I have 2 in game characters in skyrim, one being a lv.35 Mage. The whole game just seems too easy with that kind of build, so I started another assasin build and so far it is going good. The difficulty settings don really help on making the game more challenging, as all it does is increase the enemies damage and health. I need something more in depth in accordance to difficulty. Mabye I think this becuase I am a fallout fan, but so far, the hardest enemy to me has been dragon priests and dragons. Please tell me if there is anything harder in the game. I do understand that I can fight ancient dragons, but I am not encountering any. Is this becuase I need a higher level?

Sadly if you want a real challenge in Skyrim you have to limit yourself from using many things such as Smithing, Enchanting, Alchemy, Impact and Sneak.

I bring up gameplay balance a fair bit around here but a lot of people shoot it down claiming that balance doesn't matter in a single player game which is simply wrong.

yeah you need a higher level for them they can take you down a bit depending on what type of gear you have.The only game that give real challenge was IMO oblivion turn that all the way to the right as hardest as it can be and you got yourself a challenge.

And health potions and mana

I try to stay away from those, but health regenerates in skyrim, so health potions are alright. I heard that with enchanting up high enough that you can cast spells for free.

yes this is true and makes magic feel powerful imo

Yea, mages are really overpowered in skyrim, I hope they fix this problem in elder scrolls online.

You will see few more tougher enemy types as you level up more. But you get stronger as you level up too. In most cases, once you feel your game is getting easier, it just keep getting easier. That happens around Level 30. Perhaps you will be surprised a few times and die a few times. Perhaps not.

You will meet Ancient Dragons when you get to level 40 or 50. You will also meet stronger magic enemies. High level mages and vampires. Arch Pyromancer, Arch Electromancer, Arch Cryomancer, Volkinar Vampire, Arch Conjurer, etc. They are fine as long as you have enough magic/elemental resistance.

This is exactly why I started another character. The new character is not a Mage however.

Fallout difficulty is handled exactly the same, so I don't see your point there.

hardcoe Mode

The main game difficulty slider is the same. Fallout 3 didn't have a hardcoe mode anyway.

Alright, point taken.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/13491

This mod will give you a challenging quest. I'm just assuming your on Pc.
If not... I don't know then.

If you think a Mage is overpowered, then your n for a surprise with that assassin. In my experience the Mage is one of the harder classes while the assassin is by far the easiest.

You can just play and do quest. Don't worry about how strong your character is, don't always use perks to make you better in combat, stuff like that. Perk up the speech tree maybe, try only carrying as much as a person should be able to, this will help as you won't have as much money for such good gear.

I don't find the balance in this game bad, I play on adept and die plenty of times.

They should add a difficulty called "I know how to use alchemy/smithing/enchanting"

Idk that will be one hard difficulty also on that note GIVE EVERYONE EAT! o_o

Assassin is actually easier to play than a mage. You will never get hit because your goal is to one-shot your enemies.

But assassins have a harder time against dragons.

I'm actually surprised you think that mages are powerful. When the game was just released, everyone was complaining that Destruction was weak. Has it been buffed?

This game desperately needs some more challenging high level monsters.

Also, they're powerful at lower levels.
When like 50+ they... svck.

90% of the destruction complaints are more acturatly worded as " I want spellmaking back". or those who feel that because some people abuse three different skills to create an adventurer's kit of godslaying +5 that they should be able to do the same exact thing relying on nothing but destruction itself. Wich ofcourse they could IF they had spellmaking. Thread after thread goes round and round on the subject. My mage is lvl 55, and i preffer destruction spells with her backed with some stealth and alchemy. I've died more often playing a two-handed meat tank or an assassin then I ever have with her. Most things get blasted to ash or run away screaming and on fire before they get close enough to hit. And if they DO get close, well thats what Fus Ro Dah is for lol.

-edit- if you're looking for raw damage, invest in lightning and take the disintegration perk. once that's taken lightning spells auto-kill enemies with 20% or less health. Even Sparks or Lightning Cloak will turn a wounded dragon to ash.

As for your assassin, unless you invest a lot of time and perks on archery or one handed the main challenge will be remaining undetected. You'll be able to one-shot most things from the shadows but crumble in a straight up fight. it's a fun way to play.

Destruction is just one skill tree. Saying destruction svcks at 50+ is like saying fighting with unimproved iron sword naked svcks at 50+.