Over-leveled NPCs? [Semi-solved; E3 quest bug, culprit mod unknown]

[Nexus of Concordia]

Well I just started playing Skyrim again, installed a bunch of mods of course.
So I started a new game, everything was jolly fine.
Then I ran into a bandit not long after the first birthsign stones, he did about 50 damage with a single arrow and was wearing Guild Master armor. That's a high-level Thieves' Guild armor if I remember correctly... right?
Anyway. After getting rid of the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥(and brandishing a spankin' new set of armor), after going through Riverwood I started going up the path leading to Bleak Falls Barrow.
Around the tower were four bandits, prowling around. Okay, something's wrong - I remember that the place used to only have 3 bandits, two melee one archer. Now it has two archers.
Okay, I can do this... at least that's what I thought. For some reason I couldn't hit them with arrows from a distance, it was like they magically disappeared after a while, though it worked at close range. Then I got slaughtered in two hits.

I looked over my mod list three times, and I found nothing that would alter game mechanics save for Apocalypse Spells and Invested Magic, both Workshop and Nexus mods. The only things that add stuff to NPCs by leveled lists(and possibly scripts) is Cloaks of Skyrim and Winter is Coming.
Has anyone else encountered something like this or know what causes it? Maybe someone has a solution? Could it have something to do with the fact that I changed race from Imperial to cat(because vanity mods) with showracemenu in Helgen's dungeons?

[Ilja]

That thief in guid master armor is a E3 demo character that was removed from the game, but left in to files. If you have him there, then something is wrong in your game. The best known mod that launches this bug is Improved Skyforge.

Neither Cloaks of Skyrim or Winter is Coming - cloaks would cause this bg.

[Shelt]

Weird. Do you have the unoffical patches?

[Nexus of Concordia]

Originally posted by Shelt:

Weird. Do you have the unoffical patches?

Nope. Guess I'll have to get them.

Originally posted by Ilja:

That thief in guid master armor is a E3 demo character that was removed from the game, but left in to files. If you have him there, then something is wrong in your game. The best known mod that launches this bug is Improved Skyforge.

Neither Cloaks of Skyrim or Winter is Coming - cloaks would cause this bg.

E3 content being re-activated, it seems like. I remember that it was made with a higher-level character...

[Ilja]

Yep. I have been trying to track down files that might be causing this, but peoples usually do rage-quits and clear their load orders, before I get the chanche to compare them propelry. Improved Skyforge is currelty the only conformed entry in my list of notes.

[Nexus of Concordia]

Originally posted by Ilja:

Yep. I have been trying to track down files that might be causing this, but peoples usually do rage-quits and clear their load orders, before I get the chanche to compare them propelry. Improved Skyforge is currelty the only conformed entry in my list of notes.

Hmm. In case you're interested, here's my load order. Quick 'n dirty copypaste from NMM.


Skyrim.esm=1
Update.esm=1
Dawnguard.esm=1
Dragonborn.esm=1
HearthFires.esm=1
ApachiiHair.esm=1
ApachiiHairFemales.esm=1
SkyUI.esp=1
AchieveThat.esp=1
Cloaks.esp=1
HighResTexturePack01.esp=1
HighResTexturePack02.esp=1
HighResTexturePack03.esp=1
RaceMenu.esp=1
RaceMenuPlugin.esp=1
luminescent luna moths.esp=1
one with nature - dg+db.esp=0
abysswalker.esp=1
ds_dragonslayerspear.esp=1
ds_zweihander.esp=1
darksouls1lagriearmoridea.esp=1
dark souls sounds for skyrim.esp=1
ds_blackknightsword.esp=1
andre of astora.esp=1
dark souls rings.esp=1
darksoulsironflesh.esp=1
zinvestedmagicsteam.esp=1
ds_skstrsword.esp=1
windstadmine.esp=1
better dynamic snow.esp=1
better embers.esp=1
coinrework.esp=1
dd - enhanced blood main.esp=1
enhanceddistantterrain.esp=1
milkywaygalaxy.esp=1
shootingstars.esp=1
vibrantauroras.esp=1
wetandcold.esp=1
wetandcold - ashes.esp=1
purewaters.esp=1
dd - realistic ragdoll force - realistic.esp=1
real glaciers remastered.esp=1
moresmeltables.esp=1
erbostanningexp.esp=1
dragonsoulstoperks.esp=1
treehouse.esp=1
portal2mod.esp=1
reduced distance npc greetings.esp=1
private_nokillblur_test.esp=1
prometheus_beastskeletons.esp=1
poshmudcrabs.esp=1
apocalypse - the spell package (workshop).esp=1
kainarmor.esp=1
EliteKnightArmor.esp=1
HedgeKnight.esp=1
VagabondArmor.esp=1
Hedge Mage Armor.esp=1
Hedge Mage Armor - Bonus Without Hood.esp=1
DreamBurrowsRegalAssassin.esp=1
VioLens.esp=1
1nivWICCloaks.esp=1
1nivWICSkyCloaksPatch.esp=1

[Hamsterbytes , bits and nibbles]

Originally posted by Ilja:

That thief in guid master armor is a E3 demo character that was removed from the game, but left in to files. If you have him there, then something is wrong in your game. The best known mod that launches this bug is Improved Skyforge.

Neither Cloaks of Skyrim or Winter is Coming - cloaks would cause this bg.

I got him from the very first game play through and everytime i have started anew. I always thought he was a fixture.

[Nexus of Concordia]

Alright, so I googled this E3 quest bug. I can live with it, I can just TGM my way through the douchebandits, as for the broken Thieves' Guild quests - no big loss, I don't really care about that faction. Especially after the way it's forced into the player's face...

[Ilja]

Install Unofficial Skyrim Patch + DLC patches. USKP usually fixes this problem, unless some mod forces the it open again. You are also risking inability to devour dragon souls without Dragonborn patch.

Unofficial Skyrim Patch by Unofficial Patch Project Team
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19/?

Your load order is currently out of place. Having (other than unofficial patch file) ESP files above High-resolution Texture pack is a sign that this load order has not been set corretly. Wrong load order between certain mods can also be factor in this bug, but it will definetly cause other bugs and glitches in the game.

Run LOOT to set your load order, once you have installed unofficial patches. Run it always after installing new mods, or when ever your load order changes otherwise.

LOOT
https://loot.github.io/

[Nexus of Concordia]

Originally posted by Ilja:

Install Unofficial Skyrim Patch + DLC patches. USKP usually fixes this problem, unless some mod forces the it open again. You are also risking inability to devour dragon souls without Dragonborn patch.

Unofficial Skyrim Patch by Unofficial Patch Project Team
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19/?

Your load order is currently out of place. Having (other than unofficial patch file) ESP files above High-resolution Texture pack is a sign that this load order has not been set corretly. Wrong load order between certain mods can also be factor in this bug, but it will definetly cause other bugs and glitches in the game.

Run LOOT to set your load order, once you have installed unofficial patches. Run it always after installing new mods, or when ever your load order changes otherwise.

LOOT
https://loot.github.io/

Thanks. I got the patches and ran LOOT last night. I knew about them, I was just too lazy to get them... or my brain was too tired to think about it.