70% of the time they are below your character's level, as (unlike other parts of Skyrim) their level is largely fixed rather than scaled in the traditional sense.
"
unlike the other parts of Skyrim"
ALL monsters in Skyrim follow the dragon system of set level bumps, which you have erroneously imagined is not the caseFor example, Falmer's level bumps are: 9, 15, 22, 30, 38, 48.
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Monsters
There is no dynamic, constant = to character's level like you imagine, as I explained with the link to G.E.C.K where
Encounter Zones set the level ranges of mobs (see? there's a reason for everything I type).
In addition, all leveled enemies are generated more like leveled creatures in Fallout. For example, Bandit NPCs are always a fixed level for their name (Bandits are level 1, Bandit Thugs are level 9, Bandit Highwaymen are level 14, etc). The player's level affects the range of possible bandit types generated within a bandit dungeon, and probably the frequency, but does not seem to affect the resulting stats except in a few rare cases. Lower variant bandits remain reasonably common even when more dangerous bandits are available.
Enemy types also seem to reach a plateau where they stop getting stronger. The strongest bandits (non-boss) are mid-20s. The strongest generic vampire is 54, and guards seem to stop scaling at 50. This implies that the difficulty of many areas will not increase beyond certain levels, except perhaps in frequency of difficult encounters. In other words, dungeons have a level range, where if you do not meet the level requirement, you will face the lowest range of the dungeon. For instance, if a dungeon is ranged from level 15 to 25, and you are level 10, you will face creatures in the dungeon scaled at level 15.http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim%3aLeveling#Effects_of_Leveling
The reason for this:
Skyrim, unlike D:OS, does not have level caps on attributes. Indeed, unlike D:OS, it doesn't even have XP in a traditional sense. You can be level 50 and not be able to wield a sword due to the manner in which stat bumps = level. e.g. if you level stealth, crafting and other skills incorrectly, you can have a non-functional combat char. You can also, unlike D:OS, grind out those skills on the lowest level enemies in the game or without even killing enemies. For instance, you can level block by surrounding yourself with rats and going /afk, or level magic by casting a spell
into thin air or make potions
without involving yourself in dragon killing.
Level XP
The formula for character leveling is as follows:
Character XP gained = Skill level acquired * fXPPerSkillRank
Skyrim Game Setting variable: fXPPerSkillRank (default =1)
Example: Training Alchemy from 20 to 21 gives 21 Character XP points
XP required to level up your character = (Current level + 3) * 25 (fXPLevelUpBase)+(Current Char. Level * fXPLevelUpMult)
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Leveling
This means that the
skills you level and the
gear that you acquire determine whether or not that dragon is a challenge,
not your actual numerical level. Thus, a purely focused combat character might have an advantage, but in game design this has to be balanced against a median where the other end of the spectrum (a purely stealth / crafting character) is considered. To explain like you're five: given it was highly likely Skyrim would have millions of players, they ran % numbers to get a median HP total which would average out a challenge to the highest # of players.
Which would be fine, if the DPS/AR calcs weren't so broken. (And magic damage calcs, but let's not go there).
Thanks for clearing up the last part of the puzzle:
you don't even understand how Skyrim's leveling system works, or how the game is balanced. Thus it is hardly suprising you didn't understand those "
irrelevant numbers".
Fifth time lucky, I've run out of patience, as you've proven your own ignorance to my satisfaction. You were right though: there is indeed a lot under the hood of level scaling, as you've so aptly proven you don't understand.
/thread.
