To Merge or Not to Merge...

[obi636]

Should I be merging patch files and optional files with the main mods or loading them separately as their own mods?  I don't see any instructions indicating which to do on either the STEP guide or the Mod's web page.  Any help, much appreciated.  Thanks.

[O0mix0O]

(Someone correct me if I'm wrong) 

I believe you just the mods as they are if you're following S.T.E.P to the letter. Personally I used S.T.E.P as a launching pad allowing me to delve deeper into mods with more knowledge of load orders/conflicts etc.

 

If you know about merging then I don't see the harm in merging some of them (I have).

 

Either way, I'd point you towards this: https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/1033740-merging-user-reports/ 

It's a catalog of esps people have merged and the results they had so you can use this as a guide as to which mods you are safe to merge :)

[GSDFan]

Be careful when you say "Merge" when using MO. MO does not do the merge like TES5Edit. When updating installed mods it depends on how the mods update is packaged. You can install the patch into the main mod or its own mod. One thing to keep in mind if going the two mod route is MO may throw a PMOP error and want you to move the update before the main mod.