If you are using Mod Organizer 2, Skyrim and all modding tools must be started through the MO2 interface, otherwise the game will not load your mods. MO2 comes with a tutorial that runs on first opening to guide you through the downloading of one mod the Unofficial Patches are a good place to start, as you will likely want them anyway. Your chosen mod manager should be downloaded and installed into your new mod management directory. While Vortex is modern and supported by the Nexus, MO2 is generally considered superior, especially for power-users. Nexus Mod Manager is now deprecated and has been replaced by the proprietary Vortex manager. Mod Organizer 2 (MO2) is the preferred manager, and has increased functionality over other mod managers such as Nexus Mod Manager (NMM). While a few utilities, such as SKSE and Wrye Bash, need to be installed directly in the Skyrim game directory in order to function properly, the majority of your downloads can be kept in a separate location, from where your Mod Manager tool can efficiently manage them.įor best performance, your new Mod Management directory should be on the same hard drive as your Skyrim installation. Create a Mod Management Directory Ĭreating a new folder, or 'directory', to store your mods and mod utilities in allows the vanilla Skyrim folder to stay as clean as possible.