So since I’ve gotten a few questions regarding Mass Effect mods when I’ve brought them up recently, I thought it’d be fun to list some of the real standout ME2 mods I’ve found or have been otherwise using for my latest playthrough:
(all of which can be found on Nexus Mods)
Casual Hubs by rondeeno, Alt Squad Casuals by RepugnantPear and No Headgear for Squadmates by stasismind (talking about all here as they pair extremely well together)
This is a pretty fun immersion mod that allows Shepard to wear their Casual outfits on the various Hub worlds/levels (Omega, the Citadel, etc.), as well as adding ‘Casual’ outfits for the squad members who otherwise spend all their time in armor (Garrus, Mordin, etc).
On top of this, the Alt Squad Casuals mod adds even more Casual outfit options for the squad, such as unique, custom outfits for Mordin and Grunt, swapping Miranda’s catsuit for a standard Cerberus Officer’s uniform as well as making her AAP alt outfit her default combat attire, having Jacob wear standard Cerberus fatigues, giving Jack a standard prison outfit in her recruitment mission and making her AAP alt outfit her default look.
Finally, No Headgear for Squadmates lets you tweak the head/face gear of certain squadmates, namely the various AAP alt outfits. Stuff like being able to remove Jack’s and Thane’s sunglasses or the holo-visors that Miranda and Grunt get. Basically this is the mod you want if you like Jack’s or Thane’s AAP outfit but would prefer to still see their eyes.
Combat Evade Maneuvers and Melee Remade (both) by Tajfun403
Again, these are two different mods, but I VERY much recommend getting them together as combined they create the same effect: Bringing Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer combat into ME2.
The former is fairly straightforward in that it adds the Biotic Dash and Combat Roll for characters, but this still makes getting around SO much more fun :D
The Melee Remade mod on the other hand is actually quite expansive. Instead of just adding the standard Omni-Blade and Biotic Punch melee attacks from standard ME3, it also adds a number of melee WEAPONS like the Krogan Warhammer and Asari katana huntress-blade. Which are all collected in a whole new ‘Melee’ Weapon category you can swap between just like any of your other weapons.
Also, both these mods have options to make these available to squadmates and ENEMIES.
After doing an ME2 playthrough with these mods, I honestly cannot tell you just how much more FUN they made combat XD
DLC Timings by Marcus22Khaar
If like many, you’ve ever been rather annoyed at just how early the clearly-meant-for-post-game DLC missions are given to the player, this is the mod for you.
By default, it prevents you from getting the email that unlocks Lair of the Shadow Broker until you complete Liara’s two sidequests on Ilium. It also has options for tweaking when the Overlord missions become available; either after Horizon, after you complete the Firewalker missions or simply as soon as you get the Hammerhead.
And perhaps best of all, it also provides options for delaying acquiring the Arrival DLC mission until after doing the Collector Base, or after doing the Collector Base and Lair of the Shadow Broker. Basically you can make it so Hackett doesn’t call until you’ve done all the other major story content, like I think we can all agree it SHOULD have been.
Early Recruitment by beccatoria
This is one I hadn’t used before this playthrough and after using it I honestly cannot imagine not using it on every playthrough from now on. I really can’t recommend this one enough.
As the title implies, this mod allows all of the later squadmates to be recruited in the early game. Specifically by having almost all of the normal recruitment missions be available as soon as you get the Normandy at the end of the prologue. With admittedly one small caveat of Tali’s recruitment not unlocking until you’ve done two other recruitment missions (the author’s logic being that you need to give Tali some time to finish her mission).
And while there are some additional fun bits like Tuchanka also being unlocked from the start so you can go talk to Wrex even before getting Mordin’s or Grunt’s loyalty missions, by far the COOLEST addition is an option for LEGION to be recruited at the Normandy crash site. Basically a new scene has been added right when Shepard is about to return to the SR2 where they are suddenly approached by Legion, who in turn is either shot by Shepard via a Renegade prompt or simply collapses and powers down due to previous damage. Which in turn leads into a tweaked version of the normal scenes surrounding Legion’s reactivation, sans any references to dead Reapers or Collector IFFs.
Hell, this can actually FIX some of the infamously problematic issues surrounding the Collectors kidnapping the Normandy crew after getting the Reaper IFF. In that having Legion already activated when you do the dead Reaper mission means that their loyalty mission unlocks immediately afterwards. Meaning that if you’ve already done all the other loyalty missions beforehand, you AREN’T immediately forced into the Collector Kidnapping event.
