hmmmm....

i was wondering if anyone here has tried NOT levelling up at all and remaining on level 1?

i'm thinking of giving it a go and maybe possibly beating the main quest on level 1 as a new play method for skyrim.

has anyone given this a go, or what was the longest anyone went without levelling up?

curious

**edit additional: Just to point out why I want to play as level 1, is because I find Skyrim THE most realistic and believable fantasy RPG out there at the moment, steeped in medieval history (i know many ppl will debate this), BUT i find the higher you level up, the armour and weapons become more out-of-this-(nirn)world and almost veering into J-RPG terriortory. I prefer the Iron and Steel industry look more than the glass & daedric affair. its just the way i roll**

Part of the MQ is locked till your level 14 as far as I am aware.

How did the speed-walkthrough guys manage to do it as level 1?

They did it on level 4 and 7 I believe, but many things are turned off for speed run throughs.

I dont think they did. I thought they leveled up during play.

I'm thinking it will become way too easy.
I believe that even while staying at level one, all your base skills will increase....so you can have a 100 skill in your 1 handed weapon skills while enemies stay at level 1 with basic skills.

I might be wrong though....keep us informed on how it's working out for you.

Some creatures and people are static it would be difficult

Yeah i will do.

I tried this for Oblivion but there were a couple of occassions i was forced to level up (from memory). I hope Skyrim gives me the freedom to stay level 1.

Just to point out why I want to play as level 1, is because I find Skyrim THE most realistic and believable fantasy RPG out there at the moment, steeped in medieval history (i know many ppl will debate this), BUT i find the higher you level up, the armour and weapons become more out-of-this-(nirn)world and almost veering into J-RPG terriortory. I prefer the Iron and Steel industry look more than the glass & daedric affair. its just the way i roll.

I'm fairly certain you can't stay at level 1.

As I understand it you will gain levels, no matter if you select attributes and skills or not - so while you still appear as level 1 you really aren't.

Are you referring to Septimus Signus's portion of the quest? If so, it is possible to get the

U'd get pulverized by the frost troll on the way up to high hrothgar.

They played a different version of skyrim.

Or he can do what I do and just run away from it until it gives up. Works wonders with a summon spell.

do you mean i will still level up even if i DONT go into the SKILLS/LEVEL UP section?

i wont level up so i wont have any perks, but my skills will still go up wont they, i should still be able to face fights or even run away if neccessary?

It s irrelevant then

when you get good at smithing you can make legendary nordic steel junk, and its nearly as good as daedric
also you can use spells like stoneflesh, or simply use sprint to get out of the way

If you really wanted to stay level 1 for fun:
you cannot use any skills, because using skills cause a level up

so here is what you can use

using a mercenary (who will be the real hero and do the fighting)
use a dog
use a horse
cooking
mining
invisibility and muffle potions
potions you find or buy
equipment you find or buy
misc quests

no you wont.

thanks for the tip

when i say 'levelling up' i mean actually levelling up the character in the wotsits menu with the star constellations and all that, not the 'levelling up' skill by actually doing them ie. shooting my bow, sneak, pickpocketing..etc.

i want to stay on Level 1 for the whole game... is this viable? (of course my individual skills would level up individually as i use them so i will become a bit stronger, but i dont want to level up my character)

No, they didn't. gamesas made a screenshot of the endresults and it said "prisoner, level 1".

I don't see why not. There will be a few quests you can't do but other than that it might be interesting. Please try it and let us know. I like the idea of minimal leveling because I think the game is the most fun around level 15, level 1 might be extreme but it's worth a try.

It will be tough to do a mage because you really need a few perks for magicka reduction but I could see a mage stuck at level 4 or 5 with just a flame atronach and a flame spell.

You do level up blind. I leveled up twice while running from Helgen to Riverwood by killing wildlife and emptying out a mine. When I got to Riverwood, I did the Faendal/Sven love affair so I could use Faendal to level up my archery, and ended up a level 3. I didn't go into the menu until then because I missed the level up sounds while in battle in the mine. I had two perk points, two level points for stamina, etc. I showed level 3 when I went in, with the points available.

15 to 25 or so was the sweet spot for me.

I'm pretty sure that's because you went into the levelup menu. You can never check your skills if you try to do this trick.

Yes I agree, I am playing on Master difficulty and i am now Level 45 (no exploits) and the game has become a little too easy for me now. I definitely found Levels 15-20 to be the most exciting and challenging, the fun kinds ebbs away at Level 40ish when you begin owning everything and having many many perks.

For the permanent Level 1 playthough I plan on rolling a Spellsword character (but that may change)

A friend of mine completed the main questline and the College of Winterhold questline before he was level 11. He was also playing on the Xbox so he couldnt use the console to get around that.