must have mods

[OpenWorldAddict]

Just wondering what are people's must have mods that they can't play Minecraft without.

For me, beyond the obvious (NEI and Waila) the must have mods for me are:
Journey map (because I have to have a mini map mod with waypoints, and Journey map in my opinion is the best.
Tinker's Construct (because working with tools without it is no longer any fun.)
JABBA (because a room full of Jabba barrels is so much better then a room full of double chests)

Finally, if I am playing a tech modpack, I must have Thermal Expansion because that mod is fun, and I prefer Redstone flux as a power system more than anything else.

The final mod is not really a must have but it nice when ever it is there, hunger in peace, because I play minecraft mostly in peaceful mode, and that mod brings hunger back to peaceful mode.

So those are my must have mods. What's yours?

 

[Fortanono]

Chisel, Carpenter's Blocks and Decocraft. I need my decoration.
Extra Utilities + Pam's. Running my base on food is just too fun.
And finally, a good terrain gen mod. Bonus points if it branches out and is not BoP.

 

[Celestialphoenix]

I find if I limit myself to always include 'must have' mods I end up playing different iterations of the same pack- rather than trying something new.
Obviously I have preferences, I like problem solving mechanics- get given a pile of components and left to design a working system.

I guess the only 'must have' I truly need is a solid design reason for including [or excluding] something; a pack dev who can step up and design an interesting/unique pack experience.

Are you including something in because of the unique gameplay it provides that complements the overall style of the pack, or are you just throwing it in regardless because every other user labelled it as a "must have" mod?​

 

[RavynousHunter]

Beyond the obvious, my must-haves have...shrank a little, but these are the ones I well and truly miss when they're not in a pack by default:

1. RotaryCraft. There's just something about the chug of engines and the movement of gears that I find appealing. Doesn't hurt that its got some pretty strong early-game options that only get better the further down the tree you go.
2. ChromatiCraft. Also known as the only magic mod I can actually say that I like. A lot of them are what I call "smoke break" magic mods, as in, you can do them while on a break from other stuff and barely, if ever, leave your base. ChC don't do that, and that's why I love it. Also, tile accelerators.
3. Extra Utilities. There's so many quality-of-life things it adds, like mufflers and trash cans, that help keep tedium down and bring fun up.
4. Tinkers' Construct. The final one, really. Having tools you can repair in a logical way (ie: not smashing two tools together like a simpleton) and that you can enchant however you damn well please without having to bother with vanilla enchanting's RNG-based madness is one of modded Minecraft's simplest, yet greatest, pleasures.

 

[Pyure]

For me the only must-haves are the obvious core mods, NEI and such. WAILA is almost on that list now though.

Everything else depends on what sort of experience I feel like having, whether its GT for a severe grinding tech experience or thaumcraft for a, um, severe grinding magic experience.

 

[Reddis]

Tinker's Construct, Big Reactors, Applied Energistics, Galacticraft.

 

[Dweesil]

Inventory tweaks.

 

[N1ghtWolf213]

For vanilla I go with optifine for the shaders support so I can use sildurs with vanillabdcraft. For modded I can't go with anything less than a big kitchen sink pack like infinity, and even then I still add more to that. As far as a can't live without in particular I'de say buildcraft, ic2, gravitation suite, forestry, extra bees, and magic bees.