Which way provides the best armor and weapons?

Crafting them? Or finding them?

over-crafting then over-enchanting

Just depends on what you are looking for. I was sick of searching for a glass shield in the game, so I finally just made one. It is all choice....

My Smithing skill is way low but my Enchanting skill is slowly rising because I disenchant items to learn the enchantments. So far I'm able to find gear that has enchantments way higher than what I could make at Level 33 and everything's been working fine without doing much enchanting myself. We'll see how that goes later if I want to enchant something. So far the only things I've enchanted are Soul-trap bows for myself and Lydia and a pair of Muffle boots on my PS3 game.

:tes:

In order of power:

1 Unenchanted loot
2 Regular smithed & enchanted gear
3 Enchanted loot
4 Enchanted loot improved by smithing
5 SuperMinMax smithed & enchanted gear

I like to role-play and I haven't ever tried Smithing so I don't know. I just use the loot I find or am given from a quest. It's very challenging this way and I also play on Master. Just recently I found a circlet with 35% bow damage. It's so rewarding when you find an awesome item that suits your character. Instead of just making the ultimate equipment. Or at least for me anyway. I just wish there was a better loot system that made it more rewarding. Sometimes you find a chest that's very well hidden and you open it to find 9 gold and some shoes or you destroy a boss and the best item is an Iron sword with a 10 damage to Frost.

What do you do with all the gold you find then? Because I play the same way as you. But don't know what to do with all the gold i have.

Funny thing is I'm quite poor. I've got almost 50k and I haven't spent any. Once I get to 100k for the trophy I might buy some property.

I usually try and buy as many of the highest arrows I can because I'm always running short. I haven't even bought a single property. I do sometimes waste money of skill trainers just to spend the 5 perk slots for that level.

I've been giving my smithing and enchanting a little bit of love lately - I think it's fun to roll my own weapons and armor, instead of relying on a random chance of a nice item showing up in a vendor list or a dungeon crawl. Eventually I want to get my smithing up to 70 so I can craft Glass items; after that, we'll see.

My latest creation is an Elven Bow, improved to Exquisite, with a 15-point shock damage enchantment. Using Glass Arrows that I bought from someone, I was able to one-shot regular Chauruses from sneak while cleaning out a Dwemer ruin last night. After routinely getting shredded by those ugly mothers in previous encounters, it was very satisfying indeed. :celebration:

And if I get bored doing that, I'll just scoop up a sword and a shield, or a two-handed melee weapon, and go after them with that.

Yes, they are nasty and I've had to leave one cave with them and a Falmer and Giant spider all coming after me at once. I'm looking forward to going back there and I might be ready but I'm on the other side of Skyrim now. I have been a bit concerned about my Smithing skill but I'm wearing the Arch-mage's robes with nice boots and have the Mage armor perk(s) and haven't had a problem yet. I'd like to make better armor for my companion too but I've been using so many perks to get my Conj/Destr/Restor/Alter/ skills high that there hasn't been a lot of perks left over for Smithing yet. Training would help though and I've almost got some extra gold for that. It sounds like you're having a great time...I have Soul-Trap on my Elven Bow but it's not improved yet. I'll have to work on that.

:tes:

Looting makes the game a bit more challenging, but it takes forever and a day to find a complete set of higher quality armor. If you craft without the exploits for "god" armor, it doesn't make the game too easy as some like to imply.

Ive been Smithing due to the fact I want to up my stats, buying and selling ore (and finding and looting for it) etc, making it / smelting and then making daggers & kit, then selling. Hunting for furs from animals, making leather, making into strips, rinse and repeat.

Its more of a role play experience that way I have found, that way as you loot you will find kit, and then you can sell it, then buy ore/leather that way and make more, then up stats and around and around it goes.

That way you learn to hunt more, loot better, search more, how to make some money, how to do Smithing, and so on, all the wile you boost your stats for buying and selling, stats for smithing, and earn some money.

And yet I have not spent enough time on enchanting much at all, that is my next focus. Think of it as your own personal side quest.