Ugh.. Master Difficulty

[Baelor]

So my character is level 25. He only has 25% Magic Resistance through the blessing of Mara and a +10 magic resist ring.

I am heading east out of Falkreath yesterday and am attacked on sight by 3 Thalmor. The mage was taking 1/3 of my health per lighting strike. I tried to sprint away, drank a few health pots, but he killed me easily.

Does Master ever get easier? I am not confident I could kill ANY mage unless I got some sneak attacks in. When I can't even escape something is wrong.

Any other ways to boost magic resist? I have some magic resist potions but they only add 9%.

 

[The OP3RaT0R]

It gets easier, but it depends what kind of character you play. I'm level 20 and play a heavy/light armor combo and the game has gotten pretty easy for me to survive in, the only things that kill me from full health are generally bears, sabre cats, and powerful mages.

 

[Baelor]

It gets easier, but it depends what kind of character you play. I'm level 20 and play a heavy/light armor combo and the game has gotten pretty easy for me to survive in, the only things that kill me from full health are generally bears, sabre cats, and powerful mages.

I am a light armored ranger/assassin/stealth character. Like I siad, if I got the first attack in on this mage, it may have been a different story, but I was just running along the road and started getting zapped by his shock spells. I thought 1/3 health was a bit much per hit.

I have been allocating health/stamina points on a 1:1 basis upon leveling. Should I apply more to health?

 

[Brizzle Kicks]

I'm level 25 2h warrior and still get owned pretty often if I wonder around by myself. I need a follower or Sanguine Rose to help get an advantage. I went in a cave with a master vampire that was stupidly strong it took me 40 mins to kill it. Trying to get Nettlebane was fun I had to drag the stormcloaks into my battle I got my ass served to me 3 times before I got it I kept getting hit with fire balls and ice stroms.

It does make the game much better imo I find myself using shouts more and you can never be at ease becuse there is always something round the corner waiting to put you on your ass.

 

[Crooksin]

You're a assassin/stealth character on master and you are having problems? I'd have to say that is probably the EASIEST build to play on master as long as you take full advantage of sneak attacks and get your archery up as fast as you can.

My most powerful (or easiest, I should say) character (so far) was a Nord assassin type and I played on master. I can count on one hand how many times I had problems with it (mainly pre-Lvl 10), that's how OP it really was. The key to succeeding with this build is sneak attacks, poison (more so in early levels), and NEVER engage in close combat. When I say never, I mean never. When taking on a cave full of bandits or what have you, sneak attack until they get too close for comfort, then get out of the area, rinse and repeat. Its time consuming and also a bit repetitive but you'll never lose that way. Use shouts if they get too close so you can get out of dodge to fight another day.

You should allocate your health/stamina to a 2:1 ratio (depending on if you use Magicka as well) or even 3:1 because if you do it right, you'll never have to use that much stamina all at one time (or health, really). 1/3 is not a bit much because remember that you are playing on master where enemies take half damage and deal double. Take the backstab/overdraw perks and level sneak like a bitch and you'll soon have a character that can clear out a whole bandit castle without even alerting the rats.

 

[Baelor]

You're a assassin/stealth character on master and you are having problems? I'd have to say that is probably the EASIEST build to play on master as long as you take full advantage of sneak attacks and get your archery up as fast as you can.

My most powerful (or easiest, I should say) character (so far) was a Nord assassin type and I played on master. I can count on one hand how many times I had problems with it (mainly pre-Lvl 10), that's how OP it really was. The key to succeeding with this build is sneak attacks, poison (more so in early levels), and NEVER engage in close combat. When I say never, I mean never. When taking on a cave full of bandits or what have you, sneak attack until they get too close for comfort, then get out of the area, rinse and repeat. Its time consuming and also a bit repetitive but you'll never lose that way. Use shouts if they get too close so you can get out of dodge to fight another day.

You should allocate your health/stamina to a 2:1 ratio (depending on if you use Magicka as well) or even 3:1 because if you do it right, you'll never have to use that much stamina all at one time (or health, really). 1/3 is not a bit much because remember that you are playing on master where enemies take half damage and deal double. Take the backstab/overdraw perks and level sneak like a bitch and you'll soon have a character that can clear out a whole bandit castle without even alerting the rats.

Not really having trouble per se. As you may have read, I was running along the road outside of Falkreath. I wasn't sneaking. It was also foggy and by the time I saw them they were already attacking me. I tried simply running away but was killed from behind with the shock spells from the mage.

In a cave/dungeon I wreak havoc as I do tons of damage with sneak attacks.

 

[Blackdoom59]

On master you will level up faster then on any other dificulty.That is both an advantage as a disadvantage.However if you get your sneak up to level 50 early , grab assassin's blade and get a shrouded glove while dual wielding , a dual wield power attack will do 60x times damage.Get that dagger with 3% chance of insta kill(you need lvl 20 n go to dawnstar museum) as it has daedric quality , then get the blade of woe(from db questline) for dragonbone quality.If you have them both at level 20 your dual wielding POWER attack will deal enough damage to nearly kill a dragon(depends on the perks in one handed).So Assassin is probably the best type of character to play on master.

