Today, I've begun a proper mage playthrough. I've had trouble with mages [http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1341625-help-casting-is-too-difficult-to-level/page__fromsearch__1] before, but this character Is basically clearing various dungeons, moreso than my other characters (Warriors who just level naturally and my rogues who can still level up and earn money in cities).
So, it's been moderately successful thus far. That was just some backstory.
I'm still fairly squishy mind you, but that's par for the course for mages.
I had my eyes on the Dawnbreaker [http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim
awnbreaker] as my chosen "mage" weapon (Though I'm not sure recharging adds to enchanting skill?) because an artifact is better than anything I could find or craft, and will probably hold me for a long time.
So I began The Break of Dawn [http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Break_of_Dawn] right at the requisite level of 12. Damn first part made me go through hell and back in order to get the beacon (Had to go through a dwarven ruin where it drops you - the falling rocks instakilled me several times, even a mere touch).
But again, that's just some backstory.
Finally doing the quest proper, and I come across this bastard [http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Malkoran]. I'm level 12 on
novice, mind you.
First go, he one-shots me with a ranged snow spell. I reload the autosave at the door, so I kill a couple of the shades again and save in front of the boss plus his backup.
I die about five more times, each surviving more and more. During though few times I find that I happened to have some resist frost potions, dropped from a few Ice Wraiths I killed in my travels. That helped me survive his usual one-shot spell (though I learned to try to not get hit from it to begin with, as this fight pretty much kills all my health potions).
Anyway. Funny part is, I finally get him after an Impact perk spell staggers him, and I -rush- in and slap him with Flames+Melee, not even bothering with the four shades that support him yet. For some reason he didn't employ his one-shot spell in melee range so I survive, with a lot of healing still.
Thankfully his little popup shade when he dies wasn't as difficult.
Now, that's a lot of text for the point I'm getting at:
THANK YOU, Skyrim.
THANK YOU for giving me something that actually felt like a freaking boss.
I admit I sometimes go into autopilot when playing Skyrim (Powerlevel this, do this quest, get that artifact, beat this questline for that piece of armor, etc) but this really forced me to think, and it brought back the feelings of accomplishment. The kind in other games where a boss kills you a few times while you figure out how he works - the perfect amount of challenge. I found myself not even MINDING the deaths because I would just think, "Okay, so let's try this..." rather than "GOD, AGAIN?!"
So,
thank you.
To keep this thread alive (hopefully?), you may post your own memorable experiences regarding difficult fights or whatnot.
