Base game is fine to play through without any extra mod help but there's a couple QOT mods which I find helpful, not to dumb the game down but to make it make more sense (to me). Like others have said, though, you don't NEED any mods to play, not even as a solo. I've got a few hundred hours in game and probably half of those I've played modded. See how you go unmodded. If you think there's something that needs fixing which will increase your enjoyment of the game, grab a mod that does what you need it to do. You do you, boo!