How can you avoid dungeons that are too high level for you?

[258789553873]

I just went into Valthume at level 18. I assumed that I could handle it, but I was wrong. I wasn't expecting to run into deathlords in there, or for the dragon priest to be so freaking strong. I used up all my health potions fighting the deathlords, so I had none by the time I got to the dragonpriest, and he's even stronger than the deathlords! I really see no way I can defeat him.

I've had this happen once before, when Farkas sent me to a high-level Falmer cave when I was still low level. I abandoned that playthrough.

The problem is, how can you tell if you're heading into a dungeon you're not ready for? You can enter most places at any level without issue. Of course, you can't enter a dwemer ruin or a falmer den at low level, but at least that's consistent! How was I supposed to know that I was walking into a dungeon meant for characters who level was at least 24?

I dislike having to go back to an older save and just pass by that dungeon, purely because I went in there and lost hopelessly. How can I possibly avoid stuff like this? Its a dumb game design. I mean, I can handle other dragon priests, and have done quite a few draugr ruins, so how was I supposed to know that I shouldn't have gone in there? At the very least, they could have had that npc that's in there warn you that you're too weak to handle what's in there.

[BlackRabbit007]

go back tracking and do some leveling, or you might want to lower your difficulty level while you train or leveling to make sure you don't die trying

[Set-115689]

No healing spells? What are your resists? Are you using weapons/armor and smithing? What type of character is your character?

[258789553873]

One-handed, block, heavy armor, archery, and smithing. Breton with lord stone, so magic resist of 50%. No enchanted gear. Equipment is a Blades sword, dwarven helmet and shield, and steel plate armor, boots, and gauntlets (took the latter three off of Uthgerd after she died, haven't been able to find a matching helmet). I tried to make a full set of Dwarven, but I found that even with the matching set bonus that gave me less armor than my steel plate. I was only able to upgrade my shield and my bow, which I haven't been able to put too many perks in since I've only really been using it for dragon fights. In the ruin, I acquired an ebony shield from a deathlord (it had a higher armor rating than my exquisite drawven shield). Couldn't find an ebony weapon that hit harder than my smithed-up blades sword.

[Docsprock]

Run away.

I am in a playthrough now where I joined the Companions at level 1. The very first quest Farkas gave me was to clear Yngol Barrow. Fortunately, I happen to know what is in Yngol Barrow and decided to just wait it out. I did other side quests for several levels before completing Farkas' quest.

If you dont think you can handle a particular cave/quest, then dont. Come back to it later with a bit more experience. And bring a friend.

[alexander_dougherty]

Save before you enter.
If it's too tough for you, load that save and go somewhere else until you are tough enough to do it.

[258789553873]

Originally posted by Docsprock:

Run away.

I am in a playthrough now where I joined the Companions at level 1. The very first quest Farkas gave me was to clear Yngol Barrow. Fortunately, I happen to know what is in Yngol Barrow and decided to just wait it out. I did other side quests for several levels before completing Farkas' quest.

If you dont think you can handle a particular cave/quest, then dont. Come back to it later with a bit more experience. And bring a friend.

How am I supposed to know before hand without looking up spoilers? For Valtume, I honestly don't recall every doing it. Its a bit off in the wilderness, and I normally stick to the roads unless a quest leads me to some location in the wilderness. Either way, I wasn't expecting anything that happened. I wasn't expecting that npc, I wasn't expecting the dungeon to be a flipping maze, and I wasn't expecting to have to face wights and deathlords at my current level. Yeah, I've been playing this game since it came out, and I still haven't explored all the map. I thought I had done everything several times over, until I started finding quests I had no idea existed on the wikis. Its only recently I've decided to go wondering around AWAY from the main roads to find stuff I had never done before, which I have quite a bit btw. I'm honestly surprised at the amount of vanilla content I've missed out on, despite getting all the achievements in both versions of the game.

[Docsprock]

Originally posted by IXBlackWolfXI:

Originally posted by Docsprock:

Run away.

I am in a playthrough now where I joined the Companions at level 1. The very first quest Farkas gave me was to clear Yngol Barrow. Fortunately, I happen to know what is in Yngol Barrow and decided to just wait it out. I did other side quests for several levels before completing Farkas' quest.

If you dont think you can handle a particular cave/quest, then dont. Come back to it later with a bit more experience. And bring a friend.

