I have to agree with the others about perks.

Study the perk trees. Early on, you will see that some perks are more valuable than others. I made the mistake of spreading my perks out and now I have just a little of a lot of things instead of a helpful of amount of a few things.

Nothing different. Blocking perks are not a waste -- the one the blocks elemental damage helps at higher levels against dragons. Lock picking perks not necessarily a waste -- just not all of them -- I have ADD so I don't like to screw around with a master level lock for an hour, but getting it to Adept or whatever is enough to unlock treasure hunter (achievement time) is sufficient. One handed; smithing; enchanting; archery were primaries. Don't forget to switch stones when you start working on something.

perks present some difficult choices.

i would say to spread your perks around a bit.

i suggest....don't take the muffle perk in sneak, use the spell instead.

no perks in speach or lockpick.... they go up just fine.

do the MQ, up until you get the Whirlwind shout, you need this to access some places.

Must play with Master difficulty.

too bad you on console, there are mods to make the game challenging.

no disrespect to you kelman...but the game can be challenging enough as it is.

my toon rarely uses a magic weapon (not for 15 levels now).

she only uses enchanted armor.

using non magical weapons and not powerleveling is very challenging.

I just recently started playing again after a 2month break,I burnt the game out when I first got it,and decided to pick it back up again another time.

It made for a very enjoyable replay experience,I made an Assassin Wood Elf and beat the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood with him since I never tried an Assassin character before and didnt bother to beat those guilds,it was really fun trying a different class.

Now I've started my Khajit Warrior character that sides with the StormCloaks,my first few characters always joined the Imperials since I liked their armor better and my favorite color is red, so I wanted to try the other faction this time. And also upon doing a certain Dark Brotherhood Quest,it made me HATE the imperials with a passion. Now I've made it my goal to slaughter every single imperial I see.

then if you try Master level, the word challenging will really sink into you.

even with powered weapon, you still can get 1 shotted at that level.

If I started over again I would take it slow and easy, take a lot more time looking at the scenery and smelling the roses and not worry about accomplishing anything. On top of that I would just let my skills grow naturally.

I would pick Black Star over Azura's Star. What was I thinking....

1: i wouldn't try to pickpocket Sven back in Riverwood. (got caught, killed him and now i cant do the companions storyline)
2: i probably wouldn't have chosen khajiit or however you spell it. (the unarmed attacks just aren't worth it)

I started over when the patch came out and went back to my favorite type - the Nord warrior. The only smithing perk I'm taking is steel to improve my wolf armor. I'm also keeping my smithing skill on a level with my combat skills - I only smith with stuff I find or kill and I make the biggest most expensive items I can (usually armor - I make a lot of leather armor) and improve them before sale. This makes me more money and keeps the smithing skill from getting out of hand. Other than the steel perk, all other perks going to one-hand, block, heavy armor, archery. Doing the MQ, Companions, Empire, Destroy DB and whatever side-quests won't compromise my characters high morals.

I would not sell my dragon priest masks! I lugged them around for a long time, finally gave up on them as useless baggage, sold them in Whiterun and only then discovered the wall in Labyrinthian.
But I do remember storing one or two in chests somewhere so now I'm hunting all over the map to try and find those chests (hoping that they weren't the resetting kind), which is kind of fun in it's own way. I have reduced my Dragonborn to a woman rummaging through her purse for that one unfindable item... LOL

Other then that I'm very happy with my one and so far only play through. Took my time, nibbled at the MQ as a treat in-between loads of other stuff, and had a load of fun just exploring and looking around. If I do make another character it probably won't be for another year or so, when everything feels fresher again.

That happened to me, but with Ilas-tai's ring (although I do not think I sold it)

Hmmm, yes a very deep question.

I guess the question is: in what order would you do things, to lessen bugs?

I wouldn't Deadthrall anything, ever.
I would summon the Unbound Dremora AFTER becoming Archmage.
I'd do Annekke Crag-Jumper's quest before messing with the Thieves Guild.
Do NPC's equip placed enchanted jewelry on them? I'd think of how to protect Riften's NPC's against the guards' accidental arrows.