I have no dependencies or custom rules set up in Vortex or Loot. The plugins are sorted differently through Vortex and the externally run Loot. When I apply the changes in Loot, the next time I run Vortex it sorts them back to it's original sorting order and I have to run Loot again and resort. It's basically a never ending loop. Yes if two plugins have no conflicts their load order doesn't matter but that's only in relation to the two specific plugins. Their load order matters to the other plugins that are loaded. For example, Vortex always puts Smimm SE about 3/4 of the way down my load order. Loot puts it almost at the top of the ESP's right behind the Unofficial Patch. This is where it's supposed to be. Where Vortex puts it it affects files in immersive armours, realistic waters etc. Anyway I uninstalled all the Vortex mods and uninstalled it and went back to NMM which seems to work a lot better with Loot and SSE Edit. Thanks for taking the time to respond.