I thought I knew how to play Skyrim. I was doing ok, but now I am finding the game really hard. I have been reading alot of posts about how to level up properly, but I haven't found the answer what I am looking for. I am around level 20ish, and keep dieing alot to Necromancers and Mages. Also bears and lions keep one killing me. I guess I don't have enough health from reading other posts, but I want to make sure how to level properly. I am tired of turning the difficulty level down to the easiest.

So without spamming Alchemy and Smithing, (I would think this would make the game harder) how do I level up efficiently.

I am thinking of starting all over again. I want to make sure I don't fallow in the same path again. Before I just concentrated on Destruction because I wanted to be a mage type character. When Destruction wasn't working, I tried using my swords but since I didn't practice with them, it became hard. So now I practiced with them, have about 250+ in Magicka and about 220 in health and 160 in Stamina. I didn't really use the perk tree much, still got 7 perks unused because there is nothing I want right now. I used perks in Destrution, Restoration and 1 Handed.

So if I start over again, what is the best way to distribute the Magika/Health/Staminia stats? Should I concentrate on Destruction again or use Swords more?

I just don't understand how people find the game easy espically on the hardest setting. I am busy at work so playing time is limited. I just getting tired of turning the diffiuctly level down as I said, since I like playing on Default.

So how do you guys and galls level up? Please explain where you put your Stat points into and where you put your perks into and why.

:tes:

Pick 6 skills with synergy and focus on those. Keep them within 10 skill levels of each other.

Or just focus on archery and sneak and become a god on earth with very little effort.

Where you put attribute points depends on how much you expect to get hit with your build, how much casting you'll do, and how frantic your fighting is likely to be.

So you mean to keep say my Destuction and 1 Handed within 10 of each other?

What happens if I level up buy other means that I don't mean too? I find I still level up even though I don't use 1 Handed or Desctruction. I guess this would be making the enimies harder without my main combat stats keeping up. So what should I do in this case then?

Because of the whole thing with lowering magic costs to zero with enchantments, don't put a single level up in magicka, put everything into health and stamina ?

The game practically beelines you into one of the arch types anyway, so pick one offensive skill that doesn't svck and roll with that ?

The best way to level efficiently is to stop worrying about it.

People always perpetually obsess over what is the "best build" in Elder Scrolls Games because they are designed so that dramatically different character types with varying skills and attributes may succeed at the game.

In otherwords no one can really give you the perfect build because there isn't one.

Just make sure you are levelling the stuff that's relevant to your character type.

If you keep getting creamed by a particular enemy then you need to be more careful and vary ytour approach.

As you get stronger you shall eventually be able to overcome them.

You'll have to face the fact that there are some creatures you just won't be able to beat up as soon as you encounter them.

Worry less about the perfect level progression and try to enjoy your game.

Azrael
The Nord with the Sword

Yep, spamming non-combat skills generally makes the game harder, not easier. Ideally you want your combat (or other "adversarial situation handling") power to go up faster than that of your enemies, which pretty much means NOT leveling unless its due to increases in skills that directly help you "win". For example, unless you need it to buy perks, there seems to be ZERO reason to raise any spell casting skill, and doing so can actually make the opposition stronger, so you shouldn't even pick up books / quests that give "free" increases in those skills.

As others have said, focusing on a few synergistic skills woks well. My acromegliac argonian is 22nd level has something like 6 perks in 2 handed; that 25% into one (combat) skill. The only other skill I've actively tired to raise is Blacksmithing, and now that it is at 61, I'm gonna stop on that front. (I make Epic Orc armor and Epic Elven weapons; doing a little better than that requires MUCH better smithing skill.) I'll probably push enchanting up enough to get some strong perks there. Other skills... meh. A better block would be nice, but maybe not worth the leveling for as little as I use it. Same for better heavy armor skill. Both of those are very slow to raise anyhow, given my combat style. I suppose if I get a follower who can train me in them, I'll do the "5 per level" in them and deal with the accelearted pace of leveling, but right now I'm happy to actually see the pace I level at slowing down; gives me some time to catch my breath and go collect Dragon Souls before the dragons get all uber-powered. Right now I can be pretty sure that, If I get them to land and can reach them, they are toast on a (big, sharp, metal) stick.

I don't level anything that I don't need. That means that two of my three characters never pick locks, for example. I just let all those chests go by unopened. It doesn't really matter, it's not like there is a shortage of loot.

I have about seven skills for each character, and just stick to those exclusively. That means the enemies don't get ahead of my combat ability. I don't even read skill books for the other skills.

As for perks, note that for fighting skills, there are a bunch of ranks in the first perk in the tree. These each give you about a 20% boost in your basic ability. These are pretty good perks to take, though they may seem boring. You use them all the time, unlike some of the perks that might seem cooler but which don't get much actual play.

Generally it is good to have some way of avoiding aggro (attention from enemies) if you don't have a high armor rating. Some examples are sneaking, illusion spells, and allies such as atronachs and followers.

the level up system does not work well in this game. you have to be careful how you play the game.

I wanted to be a mage type character and found my destructiong svcking since I didn't have enough magika. What am I suppose to do then? Maybe that is when I fall back on my sword???



