I'm very lost trying to update from Clover 10.12 to OpenCore 12.6, following the Dortania guide. Need answers to a few basic questions as I am quite out of my depth.

Specs:

cpu: Intel i7-6700 3.4Ghz (Gen 6) Skylake

gpu: Intel HD 530

mobo: ASUS Maximus VIII Gene

ram: 2x8gb Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4 2400mhz

audio: 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family HD Audio Controller

wifi: Atheros AR93xx Wireless Network Adapter

ethernet: Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V (included w/ motherboard)

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Okay my brain just isn't comprehending what needs to be done and the more I read the dumber I feel. I barely got my Hackintosh running the first time and I can see I'm barely intelligent enough to know what the Dortania guide is talking about half the time. I'm sorry to be a bother, I just don't know where I stand or what I should do.

What I've done so far:

No alterations to the OS, just preparations. I've updated my BIOS/UEFI and changed the settings so it would boot up. I also mapped my USB Ports and created a USB.kext/USBLegacyMap.kext. I am guessing I only need the newer one but I made legacy to be safe.

Questions:

1. Even if I'm switching from Clover to OpenCore, do I need to make a USB installer if I'm only updating? It says it's better to start from a fresh install. My main goal is to keep my audio plugins from having to reauthenticate because I have like 90 of them, my understanding is that I can do this if I keep the Serial Number and Board-ID from my current installation.
2. It describes removal of several files from the EFI in the "Clover Conversion" section of the Dortania guide under "extras". Do I do that after installing OpenCore, make a copy of the Clover EFI and do it to that then mount that EFI, or do it before installing opencore? Or do I download OpenCore-0.9.8-Release and just overwrite the mounted EFI and then look again and maybe there are leftovers from Clover?
3. Is the OpenCore-Legacy Patcher related to any of this? Idk I just found it somewhere and it's also by Dortania and it looks a lot like the Clover-Configurator which I'm more familiar with.
4. Is TimeMachine a useful tool to back things up as a safeguard or does is it not able to store things at the kext-level?

Thanks in advance!!!!!!!

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