Playing on Master Difficulty

Hey guys. I tried playing on master difficulty with a one handed dual wielding Nord a while back and made it as far as half way up the throat of the world before giving up. I don't enjoy playing a game where creatures kill you. In one or two hits. Any hints and tips to make master difficulty seem playable?

With Master Difficulty you can't just ran in swords a blazing. Strategy is heavily involved. I don't play on Master, cause I don't have the kind of patience to deal with it. Adept is just fine for me.

like jerseythejester said you need to take your time, cant rush in all guns blazing and be prepared to die over and over ( i know all about that... my xbox controller hit the floor more times then i care to remember ) and picking a class that you play best is key.but if you aint enjoying the game on that setting dont bother playing master try expert. no point ruining the game

You need to level up more before choosing Master difficulty, the game's difficulty setting is part of the "open world, sandbox" experience, it seems.

I would say, once your armor rating hits at least 400 or so, you can switch to Master for more challenging fights.

Skullrattla said:

I would say, once your armor rating hits at least 400 or so, you can switch to Master for more challenging fights.

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i think its fine starting the game on master, its if you have the patience. with master its all trial and error.
i started my 3rd char on master as the game started to become to boring. its all about if your up for the challenge, i think its pretty fun to have to think about if you can take that mob on or if you have to kite one or two away. and lets not forget the dragons and the sheer panic they cause

A couple of friends and I are having a contest to see who can get furthest on master without dieing. Level 4 so far...

Sprugly

Master was hard at first but after a while and several characters done completely on master I got used to it, now I wish I could make it even moreso but I play on xbox


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Afatguiarist said:

Master was hard at first but after a while and several characters done completely on master I got used to it, now I wish I could make it even moreso but I play on xbox


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If you're looking for more of a challenge, check out the links in my signature.

To the OP, you can certainly make it on master, but you have to be a lot more cautious and play a lot more intelligently. As someone else mentioned, you can't just run in 'guns blazing' so to speak. I've played on master from level 1 with my first character in Skyrim, and never even used a health potion until like level 23 or so. So it's totally doable. What type of character are you playing?

Harperlarp said:

Hey guys. I tried playing on master difficulty with a one handed dual wielding Nord a while back and made it as far as half way up the throat of the world before giving up.

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On Master, you really can't start the mainquest at all until you're level 15-20 (depending on how much magic resistance you've built up from equipment). I also don't recommend trying to go up to High Hrothgar until level 25-30. Unless you're serious enough to take Frost Trolls and stuff, there's really no point in getting very far in the mainquest. I have finished it and defeated Alduin on Master with a heavy armored, sword and shield warrior. It was the only time I actually completed the game, so my first and only experience even fighting Alduin was on Master. I tried the fight on top of the mountain several times at level 50 or so, couldn't beat it, then came back with some better gear at level 60 and was finally able to win.

There is no trick to playing on this difficulty, and if there was a way to make it easier, what would be the point? Master is hard, and yes, you're going to die, alot, and often you'll have to simply run away. This is what makes it fun though, knowing that you actually have to earn the right to fight.

The Frost Troll on the path to High Hrothgar can be circumvented with some rock climbing.

Dagmar said:

The Frost Troll on the path to High Hrothgar can be circumvented with some rock climbing.

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Or just running past, I even led it in to see the Grey Beards once, there was lots of shouting. No, I wasn't talking about that Frost Troll, just the level you have to be at to fight a Frost Troll. However, I will use that particular one at times to gauge the strength of my character and see if I'm ready to do the mainquest or not.

Summon a creature and get a warrior companion. this way you can keep the enemy distracted while you pound the hell out of it

If you're playing on Master SAVE, and SAVE OFTEN. Play like your real life depends on it. You have to use every resource you have to win. Sometimes, all it takes is a certain item or potion you've been saving for that special occasion. Don't forget if you get in a rough spot to use your items. Most players forget that after relying on pure skill for so long.
And don't get discouraged. Remember, if you're playing on Master it's supposed to be hard. Hell, most the time I play on Expert, and even on that difficulty level all it takes is 3-4 shots from those damn deathlords with ebony bows and arrows. I'd rather fight a dragon priest or elder/ancient dragon sometimes!