That is what I was doing. A mage type character that loves to pick locks but hasn't stold yet. I just love picking locks. In ever TES game, I always did this. I HATE the mini lock picking game, but just love to pick locs for some reason, and I haven't stold yet in Skyrim.

Yeah I have tried different approacehes. I have to turn the difficulty all the way to the easiest level. I guess I svck at Skyrim. Love the game though. That is why I made this post to see if there is a different approach that I should be trying that I never did before. I think I need to start using those "calm" spells I keep forgetting about. Are they really usefull?



I was a book collector, tried to collect every book I came apon. Thing is, I kept getting skill books. I didn't know wich one was a skill book or not. Too bad you can't pick up the book without reading it first. I know if I leave them behind, I will forget where it is.

What do you mean by "5 per level"?


As I said before, I have a need to pick those locks lol. Wanted to be a master lock picker for once in a TES game. Maybe Skyrim is not the place to do it . I am also a horder. I loved picking locks to get alot of loot. Maybe I should try and not play this way. Maybe it will get me in less trouble. I will take your advice and see what happens.


Yeah I know, that is why I am asking.

Thanks all for your help and tips. I will let you know how it goes when I have time to play again.

Around level 20 there is a pretty big difficulty spike.

It seems like the less skills you can level up to advance your character level, the better. This way by the time you get to that level 20 range, your primary skills are really good. Then you level up other stuff later on as the difficulty starts to taper off.

It is not that there is anything bad about picking locks -- my thief character picks everything. My point is just that you shouldn't raise too many skills if you are finding the enemies are leveling too fast. My thief doesn't do any magic, just relies on bow, sword, shield, light armor, smithing, sneak, lockpick. He doesn't pick pockets and also doesn't do enchanting (which means no enchanted weapons basically since he can't recharge them).

Skill books all have a value of 50-60 septims, whereas normal books are only 10 or so. If I see one, I save before I read it. If it is for the wrong skill I reload. Probably I take specialization further than I need to, but it works for me.

I see what you mean. I think I will try and stay away from the skill books in my next game I start again.

Thank you for your comments, greatly appreciated.

You are not penalized for leveling in areas that you don't intend to use, as you were in Oblivion. If your goal is to increase your character level, you should level up as many skills as you can. The only way to cap your character level is to get 100 in all skills.

What makes your character specialized is how you distribute your perks... not how you level the skills.

Don't feel bad dropping the difficulty either. The game has up and down swings in difficulty. Level 20 range is the big one. By the time you are level 35 - 40 you will start feeling like turning the difficulty up.

If you are a mage, distribute points to health and magicka alternatively. 10 to health on level 2, 10 to magicka on level 3, and so on until you have 200 in each. It seems like you would be more effective playing a more melee-oriented build though, so I suggest doing the same thing, except put points into stamina instead of magicka. Or put all of the points into health, unless you go crazy for looting stuff (which I do)
I usually level up block and heavy armor while exploring before launching into the MQ, but that is just me and I strongly recommend that you find whatever way feels most comfortable to play the game.
Another thing is that if you are having trouble with mages, it is most likely due to you downloading the latest patch, which nerfs resistances; they do not work and have a value of zero in the coding. Thus you are very susceptible to all forms of non-physical damage. I recommend getting the Atronach Stone blessing and/or playing Breton, as well as reverting to the 1.00 version of the game. If you play on PS3 and do this, then turn off your autosaves as too much data in the cache lags the game at around 5000 KB (5 MB).
Anyway, smithing is considered overpowered and is actually very easy to level up (though somewhat expensive to lower levels) in order to get better armor and to improve them better. If you get your smithing to level 70 I believe, you can begin smithing Ebony armor, which is very strong. There is
BEWARE: Smithing may get you to a higher level than you want, making enemies stronger, so be careful with this. I know of ways to easily level up nearly every skill, but I won't provide them here to you; if you want to know them, private message me and I will tell you. They are somewhat time-consuming as well.
EDIT: snipped

thats the beautiful thing about skryim. YOU CANT. efficient leveling really killed the last 2 games for me

I kind of feel like there is a bit of a penalty for levelling skills you don't want to use. In Oblivion if they weren't tagged as Major/minors they only counted towards your stat increase modifier ... In Skyrimjob anything you level counts towards increasing your character level. So if you level a bunch of skills that don't help you fight, but your character level increases, then the enemies you face will have an advantage on you. If you have done this a lot by the time you get to level 20 or so the difference in effectiveness will be very noticeable.

If you pick 2 handed, Block, Heavy Armor, Smithing (and don't level smithing too much pre-level 20, say maybe 50 smithing max by level 20) your character will be a pure combat machine. I think the same kind of concept could be applied with other skillsets, pick 3 that affect combat, take one crafting and try really hard not to level anything else, gaining levels only by increasing your core skills. Don't pick locks, try not to sell too much stuff etc.

I never thought of the 1.2 patch giving me problems about the mages I am encountering recently. Getting the Staff of Magnus was a real pain in the butt, even when I put the difficulty down to easiest, that was my toughest battle even on the easiest setting. How people delt with him on normal or hard, I can't believe.

