Level 13 and most Bandits and Draugr die in one hit (Issue: balance di

[Dubnoman]

I'm a level 13 Nord warrior. The difficulty is on Expert but I have a mod that keeps damage output the same as Adept on Expert, Master, and Legendary. I'm using the Economics of Skyrim mod which allows court wizards to enchant items for you. I have a ring with fortify one-handed and some gauntlets with fortify one-handed. 32% more damage with both. I also am using the Classic Classes mod. I choose the Warrior birth sign, which gave me +20% in melee damage. I have 3 or 4 perks in Armsman from the one-handed skill tree (I think only 3). With a skyforge steel mace (from a mod), the damage output is 73 per hit. I took off the fortify one-handed ring and the damage output was 58. Even then, I took on a few bandits and killed them with a single hit.

 

So I ended up overpowering my character. I one-hit bandits and draugr and it is boring. Then the game becomes challenging when I run into thalmor. With the fortify one-handed ring unequipped (but the fortify one-handed gauntlets equipped), I took on one of those old orcs and he nearly killed me (the guys looking for a "good death"). I took on three wandering thalmor and they came close to killing me. I also get challenge from some types of bears and I'd assume from trolls and saber cats, too (I use the Deadly Monster mods, which make monsters and wild beasts more deadly and makes them have higher HP). Also, the old orc and thalmor were more challenging because I'm using that enhanced AI mod that is getting a lot of endorsements.

 

But I'm one-hitting most bandtis and draugr and it is boring. What should I do to balance the game's difficulty?

 

Are there any mods that will make Bandits and Foresworn level with my character? The situation would be better if Bandits took at least three or four hits to kill instead of just one. Are their any mods that will improve the HP of draugr and falmers?

 

Other than hoping to find a mod that will give Bandits and foresworn more HP/make them require more hits to kill, I think I outta take my fortify one-handed items and sell them and do without them until later levels; if I think I need them then. I might want to get rid of the Skyforge Steel Mace, too, and just get a regular steel mace.

 

I want to balance the difficulty. Dragons are still challenging enough, certain enemies are still challenging enough. The enhanced AI mod makes enemies harder and on Expert enemies do more damage. The deadly monsters mod gives monsters and wild beasts significantly more HP. I just gotta find a way to make the game's difficulty be just right.

Edited July 3, 2013 by Dubnoman

[JimCass98]

Here are some things you may consider doing. On my Khajiit Archer who also dual wields, I am currently level 52 and if I don't have AT LEASt 2 followers with me and I get into a bandit camp, I'm going to be reloading A LOT of saves. Same with dragons. I cannot even dare fight a dragon my level without some of my trusty followers. I'm on Expert, with the armor cap(however no enchantments yet) and I can still get my ass handed to me. Here's a few mods you may want to try: Enhanced High Level Gameplay This improves high level gameplay, even though I consider level 13 to be a low level. You should also try Duel-Combat Realism for a better combat experience(it is fully compatible with Enhanced Enemy AI which you said you have running0. You may want to install SkyTweak, which allows you to tweak damage, health,poison doses, damage taken/given, etc. It allows you to tweak whatever you want whenever you want. For Dragons, you can try Deadly Dragons( a must have IMO), Dragon Combat OVerhaul, Enhanced Mighty Dragons, and for variety you should get Bellyaches new dragon species and Dovahkriid. The newest "Civil War Overhaul" overhauls the Civil War and one of it's features is to make Imperial/Cloak AI less stupid and harder to kill. Considering you can one shot Draugrs, you may want to pick up "Immersive Creatures" which adds over 2000 new creatures to the world of Skyrim, including new types of Draugr. Last but not least, try "The Way of the Dovahkiin-Ultimate Deadly Encounters A.K.A The Sands of Time" which allows for you to be interrupted during fast travel, sleeping, waiting and so on. It also adds tons of bosses and more random encounters that occur, well randomly LOL. Anyway, hope this helps and one last thing is that if at level 13, you have 2 pieces of gear with grand level 1h enchantments, then don't expect to NOT be overpowered. I suggest you enchant your gear with strong enchantments end game, otherwise the game will get boring real fast. Like I said, on Expert with the mods above and a few others I can die in a bandit camp. Now I rely on strategy rather than just running in heads on and killing everything in my path. Good luck, and I hope find a mod list that works for you.

