Ive been playing on master since I started skyrim, but recently moved to legendary because I felt like if I cant do it in legendary than Im not good and playing a game in a lower difficulty is like not playing the real game.

So I was wondering what level difficulty do you play on, and what are your reasons to play in any different level other than legendary?

Thanks

I play on Master. Everything lower provides no challenge, but i tend to be one shoted on Legendary, especially at lower levels.

I didn't vote, because the difficulty can change at any time during my playthroughs. If the game becomes unbalanced due to the skill strength (or lack of), then as a balance, I will change that difficulty level to balance things out. Once things are more aligned, it may change again. I don't 'grind' skills with my characters, they are earned through use. Using the play difficulty is a good tool to help keep things challenging, and my character from being over or under powered.

I totally understand what youre saying, and I agree with the "unbalance" at certain levels and classes.
But I see that as a challenge, and for example, if I cant complete a certain quest, I go somewhere else and get stronger or properly geared before I return.
I think that is part of the game, and not just mindlessly grind up through everything.


You are right, early levels can be a challenge, but that only makes it more interesting imho

I sometimes go up to expert, but generally I just stay on adept. The point to the game for me is role-playing my girls, and I so don't care about re-fighting every battle (most of which I've done dozens of times now). Mostly I play in god-mode, and ramping up the difficulty just means it takes longer to kill stuff even under tgm. That's not part of my enjoyment (the battles I mean) - and that's my one complaint about CRPGs since their inception: there's very little way to "advance" in a game besides wholesale killing.

Skyrim of course does offer the level-up process outside of killing things through using abilities like the crafting options - but that doesn't really cover what I'm looking for, which would be quests which allowed for good role-play opportunities AND gave xp for them. I keep thinking I should get that mod that changes to an xp-based setup but I keep forgetting. So I guess now that I posted about it, I'll go right on over to nexus and see if I can find it!

adept difficulty, no cheat items

Yeah, I used to grind skills, a long time ago. But these days, it's all about the role play and the character's story. So it's a need for me, to keep the balance.

Well.....what you're supposed to do is something like....


First.....Create the char you want with the build skills you like


THEN


Adjust the difficulty slider until it reaches a point you are comfortable with


NOT what we do.....which is max it to Legendary from the get go, then spend the next thirty levels in pain and fear trying to remain alive on Dead is Dead under the most harrowing conditions


But thats how we like it

I play on Adept most generally, but will put it up to Expert sometimes. The exception is DiD competition if it requires a different difficulty... or uses a multiplier.

I can play on Master or Legendary, I choose not to. For me their is to much "grinding" of skill's to make the character viable. My focus is Role Playing, telling my stories, fighting isn't the focus.

My Current RP character is a Bard/ adventurer... so yes, she can fight, but her skills are weak... her follower and soon to be spouse, is the fighter. She can and does defend herself. On Legendary... she would die...and fast and I would be re-loading constantly. I don't actually like doing that.

I add Mod's that not only enhance my game, but make the game harder...by making the enemies harder. Deadly Dragon's and Immersive Creatures, you can dial up the hardness. Thing's like Frostfall or Ineeds can make the game harder, without making the enemies harder... I know their are mod's that make the vanilla enemies harder also.

But even when I played on 360... I played on adept or expert... with my play style those can be hard enough... upping the difficulty just mean's using more skills to increase the lvl..to gain more skill...to increase the level... to get more perks...etc and so on rinse and repeat. While their is nothing wrong with that... it's not the way I want to play.

I play on master with combat mods. I find Legendary doesn't add to the challenge it only makes the fights more tedious. I hope the next TES game gives us a legendary difficulty where the enemies are actually unpredictable, I like when I don't know if I will survive an encounter.

Usually Adept. I bump the difficulty up every once in a while if I want more of a challenge and for certain boss fights (the last battle against Alduin is just plain sad otherwise) but middle of the road is my preference. I'm more into RPing and exploring than turning every fight into a life and death struggle.

Exactly. Except my last character didn't need to turn up the difficulty, Alduin with Deadly Dragon's at lvl 32 on adept...not a wuss....I was about to turn the difficulty down actually.

I didnt mention, but this is actually what legendary feels like compared to master,.. the battles just take longer, not that they are specifically harder (at least from what Ive experienced so far)
Its like hitting someone 20 times to kill it vs hitting 30 times to kill it. It feels like they just got more health to chunk through. But I kind of enjoy it because I know Im playing the hardest level in the game.

But for example, killing dragons early game in legendary is nearly impossible, you will run out of magic, you will run out of arrows, and it still 75% health left ^^

Yeah, this is kinda what everybody complains about with Legendary.....and they say its not "harder"


But I feel that is trite and does no justice.......I want to leap to its defence here! NOTE I'M TALKNG VANILLA ONLY OK!


