THIS GUIDE APPLY ONLY TO A CLEAN INSTALL OF TW3(WITHOUT OTHER MODS IN CONFIG FOLDERS..etc)

First of all Install steam folder outside System x86 default folder

*A quick remind, you can use Vortex to install your mods, but you'll have a less stable game doin' it this way, so you need to do everything manually for a stable load out.

USUALLY EVERY MOD YOU UNZIP WILL HAVE "MOD", "DLC", "BIN" and etc folders when you unzip, you drag and drop these folders to the right folder path inside TW3 main folder with THE SAME NAME"

1° Now, go to TW3 game folder from launcher> Manage games> browse local files> content>content0 and remove this archive : "cn.w3strings"..
Now download and unzip this mod : 1.32 to 1.31 Patch. https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3374?tab=files.
You gonna drag and drop both "bin" & "content" folders in your tw3 root folder!

2° Now download and unzip this mod : Community Patch - Base https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3652 in The witcher 3 root folder.
[It makes steam version the same as GOG 1.31 version.]

3° Now download Mod Limit Adjuster & Ultimate ASI Loader [This allow you to install many mods without the game breaking ] (https://github.com/ThirteenAG/Ultimate-ASI-Loader/releases)get the dinput8.dll after unzip to the x64 inside TW3 folder..same folder where the TW3.exe is!
(then proceed to install this) https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3711

First of all i dont recommend installing conflicting mods, but if you do & the mod dont has a patch you need to make a merged patch and build a loadorder for this reason.(Consult the mods page & Script Merger. which will suit your needs, my guide i'll only write conflict less stuff ^~^ )
4°https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/484

P.S: DO NOT INSTALL 100 MODS AT ONCE AND THEN LAUNCH IT AGAIN, CREATE A DUMMY SAVE FILE, INSTALL 5/10 MODS TEST THE GAME, QUIT, REDO, TEST THE GAME REDO.

Now i'll end which in my mind these were the most important bugfixes for the game.
5°Brother in arms-(tons of bugfixs collection) https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5752
Spider-Fix (fixes that ******* black spiders; they're flagged as specters in base game) https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3827
6°Grammar of the path, well fixes the grammar in the game :) https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6105
7°Low XP fixes for quests.(Optional, but i think will enhance the run for a 2nd walkthrought) https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5664

Final notes of this section : Actually i use around 30 bugfixed, but then you need to script merge and etc, and it takes time, and some are really silly stuff and i use it for being a nitpicker, my goal in this guide is to help anyone who wants to play without being too much of a hassle for people with little time to download and get ready to go:)

This section will be the easiest to install in my opinion and the most important.

1° Tweaks https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2658; download second option where enables high/ultra/supreme/extreme(i'm using supreme, i recommend that, but ofc you can tweak for your own needs+rig) This mods enables proper loading of 4k and other retextures which vanilla game won't allow(i tested and simple using supreme/extreme without any mod enabled, vanilla game gets a lot better just with this, so the most important mod in the guide ^~^)

2° The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/1021 [9GB size]; I'm only using this as my main basic texture upscale, you can also use rfuzzo's mods to match with it https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4710?tab=files + https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4622, but personally i didnt saw a strong reason to use those.

3° White Orchard 4k overhaul (Optional) i'm using it https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5526
Below and example of new+Clouds+mods aboves used
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2881950597

4° Kaer Morhen - 4K Terrain (Optional) i'm using it https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5168

5° Beautiful Rocks Mod ( Strongly recommend it) https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2691
Browse mod page, choose the one you like, it's good quality work

6° HDMR - HD Monsters Reworked mod https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3580 (Essential, choose either 2k or 4k based on your vram+rig).

7° HDAR - HD Animals Reworked-BETA- https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5405 (If you want a Roach mod, i wont recommend this, but personally i like how Roach looks on this one and all the other animals... so i'm using it :) )
below an example of cow
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2882286197
8° HD Horse Accessories(Optional) https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5305 (Title is Self explanatory)

9° 4K Armor Textures https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4734 (Read the requirements in the mod page dowload the mods there, then download this one, pretty good and essential mod)

10° Alternative swords scabbards (optional) https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4784

11° New Clouds https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3315 (Choose the preset you want, i recommend heavy or mixed)
Below an example of the Cloud mod
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2878094486

12° Alternative Chimney Smoke https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2751 (Optional) (It's improve civilization looks...i would recommend keeping it...)

