Paradox, the studio behind Hearts of Iron 4 is known for its support for community mods and the game boasts over 20,000 mods that you can install. It can be daunting to find the best Hearts of Iron 4 mods so we decided to prepare a list of must-have mods that you should check out if you have not tinkered with the game yet.
Some of the mods allow you to experience community-made content that is not available with the base game. From detailed campaigns to quality-of-life mods, there is something for everyone out there. If you don’t know how to install mods, we have a short section in our guide to help you with that as well.
Modding Hearts of Iron 4 is very easy. All you need to do is have access to the base game and it’s as simple as dragging and dropping the mod files to the mod directory to access them. Before we talk more about Hearts of Iron 4 mods, consider checking out guides for Hearts of Iron 4 navy guide and beginner tips and tricks.
How to install Hearts of Iron 4 mods
There are two ways to install Hearts of Iron mods.
Steam Workshop
- Open the Steam Workshop and search for any of the Hearts of Iron mods
- Click the "Subscribe" button on the mod page
- This will trigger a download and installation of the mod
- To enable the mod, open the game and go to the "Mods" tab in the launcher.
- Check the box next to the mod you want to enable.
- Click the "Launch" button.
Manual Installation
- Download the mod from a trusted website, such as the Paradox Forums or Nexus Mods.
- Extract the mod files to the following directory:
- Windows: C:\Users<username>\Documents\Paradox Interactive\Hearts of Iron IV\mod
- Mac: ~/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Hearts of Iron IV/mod
- Linux: ~/.local/share/Paradox Interactive/Hearts of Iron IV/mod
- To enable the mod, open the game and go to the "Mods" tab in the launcher.
- Check the box next to the mod you want to enable.
- Click the "Launch" button.
Best Hearts of Iron mods
The New Order: Last Days of Europe (Community-made content mod)
Download: https://www.nexusmods.com/heartsofironiv/mods/34
The mod features ten years or more of playable content for three German candidates in the civil war, Japan, China, England, Italy and the Iberian Union, Guangdong, Himmler's Burgundy, the United States of America and many Russian warlords. The mod has a Cold War aesthetic and the writing is on par with what Paradox produces for fans.
Some of the features of the mod include:
- A fully reworked tech tree.
- New ideologies
- An entirely new law and politics system based on Victoria 2.
- An entirely new map, built for increased detail as well as a dystopian aesthetic.
- Thousands of unique focus icons, event pictures, tech icons, and more.
- New GUIs and gameplay features for almost every playable nation, ensuring no one feels alike.
- Thousands of decisions
- The ability to wage nuclear war, and witness the post-apocalypse.
The Great War (Community-made content mod)
Download: https://www.nexusmods.com/heartsofironiv/mods/4
The Great War, an overhaul mod for Hearts of Iron IV, puts you in the position of one of the countries of the world in World War One's time period. In an era where the stakes were high and risks even higher, you'll have to tread lightly when it comes to diplomacy. A single mistake or a single bluff gone too far could mean the deaths of millions. Using the mod feels like playing on hardcore mode and if you are up for a challenge, you should give it a try.
Here’s what you can expect from The Great War:
- China and Mexico revolution storyline
- War modeled around World War I
- Trench Systems
- Massive fleets for large-scale combat
- Focus on Alternate History
The Epic War (Community-made content mod)
Download: https://www.nexusmods.com/heartsofironiv/mods/3
In this mod you can play with the colonies of France and British in Africa, with gameplay of your own, and you can change the destiny of war even in the smallest details. There are also minor changes to the interface and features to improve quality of life. With about 25 new totally different foci trees for different gameplay, The Epic War inherently changes how the game plays out and you have a fresh new experience.
Advanced Buildings and Industries (Gameplay mod)
Download: https://www.nexusmods.com/heartsofironiv/mods/39
Advanced Buildings and Industries is a mod that was introduced back in 2016 and it is still updated by the creators of the mod. You get access to various new production, province, military, and tech buildings for your campaign. Some of the buildings that are added with the mod are:
- Naval training Base (production building) +1 dockyard
- War Factory (production building) +1 military factory
- Worker Factory (production building) +1 civilian factory
- Supply Factory (production building) +1 military factory
- Pillbox (province building)
Millennium Dawn (Quality of life mod)
Download: https://www.nexusmods.com/heartsofironiv/mods/35
Do you want your gameplay experience in Hearts of Iron 4 to feel as authentic as possible? Check out Millenium Dawn, a mod that has over 150,000 names for over 1,000 languages, themes and time periods. These names are meant to give players an authentic experience based on the game’s setting and time period. The mod is available for not just Hearts of Iron 4 but also other strategy games with historical settings.
That is all you need to know about the best Hearts of Iron 4 mods. For more content, consider checking out guides for Blade and Sorcery mods and Civilization 6 mods.