So I know the levels of enemies you face are determined by your level, but when does it actually set that level?

Let's say you pick up a quest to go clear out monsters in a cave. Does the level of the enemy set set when you pick up the quest, or when you discover the cave, or when you actually enter the cave or when you actually encounter each individual monster?

I can't find info on this anywhere.

Enemies do scale, but enemies in interior places lock, like in caves (IIRC) to the level that you are when you enter it. This means that, if you enter a cave at level 3, the enemies will be leveled appropriately. If you leave that cave and come back later at level 20 (for example), the enemies will still be at what your level 3 would be. That would also make it near impossible to gain levels killing them there, because they will be rewarding XPs at their level 3 while you would be level 20.

Also, killing more powerful enemies gives more XPs. For example, Killing a bear will give much more XP than killing a skeever. So, the tougher the enemy you vanquish, the faster you level as well.

I thought there was no level scaling. I just thought all enemies were a predetermined level. I only say this because things like trolls and dragons were almost impossible to beat at my lower levels but now I have to turn it up to master and I still whoop em. I thought the big thing about Skyrim is that scaling was out and people either hated it or loved it compared to Oblivion. Hmm shows what I know lol.

Some enemies level up with us, alot of them don't. Dragon priests are stuck at level 50 no matter what, but alduin and city guards and all level up with us. Just depends on who it is your talking about. Most enemies in the game though are stuck at the level they're at.

Are you sure Alduin does? Because he was a lot easier to kill than the multiple Deathlords you need to defeat to get to Sovrngarde.

He levels up with you but his bite damage stays the same. Don't know for sure about his breath attacks but basically only thing that raises on him when he levels is his life.

Sometimes the game willl substitute a more powerful version of the creature (draugr, dragon), while in others it will scale up the individual creature (guards). Indoor areas generally have a set range to their leveling, so a given cave may be far too dangerous for a 1st level character while another may be trivial even at level 15. As noted, the actual level (within that range) is set when you first enter the area and won't change after that.

You don't gain XP for killing things. You gain XP from advancing skills. The more you use a skill, the more it levels up. You can also train a skill for gold which helps to advance to the next level.

Maybe I didn't explain it correctly. Each time you level a skill you do it on system where it takes more hits (like by a sword for example) to get to the next level of a skill you are using. If you are a level 3 in one-handed and it takes 125 hits to get to level 4, it will take more to get to level 5. Having said that, the calculation to reach each level using those hits ramp up if you slay more powerful enemies. So, in a sense you are earning points to allow the system to get you to the next level.

Read http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Leveling.

We won't have a definitive answer to this question until the CK comes out. When that happens will we be able to dig into the game mechanics and discover what the rules governing leveling and scaling are and how those rules are applied.

Until we can get our hands on the CK, a good deal of what any of us say on this subject is merely hearsay and speculation.

nah it's pretty well known. Caves lock to your current level when you enter IIRC I also thing they have "thresholds" too that enemies won't be below or above.

In the Skyrim Fan Interview that's stickied in the General forum, there's a mention of the "encounter zones" and levels of enemies. There might be something in there that will help with your question.