In fallout, with the best armor in the game, deathclaws still rip you apart in a few seconds. They're very fast, stupidly strong and roam the lands from level one.

We have enemies like high level mages, briarhearts and draugr deathlords.. But it's not the same, I never fear them like I did when I was close to a deathclaw. I don't play the game with physical resistance to the max and stupidly strong weapons, and I always play on master, but still when these high level enemies appear I can deal with them without being hit most of the time.

I just feel with skyrim the enemies are predictable, you can learn their moves and attack style, then outperform them in combat. You could never do that with deathclaws on the hardest setting, they will always kill you in two hits, and attack you in packs of 10+, always keeping you alert.

Now fallout had it's ways of dealing with these enemies, very strong weapons that allowed you to dispatch them from afar, until you enter a deathclaw cave and get ripped apart by a deathclaw 2x the size and strength.

I just don't get this feeling in skyrim.

Ancient dragons...? I admit they aren't too tough when in higher lvl's, but isn't that how deathclaws were? You just don't encounter them until when you're ready, unlike in Fallout where you can stumble on a deathclaw at lvl 1 ( or lvl 2 since you lvl up once you start )

We have them, they are called bears and saber cats.
Until you reach a level greater than approximately 20

I disagree with the comparison, at a certain point you out grow everything else, become the top dog, the alpha male! For example (as you said), T-51b and Lincoln's repeater, Back water rifle, Fat-man or Vengence; deathclaw should just turn around.

Dragons were like this until I got good gear like I had to in Fo.

This, I only found deathclaws to be extremly hard at low levels. Once I got my scoped 50cal I had no trouble with them.

Indeed. The anti-material rifle made short work of the deathclaws. Loved that gun.

Bears... :3

Ah that was the name, couldn't remember what they were called, lol. Yeah there was a named anti-material rifle....with that gun and armor piercing rounds I could one shot deathclaws from sneak.....except the alpha males, they were still pretty tough.

Hmm... Ancient Dragons !!

They land close to you they'll take you out in three or four melee attacks. They're definetely as deadly as Deathclaws.

I vote for high level trolls. I mean, trolls are as dangerous as Deathclaws, but trolls are easy at high levels, while deathclaws are mearly managable at high levles

The little tidbit at the end is exactly what the OP is about, weather or not you were ready for them they were around and you had to watch out, half the time when I saw one I turned around and ran.

But try that in Dead Wind Cavern on the hardest setting, this is my point.

I just don't see dragons as a fearsome enough enemy, they can be easily avoided (deathclaws couldn't) and you have combinations of shouts, shield bashes and power attacks for example that render them useless in combat.

Sabre cats and bears are similar at low levels, but not to the same extent, deathclaws were much stronger and you had less places to avoid them or hide in FNV.

When taking certain perks Along with HP rounds the brush gun deals well over 200dmg per shot with a six round clip. (Making it arguably the strongest Weapon)

I don't see it to be so much as strength but the fear that they can be anywhere.

Daedroth used to be like that, especially in Oblivion, hopefully they either get added back in in some expansion or by the next game. But also yeah as others have said Ancient Dragons are also deadly.

Maybe in F3, you could take quite a beating with high DR.

But in FNV you have DT, ignoring only a portion of the damage, even with the best armor they will still kill you in two hits. I was talking more about FNV.

The difference?

Fallout enemies gain attack damage exponentially, TES enemies gain HP exponentially.
While enemies in Fallout get sharper claws, more lethal poisons and big honking .50 caliber snipers as they level, Skyrim enemies get armor. The result is that in Fallout, with the proper planning you can kill ANYTHING before it even sees you, Deathclaws included. This however can also happen to you if you're not careful.
TES on the other hand, you reach a point where neither you or your enemies can one-shot a damned thing. You swing a weapon for 5 seconds, then it's clear who has the superior DPS and who will win, and the next 20 seconds is just killing time.

The real issue is that enemies need to gain attack power, not HP. If they level enemies like that, the game would be far more interesting. Currently I feel most leveled enemies gain attack power AND HP, but that's stupid too. That doesn't make them fun, that's just taxing on resources. Just keep enemy HP lower and stop leveling it exponentially and we'll be golden.

