I have played many characters since the games release, but i have never taken any of them past lvl 50 (or there abouts). Not sure why that is exactly. i think maybe because the character had pretty much gone as far as he could. Leveling further would make him a jack of all trades and just would not be roleplaying in my eyes. That said i have friends who have who seem to think that i am missing out, that the game "gets better". So i thought id give it a go.

I have loaded up my "Anatomist" which is a light armored fighter-conjurer. who is levelled in axe, shield, bow, conjuration and alchemy. this character also has both Dawngard and Dragon born still to do. Would the legendary respec option be something i should use? (am not sure exactly how it works) was thinking i might respec smithing as i wont be needing it soon. What skills do you think might compliment the ones i already have, Which if any should i avoid, Any advice help would be appreciated

If you want to go above 50, then making your skills Legendary is the way to go.

Thanks but a little more info would be appreciated, why is it the way to go how does it help?

My most advanced oldest character made on launch day is level 54. All the rest rarely make the 40's.

A Typical Role involves the use of about 6 skills. By the time you max them out you are around level 50. This is known as the Soft Cap. You can go up to Level 81 or so in the normal game by maxing out all skills. Or, if you want to keep your skill focus and go above 50ish, or go beyond the mathematical cap of level 81, use the Legendary technique. However the only content you unlock is a few new dragons and one Vampire Lord as you go beyond level 50. So, your not missing out on much by staying in the 50's.

If each of your characters has used different skill sets, mage, thief, fighter at the least, then you have experienced just as much as someone who does everything with one character. Your right about the Jack of All Trades aspect, as that is the only way to achieve higher levels. Or, gimp the skills that you use to keep you alive against high level enemies in an effort to increase levels above 50 if your using a focused character.

Bottom line is, you can play one character that does everything, or you can play many characters that do their own things. Either approach allows you to experience the entire game. Just one of these feels more natural to me.

thanks that does help, and its pretty much how i've felt about leveling much higher. However i am now committed to doing so.. just to prove a point to my friends. that i was right all along in that it then just becomes a computer game to complete, rather than a rolpeplay experience, or maybe (only a small maybe though) i was wrong after all.

It remains to be seen for you but I just retired my first character who I had gotten to level 67. He was maxed on stealth, one hand, light armor, smithing, conjuration and speech. I legendaried light armor, one-hand and stealth because I didn't want to grind out every skill in the game. I wanted to continue him till I had fought legendary dragons and the Ebony Warrior but it became a chore to continue playing him. Patch 1.9 finally did him in but I already felt he had passed his time anyway so the freeze issue was just the final straw.

I applaud those who manage to keep a character fresh enough to go all the way with them, even though I tried I could not.

Agreed it will be interesting to see how far ill take him. I could easily get bored as i believe i had already taken him as far as i can. Yet there is still dawngard and dragonborne to do. Ive not used the legendary thing before so maybe that'll help. it really just depends on how important levelling and roleplaying is over questing and gaming... i think.

As i said earlier ive always tried to role play my characters where as my friends are just playing and completing a computer game. i dont believe that mine is necessarily the correct way, it just is for me as it theirs is for them.

At level 50, I am far from retiring my characters. I usually haven't done everything there is to do (or that I want to do) in the game on a given character until sometime after level 70.

My GF is close to 50 on her playthrough but has over 250k septims. Maybe using trainers is the way to go at this point