I'm currently playing an Orc (heavy armor/1-handed/archery), and for RP purposes I want to use Orcish gear exclusively, at least for a while. So I need to get my smithing to 50 (right now at 30). I'm playing on expert, and since this is the last character I'm making (I've started over 4 times now), I really don't wanna screw myself over.

My question is, when's the best time to level my smithing and possibly my enchanting? Right now I'm level 11, and my armor/1-hand/archery are all in the mid 30s. I just got far enough in the Companions to achieve Skyforge weapons, and am currently using two Skyforge Steel Waraxes that I smithed to 25 damage each. If I level smithing now, am I gonna screw myself combat-wise? If I should wait, wait til when?

Why wait? Level up and kick some ass.

no. you won't
smithing has direct combat benefits
get a set of Orcish early and reap the benefits

edit: but I'd leave off enchanting for now
just learn as many different effects as possible

Ahahahahahahaha I like you Cobra!

Yea, what he said! Oh and you can smith, kick bandit butt, level other skills in the process, then smith some more... rinse and repeat! There was another thread floating around about how the game gets hard around lvl 15 or something. It's like you approach a threshold and your unsmithed steel axe won't scratch an enemy. By that level, you should have already Flawless gear, well, I usually do. LOL

That settles it then. I'll do my smithing when I get home from work, finish the Companions line, then start the MQ. After that, we'll see where the road goes.

Leveling smithing early increases character level, which increases enemy level, without significantly increasing your combat power. So raising crafting too far ahead of combat skills can make the game very hard. Good luck

You can level anything whenever you want. Just remember, if you level your character too much, at being at level 11, grinding smithing will do this, then the game will throw harder enemies at you. Harder than your combat skills can handle, even with the strong weapons.

I would recommend waiting until you can craft all the daggers or whatever all at once, as well as all the armor/weapon materials. That way there is no point where your combat efficiency isn't at full potential. You'd probably want to have 50+ in 1H also.

P.S. You should consider waiting until you can buy the boots/gauntlets from vendors as well, because the ingots themselves are pretty expensive and in low supply. You will need 4 just to improve the set, and even more to forge them, so buying pieces helps reduce downtime spent finding materials.

I think it's best to level up to gear once you see it on vendors. And if you're really RP'ing or something, make a story out of it or something. Only unlock dwarven until you purchase something and meet calcemo.. and you get into the dwemer museum. It means nothing, but it's a good way to pace yourself.

Smithing was the first thing I leveled up to 100. Mainly did it with leather. You can upgrade leather, fur, and hide stuff with it. And you can get a ton of pelts to make into leather from killing bears (4).

When doing dungeons, keep all the fur, hide, and leather stuff you can from Bandits and upgrade them. Even the fur shoes. Your level will be up there in no time. Much quicker and cheaper than making daggers.

I didn't really think enemies got harder for me. If anything I thought it was easier. Maybe because at level 100, you can make yourself some deadric armor and then upgrade it to legendary. You'll be a badass that's hard to take down for most enemies. Enemies may get tougher level wise but your armor will more than make up the difference in your favor.

This.

My smithing is 60 and I'm level 25. I'm waiting until I find good gear before I level it seeing I'm not crafting.

I would agree with that.. It gets easier.

But that also svcks imo. Sometimes things svck when they're hard, but equally svck if they're too easy as well.

Leather can't be enchanted with Banish.

It only gets harder if you are leveling without actually using the new gear you can craft.

I agree. I hate the skill leveling system in this game. I liked the way it was done in Oblivion way better. You had to work your ass off to level things up. I had Smithing levelled up to 100 in a day. Way to easy. Not to mention I went from Iron armor, to Steel Plated armor to Deadric armor. Never even got to really try all the others because the smithing allows you to skip the need to use the rest of them.

You shouldn't be able to get deadric armor until hitting a certain high level. Getting it early makes it too easy. Upgrading weapons is rediculous too. I liked having to repair weapons in Oblivion with repair hammers much better.

lol......true, but it works well for just building up the smithing to 100.

This
The OP wants to make Orcish and use it
Being an orc it fits their character too
Vriddi got Orcish before level 15, found it a boon, and is still using it at level 36. Having passed the armour cap any ebony/daedra hearts can be used for weapons, no need for any other armour

Then don't get it... I mean if you know game will be super simple if you get a certain item then don't get it. That's why I don't put perks in blacksmithing.

This is really the best time to level Smithing is once you start finding gear that you can't improve or make yourself.

I'm not making any gear myself this play thru. I'm just improving gear I find. But all special gear like my spell breaker I won't improve until I'm level 100. Also had to move the difficulty up to master today even without making my own gear was too easy.

I don't think people need to totally avoid it either. It's just good to pace yourself.. enforce your own sense of balance, that the game lacks. This is why I come up with various RP reasons why I unlock things. Visiting the Dwemer museum seems like a good way to learn their smithing techniques. Or after I help out those two Orcs in Markarth, I unlock Orcish.

I'm just extending on the ideas implemented in the Companion quests.. Like you don't get Skyforge steel until doing a couple of missions for them. And you don't get Ancient Nordic until Kodlak is laid to rest.

On 1 hand you can smith good weapons and armor, on the other hand the rest of your skills wont match your level when you level up alot if you max your smithing in 1 sitting.
I waited until level 50 before raising smithing from 5 to 100

I do a little smithing whenever i'm at a blacksmith to sell gear.
I've made a rule for myself that my smithing level can never be my highest level. Usually, it's 3rd behind my 2 main combat skills. With potions and some minor smithing gear (found or bought), I can keep my weapons on par with the enemies I'm fighting without being too strong or weak.
Alternately, keeping it to about twice your character level +10 seems pretty balanced.
I've also set the "rule" (mentioned above) that I won't take a perk until I've already found or bought an item from that material.
The hardest thing is resisting the urge to grind from 50 to 60 in order to improve all my magic stuff.

I hear ya. But it's hard not to when it's available. It's like putting a bowl of ice cream in front of you and not eating it. (I like ice cream)

Yes the game is best balanced I think when your smithing level stays right around the same as your weapon skill. Keeps things challenging without making it too hard.

I was level 22 before I did any serious smithing, and then it was enough to get me 7 points in smithing skill, which took me to level 23. I took the steel perk early, with plans to put more perks in as I leveld up, but put off doing any smithing until I had gained some levels, so I would have some combat skills to match up against stronger enemies, rather than just augmented weapons.