There's much more variation in the game than what you described. The quests themselves can seem repetitive at times, but as far as environments and enemies go you see a pretty good mix of everything.

In Skyrim they made it so that most skills actually need to be used in context before they level. That means that standing in a corner spamming destruction spells won't get you anywhere, however here are creative ways around this such as what you did. At that point you need to ask yourself what you're looking for from the game. If exploiting the way the game generates experience for that skill doesn't bother you, go right ahead. It's your game. Just don't be one of those people who do so and then subsequently complain about how easy the game is or how it needs to be fixed. Nobody is forcing you to do any of those things.

Anyways, grab a beer and pull up a chair.

I'm looking forward to it, really. I must have just gotten unlucky with my first few wanderings to hit basically identical quests.

aislephive said it well and really you get what you want out of this game.

The only thing that is actually broken w/o taking advantage of the game is sneak + bow. Where you can essentially get to the point where you are impossible to detect from the distance you are able to kill.

IME the second I start inorganically leveling or getting stronger in games like this is the same time I begin to lose interest. They are always more fun for me when played as the developers intended.

I don't agree with this logic.

Great games like FF7, FF12, even MMO's have ways to make you immensely powerful, and then ways to challenge you even after that happens.

If you can become immensely powerful in a game without cheating (i.e. smithing, alchemy and enchanting), the rest of the game should never be trivially easy.

Never before have I played a game where I had to make sure not to become too powerful (cheat codes obv are an exception, but I never use them, just as I have never used console commands in skyrim).

The game simply does not have proper end-game difficulty content, and that's a huge flaw in an otherwise great game.

I honestly can't think of a single other game I've ever played where I had to go out of my way to not become too powerful to make the game fun to play.

Fallout3 still had plenty of challenging content after reaching the max level for example.

I use to play nerdy computer games, then I took an arrow to the knee.

It feels like the enemy leveling with you system has something to do with the difficulty being too easy.

On that note, hardest location in the game? I feel like outdoor dragon priests were the biggest pain in the ass for me(they would run far away). Guess forelhorst is in the discussion?

I just started a new character because I wanted to explore being a mage/thief and started on master this game.

So for me the hardest location in the game is all of them. JFC this game is impossible for a low level mage.

That's probably up until you get the Impact perk at level 40 Destruction, which makes combat much easier. I think they should have made that perk available once you reach 75 or so, it's just too powerful.

I started as mage archer myself and played on Expert difficulty up until level 15 or so, then it got a bit easy so switched to Master. Starting directly on Master as a mage exclusively is probably way too hard, can switch to Master once you get the Impact perk maybe.

Agreed. The system they use is pretty good, but it would have been better if there was a chance to encounter tiers of enemies above/below your range as well.

Say an 80% chance that the encounter is at the level it is now, and a 10% that it's higher or lower by one tier. If it's higher, give it a 25% chance that it's another tier higher as well. Maybe modify those numbers upwards depending how far into that quest you are, or how far from a major town you are.

Something like this would've definitely upped the tension a little, without making the game unplayable.

If you play on master I doubt it gets easy endgame, even when you make yourself powerfull (not to the point where it's broken). Draugr scourge (lords) and stuff like ancient vampires will be the norm when you reach level 40 or maybe even lower.
I gotta admit though, it's not hard to break the game. For example having 0 mana cost in 2 schools is not that hard to pull off, and I assume it would be a cakewalk even on master that way.

Edit: Also, it would be really hard for the game to detect how powerfull you are. Currently playing a warrior in scaled armor, no magic/no enchantments. Say I'm encountering some vampire at lvl 30, it would be way harder for me to beat him than it would be for a lvl30 guy in the best armor/with awesome enchanted weapons. You could argue that they should make the enemies stronger lategame/on higher difficulties and if that makes it unable for me to win, I should just play a lower difficulty, and perhaps you would be right. But OTOH I don't like it when I got to play a certain way to beat master.


In short: you can make your character powerfull and in the progress you will probably become too OP but just stay clear of the things that cause that.

@onthinice: are you using illusion? It's awesome, especially for sneaky types. Calm opponent, walk around him, backstab with daggers, or cast fury to let groups of bandits murder eachother.

I think I have found why there aren't many mages in skyrim. They all get wrecked before they can get strong enough to survive.

At level ~55 the game is much easier on master than when you start the game on the default difficulty AINEC.

0 mana destruction + impact perk was no fun (too easy), so i switched to 1 handed w/ a skill level in the 40's.

Smithing+Enchanting made that ridiculously easy as well.

Yayaya, I'm using super powerfull armor so it's my fault for being OP I guess.

If there was just one thing that was OP, you would have a point, but a game where every corner you turn is something that makes you OP is a pretty big flaw. I shouldn't have to make a long laundry list of things not to do to have any kind of challenge.

The example I used to illustrate an exploit in this instance was him summoning a familiar / atronach so that he could beat on it to level up his combat skills. I didn't say anything about alchemy / enchanting / smithing being an exploit, though I do think people who are just smithing hundreds of iron daggers early in the game to get the best gear possible are coming dangerously close to crossing that line, and for me personally I can't get myself to do it. It just doesn't feel legit. I'd rather play the game the way it was intended than look for loopholes to level my character. To each his own I suppose.

I find it strange that you bring up Fallout 3. As much as I enjoyed that game it was an absolute cakewalk once you got past a certain point even on the hardest difficulties. What parts gave you trouble near the end of the game?

yeah I agree @ the start is insane at masters but it gets easier.

I think the big difference is most of the stuff levels with you, but they dont get perks and huge bonuses like you do.

Also the fact that you can be super rich easily and get a ton of potions if needed helps a lot.

And followers that cant die.

Master difficulty + max nothing but speech+lockpick+pickpocket.

either that or open up some sngs

I'm on master difficulty, one armed weapon + bow and no magic and character is at level 20. All was good until yesterday when I got to the end of Volskygge and the two final bad dudes obliterated me. One shot from them and I was dead. I tried all sorts of blocking hits, different shouts, etc but in the end I had to draw them back, circle around and run away like the little girl I am.

standard

do you have the 50% stagger perk for archery?

+1 to the game being too easy. whenever i think i'm becoming OP i switch gears but my new style quickly becomes overpowered too. everytime i enter a dungeon i have to remind myself:

don't sneak
don't use archery
don't use magic
don't use any of my enchanted weapons
don't wear any of my crafted armor
don't use illusion spells

etc etc etc

god forbid shadowmere is around when i get attacked. shaadowmere is completely unstoppable and basically makes any fight even more of an auto-win. i haven't used a companion in forever for the same reason.

No, but that is next on my list. I got the eagle eye perk last time and was then unpleasantly surprised to discover that it uses stamina.

Question regarding the very end of the Thieves Guild quest line.

i would suggest joining a faction like imperial, stormcloak, theive's guild, etc. the quests are more interesting.

but anyway on level 5 you really haven't played much of the game at all.

Moving my stuff to my new house in Solitude. 3900 pounds of stuff

Pretty sure I'm just gonna use the console to move all my stuff but I don't like that solitude doesn't have any containers in the basement.

If I could put an enchanting table in Whiterun I would just stay there. It's all so close together.

Does the house in Solitude have both an Alchemy Lab and an Arcane Enchanter? Might give me another use for my gold other than training.

Speaking of, how DO people spend their gold? Aside from training it's usually spent buying ingredients and soul gems.

Riften was my favorite house because the Thieves guild fence is there too. Gotta keep up with the Jones though.