Thing is, do I keep with my Altmer and keep playing or start over again maybe with an Argonian? On one hand, I want to explore again with fresh skills, but on the other hand I don't feel like doing the quests I have already done.

I finally got my perk I wanted where I can heal my stamina. I think I will take everyones advice here and keep playing with my Altmer for now, and see how it goes. I will just "fiddle" with the Difficulty level when I need to.

Thank you eveyone again for all your help.

After more than 300 hours playing... I can say that you are best off never worrying about being efficient in your leveling. Go play and level naturally without worry. Use trainers to up any skill you use regularly that wants to lag behind the others when you go to town to sell junk. You can hurt both your fun in playing and the level scale by power leveling any one skill like smithing or sneak (by using a tavern) early on. And for god's sake the worst thing you can do to kill your enjoyment is meta-game. Don't worry over the best weapon ior armor or house. Take and play what comes your way when you get to it.

Leveling a mage presents an interesting conundrum: do you increase magicka, or not? The answer depends on whether or not you will be using Enchanting to zero/greatly reduce spell costs; if so, then you can either pump health to ridiculous levels or toss a bunch of points into stamina, but if not, then you need to raise magicka so that you don't run out mid-fight. When I play a magic-heavy character I raise magicka, because I need some of the enchant slots for magic resistance. I play Dead-is-Dead, so I need all the defenses I can get since I can't reload if something goes wrong, and high magic resistance means I don't get fried/frozen/eletrocuted when fighting dragons and/or mages.

There's no real way to level 'efficiently', and I can't say that I really miss it as it was pretty much required that you do so in order to stay competitive. That said, if you level exclusively non-combat skills and none of them is Smithing, you will likely spend a goodly amount of time hiding behind companions until your combat skills are up to par. You can still make a viable character that way, but combat is going to be a drag for quite a while.

A very good point- I suspect a lot of people ignore those multi-point perks. Heck, even I forgot them; with those, its more like 8 of my 25 perks went into 2 handed. Aside from 4 in "Barbarian", I took 2 in "Deep Wounds" and took "Champions Stance" and "Devastating Blow". All take no real extra effort to use; I doubt I'll even go for "sweep" and "warmaster", and certainly NOT "great critical charge", because I'd probably only pull them off a couple times, ever.
Similarly, the alchemy and enchanting perks at the bottom of the tree are multi level, and those tend to be the most efficient. Getting another +20% (per perk level) to EVERY potion beats spending that same perk to get +25% to just poisons / restores, for example.

I say restart; with me, if something doesn't go how I want and I can't reload to fix it, I will get a growing annoyance that forces me to not care about the character, as something I didn't want happens to him. That is why I have a default save at the end of the tutorial so I can start off there if I mess up my character.

I level by playing, I have a warrior Orc, he is around 40-50 in each of the warrior skills, and base in 90% of the others. No power leveling, no spamming daggers or otherwise "breaking" the game. Just playing and having a blast gets it done.

I usually pick about FOUR skill trees to invest heavily in, and pick two or three minor skills. Also I often save perk points for later use.

For my Mage I spend attribute points like this:
80% Magicka / 20% Health / 0% Stamina
Important Perks I unlocked:
Destruction: Dual casting, Impact
Alteration: Mage Armor x3
Conjuration: Twin Souls, Mystic Binding

For my Marksman I spend attribute points like this:
10% Magicka / 60% Health / 30% Stamina
Important Perks I unlocked:
Archery: Overdraw x5, Eagle Eye, Power Shot
Sneak: Stealth x5, Backstab, Deadly Aim, Muffled Movement
One-handed: Armsman x3, Critical Charge, Savage Strike
Light Armor: Agile Defender, Custom Fit, Wind Walker

For my Warrior I spend attribute points like this:
0% Magicka / 70% Health / 30% Stamina
Important Perks I unlocked:
One-handed: Armsman x5, Critical Charge, Savage Strike
Heavy Armor: EVERY PERK
Block: EVERY PERK

I am playing naturally. Thing is I find the game too hard and keep dying with 2 or 3 hits. I do not want to meta-game, just make the game a bit easier, so I do not have to put the difficulty level down to the easiest setting. I feel like a wuss.



I haven't used enchanting yet. How do I reduce spell costs without using perks? I haven't really thought of this. I tried a Dead is Dead, but I keep dying all the time, that I have stopped the Dead is Dead. :sadvaultboy:
I wanted to use smithing and making and selling stuff I made because we couldn't do that in other TES games, but reading this makes the game to easy, I have stayed away from this. How this makes the game easy I don't get it. So I stayed away from Smithing and making potions.



That is helpfull. Got a question. Mage Armour. Isn't that the one that increases your Armour rating if not wearing armour? I wear some armour, (some of the increase carrying capacity enhancements) and if you wear armour it doesn't work. So should I take this and wear no armour then? Did I mistaken something?

Thanks everyone for your help. I have sort of lost the caring for my character, maybe it's time for a new game. New patch, new game, just trying to think if I want to be an Altmer again for more Magika or not.