How am I supposed to know before hand without looking up spoilers? For Valtume, I honestly don't recall every doing it. Its a bit off in the wilderness, and I normally stick to the roads unless a quest leads me to some location in the wilderness. Either way, I wasn't expecting anything that happened. I wasn't expecting that npc, I wasn't expecting the dungeon to be a flipping maze, and I wasn't expecting to have to face wights and deathlords at my current level. Yeah, I've been playing this game since it came out, and I still haven't explored all the map. I thought I had done everything several times over, until I started finding quests I had no idea existed on the wikis. Its only recently I've decided to go wondering around AWAY from the main roads to find stuff I had never done before, which I have quite a bit btw. I'm honestly surprised at the amount of vanilla content I've missed out on, despite getting all the achievements in both versions of the game.

Thats just it. Like Valthume, (which can be quite tough), if you cannot get through, go back and exit. Some caves/tombs lock you in so you cannot backtrack, that is when you reload your autosave and leave. It also works to do a hard save before entering any unknown area.

[Set-115689]

Ranged is easiest. Bow with the slow down time zoom thing perks works. Stealth is also op. Conjuration is op. Healer works but is boring. Melee is the hardest and you'll probably need healing spells. You'll also probably need a companion to tank for you and legendary weapons. You can get a companion + a pet. Vigilant from markarth stables might be the best? Get a sword and board companion not an aoe mage or it will kill/fight the pet.

[Altbert]

Maybe my latest mod could be of help to you: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2026582982
Thanks for giving me the idea for this mod.

[DrNewcenstein]

Dungeons should be leveled to the player, as I recall. However, it's not unreasonable to expect at least some level of resistance (and death) in some dungeons.
Definitely use the Save and Try Later method, as suggested.

Valthume is a bit on the hard side, for sure. Way too many Deathlords in a small area.

I've found Volunruud to be a fair place to test your character's abilities without going too far off-road. It's got three progressively difficult areas: to the left, a few basic Draugr and one Shouter.
To the right: multiple elevations, more Draugr of varying skillsets (Archers, 1H, 2H, a Summoner/Caster/Spammer), and then the Shouting boss with his Summoner/Melee/Spammer girlfriend. If you can make it through there without dying, you're ready.

Get a follower management mod to make them Essential, and if you can find one that gives them Perks and fixes them (there's a LOT that's wrong with them, like class assignments and weapon/armor ratings), then do so. My Improved Housecarls and Hirelings mod for Oldrim should still be on Nexus. There's a version where some Followers Shout, and one where they don't.
The one where they Shout can be iffy, because they'll go hostile on each other if they let out a burst after combat ends. However, something where you can command them to stop fighting fixes that, usually. Ultimate Follower Overhaul is good for that reason alone, if you can find it.

It's utterly hilarious to see 3 housecarls doing air juggles on a Deathlord when they're Shouting them to bits, though. Lydia has Unrelenting Force, Jordis has Fire Breath, Iona has Ice Form, Jenassa has Marked For Death, and Rayya has Cyclone. Any three of them together ensures comedy. Rayya launches an enemy, Lydia slams them against the ceiling, Iona freezes them, and Jordis sets them on fire, and then the cycle repeats.

[258789553873]

And then I tried to do Peryite's quest at level 18, only to get owned by Dwarven Spheres. Go me. Been thinking I should probably go somewhere else to find a magic-resist shield, such as solitude, or maybe the companions, but I was planning on saving that quest line for when I started my werewolf playthrough.

[DrNewcenstein]

Plenty of other items grant magic resistance, mainly necklaces. Wards break too easily, and there's way too much stagger when they do, especially when NPCs can spam charged spells.

[258789553873]

I've been testing out elemental dragons, so I've been trying to get as much magic resist as I can. I planned on getting spellbreaker from the start, though I've found that my 50% magic resist from being a breton with the lord stone seems to be sufficient.

Honestly, I was just thinking that perhaps the shield of solitude would be a better choice. To my knowledge, the spellbreaker only gives magic resist when its raised. A shield with an actual magic resist effect on it though, would give it all the time regardless of if its raised or not.

And yeah, I could just find a ring and/or necklace of resist magic to cap out my magic resist. I was just going after items that I know are guaranteed to be found, rather than coming in random loot. And no, I wasn't planning on using any magic, so no alteration perks or self-made enchanted gear. Also, I would need to get a minimum of 20% magic resist from items to cap it out (I could get the blessing of mara for an extra 15%, which I haven't actually done yet).

[DrNewcenstein]

Check Radiant Raiment in Solitude. They have a larger selection of stuff, and are more likely to have a necklace of Magic Resistance. I've been finding them in loot here and there, and giving them to my followers.