I've read a lot how grinding smithing and enchanting can lead you to have OP items, but I'm curious who is doing it for fun and who is doing it just for the power. When the CK comes out, you'll be able to implant your own items into the game. To me this means that grinding smithing and enchanting is going to be a waste of time unless you're doing it for RP reasons, or are trying not to "cheat". So what I'd like to ask you all is, once the CK is out will you continue to use smithing and enchanting to build your gear, or take the short-cut and do it in the CK then just add it to your character via console?

Seems like if my goal were to just exploit the game mechanics for my own benefit, I could save a lot of time and perk points by just using the CK.

Another Crafting = Exploiting thread in disguise. Nothing to see here.

I don't grind to begin with. I smith and enchant as part of my roleplay progression. Radical idea?

I have thought a few times that I would just give myself a bunch o gold and some super duper weapons at the beginning of a game (Oblivion for one) and just cruise through the game.

I even modded up a house for myself and stocked it with my very own weapons of mass destruction.


I put hours into the mod.



I played enough to get to the house and that was it. Boring.


What's the point of a game like this if you cheat or exploit? The game is easy as it is.

Tis a solo game, so it doesn't matter to me what people do and if rampaging through the countryside with an Axe of Extreme Doom[censored]e racks your pinions.. cool by me.

Usually, I wish the game were harder and when I see a thread about how hard the game is and I look, it's always about the fighting and the fighting only. Maybe what I am actually wishing for is a more "Complicated" game.

Yeah. Playing the game. That's a good idea!

Umm... you can use the console to cheat just fine without the CK. No waiting necessary. Folks who don't have the PC version and want to be "uber" will still need to grind smith/enchant with or without the CK.
Happy trolling!
-Loth

This, witht he variation that I carry multiple weapons with different enchantments to perform different tasks. Magicka reducer/Magic resistance on one set of daggers for mage fights, Stamina reducers//frost damage on another set for Drauger. I only smith what I will use, but I smith for any possible battle. It does up my smithing faster, but it's not really grinding either as I use the weapons ina ctual battle, rather than selling them off for more gold to buy more ore to make more daggers to sell of for more gold to buy more ore.... ad infinitum.

Dude, you don't have to justify yourself to this troll. Play however the hell you want... if you want to grind out your smithing to 100 right after getting out of Helgen, do it. Threads like this are an excuse for the original poster to feel justified in being judgmental of other people and how they choose to play. There is nothing wrong with being overpowered, if that's what you want to do. Different strokes for different folks, and all that.
-Loth

Why are you using Frost damage against Draugr? They, like all undead, are highly resistant to it.

He's doing it for the slow effect?
-Loth

I voted to continue to smith, but for me it isnt a grind. My mage wears cloth and uses no weapons and I havent even started enchanting, and I still do it because its fun.

I'll still smith because i'm on xbox

Actually no. I am genuinely interested in knowing if people will continue to do it because making stuff is interesting, or if they just want the best equipment. If they just want the best equipment, I imagine it would be much simpler to do via CK.

I can't speak for everyone, but I think the reasoning behind it is more along the lines of "I want the best equipment available through normal game mechanics." As several replies here have indicated, lots of crafters intentionally level slowly so as not to trivialize the game. Hell, in the Crafting/ Game Mechanics thread, we've spent the last week or so optimizing weapon damage so that the Alduin fight isn't trivialized.

It's kind of insulting to assume that anyone who crafts either (1) just wants the best gear; or (2) is mentally challenged, and actually enjoys a tedious Skill grind. That's why your thread has elicited negative responses.

If the CK is at all relevant and people simply want the best equipment then they're going to use the console and not grind at all. Player.setav smithing 400 and there you go. Maybe do the same witn enchant. Then maybe use the addperk command to get two enchants per item. Takes all of 60 seconds to get your skills to whatever level you want. Then you make your items, restore your attributes, and presto, best items in the game and zero grinding. Takes at most ten minutes, even if you have to look up all the console commands.

In other words, what you're suggesting makes zero sense whatsoever. It's quite simply flat-out pointless.

I'm going to smith and enchant myself. I think that is a fun part of the game.

Me, it'll be a little bit of both, I think. I find it entertaining to see what I can come up with & so on. 'Course, with the CK, it'll mean rather than just crazy weapons & armour, it'll be OMGWTF. Can't wait...

You forgot option D: use CK to balance smithing and enchanting.

The CK won't change anything for me. I have a character right now who mines, hunts and crafts, and I'll have more characters who do this in the future.

The only limit I put on my characters when it comes to "grinding" these skills is to use self found or produced material as much as possible.

ok first of all what is CK?? second... using a console command is cheating no matter how you look at it. And 3rd this is another reason why I play on the Ps3 lol they don't use console commands... unless for some reason Bethesda is going to do some kind of patch to allow it for gaming consoles... in which I highly doubt.

CK = "Creation Kit", the modding tools coming out in January (supposedly) which will allow players on the PC to easily change/add content to Skyrim.
-Loth

I am going to continue to smith and enchant. But when I play mage I will only smith to get enough daggers to grind my enchanting, I find companions to be in the way when playing. Therefore I dont need to smith for their sorry excuse for a companion.

I smith and enchant because I enjoy it; and because I can make equipment with the additions I need most. In the beginning of the game, making weapons and armor from found components supplied enough money to buy other things that I couldn't make.

This ^ makes it easier for a hasty retreat when neccessary (too many stand up at once). Also, frost does stamina damage, reducing the number of physical power attacks. Does that not apply to Draugr?

Lord forbid someone would RP that... how could it be

Note: I prefer to RP but did make enough hide bracers & iron daggers to max smithing in my 30s to early 40s. Same thing for Enchantment. Alchemy wasn't maxed until late 40s IIRC with the help of a forumla spreadsheet so I could find the expensive [high XP] potions.

IMHO I would have preferred that Smithing worked more like Alchemy in sofar as that you get XP based on the usefulness / difficulty / value / whatever that you craft instead of an iron dagger being the same XP as a Daedric Sword. Then if you RP crafting for all your companions you could easily enough max smithing without having to grind out cheap items.

Note: I'm not saying that the Alchemy progression is perfect. Some of the formula values are "dumb" ... there's a lot of room for improvement in the implementation but the idea behind the system is sound.