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For Steam Deck users who may only wish to use the Bethesda Mod Portal or who are not very experienced with modding Bethesda games, but who are looking for a generalized load order that should, hopefully, minimize conflicts.  Please note that this is not some exhaustive, definitive load order guide and I have no desire to create one. However, this brief overview should help you run a stable game, provided you understand what you're doing, and you know how to create patches specific to your load order.



1. Master Files
2. Framework & ESL Mods
3. Fast Start Mods (including SKK Fast Start Series, etc.)
4. Faction Overhaul Mods
5. AI Overhaul Mods
6. New Worldspace Mods
7. New Faction Mods
8. Vanilla Quest Edits (including Survival Mode, Workshops, Companion Overhauls, etc.)
9. Settlement Building Mods (including powered objects, assignable objects, decorations, etc.)
10. Settlement Building Mods (including new menus, pre-smm scripting, requires Settlement Menu Manager, etc.)
11. Gameplay Changing Mods (including Game Settings, Survival Mode, Perks, Spells, Value Tweaks, etc.)
12. New NPC Mods (including Pets and followers)
13. New NPC Mods (including Settlers and other types of NPCs)
14. Audio Mods (including Ambient Soundtrack, Combat Soundtrack, Radio Stations, etc.)
15. Visual Mods (including Weathers, Foliage, Textures, etc.)
16. Vanilla Settlement Mods (including Settlement Border Extensions, No Combat Borders, etc.)
17. Sorting Mods
18. HUD Mods (including Camera Tweaks, HUD Framework, FallUI, Scopes, Ini changes, etc.)
19. Character Model Replacers (including Player Character, NPCs, Creatures, etc.)
20. PIP-BOY Replacers
21. Map Mods (including Map Replacers, Colored Maps, etc.)
22. Weapons, Armor & Clothing Mods
23. Crafting Mods (including Crafting Frameworks, Crafting Benches, AWKCR, etc.)
24. New Settlement Mods
25. New Player Homes
26. New Quests and World Edits
27. Weapon, Armor & Clothing Frameworks or Overhauls (including Equilibrium, New Ammos, Unique Replacers, etc.)
28. Landscape Overhauls
29. Precombines (including Previsbines Repair Pack, Boston FPS Fix, etc.)
30. Gameplay Overhauls (including Sim Settlements, Damn Apocalypse, MAIM, Start Me Up, etc.)
31. Patches (including leveled list merges, value adjustments, etc.)

Note: Do not load anything which affects Precombines below #29 except for Precombine patches.


If you require additional guidance on manually adjusting your load orders, go checkout Load Order Dividers - Helpful Labels for Manual Sorting and drop them an endorsement. Here is my Plugins.txt if you wish to see an example of my Load Order.

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MarshalAmimKagori

39 comments

  1. MochiRosu
    MochiRosu
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    I need to ask something, According to this mod order guide for mo2, I have a mod MGS Haven Trooper ( Clothing mod) & and another mod MGS Haven Trooper - Nuka-World Raiders (Mod that changes the Nuka world raiders to wear the mod above's clothing)In the load order Haven trooper should be in Section 22 yes? and NUka world raider should be in section 4 (Faction overhaul)But how can a master file be placed after a mod that requires it?
    1. Aetaylor32
      Aetaylor32
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      Don’t worry abt that, the load order above is just a general template and can vary between different users because of said situation you mentioned. I personally would put both mods in section 22 with the master being above ofc
  2. MrB0sch2099
    MrB0sch2099
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    hi, where i should put mod configuration menu?
    1. DarkStar701
      DarkStar701
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      Top
  3. nexhex
    nexhex
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    What category would a mod like NPCs travel fit in with this guide? It's not a "Faction Overhaul Mods", it doesn't overhaul a specific faction. It doesn't add "New" factions. It doesn't overhaul AI. Maybe New NPCs mods? Many of them are vanilla, but a few (mostly traders) are "new", I suppose.
    1. Waxwork
      Waxwork
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      It's an encounter and npc/enemy spawn mod. In skyrim I always kept them near the top, before the factions so that the game treats them like skk combat stalkers or skk random encounters. It works well like that 
  4. DaveweLegion1992
    DaveweLegion1992
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    How should I move America rising 2 down if it is a master file?
  5. DeityPanda
    DeityPanda
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    What do you mean by Framework and ESL mods, btw this is the first time I'm really getting into the modding community
    1. MarshalAmimKagori
      MarshalAmimKagori
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      What’s The Difference Between ESM, ESP And ESL? - Modding Skyrim For Beginners #11 - YouTube
    2. schitzoflink
      schitzoflink
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      I am also curious about this. I know what an ESL file is, though something like BakaFramework is an ESM so wouldn't that go in the Master Files section? If it is an ESM but is a Framework does that override the "Master" bit in the order? I know that it depends on the mod and it's relationship to other mods but perhaps some clarity could be added? EG "Master Files (excluding Frameworks with ESM)" or something.
    3. nexhex
      nexhex
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      I think it would have been helpful to give an example of each mod type (since this guide is probably for relative beginners more than anybody else).

