The 5 Best Dark Souls 3 Overhaul Mods

Dark Souls 3 has a lot of content to offer players. Players will face many challenging bosses as they work towards an intense ending, but there’s even more to find that isn’t connected with the main story. Today, many players are likely familiar with the massive expansions and they’ve probably cleared everything. But those on PC still have plenty to look forward to thanks to a dedicated modding community. PC players looking to get the most out of Dark Souls 3 should check out the 5 best overhaul mods.

5 of the Best Overhaul Mods for Dark Souls 3 (and What They Change About the Game)

Note: All mods shown in this article can be found on NexusMods, which requires an account to download files from the website. Additionally, mods for Dark Souls 3 are not officially supported by the developers. You run the risk of getting banned from official servers if you play with them on, so if you want to keep this from happening, make sure your game launches in offline mode first!

5. Hunter’s Combat

Hunter’s Combat aims to fulfill the desires of players wishing for a Bloodborne PC port. The mod effectively ports Bloodborne’s combat to Dark Souls 3. Numerous weapons have been changed into those found in the PlayStation-exclusive title, even retaining their “trick” functionality to transform during battle. Players are also able to dodge and heal like they can in Bloodborne, making the game feel like a completely new experience. This mod doesn’t change any enemies or bosses, and there are many other mods that add similar combat to Dark Souls 3, making this one seem somewhat redundant. Even so, if all you’re looking for is a simple Bloodborne-style twist to your journey through the Kingdom of Lothric, Hunter’s Combat will the best choice for you.

4. The Blades of Ashina

The Blades of Ashina, much like Hunter’s Combat, ports another FromSoftware game’s combat into Dark Souls 3. This time around, it’s Sekiro that gets some love. The mod brings over weapons using animations from Sekiro enemies, letting players fight as though they were Genichiro or Lady Butterfly. Combat skills have also been added as magic, allowing for an expanded moveset during battles. Though the mod many changes to enemies, there are some extra benefits such as additional changes to existing Dark Souls 3 weapons. A lot of love was put into this mod’s creation, and while it’s not as impactful as other mods in this list, it’s certainly one that’s worth taking a look at.

3. Champion’s Ashes

Interestingly, Champion’s Ashes is a mod that actually plays better if you allow yourself to get banned for using mods. It was designed as a PVP overhaul, adding new weapons and changing the game’s balance to make battles against other players more fun and unpredictable. This mod does more than just add weapons, however, as it even includes changes to bosses and entire gameplay mechanics. Some abilities from Elden Ring have been added in — including guard counters and dual-wielding — and additional features like Bloodborne’s dodge make the mod feel like a fan-made love letter to FromSoftware’s best work. Even though it was designed for online play, Champion’s Ashes is a mod any player can enjoy.

2. Cinders

Cinders is widely considered to be the definitive Dark Souls 3 mod. It was the first to completely change the game in terms of progression, enemy placement, and difficulty, making the whole experience a more dangerous and rewarding one. It probably has the most amount of content that you’ll find in any mod for this title, allowing you to make whatever build you could dream of. After four years, Cinders is still one of the best mods for Dark Souls 3 you’ll find, and it’s certainly not hard to see why.

Unfortunately, this mod has a few quirks that might turn some players away. While it technically adds new bosses inspired by previous Souls games, they still use moves and animations from existing enemies found in Dark Souls 3. You won’t be facing off against anything completely new, which is especially apparent when most of the base game’s bosses are still without any changes. Additionally, much of the mod’s base content has changed over its updates, meaning you’ll have a rough time if you try to use the same save file across different versions. It might take a bit of work getting everything set up, but Dark Souls 3 fanatics will appreciate the change of pace Cinders provides.

1. The Convergence

The Convergence is practically an entirely new Dark Souls game in itself. It follows in the footsteps of other mods by adding new weapons and magic, though it follows more closely with Cinders with the sheer amount of content it offers. In fact, it goes even further by entirely changing environments and revamping existing boss fights. There are still some obvious cases of reused models and attacks, but showdowns against certain foes will actually take movesets from Sekiro that have been carefully altered to account for the slower gameplay of Dark Souls. In this sense, The Convergence is one of the few mods that really does add brand-new boss fights to the game.

One downside of The Convergence when compared to Cinders or Champion’s Ashes is the fact that it hasn’t been updated since Elden Ring’s release. As such, players might have some difficulty getting it to work with the current version of Dark Souls 3. Even so, it’s absolutely worth the extra tinkering, as The Convergence offers a grand sendoff to FromSoftware’s pre-Elden Ring titles in the best way possible.

Other Mods to Check Out

Of course, overhaul mods aren’t the only things offered by the Dark Souls 3 community. Mods like Wex Dust and Blue Sentinel offer quality-of-life changes for your multiplayer experience that likely won’t lead to you getting banned. Other mods like Become Enemies and Pocket Souls will offer some very fun new styles of play, if less in-depth than the mods on this list. Finally, those interested in what’s to come should keep an eye on Archthrones, a Demon’s Souls-inspired overhaul with entirely new models, bosses, animations, and more. Elden Ring might be FromSoftware’s biggest release, but Dark Souls 3 still has some life left in it thanks to the dedicated work of fans.