In this step, you will be using a program called zMerge to reduce the overall ESP count. Earlier in the guide, you set up a plugin for MO2 called Merge Plugin Hide which will be used to automate moving merged plugins to the Optional directory for their respective mods. To make your life easier in the long run, I strongly suggest creating a merge profile for every merge in this guide, and keeping them. You will have to update merges in the future as included mods get updated, and not having to hunt for masters every time will greatly increase the likelihood that you hold on to a little of your sanity. Additionally, before starting, you can save yourself some time by creating a blank profile as the base for all of your merges. This can be accomplished by following these steps:

1. Click the Configure Profiles icon at the top of the main Mod Organizer window. The icon looks like an ID card.
2. Select "LOTD Plus" then click Copy.
3. Type "Blank for Merges" in the text box and hit OK.
4. Switch to your newly created profile, right click on the list of mods, and select All → Disable all mods.

For each merge group, you will select the "Blank for Merges" profile and create a new merge using the naming info in each section below. Once you have created each merge profile, run the following steps to prepare the merge:

1. Switch to the profile for the merge group you are working on.
2. Manually activate each of the mods to be included in the merge, along with their masters.
3. Manually arrange the ESPs in the bottom-right pane to match the order listed below.

Once you have successfully arranged the merge profile, it's time to actually create the merge.

1. Ensure that the correct merge profile is active.
2. Open zEdit and select zMerge from the drop-down menu.
3. Press Start Session.
4. Press the Create Merge button.
5. Under the Detail tab, fill in the name and filename of the merge (specified below).
6. Select the Clobber merge method.
7. Under the Plugins tab, select the plugins to include in the merge (not their masters).
8. Under the Load Order tab, ensure that Use game load order is checked.
9. Press the Build button to create your merge.
10. When the message "Merge successfully created" appears, you can close zMerge by clicking the X in the top right corner.
11. Switch back to the LOTD Plus, place the new merged mod where the instructions tell you to, and activate the merge.
12. Run Merge Plugins Hide and disable all the plugins relevant to the merge you just completed.