Skyrim "Hardcore" Playstyle

[Masteristooeasy]

If you want the game to be harder:
1) do not level 2 of either smithing, enchanting, or alchemy. but you wont get the most out of the game (since if you don't smith, you cannot get best weapons and armor, and if you don't enchant then your missing out on some nice bonus damage, free spells, etc...)
2. Do not play a sneak/archer because its very overpowered. People say dagger rogues are great because they can do so much damage in 1 hit, but with an archer in sneak you can 1 shot just about anything (especially if your an orc in beserk and you happen to crit while sneaking *my bow* 600 dmgx3x2x1.5= 5400 dmg) . On top of being able to slow time by zooming which is retardedly awesome like price of persia or something. Ok you can probably tell i like archers.

 

[brandon]

If you want the game to be harder:
1) do not level 2 of either smithing, enchanting, or alchemy. but you wont get the most out of the game (since if you don't smith, you cannot get best weapons and armor, and if you don't enchant then your missing out on some nice bonus damage, free spells, etc...)
2. Do not play a sneak/archer because its very overpowered. People say dagger rogues are great because they can do so much damage in 1 hit, but with an archer in sneak you can 1 shot just about anything (especially if your an orc in beserk and you happen to crit while sneaking *my bow* 600 dmgx3x2x1.5= 5400 dmg) . On top of being able to slow time by zooming which is retardedly awesome like price of persia or something. Ok you can probably tell i like archers.

i thought the orc berserk power only worked with melee weapons not bows too.

 

[BlackRat]

Build:
Wood Elf
dual dagger
bow
stamina 380
health 180
magic 100

Stealth 100
Lockpick 80-ish (at work, not exactly sure)
marksman 80-ish
light armour 60-70ish
alchemy is around 45-ish
speech is about 35 or so
all other skills are under 20.

I limit my carried items to a "realistic" standard... limit arrows to usually around 36.
Basically... If I can't wrap my head around how I would carry something with my real-life pack, I don't carry it. Unless I've cleaned a dungeon and am heading bck to town to sell. But even then, I limit myself to a "reasonable" load. I can imagine having two warhammers strapped to my pack... but not a dozen swords, 6 helmets and a set of ebony armour. I try to avoid using potions during combat, and as a stealth character, I don't find it that difficult to do so. I avoid swimming as much as possible, as was said above, often wandering along the river's edge til I find a place to ford... there was that one time I used a river and the waterfall to escape from a prusuing enemy when things were going against me... but hey, that's just good storytelling.

This character runs away a lot, when things go bad.
He'll sharpen his own weapons, or fix his armour.. but he's not a smith.
He makes poisons, but he's no alchemist.
He casts no spells.
He wears only light armour.
He's a master of hidden, poisoned sneak attacks with his bow.. taking a shot and vanishing into the shadows until another opportunity presents itself. It usually doesn't take more than three shots, most often... only one.
He sucks in a face to face fight, preferring to backstab. When he does end up face to face... he runs.
He prefers to get and out without ever being noticed, though.

I take carts, horses. Fast travel only when the route is clearly defined... like a road. Basically, I'll fast travel to the nearest roadside spot near my destination, and then walk the rest of the way.
I only take quests that I can justify in a "character' sense... in this case... anything that serves my character's self interest.

I played about 50 "D.I.D." characters in Morrowind, and countless others in Oblivion (and FO, and FO: NV). I probably will in Skyrim too, after I have exhausted all the guilds and storylines (after this character is a Nord warrior Rebel, and an Imperialist Mage...both dedicated solely to their respective branches of the civil war storyline). Then.. it will be endless "dead is dead" games with increasingly silly restrictions imposed on myself. Racist Khajiit, pacifist magic users, etc.

This is why I keep coming back to Bethesda. Glitchtacular games and all, they just give me the greatest opportunity to make my game what I want it to be.

 

[BIGwooly]

I like the sleeping to recover from injuries idea. I've used that in both Morrowind and Oblivion. I would do it in this game but by the time I find a bed I'm already healed due to the regen health. Really wish I could toggle that off.

 

[bosspatrone]

Great list. Very similar to my play style. I would say I probably go a little more overboard with my inventory system, though. I pretend that I have a backpack and try to picture what the stuff I'm carrying would look like in the pack. If it is full, then I am done until I sell or take home. Also large weapons don't fit, so if I want to keep it, I have to equip and carry.

 

[BIGwooly]

Nice. That's a good way to do it too.

 

[BIGwooly]

If you want the game to be harder:
1) do not level 2 of either smithing, enchanting, or alchemy. but you wont get the most out of the game (since if you don't smith, you cannot get best weapons and armor, and if you don't enchant then your missing out on some nice bonus damage, free spells, etc...)
2. Do not play a sneak/archer because its very overpowered. People say dagger rogues are great because they can do so much damage in 1 hit, but with an archer in sneak you can 1 shot just about anything (especially if your an orc in beserk and you happen to crit while sneaking *my bow* 600 dmgx3x2x1.5= 5400 dmg) . On top of being able to slow time by zooming which is retardedly awesome like price of persia or something. Ok you can probably tell i like archers.

