playing skyrim on a master level

[illuminist]

okay now, I need to talk about this.....

does anyone play skyrim on master??

because I in usual practice play skyrim at apprentice difficulty because it aint too hard or too easy.

so what difficulty do you play skyrim in??

 

[Squirrel_killer-]

Master unless I'm having a really hard time with one fight the I drop it too Adept.

 

[Belle]

I haven't changed it from when the game started I'd like to try it on Master, but I think I know what would happen if I did xD

 

[Spiral Power!]

I have a really bad habit of constantly giving myself buffs, reforging my armor/weapons, and approaching every fight very carefully.

So I have to turn it on master or else it feels like most of my favorite things to do in the game are a waste of time.

 

[Hacksaw]

I start a new character at adept until I have some reasonably developed fighting (or hiding) skills, then turn it up to master. By "reasonably developed," I mean high levels in combat skills (1-handed/block/armor, archery/hiding, or whatever) and decent gear (unenchanted elven/dwarven armor and weapons or better).

 

[dunklunk]

Master, but only cuz my T2 is so amped with weapons and armor, it'd be boring not to. Not to mention unfair.

Expert on my second go-through. Mostly cuz I kinda know what's coming. So I have at least a slight advantage. Plus, I'm low on just about everything.

 

[Fighter Hayabusa]

Master difficulty for me. I came to appreciate the melee combat far more after I switched to it. I started out on adept, but found that I was killing almost all enemies w/ 1 hit ( dragons in 3-4) and was not bothering to utilize shouts at all ( didnt need to). After I switched to master and created self- imposed restrictions for balance and RP, I found that I had to be more thoughtful, actually assess situations correctly and decide quickly on how to play it to get through the encounter efficiently.

I think the combat mechanics are generally underrated in this game, and I think its because the default difficulty is too easy. Crank it up and you might find many more uses for some of the combat moves. One example: 2 handed weapon backwards power attack is great but almost no one uses it because they're likely 1- shotting eveything. Baiting an enemy to come at you ,timing your swing perfectly so that the target is just within the hit- box meeting perfectly with the head of your warhammer and watching them stagger helplessly after the hit is very satisfying. On adept, I thought this move was worthless, but switching to master difficulty forced me to experiment and find a good use for it and other moves as well.

Im not an especially good ( or clever) gamer and found master difficulty to be about right for me. I would recommend it to others too!

 

[Tyrone]

Depends who I'm playing,

On my imperial paladin its always master without hud, makes it challenging

On all other characters its just adept usually

 

[foREVerSHAD0WS]

For my Mage I would have to switch to master. She's so OP that she is literally invincible otherwise. But my thief isn't quite that strong, he'd get raped on master xD

 

[Xivia4]

New characters start at Adept or Expert and once I hit level 40 or 50 I switch to Master.

 

[Mr1cammando]

Master for me, expert for hard fights, but I try to avoid them.

But apprentice though? That's way too easy. Adept was made to make you feel like the boss, except for a few places. Anything lower is far too easy. Your a borderline demigod.

 

[illuminist]

yes I mainly prefer the apprentice but I can change to adept when I start a another character on my same account.

 

[foREVerSHAD0WS]

My warrior was invincible, I needed to be on master, somehow he wasn't otherwise taking any damage at all. So apprentice and novice are definitely no fun at all.

 

[Katastrophe]

Pretty much what Fighter Hayabusa said, spot on.
When I got Skyrim, I played on default and very quickly felt like Talos' gift to Tamriel. I love to RP in this game so I felt like I should make it realistic - as in I should rarely engage anything more than 1v1 when it comes to me versus another human, and Master gave me that feeling. However, I felt like I was forced into a stealth role because melee became way too intense... but I've seen it done and have practiced and it's honestly a lot of fun but if you screw up, oh dear God will you pay for it.

