Forums » Elder Scrolls

What difficulty do you play Skyrim on?

    • 1483 posts
    March 31, 2013 8:41 PM EDT
    And what do you think of it? To be honest I think Adept is the most balanced difficulty if you're non-crafter
    • 253 posts
    March 31, 2013 10:52 PM EDT

    I always play on Expert, I find it to be the most balanced. On master I simply find it too tedious. Yes killing things might be a bit harder because of less damage by you on master but if you could win the fight on expert, you would still win on master. I find it less realistic to play on master.

    • 856 posts
    April 1, 2013 12:45 AM EDT

    Sword and board work fine on Legendary.  I use minimal crafting; I only smith items for myself, or improve items I intend to sell.  The character's level is in the low teens, but those first few levels were very difficult.  Lately the combat reminds me of master difficulty, but it just takes longer.  Legendary difficutly should've been handled differently,e.g. raising the level of the enemy encountered overall, greater numbers of enemy, higher prices, hardcore mode, etc.  

    I have been thining about playing an adept ironman character.  I will have to make sure that I don't get too powerful, and instead gain perks in skills that I have overlooked in the past.  It may make an interesting play-through. 

    • 708 posts
    April 1, 2013 1:11 AM EDT

    Depending on the build either Expert or Master. I play to have a reasonable challenge but still enjoy myself - Master is often tedious especially on builds with limited defensive power in early levels. Might start jacking it up to Legendary once I hit the late 30's, that's usually when I start to get bored.

    • 89 posts
    April 1, 2013 8:40 AM EDT
    I've always played my builds on master. Sometimes it can be aggravating though, but I believe it makes for more balanced builds.
    • 20 posts
    April 1, 2013 8:48 AM EDT

    I increase difficulty as my character progresses. Usually start at apprentice till around level 15, adept till my character is strong enough for expert or master (depending on the strength of the build). 

    • 557 posts
    April 1, 2013 8:51 AM EDT
    I have always played Dead Is Deadon Master difficulty. I may try Legendary soon though.
    • 1595 posts
    April 1, 2013 10:36 AM EDT

    I'm glad to see I'm not the only person to play on anything less than Master difficulty. Expert is my benchmark as I find it a comfortable challenge at early levels - a time when I may not have the resources for a long fight.

    Once character dependant perks and equipment start falling into place at around level 20, I'll ramp up the difficulty to Master for the rest of that toon's life.

    • 127 posts
    April 1, 2013 10:40 AM EDT

    It just doesn't feel right If I don't play on the hardest difficulty.

  • April 1, 2013 10:48 AM EDT
    I play on master pretty much always. The only trouble is when fighting dragons when I don't have any resistance or source of healing and killcam spamming bandit chiefs.

    There is no way I'm playing Legendary, the damage slider is a dumb way to go about it.
    • 35 posts
    April 1, 2013 7:09 PM EDT

    Expert. I'm a milk-drinker :P

  • April 6, 2013 11:12 AM EDT

    When i first started skyrim i was on novice and i went up as i got more confident with battles and combat but now i'm on master and it's actually really fun and it makes the battles far more challenging.

    • 40 posts
    April 6, 2013 11:52 AM EDT

    I play on Adept. I may try Expert soon though. Especially if I play Mason's Obsidian Sentinel build. That guy is way to easy on Adept.

    • 1 posts
    April 6, 2013 12:08 PM EDT

    Ok, so, i'm playing Novice at start and get up the diff' with my player. :)

    • 4 posts
    April 7, 2013 3:47 AM EDT

    I generally stick to master difficulty,but it is rather annoying because unless whatever character I'm playing starts with decent defense/a way to keep enemies off of me,I run into problems with certain enemies,boss type enemies with two-handed weapons,in paticular,hitting me once and then killcaming me before I can react. I think I'll be sticking to expert from now on when I start,then switching to master/legendary as my character gets strong enough to deal with it.

    • 168 posts
    April 7, 2013 4:25 AM EDT
  • April 7, 2013 4:50 AM EDT

    That's a good strategy. I find the game gets easier with perks, and raising the slider at levels 20 and 40 keeps things fresh without getting too difficult too early.

    That said I mostly play adept. I don't usually play optimized characters and if I want an exercise in digital self-flagellation I'll play Dark Souls.

    • 59 posts
    April 7, 2013 5:07 AM EDT

    I started the game at adept. 5 min later I was on expert. An hour in I went master...

    Never looked back.

    • 108 posts
    May 10, 2013 9:24 AM EDT

    I play on expert, but as a RP rule I never use potions or food in combat. So that's though enough for me.

  • May 10, 2013 9:59 AM EDT
    After I'm done with my current character, I'm gonna shut off the HUD and try Adept difficulty. Think it should be a decent balance.
    • 1483 posts
    May 10, 2013 10:01 AM EDT

    I'm now playing DiD with no HUD on Legendary  Though I'm usually sneaking around and don't experience the difficulty of not seeing the health bar 

    • 1913 posts
    May 10, 2013 10:01 AM EDT
    It isn't that much more difficult, it only makes sneaking harder really
  • May 10, 2013 10:05 AM EDT
    Sneaking should be pretty easy. Never rely on that dumb eye anyways. My main issue will be the attribute bars not showing up.
    • 1483 posts
    May 10, 2013 10:07 AM EDT

    One more thing I find really difficult is casting projectile spells on long distances. With a bow you at least have something to help you aim.

    • 127 posts
    May 10, 2013 10:19 AM EDT

    Legendary. DiD. No Potions & Food, No Sneaking.