1. So far I haven't leveled smithing, enchanting OR alchemy .. and I don't plan to either. d;-)

2. As an archer sneaking you can definitely one-hit kill certain animals/monsters/people. However, I'm playing on "Master" difficulty and I can tell you there are A LOT of animals/monsters/people that I cannot one-hit kill (even ice wolves cannot be one-hit killed). I certainly wouldn't say that a sneak/archer is overpowered, but it also depends on how you play. If you read my initial post you'll note I play on the hardest difficulty and with a lot of restrictions. Trust me, it's not a cake-walk at all. Try playing as an archer with a limited arrow supply (30) with your HUD set to 0% and add all the other restrictions I do and you'll find it challenging.

 

[SaveVsBedWet]

Doing just fine entering caves where six mages in robes can come out and two hit me with short swords in five straight reloads while I'm at level 30 in the same magic armor with/shield that protected me long enough to 4 hit two Blood Dragons, and 3 hit two bears and a sabretooth on the way over. On Expert.

No need to up the game difficulty from "ridiculously and comically inconsistent and downright unfair at times" to simply "The Widowmaker". But great list anyway...

 

[Shew]

I play in this manner:

If someone dies, companion, npc quest giver I do not reload and get them back. they are just dead and so potentially is any quest they would have given.

Difficulty is set to max.

hud at 10%,

no exploits, but I do actively train to smith, enchant, and speechcraft. I figure its part of my character. All other skills must flow naturally from the actions i do.

 

[BIGwooly]

No need to up the game difficulty from "ridiculously and comically inconsistent and downright unfair at times" to simply "The Widowmaker". But great list anyway...

Haha, "Widowmaker". I wish I had thought of that. Much better than "Hardcore". d;-)

 

[Elvus]

I respect your choice to make the the game more challenging,but there's no way I could pull that off,I get too angry at the carry weight limit the way it is lol.

 

[DeepXpurple]

I love reading about how people play this game, I find it fun and it gives me some new ideas such as how you play. But not fast travel? Can I use the ox guy or w/e his name is? If I can't than I would rather rip off my balls that run city to city to dungeon to city to dungeon.

 

[bosspatrone]

I love reading about how people play this game, I find it fun and it gives me some new ideas such as how you play. But not fast travel? Can I use the ox guy or w/e his name is? If I can't than I would rather rip off my balls that run city to city to dungeon to city to dungeon.

Using the cart to get around is perfectly legit.

How many rules you choose to adopt is, ultimately, completely up to you.

 

[BIGwooly]

I love reading about how people play this game, I find it fun and it gives me some new ideas such as how you play. But not fast travel? Can I use the ox guy or w/e his name is? If I can't than I would rather rip off my balls that run city to city to dungeon to city to dungeon.

Like bosspatrone said, the game is yours to play as you wish. If you hate walking everywhere and it takes away from the game experience for you, use the carts. I choose to walk because it gives me a better 'feel' for the world I'm playing in and also you never know who or what you will run into on the roads.

In the end, do what YOU enjoy but don't be afraid to try different things. I almost didn't give the no-HUD a chance but now I'm absolutely loving it. d;-)

 

[Ebony Knight]

I am curious how you properly navigate without a compass. I can understand the desire for increased realism and think the no map outside of a city is great but I cannot imagine how you get where you need to be without some form of visual representation.

 

[Shew]

I am the human gps once I have been there I know how to get back....

 

[Ebony Knight]

but...that doesn't help MEEEEEE

 

[BIGwooly]

I am curious how you properly navigate without a compass. I can understand the desire for increased realism and think the no map outside of a city is great but I cannot imagine how you get where you need to be without some form of visual representation.

Well, let's say I'm supposed to go find a ruin (what I'm doing right now). When I'm in the city I'll note where the ruin is marked on my map, and I'll make a note of the direction/road I'll need to take to get there (or close). I'll also make a note of any nearby locations and/or physical landmarks (like a bend in a river or the base of a mountain). After that I just start walking and go find it.

Sometimes I'll have to look around for a bit to actually find the location. Sometimes I'll find a new location and at that point I can check the map again to get my bearings. I once played a character in Morrowind using only the physical map that comes with the game. Now THAT was a challenge!

 

[Ebony Knight]

I bet it was, I was going to say it sounds similar to Morrowind. I can't even tell you how many times I got lost playing that game. It made me the man I am today

 

[BIGwooly]

Yeah Morrowind had some hardcore built into it. The people gave you much more detailed directions and you had a journal that tracked all that. But with Skyrim they will just say, you need to go to "XXXX" and that's all you get. Otherwise I wouldn't even use the in-game map.

What restrictions were you thinking of trying out?