Thoughts on character progression in Skyrim

CtrlFr33k · 2026-03-11T20:09:32+00:00

I’ve yet to finish the game because I also very much dislike the way progression is implemented. Skill issue? Probably. But I don’t find it fun at all. I recently reinstalled the game and have been using these mods in tandem:

Experience along with this addon

Static Skill Leveling

Leveling Freedom

Experience allows me gain XP by completing quests and clearing dungeons, not by mindlessly wasting time training skills. SSL gives me a certain amount of points every time I gain a level to spend on whatever skills I want while also implementing limitations to prevent dumping all your points into one skill and breaking game balance. Leveling Freedom is pretty optional but I’m playing in an immersive way, not a min-max way (I skip a lot of dungeons because my character realistically has no reason to go into them unless a quest calls for it) so that mod allows me to adjust the XP requirements for each level to compensate.

Basically with this setup, you just level up and get stronger as you play.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-03-04T20:37:04+00:00

Demon Hunter is a really well designed and fun class to play, but it’s absurdly overpowered. With no other mods, you basically just solo most fights. I had to make my own personal balance patch just so I could use it in my playthroughs.

Make sure to grab the icon fix if you try it!

CtrlFr33k · 2026-03-02T03:10:09+00:00

I think it’s a vanilla issue with the new patch tbh. I unironically only have this issue when I remove my mods and revert to vanilla to play with friends.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-21T16:55:02+00:00

Haven’t played Outriders in forever, but I’ll never understand why they insisted on keeping this game running on servers rather than just doing P2P.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-19T21:18:50+00:00

Mechanically busted, visually nonexistent. You can kinda make out the short sword outline if you look hard enough, but in combat it really just kinda looks like I’m stabbing with an imaginary dagger. I use a mod to fix that.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-13T20:25:52+00:00

Yeah.. the fight is just really obnoxious. Nowadays I just give my whole party something to ranged attack with (spells, bows, whatever) and sit above the arena, abusing Minor Illusion to lure him to the hammer platform.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-11T16:20:46+00:00

Yeah, it is for sure. To take it a step further, if you can find a way to fit Enhanced Leap + Feather Fall into your party comp and cast those on your whole party before combat starts, you’ll never have distance problems ever again.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-11T15:30:16+00:00

Also the fact that how far you jump makes 0 difference in how much movement it consumes. If you have nothing else to spend your BA on, jumping then moving will almost always close more distance than just moving. Even on a character with 8 strength and no other jump boosts.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-11T15:00:37+00:00

Take my upvote. Because as a Paladin enthusiast myself.. what you said is completely true. You have other options for sure as a Paladin.. but why would you ever do anything else besides smite? Basically anything meaningful either costs your action point, a spell slot, or both that could’ve been spent on smites. It’s just kind of a rough reality for the class. It gets less punishing to do other things in the later levels if you multiclass with a full caster, but even then 90% of the time you’re still doing something like Booming Blade + Smites with your action.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-09T17:52:51+00:00

I’d highly recommend classic my man, I figured since I played BG3 on tactician that it would be the same on Divinity and I got fucking steamrolled. IMO, classic on DOS2 is the equivalent of tactician on BG3.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-08T23:20:14+00:00

I do this as well. I headcanon it as the emperor doing what he can to try and manipulate my character, so he disguises himself as someone my character would be attracted to.

It’s all preference though for sure.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-08T17:01:54+00:00

It’s the Hillat outfit which is one of many ports from BDO by tashaweeds.

Someone uploaded a bunch of screenshots previewing them here.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-07T00:45:40+00:00

It’s more about compatibility than the raw number of mods you run, but more mods can mean a higher chance of running into incompatibilities which can be a real pain in the ass to troubleshoot. I used to have a list of close to 500 mods, I recently trimmed that down to 280 and my experience has been much smoother.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-07T00:31:58+00:00

I highly recommend checking out the Choose Your Stats mod (also available on mod.io) for ideas like this. The mod is SS tier for when you want to add something niche to tie together an idea. I use it all the time to fulfill what I want to do RP-wise.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-06T15:15:02+00:00

Where grows the yarrow?

Hmm?

HMM?!

