Excellent advice - also avoid Forsaken.

Since your follower does NOT level with you, you may want to get a new follower - who will start out (and stay at) your current level.

Spend some time exploring the countryside - this will provide generally easy practice battles with wolves, bears, etc. for you to practice your combat skills.

get training in your primary combat skill.

As others have mentioned, there's a difficulty hump around level 15. You're not just crazy and you're not "doing it wrong."

Avoid certain areas (I ended up in the lighthouse full of chaurus at level 10 or so and it was a disaster) and make sure to use the skills you do have effectively.

I don't agree with the advice about avoiding leveling by taking "non combat skills" like smithing or enchanting. Smithing, enchanting, and alchemy are potentially among the most useful combat skills. However, if you want them to be useful in combat, you have to USE THEM in combat. Are your armor and weapons maxed out, are they enchanted to the best of your abilities, do you actually carry potions which help solve the problems you are having.

Single-handed plus destruction plus light armor is a tricky combo because you have to get right in there to use single-handed, but you aren't wearing effective protection at low levels. At high levels light armor is as effective as heavy. At low, it's not. And you can't make the best use of destruction by staying out of range if you're wanting to also hit things. What do you envision yourself doing?

If your a archer or thief I find master is perfect. Melee or melee magic mix I put it on adept. Reason being is sneak, with sneak on adept you will one shot everything but not on master. For me adept seems perfect for my spellsword class.

You know why you got these Frost Trolls ? You were near somewhere very important in one of the big quests.... you' find out soon enough.....

1. Pray do tell how you would like us to answer the OP then hmmm? Don't be a jerk on the forum because you don't get it. If you have nothing constructive to add then rather say nothing. Nobody said he's doing anything wrong. Not knowing what he is doing though we can only tell him things that might help or not. In the end he must play his game the way he likes it most. At this stage he's not liking it and asking for help. Your comment was immature to say the least.

2. Mjoll is essential because she is part of a quest. Thus she can not be killed. Ever. Not by your character or by anything else. This makes her a good tank for someone learning the game as they do not have to worry about splash damage. This was the point he was trying to make I believe. Do go and test it for yourself though.

K. Certainly nothing presumptuous there. I do appreciate your evaluation of my posting ethics though.

But I do stand corrected on Mjoll, I thought the Essential tag on her didn't always hold or something.

Hmm... my last DiD character made it to level 14 before killed. That was a combo of playing on Adept and Expert. But she was a heavy armored tank that used a combo of one handed, archery, and occassioal destruction. On novice or adept the game should be pretty easy.

"Knowing" the game is important. Stay away from vampires, chaurus' (talk about an overpowered enemy), and any animal that lives only in cold areas (frost trolls, ice wolves, and polar bears).

nm someone already coverd this.
~

My advice (and this is from a relative noob - I started with Oblivion last fall and Skyrim at Christmas) - figure out how you want to play (what type of character, what type of skills) and then experiment a little and find a difficulty level that allows you to play that way and still have fun while at the same time not being too easy. My Nord warrior finished the MQ at level 33. Never wore anything other than leather armor. My weapons throughout have been a steel war axe, an ancient Nord bow, and I've used nothing but steel arrows (and Dragonbane for, well, dragons). Haven't had anyproblems playing on novice/apprentice (and I generally svck at video games anyway). It would probably have been frustrating as heck for me to try to play this way at adept or higher, but I've had (and am still having) a blast with this character.

^{iTS a matter of knowing your limitation...i remember the first time you walk up the 7000 steps u may find a frost troll....JESUS that was a tough fight for Talos's sake ...so make sure you set the difficulty accordinly and of course that you feel comfortable with it ...im an old TES player since Morrowind ...and im constantly changing between expert and master ..since there are situations where i just dont want or dont have the time to spend 15 minutes in a combat ..but its all about u style....i enloy my characther and understanding how the game works i know my limitations and i know who i can mess with and when i cannot get distracted because it may cost me .....so i really recommend you to study all the skills and attributes ...races and mainly how you want to play the game before jumping in and throw perks left and right...good luck !!~!}

This. ^

I went through two different characters before getting a handle on focusing on skills that compliment my characters play style. For instance My character I have now Uses a shield, one handed swords and heavy armor and occasionally a bow. So early on I put my focus on getting her stamina high and putting perk points into the relevent catagories. Best advise is to plan out the way you want to play and stick to that plan. It's very tempting to want to spread your points out through all of the areas but then you end up with an unfocused weak character.

