Skyrim impressions

[renswic]

Bahahaha! Somebody actually told you not to post here because you play the game on your 360? JFC! I love my PC as much as anyone, but for chrissakes what is wrong with people?? Tell him to get girlfriend. Or... you can maybe...uh...give us the first and last letter of his name and we can tell him ourselves?

I could have been nicer about it my post(only made it to hopefully stop any other poeple from doing it) but meh it annoys me when people can't get over the whole PC vs Console debate(I'm all for PC gaming but I'm also 100% happy using a console as well) gaming is gaming. I will not set the masses of [H] General Gaming loose on him, it's not worth it in the end and I really hate to see this awesome thread get locked if it spilled out of PMs and into it.

Yeah, someone who apparently didn't have the gonads to say it where we can all see it. I ended up keeping the masque of the daedra, I'm not super concerned with achievements. Thanks for the help, all.

Wanna know the funny thing? The mask is what you would need if you were worried about achievements. That will teach me to try and think when I'm half asleep .

Is there any tricks to doing melee combat?

Specially people with shields? I know this sounds newbish but coming from just using gun this is new to me. Does it matter how you are moving when you attack? Like should I be reading what the enemy is doing with their weapon and attack accordingly or just swing away any way I can cause the combat is random?

Specially the enemies with shields, they seem to just block everything.

I am sure archery is a bad way to go as well but I am really only using it unless I end up in close quarters.

Also really enjoyed being flung into the air like 4 miles by a giant....at like level 4

I just swing away Though my build is thief, assassin, tank god. One handed is at 91, light armor is 98 and block is 45 all 5 base perks have been done for one handed and light armor and armor rating is at 616. As is I see health dropping when they are hit with or with out a shield, shields just mean it takes a little longer to finish them off.

What I notice does work when you get one of the 'hide-behind-my-shield' guys, is to bash them back with a shield. This is really fun to do when you are fighting next to a drop as well

 

[Blubikins]

^ thanks for the quick reply. I've used the 4gb hack same thing.

My mods are

FXAA post process injector
no more blocky faces
enhanced night sky

and I think thats it. It could be the FXAA post process injector now that i think about it. I haven't played skyrim in a couple weeks so I don't know if the patch caused the stutter or what.

 

[renswic]

Haha sweet! My new sword is done.

Renswic's Stick of Burning Death
Ebony sword with 101 damage and 10 points of burn baby burn!

Only enchanted it for the renaming but figured fire is always fun to play with

 

[jonneymendoza]

Anyone know any hints and tips on how to make and gain more gold in this game? im level 13 by the way

 

[Riddleofsteel]

Pretty much the age-old RPG axiom, pick up whatever isn't nailed down and go sell it. When you get enough money to not be choosy, you can wait to sell things for a better price, or wear barter-augmenting apparel. Just don't get caught stealing or pickpocketing. Many items will be un-sellable if stolen until you can find a fence for thieves that won't care where it came from.

 

[renswic]

Anyone know any hints and tips on how to make and gain more gold in this game? im level 13 by the way

Loot, loot, loot, loot, loot and loot.

My brother in law was making fun of me because I was searching EVERY openable objects and taking anything from 1 coin to 100+ plus anything that had value.

I told him that because of that. I've collected enough coin to buy and upgrade EVERY house you can buy and still be sitting on 30k+ in coin.

 

[shantd]

with the archery I only use it for long/medium range and sneak attacks but after that I go melee,

That's a perfectly good way to play, I do it the same way. My sneak/archery are more highly leveled than anything else, but after the enemy sees me and comes charging, it's all melee from there. Especially useful with a shield. If anything, the shield bashing is somewhat over-powered.

I really wanted to be a battle-mage, but the magic just isn't keeping pace with melee/archery. I haven't given up on it yet, but I'm playing on expert (lvl 18) and I have a feeling destruction magic will fall by the wayside before too long.

 

[aintz]

Loot, loot, loot, loot, loot and loot.

My brother in law was making fun of me because I was searching EVERY openable objects and taking anything from 1 coin to 100+ plus anything that had value.

I told him that because of that. I've collected enough coin to buy and upgrade EVERY house you can buy and still be sitting on 30k+ in coin.

what is the point of that, seriously. this is a single player game.

 

[stop!theradio]

The point, if I had to make an educated guess, is that its better to have too much money as opposed to not enough. That's just a shot in the dark, though

 

[renswic]

what is the point of that, seriously. this is a single player game.

1. Because I like to play that way.
2. Because being a Thane in all the city's has the perk of being able to get away with crimes w/out losing any stolen items.

