Staying interested after Level 50

[berzum]

I have found that if i constantly keep my characters evolving/adapting that the game last longer. a good example is with my warrior, i started out using HA and two handed weapons, as time wore on I decided to becom an assassin, so he wore LA instead of HA and traded in his battle axe for a nice set of daggers, and a bow. Killed people in stealth and hunted alot to make coin and leather to refine more gear. again time wore on and killing from the shadows lost it's challenge, so he turned to stealing, joined the TG and remained there for a while. Upon reaching old age (thanks to face sculptor) his hair now grey and face weathered, he sought to learn knowledge, now too old to be stealing and wearing HA he went to the mages college. there he learned all about the world of magic and the great library of the rude orc.
See how i roleplayed that, keeps the game interesting and you'll be experiencing alot now I could go on in more detail but that for another day, the reason he left DB other than old age was there was a mishap involving poisons he mad and an arrow in his knee....thats all im saying LOL

 

[berzum]

collect every book in skyrims, that will keep you busy for a while

 

[Manmangler]

Dont use followers, unless playing high difficulty. I felt game boring while Serena did all. Using follower in norma l difficulty is Boring(IHMO) and you level slower. In legendary, it is good to have follower whose behind you can hide when health is low.
Tarin every level some skills You dont use. I makes you look tariners, collect gold and level faster.

Start collecting something like already said books. Someone can collect cheese

Do quest that raise skills.

 

[berzum]

or you can make a skull room, i have a room that i am trying to fill with gems, my skull room is almost filled halfway to ceiling lol

 

[Manmangler]

Yep those are fun

Remind me from those room. Once I try made Pile of Junk in Whiterun marketplace. Over 400 armours and abou 600 weapons.
THAT WAS FUN

 

[berzum]

Yep those are fun

Remind me from those room. Once I try made Pile of Junk in Whiterun marketplace. Over 400 armours and abou 600 weapons.
THAT WAS FUN

only downsaide is people take stuff and come to you asking did you know you dropped this....im pretty sure if i dropped an armor set i would of known...the AI "I" is non existent.

 

[Deadpool.]

im level 100. i have completed the ENTIRE game. i have EVERY item... my life is complete

 

[Tryn]

Well I don't even start questing until about level 70 so I guess I'm not much help but imo the game plays much, much better at high levels. I'll run the main quest just enough to unlock dragons and then power level/collect equipment/roam the earth/craft my butt off/grind magic/etc, just to hit a high level and then start seriously questing and RP'ing. Makes for a much more fun and challenging playthrough when all the draugrs are deathlords and all the mages are a major threat.

As far as a challenge, do the Crimson Nirnroot quest in Blackreach and clear it out completely.

Can you tell more of the advantages of this style of play? I can imagine that the bad guys are more powerful, but wouldn't that be balanced out by yourself being more buff?

 

[DdraigGwyn]

Yep those are fun

Remind me from those room. Once I try made Pile of Junk in Whiterun marketplace. Over 400 armours and abou 600 weapons.
THAT WAS FUN

Yeah. I once dropped close to 2000 Ancient Nord weapons collected from Draugr over the entire course of the game.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

Well I don't even start questing until about level 70 so I guess I'm not much help but imo the game plays much, much better at high levels. I'll run the main quest just enough to unlock dragons and then power level/collect equipment/roam the earth/craft my butt off/grind magic/etc, just to hit a high level and then start seriously questing and RP'ing. Makes for a much more fun and challenging playthrough when all the draugrs are deathlords and all the mages are a major threat.

As far as a challenge, do the Crimson Nirnroot quest in Blackreach and clear it out completely.

Can you tell more of the advantages of this style of play? I can imagine that the bad guys are more powerful, but wouldn't that be balanced out by yourself being more buff?

I can't, but my question is: What the heck are you doing for those first 70 levels or so? Grinding? Sleeping? Chasing butterflies?

 

[LotusEater]

Well I don't even start questing until about level 70 so I guess I'm not much help but imo the game plays much, much better at high levels. I'll run the main quest just enough to unlock dragons and then power level/collect equipment/roam the earth/craft my butt off/grind magic/etc, just to hit a high level and then start seriously questing and RP'ing. Makes for a much more fun and challenging playthrough when all the draugrs are deathlords and all the mages are a major threat.

As far as a challenge, do the Crimson Nirnroot quest in Blackreach and clear it out completely.

Can you tell more of the advantages of this style of play? I can imagine that the bad guys are more powerful, but wouldn't that be balanced out by yourself being more buff?

I can't, but my question is: What the heck are you doing for those first 70 levels or so? Grinding? Sleeping? Chasing butterflies?

Yes, as a matter of fact... lot's of butterfly chasing going on with all my builds.

Regarding Tryn's question, balance is never really an issue for me as I generally don't use any uber-crafted equipment. Pretty much everything I wear/use is found in the game as an artifact or treasure. I also set a 200HP max for all of my builds to keep myself squishy on purpose. Which takes me to Daelon's question... what am I doing for 70 levels? A fair question!