First; I believe switching to master difficulty later in the game is not playing the game on master difficulty.

Before crafting my strategy on my most recent character, I considered this; the enemies of this game have different levels. If you are a level 3, you will not be able to beat a level 12 enemy. The skill, health, mana, stamina, etc. level differences are too high to overcome. My conclusion was I had to choose my path carefully; deciding whether or not to enter a cave or log it and return another time, finding quests that were appropriate for my level (Whiterun area's bounty quests send you to appropriate level caves). A warrior of Skyrim chooses his battles carefully, retreats when he is overcome, and never forgets anything.

Even if you choose the right battles, without a proper strategy you will lose. Dragons, mages, bears, sabretooth tigers, gangs of bandit champions, and a frost troll on the mountain leading to the graybeards are all enemies to consider. How can you craft a character that can defend and attack such diverse enemy builds? I have made over a dozen characters so far, and none have been able to be successful beyond the whiterun plains. I did defeat the frost troll and a sabrecat with my last failed character, but his level and skill progression were being hobbled because of my companion Lydia. I could not have defeated those enemies without her. She limited my skill usage, which limited my skill progression. For fun, I think I'll have her with me whenever I have a quest that involves allied npcs; the more the merrier.

My skill set includes warrior skills (one handed, block, heavy armor, and armorer), thief skills (archery, sneak, lockpick), and mage skills (destruction, restoration, conjuration, enchantment, and alchemy), and he is a Breton for the magic resistance. I decided to include so many skills because of enemy level progression relative to mine. I believe as my level changes, the enemies do not grow stronger, so I can increase lots of skills and level up quickly without enemies becoming invincible. My strategy is to level up as much as possible.

I won't go further than this, because this post is long enough, but these are things I feel are necessary to consider in order to have any success on master difficulty. My current character is getting ready to leave his home at Whiterun to pursue new adventures, and I think he's going to falkreath. I haven't even discussed combat strategy, economy, alchemy management, etc., but if anyone would like to, I would be happy to oblige.

that damned frost troll killed lydia several times, stupid troll. I got passed it using paralyze poison and just run.

I like to take revenge on that bastard, Fus ro dah his ass of the mountain
It never gets boring

master is not for me, I like Adept. the frost dragons are no trouble, frost resistance is king, but the fire dragons still kill me on adept xD. ah well, It makes me mortal...

Have to say the most useful spell has been conjuration's fire atronach. She has a lot of hitpoints, unlike dova, and I think gives fire damage when hit by a melee. I'm taking down sabres and bears!

Hard to Believe said:

Have to say the most useful spell has been conjuration's fire atronach. She has a lot of hitpoints, unlike dova, and I think gives fire damage when hit by a melee. I'm taking down sabres and bears!

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..., and (sorry) it's safe to use flames because she's invulnerable to fire.

A dual wielder is more vulnerable than a regular warrior, so I'd suggest adding a lot of health to this character. I had a good game when the ratio of health to stamina was 10:1 and I was wearing heavy armor while playing on Master.

Part of the defense of a dual wielder is its offense. Usually, the dual wielding power attack will stagger the opponent which allows you to keep going until the enemy is dead. But it costs a lot of stamina, so if you have stamina potions, vegetable soup or a weapon that absorbs stamina, you can usually just keep spamming power attacks. However, if the attack doesn't stagger the enemy, then it's time to decide whether to run or not. Some shouts will allow you to stay for a bit longer, and you can always drink healing potions.
It helps if your weapons deal more damage too, of course, so items that do +% to One-Handed damage is always welcome.

The Orc ability Berserker Rage has saved my life in many situations too, and I am not reluctant to use up all the poisons or scrolls that I have available. If you save them for more special occasions, then you may end up not using them at all.

Try not to stick with dual wielding though. It just isn't worth the risk of running into a group of enemy. Sometimes you need another way to deal with them. I like to use Archery skill and enchant a bow with frost. Staves also helps.

I recommend using Restoration magic too so that you don't have to rely on health potions and can use wards against all dragons and mages. Once Restoration hits 40, grab the Respite perk, it's very convenient.

Wards, as great as they are, can be tricky to use sometimes, so when magicka runs out don't forget resistance potions and items that adds more resistance.