How Do You Install Dark Souls 3 Mods

We Deserve the Best Version of Dark Souls III

For an epic game like Dark Souls III, it’d be an absolute dream if we could relish every moment of this masterpiece with the best possible visuals, customization and control.

Thankfully with a few tweaks we can re-immerse ourselves unto this world in a fresh, new way.

Before You Proceed with Mods

First thing to remember is that modding is not supported by the developers. Installing and using Dark Souls 3 mods may result in a ban if you try to play online, which is what we want to avoid.

Most mods for Dark Souls 3 are focused more on improving its aesthetic than adding new content.

Be aware, though, that simply adding or replacing a file can get you banned in Dark Souls 3. It breaks the user agreement that all players need to agree to in order to play.

So if you want to play online it’s safer to not risk installing mods. Otherwise… Keep reading!

DS3 Mod Engine

Available from Nexus Mods, this Mod Engine was designed to make modding Dark Souls 3 safe and supports any mod that makes file edits. With this engine, all you need to do is to make a folder, add the modded files to it and modify an .ini file so that the game recognizes the contents of the mod directory.

However, this Mod Engine is for the latest Steam version of Dark Souls 3 and older versions are not supported. For people with limited modding knowledge, this is the user-friendly way to install Dark Souls 3 mods without needing to make lots of file changes just to make them compatible with the game.

Most Popular Mods

The most popular Dark Souls 3 mods have all been very simple ones to enhance the game instead of adding silly weapons or characters. For example, the Cinematic FX Lexar’s adds new visuals to give the game a new feel with some stronger colors. There are various mods that do similar things to the graphics in the game to give it a much nicer feel to the default bland visuals of the vanilla version.

Of course, there are plenty of Mule Mods to give players essentially everything in the game to play with from the start. For most of these Dark Souls 3 Mule Mods, all bosses and NPCs should still be alive while all quests should be uncompleted too. This is so that you get to play through the whole game with every item essentially. The Extreme MegaMule mod is a good one for this as it’s also compatible with all the DLC for Dark Souls 3.

There are also others such as the First Person Cam mod that lets you play in the first person perspective and even tools that let you make backups of your saves. The Dark Souls 3 Save Game Backup Tool is very handy for that so that you don’t need to get frustrated or lose anything thanks to a corrupted save.

Playing the Way We Want

There are plenty of Dark Souls 3 mods to explore, enhancing our gaming experiences of Dark Souls 3 and perhaps even give it a new perspective on the game, regardless how serious or ridiculous the mods can get. The safest ones can be found on Nexus Mods. Just remember to avoid playing online!

Modding in Dark Souls 3 is not supported by the developer which means there’s no inbuilt systems for modding. This means you need to download an external program so you can actually install and use mods.

Warning: Because modding is not supported by the developer, installing mods can result in a ban if you try to play the game online. It would stop you from playing with others online.

Dark Souls 3 Mod Engine (https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/332)

The Mod Engine is the program you need to download from Nexus Mods to start installing mods to use. This software is an Injection DLL Library that makes it much easier to install mods so there are less mistakes, less confusion and helps remove the risk of a ban.

It’s designed to be compatible with the latest official Steam version of Dark Souls 3. Trying to use it with older versions or “cracked” versions of the game are not currently supported so there’s a chance this program won’t work. If you have an older version of the game, you need to get all the updates first.

Installing a Mod

Installing the Mod Engine:

1. Visit the Nexus Mods page: https://www.nexusmods.com/darksouls3/mods/332
2. Select “Manual Download”
3. Copy the “dinput8.dll” and “modengine.ini” files to your DARK SOULS III\Game Directory folder

Installing the Mod:

1. Download and extract or copy the files for the mod you want to install to a new directory folder.
2. Make sure all the downloaded files are in the right place! Most mods come with their own readme and/or instructions on Nexus Mods, so use those to make sure they’re all in the right place.
3. Open the modengine.ini and change the “modOverrideDirectory” parameter in the mod folder you just installed. You want to change it to  “\[Directory Name]” for whatever mod you want activated.
4. Launch the game now, and you’ll see that it fails to connect to the internet.
5. Go to your settings, set the game to start in offline mode instead.
6. That’s it! Enjoy your modded game!

If you want to change mods, then follow these steps again and change the modOverride Directory parameter so it looks at a different folder instead.

Uninstalling the Mod Engine:

1. You can simply delete or rename the “dinput.dll” file.

If you’re looking to install mods that aren’t file-based and require a dll injection instead, the Mod Engine won’t be able to install it. The DS3 Mod Engine currently doesn’t support these kind of mods, including the DS3 Boss Rush mod.

Don’t change the other parameters too much in the modOverrideDirectory because one of them blocks your internet access to avoid you getting banned!

The Importance of Saving

Make sure you always have a backup save before starting to mod the game! That goes without saying, no?

While having mods gives us an as-new experience playing Dark Souls 3, some of us still want to play as legitly as possible. This mean no cheating on the amount of souls your account has! So where do you get huge bunches of souls? Hint: hunting the Stray Demon and fighting the Fire Demon. Two possible places to earn a pile of souls? You betcha!