Then there is the stagga'lockin' mage(impact perk + dual cast projectile spells) who can perma-stun even the strongest enemies.The rest are very hard to play on master.An Archer can also stagga'lock , but not as good as a mage.So if your character is not using sneak attacks, nor has perma-stun skills AND isn't breton , you will have a hard time with mages.

 

[Dagmar]

I have been allocating health/stamina points on a 1:1 basis upon leveling. Should I apply more to health?

Absolutely. I can't think of any build where stamina is so crucial that you raise it on a 1:1 basis with health. My most stamina intensive build is my Archer and even her build is not 1:1. Stamina for power attacks isn't a major factor because easily cooked foods like vegetable soup, venison stew and beef stew all replenish stamina continuously for 12 minutes.

For additional magic resistance activate the Lord Stone. It will give you another 25% and also add 50 points to your armor rating. If you're not dual wielding, you can do the daedric quest The Only Cure to get the shield Spellbreaker which casts a Ward spell every time you raise it to block.

 

[Dagmar]

On master you will level up faster then on any other dificulty.

I'm not sure what you mean but the leveling mechanics for character leveling is unaffected by difficulty settings.

 

[Baelor]

Absolutely. I can't think of any build where stamina is so crucial that you raise it on a 1:1 basis with health. My most stamina intensive build is my Archer and even her build is not 1:1. Stamina for power attacks isn't a major factor because easily cooked foods like vegetable soup, venison stew and beef stew all replenish stamina continuously for 12 minutes.

For additional magic resistance activate the Lord Stone. It will give you another 25% and also add 50 points to your armor rating. If you're not dual wielding, you can do the daedric quest The Only Cure to get the shield Spellbreaker which casts a Ward spell every time you raise it to block.

I currently have the Lover Stone active. Do you think the Lord Stone would be more beneficial to a dual wielding/archer stealth character?

 

[Dagmar]

I currently have the Lover Stone active. Do you think the Lord Stone would be more beneficial to a dual wielding/archer stealth character?

Yes, while I don't think it's particularly valuable for a stealth build, more magic and physical damage resistance is always beneficial and skill leveling bonuses rate extremely low on my list of priorities for my characters.

 

[The OP3RaT0R]

I'm not sure what you mean but the leveling mechanics for character leveling is unaffected by difficulty settings.

NPCs have more health and you do less damage on Master, so you have to hit the enemies more, and thus you level up more, because you level up the same per hit, but you must hit the enemy more.

I have been allocating health/stamina points on a 1:1 basis upon leveling. Should I apply more to health?

I do 2:1, but I wear heavy armor helmets/gauntlets/boots and use a heavy shield, and my cuirass is light, so the extra health plus that extra protection means I hold up well.

 

[Dagmar]

NPCs have more health and you do less damage on Master, so you have to hit the enemies more, and thus you level up more, because you level up the same per hit, but you must hit the enemy more.

NPC health is unaffected by difficulty settings. The only thing difficulty settings do is affect your damage to enemies and vice versa. You don't level up the same per hit. The prevailing theory based on testing is that Combat skills level up based on base damage inflicted per attack. Even though it may take roughly twice as many attacks to kill an enemy, the halving of the base damage for each attack effectively makes it a wash in terms of skill xp leveling rate.

 

[MyNameIsJon]

So my character is level 25. He only has 25% Magic Resistance through the blessing of Mara and a +10 magic resist ring.

How about supplementing what you have with elemental resists, either from enchanted clothing/armor or necklace. They stack.

 

[Dagmar]

How about supplementing what you have with elemental resists, either from enchanted clothing/armor or necklace. They stack.

No clothing or armor holds the generic resist magic enchantment.

The only items that hold them are necklaces, rings and shields. Since he's dual wielding a shield isn't an option. If he wants to camp a trader for a necklace his best chance to get one would be at Radiant Raiment in Solitude.

 

[Baelor]

Thanks for the input all.

I activated the Lord Stone last night so we will see how that goes. I now have 50% base magic resist with the blessing of Mara, my ring, and the Lord Stone.

 

[Deeley]

No clothing or armor holds the generic resist magic enchantment.

Maybe not resist magic, but I think what he meant by elemental resists was fire/frost/shock, which could go on his boots, amulet, or rings

 

[jRi0T68]

Maybe not resist magic, but I think what he meant by elemental resists was fire/frost/shock, which could go on his boots, amulet, or rings

Yep. I wear a necklace with resist fire and resist frost. Helps for those times I decide to knife-fight a dragon, lol.

 

[Brizzle Kicks]

I got up to level 30 last night 300 health, 200 stamina, orcish armour, orcish warhammer and greatsword I pretty much boss most things now. I have'nt enchanted anything yet waiting untill I get enough grand soul gems.

One question though do enemies level scale with you as you level up or do they stay at a certain level.

 

[Dagmar]

Maybe not resist magic, but I think what he meant by elemental resists was fire/frost/shock, which could go on his boots, amulet, or rings

I don't think that's what he meant at all. He said they stack and elemental damage resistance doesn't stack with magic resistance. I think he meant exactly what he said.