Is there some trick I don't know?

[BigDaddyRat]

Hats off to anyone who can mod Skyrim SE and not have any problems and can keep all their hair. I quit playing the game years ago over mod problems, and just recently thought I'd give it another go. BIG mistake. I took my time, made sure I had all requirements and patches, and still had missing Master files...and no way to figure out which ones. Now, I can mod Fallout 4 all day long with no problems. In fact, I'm running close to 500 mods with no problem whatsoever. But Skyrim? Nooooo! Half a dozen mods in and I'm pulling my hair out!!!! I gtfu!!!!

[xkkmEl]

I share your pain, as do all skyrim modders I bet. With persistence you'll eventually get things working, though it'll remain challenging and full of mysteries.

 

My tips:

• build up slowly your set of mods; some will break things, move on and try others instead (fail fast, fail often)
• pay attention to tutorials on setting up the base game with optimizations and crash fixes; not everything they recommend will work for you but it will navigate you through many common problems
• use a mod manager and LOOT, and backup any stable-looking intermediate steps you achieve (I mean full backup; plan on breaking things fundamentally and having to restart from scratch)
• Resolve file conflicts and run LOOT after adding each and every mod (I find for example that AFT needs to be loaded after NPC mods to be fully functional, and so adjusting AFT's "load after" config immediately after adding each single NPC mod is important).
• Don't expect LE mods to work on SE and conversely!

Once you have a stable core, it'll be easier to add batches of follower, item or quest mods without too much hassle. Getting there is frustrating, especially since skyrimLE gets so quickly overloaded if you don't have the optimization and crash fixes in place.

 

On my side, I've had to reinstall from scratch a few times, and strangely I can never get the exact same set of base mods to work together.

[xkkmEl]

BTW, you are on the Skyrim LE forum. You'll get more targeted help here: https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/forum/4055-skyrim-special-edition-mod-talk/

[BigDaddyRat]

Sorry...didn't realize this was the LE forum, as I haven't used the Skyrim forums before. I use Vortex to install my mods, so it automatically uses LOOT to install mods in the right order, and gives error messages when needed. Thanks for the advice and now I'll try to find the SE forum.