What is there to say about Skyrim that hasn’t already been said by journalists, video essayists, Morrowind purists, and die-hard fans already? Despite its fairly substantial deviations from the previous games’ formula, The Elder Scrolls 5 is the most popular single player installment in the franchise to date.
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This might be more par for the course than casual fans may realize, however. Morrowind, Bethesda’s financial salvation, is such a different game compared to Daggerfall it’s a wonder they’re in the same series at all. One constant from Arena to Morrowind that Oblivion, and to a greater extent, Skyrim skipped out on was the lack of hand-holding throughout these games. For those still trying to make Skyrim entertaining a whopping 14 years after launch, here are some tips to stifle the game’s easiness and bring out a real, immersive challenge in line with the earlier titles.
8
Use Survival Mode (Or Similar Mods)
A Fairly Immersive Additional Layer Of Difficulty
For those playing Skyrim Anniversary Edition, or those who bit the bullet and spent some money on the Creation Club, Survival Mode is a paid mod for Skyrim, with the benefits of syncing up perfectly alongside other official creations and not getting in the way of achievements. Frostfall and iNeed, alongside Camping, are all examples of similar, unpaid alternatives to this creation.
This creation is an excellent, lightweight compilation of smaller features that enhance Skyrim‘s difficulty and immersion. The Survival Mode creation reduces carry weight, adds a hunger mechanic, as well as the need to sleep regularly, and remain warm in the land’s most frigid regions.
7
Disable Quest Markers
An Easy Way To Make Skyrim Harder
This is an easy way to add some difficulty to the game, though it is a little finicky. Given Skyrim‘s radiant quest system – where many quests are given randomized locations, players can’t simply turn off quest markers for good – NPCs aren’t going to give them directions like in the older titles.
After seeing where a quest is located, however, players can switch off the quest in the log to more organically try to puzzle their way around, checking the map to ensure they’re on the right course like one would in real life.
6
Avoid Stealth
Stealth Is, Frankly, Overpowered
Ah, the infamous stealth archer build. The great black hole of Skyrim, so potent and dense it sucks even ebony-clad warriors into its depths. It’s no surprise that stealth is one of the most useful spells in Skyrim – having at most two fighters (the player and one companion) against a menagerie of bandits or undead means that any advantage is worthwhile.
Assuming players are keeping to a decent difficulty level – not relying on stealth means playing smarter than ever. Enemies will be attack from all sides, and if players can’t either tank those attacks or slink away, they’ll be reloading a new save before too long.
5
Use Combat Enhancement Mods
Years Of Modding Give Weight And Substance To Combat
Combat was one of the first areas tackled by modders in Skyrim, and one of those fundamental, mechanical areas not really touched by Creation Club. Renowned mod creator Enai Siaion has a fantastic mod called Smilodon that revamps how damage and enemy AI functions on almost every level. Another of their mods, Wildcat, is a more streamlined and subtle enhancement of combat.
There are also plenty of mods to add more realistic damage into the game (i.e. a hit to the head with a mace will now take an appropriately sized truckload out of player HP), or for better enemy AI in general, like wolves darting around players more, or draugr attacking with less inhibition.
4
Use Magic Exclusively
Magic Is Not Always A Boon
In most fantasy worlds, magic is a force to be reckoned with, capable of unleashing whirlwinds of arcane destruction upon friends and foes alike.
In Skyrim, magic thematically follows suit, but some of the earlier spells can become a bit underwhelming at higher difficulties, and higher level spells often have long casting times. Relying exclusively on magic, balancing the different schools, and not stooping to the barbarism of beating someone over the head with a mace (harder than it sounds) can add a new level of difficulty to the game.
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3
Opt In For Unconventional Builds
There Are Plenty Of Non-Combat Skills To Focus On
There are plenty of builds in Skyrim that expand beyond the typical archetypes of warrior, mage, and thief. None of them are particularly effective, mind, but that can be the point for an entire playthrough.
A pugilist build is built around a single enchantment and skill node, a merchant build leaves players at the mercy of Skyrim’s many threats, and a build focusing on one or more of the crafting skills won’t leave the players with many points for combat skills.
2
Don’t Rely On Exploits
Exploits Make The Game Much Easier
Any seasoned Skyrim player has uncovered some kind of easy way to boost a skill or craft some absurd items. The infinite feedback loop between enchanting and alchemy can create some equipment that trivialize the game, and the secret chests across the map can do the same.
Relying on no glitches or mods to quickly boost skills, such as soul trap on corpses to boost necromancy or courage on NPCs to boost illusion, makes for a more immersive and natural progression curve.
1
Disable The HUD
Health Bars Are Ruinous To Immersion And Difficulty
Relying exclusively on muscle memory to know how much stamina and magicka you have for attacks, not knowing how close you are to death until right before, not knowing what cardinal direction you’re facing – these are all setbacks that come when the HUD is disabled.
This tip for increasing Skyrim difficulty should really only be done by veterans who know how the game works on a mechanical level, but it can be a seriously needed injection of difficulty for those who have tried everything else on this list and are still craving a challenge (side note – if this is you, maybe it’s time to play Morrowind).
- Released
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October 28, 2016
- Publisher(s)
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Bethesda Softworks
- Developer(s)
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Bethesda Game Studios