kinda defeats the purpose of turning the difficulty up though

There is no magic or secret about playing the game on master level...the enemies just have higher damage output and bigger health pools..thats it.So you just have to do enough damage and avoid taking too many hits,simple is that.

So essentially, just making every encounter with a bandit feel like an epic boss. No thanks.

I always go for the middle difficulty on TES/FO, simply because I like to do 1:1 damage and take 1:1 damage. I don't like the idea that they can hit me for 200% and I can only hit for 50%. (Or whatever the numbers end up being)

Lowly bandit, should be a 1-2 hit kill for the Dovahkiin (whether your character knows it or not, they ARE the dovahkiin).

Yes it can be a pain sometimes becouse one hit could be the last for you
So its probably the best to start the game on medium(adept) settings untill you know the mechanics and how the combat works.

From my experience the easist way to play on master the first time around is to use a big two hander and play barbarian style. By utilising the mutli-hit perk for two handers, you can simply swing left or right and hit multiple targets in one strike. Thanks to the size of the weapons you can keep enemies with bigger health pools on the defensive longer, if you sweep left and right continuously. Additionally the enchanced damage of a larger weapon gives you a little more help taking down the large health pool. Combining this style with heavy armor and leaning on a single crafting skill (such as only alchemy), you can quickly become comfortable with your character and the challenge.

Yes that tactic worked for me too.Get a big boy and then go after them..hit them as hard as you can..actually the Volendrung hammer is very good weapon untill you can craft better ones.It has the damage of a hammer but is fast as a two handed sword.And on top it gives you back the stamina.So you can continue to use heavy attacks without losing stamina.

Yeah, I find it easier just to leave the playing field level, and add difficulty mods. That way I get much much tougher fights, but due to their improved AI, not a bigger number to knock down. Oh, and I still regularly die on 1:1 damage.

i move the difficulty slider all over the place depending on how i feel. i have no qualms about doing so either.

i do not find master difficulty to be all that big of a deal, for a lot of builds it just a matter of mashing the button moar.

Mostly the difficulty slider is just there to help me balance the game if/when my toon gets OP/UP in a particular area for a level or two.

Did that on Morrowind. Pain in my @$$, let me tell ya. I RP and made it all the way to red mountain and finding out that Umbra had comsumed my soul and turned me evil. I then proceed to kill Dagoth Ur and use the Heart for my own evil purposes. Lord Nemocyr was born...

Well I tried to play this way myself. Even harder - with Deadly traps, Deadly dragons, Skyrim monster mods, no crafting and no companions. Was fun since you have to be cautious and look for traps in dungeons, and heavily rely on potions. Got to 14 level as far as I remember on my stealth assasin. Was killed in wilderness by mere bear. Wasnt fast enough to run from him lol

My character isn't very powerful and only level 25 but I've always preferred adept difficulty. Any higher and it starts to feel stupid when a human can take 15 arrows to the head and neck but still not die.

I guess it depends on how powerful your character is, but it seems a bit silly to just sit there and trade blows with a single enemy for what feels like minutes. Two or three well-placed arrows/strikes seems a bit more feasible.

Master Difficulty is all about specialization. You have to pick a build and optimize for it. Don't expect to Toe-to-toe with a group of enemies unless you spec'd out a lot of block and health. Don't expect to kneeshot kill all enemies in one arrow unless you throw everything you have into bow, and don't expect to survive very long if you don't at least dabble in smithing. About the only place where master doesn't effect the difficulty, is stealth, since the AI is stupid regardless of Difficulty. You'll probably still need to optimize sneak attacks to backstab though.

nice motto, Criminal_Scum.

no. any death = go to soverngarde = delete char
assuming u r a nord

Master difficulty is acually really easy, it's all i've ever played on with a few exceptions. The AI is pretty brain dead in most situations, all you need is a ranged weapon and to be aware of the terrain around you. Ranged enemies are a bit more difficult as they are not affected nearly as much by Dovahkiin's maneuvering and footwork, but once you get the idea down they too become easy prey.

once you hit level 40 master difficulty will start to become too easy as well

I play on Adept but i am constantly changing my playstyle once I master the current skills I am using. This keeps the game at a higher level of play while I am at a lower one. So I suppose I am superseding the difficulty scaling in a way.

I'll admit: I've only played on the default difficulty.

don't really have any urge to play on the harder difficulties, as it's felt perfect so far.

except for the fact that it takes an extremely long time to hit level 40 on Master difficulty, as it already takes a considerable amount of time to hit level 40 on the default settings (20-30 hours without utilizing exploits).

Ha! I tried to go play master hardcoe, but was killed when trying to help the guards take care of the dragon at th watchtower. I svck!

Oh for Talos sake .. just do the Legedary Daedric Bow of 100,000,000 damage. And your good to go.

And if you want to play the hardest meanest mode. Play Master + Shirt Tunic + Cloth shoes + Hard Core + Fists + Dead is Dead + Uninstall Skyrim .. then Install it again and start a new character.

On master you really need a follower, can't say I've ever been able to clear a dungeon without one (Mage with impact perk being the exception).

But I play exclusively on master, any lower and the game doesn't feel challenging enough.

Sounds dull, your not going to last long, practically everything is going to one or two shot you.

You can replicate the experience you have in Master Difficulty by controlling your weapon damage, armor, magic resistance, etc. If you play on Master with max armor (567+), 200 damage sword, and 80% magic resistance, it's pretty much same thing as playing with 400 armor, 100 damage sword and 60% magic resistance on adept.