Skyrim player spends 150 hours beating their own hardcore permadeath version of the RPG, still recommends stealth archers as the best way to win

One Skyrim player recently challenged themself to complete the game on its Legendary difficulty, while knee-capping their runs with self-imposed permadeath and other ultra-hard restrictions. After 150 hours and four characters lost to the fiery gates of permadeath, Redditor Inward_Perfection finally did it! Their advice on the best character build? Well, it's the same thing we’d all recommend, I guess: stealth archer.

"Be a stealth archer! Never fails, I just don't like stealth in games in general," the player explains in an interview with Gamesradar’s Austin Wood. "Illusion spells like Calm/Pacify are also good, they work regardless of the difficulty setting. Lord/Atronach Stones are the best on Legendary. Without magic and elemental resistances, dragons and mages will be frustrating," they encouraged on Reddit.

"For PC players, I'd suggest disabling killcams against the player with a mod," they continue, giving out sage advice on how to outsmart Bethesda's evergreen fantasy sim. "Violens has that feature, I just didn't activate it for the 'pure' experience. Don't know if it works on consoles. If you want to play with enemy killcams on, or you can't install a mod, invest a lot of levels in Health and compensate for low Magicka/Stamina with enchantments. Rely on followers or summons to do the fighting early on, they're not affected by difficulty."

That's all invaluable advice for those hoping to tackle the same challenge. Especially since other notable restrictions include no fast travel, no permanent followers aside from one-off quest friends, no excessive crafting or skill grinding, no infinite stamina soups for warriors, and way more. You can read the full ruleset in our complete interview with Inward_Perfection. Just remember: when in doubt, go stealth archer. 

Looking for an even tougher Skyrim challenge? Check out the medieval expert who accurately explained what would happen after taking an arrow to the knee .