People talk about the game becoming easy when you "abuse" smithing? How exactly does one do that? Are they talking about using potions? Getting it to 100? Leveling it to Dragonbone early on?

Basically making armor boosting alchemy with enchanting, making super potions, smithing super stuff after that. Something like that.

Exploiting. And getting it to 100.

Being level 20 and in full Daedric armour is abusing smithing. It makes you a god.

Buy 100 iron ingot, buy 100 leather strap, make lots of iron daggers. Repeat until you make stuff that is waay better than anyone has in the game except you.

Mass producing iron daggers for fast skill leveling, apparently.

They mean abuse it AKA use it. "Exploit" how easily it levels.
Because using it by making iron daggers or bracers for example all the way to 100 would take you no less than an hour and less than 3k gold.

So to use it properly you need to restrain yourself and find a way to waste more iron bars in something else or not use them at all after a point.

Abuse isn't really the right word for it.

The game can become kind of lame if you try to powerlevel. I think that's what most people probably mean when they talk about "abusing" the skills.

The exploit is using alchemy, enchanting and smithing. By getting them to high levels you can make uber weapons and armor. Use powerful enchanting potions to enchant smithing apparal. Then use the apparal and powerful smithing potions to make powerful weapons and armor.

People can't stand other people doing whatever they want in THEIR game so they cry and call for it to be changed to how they like it. Sad.

Playing on novice makes you a god... your point?

You have to make your own difficulty in TES games.

Leveling a skill in a way that is allowed by the game isn't "abuse."

why iron daggers! Leather Bracers are a better choi... wait abusing smithing? me.... no.

But seriously Smithing is that easy to get up, just literally take every pelt you come across and buy all leather and leather strips and make leather bracers, you'll eventually hit 100 and with perks can make the full Deadric Set (Legendary). If you abuse enchanting as well, you can make a set of fortify smithing gear, I believe you can get it on 5 pieces at 25 skill a piece. The actual armour/damage from upgrading equipment is based on level and not the title and so with a smithing skill equiv of 230 (100 skill, 125 from enchanted gear, 5 from notched pickaxe) you get better gear then with 100 despite both being called "Legendary".

I'm tired of people regarding those who max out alchemy/smithing/enchanting to create insanely powerful gear in a derogatory manner. There's nothing wrong with doing it.

Yes, it will ruin any challenge the game has to offer, but players shouldn't be blamed for it. Bethesda should.

I think people are greatly confused by this. The only real exploiting is by looping Alchemy pots to increase Smithed gear to ridiculous values.

Power leveling Smithing by crafting Iron Daggers by waiting and buying all of the Iron Ingots off vendors is not exploiting.
Taking up Alchemy, Enchanting, and Smithing is not exploiting.
Leveling crafting skills up to 100 is not exploiting.
The use of Crafting pots to Fortify your Craft is again, not exploiting.

The only thing that seems unintentional that should be corrected is being able to loop Alchemy pots to create your Smithed gear - period.

The complaint about game difficulty not being challenging enough for most players is only a legitimate gripe if players do not loop Alchemy pots to Smith items.

Without question, players need more control over game difficulty especially being able to make it more challenging without having to forgo crafting or imposing arbitrary rule sets.

That is all.

When I hear "abusing smithing" folks are really talking about getting Smithing, Enchanting, and Alchemy all maxed out and exploiting the combination effects / synergies. The process is to max out your skills then:

-- Enchant some armor, rings, neclace with Fortify Smithing & Fortify Alchemy
-- You put on your new gear
-- You then make Fortify Enchanting Potions .. now drink a potion
-- Go back to first step ... continue this loop until you no longer can make beter "fortify" gear
-- Put on your Fortify Alchemy gear, make Fortify Smithing Potions && Fortify Enchant Potions
-- Now with your Fortify Smithing gear on drink the Fortify Smithing Alchemy potions
-- Improve your weapons & armor to godlike stats
-- Now drink your Fortify Enchanting potions and enchant "god level" stuff on your weapons & armor

Thank you! Ding ding ding we have a winner. And the fellow has an awesome forum picture too!

This is TES folks, you can make it SUPER EASY IF YOU WANT TO.. Or you can keep a challenge for yourself. You can play the main quest or totally ignore it. You get to make your own path in many ways. If you have no self control then oh well.

Not to mention that someone who invests the time to max alchemy and wants to use alchemy to help with their other crafting deserves a bit of a boost, especially if they spend perk points in all these skills. That is a LOT of perk points, it should make a powerful character. If you play a focussed character liek me, even getting to level 50 means levellling a couple skills you don't really plan to use. My character was basically done at level 44 but I levelled Illusion and Alchemy so I could get that level 50 achievment and quite frankly I have no desire (or need) to use Illusion or Alchemy.

If one plays on MASTER, no amount of armour makes you a GOD. I even get triple punched to death by skooma traders on the highway. My warrior is very strong by stats, armour rating etc, and even with the % boost perks I get my face smashed in by Trolls and other more difficult beasts. I have 100 smithing and the only thing it allows you to do is make a bit of gold selling of what you create. As for Daedric Armours and Weapons, you need a heart for every item produced, so good luck finding those frequently. I've played for over 150 hours now and I can tell you, Smithing takes time to level and it takes many many resources.

You're seriously suggesting that Bethesda be at blame for YOUR choices.

Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

by "abusing" a crafting system most people mean using it normally and at some point getting it to 100. apparently the proper way to play it is only craft the most material-heavy items you can make, never buying any materials as per their reason for being sold, and placing numerous other self-imposed restrictions on yourself.

I will admit I used the smithing exploit to get from Smithing 95 to 100, because I had nothing else I wanted/needed to craft.


It's basically repeating making iron daggers to level up.

Actually, it kind of does. You're probably just not very good.

I'd hardly call spending half an hour spamming the same item creation repetitively as "using it normally."

I constantly bought smithing materials as I played, but didn't level up smithing to the max until I'd been nearly level 50.

Abusing an exploit isn't playing normally in the slightest, it's what falls under the umbrella of "powergaming."

A number of things need to be done

Not being able to make a low leveled item to level all the way to max level

Less supplies for crafting items sold at blacksmiths. Make people find them in the world

High level ingredients harded to find and only dropping at certain levels

Caps on how much you add to armor or weapons