Also known as Medieval Knight Simulator 1403, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is Warhorse Studios’ attempt at creating a hyper-realistic simulation of a young man’s trials & tribulations in medieval Europe.
For the most part, the game succeeds at presenting an open-world representation of medieval Europe. Complete with 15th-century clothing, weapons, and NPCs that really feel authentic.
That said, there’s always room for improvement. And there’s no way modders would leave such an expansive open-world untouched.
If you’re interested in the modding community and what they have in store for Henry, let me guide you through the best mods to download for Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
First up we have a Quality of Life-enhancing mod that’s sure to streamline a lot of your stealth-based gameplay… by making thievery just a tad easier.
This Lockpicking Overhaul by user Fireundubh will instantly unlock any lock. Provided your skill level surpasses the locks… if not, you’ll play the usual minigame we all love.
Also by Fireundubh comes Better Trainers, a mod that makes your apprenticeship experience more profitable by removing level requirements from skill-training.
This gives you freedom in building your character, but can also be exploited to make Henry overpowered at very early levels. This can effectively remove all challenge from his adventure.
To counteract this you could install the “balanced” version of the mod, which significantly increases skill-training costs while it removes level requirements. This way you’ll still have a lot of freedom to develop your character, but won’t necessarily be able to abuse it.
Check the files section for downloads of all 3 versions.
In vanilla KCD, weapons and armor need to be repaired surprisingly often.
I understand pursuing realism. But it often feels as if they’re made of tin and recycled materials!
Uchiwaobito brings us a solution in the form of Durable Armors and Weapons, which simply allows your equipment to take more of a beating before needing a touch-up at your local smithy.
There are several versions available, ranging from making your equipment 1.5 times as durable to 100 times. It’s up to you!
As is the case with most large-scale RPGs, there are many mods dedicated to making KCD as minimal and stylish as possible. All in an attempt to keep you immersed.
This mod by Anarchia subtly diminishes the size of elements in your HUD, including the compass, health bar, and scope dot.
It also recolors a couple things such as the combat reticle, which is no longer that hideous vanilla red and yellow.
The changes are so small you may not even notice at first. But it does look more tasteful. Definitely enough that you won’t want to turn back.
There’s no way in vanilla KCD to switch the camera to a third-person view.
But there’s no need to give up just yet!
Fuse00’s Third-Person Camera Mode lets you switch between vanilla first-person and third-person with the touch of a button. It even works during combat sequences, though you may find it somewhat harder to fight this way.
The only drawback is that controlling Henry in third-person is similar to riding a horse. Which is a bit unnatural and may break your immersion.
That said, it’s easy to get used to. So give it a shot and see how it plays, even if it feels weird at first.
Skulking around in the shadows playing KCD is considerably less stylish than in more fantastical games.
After all, thieves in the Middle Ages were more likely to wear rags than expensive black silk robes. You know, like those you’d see in Elder Scrolls.
Realism is all fine and good. But that doesn’t mean you have to settle if you want to play master of stealth.
This mod by modder LampiestLamp adds a wide array of tasteful jet-black armor pieces, made by recoloring some other KCD equipment. To keep the game’s style intact.
Once installed, you’ll find these sets of rogue armor being sold at your local tailor. Though you may have to wait until they put out new stock.
23. More Artwork Loading Screens More Artwork Loading Screens
Worry not, modder M4770 brings you 23 new ones to keep your loading experience fresh.
And don’t worry, it’s not full of amateurish screenshots or questionable fan art. This features real concept art and related illustrations from the KCD website & other official sources.
Waiting while the game loads is annoying. But when you can admire the beautiful scenery and interesting characters, it’s not half as bad.
For many people, the less intrusive the HUD, the better.
Others (like me) like their arrow shots to land.
Created by modder Fawwks, this simple mod keeps the aiming reticle in the middle of the screen whenever you’re aiming a bow, helping you make sure you’re aiming at your target’s head rather than anything else.
I admit that having a reticle is a reminder that you’re playing a game rather than… you know, murdering somebody in cold blood. But if it’s easier to aim, you don’t think about it that much.
