Been playing on master difficulty, and am pleased to say its been awesome. Blocking isn't a catch all, even for the melee man in front of you, and not for archers at a little bit of angle. It's been fun but hard.

Today, after donning my brand spanking new Legendary Daedric equipment, feeling (and looking) awesome.... I stumbled into some Forsaken at a large fort. Normally forsaken can give me a bit of trouble on Master, mostly because if you get caught a little low, the death animations secure your fate.

The archers started raining hell on me from the battlements, and two forsaken charged through the gate. I opened with unrelenting fprce, throwing one (the Briar Heart! yay!) off the cliff to the rocks below, and knocking the other against the wall next to the gate. I sprinted at him and took him down courtesy of a critical off my sprinting power attacks. I ran through the gate, taking a few arrows as I went.

A two hander caught me by surprise from behind, taking me to half health. I dodged his next attack courtesy of Quick Reflexes, and stepped behind him to deliver three strikes followed by a power attack to stab him right in the neck. As I put my foot into his shoulder to free my blade, I took another arrow, putting me to 1/4 health. I downed the last of my potions to bring me up a bit, then sprinted up the battlements toward the nearest archer. I overshot my power-attack, which carried me into the guardhouse, where I was met with another forsaken wielding two axes, he got me twice, but luckily he wasn't the forsaken's strongest soldier. I put him down quickly with just a few strikes.

I exited back the way I came with the archers taking aim at me. Arrows were whizzing past my head, as I was precariously close to death. This time my sprinting attack connected, putting the forsaken to his knees as he begged for his life. I knew he didn't really mean it, so I gave him a smack on the head with my shield to knock his body of the battlements to the courtyard below. As he was falling, I snatched the I arrows off his body, (and somehow managed to snag his coin-purse too). I drew my Daedric bow, knocked an arrow coated in my Ravage Health special, recently acquired from an unfortunate Saber Cat.. Time came to a near stand-still as I took aim and let fly at the archer at the furthest point - the arrow taking him in the chest as he immediately succumbed to the poison.

The final archer caught me in the leg at the same moment my arrow struck his friend. I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears as I knew the end was close. I couldn't cross the battlements quickly enough.... A slight miscalculation in my blocking angle and that would be it... the first arrow bounced off my shield... then I saw my chance. I sidestepped the next arrow and ran to the edge of the woodwork... A deafening "WULD" blast through the air, as I was pulled behind the sound. I flew straight across the courtyard, landing a mere foot from the archer. He was drawing the arrow that would end my life. I took one step, and slammed my shield into his nose. As he staggered back, I spun and brought my sword in an arc that brought off his head. He toppled to the ground, and his head rolled into the chest that held my reward. Fifty gold and some iron gloves. Totally worth it.