So, story put in short -

I've got 2 characters, one of them fairly OP, the second one virtual God Mode (by courtesy of the Fortify Restoration glitch).

I want to start a new character on Master difficulty from the get-go, with the intention of finding out just how underpowered you can go and still survive. In other words, I will intentionally make this character stay weak and try to find some way to master this game.

Before I do that, I will confess I'm not an "elite" player of sorts. I'm average and I'll leave it at that.

I've already got some idea as to how to play the game this way. However, some expert tips (and possibly anecdotes) from more experienced people on here would be appreciated. Of course, I'm not asking for the "professional secrets", just a little something to get started.

(As I've searched the web and these forums for this topic, there is still much left to be desired)

I'm running the game on X360, so stick to discussing Vanilla and not Modd'ed Skyrim.

Any help would be appreciated!

Make your character a vampire, and get to Stage 4. Never leave stage 4 and do everything during the day time, never select health as an option when you level up.

That should keep you on edge on Master difficulty!

A stealth character could work very nicely in this situation.. If you think Sneak will be an advantage of this though, maybe.. Just maybe you could be some kind of Restoration Warrior, maybe like a Paladin kind of class build ?

Hope this helps! x

@Commandant Oreo:

A bit more than just on edge in that case.

Adding on: Choose and Orc character tanker, only add onto your stamina so you can run forever.

Considering you can even get one-shotted with 300HP without any Armor protecting you, I don't think not investing in HP is an option. Battles will just devolve into searching for exploits like Terrain abuse.

I'd consider the low threshold to be the effective balance to where you can play whatever type of character you want (Mage, Warrior, Thief and any of the myriad in between), without turning into a steamroller that annihilates everything.

Don't invest in any Smithing or Enchanting perks, and you should be able to find Master has great balanced challenge, especially with Dawnguard making some of the Endgame a lot harder. Having Minimal Armor perks helps too, but again, there's a difference (I feel) in underpowered, and just idiotic. Getting one-shotted by every boss enemy isn't really an option. Not because you can't dodge, but because those "Finishers" trigger, basically locking you out of taking appropriate action in a situation.

I play on master and only use iron or steel weapons and armour

Punch people to death, on adept difficulty I have to turn to werewolf form alot to save my sorry fur. Should be serious challenge on master diff...

One of my characters wears mourners clothes, fur bracers, leather boots and a ragged hood. He uses a blades sword and blocks with a torch. I've only taken the first armsman perk and the first light armor just to get into the tree. I think this is the most important thing to keep your guy from becoming too powerful. You definatly need to add to your health. But it's doable, hard though.