In Oblivion, the higher your difficulty the more health the enemies had, is this the same with Skyrim or does it affect the enemies in more ways then just there health pool?
im playing on default which i believe is adept(normal) and haven't tried the harder stuff just yet and probably wont until i have my second play-through, but i imagine a few of you have tried different difficulties to see how the game balances out.


what makes the difficulty in Skyrim different compared to Oblivion?

Challenge and longevity.

Also a good feeling of accomplishment for some.

I usually play on adept (normal) but think i will play on expert for a good challenge.

I put it on Expert straight away, first character. Don't wanna clear this awesome game in a "default" way.

My next character will be playing on Master or whatever the last option is called.

does difficulty increase anything else apart from self challenge? skill gain etc.

Once I got 100 in enchanting and blacksmithing and I made my gearset the game got so easy that I had to turn turn up the difficulty to master because I was 2 shotting elder dragons on adept :/

It seems like the difficulty only affects the mobs stats in general, they do more damage, they take less and they have more HP.

I also played on Expert form the beginning. Bandits are kind of easy on level 13, but dragons are still very hard. Boss fights, like that redguard legionnaire who wanted to pick up a redguard in Whiterun, are pretty challenging. I definitely need lots of potions, that's for sure. And that's what's good about it - I utilize all things in my disposal: Magic (restoration, destruction), archery, alchemy (to make more potions), dragon shouts and melee.

Adept: 100% damage dealt on you, 100% damage dealt on NPC
Expert: 150% damage dealt on you, 75%~80% damage dealt on NPC
Master: 200% damage dealt on you, 60%~66% damage dealt on NPC

Apparently, the NPC damage reduction applies on all NPC, including your summonings/followers. Which means on higher difficulties, your summonings and followers are MUCH more tougher than on adept or lower.

If you're a mage, there's no point to play at Expert or Master at higher levels, because your spells' damage is static, and enemies are getting tougher. What's the point of gimping yourself an additional 40% damage penalty?

I was playing on master until yesterday. I just got bored with it, it still isn't that hard at all, it just takes me longer to deplete the enemy health bar. Play on Expert, I think its the best since there's still some challenge to the battles while reducing overall battle time, so you don't bore yourself to death.

damn. I get literally spanked on the novice sometimes [shame on me....]