This is a series of blog posts about playing Skyrim on Master, the highest difficulty setting. At this level the only thing that changes is damage: player characters deal only half of it while receiving double the usual amount.
I entered Whiterun with a sense of dread. I knew that the first dragon fight was coming and I didn’t know if I was ready for it. At least I wasn’t going to take it on alone, I thought. Irileth and her cohorts were going to be there, as well as whatever was left of the tower’s defenders. They could at least distract the dragon long enough for me to get it down to half of its life. Maybe. I didn’t really have a solid plan as to how I was going to fight it.
I reported back to Farengar, gave him the Dragonstone and let the sequence run its course. As we were heading to the broken tower I still didn’t have a plan. When the dragon arrived I made sure cover was nearby. If my previous fights were any indication I knew that none of this was going to be easy. Our group managed to get a third of its health out before it bit down on some hapless guard and tossed it aside like a rag doll.
We carried on. I shot it with arrows, Brelyn alternated with bolts of fire and lightning while Irileth yelled commands over and over. It was intense yet funny at the same time. After all, I’ve done this fight at least five times since I first started playing this game. But I have to admit that every one of those encounters paled in comparison to what I was doing right then. It was tedious, frustrating yet strangely exciting at the same time. When the dragon died I felt like I actually earned that kill. Well, we all did. It wasn’t a solo effort. Still, a thought lingered. I just hope I didn’t open a can of worms by engaging this first dragon fight. I’m not looking forward to the next one just yet.