Right, i was gonna start a group discussion about building the essential load order/mod list. But since you already posted i'll just contribute here.
There are the starter mods which don't really add anything substantial but it's hard to play with out them now.
Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4598/?
Full Dialogue Interface
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1235/?
Armor and Weapon Keywords Community Resource
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/6091/?
Armorsmith Extended
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/2228/?
Then there's the retextures, which are mostly personal preference, but i don't know anybody who doesn't like the vivid series by Hein84
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1400/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/1769/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/8742/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18331/?
After that you've got DEF_UI and Valdacils for UI and inventory clean-up
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10654/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3877/?
Most of these are just to get it to a state where we can really start modding.
A must-have mod is Tales of the Commonwealth from the people who made interesting NPC's for skyrim. Adds people, quests, and really just makes the fallout 4 commonwealth more.
- Spoiler:
3dnpc.com
For more encounters i tend to stick with NPCs travel over things like war in the commonwealth. It seems more lightweight and sticks out less in the base game.
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/16987/?
Now we come to things like weapons and armor. When i'm looking at adding an item to the game i have to ask myself a few things. Does this fit in the world? Is there an item that already serves the same purpose/look in the game? Is it organically added? Basically if i couldn't reasonably place it in the world then i tend to skip it.
WeaponsFor melee, there's really no need to go any further than MikeMoore'sMCAM which collects all his weapons into one pack, including a few uniques that are only found in the all-in-one. It adds a stupid amount of melee weapons.
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/14786/?
For guns.
I'd start with everything by asXas. Two buns and a melee weapon. The guns i believe were pulled straight from the concept art of Fallout 4 and are like the pipe-weapons taken to the next level. The melee is a concrete sledge-hammer that's perfect for a super-mutant or a power armor using warrior.
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/users/478884/?
Next is the DKS-501 Sniper Rifle - Standalone, otherwise known as the fallout 3/nv sniper rifle. It's a classic fallout weapon, and it fills an upper end/late game niche for long distance weapons that aren't the gauss rifle. I mean i know the Gauss rifle has a "silencer" but it's bulky and just looks weird outside of power armor.
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/15909/?
Next is a couple of weapons by DOOMBASED, a fantastic weapon modder who probably has the best ratio of quantity/quality in fallout 4 so far. He has a merged pack, but i feel like some of his assault rifles are out of place in the fallout universe (hence why i also avoid modern firearms), but his 1911 pistol and "that gun" mod are perfect for fallout. The 1911 pistol has been around forever, and there's no reason why there shouldn't be any to find in fallout 4 even if the 10mm eventually replaced it as a standard fire-arm in armed forces. "that gun" is another great callback to previous fallouts, and since it is only placed once in the world it feels like a nice easter egg/unique weapon to hunt for.
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10406/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10669/?
The Makeshift anti-material rifle is a relatively new mod and is a great alternative to the classic sniper rifle, if you wanted something a little more makeshift.
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18915/?
Finally what's a post-apocalyptic wasteland without crossbows. Honestly this should be the number one weapon by raiders, considering how easy it would be to repair and replace ammunition compared to guns.
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10484/?
The alien assault rifle expands on the alien pistol, giving it a full range of options.
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12347/?
The Fusion gun is a high-end energy weapon, that stands out as an option to the plasma rifle for late game. It's beautiful, well integrated, and a definite install.
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17847/?
We finally got an official AK weapon in Nuka-World, before that there was WastelandMelody's Chinese Assault Rifle. Whether you keep this in your load order is up to you, with Nuka-World we got an AK weapon, so this isn't exactly filling an unused spot anymore, however it's still a great mod and well worth an install. Especially if you don't have Nuka-World yet.
- Spoiler:
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/13283/?
I've written enough for now, i'll probably come back and do armors at a later point.