Skyrim: Here’s How To Set Up Your Load Order Correctly on PS4 & PS5

The Skyrim PC community has been enjoying mods since day one and this means that there are plenty of tools available to make the process of modding and implementing mods a more smooth and more enjoyable experience for users. Consoles, on the other hand, received mod support with the release of Skyrim: Special Edition, and with the lack of proper support, modding can be confusing. The key to a stable moded game is proper load order, which can make or break your game. Having said that, there are some hard rules when it comes to setting up your load order, and today we’re going to take a look at them. Let’s see how to set up your load order correctly on PS4 and PS5. 

How does load order work in general? 

Load order is the order in which mods will load when running a game. At the moment of running the game, a series of scripts execute every single thing in your order, some things have better priority like for example master files and some things are the last in the priority order due to having not that much of an impact on your gameplay. Dependencies are vital when judging what should come first.

As you can conclude, the more dependencies the mod has, the higher it will be in the load order because this means that other mods and assets depend on the content of that mod to be loaded before them. For example, if you’ve installed some environment overhaul that depends on a certain bugfix introduced with the Skyrim Unofficial patch, the Skyrim Unofficial patch needs to be loaded before the environment overhaul; otherwise, it may result in an unstable game or your game not running at all. There are plenty of mod managers for PCs, but things got complicated with the introduction of mods on consoles.

Most issues with modded games are the product of conflicting mods or incorrectly setting up load orders. Luckily, we’ve prepared this guide for you, so let’s take a look at how to set up PS4 and PS5 load order

1. Master Files 

Master files are your main Skyrim, Dawnguard, Dragonborn, and Hearthfire files. All of the additional content you install will depend on these files to be first in your load order since those files provide every single asset, script, mesh, and texture for mods to run. Mods can have master files as well, and those types of files usually have .esm or .esl extensions. 

2. Bugfixes and patches 

Following master files are bug fixes and patches. You might not see the impact of such “mods” in a direct way, but they need to be there in order for things to run smoothly. For example, the Unofficial Skyrim Patch might affect some aspects of the world that you are trying to overhaul later, for example, so it needs to be loaded before any type of water overhaul mod. It’s generally best to put them at the forefront of the load order to avoid crashes.

2. Overhauls 

Following bug fixes are overhauls that impact the game in a large way or provide the player with a constant effect of some kind. A good example of such mods that need to be loaded second are mods that overhaul your UI or change leveled lists in any significant way. 

3. Quest mods 

The third mods in your load order should be mission or quest mods that either add or edit some aspect of quests and missions. These types of mods tend to be pretty script-heavy, so it’s always a good idea to keep the loaded as soon as possible. 

4. Environmental mods 

When we talk about environment mods we’re mostly referring to mods that affect lighting, visual effects, climate, foliage, and other aspects of the world. Environmental mods, while not as vital as other scrip-heavier mods, should be near the top of your load order due to affecting a large part of the world in any kind of way. A good example of an environmental mod is Epic Enhanced Console Graphics.

5. Buildings, cities, and settlements mods 

These types of mod usually affect only a single area. For example, adding a bank to Whiterun will result only in the Whiterun cell being edited. Those types of mods are usually not as scrip heavy as the aforementioned mods, but it’s still a good idea to keep them high in the load order due to the area that they affect. A good example of a settlement mod is Helgen Rebuilt.

6. Item packs 

While Item packs usually don’t affect large areas and aren’t script-heavy, they basically add or edit existing textures and/or meshes. It’s good to keep them in the middle of your load order since some later types of mods might have them as their dependencies. 

7. Gameplay mods 

Items packs are followed by gameplay mods. Those types of mod affect certain mechanics, for example, perks, skills, combat, crafting, and enchanting. Those types of mods usually affect only you and not NPCs on a large scale. 

8. NPC overhauls 

NPC overhauls can affect multiple, all, or a single NPC but usually don’t affect the game in a significant way. For example, you might install a mod to increase the spawn rates of dragons in a certain area, or you might want to add additional non-scripted NPCs to populate a city in order to appear more lively. Other mods usually don’t depend on those types of mods, so they can be kept pretty low in the load order.

9. Appearance mods 

If you’ve installed a mod that affects your skin, face, hair, eyes, or body model in general, it doesn’t have to be as high in the load order due to usually affecting only you. The only exception to this rule are appearance mods that affect other NPCs, in that case, they should be put above the mods that depend on them. 

10. Texture mods 

Texture mods are pretty much self-explanatory. They can be enormous when it comes to file size but are usually light when it comes to scripts. Their impact on the game is minimal hence why they should be placed pretty low in the load order.

11. Patches created for mods

Don’t mistake these patches for master file patches and bugfixes. Patches created for other mods should be loaded last in your load order due to affecting only a single mod or they might allow multiple earlier mods to interact with each other to avoid conflicting mods. Mod creators will usually specify if a certain mod has a patch and let you know that it should be loaded last. 

And that’s about it, if you’re interested in a more in-depth explanation of how load orders work as well as concrete examples, you can check it out here. 

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