Quote Originally Posted by Tergon View Post
However, just for the fun of it, I decided to set myself a challenge. Orc, two-handed blunt specialty, heavy armour... and Master difficulty. To me it's the least intuitive and creative style of play, just waging headfirst into a battle and swinging until the enemy goes down. But I figured, I'd give it a crack.
Holy crap did I underestimate this.
At around level 12, I could get into a solo battle against a medium (think horse-sized) Frostbite Spider in the wilderness, and without the use of Berserker Rage I'd pretty much be doomed. Now I'm up to level 25, and I can hold my own pretty well, but still it's insane. Bandits with bows are legitimately terrifying, and any Frost Mage I go up against cripples me instead of being a minor irritation. A frost mage with backup means I'm basically screwed.

And please understand, this is all said with the highest possible level of approval. To have hard difficulty actually be hard is fantastic. Using terrain to shield myself, or to funnel enemies into facing me one at a time in group battles, having a Follower who legitimately saves my green butt a dozen times over... it's brilliant.
The Stealth-Melee style of play is still my favourite, I love the planning that's involved in entering any dungeon and sticking to the shadows, and the Distraction Shout is just hilarious fun. But I love Skyrim for doing what Oblivion couldn't quite manage, making the different styles of play truly unique!
I did a similar thing, wherein I played a Nord with a greatsword, no armor, no potions, no magic, no shouts, no looting, though in normal difficulty. Archers were a real threat until you reached them, and then you cleaved them in two. It was pretty entertaining, when the lethality expanded to both sides.