So I usually also add self-imposed rules. I feel a lot of this game can be broken without actually trying. Sneak can be far too easily abused, obvious enchanting/smithing abuses, and the economy is horrible. As I've said, with my character that I put everything into stamina, by level 30 I had accumulated enough gold from questing that I'm pretty sure I could have legally bought Skyrim...

 

[TheDovahkiin]

Apprentice. When I hit level 30 I will crank it up though.

 

[Unit7]

I won't play on anything but Master unless I am messing around with stuff.

I started playing on Adept or maybe even lower. But I bumped that up towards the end of my first "playthrough"

I am not the best gamer but I found that after awhile Skyrim can get really easy and I felt like being challenged so I bumped it up to Expert. It was fun. But after I beat the Civil War and killed Alduin I thought I would try out Master.

And then I realized I was getting my butt handed to me every fight. I fell in love with Master difficulty. There is nothing more embarrassing and hillarious then dying to some skeevers or mudcrabs... which has actually happened... both almost happened today.

But I love the challenge and I don't think I could even consider going lower. Though sometimes it feels like my difficulty is bugged when I get to the point where most encounters are easy. So I am always trying to find a way to handicap myself to where it's both challenging but possible.

Seriously some of my best fights are where I spend 20 minutes trying to kill 1 NPC... often a Bandit Chief with a two hander. I die over and over again... but once I beat them it's a great feeling.

Of course if you do play on Master I wouldn't recomend dual wielding while using light armor. Not sure if it's the same with heavy armor because I never use it. But enemies with 2 handed weapons can be a pain in the butt. Without fail they seem to always 2 hit you and get a finishing move even if you have most of your health. Sometimes I wish I had a shield... but then again dual weilding is just way to much fun. lol

 

[theoperation]

I stick with the default. On Novice/Apprentice it's all too easy to charge in Leroy Jenkins style and beat down 50 Draugr Deathlords in a few hits, and in Expert/Master I have to constantly go to the menu and have about 50 healing potions on me just to beat a couple of Frostbite Spiders.
I like a challenge, but I don't like constantly going to the menu to heal myself.

 

[EleanorUnicorn]

my first character was on novice, second adept, third expert and now my fourth, a bosmer assassin, is on master i was inspired to start a new game and turn it up to master after reading various fanfics, which all set some pretty extreme rules. and i used to think 'all these people who say they play on master must be lying, its way too hard' but it seriously isn't once you get used to it! infact, playing on anything less than master feels like no challenge at all.

playing on master adds a sense of realism (if someone hit you twice with that axe or warhammer, you WOULD die), and gives you a sense of accomplishment and pride when you win. it also forces you to consider tactics, stealth, the amour and weapons of your opponent (to strike the heavy armoured, two handed orc first? or the light armoured archer, or mage?), the location from which you strike, which poison to use on certain enemies.. i love it. fights with dragons are also 10x more realistic it becomes a game of logic and talent on master, rather than button mashing and knowing you will always win on novice. you will find yourself running away a lot more than you used to, especially on lower levels, but sometimes this can be used to your advantage

the only really difficult thing about playing on master is the brawls (bar fights). they become seriously difficult to win without the help of a potion or healing spell! but yeah. i would reccommend everyone to turn their game to master, for at least a week, and try it out! definitely made the game loads more enjoyable for me

 

[Hadean]

i went straight to master from the get go but as a sneakly/archer it was cake anyway, as long as i was diligent it was never an issue. never did finish that playthough (will do evenntually) but have now changed to a cloth mage and its a different matter, much much harder.

even with buffs the odd decent archer can really spoil my day in one shot. combine it with mods like complex needs, no fast travel, limited weight etc it becomes a different game imo.

though for the better. i adore this series and want as much fun as possible, but in a masochistic way.

 

[EleanorUnicorn]

agreed that playing as an archer makes master easier, seeing as all attacks are ranged.. maybe my next playthrough could be a two handed orc with heavy armour or even one handed, with a shield! now that would be a real challenge