Another similar mod that trades immersion for QOL is No Helmet Vision by JustAnOrdinaryGuy.
As you know, wearing protective helmets in base game has a massive drawback.
They severely limit your vision, letting you see directly in front of you and not much else. It’s realistic, but it also makes wearing helmets really annoying.
This mod removes helmet vision altogether so you can protect your vulnerable head without sacrificing visibility.
Some in the community may call you a casual, but everyone has fun their own way.
Imagine traveling anywhere in the Middle Ages during times of political unrest and looming war on the horizon.
Probably not the most enjoyable experience. Where there’s strife, there are also bandits.
This mod by Eramus endeavors to make traversing Bohemia more realistic and spontaneous by increasing the chance for random events to trigger while traveling.
This may simply mean a minor inconvenience, or turn into an all-out battle for survival against a gang of lawbreakers.
But if that’s not enough for you, don’t worry. There’s also a “hard” version for those of you with a deathwish.
Beards have been helping men around the world appear more competent ever since the dawn of time. The Middle Ages were no different.
Now our beloved protagonist Henry can access the wonders of facial hair thanks to Feynnman’s Henry Grows a Beard, which gives the wandering warrior a manly shrub he can be proud of.
Not only that, but said beard is very well made.
It matches his hair color exactly and looks quite realistic.
Among the most immersive advances are realistic blood splatters. It makes you feel as if your attack is having a noticeable effect.
And this mod by Ddefinder brings all of this to the world of KCD.
As you fight, blood will splatter on floors, walls, basically everywhere, all dynamically.
My favorite feature that sets this blood mod apart from others is how the crimson liquid only splatters whenever your hits bypass armor – that is, whenever you deal health damage rather than just diminish stamina.
Henry can be seen wearing hooded scarves in the game’s early trailers. But the feature was ultimately scrapped for reasons I can’t quite fathom.
With this mod by Ctobias you’ll be able to cover your head with scarves and hoods all day long.
Not only that, but they’ll go back down whenever you equip a helmet. The realism is a nice touch.
A total of 37 hoods and 7 scarves are affected by the change, so there’s no excuse for getting caught in the rain. And it’s a whole lot easier keeping your identity to yourself with a discreet hood.
Developer Warhorse Studios focused on realism over all else while making Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
For that very reason, freedom in building your character is a bit limited.
Creator Xylozi sought to bring some more variety to the game’s skill system, introducing new perks for the Bow, Polearm, and Unarmed trees (previously overlooked by the game’s devs).
And if you’ve already started the game with the traditional perk catalog, don’t worry. You can craft a Lethian Waters Potion to reset your perk points and re-assign them without having to start over.
Few character tropes command as much respect as the ubiquitous Black Knight.
It’s present in almost every modern medieval fantasy story, as well as many classic tales of chivalry.
The evil sorcerer (read: modder) Malcroix has anointed you Black Knight of… well, who knows?
The point is you now have a flashy black armor set with golden accents that’ll make you look like an apparition sent by dark powers to torment the peasants.
It includes two different helmets for some added customization, and also a mighty black sword with the inscription “Terminus Est” on the blade. It doesn’t get more badass than that.
What kind of legendary knight rides around on an unprotected steed?
Named after one of gaming’s most infamous DLCs, Horse Armor by AJStoner adds three protective sets of armor for your equine friend. All great-looking and period-accurate.
My favorite part about this realistic armor is the fact it covers the horse’s legs, which were the part your enemies would have been targeting to incapacitate your steed and dismount you.
What good is making battles so much bigger when you rarely ever enter combat?
Well, it’s a bit too much to say that you rarely enter combat in KCD.
The roads in Bohemia are pretty dangerous, after all. But when you’re trying to quench your murderous thirst, it’s never enough.
This simple mod by Silencer711 makes traveling Bohemia even riskier.
Whenever you fast travel, walk, or ride your horse from one settlement to the next, you’re almost 100% sure to run into bandits at least once. You’ll have to keep an eye out and a hand on your sword at all times.
