Sorry for the noob question but I would like for those who know to clarify something for me....does higher difficulty level = higher rated items and faster level up? I always thought the answer was yes but then I read a skyrim article in a previous gamer informer that made me second guess.
They printed the following:
"..I open up the options menu and bump the difficulty down to the lowest setting, 'novice'. Switching difficulties doesn't change the loot you recieve or how quickly you level-it only modifies the challenge of combat"
Is this true or is the reputable game informer wrong on this one? I would like to stay on the normal difficulty as I don't like to be frustrated, reloading the same boss fight over and over but I like my weapons/armor to be the best so I would raise the difficulty if it indeed does affect gear rating.


Also I was wondering if changing the difficulty in the middle of a fight changes the loot recieved...meaning if I'm fighting a boss on novice and bump up to master right before the final blow, do I receive the master items?

It's pretty much just combat difficulty as far as I'm aware.

It that's true then why do ppl here rant on about master difficulty setting and the goods that come with it?

their is no new equipment coming from playing on any different difficulty, and with the changing the difficulty at a fight
it wont change a thing in combat until u leave the combat

because, playing on master difficulty and slaying a frost dragon is a massive accomplishment, and gives a more immersive experience. completing a daedric quest and getting an awesome weapon feels more rewarding. as stated, only combat changes with difficulty settings but if you want to really enjoy this game, pump it up to master setting, the game will last you much longer, you will think long and hard about every encounter you have, and find yourself micromanaging your abilities far more, but alas, feels much more rewarding. ofcourse, this is personal opinion, you might love steamrolling games on easy mode.

Thanks for the info. I prefer a good balance, not too hard and not overly easy...I don't like to walk all over with ease but I definitely don't want a mudcrab to be able to kill me in two pinches. Life is frustrating enough, I don't want my game to be a chore with lots of this :facepalm:

What difficulty are you playing guys? Very difficult is insane. I could not kill a monster magician, two spells and I died ... When I hit him was like hitting the wall. Now I'm playing on hard.

I been playing on master from the start. Basically if you optimize character little bit its relatively easy. I can 2-3 shots most enemies If I equip right gear set ( e.g + dmg% on weapons/bows). In turn most enemies can one shot me, but with all the summons staffs , spells ,companion and disables they never get a chance to get one attack. I can see the game being completely trivial if I optimize my gear ( get better enchants and smithing) or use certain setups for fights (use summons as expendable cannon fodder, let companion initiate etc)

If playing without summons and companion you can still win easily with good sneak as you can basically snipe everything to death. Basically on master difficulty you have to optimize . If you optimize too much game becomes very trivial. If you do not optimize it can be almost impossible (for example without resist gear and/or resist potions mages one shot you. fighting 2+ of them without some sort of cannon fodder screen is suicide)