IF it did no more than say increase enemy health.....it would still mean you had to spend LONGER in the danger zone trying to avoid a lethal hit....that makes it harder to survive overall.....as so, well, harder.


However, the fact is the enemies ALSO hit much Harder......so now you have to survive more lethal hits for a longer time period. That makes it harder to survive overall.....again....therefore harder.


Before someone says it....again.....no, just smithing up your armour does not counter the increase in Legendary damage delt to the player char. Because it does nothing against mage or dragon breath attacks which become very lethal!


As the game progresses.....it becomes relatively easier to survive on Legendary. Below about level 20 its very tough and deaths are frequent. Level 20-40 its begining to become fun, but still challenging. Level 40+ with the right perk spread for your char build, only the top baddies are a risk. After level 60, only The Ebony Warrior and Karstagg will fill your pants!


The hard bit is trying to play Legendary right through where at level one a wolf is lethal and so is a suitcase sized mudcrab (as Id imagine they really would be). Not forgetting..of course....that all that lovely Legendary smithed armour has to be earned and build up gradually....and believe me your enemies will take no pity on you for only wearing superior smithed level gear.


The oddest thing with these ideas is that master level is somehow the pinnacle of rewarding vs challenging......whilst the jump to slightly tougher Legendary is seen as some vastly game changing ruination. I have to say guys...if there was a super Legendary that was even tougher....I would still be doing it....cos for me.....and a few others.....its the challenge, its our Everest to climb and even if I was doing true RP it would still be built around Legendary play...that's how 'Rick and The Contessa' roll


However you play, enjoy your day

Legendary.


I may take the first few levels at master so I can actually get a little gear first but usually crank it up around 10.


Brawls go back to novice. I take no damage, they take no damage, and the damn thing takes half an hour if I don't.

I agree more health does means longer in the danger zone, I just don't find the danger zone very dangerous. The mods I use allow npc's to use more items spells, value their lives etc, but a bandit chief will never jump back and throw a fireball, I can never remember a spellcaster poisoning their weapon, or an archer summoning an atronach. These are the kinds of surprises that would in mid-combat force me to rethink my attack strategy or even possibly kill me if the fight was already close. There might be a mod that does this but I might have missed it, and if so someone please do share.

Any TES game I play I don't change the difficulty from the middle. My reasons are because that's how I enjoy the games. I like the stories, either in game if they are there or in my head as I play in the game world. The fighting is down at the bottom for me and I don't really care for it all that much LOL. It's the other stuff that I get in to.

That said, I really miss the old sliders.


Damage taken and damage dealt being different... I could allow myself to be one shot if I got in melee but didn't require things like impact stun locking everything to death because of artificially inflated HP pools because of a damage dealt reduction multiplier.

I usually start on adept until my character starts to get stronger. I feel that as I get stronger, so should my enemies. Therefore I'll adjust the difficulty accordingly.

Used to play on expert but the last couple of years i've moved up to master. Being the sneaky bow type player that i am though the game is easy regardless, even on legendary after the first few levels.

It really depends. At early levels Adept is plenty hard enough. Once you get to level 50+ and have some decent weapons and armour anything less than Master is a stroll in the park, and even thats not difficult.

Yes, this.

The thing that kinda saddens or maybe irks me is this......if the enthusiasts in the modding community can come up with stuff like immersive citizens, when vamps attack etc to make the whole experience more enjoyable.....why the heck didn't Beth just programme that kinda stuff in at the get go. If the excuse is that they didn't think if it at the time....well it must have been clear by the time the DLCs came out and could have been part of a DLC package. These kind of mods make a huge difference to the "real feel" of npc behavoir.


Having vamps wipe out your vendors does make for a tangible hike in difficulty, but mostly its just infuriating! With that in mind I agree withBJDavy above....a slightly more savvy foe AI would have been great as a DLC upgrade and can't have been beyond Beth's ability.


Oh well....no use bemoaning now......jus gotta gets me a PC.

I always play Bethesda's games at their default difficulty.

Rick, I think it's due to the actual age of the game. It's - 5 years from release. And considering how Beth processes games.... it's like ten years old at bottom. So, they just didn't know. They were using what they had from 2006 (or so) to 2011 - and while the world went on around them, they just plodded on. Now, I don't know that any of it's factual. But that's how I explain it in my own mind.

Hindsight is a really great thing - unless you're a game dev second-guessing not only yourself but technology - AND the market.

Normal, i don't enjoy super sponge enemies. And if you use destruction it quickly becomes useless on the higher difficulties imo