Gathering herbs is a crucial aspect of staying healthy in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. They’re the ingredients that you’ll use to concoct many tinctures and potions.
Regrettably, Warhorse Studios’ interest in realism led them to make these herbs as hard-to-find as they would be in real life.
In fact, they could even be harder to find than going into your backyard to pick some!
With this mod by creator Lucas182, all herbs will be much brighter than anything around them, making it somewhat easier to collect ingredients for your alchemy.
Considering they’re still somewhat hard to see, I’d say the game remains just as immersive. So there’s no reason not to skip this one, it’s just a bit of a helping hand.
As you progress through Kingdom Come: Deliverance you’ll gain many fantastic steeds that put your initial horse to shame in all regards.
That said, many of us created an emotional bond with the noble Pebbles. And it’s a shame to leave your companion behind just because he isn’t as fast or brave as other horses.
This mod by Moraelin solves the issue by super-charging Pebbles, making them as fast as Pegasus and as hard to scare as Kanthaka.
While it’s true that this makes Pebbles gallop like a super-car, and is for all intents and purposes a cheat, it only truly impacts your travel speed.
Don’t feel like you’re cheesing the game just because you have a nice horse!
We’ve covered so many cool mods already, you’re probably ready to download several of them. And please do because these mods are awesome!
But to help you keep track of your add-ons, I’d recommend getting Joew’s KCD Mod Manager.
This nifty tool will make the KCD modding experience a much easier affair, letting you install, enable/disable, uninstall, and set mod priority according to whatever works best.
It makes no sense to handle things manually when such an efficient alternative is just one click away.
We can’t list the best mods in a modern open-world game without talking about graphics.
And one of the best options for KCD is the Optimized Graphics Preset.
Created initially by modder OVNI and currently maintained by NexusMods user Figo283, this preset gets rid of minor but resource-consuming details like grass sway, and puts that processing power where it matters.
Another excellent option that goes great with Optimized Graphics Presets is the Perfection ReShade by ChungK1ing. This applies some subtle graphical tweaks to make the game more photorealistic and overall eye-candy.
Some things you might notice in this ReShade are increased contrast, vivid colors, ambient light adjustments, and an overall cinematic look that makes everything much more epic.
If you love taking striking screenshots in-game, there’s also a version that lets you turn Depth of Field on or off with the touch of a button.
Vanilla KCD treats spears, halberds, and polearms as a secondary situational weapon.
So it doesn’t let you store them, or develop your halberd-wielding skills. Boo!
This mod by AJStoner corrects all that, making the Halberd skill visible and enabling you to both acquire & repair polearms at blacksmiths.
You’ll also be able to store them.
This change also makes them a much more common sight in NPC hands. So to make sure this doesn’t break your game, they’ve also been rebalanced to resemble standard weapons.
For those of you looking for a hard-as-nails medieval experience comes Blood and Iron by creator AJStoner, a mod that promises to turn Bohemia into the most vicious place in Europe.
Get this if you’ve already cleared the game at least once. Survival in Blood and Iron will put your skills to the test.
For example, arrows are now deadlier, enemies will pursue you longer, and combat has been rebalanced in favor of heavily-armored warriors (which won’t be you until much later into the campaign).
This mod is not for the faint of heart.
But if you’re itching for a greater challenge, you won’t be disappointed.
And here we thought vanilla KCD was already realistic to a fault.
Aimed at giving you a renewed, stupidly lifelike experience, the Ultimate Realism Overhaul rebalances almost every aspect of the game.
This will make it considerably more challenging, but also more immersive.
Among its best features are a better nourishment system, a reworked economy, and more tactical combat. This last bit is achieved by making weapons feel unique in battle, performing better in some situations than in others, as well as adding more nuanced armor stats.
What makes me recommend this mod above all others is how it feels very cohesive and well-planned out.
If you’re looking for a genuinely different gaming experience, this is it.
Nelson Chitty is a Venezuelan expat living in Argentina. He’s a writer and translator passionate about history and foreign cultures. His ideal weekend is spent between leisurely playing games of Civilization VI and looking for the next seinen anime to marathon.
