Fallout 4 allows you to take on an American life after nuclear fallout, but instead of rescuing people, forming settlements, putting the Minutemen back together and finding your son, why not customize the experience to suit your needs? There are thousands of mods available for Bethesda's title and many of them share similar qualities to Skyrim counterparts.

We rounded up some of the best to get you started.

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Another Life

Similar to how Alternative Life works in Skyrim, with this mod installed you regain control of your destiny .. or rather how it begins. You will be able to select from 36 different occupations, each dictating starting gear, faction relations, and more.

Armor and Weapon Keywords Community Resource (AWKCR)

Aside from the horrifically long name, this incredible mod allows for other mods to work some magic with a standardized framework for armor and weapons. Not only that but crafting menus, color and decals and slot usage are all affected, to help prevent conflicts. If you wish to add some more stuff for your character to use, you need this mod.

Armorsmith Extended

After installing AWKCR, you'll want to pick up Armorsmith Extended. This is a huge mod that does a bunch of things. It can allow for shirts and other wearables to be worn under armor — because who wears plated armor on the skin? — and even make it possible to wear bandannas and other accessories while rocking a helmet.

Other cool features include the ability to rename clothing and craft more item types.

Venturing out into the wasteland with only the companions Bethesda deems acceptable isn't much fun. There are a number of beasts that would make interesting followers, which is exactly what Beast Master unlocks. You will now be able to take a freaking Brahmin with you. Who doesn't want a friendly two-headed cow to take down some mutants?

Craftable Ammo

You can now craft ammo. Here's to never again running out of rounds mid-fight.

Darker Nights

Just like Skyrim, the nights in Fallout 4 are way too bright for my liking. And just like Skyrim, you can install a wonderful mod called Darker Nights, which — unsurprisingly — makes the nights darker. You have a choice of just how dark you wish the nights to become too for some flexibility.

DEF_UI

This mod not only allows for the customization of the HUD (health, XP, V.A.T and other elements) but also the inventory and storage screens. It achieves something similar to that of Sky UI in Skyrim, making it much easier to manage everything, especially with a keyboard and mouse.

Full Dialogue Interface

This mod allows you to see exactly what your character is going to say in response to NPCs. When in a conversation in Fallout 4, it can prove frustrating to realize that your character's voice lines differ from selections on the dialog wheel. This is what Full Dialogue Interface addresses.

You will now be able to immerse yourself, knowing exactly what you're getting into.

Homemaker

Homemaker (also known as Expanded Settlements) is a mod for settlement Gods. Ideal for the creative mind, this mod allows for the creation of larger buildings with ease, not to mention new build sets for unique styling of settlements and a massive amount of objects that can be placed at secured locations. If you're a fan of the settlement system, you need this mod.

Improved Map with Visible Roads

The in-game map is handy to get around, but it doesn't show roads, which are far more important in the early game and on harder difficulty settings. Improved Map with Visible Roads does exactly what the name implies. It improves the map and adds roads across the board so you know where the nearest winding route of concrete is located.

More Where That Came From

The radio makes for more pleasant long journeys and adventures. With More Where That Came From installed, you'll want to rely on fast travel less in order to enjoy the 111 lore-friendly tracks added to the list of songs available for playback. This mod, in particular, adds all the tracks to the Diamon Radio station.

True Storms

True Storms is an exceptional mod, by the same modder who made the similarly named mod for Skyrim. This mod adds new weather patterns, sounds, visual effects, and other configurable details that give the wasteland some variability when venturing out the front gate.

Unlimited Settlement Objects

This one removes the maximum number of objects that can be placed in any one settlement. Enough said.

Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch

Bethesda games need some fixing, even after official patches have been released by the company. The same authors of the unofficial Oblivion and Skyrim patches return with the Fallout 4 patch. Hundreds of gameplay, quest, NPC, object, text, and placement bugs and issues are addressed in the mod.