Edited July 3, 2013 by JimCass98

[Lord Garon]

 

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Other than hoping to find a mod that will give Bandits and foresworn more HP/make them require more hits to kill, I think I outta take my fortify one-handed items and sell them and do without them until later levels; if I think I need them then. I might want to get rid of the Skyforge Steel Mace, too, and just get a regular steel mace.

 

I want to balance the difficulty. Dragons are still challenging enough, certain enemies are still challenging enough. The enhanced AI mod makes enemies harder and on Expert enemies do more damage. The deadly monsters mod gives monsters and wild beasts significantly more HP. I just gotta find a way to make the game's difficulty be just right.

 

Well, most bad guys DO level with you. But ruins and caves are locked the first time you enter them, so if you go back later they will seem easy.

 

Go up to Master or Legendary. And if you want more challenge, take out those mods; they're designed to make your character MORE powerful.

 

There are many game breaking things which you can figure out by playing long enough. That's why a lot of us RP, self nerf, or get mods which make the bad guys harder. Personally, I'm a minimalist; I role play and self nerf. My last few characters were all "pure" mages; no armor, only magic school perks, only found daggers (no weapon enchantments) and staves (I usually give those to my follower). Pretty hard game on Master level. Now I'm trying one on Legendary and, frankly, not having much luck. I've played hardcore for months now; if a character dies, I start a new game (well, reload outside of Helgen Keep). Keeps you motivated. I think Legendary, with my mages, will need a whole new play style. At least, I hope so. Once I wring out vanilla for all its worth, I'll start with the mods. Actually, I do have the enhanced enemy AI mod, but all my other mods are just for immersion right now.

[Dubnoman]

First, I have a question. I am new to the Dragonborn DLC. I just went to high hrothgar for the first time, and I came down to Ivarstead, and two Dragonborn cultists attacked and killed me. That is all a part of the Dragonborn DLC, right?

 

Edit: I don't know how the dragonborn cultists killed me so easily. I quit the game at that point, posted here, and then picked up the game again and took care of them just fine. But when I first ran into them, my health got drained fast. I did fight an ice wraith right before. Maybe I only had half health.

 

About the thread...I'll have to figure out what I'll do to balance gameplay. I don't want to make the game too hard. Taking out Classic Classes will probably screw up things. So I'll keep it. I think what I oughta do is sell the fortify 1H items and then put my skyforge steel mace aside or sell it and get a regular steel mace. Later on, I can get more fortify 1H items and use a skyforge steel mace again.

 

Alternatively, I could uninstall the economics of Skyrim mod. While there are some cool things about it, I could do without them. The thing I liked the most about it was the pay wizards for enchantments thing, but now I'm finding that will just OP my character. The mod page has instructions for a safe uninstall.

 

I will check out some of the mods recommended in the second post. I just don't want all of them. I don't want the game to be so hard that I die a lot. I want some challenge, but I don't want frustration. What dragon mod should I get for added challenge without making dragon encounters frustrating because I die so much with them?

 

When should I expect Bandits to get harder? In the 20s (for levels)? And then someone said they are low level for the first time you go to ruins and dungeons.

Edited July 3, 2013 by Dubnoman

[JimCass98]

