Ok, so, everything (and I mean EVERYTHING i have encountered) two shots me.

I have been fighting these lobster/bug creatures for two hours. They spray this poison at me that has a dot effect. My health literally drains faster than I can quaff a potion. I am wearing cloth, so not a single point in defense/armor/whatever.

I am beginning to think that I just wandered into a cave with really high monsters, but there is no way to tell the monster level that I can see. I am, level 8

I can't imagine that a caster build is so broken that I could actually do just fine if I were in armor and that is my one and only problem. I literally have to kite, sacrifice my companion, exploit terrain, or do other cheap stuff like save my level ups for when I am inches from death just to survive.

So, if I am in a zone that is too high for my level, and that is my main problem. That's fine. I am asking how exactly the leveling system works. Do mobs have a level range? is there a way to tell if you are in too high of a level? And if I were fighting lobster-bugs that were the same level as me, how many hits should it take for me to die at normal difficulty?

Yes, one of the BEST things about this game is they went back to previous titles and dropped the ridiculous level scaling in Oblivion.

You absolutely can stumble across things now that you cannot defeat at lower levels.

...so...
If I am avoiding the MQ then how do I know where to go to fight baddies at my level?

Cough giants cough

Level scaling is *definitely* still in. I have concrete proof, but it'll require some spoilers, so I'm going to have to tag it:


To address the OP's question...what difficulty are you playing on? Destruction does seem pretty weak for Master level difficulty (I started out that way, but had to change because I was getting whupped), but I'd imagine it should be fine if you're playing on normal difficulty.

If you die alot in any one place, that;s a good sign to blow a hasty retreat and come back later.

Thing is, it often doesn't work because levelscaling IS in. And there is no level locking. If you kill the first two bandits from a camp, then retreat and return after 4 levelups, you are greeted by bandit outlaws.

Sometimes levelscaling even makes roads dangerous that used to be safe back on level 1. So, the Fallout 3 / Oblivion tactic of discovering as many places as you can while on level 1 still is extremely useful. Sad but true.