Add Mods to Dragon Age: Inquisition
Edited by Kathy McGraw, VC, MaryVivian, Maria Quinney and 5 others
Although the Frostbite engine, the game engine upon which Dragon Age: Inquisition is built, is notoriously hard to mod, modders have figured out how to change some things, bringing a new level of customization to the game. To add mods to Dragon Age: Inquisition, all you need is the DA-I Mod Manager and the game.
- 1 Caution
- 2 Backing Up Your Saves
- 3 Modding Tools for Dragon Age: Inquisition
- 4 Downloading and Installing the DA-I Mod Manager
- 5 Setting Up the DA-I Mod Manager
- 6 Where to find mods
- 7 What kind of mods are there?
- 8 Hair Mods
- 9 Complexion Mods
- 10 Clothing mods
- 11 Armor mods
- 12 Companion mods
- 13 Tattoos
- 14 Weapons
- 15 Reshade Presets
- 16 User Interface Mods
- 17 Game play change mods
- 18 Downloading and Installing a mod
- 19 Workaround for Black Emporium
- 20 Questions and Answers
- 20.1 Need help with downloading Dai mods and mod manager?
- 20.2 Mods don't show up no matter where the folder is, the only thing there is the patch note?
- 20.3 Mod Manager keeps closing when I try to open it. Every time I launch it from DAIToolsSuite, it just acts like it's opening then closes?
- 20.4 Steps after I Disable then re-enable complexion mods?
- 20.5 What do you use to open the DAIToolsSuite_Loader.exe file?
- 20.6 I can't find the dragon age inquisition executable?
- 20.7 How can I make it to launch because its not launching?
- 21 Comments
Caution
Modding Dragon Age: Inquisition is still a very experimental process. Mods can and do break saves, making it impossible for you to continue playing without starting over. Additionally, some mods don't play nice with expansions to the original game. For instance, mods do not work at all for entering the Descent DLC.
What's my point? If you're going to mod your game, please back up your saves to an earlier time before you added mods; that way, if a mod breaks your game, you can just remove it and pick up the game from where you left off.
Backing Up Your Saves
- 1
- 2Open the BioWare folder
- 3
- 4
- 5Click somewhere on your desktop and either left-click and Paste or hit Ctrl+v to copy the folder and its contents to your desktop.
Modding Tools for Dragon Age: Inquisition
The only tool you need to add mods to the game is the DA-I Mod Manager. You can also download it directly from its page on the the Dragon Age: Inquisition Nexus.
Downloading and Installing the DA-I Mod Manager
- 1
- 2Click download manually and then OK to download the file to your hard drive.
- 3
- 4.I suggest keeping it in a folder rather than just extracting it directly to your hard drive; it creates its own files, and it's best to keep them all together in one location.
Setting Up the DA-I Mod Manager
- 1
- 2
- 3This is where you will put your DA-I-mod files. It can be anywhere on your computer, so long as you know where it is.Make a new folder and rename it something like DA-I Mods, or whatever you want to call it.
- 4
- 5
Where to find mods
For the most part, the majority of Dragon Age: Inquisition mods are located on the Nexus, but individual modders also may upload some of their mods to Tumblr. Another good place to find mods is on this forum, which is run by the creators of the Mod Manager.
What kind of mods are there?
Although the Frostbite Engine has limited what modders can do with the game, there are still a variety of mods available. You can change things such as your character's hair style, unequipped outfit, lovingly referred to pajamas, formal outfit, and much more.
Hair Mods
Hair mods are ubiquitous. Your Inquisitor can have everything from a short undercut style to long, flowing tresses that flow down his or her back. Well, the hair may not exactly *flow*, but you get the picture. One issue to be aware of with hair mods is that they won't show up in-game unless you use ultra-mesh settings, and they won't appear in the Black Emporium, which is the free DLC that lets you customize your character after you've already created him or her.
Complexion Mods
Complexion mods add different face textures for your Inquisitor to the game. From super-smooth skin to that imperfectly perfect look we all strive for, your Inquisitor can have more freckles, and moles, or be blemish-free. Like hair mods, complexion mods cause issues with the Black Emporium, but instead of just not showing up, complexion mods cause the Black Emporium to crash when you click on the mirror. I'll tell you about a workaround for this problem later.
Clothing mods
Clothing mods mostly change your Inquisitor's unequipped outfit and formal wear. Recently, modders were able to add some clothing to the single-player game from the multiplayer game.
Armor mods
There aren't too many armor mods, at least not in the way they exist for Skyrim. Most armor mods remove class restrictions, that is, they make it so a warrior can equip light armor and a mage can equip heavy armor.
Companion mods
Companion mods change the appearance of your companions and advisors. For instance, I have a mod for Dorian that changes his hairstyle, gives him a tattoo, and changes the colors of his clothes and armor.
Tattoos
Tattoo mods replace the tattoos in character creation with others that you may like more. Be aware that custom tattoos, like complexion mods, cause the Black Emporium to crash upon entering character customization.
Weapons
Weapon mods do everything from a simple retexture to changing the stats, availability, and removing class restrictions.
