Load order refers to the sequence in which mods are loaded into the game. The order in which mods are loaded can have a significant impact on the game's stability and the behavior of the mods.
Mods at the top of the list are loaded first. They are considered higher in the mod load order. Some mods will say they require to be the highest mod, or at the top of the load order. On the other hand, mods at the bottom of the list are loaded last. They are considered lower in the mod load order. Some mods will require to be the lowest mod, or at the bottom of the load order.
The load order is important because it determines which mod's files will overwrite others if they have conflicting changes to the same game files. For example, if two mods both modify the same item or location in the game, the mod that is loaded last will overwrite the changes made by the mod that was loaded first. In general, it is recommended to load mods that affect the game's core mechanics, such as gameplay tweaks and bug fixes, before loading mods that add new items or features. It's also important to note that some mods require specific load order placements to work properly. For example, some mods may have dependencies on other mods, which means that they must be loaded after those mods in order to function correctly. This holds especially true for patches, which should often be loaded as low as possible in the load order.
As always, make sure to read the mod description. This will help you understand what type of mod you’re dealing with, and it may even offer advice for positioning it in your load order relative to other mods.
Plugin load order refers to the order in which the mod plugins or "ESP/ESM files" (the files that contain the actual changes and additions to the game) are loaded. This is the most important aspect of load order as it directly affects how the game world and its contents are modified by the installed mods.
On the other hand, asset or mod load order refers to the order in which the loose files (such as textures, meshes, sound files, scripts, etc.) from the mods are loaded. This order may affect how the game engine reads and applies the changes made by these assets. Asset load order is generally less critical than plugin load order, but still important in some cases to ensure that mods that depend on certain assets are loaded correctly.
Asset load order mostly applies to PC users, as console tooling is limited in how this can be applied. The load order of assets is largely up to the determination of users, as this is unlikely to cause crashing, mostly texture and similar cosmetic issues such as skin or body seams.
This is mainly for console users and people who spend more time manually tweaking load orders, but it's recommended to have a look at nonetheless.
If a mod description recommends an ordering that does not seem right given this structure, follow the mod authors advice first. This is simply a template, and modding configurations that require dependencies such as advanced body modding.
Click the drop downs for more information. There are mod examples, but you can proceed to the next section of this guide for more mod recommendations.
Bug fix mods are a type of mod that aim to correct issues, glitches, and errors within the game that were not addressed by the official patches. These mods can improve the game's stability and fix issues that may have caused crashes, broken quests, or other problems.
These mods should be loaded early, as they will have broad effects to stabilize the foundation of the base game as a whole and can comfortably be overwritten by content mods later.
Examples include "Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch (USSEP)”
Gameplay overhaul mods are a type of mod that make sweeping changes to the game, often altering the core mechanics and gameplay aspects. These mods can completely transform the game by adding new features, mechanics, and systems, and overhauling existing ones, and should be loaded early due to their broad effects.
Quest and content correction mods are a type of mod that specifically aim to fix and restore content that was cut, unfinished, or broken in the original game. These mods can add new quests, characters, items, and locations to the game, as well as restore content that was removed during the development process.
This should not be confused with quest mods which instead add new content; these are loaded later.
Examples include: Cutting Room Floor
Difficulty/level list mods are a type of mod that adjust the difficulty and balance of the game's combat mechanics and level scaling. These mods can make the game more challenging, realistic, and engaging by tweaking various aspects of the game's combat system, such as the damage dealt and received, the effectiveness of spells and perks, and the AI behavior of enemies.
Examples include: Wildcat - Combat of Skyrim
Race mods are a type of mod that modify the existing playable races in the game or add entirely new ones. These mods can alter various aspects of the race, such as their physical appearance, racial abilities, and starting stats.
Examples include: Imperious - Races of Skyrim, Playable Skeleton Races
Perk mods are a type of mod that modify or add new perks to the game's skill trees. These mods can alter the existing perks or add entirely new ones to provide more depth and variety to the game's progression system. Perk mods can enhance specific playstyles or abilities, making it possible for players to specialize in certain skills and become more powerful in those areas.
Examples include: Adamant - A Perk Overhaul, Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim
UI (User Interface) mods are a type of mod that modify the game's interface, making it more user-friendly and customizable. These mods can change the layout, font, and colour of various menus and screens, including the inventory, map, and skill trees. UI mods can also add new features or functionality to the game's interface, such as the ability to sort inventory items or track quests more easily.
Cheat mods are a type of mod that provide players with an unfair advantage in the game by allowing them to access features or abilities that are not available in the vanilla game. These mods are generally not recommended for players who want to experience the game as it was intended.
Examples include: Skyrim Cheat Engine, Cheat Room
Missions/Quests mods are a type of mod that add new quests or storylines to the game. These mods can range from small additions to the game's existing quests to entirely new questlines with their own unique characters, locations, and objectives.
Examples include: Moonpath to Elsweyr, The Forgotten City
Global mesh mods are a type of mod that replaces the game's existing meshes (3D models) with higher quality or more detailed versions. These mods can improve the appearance of the game's environment by adding more detail and realism to objects such as rocks, trees, buildings, and other environmental features.
Examples include: Static Mesh Improvement Mod (SMIM), High Poly Project
Weather and lighting mods are a type of mod that aim to improve the game's atmosphere by changing the way the game's weather and lighting system works. These mods can add new types of weather such as rainstorms, snowstorms, and fog, and can also modify the game's lighting to make it more realistic or dramatic.
