Skyrim Guide - What Difficulty Should I Play On?

The Skyrim difficulty level can prove challenging to even the most experienced RPG veteran. You can encounter dragons, werewolves, bears, giant spiders, and other creatures virtually right out of the gate, and so this Skyrim difficulty guide will help you find the perfect difficulty level to be playing the game at.

We have everything you need to know about Skryim remastered to make it a fun and enjoyable experience. But if you're a newly-minted Dragonborn, you probably just want to know if you're playing the game right. That's where our Skyrim Beginner's Guide comes in.

Skyrim Difficulty Guide - Which Level is Best For You?

Skyrim is a huge open world that's meant to be explored – so do it. While there are tons of quests to complete and an epic story to play through, much of the game's fun comes from wandering about and discovering secrets organically. You can go sight-seeing, you can hunt wild game, you can slay dragons, or you can make it your personal mission to fill rivers with cheese wheels and sweet rolls. It's important to remember there's no wrong way to play Skyrim.

Enemy levels scale according to your own level, so you don't really have to worry about stumbling "out of bounds" and getting creamed by a wolf that's ten times your level. If you do find a particular challenge to be too tough, you can switch the Skyrim difficulty level at any time.

Which Difficulty Should I Play On?

If Skyrim remastered is your first foray into The Elder Scrolls, there's no shame in playing on novice. There's still plenty of challenge, but you'll find yourself less stressed out as you grasp the game's basics. Also, you can switch difficulty levels at any time in the in-game settings menu, so if a single battle is giving you a bad day, you can drop the challenge temporarily.

When you lower a difficulty setting, your attacks become stronger while the enemies' attacks become weaker. Here are Skyrim's difficulty levels, and what you can expect from them:

Novice -- Novice is the easiest setting, but you should still expect a challenge if you're a first-timer. Large, powerful enemies like dragons are still not to be taken lightly.

Apprentice -- If you're a first-timer but you're OK with being regularly challenged by your surroundings, the Apprentice setting is a good option.

Adept - Skyrim's "default" difficulty setting. Recommended on your second (and subsequent) playthroughs, and / or when you think you have a handle on how the game works.

Expert -- As the name of this setting implies, you should expect a workout on this level.

Master -- "Master" is reserved for, well, Skyrim masters. At this level, even mundane encounters with small foes can prove very dangerous.

Legendary -- If you know the ins and outs of everything Skyrim has to offer, you may as well give the Legendary difficulty level a try. Beware: A single misstep in a fight against the lowliest of wolves may bring about your end.

Now learn about Skyrim's races, their innate bonuses. Unsure of which race you should play as? We can help you choose! We've also got a how to get Zelda items in Skyrim Switch guide.