I just started playing and I noticed that exploiting alchemy and enchanting is a big thing, for the dragons and mages that kick ass I put together fire, frost,and shock items the add up to 100% defense or close to it and that seems to be good enough to possibly play through the whole because I stand in front of a dragon breathing fire on me until his only offense is grabbing me .

So I guess that whole exploiting things into the 100's like armor is just for the sake of doing it? Or will it get way more difficult later? im currently at level 50.

I've never exploited in any of Bethesda's games. I just play the game naturally and I get along fine. I always play on default difficulty settings though.

Depends on the difficulty/mods to an extent. On adept (which I usually play on, if I want more challenge I'll add mods, I find master and legendary tedious, not hard, especially if I'm not posting dead is dead), once you're used to the game, most people will find that pretty much any character, even without any crafting at all, is viable. On expert, this is probably also true. The higher difficulties, you start to need better defence and (depending on your build - a pure conjuration or illusion specialist with a follower or two may not, as they are not technically affected by the damage dealt part of the difficulty, because the damage is being dealt by NPCs and/or summons) damage output, so crafting becomes more important, as you can make armour you wouldn't be able to find, make strong potions and enchantments, etc.

I wouldn't say exploits are necessary, unless perhaps you mod the game to an extremely punishing degree, but most people who do that do it because they wantto beat the difficult enemies legitimately (possibly through taking maximum advantage of grinding their crafting skills early, but not through actual exploits). Although some people enjoy the process of, say, working the resto loop so they can one shot a Dragon with Deadly Dragons, Dragon Combat Overhaul and Requiem installed (though I think Requiem, like the unofficial patches, fixes the resto loop.)

Sorry what I mean to ask is does over 100% really have a effect ? Right now im having a hard time with locks and I have 90% of lockpicking gear and potions for 39% lockpicking which gives me 129% lockpicking is that the same as 100% easier lockpicking because it doesn't seem alot different.

Maybe I need to be at a higher level lockpicking with more perks because im at 64 with only novice and apprentice.

Thanks for your time.

I think most effects don't do much over 100%, no. Lockpicking is just one of those irritating little mini games that people either find trivially easy, or frustratingly annoying, it's more about player skill than character skill, etc.

That said, if you perk the lockpicking tree, it'll probably help you more than just wearing fortify lockpicking gear, as there's a perk that lets you start with your pick closer to the "sweet spot", rather than dead centre. Are you on console or PC?

No.

I play 9/10 of my games on the default or 'Normal' levels they were designed at. In Skyrim I play at Adept and "Exploiting", of any sort, is not required to be successful and have fun.

Im on Xbox 360, yeah I saw those perks ,they loom cool and probably would help me alot I think im going to use some of my next perks for that tree as finding treasure chests with way cool loot is one of my favorite aspects of the game.

And I dont like exploiting games to ridiculous levels either because it takes the fun out of it, I've bern lurking in these forums for awhile and it's kinda funny to see some dude all excited about exploiting his character to OP level of invincibility then see him post a week later about how he's bored with the game and doesn't know what to do now.

Each to his own eh!

First. Let me just say how it is supposed to work...........first you build a char you want to play......THEN you adjust the difficulty until the gameplay feels good for you. That's it!

Me and a few friends here don't see it that way......cos we're like adrenaline junkies. Ramp it up high, THEN cope with the game using whatever legitimate means we can. And to add a bit of spice......if your character gets killed you start all over right from the beginning. That adds a level of thrilling danger that is insanely addictive. You see, there is a reason that Bethesda made smithing available to the player. If you want the thrill and danger of coping with Legendary play.....then you need to take advantage of everything that's provided. So, to make it even more insane we also gimp our gameplay and deliberately don't use everything at our disposal.....then we turn it into a friendly competition. Yes we are completely insane

BTW just so you know.....grinding up skills and crafting is not considered 'exploiting'. The game does have exploits, but most of us consider that to be cheating because it diminishes the thrill hugely. There is one exploits for example that you can use to push weapons and armours into the thousands....really. One hit kill the heighest possible dragon! But what's the point.....it makes everything you do valueless!

Oh yeah I know grinding isn't exploiting thats what im doing now, you guys sound pretty extreme, I was reading on another forum about a group that hunts with only clothing no armor and no smithing beyond a certain level because they are trying to do it like reality and that sounds crazy.

Im playing RPG (adept) so im playing it like the old pencil and paper D and D game, im having a blast I must say.

I play on expert with unofficial patches. I couldn't even use exploits if I tried.

On master difficulty you certainly do not need any exploits in the later game. It's really not that difficult once you learn the game well.

I play on Adept generally and my style of RP mean's grinding or using exploits is out. Everyone being different, I prefer to learn the "skill" behind which ever build I choose. One could argue that being a "master smith" would be part of my build, but most of my characters "get along" and that's it. If I'm a 2h great-sword, then I learn that sword and petty much concentrate on getting as much skill with it as possible...

I play with the DiD crown for Competition and it needs a whole different style of play, but I do that on Master. It is harder than the default play that I do, but it's more for the fun of it than anything else for me.

But I have managed to play a very viable warrior character with no crafting at all. He used "found" weapons and armor. Now that was on Adapt and with my favorite 2h, light armor. You don't need to grind or exploit, but that is up to you.

When I reached 100, I did the mage skills to double enchant weapons, armor. I made rings and necklaces to increase smithing, carry weight, add 40% to all three weapons, alteration for transmuting ore to gold. I waited till 100 so I could finish the major quests. I am at 135 now. I am doing the thieves guild quests for Delvin. So far I have the TG in three cities. I have been getting all the skills to 100 and finishing all their perks. I believe I found all the sites on the map. I have not found any new ones in 20 levels or so.

I used a couple of the levelling "glitches" when the game first came out but I found that it over-powered my character to the point of it being no fun any longer,what's the fun of taking down several deathlords without even taking a hit.The 1.9 update removed the main glitches like the Oghma Infinuim or the Black Briar Meadery glitch.Now I just level my players at the normal rate on the adept setting and find it most fun for my style of play.