I've played Skyrim I think 3 times with none of them finishing the story. I just liked to roam around, explore and kill stuff. However, in 2 of those playthroughs I found myself getting rolled over by almost every enemy I see after I think level 20? I'm not entirely sure, but the point is I leveled (pretty fast too) and thought of no consequence for it. I thought of it like Fallout 3/NV, where you're practically "overpowered" already in that game, even if you didn't "build" your character at all.

I'm not expecting to roll over anything at any time I feel like, but man I get wrecked so fast in later levels and my gear is just garbage. I've basically been using whatever I can scavenge, which basically ends up with steel or elven/dwarven armor. Same goes for my weapon, whatever I find.

I tried a dual wield character and didn't really like it. I tried a 2h character and it was fun. I also tried this illusion+conjuration mix which I took the farthest, coz Invisibility + Dremora Lords everywhere was a bit easy.

So basically, my gear is pretty bad and I don't really know how to make it better. I've only been scavenging/looting. Usually when I look around and read some advice, it revolves around Smithing, Alchemy, and Enchanting. I know how to level them, but I don't exactly know what I'm looking for.

Smithing I understand, though I never seem to find bars. I also never "improved" my gear aside from steel so I suppose there's more to it than just being straighforward making weapons and armor?

Alchemy I have no clue, I only know that this tree makes potions.

Enchanting - I think I understand how to do this, but I do not know where to find unlockable enchantments. I know the disenchant thing, but I don't know if I'm purposely looking for stuff to disenchant or just randomly come across them.

I will pickup and play Skyrim again to check it out. I think I'll make a 2H user again after seeing a mod to improve 2Hs. So do I grab all 3 crafting skills? Only trees I know I'll be going into are armor and 2H with Quick Reflexes from Blocking. I might go a little into Conjuration just to deal with ranged attackers. Would 2H Sword or Hammer be better here? Just wondering, as Sword is faster and the crit perk doesn't seem too bad, but hammers have the armor ignore thing. I don't know between Heavy or Light Armor either, I just flip a coin.

I'm kind of picturing it like Fallout NV, as there are some recipes that make the game much easier. For example, get repair 50 and keep collecting the ingredients to make Weapon Repair Kits. If I'm a Science character (usually I am) then I keep collecting empty syringes for Stimpaks. But fallout you just raise the skill, while in this game there's perks to unlock better stuff.

Thanks.

i use smithing to improve my gear. and also enchant them. right now i am play on the easiest level. until i understand the game more. avoid starting the main quest. if you have, try getting a house if you have hearth fire. build a house at Lakeview Manor at Falkreath Hold. build a garden outside and a greenhouse inside. also build a apiary. not sure if it does anything. but in the green house above the plants will spawn a bee hive. hard to spot. so you will get free bees. alchemy is a good way to raise coins. building a house will raise the smithing skill quickly.

once you can get the dwarven smithing perk. easy to get ingots to make weapons. some spots were dwarven ingots can be had spawn often. use money made from potion selling to buy soul gems. once you get enough enchantments learn. enchant dwarven weapons.

once your smithing skills improve, decide light or heavy. if you don't obtain gear you want, creat you own.

alchemy and smithing skills go up quickly so once they reach 100, go legendary.

If you aren't using the crafting skills, your game will be more competitive. It is easy to become overpowered by using all three. Some have posted recently, myself included, that not using or limiting crafting makes the game more difficult and you end up with far less gold.

If you want to mess with alchemy, collect an ingredient and eat it. Don't eat a lot at once or you could keel over. There are also alchemy cheat sheets online and you can buy recipes in game. Up to you with how much you let the internet influence your game.

You'll find the enchanted items to disenchant. When I use that craft, I'll learn everything I can and enchant as much as I can before selling off loot.

In your situation, similar to my current situation, I lean heavily on conjuration for help and alteration for flesh spells to boost me armor rating. Even then, some of my fights are very close and bloody. I also run away a lot.