I am sure someone will add Deathclaws to Skyrim which I think would be hilarious, but until then every once in a while on horseback I run over a couple of encounter triggers and they spawn all at the same time. I had two dragons a troll and a squad of bandits gunning for my character. She died a horrible death at max level, and I still chuckle about it. You got me good Skyrim, you got me good.

Silenced Sniper Rifle with AP rounds and 100 sneak. Easy Peasy.

I have 500 ish hours in NV, I know it well.

Depending on your perks and build it's a few more than two but they also have no DT, So Really.. who's doing more Damage. It's like an old western, whoever draws first wins, and due to range I do. Skyrim is quite easy it's like playing Half-life² , "hey look a new enemy! Oh boy.. he was hard to kill." Ten minutes later you find a new gun to combat the enemies. Skyrim feeds you monsters bit by bit (Dragons) Fo just said "get 'er done!".

I kind of get the OP's point.

I don't think Skyrim has much with deathclaw speed and the accompanying element of surprise ... annoying as I found this at lower levels when I tried to make a hasty exit.

I just finished FO:NV a few days ago, after playing Skyrim for quite awhile,, and I couldn't recall anything completely equivalent in Skyrim.

Of course, I also noticed that there seemed to be fewer spots in FO:NV where you could get out of the reach of things like deathclaws and safely shoot them like fish in a barrel ... as high points which it appeared you should be able to climb and reach weren't always climable, for me at least ... so for me killing them sometimes presented a bit of a challenge.

Just my opinion.

All deathclaws have DT, around 15 iirc. The fact is they will kill you in two hits if you let them get close, even with the best armor. Considering the highest DT you could get as around 40, normal deathclaws hit for 150 iirc and 'boss' type deathclaws hit for over 300, also the jump attack they do deals extra damage.

They are always a challenge, sneaking around them was difficult due to their high perception and they usually exist in packs which become instantly alerted if one is killed nearby.

I don't know. Them trolls sure would shred me up in 2-3 hits. I mean now that I use followers and some strategy to take them out they aren't to tough but I also make sure they don't get a clean hit on me because if they do they still knock me out. Giants can still 1 hit KO me too.

That MIGHT have to do with the fact that Skyrim takes place in the mountains and New Vegas takes place in a friggin' desert, ijs.


There are points, yes, but what OP is talking about...
Again, with New Vegas, there are certain enemies that are simply built to destroy. The holograms in Dead Money? I have no idea how much damage they deal, I just know I was shot once, had like 15% HP left and never wanted to be shot again.
The deathclaws in Lonesome Road? Those will kill you in one hit on the hardest difficulty unless you take a sick amount of drugs.
Yao Guai, anything in the Big MT, Cazadors....there's all sorts of enemies that continue to be a threat no matter what your level.

Skyrim lacks this. Yes, when you hit a level that causes all enemies to gain a drastic amount of power, then yeah you kinda struggle for a bit. But then you level up and they're now a joke. They WILL gain HP, but not attack power, turning them into simple chores. Hell, even at those points where enemies tear you up, it's an uncomfortable position because personally, I just find myself spamming HP pots to survive, not actually strategizing or doing anything fun.


I think it's a result of Skyrim's bipolar disorder with wanting to be an RPG and an action-adventure game. I said in my last post to raise enemy damage while keeping enemy HP static, but that might not work either as you're forced to take hits in Skyrim (usually). A simple fix would be to just make it so blocking always reduces incoming damage by 85%, but then we lose an entire skill.
At any rate though, they should stop packing so much HP onto the opponents, that does nothing but waste time.

Go back to your "didn't kill follows chalk" CLUB!!! I jest.

This wasn't really my point, enemies in skyrim get huge damage bonuses and a bucket load of health as they level with you. This allows a master vampire to hit you for 100 damage with an iron sword.

It's just not the same as deathclaws, you just couldn't get close to them otherwise you're instantly dead. I feel with playing skyrim for a good number of hours that the enemies are predictable, human enemies can be dodged and there are loads of places you can go and be 'safe' from enemies.

Example: a slightly elevated piece of land against a bear. You couldn't do that with deathclaws.