Assuming this thread isn't a troll, here's my recommendations:

1) You only need one way to make corpses.

If you're doing sword and destruction magic, you're basically dividing your killing power in half. The effect of that is to hinder your power gain as your level gain exceeds your power gain, and the AI starts seeding enemies far more powerful than yourself. So, if you're having trouble, focus on either Destruction or Swords, but not both.

2) Trainers are there to help you.

Don't be afraid to throw money at trainers to keep your combat skills up as you gain levels with stuff that doesn't improve your killing ability, like pickpocketing, speech, lockpicking, etc. Short on cash? Take the cart to Riften and join the Thieves' Guild. Once you're in, you'll be able to pick up repeatable quests there that pay 500 septims apiece.

3) Use crafting!

Smithing, enchanting and alchemy are so powerful in this game that many have claimed they're game-breaking. That's as may be, but if you're having trouble, you probably can stand to get the help. Find the 'Complete Character Design Freedom' thread on this board and take its lessons to heart. You don't have to use every trick they offer, but if you learn some of the better ways to make your character strong, you'll have a better idea of how to beat the game on your own terms.

4) There's no such thing as a fair fight.

Sometimes the AI seeds enemies that are too powerful for you, especially in the mid-levels where you might not have followed the expected power curve. Many have noted problems with the Frost Troll up on the path to the Greybeards. Sabercats and Bears can also be problematic if you're not ready for them. So if you see something you're not read to handle, don't be daft. Live to fight another day. That troll will be there later after you've had a few months to pump up in the gym.

Game is no longer fun at level 81

There's always that option, but I started the game on Adept and I've been playing it just fine for many hours. When you level up, it should feel like your character is getting stronger, not weaker. This was one of the biggest complaints with Oblivion and Bethesda have said they fixed it in Skyrim.


This might be part of the problem. I've explored almost all of the map so I have no idea what parts are supposed to be easy or hard. I played Oblivion quite a bit, but it didn't really matter where you went on the map. Enemies were the same level everywhere.

Last time I got pwned was near Morvunskar as part of "A night to remember". There were some mages dealing shock damage, and they basically one-shot killed me.


I started with Heavy Armor, but found it drained my stamina too quickly and limited how much I could carry. Light armor should be fine, there are some nice perks that get unlocked later but right now it's pretty hard.


The idea is that I use firebolts and the like for ranged attacks and then run in with a sword to finish the enemies off. Without ranged combat skills, killing dragons and some enemies becomes hard, especially out in the open.
It was working fine for the first 5-10 levels, but then my fireballs started doing ridiculously little damage. I then found arrows did more damage and started using them instead, but now arrows have also lost their effectiveness. The only weapon that still has any effect whatsoever is my elven war axe, but even that is starting to feel like a toy.



Here are my stats at the moment (just reached level 16).
Two-Handed: 17
One-Handed: 49
Archery: 38
Light Armor: 35
Sneak: 33
Lock picking: 23
Pickpocket: 16
Speech: 30
Alchemy: 22
Illusion: 15
Conjuration: 15
Destruction: 41
Restoration: 26
Alteration: 15
Enchanting: 21
Smithing: 20
Heavy Armor: 25
Block: 30

Magicka: 160
Health: 170
Stamina: 140

The reason Archery is so high is because I was forced to switch from Destruction to archery. It's impossible to kill dragons with fireballs. The fireballs move too slowly to even hit, and when they do, damage is like 5 - 10%. I noticed that at Destruction level 40, you can buy a new type of fire spell, which might work better..

I've been trying to do some alchemy to make health potions, but it's a skill completely unrelated to the stats of your character. It's all about remembering which ingredients do what and where to find them, which doesn't get easier as the skill increases.

Others have already suggested this but looking at your stats I think you have spread yourself a little thinly. The game seems to reward concentration of effort, choose one melee style, one ranged attack and one type of armour and concentrate on those exclusively for maybe the first 20 levels. That way when you level up you are doing so on your combat skills alone and will keep pace with the bad guys. If you feel you have to use a craft skill early on and doing so pushes you up a level then go spend some cash with a combat skill trainer to keep things in balance.