Examples include: Obsidian Weathers, Cathedral Weathers, Vivid Weathers, Climates Of Tamriel
Foliage mods are a type of mod that focus on improving the game's vegetation and foliage, such as grass, trees, and other plants. These mods can add more detail and variety to the game's flora, making the game's environment more realistic and immersive.
Examples include: Northern Grass, Happy Little Trees, Skyrim Flora Overhaul
Sound mods are a type of mod that focus on improving the game's sound effects and music. These mods can add new sound effects and music tracks, replace existing ones, or modify the way they sound in the game. Sound mods can greatly enhance the game's immersion by improving the quality of the sound that players hear.
Examples include: Audio Overhaul for Skyrim, Immersive Sounds - Compendium
Worldwide content mods are a type of mod that focus on adding new structures or points of interest to the game's world, which can be found throughout the game's world space. These mods can add new ruins, caves, or other points of interest to explore.
Examples include: Ancient Land, Lux Via, Lux Orbis
Settlement mods are a type of mod that focus on expanding or adding new settlements or towns to the game's world. These mods can add new buildings, NPCs, quests, and other features to settlements, making them livelier and more immersive.
Examples include: JK's Skyrim, Spaghetti's Cities, Capital Whiterun Expansion
Individual building mods are a type of mod that focus on adding new buildings or modifying existing ones in the game's world. These mods can add new homes, shops, or other structures to the game, and can be placed in various locations throughout the game's world. Some individual building mods may also add new NPCs or questlines associated with the new buildings.
Examples include: Whiterun Watchtower Doesn't Start Broken, Caranthir Tower Reborn
Interior mods are a type of mod that focus on modifying the interiors of buildings and other structures in the game's world. These mods can add new furniture, decorations, and other items to existing interiors, or they can modify the layout and structure of interiors to create new areas or spaces. Some interior mods may also add new NPCs or questlines associated with the modified interiors.
Examples include: Lux, Distinct Interiors, JK's Interiors
AI mods are a type of mod that aim to improve the artificial intelligence (AI) of the game's characters. These mods can make the game's NPCs behave more realistically, such as reacting to the player's actions in more nuanced ways or behaving more realistically in combat situations.
Examples include: AI Overhaul SSE, Run For Your Lives
QOL changes mods subtly alter the way the game is played, though not as drastically as overhauls or quest mods. Their changes are mostly quality of life improvements to certain elements of gameplay.
Exampls include: Rich Skyrim Merchants
NPC overhaul mods are mods that enhance the appearance, behavior, and diversity of the game's non-playable characters (NPCs). These mods focus mostly on the behavior of NPCs, however.
Examples include: Diverse Dragons Collection SE, OBIS SE - Organized Bandits In Skyrim
NPC collection mods are mods that add a large number of new NPCs to the game. These NPCs can include new followers, merchants, quest-givers, and other characters that add to the game's overall richness and diversity. The NPCs added by these mods can be standalone characters or based on existing NPCs in the game, with new outfits, appearances, and dialogues.
Examples include: Inconsequential NPCs
Skeleton mods alter the game's characters' skeletal structures. These mods serve as a framework with which to change the animations and behaviors of characters and creatures in the game, making them more realistic or stylized.
Examples include: XP32 Maximum Skeleton Special Extended
Hair mods allow players to customize the appearance of their character's hair, adding new hairstyles and colors that are not available in the base game. These mods can range from realistic hair textures to fantastical designs, and can cater to a wide range of preferences.
Examples include: KS Hairdos, Apachii Sky Hair, Beards
Body mods for Skyrim modify the shape and appearance of a character's body, such as their body type, muscle tone, and weight. These mods can also add new textures or increase the detail of the body's appearance. Body mods are often used to create more realistic or attractive characters.
Skin and face mods provide more options for players to customize the appearance of their character's features, such as skin textures, eyes, nose, mouth and face paints. These mods can add more realistic or detailed textures, change the shape or size of certain facial features, or even add new options for character creation.
Examples include: The Eyes of Beauty, Tempered Skin for Males/Females
An item pack mod is a type of mod that adds new items, weapons, armor, and/or other equipment to the game. These mods can add a large number of new items, or they may focus on adding a smaller set of high-quality, unique items. Item pack mods can add a new level of variety to the game's equipment, allowing players to try out new strategies and playstyles.
Examples include: Heavy Armory - New Weapons
Individual item mods are a type of mod that add new items to the game, or edits existing items, but with a focus on single, unique items rather than a pack of many items. These mods typically add one or a few high-quality, well-designed items to the game, such as a new weapon, armor, or magical item.
Examples include: Sarta - Leather Wrapped Sword
Texture mods are mods that replace the textures of objects, creatures, characters, and environments in a game to improve their visual appearance. In the case of Skyrim, texture mods can range from improving the quality of stone walls and grass textures to retexturing armor and clothing. Any texture mods not already sorted into above categories can go here.
Examples include: Skyland AIO
Patches for earlier mods are designed to resolve compatibility issues between two or more mods that affect the same game elements. As Skyrim has a vast modding community with a large number of mods available, it's not uncommon for mods to overlap in their modifications to the game. This can cause issues such as missing items, broken quests, or crashes. Patches can help to address these issues by making changes to the mods to ensure they work well together
There are some mods that mod creators request should be loaded last in the mod order. As always, read the recommendations of mod authors. If they request a mod should load last, put it last. Good mod authors monitor feedback actively, seeking to provide instructions and advice for users in their carefully written descriptors. They know what they’re doing!