Enchanting loop that actually scales damage past level 40?

[TamrielTactician]

So I'm on my third playthrough and I keep hitting this wall where my enchanted gear stops feeling relevant around mid-game. I know alchemy loops can carry you forever, but enchanting feels like it caps out hard once you've got a solid set of gear. Am I missing something or is enchanting just front-loaded compared to alchemy?

Like, I get that you can stack enchantments and boost them with perks, but there's no equivalent to the exponential scaling you get from brewing potions and drinking them to boost your alchemy skill. You craft your sword once and that's kind of it, right? Unless you're constantly re-enchanting stuff as you level up, which sounds tedious.

Playing on Switch this time around so I'm stuck with vanilla, no mods to patch the scaling. Wondering if there's a perk path or playstyle I'm just not seeing that makes enchanting feel as relevant as alchemy in the late game. Or is this just how the system is designed and I should lean harder into alchemy if I want that scaling feeling?

 

[DragonbornVet]

yeah enchanting definitely doesn't scale the same way alchemy does, but it's not quite as dead as you're thinking. the thing is you're not supposed to be re-enchanting the same sword over and over - you're supposed to be crafting better gear as you level smithing alongside it.

if you're just enchanting iron daggers at level 20 and expecting them to carry you to level 60, yeah that's not gonna work. but if you're actually progressing through the smithing trees - getting to elven, then glass, then daedric - and enchanting those pieces as you go, the damage scales pretty naturally with your character level since you're working with inherently stronger bases. throw in perks like the one that increases enchantment effectiveness (forget the exact name but it's in the enchanting tree) and you've got a solid damage scaling curve without needing the alchemy exploit.

the real issue is that enchanting requires you to actually engage with smithing too, whereas alchemy is self-contained. if you're not interested in that grind then yeah, alchemy will feel more rewarding. but on vanilla Switch you're kinda locked into the base progression system anyway, so might as well use it.