In OB, most mods that aimed to increase difficulty just made enemies tougher or hit harder. I'm hoping but not expecting better combat AI in Skyrim. For instance, even lower level enemies could do the player in if the mage were smart enough to cast burden/blind,free or other disable on the player, the archer stays out of range, the rogue keeps trying for a backstab (combat geometry needed here like in Duke Patrick's mods), and the burly fighter tries his best to keep the player away from the other 3. Combat geometry already matters a whole lot in my modded game as rats and wolves hurt if i allowed them to hit me from behind. Generally I'd prefer combat where i have to think on my feet to win a fight.

Thoughts?

Yes i would really like that, there are lot of examples what an Ai can do like if ur facing 3 enemy's 2 can keep you busy while the 3rd flanks you or when he is low on hp one can run and call his friends well many things and i hope if that is not in the game some modders will do it .

With FCOM i had archers who stayed far back. And people with 2 handers charging at me and hitting me with all they had, only to be set on fire and shot in the back by their companions...

Is there a difficulty issue there though? In order to make it possible to actually *WIN* a fight against 3 baddies fighting you with those tactics, any single one of them would have to be fairly easy to take down, making 1 on 1 encounters last 3 seconds. If not, you would simply never win if you encountered 3+ enemies in a group (or at the very least, the battle would be epic in length as you grappled with the melee guy, always turning and dodging in order to avoid flanking while trying to out maneouver ranged spells).

If attacks were deadlier, making it possible to kill enemies in a few hits, instead of the usual damage sponges, you'd have to zero in on the weaker ranged guys first, not go for their "tank". Stealth players would also benefit from being able to take the squishies out before engaging the others (if at all)

Hmm as far as archers go, in both Oblivion and Morrowind they would run away from me, stopping only to turn and shoot more arrows. I remember because it svcked trying to run them down while they kept pelting me with arrows. I seem to remember the Morrowind archers being even more annoying the ones in Oblivion though.

I'm pretty sure that Bethesda has already done that. One article from someone who did a hands-on describes a trio of bandits attacking the player-the two warriors hitting him head on, while the mage shot the crap out of him with frost spells
not sure which article that is though :confused: