I clocked in about 80 hours to Skyrim since release and lost 4 characters so far, playing only dead-is-dead. I will share my experience and discuss the current build candidate.

My house rules: (summarizeable as 'no munchkining')
- no fast travel (you plan ahead your trips - no instant teleporting; using carriages is okay)
- no compass (breaks immersion)
- no smithing/enchanting (breaks game, besides I like finding new & better gear)
- no skill training (by repeatedly doing mundane things)
- no purchasing skills
- no reloads! (except for engine glitches etc.)

If one plays carefully this is a fantastic gameplay experience with just the right challenge at standard difficulty. Most encounters are cakewalks (I made it up to lvl 23 once) and a few encounters are amazingly difficult. (My lvl 23 character *could* have killed that Draugr Death Overlord at the end of that dungeon, had I not been stingy with my last two remaining health potions.)

What killed all of my characters were always *one strong melee hitting boss*. Crowds are not much of an issue with smart play. For dead-is-dead you need to maximize your survivability against melee boss encounters above all else.

What I plan on creating next is a tightly focused paladin build, maximizing the following skills:
Heavy Armor, One Hand, Block
Restoration
Alchemy

I know that Restoration and Alchemy both is a bit of an overlap, but hardly overkill: in though fights you sometimes cannot afford to cast a healing spell.

I will roleplay a Dwemer scholar: a Nord or a Breton, with little love for the current decline of the Empire of Cryodill.

Sounds interesting for sure. But a bit hardcoe for me, and that is because of the one-hitting bosses.

Do you use companions or summons?
I am thinking of making a character using some rules similar to that... haven't worked out what exactly yet.
Thinking of going with a Cleric type character with Conjuration using summons and bound mace, heavy armor, restoration for healing my companion/summons. Maybe some other magic to confuse or stun enemies if i can find something like that.

Actually, no one one hits me:
With a reasonable investment in health and decent armor even the strongest boss encounters are lengthy melee affairs.

I don't understand those that play a mage with no armor at master difficulty: you will be one hitted then for sure.

The Draugr Death Overlord I mentioned (which I learn was about twice my level) was a fight that was the longest two minutes I had in the game so far. He beat me fair and square.

It will be an great experience, as long you are allowed to magically heal.

Wan t to add some more.. i ve cut auto regen easy mode:

Player.setav healrate -0.0
or
player.modav healrate -0.0

any value above 0 determine your heal rate
Any value 0 or below cut off regen

Can t remember if modav is for permanent character command or if its setav.

anyway even regenerating prepare to have to run.

I have nothing against summons, but it is not my play style.

I do keep the company of a certain housecarl sworn to carry my burdens, though. This adds a new element, if she is with me: a fight where I would run from turns sometimes into an affair where I have to charge into the fray because she is down and will die if I don't stand my ground! (Happened to me more than once.)

Will I save her in time or will I run out of my meager stack of potions and die beside her?....

I'm not saying it happens often. But once in a while you encounter something you haven't encountered before that kills you very fast if you don't know what the hell you are supposed to do. Of course, this could be considered to be a part of the challenge. But it is kinda off-putting. I remember one dungeon. The regular monsters in the cave went well, and wasn't too hard. But then I entered the last crypt and whoever I was facing at the time shot a ice-spell of some sort at me and killed me in one hit. After reloading I knew what I had to do. Just rush in there a bash the magician with my shield

But I agree, if you have a fair fight and dies all is good and well.

Anyway, might try it out. I guess I just have to extre careful and send in Sven first hehe.

Btw, if your follower gets knocked down is he /she considered dead then?

You should stay away from any form of spell casters before you hit 60% resists, cuz u could die in a second when you met them (master game of course).

Why not using the Dead is Dead thread?

Nope, as long as she gets up to follow me she's okay. I try to get in between her and the mobs to save her when possible (naturally, only possible if you are an armor clad warrior and not a squishy mage.)

I play with pretty much the same rules you do, with the exception that I will use skill trainers if I have the money for it and I use the compass because it can be damn near impossible to find quest objectives without using it since NPC's don't really offer directions. I also use companions because I play on master difficulty so having companions atleast for the first 10-15 levels is almost a necessity if you plan on fighting bosses. I also try and eat and sleep regularly.

So far, my highest level achieved was with an Orc Raider, who was mostly 2h weapons, heavy armor and archery. I made it to level 23 before I finally got killed by the Whiterun guards (I had a bounty of 200k). I would basically kill and everyone and raided every bastion I found, I would take the loot back to my orc stronghold and sell it or store it as trophies. I became so infamous that both the Dark Brotherhood and the Thalmor started sending people after me to kill me, sometimes even mercenaries for hire would attack me on sight. It was very fun.

For my next character, im thinking about going straight necromancy with some illusion (fear) and cold based damage spells. I haven't really planned this character out yet, still working on it.

I'm playing a paladin DiD char by these same rules except smithing and enchanting that I'm doing but not to the point of breaking the game.

He's currently lvl 16.

For more DiD stuff follow the link on my sig.

I get not using the quest plotting on the map and stuff but why restrict the use of a compass? With all the fantastical stuff they have in the game a compass seems pretty mundane and easily acquirable. Not telling you to change your rules or anything but I was just curious about that.

Nice topic to read. What I wonder, and have always wondered, how do you guys handle the unknown? I'd love to play dead is dead, but for the life of me, I have no idea what enemies are strong and aren't just by looking at them. Do you have any way to figure it out? Or a good tactic to run from unexpectedly strong opponents? It seems impossible to do dead is dead otherwise (which I guess is realistic, but a bit too realistic maybe to still be able to enjoy it?)

Actually, 'Clairvoyance' spell helps greatly for looking for quest objectives.

I just don't want to see a HUD on my screen with IFF indicators on a medieval fantasy game...

That sounds like an extremely amazing and fun play-style, and I will definitely be trying that out soon; however, I have made one change to the character build.

I like your plan, restoration and alchemy should get your really stable. I am also playing DiD (expert - IMO master is a bit dumb since enemies just get huge health) - I ramble.

One thing I would like to suggest is archery- Even with no real sneak skill you can still get free hits at double damage at the beginning of a fight, and have a good range option. It doesn't need very many perks, but still is viable with the skill. In addition it can be a distance delivery system for your alchemy poisons.

Good luck!!!!

Essentially, I treat every new enemy type I had seen before and every mage as a possible deadly threat.

Also, it helps to immensely invest in health.


*** I don't think it is possible to succeed a dead-is-dead run for an unarmored mage even on normal difficulty without memorizing the game challenges first. ***

Well, I have been playing RPG's for a long time, since pen and paper D&D second edition. So, I have a pretty decent understanding of what monsters will be too challenging for me at any given level. With that said, depending on the character I roleplay, I may test the waters by firing volleys of arrows or by trying to land spells on the monster from a distance, depending on the outcome of that initial attack I can judge whether or not I should quickly turn back or keep going. When it comes to NPC's, you have to look at what gear they have and decide whether its worth it or not. If I see a guy wearing ebony armor with some sort of enchanted weapon and im currently wearing iron armor, well its time to turn around and head back.

Overall, most of it comes from experience, both with TES games and RPG's in particular. It also helps to use smart tactics, as sometimes good tactics can allow you beat enemies that are stronger, being good at 1st person shooter or twitch based combat is also a big plus. Carry many potions with you also as preparation is half the battle. I wouldn't recommend dead is dead to anyone who is playing their first RPG game.

Playing a mage is challenging with these rules but not impossible. The biggest challenge is finding the right mix of hit points and mana, you cannot succeed as a glass cannon on perma death simply because traps will kill you in one shot. So, you need to build up your hit points in the beginning.

Thanks. It's a great link!

Have others succeeded in actually completing DiD then? (I don't think that in my 4 play throughs and 80 hours I covered more than 10% of the game world.)

I'm also wondering why you would exclude use of the compass.

Compass is breaking immersion. Disable it in the .ini file and see the difference. I don't wanna see icons indicating what objects of interest are nearby.

If I have difficulty finding a quest goal, I use 'clairvoyance' or look it up in the map.

Come'on guys, how often do you have the chance to actually be *lost* in a game world?!

Yes, DiD is very viable in this game as long as you are careful enough.

This is my 4th character, the first three (a thief, a warrior and a mage) didn't make it past level 9. Actually the first died at level 5. But the more I play the more I understand the game and its mechanics so I can plan ahead.

Also I always try to RP my character to the fullest and this has brought me to some very curious situations. My current char, as I said, is a paladin and so he's outright good. It broke my heart when I had to flee from two frost trolls that ended up killing two peasants because I suddenly was too affraid of dying. It was a true conflict in my head: To try and help those peasants and risk losing my "life" or run away? I ran away and feel ashamed for this.

I know exactly what you mean.

The greatest exhilaration of dead-is-dead is the Fight-or-Flight choice!
Oddly, you can only have it in an open world game. I played Diablo as hardcoe, but there the progression is linear; flight is not an option for progress. In Skyrim, sometimes choosing to run away is a necessity if you want to preserve your precious life.