Proving Honor Difficulty (bug?)

[KarthGalin]

I started a second character to go a different way with some big decisions in the game. I'm now playing a kind of a sword-and-board plus stealth mix character. He might be a bit too much of a generalist at the moment, but I can't believe the difficulty of the last fight in this quest is correct.

 

I'm playing on Adept. My character is level 14 with "superior" upgraded steel gear (everything), 3 perks in one handed, 4 in blocking, 3 in sneak, and one perk each in other stuff. ~160 hp ~160 stamina. I'm getting flattened.

 

What happens when I pick up the fragment is this: A Draugr Scourge (level 21), a Restless Draugr (level 6), and a plain-ole Draugr (level 1) spawn and start attacking. I have a few seconds to deal with these (not enough time; I can't get the scourge to 50% in the time I have) until the second string comes to play with a similar roster. Same thing happens, not enough time to stay alive and deal with any but the weaker Draugr... then the first string joins the party. This time we're talking about a Draugr Deathlord (level 30!!!11) and two others (restless x2 or restless + scourge; I'm having trouble keeping a head count). I checked levels in the console to make sure these aren't being scaled down and/or my sources are correct. Is this normal?! :wacko: Do I fail at Skyrim? Did I level too many noncombat skills before I got over some difficulty hump? The silver hand goons were also incredibly difficult, but not this bad.

 

The critter types I'm facing here bear a distinct resemblance to the ones I saw my first play through while doing this quest with a character that was something like level 30+ but maybe not on Adept difficulty at that point in the game. It almost makes me wonder if the game's somehow using the other char's level to decide what to throw at me in here. Minimum difficulty leads to 1 Deathlord, 1 scourge, 2 or 3 restless, and 3 regular draugr spawning, which is still enough to bend my char over (deathlord + scourge). Doesn't help that the deathlord comes out of hiding sooner at this setting.

 

No other parts of the game exhibit this difficulty. Every other dungeon has been tough in places but not insurmountable; I only have to reload when I do something stupid.

 

Thoughts? I used the kill command on all of them, then reloaded because it felt wrong.

[xlr8films]

Offhand, I'd say the cell is reading your character as higher than it is (we have no idea if equipment comes into play until the CS release) and is stocking itself with what it thinks you can handle. Or up a notch to garner some tension. I'm not gonna vote as I'm on the fence, but that's my two cents.

 

This is the Companion questline, yeah? Aren't you supposed to have someone with you on it? I can't remember.

[Lachdonin]

There is a degree of random chance involved in the generation of these, as far as i can tell. The first time i ran into a Deathlord was at level 7, and it steamrolled me. I think the Radiant Storytelling thing adjusts the spawn chances based on level and skills, but doesn't actually zero out anything, so you are probably just getting an incredably rare (and piss poor) spawn

[xlr8films]

They've almost certainly created this system to get away from the cell exploit that existed in Oblivion. If I wanted a powerful artifact inside a ruin, I'd go visit the interior at level 2, let it stock with leveled creatures, then I'd turn around and exit. Later, at level 10+, I'd revisit the location and wipe the place out one-handed because it would still be stocked with the enemies that spawned when I first went in. Made getting Umbra, for example, a cake walk. The Vamps you killed for Azura's Star were another location I'd "open" right in the beginning and then revisit later at a higher character level.

 

No more with Skyrim, though.

[KarthGalin]

Offhand, I'd say the cell is reading your character as higher than it is (we have no idea if equipment comes into play until the CS release) and is stocking itself with what it thinks you can handle. Or up a notch to garner some tension. I'm not gonna vote as I'm on the fence, but that's my two cents.This is the Companion questline, yeah? Aren't you supposed to have someone with you on it? I can't remember.

 

Yeah, Farkas is with me. He's almost useless in this situation, too. First time more than two draugr gang up on him, he's down. Glass jaw, I guess. :facepalm:

 

There is a degree of random chance involved in the generation of these, as far as i can tell. The first time i ran into a Deathlord was at level 7, and it steamrolled me. I think the Radiant Storytelling thing adjusts the spawn chances based on level and skills, but doesn't actually zero out anything, so you are probably just getting an incredably rare (and piss poor) spawn

 

That's something to think about. My previous play-through was as a squishy spellcaster type, so I didn't let my favorite skin enter into melee combat. Pretty much only had archers and other spellcasters to indicate the difficulty.

 

They've almost certainly created this system to get away from the cell exploit that existed in Oblivion. If I wanted a powerful artifact inside a ruin, I'd go visit the interior at level 2, let it stock with leveled creatures, then I'd turn around and exit. Later, at level 10+, I'd revisit the location and wipe the place out one-handed because it would still be stocked with the enemies that spawned when I first went in. Made getting Umbra, for example, a cake walk. The Vamps you killed for Azura's Star were another location I'd "open" right in the beginning and then revisit later at a higher character level. No more with Skyrim, though.

 

I have my doubts about this; I remember ducking into some dungeons and decided to revisit them later on my last play-through, and I always flattened anything in the dungeons I'd visited previously. Also, like I said, this particular Companion quest was a cakewalk. I'd never visited the dungeon before, but it almost seemed to have a capped or static level.

 

Maybe I'll try some cheap tactics and come back later. Better than cheating, I guess.

 

Edit: With much kiting, potion chugging, etc. I managed to (barely) win on difficulty 1.

Edited December 4, 2011 by Karth Galin

[Kayvaan7472]

http://i.imgur.com/oPJGn.jpg

[xlr8films]

Greatness! :laugh:

[Nyran]

I don't think your character is handle badly or anything, I remember also facing quiet the problem on my first playthrough. My first char is a jack-of-all-trades an mainly utilizes sneaking, which is utterly useless there. The point is, that you seem to have to use cheap tricks there with a incomplete-warrior. Cause even trough I got the same monsters spawning at my 2nd play through my two-handed, heavy armor atillery simply slashed trough everything, hardly taking any damage. I guess you are using light-armor, which is incredibly weaker than heavy, but makes the game more challenging :D So just stick to the table close to the shout-wall, fight as long as only one draugr is attacking and jump over it running for some time if another one comes from behind! (Sometimes running and long-range combat are nearly unavoidable)

[ragestian]

On master, I was in an even worse situation. A Lvl 14 archer in light armor against a group of four scourges and one deathlord it's totally unfair. I won't lie, it took me more than a half an hour to beat them. I'd say it's a buggy random spawn. Here is the proof: this guy fights at lvl 38 on the same difficulty against regular draugrs, at worst restless.

[justwannaddl]

Some dungeons were meant to be explored at later levels so I don't find that too surprising. I had a hell of a time finishing Labyrinthian when I was only level 12. I had to ambush everything and let my flame atronach do all of the heavy lifting. I can't count how many times I ran away from the Deathlord before he finally went down. I only beat Morokei after he bugged out from getting hit by dual cast fire bolts.