Unbalanced in-game difficulty, mods or?

[Holt59]

So I just started a new character on Skyrim after having not played for a while (like 2 or 3 years... ), and I found my game very very hard (compared to what I remember)... so I was wondering if I did something wrong with my mods or my character?

 

Basically, I was doing the quest "Scoundrel's Folly", and I found the bandits (outlaw / highwayman / plunderer) in the grotto very hard to beat:

• I get three shots by a highwayman / plunderer, with any weapon (swords, axes, bows... ).
• I do almost no damage with my dagger / swords to them (I'd say about 5% of their life per hit), or with my bow, and my sneak shot with are ridiculous (almost like a normal shot... I tried with skill levels of 100 in sneak and bow, with the sneak multiplier in the sneak tree, and it was a bit better but still not very high).
• ...but if I conjure a flame atronach (my lowest magical skill... ), he kills them pretty quickly...

After the quest, I went back to Whiterun in the middle on the night, and got attacked by vampires... Like 2 hounds, 1 vampire thralls and two master vampires, and I can't do a thing! The guards got killed almost instantly, without doing any damages to the vampires, and I get 3 shots by the master.

 

I don't remember the game being that hard the last time I played (was a while ago), so I was wondering if I did something wrong with my mods or with my skills? I leveled mostly by doing thieve guild stuffs, so maybe I should have level my combat skills a bit more?

 

Information on my playthrough (what I think is relevant):

 

I am playing a thieve/mage assassin character, on Adept difficulty, and I am currently level 23 with the following stats/stuffs:

• 160 armor (lights) - bosmer torso + thieve guild armor;
• dagger (18 atk, no enchant), sword (28 atk no enchant);
• skills (I am using ACE):
  • destruction 37 (3 points: half magicka for novice/apprentice, + dual casting)
  • conjuration 16 (0 points)
  • one-handed 55 (2 points)
  • archery 32 (0 points)
  • light-armor 41 (3 points)
  • sneak 43 (2 points: x6 dagger)

I have the following mods impacting gameplay / difficulty:

• Bug fixes: USLEEP / Cutting Room Floor
• Athyra's Comprehensive Enhancements (ACE) - I already had this one on my latest playthrough.
• Ultimate Combat
• Dual Wield Parrying
• Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim
• Mysticism - The Lost Art
• Sneak Tools
• Realistic AI Detection (+ ELFX)

Edited August 5, 2017 by Holt59

[TeofaTsavo]

Perhaps you enhanced combat but left setting at Legendary?

[Holt59]

Perhaps you enhanced combat but left setting at Legendary?

 

You mean Skyrim's setting? I was playing in Adept difficulty as mentioned, but I have now switched to apprentice to check the difference.

[Holt59]

So I switched to novice difficulty to kill the vampires in Whiterun, and then switched back to Adept difficulty. I went on with the thieve guild quest, and in the ruin for the "Speaking with Silence" quest, I encountered a Draugr Death Overlord... I am level 25, and I had a very hard time beating him, but I with the help of Mercer Frey and my flame atronach I managed to kill him.

 

Then I went back to Whiterun... for another vampire attacks. Again, 2 dead hounds, 2 vampire thralls, 1 master vampire, I switch to novice difficulty:

• the whiterun guard gets one shot (one shot!) by the vampire master...
• I can kill the hound or the vampire master quite easily but...
• the vampire thralls are two-shoting me.... in Novice difficulty, that seems so wrong...

I know I am wearing light armor which is not made to tank, but Novice difficulty, two shots by random vampire thralls, that does not seem right.

 

I am open to any advice - Maybe I am simply under geared for my level...?

Edited August 5, 2017 by Holt59