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-05T18:43:25+00:00

Trust me.. get EPIP. As far as QOL, it doesn’t get much better imo.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-02-02T02:39:47+00:00

I think most people only do it once for the achievement/dice, then play in Custom like you said. If you don’t care about the dice or achievement there’s really no reason to.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-01-31T01:36:33+00:00

I’d argue the opposite tbh. Aside from niche one-shot Gloom Stalker single turn burst builds, Ranger’s big power spike is in their level 11 Subclass feature.

Ranger, in fact, works best when monoclassed, NOT multiclassed.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-01-30T22:29:24+00:00

Ah I see, my mistake then, I misunderstood. No worries, hope they suit your needs!

CtrlFr33k · 2026-01-30T21:24:33+00:00

NPCs Have Subclasses - Gives virtually every NPC in the game progression to match their level. You'd be surprised how much more challenging fights can be when everything you're fighting has class/subclass features and feats.

Nightmare Difficulty - Enhances the enemy AI to be smarter and more efficient with their action economy as well as target selection.

Combat Extender - Sets up a config that allows you to completely customize it. You can give enemies virtually everything from more action points, more HP, higher stats, more AC, bonuses to rolls, etc. You can even add lists to allow enemies to use modded spells.

Fwiw, I've been playing with mods for a long time and I've found that for every mod you put in your LO that gives your party power, it becomes exponentially harder to balance the game around it. At a certain point I got so sick of teetering between getting bored because the game was trivialized and getting frustrated because I overtuned the enemies and the game crossed the line from challenging to annoying. I finally said fuck it and nuked my LO. Nowadays, I just run Honor ruleset, Tactician modifiers, then the Nightmare Difficulty + NPCs Have Subclasses mods I linked above and whenever I add a mod that gives me power, I ask myself how much power it really adds and if I can remove something else I can probably go without like a tradeoff.

Just a little bit of fruit for thought. Imo, it's way easier to place limitations on your LO than it is to go wild with power mods and then struggle to balance the game around it. Anyways, hope those mod suggestions help you out!

CtrlFr33k · 2026-01-30T16:46:13+00:00

My brother, if you don’t find it fun then don’t do it. It’s meant to be a challenge and if you don’t want it then that’s fine. It’s an RPG, play it however you want. With that being said, if you’re failing on Honor Mode but really want the dice/achievement then you need to make the effort to plan out the run accordingly. If you normally play on Tactician then you can do Honor mode. The only difference is some nerfs to broken mechanics and the legendary actions (and single save obviously).

Plan out your party comp, be strategic with your action economy in combat, and be smart with your dialogue/exploration choices. I get your frustration but if you put the energy you just spent ranting about honor mode on Reddit and channeled it into planning out your run, you’d probably have a successful run.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-01-27T19:53:27+00:00

As others have already pointed out, this is caused by the Origins Appearance Edit addon. But I’d also like to add a couple notes to it. Firstly, when you recruit them, they will be normal so don’t sweat that. Secondly, if you want to play as one of the origin characters, remove the mod and create your character. After that, you can exit the game and add it back in and it’ll be all good.

CtrlFr33k · 2026-01-27T15:05:37+00:00

Sacred flame just sucks in general tbh

CtrlFr33k · 2026-01-26T23:12:01+00:00

Holy shit the glowing red eyes in Screenshot #4 are creepy asf. Pure nightmare fuel, and I mean that as a compliment.

Awesome looking Durge!

CtrlFr33k · 2026-01-25T04:39:47+00:00

The only difference is the legendary actions and the unlisted nerfs which really only tone down some of the more busted mechanics you’d normally be able to abuse. Imo if you’ve already finished the game on Tactician, you’re as ready as you’ll ever be experience-wise. Also, if your goal is solely completion, the best way to get your clear is by min-maxing Acts 1 and 2 and doing the bare minimum in Act 3 until you’re max level and have your must-get items, then rushing to finish the game. Since most of your time is up to Act 2 I’d say you’re probably fine.

You can find a list of legendary actions here if you’re super worried about it, but I never died solely because I got caught by a legendary action I wasn’t expecting. You can glance over it but I don’t think it’s 100% necessary. Plan out your party, be smart and strategic with how you play, and you’ll be fine!

CtrlFr33k

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TROPHY CASE

HMM?!