Reshade Presets
Reshade presets change the lighting in-game with post-processing effects. You don't use the Mod Manager to install them; instead, you simply drag and drop the files into your game folder. Reshade mods can be taxing on your computer and may make your game run slow if your computer can't handle them.
User Interface Mods
User Interface or UI mods are mods that affect how the game's menus and heads-up-display (HUD) work.
Game play change mods
Game play change mods do just what the name implies: they change something about how you play the game. They run the gamut from removing the level cap to cheat things that give you more experience per level.
Downloading and Installing a mod
For this section of the guide, we're going to be installing the Combat Unleashed mod from the Nexus.
- 1Click on the Files tab to bring up the files available for download.
- 2
- 3I always save my files directly to my desktop because it's easier for me to find them.Choose a destination for your file and click Save.
- 4I'm going to put it on my desktop.Right-click on the file you just downloaded and extract its contents to somewhere you can easily find them.
- 5
- 6Double-Click on DAI-Tools.exe to run the Launcher
- 7Select (64-Bits) Mod Manager v 1.0 from the left side of the launcher window and hit the Launch button in the right upper corner.
- 8
Workaround for Black Emporium
Remember how I said that hair mods don't show up in the Black Emporium and complexion mods make it crash? Well, here's how you can get around that particular problem:
All hair mods replace a vanilla hairstyle, which we refer to as the "base hair."
- 1Visit the DAI Beard, Hair, and Horn Compendium to find the base hair for the particular hairstyle you want to change your character into.
- 2In the Black Emporium, pick that base hair; when you leave the Black Emporium, your character will be sporting the modded hairstyle.
The workaround for complexion mods is a little more complicated than the one for hair mods. Here's what you do:
- 1Launch the DAI-Mod Manager like you're going to install a new mod
- 2
- 3Run the mod manager
- 4Navigate to your Dragon Age:Inquisition game folder and find the Update folder inside.
- 5
- 6It should not overwrite anything because you've changed the name.Move that folder back into the Update folder.
- 7When you want to change your character's looks, use the patch without the face textures, then switch it with the one that includes them, renaming before your switch.Run the Mod Manager again and re-merge your mods, including your face textures.
- 8The mod page should list which complexion number it replaces.Keep track of the complexion number of the complexion your mods replace so that you can pick it in the Black Emporium.
Questions and Answers
Need help with downloading Dai mods and mod manager?
I can only download DAIToolsSuite_Loader 1.0. I won't let me download anything else. I did get DAIToolsSuite_Loader.exe but an unhandled exception has occurred and won't let me proceed. It says value can't be null. Parameter name: input is null.
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Mods don't show up no matter where the folder is, the only thing there is the patch note?
No matter where I put the mods folder I have my mods in, it doesn't show up on the mod manager, and it doesn't merge. I'm growing frustrated but don't know what to do. I get all the steps done, everything put into the right boxes but the only "mod" there is the patch. Do I need to remove it, install it? . I feel like I'm following the instructions to the T, everything looks right, but it never loads in. Do I need to move the location of DAI? When it's loaded in the article, it shows mods in the box on the left of the launcher. But no matter what I do, no mods show up in that box, rather than the Official Patch the loader comes with. I have tried: I've tried moving the folder to different locations, reinstalling the launcher three times, repairing the game through origin twice, looking for updates. I think it was caused by: I have no clue. I might be using the wrong Dragon Age Inq. shortcut?
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Mod Manager keeps closing when I try to open it. Every time I launch it from DAIToolsSuite, it just acts like it's opening then closes?
I was in DAIToolsSuite Loader v1.0.0.8 by Dawnless sky and then I launched (64 bits) Mod Managerv1.0 which acted like it was opening Mod Manager v0.59 alpha but then it just closed and didn't open? I tried to reinstall it but it did the same thing. Mod Manager doesn't actually open. It acts like it is going to open but doesn't load the application and just shows a white background then the application closes.
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Steps after I Disable then re-enable complexion mods?
I saw the various patch folders for complexion/non-complexion merges for BE purposes but what do you mean when you say switch back n forth between? Is there a way to load the game from the specific patch folder? I've got most of the mod thing figured out but I'm confused on how to get back in game after disabled/re-enabled complexion. And does it make a difference if you click "continue game" or "load last save" Sorry I think I just need exact steps after I re-merge complexions thank you so much. I'm just confused on the last part. Thank you so much for your time.
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What do you use to open the DAIToolsSuite_Loader.exe file?
Everything I've tried opening this file with just shows me plain text. It doesn't open up the tools suite. Is there a free app I can dowload on my PC to open this file with? It has no mention of HOW to open the file. It just says open it. I have tried: I have tried opening it through many different programs I already have and it is not working. I think it was caused by: I am obviously missing some program or something to be able to use this type of file in this way
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I can't find the dragon age inquisition executable?
I'm trying to follow the steps to install mods for Dragon age inquisition. I'm stuck
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How can I make it to launch because its not launching?
Hi there! I can not launch it I uninstall and reinstall it lots of time but noting works. It does not explain what to do if it refuses to launch even after reinstalling it like 10 times
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If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.
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Article Info
Categories : Dragon Age Inquisition
Recent edits by: NotTechyEnough, Braginski, zucchini