      I'm pretty sure that "Masters" refers to the default, always-gonna-be-there files from the vanilla FO4 game, and the DLCs (presuming you have them - most people will at this point), like Fallout4.esm (will be at the very, very top of your LO (load order)), DLCRobot.esm, DLCworkshop01.esm, DLCCoast.esm (Far Harbor), etc. These are the "Masters" that the article is referring to at the very top.
  6. HallloDuu
    HallloDuu
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    Where should I put America Rising 2 or other mods that do a lot of stuff like editing the world, adding factions, extensive quests etc.?
    1. psychoqwirk420
      psychoqwirk420
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      I would say under section 26 "New Quests and World Edits". That's where I put America Rising 2
  7. RE4P3R1337
    RE4P3R1337
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    What about animations, for example for weapons or general animations?
  8. 00TheWinterKing00
    00TheWinterKing00
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    Why is it that you have HUD Framework low in the suggested LO here, but high in the sample in the link?
    1. fraquar
      fraquar
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      There is a difference between organizing your mods and their plugin load order.
      a)   Organizing your mods primarily deals with Asset Conflicts (i.e. the Left Pane of Mod Organizer 2).
      b)   Load Order primarily deals with Record Conflicts (i.e. the Plugin Load Order - the Right Pane of Mod Organizer 2).

      HUD Framework can literally be anywhere in the Left Pane.  (i.e. a above).    I group it with all of the rest of my User Interface mods though so mods with similar functionality are all in one place.

      HUD Framework can only be near the top in the Right Pane (i.e. b above) - because it is an ESM - it has to load before .ESP plugins.
  9. khajitmango
    khajitmango
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    Does LOOT work for fo4 PC? because it does not change anything in my order ever.
    1. MagicPiper23
      MagicPiper23
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      It does work, yes. I'm using it right now and it sorted my last mods installed.
    2. MarshalAmimKagori
      MarshalAmimKagori
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      Loot should never be used to sort mods. You can use it to check for errors, conflicts and updates. Go here: A Pleb's Guide to Modding Fallout 4 on Steam Deck - 2024 Revision at Fallout 4 Nexus - Mods and community (nexusmods.com)

      And read the articles linked under the "Before You Continue" section
  10. hotramos
    hotramos
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    Thank you for the guide. My question is, why do you put Fast Start mods in third but put Start me up mod in 31th position???
    1. MarshalAmimKagori
      MarshalAmimKagori
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      Something like SKK Fast Start is very simple and barely touches anything other than the initial starting quest allowing you to get out of Vault 111 asap. So, you can keep it high in your load order. Something like Start Me Up is very comprehensive and touches a significant amount of the game's quests. To prevent it from being overridden by other mods, you're going to want to load it lower.
    2. RhaevynHart
      RhaevynHart
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      I'd like to add something here as well:  if you play any Sim Settlements mod, do NOT use any fast start that tosses you out of the vault immediately after character creation. You need to stay in the vault for a while so Sim Settlements has time to do all its inner workings and magic before you emerge. Read Kinggath's mod pages for more info on this.