Like always, my guides are written with the Steam version of the game in mind. It shouldn't make a difference considering there's no EA launcher to deal with, but just be aware. If it is different, I don't have the resources to figure it out.


You already have hidden files showing in your file manager.

You have run BG3 at least once to generate the compatdata folder.

Installing .pak mods:

Download the mod(s) you want to use. It'll be in an archive most likely, with a .pak file and a text file info.json inside. Some authors include text files or in the description a code that's specifically for manual installation, make sure you keep a copy of this handy!

Everything you'll need for installing .pak mods will be in:

home/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1086940/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/LarianStudios
For the sake of not writing that out the whole time, from now on any path starts in the Larian Studios folder.

Go to Baldur's Gate 3/Mods/ and place your .pak files in there.

Now, for editing the modsettings.lsx files, you'll need to do this twice. The first one can be found in Baldur's Gate3/PlayerProfiles/Public

Open it using your text file application of choice.

Before adding any mods, it should look like the first image



Copy and paste the ModuleSHortDesc node for GustavDev and add it below the first, so it now looks like this:



Now open the info file found with the mod (if the author's given the code already, skip this). I'm going to use a mod I'm currently using as an example: the Overpowered Rings by tepkunset (which has the manual info already in the description but for the sake of the guide, I'll continue as if it wasn't there).

The info file will look somewhat like this:

{"Mods":[{"Author":"tepkunset","Name":"OPRing","Folder":"OPRing","Version":"144115188075855912","Description":"An overpowered ring.","UUID":"98d7f8f7-1dc2-4375-a623-72321fae78a2","Created":"2023-08-19T06:52:04.9725377-03:00","Dependencies":[],"Group":"fe24c62c-0ebf-4ed4-8f3b-7c2594244710"}],"MD5":"6b1a8707cc004402a3f9dcf2ade46b1d"}

Now you'll use this to replace part of what you just copied into the modsettings.lsx file:

• "Folder" is "OPRing"
  
• "Name" is "OPRing"
  
• "UUID" is "98d7f8f7-1dc2-4375-a623-72321fae78a2"
  
• "Version" is "144115188075855912"
  

Some mods only have "null" for the version, it works the same way as above.

Your modsettings should now look like this:



After this is done, copy the file over to the second modsettings.xml file found with your save .steam/steam/userdata/[your Steam ID]/1086940

Do this for every mod you want to use. Keep in mind sometimes the load order is important, make sure to read through the description.
Some mods in my experience don't matter, other than patches/fixes.

Installing loose file mods are fairly easy for the most part. Just place them in your Baldurs Gate 3\Data folder and it should be good to go. If there are any mod specific instructions, just follow what the mod author says, as everything in the game folder will be the same as modding on Windows.