Best mod for a newbie?

[Suicide Junkie]

The Gold Combat Imagemod.
And, the CombatPack of images.

It dosen't make things simpler, but it dosen't complicate things, either. All it does is make the otherwise unmodded Gold look cooler during combat and combat replays.
With this, a keen eye can tell the difference between a Meson BLaster III and a Meson BLaster IV by the shape/size of the projectile .