Looking for a new challeging Skyrim

[Dro]

Hey guys, I was thinking on starting a new playtrough in Skyrim after a long brake and I wanted to know if you guys managed to achieve a challeging setup beyond lvl 30.

Please, don't tell me about Requiem. It has way to many compatibility issues and I don't like a bunch of stuff it does.

 

My issue, is that for some reason, every time I reach lvl 30, the game becomes way to easy....I don't know why. It simply does, and then I lose interest. Frankly that's what stopped me from playing the last time.

 

So I was wondering if someone managed to achieve a challenging Skyrim from start to finish and if they could tell me which setup that is for my next play.

[Thulas]

Easy: Play on Legendary. If that still is too easy for you get into the CK or use Tes5edit to lower the stats for your equipment. Alternatively you can use the console to lower your own stats, especially health will have a major impact.

[LibertyPrime]

I like to raise the challenge using both mods and the console. For EVERY playthrough, I do things like limit my character's carry weight to 50~75 and never level up stamina. I also completely remove the health regen through the console. I sometimes also lower the stamina regen, but the game can get pretty brutal with low stamina (specially if you're roleplaying as a fragile character who can't defend herself and has to run away from everything). I use DUEL as well, combined with the fact that I almost never level up HP (unless I'm roleplaying a brute/strong independent womyn who don't need no man), all of my characters are fragile, and die within a few sword swings, or within one or two arrows. Then, of course, there are realism mods, i.e. RnD, Private Needs, etc., and also SexLab with stealing/rape plugins.

[Leeeeeroy]

legendary isn't that hard when you understandthe enemy dumb AI, it stills the same old dumb enemies, but  on steroids

i would recomend you to try revenge of the enemies, it makes enemies stronger and improves a lot the AI, i haven't used it  for a long time, so i don't know if it stills good, but it can give you a pretty good challenge

also, there's a mod that a can't remeber it's name, that allowed you to modify almost every parameter of the game, like regeneration rates, respawn rates and etc. It had an option to give an absurd increase to enemies armor rating based on the armor they're wearing, it made stuff really though

you can certainly get a good challenge by using these mods

[Dro]

legendary isn't that hard when you understandthe enemy dumb AI, it stills the same old dumb enemies, but  on steroids

i would recomend you to try revenge of the enemies, it makes enemies stronger and improves a lot the AI, i haven't used it  for a long time, so i don't know if it stills good, but it can give you a pretty good challenge

also, there's a mod that a can't remeber it's name, that allowed you to modify almost every parameter of the game, like regeneration rates, respawn rates and etc. It had an option to give an absurd increase to enemies armor rating based on the armor they're wearing, it made stuff really though

you can certainly get a good challenge by using these mods

 

Are you talking about BYOG(Balance your own game)? It seems very interesting but it's a very old mod. How well does it hold itself?

[afa]

I have been messing around with Enhanced High-Level Gameplay http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/14449/?

There's also High Level Enemies, but that one might get a little spongy at very high level http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/27866/?

SkyTweak is nice if you like some other fine tuning, you can technically achieve all of the game's preset difficulty level using it http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/33395/?

SkyrimMoreSpawns, this one can increase the number of enemy spawn, has a lot of potential, but occasionally could lead to some odd cases where copies of inactive enemies (sleeping dragur) will just be standing around or multiple copies of static NPCs etc. http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/16421/?

 

I have been trying out a no health level up run, need to compare it to a no smithing run and see the differences.

[Rayblue]

I use this to make enemies tougher while on Legendary:

http://erkeilmods.altervista.org/skyrim/r-s-o/

[kimberj]

Requiem - The Roleplalying Overhawl

[yatol]

Requiem - The Roleplalying Overhawl

 

requiem is only hard at low levels...

 

it would be nice if ennemies weren't unleveled

once you are stronger than them, you are stronger, bye bye the challenge

[Jaravaya]

I play legendary level,

with Skyre http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/9286/?

use deadly dragons http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/3829/?

and revenge of the enemy http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/40491/?