Trees mods below, i use them all, dont had any conflict or texture bug using them together.
13° UHD Oaks https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3852
14° UHD BaW Trees https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3763
15° Alternative Alnus Trees https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3839
16° Fall Birches https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5754
17° Darker Generic Trees and Bushes https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5776


18° The Wolf Medallion https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2300 (Pick the version you desire)
19° HD Sheeps https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5699 ( beeeehhhhhh)
20° Ard Bombs https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5671 (Good one/optional if you dont use bombs very often)
21° Stars on Night Sky https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6714(For the people who loved my sky shots)
Below a SS with HD monsters+ICE edition+starry sky+UHD project
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2880015711
22°Dog Appearance Overhaul aka DAO https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5327(for the dog lovers out there)

1° Phoenix Lighting Mod https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3170 (Essential & Amazing stuff)
After you unzip it, you need to put mod folder in mod folder, dlc folder in dlc folder of main TW3 directory. Also, it requires New Clouds mods from texture branch, but honestly i feel you would installed that anyway...after all it's the best cloud mod xD.+ it has UHD water in it's file too.

2° VGX Lighting Mod (Alternative)https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4453 i tested it *DOES LOOKS GRIM AND COOL* as holds true to the goal of lookin' similar to E3...but cutscene and fps impact with my texture isnt very nice..so i prefered first one, but i felt these two were the bests from the ones i browsed in nexus.

3° Skellige Winter Weather System https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3694 (Alternative approach)

4° Golden Toussaint https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3694 (Alternative approach)

5°Dense Rainfall https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3272 (For rain lovers... i personally dont use it)

6°Photorealistic Reshade Photorealistic Reshade https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3177 (i use this one) Same as PLM one folder for mod, another for dlc.
Below some SS of PLM+reshade Photorealistic
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2879527683
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2881524994
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2878928000
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2880127690

[Alternatives Reshades]
7° Visions of a Witcher - A Cinematic Reshade Preset for TW3 https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5639 (Self explanatory the title)
8° Poppy - A Photographic Reshade https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3340 works nice with VGX
9° Cine-Natural Reshade https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6501 THIS IS ONLY FOR WEAK PCS I searched one which people with gtx1080ti and above could use without problems ...
[etc]
10°True Fires https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4895 (Better fire particles)

1° Cutscenes Graphics Enhanced https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5837 improves quality of cutscene and conversations etc based in your mod load out, that means ITS good, but's taxing for your PC, you may notice bugs for nvidia hairworks in some scenes( i do noticed that) and some other stuff, but personally i think it's essential...sometimes youre in a low res cutscenes then you switch to a high res modded game....it's more of personal taste, but i highly recommend it.

2° HD Tree LOD Billboards https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3739 (Essential for nvidia ansel users)


3° HD Palace https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4781 (Essentia to toussaint lovers)
4° Temple Isle LOD and shadow fix https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6103(opt) but it's better
5°Meadows - An Efflorescent Grass Mod https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4757 (One of the best mods in my life)
Below SS with focus in Meadows Grass+HD Tree LOD
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2881950966
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2879065212
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2879811108

This section people need the less of help...i'll mention the ones i'm using but it's totally for taste, skimp clothes, Chad Geralt, change of hair, you can find anything, personally i'll recommend mods based in vanilla games+descriptions of the chars based on the books. ^^

The only essential mod would be this one :
1° Lip Movement and HiRes Shadows (and High Quality Heads) on NPCs in gameplayhttps://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/1902/ . Dlc & mod folders to the respective folders in tw3 directories... WARNING "complete animation redux" can bug with this one, but i prefer this one for immersion than animated eating & posing(it's better for ansel too).

2° Humans of the Continent 4K-2K Textures https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5710 Generical stuff for normal NPC

3° Better Skin - Pore Retexture https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4414 (good skin mod for npcs and etc)

4° El's Custom Complexions https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2815 (Good pack for different main chars )

5° Realistic Eyes Fixed (Book-Friendly) https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4341

6° Geralt's face retexture. Striga scars and new effect from intoxication https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2878 ( i use Geralt 4KScroV22)
two SS belows with examples(non toxic+toxic)
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2879626304
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2879200236

7°The Butcher of Blaviken Lore-Friendly Geralt https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2283(alt)

8° Yet Another HairWorks Mod https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5342 (good stuff)

9° (FOR MEME) Bald Geralt https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/786

10° 3D Eyebrows for Geralt https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4846 (Such simple mod but makes the experience so much better)

11° Glowing Witcher Eyes https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2234 (ESSENTIAL MOD best eye mod for witches, loved this one, changes effects based in area scenario) :
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2877032335

12° 4KRW - 4K Reworked Women mod https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4018 (Generic approach for the main female leads/recommend)

13° 4k YEN - https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5657

14° Insane eyes for yen - https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5326 (i like this one)
P.S: Yen isnt the one i like to date usually, so i just picked ones where she'll look nice for game story, and that's it.

