#sassbinders

Armor mods:  note that a lot of these require using console commands to actually get the armor you want.  For that I use Make Console Commands Visible, as a lot of the armor codes are long and I want to be able to see my typos.

Practical Female Dalish Armor:  the Dalish outfit their hunters in bikini tops, which is bullshit; this armor covers the chest, belly, and legs, and its appearance is pretty lore-friendly too.  No console commands required.

No Helmet Hack:  removes the appearance of helmets (or those really silly mage hoods) from characters.  Truly a godsend.  I cannot remember what it’s like to play without this.  No console commands; it creates an interactable object in your inventory that you can use to toggle helmets on and off.

Grey Wardens of Fereldan:  Warden armor for all relevant parties!  Make sure to install both ‘Core Mod’ and ‘Main File’ or several NPCs will show up barefoot/armors will make your arms disappear.  On a new save, you’ll get the appropriate armor when you complete the Joining, but I recommend also installing Warden Armor Chest, which will give you a full set of every tier of armor available in your party camp.  It’s easier, and the gear is higher-level.  Console command “runscript givewardenarmors” also works - at least, I’m pretty sure that’s from this mod.

RL’s Witcher Emporium:  Fashion ported from the Witcher games.  I use ‘Legacy of the Witcher’ for Zevran; console command is “runscript rl_witcher_legacy”

RL’s Fashion Bazaar:  A whoooole bunch  more armor sets.  I can’t find the exact file, but there’s a variation of ‘Armor of Dark Wind’ with a skirt that I use for Morrigan (see here).  It might be packaged with the ‘replacement armor textures’ file?  Either way:  console code is ‘runscript rls_dark_wind’.

Kirkwall Exports:  Several armors from DA2.  I’m pretty sure, though it isn’t pictured, that this is where I got Wynne’s fluffy-trimmed robe from; if so, it’s “runscript robe1″!

Loincloth Fashion:  The huge DA2 port, armor and weapons.  I like the Black Fox Armor for Leliana (runscript get_rip_1b) and used this set for my human noble archer, before he got his Warden gear.  LCF is notable for having some casual-ish outfits, too.

Morrigan Sacred Ashes Trailer Robes:  I installed this after I got rid of her starting gear, so I’ve never seen it in action, but still.  Replaces Morrigan’s kinda-fanservicey outfit with something more pragmatic, but still aesthetically appropriate.

Apostate Clothing:  Some casual outfits from DA2.  You get all three with “runscript zz_givemageclothing”.  Sometimes your Warden needs to wear a snuggly sweater, you know?

Neutral Female Armor:  Gets rid of boobplate in basic game gear.

Gameplay Mods:

Personal Annoyance Remover:  Gets rid of the animations applied by some effects, which will follow you into cutscenes and muck up your screenshots.  I haven’t played with this extensively, but... thank the Maker it exists.

MerAnne’s Camp Storage:  In both DA2 and DAI, you will have access to a storage chest, where you can drop stuff you aren’t ready to sell yet and get more inventory space back.  DAO doesn’t have this, so someone modded it in, and it is really, really useful - especially because one of the backpack additions is at Ostagar, and if you miss it, boom!  it’s gone forever.

Skip Fight:  Adds an item to your inventory that you can use to kill all hostiles around you.  Very useful if you’re replaying for story and don’t care about combat (or if you’re playing for the first time for story and don’t care about combat).  Sometimes there’s a little delay before it takes effect - just mash the button again.  It’ll work.  It... also works on the boss fight, which I found out kind of by accident.

Skip the Fade:  NOT RECOMMENDED UNTIL SECOND PLAYTHROUGH. Everyone’s gotta suffer through the Fade once.  It’s a long, tedious dungeon though, and most people don’t want to do it twice  hence this mod.  Works like a charm, saved me something like 3+ hours.

Extra Animations/Romance Mods:

Leliana Romance Scenes:  My actual favorite DAO mod, because I love Leliana and now my Warden can kiss or hug her anywhere.  Also adds romantic walk, drinking wine together, and a couple of different optional ‘intimate’ sequences.  If you romance Leliana, this is a must.

Sleep Until Dawn:  Snuggle up with your love interest, your dog, or by yourself, and then wander around camp in pretty dawn lighting.

Zevran Romance Scenes:  Similar to LRS, but for Zevran!  I’ve never used this, but it’s made by the same person, so I’m guessing it works pretty well.

ZDF Dialog Fix:  Apparently overhauls a looot of glitchy dialog.  I have this downloaded, but have never installed it because I need to double-check that it won’t interfere with LRS at the end of the game.  It’s spoken of highly, though.

Equal Love:  Removes gender restrictions from romances (Alistair and Morrigan) and casual flirtations with NPCs.  Note that if you do romance Alistair with a male Warden or Morrigan with a female Warden, you will not be able to carry that information to Inquisition.  Inquisition worldstate import uses Dragon Age Keep, which will reject either your Warden’s gender or your love interest if you try to put this information in.  Also:  both of these love interests will misgender the Warden in talking to them or about them in party banter.

Alistair romance mods:  There are so many.  That link just goes to DahliaLynn’s profile, because she’s uploaded four of them.  There are more on the Nexus, though.  Lots.

Morrigan Restoration Patch:  Fixes scenes and dialog that’s supposed to be triggered with Morrigan, but isn’t.  This is another one I haven’t used because I’m worried about potential conflicts with LRS, but thought was worth mentioning.

Character Creation Mods:  Not relevant once you’re playing, but for potential replays... there are so many.  Unlike Inquisition, you don’t have to worry about mods that add things conflicting with each other; you can have as many hairstyles as you want!  However, you do need CharGenMorph Compiler to merge them together without conflicts.

Hair:  Anto Hairstyles, Look Hair: Frippery Edition, Hairstyle Day, More Hairstyles, Tucked Hair, Look Hair  (from what I can tell the mod creator is re-releasing updated/remastered hairstyles from the original Look Hair bundle one at a time, along with some new ones.)

Special  mention:  Black Hair Is Black, which can affect in-progress games and is so worth it.

Face:  Bidelles Cosmetics, Eyebrow Presets, Bandit Emporium

All:  Pineappletree’s Vibrant Colors, which has been fairly criticized for adding a looooot of new Caucasian skintones but not many for any other potential ethnicity.  Nonetheless, it’s required for a lot of other mods, so it’s a good one to have around.

Dragonagemods also has an Origins mod rec list, if that’s not overwhelming enough!