What exactly is a bash patch (Wrye Bash)?

[Captain Butthurt]

How does it work? Do I still need to enable the plugins that were enabled during the creation of this patch? If no, how do I know, which mods are "incorporated" into this wrye patch?

My situation:
I got carried away modding my game and now have 427 total plugins (according to Loot).
When I enable everything in Vortex, it says that I have 281 active plugins + 146 light plugins (with already formed Bashed Patch, which I created by allowing Wrye to disable whatever plugins it saw fit and reforming Bashed Patch once. Didn't tinker with settings).

What do I do now? When I launch Wrye Bash now, it marks some plugins as "already bashed". Do I continue reforming the same Bashed Patch 0 with different plugins enabled? I watched several vids, but none of the games were as modded as mine.

[smr1957]

Okay. A Bashed Patch should only be used for Leveled lists - NOT to merge mods. As such, the only option to be checked when making a Bashed Patch is the one pertaining to Leveled Lists.

Second, concerning your build - the best advice is to whittle away at your build to get that figure of 281 active plugins below the cap of 255.

Actually, the very best advice is (and no disrespect intended here), don't go making a build that is beyond your modding capabilities. You barely have any experience at all in original Skyrim and none in SSE. What you should be doing is making very small builds and then going from there as you gain experience in modding the game. The best that can be done is to point you in the right direction (and for that, best to start off from vanilla).

Start by reading these and do all they tell you to do:

Excellent advice regarding modding Skyrim (essay written by PeggleFrank - written for original Skyrim and a little outdated, but the basic principles still apply, and to SSE, as well)
http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/343787920127409994/#c343787920127583150

See this guide first (currently the best beginner's guide there is):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1986067552

And for longer, more detailed explanations:
Skyrim SE: Guides and Resources (PINNED TOPIC) by Ilja
http://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/340412122413706606/
VERY IMPORTANT if you wish to successfully mod your game

Also, refer to this (PINNED TOPIC) resource for links to guides, tutorials, vids,and other important information:
HELPFUL LINKS AND REFERENCES
https://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/2828702372997628701/

And, it is absolutely essential that you install:
Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/266

Finally, start small - just add a few mods at a time, test, and then play for a while to ensure there are no issues - don't fall into the trap of adding a bunch of mods and then trying to play. And, very important!!! For most mods, once they are added, they cannot be removed and play continued on that save - you have to roll back to a save made before that removed/disabled mod was installed, or start a new game - absolutely no ifs, ands, or buts about it. So make sure you make a manual save before adding anything, and save often (manually) while playing. (For why you cannot remove/disable mods midplaythrough, see: You CANNOT Remove Mods Mid-Playthrough - http://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/1520386297681801135/ )

If you have any questions, or are unsure of something, just ask in the forum first - it is easier to prevent a problem than it is to fix one - especially where Skyrim is concerned.

ONE MORE THING: It can be confusing to determine whom to listen to on these forums, especially for someone new. In the pinned topic Helpful Links and References, see Section 6, Miscellaneous - Reliable Forum Regulars, for a list and explanation

Good luck!

[Captain Butthurt]

Thank you so much for such an extensive answer!

"Good luck"

Yeah, I'm gonna need it!

P.S.
What about just designiting some plugins as "light"? I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find some relatively light mods to shave 281 to 255.

[Vlad 254]

https://youtu.be/g_urrHrGQOY?t=164

[smr1957]

Take a look at this:
esl Files and All You Need to Know About Them by cfs111- https://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/3276824488728505237/

Also,, while I suggest starting over, actually, you can learn a lot just by experimenting, so even working to try to get that build to work - whether you succeed or not - can result in you learning a tremendous amount as regards making a build; sometimes, making mistakes and fixing them is the best teacher. You can learn more from learning to fix your own errors than you can by just reading a "how to" - and the lessons stick with you.

And, of course, we are always here to help in the process should you need it.

You might want to consider keeping this as your dedicated discussion post where you ask questions - this way, all the questions and answers will be in one place, and it will be easier to keep track of everything.

Ninja'd!

[Lital]

Are you using Mod Organizer 2? Hopefully.

