Adept and even Apprentice is more like standard difficulty where you dont need to abuse/exploit slills and feel like a weakling when fighting a bandit. No ones impressed with your skill in video gaming. If you play on expert or master and DONT abuse smithing/enchanting, etc and still coast by without dying every couple hours then please show a video of this because i dont believe you. If you are dying and having to reload alot for the 'challenge' then you still have no right to criticize because some people rather play for the experience rather than arcade game challenge.

Adept. I feel like when I go below it, I am cheating and if I go above it, it's just extra unnecessary work. Sometimes I do encounter enemies that are really tough even at Adept.

matteo-

if you actually read my posts and understood the meanings you would never have said that no one is impressed with my skill because that was obviously not my intention. you would have clearly seen that i "criticized" nobody.

i'm talking specifics. reasoning behind choices. you know, a thread topic about difficulty level preference might just have some reasoning behind the responses.
i criticized nobody except for question dodging and false assumptions. never once did i make fun of the difficulty level someone chose.

Master, anything else is just too easy, and even then Master is kinda easy.... Especially at higher lvls

I play on master but I modded in an "I win" button so go figure

I routinely change the difficulty setting so it allows me a pretty much guaranteed win, but still lets me play with my prey before it dies.

I'm playing on Expert, because the difficulty curve is a little more forgiving.
On Master, until you reach the 40's, you get slaughtered all the time, especially if your a squishy char (without bows).

Master seems to be only really accessible to people that play in Heavy Armour types.
Anyone who plays master and says it's too easy are powergamers, full stop.
How can it be too easy if an ancient dragon's breath will kill a 300+ hp char with full magic resist.

Something doesnt add up.

I like to play on novice level.

For me the combat element it not one that I am really bothered about so I like to make it easy.

Ever watched OMFGcata Skyrim playthroughs? hes a light armor melee combat that never dies against enemies just traps and at level 40 rarely ever uses sneak. And pure sword and board early levels was axe and board. Constantly people ask if it is on Master and it is Skyrim is EASY on Master without exploits due to the awful balance BGS put into smithing and enchanting.

Novice level, simply because my rogue/thief only wears the ragged tunic outfit with hide bracers and imperial leather boots. He only uses a steel dagger for throat cutting.
No dragons in my game or shouts either

Expert

I find it gives just the right amount of challenge. Too many enemies are pushovers on Adept. Haven't tried Master yet.

Novice. I love RPGs. I hate, with a passion, fighting/violence.

A conundrum, I know.

I also am not fond of caves. Despite that, I love Skyrim.

I play Novice or Easy whenever a game gives me the choice even though I've been gaming for 32 years. I enjoy the story, quests, and action but never to see how difficult a situation my characters might get into or how many times and how much strategy I need to get past some point.

Expert, but with mods like Wars in Skyrim and Deadly Dragons.

God I love mods.

If my character is doing no enchanting and limited smithing, then I do adept difficulty.

If I play a character that is based heavily on being over-powered, then I do Master.

Adept because Master difficulty doesn't make any sense. I only bump it up to Master difficulty when i'm fighting dragons because that's where I feel they should be. Otherwise I feel overpowered in every aspect the game.

i normally play on normal don't see a point to increase it just who i am and how i play

Adept all the way!...or until I get bored and decide to amp it up to master difficulty

Adept, but with mods that increase the difficulty in a better way than the default method:
- PISE mod (better AI, harder sneaking, increased prices etc.)
- HBE mod (no instant healing potions, only one healing potion has an effect at a time, better balanced smithing etc.)

Other tweaks:
- No Crosshair or Sneaking Indicator (aiming with bows is harder, sneaking is harder - game doesn't tell if you're spotted when sneaking)
- No Markers in Compass (more rewarding exploration, better combat - game doesn't tell where enemies are)

- Reduced default Carrying Capacity from 300 to only 100 (more care for what you carry)
- Lockpick weight from 0 to 0.5 (with reduced carrying capacity you don't want to carry too many of them)
(I'm still looking for a mod to give Arrows weight)

Healing potions? At least HBE mod fixes them already. No instant healing and only one potion has an effect at a time.

Honestly, Bethesda should give everyone (including console players) these options in the Options menu. I always play with Crosshairs off and it is annoying that get a crosshair when I am sneaking. Off should be Off! And those stupid compass markers. What, do I have a Jack Sparrow compass? The should have an option to turn those off. I don't want to know what is over the next hill until I climb the hill and take a look.

Sure, I can reduce the visibility of the compass.crosshairs/hud to zero, but then I cannot see my health/magicka/stamina bars and you cannot play very well without knowing if you are low on health. I have tried it and those ted spots are not very accurate. Sometimes they appear when you are only barely damaged at all, sometimes you are close to death and no red spots.

If anyone from Bethesda is listening, please add these options with a future patch!

Expert
(and then Master when I get high level)


That way the game will give me a slight challange without making me exploit enchanting/smithing/alchemy/AI stupidity


If you want to test your abilities as a gamer go play Dark Souls/Ninja Gaiden 2.
Skyrim is meant for the adventure as it is a TERRIBLE combat simulator.

Expert. Playing on master is frustrating because I end up spending half an hour killing the same bloody spider or something it often feels. I like my games to feel rather realistic, and while I'm willing to believe that wailing on an armored enemy for 15 minutes if I deal little damage in hand to hand, makes decent sense... half an hour gets a bit much.

Starting with adept but switching to expert and then master when the game gets to easy. I always did it that way in TES games, although I prefered the slider for the difficulty instead of just 5 fixed settings.