I didn't vote because my answer would be yes and no.

At mid-levels playing a pure mage, I had to decrease the difficulty sometimes, usually against powerful dragons or undead who hit hard and had more hp than I had magicka to work with.

But in the beginning (like levels 1-15 or so) and once I was a higher level (like 40, 55 now) I didn't have that problem. For some reason the levels from around 16-39 or so boss battles just kicked my butt.

Hellllls yes I keep that bad boy cranked down to Apprentice! I'm terrible at gaming and I would rather focus on the content than have to restart from my last save over and over because of some frost bear.

Except when I play my heavy armor/2-handed weapon character. Holy cow that's ridiculous easy-mode, so I put it on Adept.

I switch frequently between master and expert.. Master is pretty much for everyday enemies, and expert for bosses.

Nope, but been thinking about turning it up because i can two shot a giant in melee combat and dragons have gotten easy as all heck.

I was actually thinking of upping the difficulty from adept, things are getting a little too easy since I've been playing a rouge mage. However dragons still scare the crap outta me. I would never lower the difficulty, because that means I'd beat the game faster and that would be horrible. I want to enjoy Skyrim for as long as possible.

If, and when I die, have a few times already, I wait back at my last auto-save / (quick save if I knew a boss was coming) and re-plan my strategy. It's a lot easier when you know the fight your heading into. It makes me feel so much better if I die repeatedly and I figure out a good plan to win against an obviously stronger foe. Me and dragons! :flamethrower: :bolt:

I keep my game on the default. For some reason I'd rather reload than turn it down.

I keep it at default. I've only ever had to give up completely once so far (first encounter with a blood dragon IIRC on one of those outdoor walls), and all other times I just keep re-spawning and revising what I'm doing. Most times I've found that if I tackle a problem a different way it gets easier, and I'm never constantly dying over and over - apart from that dragon fight where I decided I just wasn't good enough for it yet.

I envy the op. Skyrim is still a mysterious, beautiful and scary world for him. Just keep playing and soon enough you'll find that these were the good old days. Never decreased difficulty. Started adept then at lvl 33 went expert and soon after master. Master feels like when I first started the game. If you really are a noob you don't know how lucky you
are. This forum is supposed to be non spoiler, but if you truly are a lucky noob then almost every thread here is a spoiler. This wonderful game offers solutions and opportunities for every situation. Do not cheat yourself out of the sense of accomplishment when you finally 'get it'. GO PLAY THE GAME!!!

I haven't turned it down yet. In the cases where I ran into things that just kicked my butt, I just retreated and put that task in the "do later" category. (The ice troll and sabrecat on the 7000 steps, delayed my trip to Hrothgar until the mid 20's. The dragon's lair in the volcanic tundra near Kynesgrove was another one that I dodged after several failed attempts.)


edit: oh, this is on Adept. I play all the Beth games on their default difficulty.

I always play low. I'm just in it for the exploring and the yummy food. Fights are nice, don't get me wrong, but I don't want to use up all my potions 1/4 of the way to my destination. Also, I'm generally an awful fighter.

Play on whatever difficulty is fun. Who gives a rats ass if its easy or master if your just frustrated all the time its not worth it.

once i hit 25 i turned the difficulty up..

i turned it up once i figured out what character was going to be i set up tatics as such i plan my advancement through dungeons stealth arrows to weaken or outright kill the fodder wail on the big boy im sorry to say but it is a single player game the ai isnt the brighest especially if u stick and move in melee

I don't. I've played every minute on master. It's a deal I made with my brother. At first I found it rough, but it really isn't all that bad. Once you have a diverse character it can become pretty easy.

I'm not going to judge anyone who does, it's your game, play it like you want to, but personally I never touch the difficulty once I commit.

I played the game for 120 hours on expert. While it was definitely tough at spots, I though overall this was a good difficulty, like another user mentioned, "the sweet spot"... That is until I got to level 30ish and things got easy, and I lost interest.

I'm now trying to play master, but I'm not sure I can get through it. I seem to do well, but then I encounter one "boss-like" character, like a bandit chief, and I stand absolutely NO chance. I get hit once, and I'm dead. Since I'm now playing a 2h heavy armor warrior / summoner (all level ups go to health), I can't sneak or snipe, I have to face my enemies, toe to toe... But even if I use all my potions to increase damage, health, cast stone skin or whatever it is, have the Lord stone (more armor), I cannot stand a chance against a character who hits me once, and kills me. Even with Lydia and an atronauch, there's just no way I can survive.

Now in the above situation, most people would just turn down the difficulty, and then put it back after. I can't do that. I can't explain why, but if I do it, I just lose interest almost instantly. I feel no motivation to keep playing after. Same thing if the game is too easy, all the time. I just move on.

Anyone else feel the same way? Honestly I wish I didn't, I think I'd enjoy the game more.

Once I mind up my mind to play at a certain difficulty and under certain conditions, I don't change it.

My plan for my first character is adept for first 30 levels, expert from 31 to 50 and master onwards. No companions. And I have done that.

My plan for my second character is master all the way. She is currently a level 9 magic user now and Lydia has been a lifesaver more than once.

Adept, except... I turned it down for one fight. End of a long dungeon, my first dragon priest; one with a staff that set the floor on fire. I was in the late teens level-wise, archery and stealth, but not too great at either. No companion. The dungeon had kicked me around; down to about three healing potions. I tried everything I could, but that guy killed me at least a dozen times. Changed tactics, potions and scrolls. Finally broke down, cranked the difficulty down one step, and beat him.

I probably could have gone for Ogol, or just come back in a few levels, but I was just so sick of that guy and not wanting to backtrack through the whole dungeon.

Expert, never turned down.

No matter the difficulty level, if a character doesn't have resistances to elements and magic, you'll have serious problems with mages, vampires, spriggans and dragons. If it has, you can deal with them on Master even with blunt head-on assalts.

So true. On my DiD file I played during patch 1.2(no magic resistance), I ran like hell every time I saw a mage in the wilderness.

I have not tried "Master" difficulty, but I started with "Expert" difficulty from the start and never regreted it.

Thinking of trying "Master" difficulty with my next character.

What did you say? "Easy" difficulty? What is that?

I turned it down once. I play on expert and have generally found it a good balance. I'm not usually the guy that ever changes the default difficulty setting either. Though once, as a I walked out of Whiterun I was greeted by three hardcoe thugs who made it impossible to get past them after half a dozen reloads, so I turned down to default to get through..... I've been feeling guilty ever since. :unsure:

I've never had the difficulty set any lower than Adept, and I doubt I ever will unless I'm playing an unbalanced mod or something. I change the difficulty frequently depending on what character I'm playing on and how difficult of a time I'm having. For example, I'm playing on a level 15 Redguard mage at the moment who deals in being stealthy, Illusion spells, and, when she gets discovered, full on burst-damage Destruction spells, as well as runes. I keep her difficulty at Adept and I'm not considering changing it anytime soon. My level 52 Nord warrior with a Daedric Battleaxe, full Legendary Daedric Armor and mastery of most melee combat skills, I play on Master difficulty. I typically like to challenge myself, so I don't plan on ever getting that over-powered ever again. I just wanted to make a character that was as crazy strong as I could, and that would be my Nord.

i'm tired of having to bump it up to master and still /yawn :sadvaultboy:

I just leave it at Adept I don't mind the enemies picking up extra dmg its the I do less dmg that bugs me I have no problem with tradeoff one shotting each other its where I have to plug away for hours trying to bring them down and they got to oneshot me where its no fun.

no , even on Master is just too easy