So here's the laundry list of things I need to make my Skyrim dreams come true and save the world.

First step is to ignore my 'no vendors' rule in the beginning and collect as many low quality soul gems as possible and kill every animal I see except bunnies and foxes. I also hit all the waterways and gather up as many fish as possible. So my first 10-15 levels are spent traveling from city to city engaging in commerce. I buy/sell/create/resell using animal pelts to make bracers and enchanting them with cheap soul gems. I also make and sell expensive potions. By gathering salmon roe and hiscarp, you can level Alchemy extremely fast. So basically, my early game is spent unlocking the map and gathering resources. I generally hunt with magic so during this portion of the game I am legitimately leveling: Speech, Alchemy, Destruction, Smithing, Enchanting and a little Archery. It's fairly simple to hit level 20 this way pretty quickly and have a nice balanced distribution of experience. I also use this time to develop my backstory. I don't bother trying to develop a backstory from before me being a prisoner. The way I see it, Luke Skywalker was a farmer before he saved the galaxy. Who gives a s**t? I prefer to develop a 'backstory' using specific NPC's during the first 20 levels so I have something tangiable to refer to and revisit during play later on... it also gives me a little extra incentive to keep them alive.

Eventually I'll finish that period of gameplay by running the main quest up to and completing the Greybeard training, sometimes I'll help Delphine with the dragon, sometimes not. I know the Cultists are gonna meet me in Riverwood, so I go there to start Dragonborn regardless as there are a few pieces of crucial equipment on Solsthiem. Namely:

Bloodskal Blade
Ahzidahl's Ring of Arcana (his whole set really)
Black Books
Miraak's Staff
Miraak's Robe, boots and gauntlets
Access to Albino Spider Maker Thingy

So I basically leave Skyrim, set up shop in Severin Manor and run Solstheim ragged. By the time I leave there I'm usually around level 35'ish, the place is empty and I'm ready for the final push in Skyrim.

Zephyr is the only bow I use generally, so I head to Dawnguard and read Aetherium Wars to start that quest.

Jagged Crown is part of the plan, so I start the Civil War quest.

Ebony Mail, Mehrune's Razor, Aetherium Crown, Targe of the Blooded... all quest locked/related so I will run those quests along with the College questline and then craft, train, quest, craft, train, quest until I have all of my equipment in place and my preferred schools of magic receive enough training/practice. The only pieces of equipment I'll craft will be a set of boots and gauntlets if I go Heavy Armor/Ebony Mail... nothing if I decide to use Miraak's stuff.

So by the time this is all said and done, I end up landing at around lv65'ish and I still have a lot of questing left:

Most of the main quest still unresolved
All of Dawnguard untouched
Most of the Civil War still unresolved
Thieve's Guild untouched
Dark Brotherhood untouched
Companion's untouched
Most of the Daedric quests untouched
All Hearthfire/Thane type quests untouched

So that leaves me in a pretty good position to pick a path based on the backstory I've been developing as I go. Or I can ignore it all and go find Shouts. Or just go dungeon diving for the hell of it.

Hey... you guys wanted answers.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

Can you tell more of the advantages of this style of play? I can imagine that the bad guys are more powerful, but wouldn't that be balanced out by yourself being more buff?

I can't, but my question is: What the heck are you doing for those first 70 levels or so? Grinding? Sleeping? Chasing butterflies?

Yes, as a matter of fact... lot's of butterfly chasing going on with all my builds.

Regarding Tryn's question, balance is never really an issue for me as I generally don't use any uber-crafted equipment. Pretty much everything I wear/use is found in the game as an artifact or treasure. I also set a 200HP max for all of my builds to keep myself squishy on purpose. Which takes me to Daelon's question... what am I doing for 70 levels? A fair question!

So here's the laundry list of things I need to make my Skyrim dreams come true and save the world.

First step is to ignore my 'no vendors' rule in the beginning and collect as many low quality soul gems as possible and kill every animal I see except bunnies and foxes. I also hit all the waterways and gather up as many fish as possible. So my first 10-15 levels are spent traveling from city to city engaging in commerce. I buy/sell/create/resell using animal pelts to make bracers and enchanting them with cheap soul gems. I also make and sell expensive potions. By gathering salmon roe and hiscarp, you can level Alchemy extremely fast. So basically, my early game is spent unlocking the map and gathering resources. I generally hunt with magic so during this portion of the game I am legitimately leveling: Speech, Alchemy, Destruction, Smithing, Enchanting and a little Archery. It's fairly simple to hit level 20 this way pretty quickly and have a nice balanced distribution of experience. I also use this time to develop my backstory. I don't bother trying to develop a backstory from before me being a prisoner. The way I see it, Luke Skywalker was a farmer before he saved the galaxy. Who gives a s**t? I prefer to develop a 'backstory' using specific NPC's during the first 20 levels so I have something tangiable to refer to and revisit during play later on... it also gives me a little extra incentive to keep them alive.