It's safe to use and shouldn't break the game unless you have a ton of mods, where incompatibility may exist.

Worthy mention

The Fallout 4 Script Extender (F4SE) deserves a callout in our list, even though it's not technically available through Nexus. This handy tool allows for the installation and running of more powerful mods that can take advantage of even deeper hooks into Fallout 4.

Agree with our list? Have some favorites of your own? Sound off in the comments.

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Ready to reinstall Fallout 4 and experience a whole new quest line with a bunch of new companions? Project Valkyrie re-tools much of the end game and gives you a whole new storyline to work through.

In order to use Project Valkyrie, you need to have the Outcasts & Remnants mod to be installed first. The Fusion City mod is recommended, but not required. Your character also needs to be able to pick master locks or you can't complete the quests.

Because the mod quests intersect heavily with the main vanilla quests, there's possibility for conflicts to arise. If you run into a problem where a quest isn't finishing properly, talk to one of the new companions and pick the option to end or restart the current quest.

Besides the new quests and companions, Project Valkyrie significantly alters how the end games plays out. You no longer have to pick one specific faction to work with, and you aren't railroaded into help that faction annihilate the others.

Starting Project Valkyrie

This mod's primary quest line is tied closely to the vanilla game's Secret Of Cabot House side quest, which has to be started first to gain access to the new Project Valkyrie content.

If you've already completed this quest and can freely enter the Parsons State Insane Asylum, just head straight there to find Valkyrie. Talking to her begins the In A Darkened Room quest.

If you haven't started or completed the Cabot content yet, first travel to Cabot House, which is found north of Goodneighor and west of the Old North Church.

The door is locked and can't be picked, so talk to intercom on the left side. If you have the proper Charisma skills, you can persuade them to let you in.

If you fail the persuasion attempt, instead find the ghoul named Edward first and he'll tell you to meet him at Cabot House. He can spawn randomly at Bunker Hill, the Third Rail bar, or Dugout Inn.

Kick off this weird immortality-themed quest by accepting the job to track down a dead courier and pick up his serum. After the battle with the raiders, bring the serum back to start the Emogene Takes A Lover quest.

When Edward takes you upstairs, hack the computer on the back wall near the second staircase and read the entry labeled Patient Log S18. This entry updates the main Project Valkyrie quest In A Darkened Room.

Before you can actually get into the Asylum to meet Valkyrie, you need to have Jack unlock the doors. Keep completing tasks for Edward until you finally reach the Secret Of Cabot House quest. During that quest, Jack will unlock the Asylum.

Once inside, make sure to help Jack unlock the doors and activate the elevator, or you can get permanently stuck in the basement with no way to leave after finding Valkyrie. The only way to leave the building at that point is to use console commands to warp to a new location.

In A Darkened Room

For this first quest of Project Valkyrie, travel to the Parsons State Insane Asylum at the northeast end of the map.

Valkyrie herself is found in a locked room in the basement (you have to travel through the gap between walls and jump down the giant hole to reach this area).

Access Nurse Deesil's terminal to unlock the door, and then leave the Asylum. Note that have to actually walk by the front door to the Asylum to trigger the end of the quest, so just warping out isn't immediately helpful unless you walk back.

Be sure to talk to Valkyrie to get a dose of super charged Serum (and to give her some clothes and a weapon)!

Malpractice

Talk to Valkyrie again and ask how you can help to kick off the Malpractice quest, which will have you traveling to different medical centers in search of answers.

Travel to the Medford Memorial Center, which is directly next to the Malden Center station and southwest of Greentop Nursery. This area is filled with suicide bombing super mutants, so you'll want to wear your power armor. Pick the master locked door and head up to the top section to access the terminal and find out about Valkyrie's abduction.

Next, travel to Kendall Hospital (north of the Institute and east of Cambridge Police Station). Be ready for raiders and deathclaws! In the basement, look for a terminal behind a giant hole in the wall and read the notes.

