Baldur’s Gate 3 – Steam Deck Mod Manager Installation Guide

This guide will provide a step-by-step walkthrough on how to install the Baldur’s Gate 3 Mod Manager on the Steam Deck.

Prerequisites

I’ve got a mods folder in my /home/deck directory. In this folder, I typically make a new folder for each game I want to install mods for. So, for Baldur’s Gate 3, I made a folder at /home/deck/mods/BG3. You can choose a different directory, but I’ll assume you’ve done the same.

To get started with modding Baldur’s Gate 3:

1. First, make sure you’ve run Baldur’s Gate 3 at least once.
2. Next, switch to Steam Deck’s desktop mode. You can do this by going to the Steam Menu, clicking on Power, and selecting ‘Switch to Desktop mode.’
3. If you don’t already have Lutris installed, head to the Discover Store and install it.
4. Now, download the BG3 Mod Manager from this link. You can use Firefox or any other browser for this. If you don’t have a browser installed, you can find one in the Discover Store.
5. I’m assuming you’ve installed Baldur’s Gate 3 on the internal drive of your Steam Deck.
6. Lastly, I downloaded the BasketEquipmentSFW mod from Nexus Mods to /home/deck/mods/BG3.

Extract BG3 Mod Manager

Launch DoLphin file manager and navigate to “/home/deck/mods/BG3”. To create a new directory named “BG3ModManager,” simply right-click in an empty area, choose “Create New,” then select “Folder.” Name the folder “BG3ModManager.”

After successfully creating the directory, right-click on the zip file, hover over “Extract,” and choose “Extract archive to.” From the options, select “BG3ModManager.” This will extract the contents of the zip file into the newly created “BG3ModManager” directory.

Add BG3 Mod Manager to Lutris

To set up Lutris for BG3 Mod Manager, follow these steps:

1. Open Lutris.
2. In the top-left corner, click on the hamburger menu (the three lines).
3. Select “Add games” and then choose “Add locally installed games.”
4. Give it a name, for instance, “BG3 Mod Manager.”
5. Choose Wine as the runner.
6. Now, switch to the “Game options” tab.
7. In the “Executable” field, add “/home/deck/mods/BG3/BG3ModManager/BG3ModManager.exe.”
8. In the “Wine prefix” field, add “/home/deck/mods/BG3/wine_pfx.” This essentially serves as the Windows C drive for this setup.
9. Finally, click “Save” to save your settings.

Install DotNet 4.7.2

Ensure that you have chosen “Wine” on the left-hand side of Lutris. Locate your BG3 Mod Manager in the list, then click the small wine glass icon next to the “Play” button at the bottom. This will initiate winetricks, which is essential for installing DotNet 4.7.2.

Starting winetricks might take a moment as the prefix is being created. Stay patient during this process. Once it opens, choose “Select the default wineprefix” and click “OK.”

Next, select “Install a Windows DLL or component” and confirm with “OK.”

Scroll down the list, locate “dotnet472,” and click “OK.” It might seem like nothing is happening, but allow the process to run in the background. On my Steam Deck, this step took around 15 minutes. During this time, it will download and install various components. Once it’s finished, you’ll return to the window where you can choose to install windows DLLs, fonts, etc. Close this window completely.

At this point, you’re done with winetricks. The installation process for DotNet 4.7.2 is complete.

Link Your BG3 User Directory

Return to Dolphin and navigate to “/home/deck/mods/BG3/wine_pfx/drive_c/users/deck/AppData/Local/.” Right-click in an empty area and choose “Create New” -> “Link to File or Directory.”

Name the link as “Larian Studios,” and for the “File or directory to link to,” specify “/home/deck/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1086940/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/Larian Studios/.” Then, click “OK.”

This will create a link in the specified directory that points to the Larian Studios folder in the Steam user’s AppData.

Start BG3 Mod Manager and Install the Mod

Return to Lutris and click “Play” for the BG3 Mod Manager.

When it asks you to select a folder, simply click “Open.”

Now, go to “Settings” -> “Open Preferences.”

Set the “Game Data Path” to “Z:\home\deck\.steam\steam\steamapps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\Data” and the “Game Executable Path” to “Z:\home\deck\.steam\steam\steamapps\common\Baldurs Gate 3\bin\bg3.exe.”

Next, navigate to “File” -> “Import Mod” and select the downloaded mod from your “Z:\home\deck\mods\BG3” folder (if you downloaded it there). There’s no need to unpack it; you can provide the .zip file.

Once it’s imported, drag it from the right side to the left. Then, select “File” -> “Save order.” Please note that the GUI might glitch a bit during this process, but it will work.

Your mod is now active. However, when you want to play Baldur’s Gate 3, start it from the Steam client, not from the mod manager.

Happy modding!