I'm sure everyone knows about the quest where you can either help or betray Saadia. I've played this quest dozens of times, but never on Legendary mode, so I tried to go kill the Hammerfell guards with Kematu in the cave where he resides. At around level 10, I got killed in a couple hits, leaving me with no choice but to betray her (I never liked her anyway ).

I returned to the cave at level 55 expecting there to be bandits in replacement of Hammerfell guards, but to my surprise, they were still there, along with Kematu. I took on the entire group without breaking a sweat, and Kematu did so little damage to me, that I just sat there with my shield up as he hit it, just to raise my blocking skill lol.

After this, I realized how great it feels to play on legendary and to really watch your player evolve and become stronger. I remember playing adept, I'd become OP by level 30, but with legendary you really have to work your way up to the top.

Anyone else feel this way or experience something like this?

I've only ever played on adept, so I can't say I have.

Legendary mode just increases enemy damage and reduces player damage, right? That just sounds tedious to me. Glad you enjoy it though.

It's not very tedious. I just like to think of it as in the beginning, your player has no idea what he's doing, so everything he does won't do much damage. Plus, adept gets easy way to fast

once you left the cave at level 10 and returned at level 55 your enemies in cave did not adjust to your level that only happens when caves respawn or you enter them for first time

I save legendary for when I'm about to fight a very large, angry boss-enemy.

When one is an archer, the difficulty is very warped. It should be a mixture of easy and legendary. My bow should be slow, strong, and powerful, and when I get hit at all, I should die or be close to death.

I was very excited when Skyrim was coming out to find that arrows were said to be harder to find and bows would practically kill in one hit, albeit with a very slow draw-rate. It turned out to be like the earlier games; people in Skyrim have skulls of steel and flesh of iron.

I'm not upset with the game, I love it; it's my favorite, but maybe in the next game we'll see a more realistic system as well as locational damage.

Ah... an archer can dream.

Agreed. At first it's very annoying how those wearing no armor can withstand 20 arrows through the chest; unrealistic. But once you get to higher levels, your archery (or any skill for that matter) becomes much stronger, which is why I like Legendary, realistic or not

Well, it's no different from FPS games where you only die after getting shot a hundred times.

You dare compare BGS to a meager, plebeian FPS company?

I'd still like to see some progress in archery. Locational damage may be harder to implement, but more realistic bow damage and speed is much more rational.

People often point out that fantasy games shouldn't be compared to reality's restraints, but I think that only applies to the fantastical elements of the genre. Archery, a natural act, can be compared to reality from the game, and in my opinion, it would be much more enjoyable if realistic.

When I began shooting my bow in reality, I was surprised how slowly one merely nocks the arrow, not considering even aiming and firing. A novice archer in Skyrim can prepare arrows like a master, maybe faster. Furthermore, one can increase the draw speed even more with a perk, an almost impossible feat without a quick-fire technique (multiple arrows in the nocking hand), but few of even the best can master that.

I never looked at Skyrim as fantasy, even though it clearly is. When I think of fantasy, I think of something a bit more cartoony and colorful, sorta like ESO. Anyway, I only had a problem with archery in the beginning of the game, when it was most difficult. Now being overall level 54 and archery 100, things are much better lol.

I've never understood why people call Legendary tedious. Yes it takes longer to kill the enemy, but that enemy just might kill YOU in two hits. Making it a very enjoyable challenge.

Personally, I've only done it from the beginning once, and never will again. It is tedious, and only serves the purpose of me being able to say I did it. Later on though, when the game actually needs to be turned up to stay challenging, then it's an et'ada send. Great addition to the game from Bethesda. Hopefully it stays.

Actually no, I hope the next title doesn't need a legendary mode. Just goes to show the balance of the game was off. Too easy. Though, so was Morrowind.

I thinks it's worth remembering that a lot of players enjoy Skyrim purely for the exploring and house building side of the game and aren't too interested in the battle side of it. For them I assume the damage sponge that legendary lends itself to just doesn't appeal very much. I tend to always play on expert and occasionally master which is absolutely fine for me, challenging but not a headache. I've tried legendary but the enemy damage sponges just doesn't increase my enjoyment of the game and in fact I find it nothing less than irritating. Each to their own I guess, as long as people are enjoying their playthroughs on whatever difficulty they choose I don't suppose it really matters.

Legendary difficulty is r e t a r d e d. In fact, anything above adept is. Why? Well, the enemies don't become smarter and more sensitive, no, they just take longer to kill. You deal less damage, they deal more.

What if you assault a topless bandit and try to strike him? He'll take several hits to go down, despite having nothing to cover his upper body.

You're obviously entitled to your opinion but that certainly doesn't mean that anyone who doesn't play on the same difficulty is r e t a r d e d does it. I find adept way too easy but I respect those that choose to play on it.

Nor did I say otherwise.

I have to agree with most people here. I admit I haven't played above Master difficulty, but I find even that very unbalanced. Your health and damage is lowered, whilst the health and damage of enemies and followers is raised. In most cases this results in your follower and your enemy fighting each other whilst you jump about in the background poking them with your sword. And if you don't have followers, it results in you getting one-shot by an iron arrow and your enemy charging at you with 20 daedric arrows sticking out the side of their head. Add to that the fact that the game will occasionally glitch and spawn a Dragur Deathlord right in front of your face, and combat can get very frustrating.

That said, if you're looking for a challenge and your main focus is on combat, levelling and character builds, higher difficulties are a good option.