I only allow myself to spend perks in forge skill once every 25 levels,

Every 25 levels, I also raise the stats of the oponents with deadly dragons and deadly monsters (+100% health, +100% stamina, +25% physical damage, +25/50/100 etc armor) eventually I raise the magical damage stat but that one can make the game nearly impossible if you're not cautious.

At level 80+ I am still running away from some fights cause I can't win, even with 3 followers, it's a carnage, a bloodbath, the apocalypse that went horribly wrong... you get the point.

Only issue with that are the etheral dragons (the ones that goes invisible), they don't spawn much but when they do, you're in for a boring long, looonng, fight against a massive amount of HP that dosen't do much but being annoying.

 

Have fun, stock your health potions... you're gonna need them.

[pajiman]

Deadly Dragons + legendary ....that hard enough for me

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9GJIQcY4OY&list=UURgukz-ma5pG2j4PoE548Iw

 

[shadowlord445]

Ultimate Combat+ Combat Evolved+ OBIS+ Immersive Creatures+ Ultimate Dragons/Deadly Dragons= FUCK!!!!

 

On normal difficulty, too.

[Dro]

Requiem - The Roleplalying Overhawl

 

I thought I was clear in my first post that I did not like Requiem....

[Dro]

I use this to make enemies tougher while on Legendary:

http://erkeilmods.altervista.org/skyrim/r-s-o/

 

Thank you for this!!! This actually looks really cool! I think I'm gonna go with this for my next playtrough!

[Darkwisdom]

Skydie is a good addon mod that doesn't do much to the difficulty levels, but does make it more challenging and immersive. Potions don't do as much, you need to sleep to level, fast travel is gone etc. It isn't an overhaul, but a good addon to things like ERSO and UIltimate combat. 

 

The trick here is to 'make' your own overhaul. Big overhauls like Requiem like you said are massively incompatible. 

[pissedoffporn]

+1 for Revenge of the enemies

[yatol]

Deadly Dragons + legendary ....that hard enough for me

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9GJIQcY4OY&list=UURgukz-ma5pG2j4PoE548Iw

 

 

 

this isn't hard, just long and boring

 

you don't need legendary to get crush with that

 

- asis, npc can get the cheaty perks of the overhaul you pick

- deadly combat, with high end gear you are a tank, and some npc too, lower the armor for everyone

- dragon combat overhaul, those dumbass need some help

- revenge of the ennemies, some npc get some nice features

- trade and barter, gold is too easy to get (- 50 % sell price, + 50 % buying price, as if you were buying something else than potions, soul gems or ingredients anyway)

- pure weather, to get some surprises in the dark

 

you can do that too:

- leveling 2 or 3 time slower (leveling is too fast)

- no forge gear to temper, or enchant/forge potion

- only one follower allowed, 5 vs 2, they don't care about you, 2 vs 2, that's better, 2 vs 5, use your brain

 

there are other nice mods, but i try to avoid scripts (i know have some, but not much)

[Tivoko]

Didn't see it mentioned so forgive me if I missed it, but you could also use the console the raise your level as that doesn't give you any extra skill levels or perks and influences monster spawns, causing higher level mobs to spawn earlier.

 

I personally just use legendary + SkyTweak to customize the difficulty to suit my needs.

[Taskmaster]

SkyTweak, SkyAI+Duke Patrick Preset, OBIS(Organized Bandits in Skyrim), High Level Enemies, and Skyrim Immersive Creatures. In addition, a mod called Poise System. 

 

SkyTweak and SkyAI+Duke Patrick Preset are on a different site than the usual(nexus). 

 

https://sites.google.com/site/grimyskyrim/my-mods

 

SkyAI is in the misc section.

-

 

Secondly, this is the type of game where you can get reward for making your own self imposed limitations via roleplaying your character. My character Aurora/Australis doesn't use any ranged weaponry or attacks, needless to say, some battles are best not started. She's also afraid of werewolves and will split when they show up.

 

This kind of game, it's easily "broken" in character potency by the time you finish something like Embershard and Bleakfalls, to be honest.

