What is it exactly that the Difficulty option changes? : V

» Wed May 30, 2012 11:06 am

In Obliviom, the Difficulty slider would increase enemy damage and decrease player damage.
Does it do the same in Skyrim? I heard it rather changes the possible levels of enemy spawns.
Can anyone clarify exactly what it is that changing the difficulty accomplishes?

» Thu May 31, 2012 12:17 am

believe you are right about it increases enemy damage and decrease player damage.

» Wed May 30, 2012 9:49 pm

i would really love a mod that makes the difficulty slider just increase enemy damage and leave their health and my damage the same... i really hate it when i have to pound something for 5 minutes to kill it, on harder diffculties the combat in skyrim just becomes reaaaally slow..

» Thu May 31, 2012 12:33 am

i would really love a mod that makes the difficulty slider just increase enemy damage and leave their health and my damage the same... i really hate it when i have to pound something for 5 minutes to kill it, on harder diffculties the combat in skyrim just becomes reaaaally slow..

That's why I don't play on master difficult. Only in Expert.
I hate having 5 minutes do kill an enemy that could kill me in 5 seconds. That's not difficulty, it hinders and insult your abilities.

In Expert I kill dragons with... dunno.. 1 sneak arrow shot + 6 arrow shots and it's enough as they kill me with 1 fire breath.

I really think harder difficulties should give the NPCs more intelligence. You know.. They detect you easier but not magically, they have combat moves and enhancements, better gear and so on.

» Wed May 30, 2012 4:57 pm

What about items and stuff?

I have a maul with 3 secs to kill someone if i want his soul, do that time frame changes if i change the difficulty? (not on my PC to test it).

» Wed May 30, 2012 8:21 pm

The only thing changing the difficulty setting will change is the damage dealt/received ratio between NPC and player. That's it, nothing else beyond that.

» Thu May 31, 2012 12:27 am

What about items and stuff?

I have a maul with 3 secs to kill someone if i want his soul, do that time frame changes if i change the difficulty? (not on my PC to test it).

No, it won't change. Even the charges of your weapons or the percentage of your armor enchantments will stay the same in any difficulties. What matters for the difficulty setting is the HP and DAMAGE, both yours and of your enemies.

It works that way since oblivion(I think. Is that true?). And I can tell you Expert is the most balanced difficulty.

» Wed May 30, 2012 9:26 am

That's why I don't play on master difficult. Only in Expert.
I hate having 5 minutes do kill an enemy that could kill me in 5 seconds. That's not difficulty, it hinders and insult your abilities.

In Expert I kill dragons with... dunno.. 1 sneak arrow shot + 6 arrow shots and it's enough as they kill me with 1 fire breath.

I really think harder difficulties should give the NPCs more intelligence. You know.. They detect you easier but not magically, they have combat moves and enhancements, better gear and so on.

yeah my thoughts exactly, but its already too late for that in skyrim haha i hope when the ck comes out, mods that address this will start flowing xD

» Wed May 30, 2012 7:16 pm

In master difficulty the enemies have 4 times the damage and much greater health. Your combat abilities level faster in master difficulty because most combat skills increase per use or hit, since you can hit enemies more before they die, you get more skill increases per enemy.

It would be nice if we had sliders back again, then you could customize your options based on your needs.

» Wed May 30, 2012 7:19 pm

We won't have actual numbers and equations and algorithms until we get the CS.

» Wed May 30, 2012 11:57 pm

The only difficulty increase I've noticed has been with ancient dragons (and even that isn't so bad now that resistances are working again) Everything else still goes down in a shot or two on master difficulty, and my health bar rarely moves except with some mages. I am looking forward to mods, that's for sure.

» Wed May 30, 2012 10:41 pm

I agree and disagree with the sliders. The sliders were good for customizing the difficulty. But it was hard to set the right point.

I still disagree with the "dificulty" system. Easy doesn't mean "easier to kill" and Hard (Master) does not means harder to kill.

So Giants are harder than alduin itself, because I kill alduin with my swords and a giant pwns me with a single hit!

» Wed May 30, 2012 4:37 pm

Something else changes that you guys forgot to mention:

Bragging rights and your confidence level :3

» Wed May 30, 2012 10:44 am

I have a maul with 3 secs to kill someone if i want his soul, do that time frame changes if i change the difficulty? (not on my PC to test it).

Incidentally, there's really no reason to ever enchant your weapon with anything other than a 1 second soul trap. (unless you're using tons of slow-acting poisons)

» Wed May 30, 2012 9:11 am

Incidentally, there's really no reason to ever enchant your weapon with anything other than a 1 second soul trap. (unless you're using tons of slow-acting poisons)

Unless you're like me and like to alpha-strike with a bow enchanted with Soul Trap + Paralyze, then continue with dual-cast Thunderbolt.

» Wed May 30, 2012 10:11 am

Im playing on novice and just started doing the golden claw side quest when i fought the undead draugr (or w/e they're called) THEY REALLY KILL FAST and thats on novice with full iron armor and a shield/sword but they also die fast so when i switched to dw sword axe i noticed and kill speed increased
also i doesnt help that 3 attack at once sometimes

» Wed May 30, 2012 10:44 am

I play on Expert. Normal is way to easy, I could just run through dungeons killing everything on sight.
Expert on the other hand makes common enemies killable, and boss like enemies really hard. I really have to give everything I have to kill a boss. I had to leave and plan to come back for this one bandit chief cause hes so hard, and I had to run from more than one dragon.

Im sure when I get stronger, I'll be able to handle them though. But hard mobs should be hard.

» Thu May 31, 2012 12:58 am

I really think harder difficulties should give the NPCs more intelligence.

That's crazy talk! What do you think? Developers are wizards or something? Get real man!

» Wed May 30, 2012 8:38 am

That's crazy talk! What do you think? Developers are wizards or something? Get real man!

you know that by intelligence he means more combat tactics, behavioral patterns etc.. not actual intelligence hahah

» Thu May 31, 2012 12:41 am

Difficulty Player Damage Dealt Player Damage Taken
Novice x2 x0.5
Apprentice x1.5? x0.75
Adept x1 x1
Expert x0.75? x1.5
Master x0.5 x2

Copy/Paste from UESP Wiki

» Wed May 30, 2012 1:03 pm

Game isnt hard on master if you cap defenses.

» Wed May 30, 2012 10:29 pm

Master difficulty pretty much just makes up for the imbalance you get from being the only one in the world with access to smithing bonuses. It also makes magic users impossible to beat without stealth or defense enchants, but there are so many different stacking magic defenses that it is easy to reduce damage to around 0% (assuming you didn't dl the patch that removed resistances....)

I also don't use any non-unique skill modifying enchantments or skill modifying potions and master difficulty feels right for me, but that's only because I like to feel like the world I'm in is dangerous.