Okay. Yes, the Dragonborn Cultists are part of the Dragonborn DLC. They're supposed to attack you, but they aren't really that hard(at least for me). Yous aid you were having trouble with Thalmor and now the Cultists. It may be that although your character is a heavy hitter, he cannot take magic damage. Magic damage hits hardest from enemies at low levels. You typically want to be careful at low levels around magic users and 2handed boss bandits. Those are the people who can oneshot you. As for the mods I listed above, if you decide to overpower yourself, those mods will help even it out. Plus, you can always tweak them to your liking. You should also DEFINETLY keep the Economics of Skyrim mod. I actually have used the enchanting but not too much, and it didn't make me overpowered(and like I said, the character was a dual wield archer, and dual wielding as well as sneak archery are EXTREMELY OP, and yet I still had difficulty). As for Dragons mods, the number 1 mod you should install is "deadly dragons"(you may also want to get the addons known as Deadly Dragons Armory and Deadly Dragons Spells). With Deadly Dragons, you can tweak dragons to your liking. It makes them more difficult, but you can tweak their damage output, health, armor rating,etc. and this cool new feature known as assault. By the way, you have to have SKSE as well as SkyUI with the Mod Configuration Menu installed in order to use that. So Deadly Dragons is the Dragon mod that comes first. Then, if whether you want Dragon Combat OVerhaul or Enhanced Mighty Dragons is up to you. Dragon Combat Overhaul makes dragons more challenging, and removes the feature where Dragons land when they are at 40% health(which is great, it makes the battles more interesting). Enhanced Mighty Dragons adds a variety of new Dragons ranging from very easy(who don't even give out souls) to very difficult. The rest of the Dragon Mods I listed don't have to do with difficulty, but rather with variety. I suggest installing Duel Combat Realism and Enhanced High Level Gameplay for regular combat, and all the dragons mods I listed above, because Deadly Dragons caters to you(i.e you can tweak whatever you want about it), and the rest of the Dragon mods except DCO rather focus on variety than difficulty.

[Dubnoman]

I decided that I can get fortify 1H items later on in the game (using Economics of Skyrim). I ended up selling both of those fortify 1H items. I was thinking about selling my skyforge steel mace. With the classic classes warrior birth sign perk and 3 perks in armsman, I have +80% damage for melee weapons. A steel mace is currently 35 and a skyforge steel mace is currently 45. I think I'll just go around with the skyforge steel mace. I think SkyTweak is a mod I should definitely check out. I will also check out Deadly Dragons, and maybe DCO. Might get HLG mod. I dunno how high I'll raise my level. I restarted the games a few times before picking up the game again and I never completed any questlines before. Now, I'm determined to play through the MQ plus the Imperials questline and the companions questline.

 

With SkyTweak, I can raise the health of bandits and draugr. Will it let me raise the health of low level bandits and draugr? Is it that sophisticated? Is it a reliable mod? Not gonna cause any bugginess?

 

Btw, I have SkyUI and SKSE.

 

Also, I think that those dragonborn cultists beat me so badly because I had about half health after fighting an ice wraith and I remember both were standing side by side and attacking me with fire magic, so maybe I was taking twice the damage.

[kleinstaff]

stop using the alchemy exploit and use some more balanced mods

or you burn yourself out before you can spell supercalifragi....never mind

 

anothr thing you can try is like the above and try to create your character with a background story give him a reason why and how

 

lastly keep away from the console commands the temptation is big i know but it will only ruin your game

 

 

[Dubnoman]

What alchemy exploit? I haven't been making many potions. I have no perks in alchemy. Also, I don't use console command cheats.

[JimCass98]

I also recommend "Duel-Combat Realism". It is very,very helpful. Another substitute for "Enhanced High Level Gameplay" is Higher Level Enemies. You may want to check that out also. As for Skytweak, it is not buggy AT ALL,from what I know. As for rasing the health of bandits/draugr, SkyTweak has an option somewhere in one of it's subcategories(through MCM) that allows you to give NPC's a health boost(followers, enemies, the whole shabang). However, it does A LOT more than that. But when you download Deadly Dragons, it comes with an optional file called "Deadly Monsters", in which you can basically do the same thing as you would with dragons:Tweak their damage/health/resistances etc.

[kleinstaff]

What alchemy exploit? I haven't been making many potions. I have no perks in alchemy. Also, I don't use console command cheats.

zre you using godmods or something because on my playthrus even on adept i never get those results you are describe

 

usually i start a new playthru on adept till the character is about lvl 25 then i usually change to expert

but again the difficulty levels in the vanilla game are in my opinion pne pf the worst game mechincs in the game

 

at master level my lvl 40 characters get instant fried by a novice stormmage using a simple sparks spell while my own chainlightning hardly do any damage

pretty annoying and immersion breaking

there are plenty of good mods ouy there that let you tweak the difficulty without breaking the game

Edited July 4, 2013 by kleinstaff