Enemies Too Strong and I Don't Know Why

[TLC77]

Hey guys, recently I have started a new game with my own updated modlist and from what I found, most enemies are overly strong, they can take away 1/4th of my health with a 10% condition cowboy repeater from across 70 feet, I can barely kill them with a grenade launcher and I get about 70 xp from killing them. It is obvious that their levels are too high and I don't understand why. Here is my load order and mods: https://imgur.com/a/kk3QWTP https://imgur.com/a/VyFm8dW

Edited November 22, 2020 by TLC77

[JimboUK]

Working link https://imgur.com/a/kk3QWTP

[dubiousintent]

I'm not intimately familiar with whichever mod manager is producing that screenshot, but first you need to investigate any "icons" that appear on a plugin's line such as the "caution" on the "WME - DLCs.esp".

 

Note that WME was last updated in 2014. Any mods affecting weapons or damage published since then are NOT going to be compatible without patches, and I do not see a "Merge Patch" file. I suspect this lack of a "Merge Patch" is the primary cause of your problem. In addition, you appear to have optional patches installed which are unnecessary/conflicting.

 

* If you have more than one mod that makes any change to the same record or set of records in the vanilla game, then you really need to use a "Merge Patch File" with that collection of mods. Please see the 'Third Rule: The Rule of One' and 'Merge Patch File' sections of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article. When in doubt, create a "Merge Patch" file for your overall "load order" anyway. If you add, remove, or change the sequence of plugins in your "load order", don't forget to rebuild the "merge patch" file again.

* "Merge[d] Patch" is a more generic term than "Bashed Patch", which is only produced by the Wrye Bash/Flash program. A Wrye "Bashed Patch" and a xEdit "Merged Patch" are generated from the entire "load order" list of plugins to resolve all "record level conflicts". They are roughly equivalent but use different algorithms. You can use the combination of both a "Bashed Patch" and a "Merged Patch" file (technically an "override" patch as described here), for different complimentary reasons. (What I say regarding "Wrye Bash (WB)" also applies to "Wrye Flash (WF)". "xEdit" is the generic name for "FNVEdit" which is the game specific implementation of that tool.)

While both WB and xEdit are creating essentially the same thing, the big difference is that WB automates the "record level conflict" resolution in load order sequence producing a "merged patch" file named explicitly "Bashed Patch, 0.esp". This works fine for most such conflicts where you want the last loading plugin to "win" conflicts, but to also include non-conflicting records of earlier plugins to get around "The Rule of One". The xEdit process does similar but doesn't dictate the resulting file name and lends itself to deciding those exceptions where you want an earlier loading record to "win" the conflict instead. By running WB first, and then creating an xEdit "override" patch with just the different winners (hence the difference from a "merged patch" of the entire "load order"), you are reducing the number of manual changes needed. This becomes important if you tend to modify your load order with updates to plugins frequently, as you should rebuild your "merged patch(s)" whenever you do so.

Note that xEdit can "automate" the creation process in a similar manner to WB, but it doesn't (last I knew but things are constantly evolving) make use of "Bash Tags". WB also has built-in "tweaks" to game settings that it incorporates into the patch, as well as merging of "leveled lists". You can also use xEdit to give "unique" results that none of the plugins provide (in effect creating a "new patch plugin" result within the overall patch.)

There are more possibilities. Please see the wiki "Merged Plugin Guidelines for Personal Use" article for details.

* Move any "inactive/disabled" plugins out of the game "Data" folder. They count against the "plugin cap"(see Smaller Plugin Cap) because they get loaded by the game engine if found, and can cause "Missing Master" problems. Please see the wiki "Missing Masters" article if you get that error message. If those plugins without the "mod index" numbers are "deactivated" by the "Bash Patch", then you failed to have them "ghosted" by "Wrye Bash/Flash" when you built your "Bashed Patch". Please see the wiki "Bashed Patch file with Marked Mergeables" article.

* Don't install every optional file for a mod. Read the install instructions carefully. Optional files need to be selected on a "case by case" basis. For example: with any mod you usually only need one ESP (and possibly one ESM) "base" file depending upon whether you have all the DLCs active or not. Only if you don't have them all active do you need to install any specific DLC versions if there is an "Ultimate Edition/All/Merged DLC" version.

* "Compatibility patches" to make one mod work with another need to be placed after (as in "physically lower, higher numbered") in the "load order" than ALL of the plugins they are designed to make compatible. (This also applies to "fix" files.) ESMs should always be placed at the top (lowest numbered) positions in the "load order", followed by the related ESPs though they can be separated from their ESMs by other plugins. LOOT does a good job of determining those basic orders, but it is a "crutch". (The "Tale of Two Wastelands" site has A Guide for NOT using LOOT for those interested in learning how to manually manage their "load order" for themselves.) Getting the "load order" incorrect will cause "Missing Masters" errors as well. You can make minor adjustments to the order and tell LOOT how to remember them. It's in the on-line documentation under "Metadata".

FYI: The "pre-order packs" (aka "POPs": Caravan, Classic, Mercenary, and Tribal; available now in the "Courier's Stash" addon), are not considered "true DLC expansions" by most mods and are treated as "compatibility patches" to the base game because they just add certain unique items. So their absence should not deter you from using "All DLC Merged" plugins. Where they are included, they should come after "GunrunnersArsenal.ESM" which is a true DLC expansion. When in doubt, follow the process in the wiki "Missing Masters" article to confirm they are not "master files" for that plugin.

Please see the 'Common Game Problems' section of the wiki "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article.

I recommend anyone read the entire "FNV General Mod Use Advice" article to understand the differences between this game and others you may have experience with; especially if this is your first attempt to play a modded FNV or it's been more than a year since you last set it up. It is designed for someone who has never played a modded PC game before, so it tries to avoid making any assumptions, is kept "up-to-date", and covers years of "lessons learned". It is NOT a list of various mods to install that happen to work on the author's machine. It addresses fundamentals underlying how to get the basic game and mods to work together. At least 90% of everything I post in the "Technical Support" sub-forum is already in that article.

 

Edit: Finally, check which game "difficulty" setting you are playing at. Anything other than "Normal" affects both damage and health of both you and your opponents.

-Dubious-

Edited November 22, 2020 by dubiousintent