I think it was a mistake to tie crafting with leveling. It just doesn't feel right trying to move to the next armor tier and getting 5 level up's in the process, just from making armor and weapons.

Would it be possible to make crafting skill gains not count for the level up process? It would apply to smithing, enchanting, and alchemy.

And just to prevent powerleveling those skills, it would be a good idea to have an optional file that assigns a level cap to certain perks. Just to make sure that a level 12 can't craft and wear a full set of Dragonbone.

I am all for this. I also think there were a couple of threads about this issue, too. The support skills shouldn't level you up or at least have a lower impact (like 5 skill increases for only 1 advance towards the next level), as this game is primarily about combat.

Why are the enemies getting stronger if I'm able to create a stronger stamina potion or whatever?

They get stronger because you have improved your toolbox for dealing with them. Presumably when you level up Alchemy, or Smithing, or Enchanting, you will be using the fruits of your labor in order to become stronger in combat. I won't argue against decoupling crafting from leveling, since everyone is entitled to their own mod preferences, but you might want to consider whether your beef is with crafting being underpowered the way you want to use it instead of it being a problem that you gain levels from it.

I'd add Speechcraft to the list of skills that should not have a huge impact on leveling. I could see maybe every other point counting. I don't think it should be zero.

Level 33.
Speech: 58, 6 perks.
Alchemy: 63, 7 perks.
Enchanting: 68, 10 perks.
Smithing: 43, 3 perks.
Heavy Armor: 59, 4 perks.
Two-Handed: 88, zero perks.

The last two perks are in Conjuration to get a cheaper Soul Trap (the only spell I use in combat). Archery, Sneak and Lockpick are around 50. Restoration approaching 40 from out-of-combat use. No other skills of note.

So, crafting seems balanced just fine to me. I can't solo Ancient Dragons... but they're level 50. Note that my Smithing isn't so much lower than the rest because the gear wasn't worth it, but because it was simply tedious and boring to advance... alchemy has a lot of experimentation, and Enchantment is more about obtaining the raw materials than spending a lot of time at the crafting station. Ore nodes are rare and take too long, ore is heavy, smelting takes forever, merchants never have enough... AND the smithing process itself contains no mystery or discovery, your perks determine what you can craft. "Less Boring Smithing" is a mod idea I could get behind!

Speech, by the way, is just as good as crafting. You can't get much stuff that's ahead of your level, but with much-improved haggling you can get everything that's level-appropriate!

Yeah, Speechcraft I think is the biggest issues from all the support skills. If this game was letting me finish the MQ through my Speech skills (as in the old Fallouts) then I wouldn't had have a problem. But...


I don't agree with you on Alchemy, at least. Maybe I'm lazy but I'll be damned if I spend hours upon hours in finding the right ingredients and make some potions that will help me go through the game. I thin it's personal choice here... it will be nice if we have a mod in which we choose how different skills influence your leveling up.

I think a mod that decreased the level ups from support skills would be great.