15° Triss two options :
1° More in line with vanilla = Triss 4k Face Retexture https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5489
More in line with the books = Rokenz Triss https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3918

2° Insane eyes for Triss- https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5314 ( I like this one).

For Ciri i had a hard time choosing, there's a lot of good presets and authors :x
16° Ciri Face 4k Retextures New Makeup https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/1884?tab=files Ciri Face v3
17° Insane Ciri Eyes (Books Inspired) https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5319 ( i like this one)
18° Ciri's witcher gear Wolven... https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6188 it's a good one in my opinion for fan made armors.(but optional use)

19° 4K Lore Friendly Witchers https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6032
20° NPC Witchers School Armors https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6559 (optional)
21° NPC Witchers School Swords https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6554 (optional)

22° Tweaks for Keira https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3553 this or the mod above "done by EI's"

23°El's Shani + Insane eyes https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5359

24° El'S Cerys(you may have got the idea... I used EL's mod for the side female chars)

25° Bathsebah's Book Jaskier/Dandelion https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4580 (It's actually quite the fitting mod, recommend )

26° Better Elves https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5614 (generic,good too)

Every Sign mod besides the last one i consider essential due to being visual, last one is more of a tweak to Yrden.

1° Lightsource Yrden And Igni https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2853 Improves both signals a tad more. Liked the Yrden effect more, igni i never saw a good one, so i use this one which is better than vanilla.
https://youtu.be/cxQUm-UI79U

2° E3Quen https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2366 (The same quen used in the trailer. i prefer this one over vanilla, it's very cool)
below a ss with it
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2880587724

3° The Aard https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2346
Cold Breath of Aard https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4086 ( i use second version; also loved the match these brought to the aard signal)
https://youtu.be/EOswG4X4e7k

4° Axii cooler visual effect https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/594

5° Ultimate Yrden Mod - Recast https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2532 (there's a lot of cheat addons, but this one is more of extra for Yrden, it's cooler to use and doesnt break the game.)

6° SCAAR (SMOOTH COMBAT AND ANIMATIONS REDUX) https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5800?tab=files (your dodges will look fancier, more cosmetic)

7° More reasonable combat animations https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4444 (personal taste i would say, but i think it's a bit better than vanilla)

8°Speed Force https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4894 (removes the slow down enemies have to a natural 60fps)

9° Enemies of Rivia https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2655 (i'm using the optional without new animations...it's less buggy)
These videos are an example of all the mods above applied.
https://youtu.be/EglmoilYVdo
https://youtu.be/PSLBfs-YxaM

1°Sword FX https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/1529
2°Griffin Armour (On The Path) Update https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3251 one of best mods i've the pleasure to use.
3°Two wolven replacement armors : ( i liked both, you need to choose only one thought)
Chainmail Dark Wolf https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/463
Dark Undvikhttps://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/614
4°Ursine armor(follow the mod description install) : https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6318
5°Cavalry Armors Retextures https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4215 (lit mod)
[optional]
Both adds non withcer stuff to Geralt, roleplay or fur for some, but isnt for my taste.
6°Firearms https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4903
7°Shields https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2356

All optional/maybe you might wanna test it? So sharing it ^^

1°Selected bomb for monster nests https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6515
2°Stack Your Items https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6482
3°Keep runewords on Witcher set gear upgrade https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3167
4°Oil Application Keybinds https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6067 ( idare say this is essential... kek)
5°Emote Hotkeys https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/4013 (it can improve the exp for some)
6°Music overhaul Project https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/5222 [add tw1+2 ost to play along with tw3]
7°Main Menu Music Replacement - The Wolven Storm https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/6403 (Priscilla great song for the main menu...i took polsk version as it's my fav )
8°All Quest Objectives On Map https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/943

(??°)Absolute Camera https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/856 [the only mod which crashed with me, but hear me, it only happened when i was jumping with Geralt a lot, and i have the custom to do so...so i dont use it, but it does improve camera]

This is more of a P.S section.

This' my 4th time playing TW3, that means i'm using some mods to change my experience, played three times without changin' anything, for beginners and etc, i recommend only Character+Visual overhaul, skip combat and stuff as to avoid you skipping the vanilla design of the game.

This' a guide with each mod link in sequence, i'll edit the DOC later...
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MSiTQdSWJP3kc5sPywJJd3mh6r6b63yIzo-wHcIed-s/edit?usp=sharing

I cant insert images files over 2mb in the Guide and there's a limit on how many SS i'll pinpoint on this guide too, you can see more shots of modded tw3 either browsing my profile or what i actually
recommend, this gallery as it preserves the screenshot files with a better resolution.(i'll also update the gallery as my progress in the game goes...)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/196835470@N08/

Lastly, dont forget to endorse mod authors in nexus if you like their work ^^