The first thing from there is to run LOOT to sort your plugins. Read through what it says and see if there are any ITMs. Clean all the mods (including official ones such as update.esm) that LOOT tells you have ITMs using SSEEditQuickAutoClean. Don't do this on any mod that has intentional ITMs. LOOT will tell you which mods have intentional ones.

From there you could setup the ESLify script, there's instructions for it in the page you find it on. It will convert many esp into 'esl' versions and clear up a large amount of your load order.

The last thing you will want to do is download the Unofficial Mator Smash Update and run that. Click the green button and it will take all of your addons and create a smashed patch.

All applications and tools are to be launched through your Mod Organizer.

You should be good to go from there.

Smashed patch will be replacing Bash.

Look up GamerPoets on YouTube for very helpful mod practices. His explanations are super useful.

[Vlad 254]

Originally posted by Lital:

Look up GamerPoets on YouTube for very helpful mod practices. His explanations are super useful.

Yes to this as well.

[smr1957]

LOOT should ONLY be used for sorting - and nothing else. See:
LOOT Advisory Re: Cleaning Mods
https://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/1693795812306776189/
(from pinned topic Helpful Links and References, Section 3, Tools, Load Order, and Mod Cleaning)

Use of a Smashed Patch is strongly NOT recommended. As in many automated program, it gets a lot wrong - regardless of what anyone else may say.
And, I am not the only one who feels that way. There is this, from the Posts section of Arthmoor's Dawnguard Map Markers mod:

Oooiii
02 January 2020, 10:11AM
What is wrong with Smashed Patches?

Arthmoor
02 January 2020, 1:30PM
Pretty much everything? It just mashes things together with no thought behind it and you can end up with some really screwed up results because of it. That then means you need to pick through it in detail with xEdit and at that point you may as well have either used Wrye Bash or followed The Method (or both, depending).

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/20931?tab=posts

[Vlad 254]

Meant to Link this the first time - it's what you want (also in my Guide)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_urrHrGQOY&feature=youtu.be

[Captain Butthurt]

Thank everyone for replies! That's a lot of information to take into!

Quick and important question though - did I already and irreversibly damage mod plugins in the process of forming a bash patch? Or I can simply disable and ignore Bashed Patch 0.esp, pretend it didn't happen and carry on with other procedures?

For what it's worth, LOOT doesn't throw any new errors post-bashing

[jreese46]

You can always delete and rebuild a patch.

[jreese46]

To answer the rest of that, the plugins shouldn't be changing, while you make a bashed patch, except for the occasional convenience of adding a master, like one of the DLCs or the unofficial patch. The other "changes" are more along the lines of sending a conflict to the bashed patch to be resolved there, so that your plugins win/lose as you deem necessary, without being actually changed.

[Captain Butthurt]

Originally posted by jreese46:

You can always delete and rebuild a patch.

Thanks for a quick answer!
I don't really care for this abomination of a patch I created, I worry for multiple hours of work that went into choosing the the mods, reading on them and hunting down every compatibility patch, lol.
If I can safely delete a Bashed patch - good. I probably won't use it - I didn't install any mods that require manual patching (I've installed every single comp patch LOOT suggested, and both LOOT and Vortex are chill about mine lineup apart from it being too large.

I'm still not decided on cleaning ITMs from mods, with opinions being quite opposite on this topic, so I didn't do it yet. But that's a whole other can of worms.

[jreese46]

With that many mods, it's likely you will still need a bashed patch. What that's going to do is make your leveled lists play nicely together. Without it, one mod or the other will win, in those, and you won't get the benefit of the other mod(s).

[smr1957]

Do NOT clean ITMS unless it is specifically stated to do so by the mod author or a reliable forum regular (for what constitutes that, see pinned topic Helpful Links and References, Section 6, Miscellaneous - Reliable Forum Regulars). Forget about opinions you may have read someplace else - people like myself and some others are amongst the most knowledgeable people in the world when it comes to Skyrim and how it works, and as stated in the above regarding what a reliable forum regular may post "the advice given by them should, just about, trump anyone else's."

[smr1957]

And to repeat, when the options of what to include in the Bashed Patch come up, uncheck everything except for Leveled Lists (the very last item on that list)