Secondly, in my, limited, experience, there are periods in the game when, for a few levels, it does get hard before becoming more comfortable again. I had this in the teens and then in the early/mid thirties. To get through it I switched activities (less random exploring and more guild quest focus) and I took along a companion (if you can stand her constantly rabbiting on, Mjoll is very good as a tank, but even Lydia is not to be sneezed at).

Finally, accept that in going for a spell-sword type character you have gone or one of the trickiest builds in the game. The need to develop your magicka level as well as stamina and stealth adds a layer of complication and contradiction that is not easy to resolve.

Good luck and stay focused.

I am same level as you. It is hard work as you say. My tactic is to hit and keep running. Stay away from the big guys and let your Flame Atronach do the fighting for you. You are not different from me, save your games, then hit and run, spell, shout, hit and run. It can take me 2 hours to get past a single Draugr or Troll, I,m not kidding. Good luck. And drop the difficulty level, it may be the only real way of getting an advantage.

For me, the game is still fun at 96 hours and Level 75.

I sympathize with the OP.... I never played a single Elder scrolls game before, and really, nothing serious on my xbox.... till Skyrim.

I had no idea what i was doing, and wound up getting the Skyrim Guide - best investment I made. It helped me understand much more about what the game involved.

I'm a sneak/Archer/one handed mostly, with destruction thrown in for good measure, and am a High elf.

The game can be tough. I have been blasted so many times by people I felt I should have no trouble with - I particularly hate mages! - that I don't think I'll ever find combat boring. I'm almost a lvl 50 now, and simply because I am not a savvy game player, I still have a hard time - occasionally, but Way, way, fewer. Mostly if I am not paying attention.

I would get the Skyrim book... It might offer up a wealth of helpful guidance. Hang in there, and as they say in the guide - you are what you play. So if you have a style in mind, make it yours. Only thing is, if you want to do it all, it can be tough. Pick one or two styles and use them extensively.

Good luck!

Wao and 2 hrs for a drgur ..thats a long time .....

Two hours for a single Draugr seems a bit excessive, but good on the player who stuck with his plan and won through. That said several hours on a dungeon is for me,a sneaky-thief, no big deal. At level 51 I arrived in Black Reach for the first time the other evening - the whole quest took me about five, real-time, hours and I was glad to finish it (first port of call after I got back to the surface was the whiskey bottle, I really needed a drink). I am going back down there this evening.

That's what I thought too. It's one thing to take your time and do it right, it's quite another to take so long that the next TES game is out before you've reached level 20.

You are spread a little thin. Why the points in heavy armor? And what are your perks?

Alchemy effectiveness does increase with level. If you have trouble remembering where to get things, write it down, or use one of the many resource pages. I have a cheat sheet about the things for making selling potions, the things for making health potions, and the things for making crafting potions. I don't bother with the rest.

Yeah, what are your perks, that's going to make a huge difference. Destruction, for example "hockey sticks". You really need two things to make it hell on wheels... Impact (+dual cast) and something enchanted to lower the cost curve. As soon as you can do that and make reasonably protective armor with enchants you become effective. Make some daggers, get some money, enchant a suit of -destruction cost and things get easier... somewhat.

Yes. Perks are more important than your base skills. Base skill levels without listing perks makes it hard to help. List them.

I ended up with points in places I didn't want in the beginning of a game because well those heavy boots were better than those crappy light boots for example, then when I learned some smithing, I made a better pair of light boots. Then I did better. I'm sure it's that sort of thing.

Basically try to get your core survival skills up to 75 as quickly as possible. Health determines how quickly you die. Stamina how much you can carry, and your endurance, and how long you have to line up a shot. Archery requires a lot of stamina, but you can one shot. The downside to archery is when your rushed, which is why I make it a secondary.

NOTE: you can enchant stuff, and once your enchantments get you over the 100 mark I've noticed that you don't increase that skill until you remove that enchanted item.

Lvl 50 assassin-fighter

* enchanting 97
* smithing 100 + 96% (gear stays home)
* blocking 73 + 39%
* one-handed 93 + 39% + 39%
* light armor 100 + 23%
* sneak 100
* lockpicking 86 + 96% (traveling gear)
* speech 63 + 30%
* conjuration 50 (soul trap)
* now working on alchemy + 96% (gear stays home)
* archery 49 (new convert)