So as my first playthrough I've just reached level 20. I'm speccing as a sneak archer and haven't really got a whole lot of other skills levelled so am looking for some tips on where to go next.

It's been enjoyable up to now but a couple of things I'm finding:

I'm getting sent to dungeons now where I can quite easily take out the dungeon mobs like draugr and bandits but the end guys are much much stronger and even with a follower sometimes the crowd control is beyond my capability, meaning I have to leave it and go back. The problem is even when I've levelled a couple of levels I'm still encountering the same issues.

I'm levelling in archery, sneak quite fast but most of my other skills are quite far behind like one handed, light armour, smithing, alchemy etc. I don't feel as though my different skills are levelling organically throughout the game. I can quite easily go and spend the day making potions or smithing daggers but this makes my overall 'level' go up. This will obviously scale the game as it should but I won't have picked up the necessary loot from the dungeons that I can't do above.

Quests are now feeling a bit scarce, probably because the main ones I have I encounter the issue above and the side quests are not plentiful. I've visited most of the different cities but again, the distant ones seem to give you quests that are just beyond me.

Any tips for this stage of the game please?

For your playstyle better not tu use followers or make them wait far from your sneaking actions. You can take all mobs one by one (sneak, shot, retreat from spot, wait till they check the spot, repeat). What dungeon specifically gives you trouble? I stopped playing sneak archers because it's too powerfull. A level 1 kajiit enter a draugh dungeon with dragon priest at the end (Raghot) , end of dungeon at level 14, cleared everything. Then now lv 21 Thane of Markath and killed tons of forsworn and almost never been hit or detected.

If you want to try other combat skills now it can be a problem without training. You can train 5 level-skills per level then gain next level with smithing enchanting ,alchemy , speech, etc Then train again a combat skill, etc. Until you are skilled enough to use that new combat skill in real fights.

You know how in action movies, everything is going well, and then the hero gets his ass kicked. Then the hero goes into the montage mode where he's working hard, inventing new weapons, training in martial arts, working out, etc? I think you've entered that phase of the game.

It's time to buff yourself up.

It is quite common for sneak archers to have problem leveling up light armor. To level up light armor skill, you need to get hit while wearing the armor. But the whole point of being a successful sneak archer is not being seen, killing before they know you are there. You can't organically level up armor as sneak archer because the whole point of your game is not getting hit. If you want to level up light armor, you have to change it up. You need to identify safe opportunities, and get hit intentionally. You can do this with bandits, mudcrabs, trolls, draugrs, etc. You can also get training with money that you have.

To get better at smithing and alchemy, you need to use it with intention of leveling up. You can't just make the potions you need to use and level up efficiently. Leveling up depends on how much value you create. Make many expensive and useless potions. Same thing with smithing. Make many things and sell them off.

And good luck and have fun. Welcome to the forum.

Youve just hit one of the worst and most complained about problems of every elder scrolls game post-Morrowind...LEVEL SCALING.

The basic math behind it is every time you level...everything you pit yourself against levels too!

it was done as a hasty knee-jerk design change to all the spouty-headed jerk-knees who said everything was too easy, they were godlike after 2 hours playtime and they kept tripping over glass/daedric equipment at level 3...etc!

Now no matter how much you try youll never feel powerful again!