make it so.
4 Reduced Evade Cooldown
Sometimes it's the little things that make gameplay that much more enjoyable. Who would have guessed that a simple button press that makes you jolt in any direction could have added so much to the firefights in Mass Effect? Thankfully the developers did and in Andromeda, you can press the evade button which moves your character via jetpack or biotic abilities in a quick burst. But what if you wanted to do it... all the time?
There's a mod from user watafuzz that allows you to do just that. This mod takes away the cooldown time from performing an evade which lets you do to your heart's content. If an enemy manages to finish you off now, then you just gotta admit that you're not good at the game my friend.
3 Hyper Mobility (Sprint Jump Extra)
Elsewhere in this article, we talk of a mod that brings your squadmates' power levels more up to scale with your own characters. On the other side of the spectrum if you wanted a mod that just makes you totally outclass your squad in terms of mobility even further, here we go.
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The Hyper Mobility mod from User Deltatype7 improved on another mod by user Wavebend to bring us something which effectively turns your character into even more of a superhero than they already were. With this, your character's sprint speed is increased (especially useful in hub worlds), and your jump height is increased. Speaking of superheroes, you might find another mod that makes you feel like a certain Avenger elsewhere on the list.
2 Iron Man Mod
Some fans have taken to calling the latest game released by BioWare Anthem to really be an Iron Man simulator. While we can definitely see how that is the case, it's worth noting that courtesy of this mod, Mass Effect Andromeda can easily turn into an Iron Man simulator of its own.
While the creator Wavebend has renamed it from Iron Man mod to simply "Flying Mod", we're sure most would rather call it by its former name. With this installed, you can take to the skies with a couple of button presses and fly around the map as your heart desires. Sure your squad may be wondering why they can't do that but screw it. You're now a billionaire, playboy, genius, and philanthropist. They are not.
1 Tempest Cinematic Shortened
While the Tempest is a beautiful ship, we really don't need to admire for what feels like forever when playing Mass Effect: Andromeda. The landing and departure cutscenes for this spacecraft take far too long for seemingly no reason in the base game. But with one mod, you can cut the time spent staring at your screen by a good 20 seconds.
User Forkinator has got us covered here. Compared to other mods on this list this doesn't seem like much but hey, we'll take shorter repetitive cutscenes over longer ones every time.