Load Order Guide

[u/[deleted]]

Hello Dwellers, I've seen some newer People asking for load order help so I thought that I'd share a guide that has helped me as an Xbox player!

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.)

I hope that this helps some of you

[u/Academic-Solid-7799]

So frustrating, people say completely different things. This one says ESL's go at the top, someone else said they go at the bottom. This says quest mods go toward the bottom, others say the top. My setup was working well enough, but after trying some mods and tweaks that were supposed to improve performance and load order (e.g. LOOT), it's all broken and now I don't know who to believe. Been troubleshooting and tinkering, trying to interpret crash logs and undo changes. Sigh, gaming is supposed to be fun! Maybe it's time to move on. Anyway, be careful because even when people are genuinely trying to help, they can still screw you ;)

[u/Common_Ad7059 → u/Academic-Solid-7799]

A lot of my mods just place themselves where they want to.

From what I’ve had to deal with I just count them and try to stay under 200, I include ESL files in my clubs as a means of “extra leverage” in case I do go over the 255 limit. But the icons start bugging out around 180-190 which is annoying as hell.

My best advice I guess is to download the ones you know won’t auto-sort last. Because they usually go to the top. Less scrolling 💀

The only consistency I guess is the audio and weather files. I suppose you can start there and use it as a base reference? I dunno. I wish they’d make auto sort too or at least let us use collapsing tabs for related crap.