I have a few level 30-ish Skyrim characters, but I have a concern about what life will be like at levels 50-80.
At level 30-ish, I have maxed out all my important fighting skills. For instance, as an assassin rogue my: one-hand, sneak, light armor, and alchemy are all topped out. In order to level to 80 I am going to have to level things I don't need: destruction, heavy armor, two-hand weapons, etc.
I am concerned that while I am spending 30-50 levels improving skills that don't help me fight, all my enemies fighting skills will still be improving.
Is this a reasonable fear? If I am level 80 will I still be fighting like a level 30 toon?
What about raiding a dungeon at level 60-80? Is it harder or easier than at level 30?
Best Answer
Although you're correct in your statement that you won't get as much of a benefit from gaining the last 30-50 levels as you would early on, when you're leveling "core" skills to your character, there are a few other things to consider.
One is that there is a maximum level for your enemies:
This means that past about the mid-50's, you can expect monster difficulty to plateau. There are a few exceptions, such as Magic Anomalies and Legendary Dragons (in Dawnguard), however.
At the same time, you're still going to be gaining health, magicka, stamina, and perk points. If you spend these level upgrades wisely, there's no reason why you can't be gaining some advantage, while most of your enemies are gaining none.
Another factor that occurs to me is that gear is important - depending on at what point you max these trees, you might get a significant boost from alchemy, enchanting, and blacksmithing. If you hadn't invested in crafting skills by the time you were in the 30's or 40's, you've still got significant gains to be gotten from making/improving your own equipment.