Eventually I'll finish that period of gameplay by running the main quest up to and completing the Greybeard training, sometimes I'll help Delphine with the dragon, sometimes not. I know the Cultists are gonna meet me in Riverwood, so I go there to start Dragonborn regardless as there are a few pieces of crucial equipment on Solsthiem. Namely:

Bloodskal Blade
Ahzidahl's Ring of Arcana (his whole set really)
Black Books
Miraak's Staff
Miraak's Robe, boots and gauntlets
Access to Albino Spider Maker Thingy

So I basically leave Skyrim, set up shop in Severin Manor and run Solstheim ragged. By the time I leave there I'm usually around level 35'ish, the place is empty and I'm ready for the final push in Skyrim.

Zephyr is the only bow I use generally, so I head to Dawnguard and read Aetherium Wars to start that quest.

Jagged Crown is part of the plan, so I start the Civil War quest.

Ebony Mail, Mehrune's Razor, Aetherium Crown, Targe of the Blooded... all quest locked/related so I will run those quests along with the College questline and then craft, train, quest, craft, train, quest until I have all of my equipment in place and my preferred schools of magic receive enough training/practice. The only pieces of equipment I'll craft will be a set of boots and gauntlets if I go Heavy Armor/Ebony Mail... nothing if I decide to use Miraak's stuff.

So by the time this is all said and done, I end up landing at around lv65'ish and I still have a lot of questing left:

Most of the main quest still unresolved
All of Dawnguard untouched
Most of the Civil War still unresolved
Thieve's Guild untouched
Dark Brotherhood untouched
Companion's untouched
Most of the Daedric quests untouched
All Hearthfire/Thane type quests untouched

So that leaves me in a pretty good position to pick a path based on the backstory I've been developing as I go. Or I can ignore it all and go find Shouts. Or just go dungeon diving for the hell of it.

Hey... you guys wanted answers.

Wow! Now that's a plan. That was great. You deserve rep for that!

 

[LotusEater]

Wow! Now that's a plan. That was great. You deserve rep for that!

Thanks. Frankly I got sick of having all the cool, epic stuff all behind me by the time I got really powerful. I developed this method to avoid that as much as possible. Sometimes I'll leave Solstheim early and leave all the epic stuff for later (Miraak, that big frost giant whose name escapes me, Deathbrand showdown, dwemer gauntlet for awesome bow and cool followers, ect).

 

[DdraigGwyn]

Well I don't even start questing until about level 70 so I guess I'm not much help but imo the game plays much, much better at high levels. I'll run the main quest just enough to unlock dragons and then power level/collect equipment/roam the earth/craft my butt off/grind magic/etc, just to hit a high level and then start seriously questing and RP'ing. Makes for a much more fun and challenging playthrough when all the draugrs are deathlords and all the mages are a major threat.

As far as a challenge, do the Crimson Nirnroot quest in Blackreach and clear it out completely.

Can you tell more of the advantages of this style of play? I can imagine that the bad guys are more powerful, but wouldn't that be balanced out by yourself being more buff?

I can't, but my question is: What the heck are you doing for those first 70 levels or so? Grinding? Sleeping? Chasing butterflies?

I stopped chasing butterflies: I ran off too many cliffs.

 

[Daelon DuLac]

Can you tell more of the advantages of this style of play? I can imagine that the bad guys are more powerful, but wouldn't that be balanced out by yourself being more buff?

I can't, but my question is: What the heck are you doing for those first 70 levels or so? Grinding? Sleeping? Chasing butterflies?

I stopped chasing butterflies: I ran off too many cliffs.

Plus, I'm always surprised at how STRONG they are. There was a cloud of them on the road to Falkreath on Lake Ilianta (sic?) and they stopped not only me, but a Thalmor group dead in their tracks. If they're that strong, I'm surprised they don't just pick you up and throw you in the lake so you'll stop bothering them.

 

[Rimfaxe96]

I have the same problem, but not I want to stretch things out by never fast-traveling and doing 1 quest at a time/avoid multiple quests as good as I can so I have to return to all those places over and over again.

 

[Mr.Hide]

I don't even make it to level 50. I get bored much earlier. lol

 

[berzum]

I don't even make it to level 50. I get bored much earlier. lol

some people get bored quickly, and others don't. only advice is to keep switching things up, one battle use 2h weapon then next use magic and so on, keep switching things up.

 

[xXSkoomaXx]

I don't think I have ever gone beyond level 52, but now I plan to tackle the only Quest left, the Ebony Warrior, which means I have to get to Level 81.

In the past I have done the main quest, Archmage, Thieves, Dark Brotherhood, Companions, Miraak and the Vampires, and still barely broke Level 40. So now I have to get another 40 levels with no real challenges. Any advice on how to keep it interesting as I kill countless bandits, dragons giants etc. just to keep leveling up?

Usually I just sink around and occasionally I empty out my quest box

 

[Grishnag]

My highest level reached is 58 I think ?

I prefer restart new characters , if I wish to try something totally different .

I want to populate Skyrim with a few different characters leading very different lives not just climbing a guild or the main quest , Disappearing into a thief guild right after the Helgen escape . Reached level 30 and not one dragon woke up yet .