Correct. The max weight I have off the top of my head is 305. And all I collect is gems, books, notes, journals, lockpicks, and gold ore(I mine it) and coin from dead mobs(but it has to be 100g or more or I wont bother). Sounds like I don't do much, but I spend hours just revisiting places that have reset and kill the mobs. Im sure if the mod SkyrimXP was out right now(which will do away with skill based leveling) I'd be 100 just from killing lol.

I have a level 78 character and a level 81 character. Buying your 5 trained skill ups every level means less time using those skills to level them. And train the skills you don't like to use much, obviously. By the way, you reach the cap of level 81 before all of your skills hit 100. 'Max' level is really 81 plus half a bar.

The way the level scaling works in this game, really no point in going past lvl 20. Hell, could probably do anything at lvl 10 lol.

My first character got to lvl 53ish, and was just one hitting everything. I finished with my mage at like 30 somthing, no point for her to go any further.

And my current character, which im playing on master with PISE is still getting her ass kicked by bandits at lvl 29, so we shall see when she reachers her full potential.

My highest level character, Vriddi, got to 40 and I was finding levelling up slow and her OP then. I just finished the questlines appropriate for her and moved on to my other characters. I'm sure some people do get to 81st level but the grind would be too much for me and I'd rather play at lower levels and have less grind and more challange.

On my first character, I've reached level 81, gotten all my skills to 100, completed all the quests, and gotten all 50 achievements, it took over 300 hours on just that one charachter but it can be done

Yes, I did spend a lot of training points raising up my primary and secondary combat skills along the way, and blacksmithing. Noob mistake, for sure. Should have spent those trains on tertiary skills, instead. Destruction, Restoration, Conjuration, Speech... dang newbies, anyway! lol

Once you have all the perks you need, I don't see the point in levelling any higher. But that's my problem, I can never get all the necessary perks even when only using three skill trees.

I'm guessing you used either mods or semi-exploit skill grinding at some point, in order to get there? My char is at 228 hours, and just hit lvl 56... I couldn't see getting to 81 *without* using mods or grinding exploits, unless I played at least 500 hours on her. Getting to 55 was easy... the next 26 levels, that would take twice the time if you got them 100% legit.

FYI: There is a mod for the PC which lets you use dragon souls for perks. It is quite a nice idea. It makes use of the many dragon souls that you will gather over time and lets you fill up the skill trees.

I'm level 68 with approximately 260 hours on the save.

However I am running out of things to do and getting bored (all that's left is the last couple MQ quests and becoming Master of the Thieves Guild). Want to start a new game with no hud and different characteristics.

See, I so wish to join the PC elite (and will... one day)

That would be a great addition... Bethesda? Bethesda?... Yo, Bethesda, you listening? Ah what's the use.

No that character is legitimate no mods, I didnt start getting mods until I was almost complete with leveling that one and that was armor mods

I only learned this for my second play through (the level 81 character).

I think people are mostly going to play differently. I tend to only play one character who will do everything except the stuff I'm just not going to do for moral reasons. I would not have even started my second character except my save got broken. I tend to have a polymath playstyle and play on Master, so it's kinda inevitable that I'll end up maxing stuff out, both out of necessity (Master) and because my focus is on an 'ultimate' build for me. I still have 5 perk points in reserve, but it's not because I don't need to spend them, it's because there are more than 5 places I want to spend them, and I have to pick the best 5.

It's a game, so whatever you do with your playtime it had better be what you want to be doing. Some people will want to grind skills because they really want more perk points (or whatever), and some people won't want to.

Personally I don't get it.
I'm currently using a mod that slows all my skills x5.
It's a huge game and will only get larger as more mods are released.
Play the game and use your skills as required. That way you'll enjoy both the experience and role play aspects.
I never did understand this mad rush to max out all your skills, especially ones that are very rarely used.

Perks, perks, perks http://www.jayzar.co.uk/#aG0000a0IWB1|yly0081Y2IO001S000E0Um000k0

I don't get it either. Can't do mods here, but if I could, a mod like you mentioned would've been one of the first I looked for. It seems like everytime I turn around I'm being told to level-up. Heck, half the time, by the time I'd feel like I *deserved* to level (at least pre-40'ish), I'd finally go to level and discover I'd actually gained 4-6 levels.

In OB, I could technically level according to my RP by controlled sleeping. Alas, in Skyrim, there's no choice -- short of never accessing the skill/level menu.

I don't think its meant to level a character up to 81, if you got your character over level 50 you should be happy. And as MAC89dPC77TIMES said, there's no point in leveling your character as high as you can. I've got 100 in Light armor, Block, One-handed and Smithing, and all perks i need in those. I don't have to level any further, why should i play as a Mage when im a Warrior just to get to a higher level? Ofcourse i've got between 50-70 in other skills like lockpicking etc. But i've gained those only by playing. Focus on the journey, not your level. Skyrim is more fun to play that way!

Although, i think everyone should try to get a character to level 81, it's a huge challenge.

Elys uncapper makes the process a hell of a lot quicker Hell im at lvl 130 with 250 for Sneak, Archery, Smithing, Ench (which becomes absurd) and lockpicking. But to hell with trying to get above 60 without it, it becomes way too slow and i dont like the idea of being a master of all trades rather than a simple jack

Edit: To keep the fun in the game though i've had to use a whole bunch of other mods such as more perks and making mobs lvl higher

I've leveled both my PCs to level 81 and intend on doing the same for my third and final PC. It becomes too easy to keep playing with skills that you have mastered, so it does provide extra challenge using skills that you normally wouldn't use on that build to complete the rest of the game.

While I enjoyed doing it on one, I have no intention of doing it again, you are forced to play in ways you dont want to and grinding in others but it does teach you how to do certain things to level faster, like looting everything you can and heading to the smith/enchant/vendor

I have a friend who plays on a PS3 and has a level 68 almost 69 and intends to take him to 81

I'd engage with a different battle strategy approach.