Finally, go to Mass Bay Medical (southeast of Vault 114 and Swan's Pond). Head up towards the top of the area and look for a back room with a terminal located above the power armor station. Read through those files to find out how Valkyrie was kidnapped.

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Heir To The Throne

Anytime after reading the final terminal in the previous quest, talk to Valkyrie again and ask for another job to start this quest line.

Head to Back Street Apparel and look for the blue door labeled Valkyrie's Apartment (right next to Club Snuggle). Pick the novice lock and head inside to raid the apartment, which has work benches, a power armor station, and can now serve as your home.

Grab the Note From Vanessa on the dresser chest in the bedroom and then talk to Valkyrie again. Travel to the USAF Satellite Station (southeast of Robotics Disposal Ground).

Be on the lookout for laser tripwires in here! Talk to the H.A.L.L.Y robot to get the Liberty Prime overwrite codes and then grab the shipping receipt off the dead body. Talk to Valkyrie again to complete the quest.

From this point onward, Valkyrie will offer repeatable side quests if you initiate dialog.

Wag The Dog

This quest intersects with the Brother Of Steel end game state and sees you taking over control of the faction. Its best to start this quest after completing the vanilla Show No Mercy quest so Liberty Prime is already re-assembled.

With the Liberty Prime override codes in hand, travel to the B.O.G. Bunker south of Oberland Station and chat up Fiona McBride in the lounge area of the sub-level.

Talk to the kid named Owen in the next room and take him to the safe house marked on your map (and for the love of God, don't give that child a mini-gun when he asks for one). Talk to Owen's mom -- who it turns out is none other than Sarah Lyons -- and then fight off the Brotherhood invaders.

Read the info on the terminal and talk to Sarah again, then follow the map markers to kill the Brotherhood members. Read the note labeled Orders From Kells and then show it to Owen's mom.
Deal with the Brotherhood ambush situation, and then press the glowing red button above the toilet to open a secret back room. Read the terminal and then chat with Maxson.

From there, its up to you whether to go the peaceful or violent route with Sarah. Follow her around and talk to Captain Kells and then Proctor Quinlan. Chat with Fiona again to finish the quest.

At this point you can now talk to Fiona to initiate the Peace Through Superior Firepower side quest.. which has you recruiting Liberty Prime as a companion.

Yes, the insane Democracy-spreading robot Liberty Prime is now your companion. Have fun annihilating the wasteland! Obviously he can't enter buildings however, so he'll hang around outside when you enter an interior area.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

For the final main quest of Project Valkyrie, talk to Sarah again and then go chat with Carter at Club Snuggle next to Valkyrie's apartment.

This quest has you taking control of the Institute, so its best to start before fully completing the main Institute quest lines of the vanilla game.

Fast travel to Hubris Comics and follow the map markers to get the teleporter gun components, then take them back to Carter Beckett. Walk to the pinup room in the basement of Club Snuggle and talk to Dr. Zimmer, then return to Carter again.

Go inside the Institute and load the holotape into the terminal in Dr. Ayo's room. With the teleporter gun equipped, initiate conversation with Clayton Holdren and decide whether to kill him or teleport him elsewhere. Repeat this process with Isaac Karlin and Alana Secord, then go back and talk to Carter again.

Now just follow the quest markers to talk to Sawyer, Sarah, Desdemona, and Preston to take control of the Institute (if you really hate Preston Garvey, be sure to teleport him to prison). From here on out you can use the Director's room as your home base.

After completing the main quests, repeatable side quests become available by talking to Sarah, Valkyrie, and Owen, and by opening the terminals in each area of the Institute.

You can also now recruit the following new companions:

• Synth Nate in the SRB Lounge of the Institute
• Synth Gloria at the firing range in the Advanced Systems room of the Institute
• Synth Nora in the steam shower section of the Director's room

Looking for more Fallout full conversion mods that offer extended stories and new ways to play? Check out our full run down of best Fallout mods here!