 

The way I had my game set up at one point, was to where enemies armor scaled up a lot based on the type. I had to essentially switch to different weapon types to suit the problems at hand, combined with SkyRe's specific weapon perks. So for example against armored draugr I would use two handed maces and other blunt weapons and strike with heavy swings depleting my stamina but ignoring their armor. The ones that weren't wearing armor that moved faster, I could pull out a dagger and slice them up. 

[Guest Vendayn]

SkyTweak and SkyAI are both great. Really improve Skyrim imo.

[TheDriedFinger]

SkyTweak, SkyAI+Duke Patrick Preset, OBIS(Organized Bandits in Skyrim), High Level Enemies, and Skyrim Immersive Creatures. In addition, a mod called Poise System.

...

It's always heart-warming when people recommend one of my mods. An alternative to my Poise System is Combat Master, which takes a different approach to staggers/stuns and has other features as well. If you are interested in skill/level restrictions on equipment as in some RPGs, consider Restricted Skyrim or my own TDF Equipment Restriction (at the risk of seeming tacky for recommending my own mod).

[FauxFurry]

Three words: Guards Got Guns.

If you install it,don't be too shocked if your party gets wiped out in a minor skirmish with simple town guards but you should be more shocked if your party doesn't get wiped out in any large scale Civil War battle(since all soldiers get flintlock rifles and muskets,too),especially when facing down officers.

 

It's compatible with almost everything and doesn't change the way that any system in the game functions. Of course,if you stay on the straight and narrow and don't pick a side in the war,it might not make even the slightest bit of difference when it comes to challenge.

[joemonco]

 

 

requiem is only hard at low levels...

 

Said the person that never took a melee-only character through the soul cairn without Requiem+ installed or defeated alduin, but OP clearly said no Requiem because of the stupidity in that mod.

 

Morrowloot is about the only overhaul listed here worth installing, but it doesn't make the combat more difficult it just limits what you can craft via race and skill level.  But that's just my opinion, if you really want to play an Elder Scrolls Game that is difficult you should try Daggerfall.  Skyrim is too far gone to save it with a mod.

[yatol]

 

 

 

requiem is only hard at low levels...

 

Said the person that never took a melee-only character through the soul cairn without Requiem+ installed or defeated alduin, but OP clearly said no Requiem because of the stupidity in that mod.

 

my char was only fighting with her sword and shield...

 

but it's true i got bored before killing alduin

 

killing things wasn't hard, i had the daedric sword from the one that hate vampire, it was just long, because no more stamina (fleeing shout to regen some, back to mele, fleeing shout, back to mele...)

and getting killed was a thing of the paste in my dragonscale armor with some resist magic enchant (it took forever to kill me too)

 

i saw some of the invisible crap on a daedric quest, it's just another long and boring fight (can't see them, most of the time you hit nothing, can't get away from mele to regen, if you don't have enough potion you are dead, that's all)

[Guest]

 'go play another really old game' - yeah it's an opinion I suppose joe.. about as much use as a chocolate fireguard to the OP who expressly asked for help with Skyrim though.

 

You won't find a single overhaul that addresses the perfect storm of contributing issues you hit by level 30, not one that doesn't introduce it's own set of problems anyway. The ERSO modular setup is a very viable place to start. That fella is hellbent on removing the cheese, most of the mods he includes are entirely script free, so you can change them out for others you might prefer, like Revenge of the Enemies in place of Enemy AI for instance.

 

The combat mods, NPC AI,magic overhauls and stuff aren't really negotiable. But the vanilla perks will just render all that effort wasted. They're garbage in my view. People may not agree with me here, but you can't do better than Perkus Maximus. Yeah, it's an absolute mission to get it working right, and even then it's got some major kinks. But it positively will give your game an injection it sorely needs.

 

If your rig can handle it (mine can't) NPC spawners like  Obis, Skyrim Immersive Creatures can keep you on your toes too. 

 

There are a ton of ways to make this game much more fun and challenging, it just depends how much time you have to get it all working right.