Expanded Shepard Armory by Marcus22Khaar
This mod adds a number of additional armors and casual outfits for Shepard, and notably adds ‘helmetless’ variants of all the full-body armors (Terminus armor, Blood Dragon armor, Collector armor, etc) as chest-pieces that can be used on their own.
Also, the mod adds a neat immersive tweak to the Prologue of the game wherein Shepard’s starting armor after waking up on the Lazerus Station is a Cerberus Ajax armor rather than their default N7 armor. Which I quite like for flavoring, ie; Shepard is stuck with a standard Cerberus armor for the prologue before they get their N7 armor back with the new Normandy.
Extended Galaxy Map by Marcus22Khaar
This one is pretty simple in that it adds all of the Mass Effect 1, and possibly Mass Effect 3, systems to the galaxy-map, along with tweaked planet-descriptions to fit with the Mass Effect 2 timeframe. In terms of strict-gameplay, all this actually adds is a whole bunch of planets to probe resources from, but it can be pretty fun for immersion. As well as enabling another mod I’ll be mentioning in a little bit.
Also, this mod has a neat option that actually starts you in the Horsehead Nebula (where the Cerberus Minuteman station is actually located) when you first get the Normandy SR2, rather than railroading you to the Sahrabarik system where Omega is. Definitely something that pairs well with the Early Recruitment mod if you really want to go wild with your early game.
Immersive Citizens by Daxvapik
Unfortunately not to be confused with the utterly MASSIVE LE1 and LE3 Diversification Project mods, this mod simply makes the various hub worlds more densely populated with NPCs. It’s pretty much all set-dressing but personally I like it for more immersion.
Interactive Intai’sei Apartment by Marcus22Khaar
Pretty much exactly what it sounds like. This brings/upgrades Shepard’s Intai’sei Apartment from ME1’s Pinnacle Station DLC into Mass Effect 2. There’s a number of new features/points of interaction here (including being able to watch the preview for the Blasto movie lol) and also the ability to invite your romance partner to hang out. Notably this mod does require the previously mentioned Extended Galaxy mod in order to access the Phoenix system.
And also, perhaps unsurprisingly, requires you to have played the Pinnacle Station mod in ME1 lol
No Shared Power Cooldowns DropTheSquid
Pretty just as it sounds. This gives all your powers individual cooldowns timers like in Mass Effect 1, rather than the shared timer of ME2. It also extends this to squadmates and ENEMIES as well.
You can probably guess just how fucking WILD this can make Mass Effect 2’s combat XD
Needless to say, combined with the previously mentioned Combat Evade and Melee Remade mods, I really can’t picture myself NOT playing Mass Effect 2 again without this mod :D
Optional Flirting by phoenixsoul13
A very welcome quality of life option that tweaks dialogue options and even which voice-lines get used in some circumstances to give the player MUCH more control over when Shepard actually tries flirting with people. Namely, all ‘Romance’ dialogue options have been moved to the left side of the dialogue wheel to make things a lot more clear.
Also, FemShep’s standard ‘personal question’ voiceline for Jacob has been swapped out for one that isn’t so inexplicably flirty.
Now you can comfortably talk to all your squadmates professionally and platonically in peace.
Same Gender Romances by rondeeno/More Gay Options by Mentlegen3218
These are the two main WLW/MLM mods for ME2. The former allows for Tali and Thane to be romanced by Female and Male Shepard respectively, while More Gay Options allows for Miranda or Jack to be romanced by FemShep and even has an ME3 version to carry over that romance.
Notably, even if you don’t plan on romancing Tali, Thane, Miranda or Jack (such as if you’re doing a FemShiara run like I always do), I would actually still recommend the Same Gender Romances mod as it tweaks a number of smaller details that essentially lets the game recognize the preferences of a WLW FemShep or MLM MaleShep. Such as Gianna also smooching FemShep, the Batarian merc at Afterlife also hitting on MaleShep (diversity win?) and the various advertisements you can listen to on the Citadel being tweaked.
Zaeed’s Wholesome Revenge be RepugnantPear
A rather simple mod that nonetheless removes what I think we can all agree was a rather conspicuously arbitrary bit of ‘game logic’ from Zaeed’s Loyalty mission: Now if you can get through the ‘Save the Workers’ path fast enough, you can beat Vido to his escape gunship to make sure Zaeed gets his revenge. The mod even adds a nice timer.