 

[Riddleofsteel]

Haha, I laughed when I saw the bribe and "I'm the thane..." responses when I got caught stealing.

On a side note about enchanting, I just enchanted my Ebony and Dwarven maces (I think both flawless condition) with frost and stamina damage. I hadn't considered, though, where I get new magical charges for the weapons. Is there some other item I should enchant to capture souls so I can fill my own gems? I'm telling you, I'm an enchantment noob. Thanks for any help.

 

[KazeoHin]

I have a little elven dagger with the soultrap enchant. I just sneak up to a bandit/forsworn/goat and stick the dagger up their ass for 15x sneak damage and BAM, their soul is mine.

In Oblivion I had a super-awesome magic bow that soul trapped for 5 seconds, weakened to fire for 15 seconds, did 5 seconds of fire damage, and just for shits cast light on target for 15 seconds.

I'm just a tiny bit sad that Skyrim's enchanting can't be as elaborate: but I think it's a better system overall.

 

[Riddleofsteel]

Oh, okay. I'll have to wait until I have the soul trap enchantment. Until then I'll have to shell out for more filled gems.

By the way, I'm laughing at the visual of your character ambushing some greasy-faced bandit and shanking them in the ass with a glitzy elven dagger. Then snorkeling their soul out with it. Pure gold.

 

[KazeoHin]

I don't know if you've managed to trap a soul yet, but the 'soul-trap' animation is EPIC: deafening thunderous clapping fills the valleys as the victim's violet-pink soul essence bursts from their body like a magenta tornado and is violently absorbed into your character... one goat down.

Edit: I found a red-haired bandit and tried to dispatch him in the same way, but he resisted the soul-trap.... JOKING.

 

[Riddleofsteel]

Chain mail underwear, maybe?

And no, I don't have an item to break down that had the soul trap enchantment.

 

[jiminator]

uh, soul trap generally only works for monsters (not machines). For humans you need either a black gem or azura's star. Azuras star can be reused so it is the way to go.

 

[KazeoHin]

I carry around the "Black Star" for trapping human souls....

I have noticed that black soul gems are quite difficult to come by in Skyrim. I don't know if you could create them like you could in Oblivion...

 

[shantd]

Oh, okay. I'll have to wait until I have the soul trap enchantment. Until then I'll have to shell out for more filled gems.

You don't need to enchant a weapon with soul-trap necessarily (although it is definitely more convenient that way). There is also a soul-trap spell. You cast it at point blank range on your enemy and he starts to glow purple for 60 seconds. As long as you kill him while he's in that state, his soul is yours when he dies.

I've been doing it this way until I get me an enchanted soul-trap weapon.

 

[dderidex]

That's a perfectly good way to play, I do it the same way. My sneak/archery are more highly leveled than anything else, but after the enemy sees me and comes charging, it's all melee from there. Especially useful with a shield. If anything, the shield bashing is somewhat over-powered.

I really wanted to be a battle-mage, but the magic just isn't keeping pace with melee/archery. I haven't given up on it yet, but I'm playing on expert (lvl 18) and I have a feeling destruction magic will fall by the wayside before too long.

The thing that isn't immediately obvious is that there is a lot of cross-over in the various weapon classes (including archery and swords). For example, block skills you earn with a shield...help you block with a bow, too. To be a decent fighter, you will be smithing your own equipment...armor...swords...bows and arrows...etc. So focusing on that is basically what you do if you want to be a 'fighter'.

If you want to be a MAGE...then don't do that. Don't do any archery, sword fighting, armor, etc. Concentrate on just the magic classes. Don't build your defenses up with wearing armor...cast the Oakflesh or ward spells. Don't snipe enemies from range with a bow and arrow...cast an Icy Spear. etc.

Mixing up completely different advancements from different skill groups is a surefire way of feeling constantly like you are fighting an uphill battle. "Jack of all trades, master of none", and all that - and some boss fights in the game CAN be achieved by any of the skill groups...but only by a master of them.

Obviously, the game LETS you do that, and its possible to do...just more challenging. And maybe that's what you want, but...maybe not. FWIW, I'm probably just going to roll three characters. I'm doing my first character as an archer/sneak, doing missions for the Dark Brotherhood, and since an elf, working for the Empire rather than Stormcloaks...and having no problem doing all the Daedra missions.

Next run through the game, I'll probably take the default Nord, as a fighter. Work for the Stormcloaks, maybe, and pull missions from the Companions. etc

In each case, picking up only a small number of perks or leveling outside my core play style...and focusing on one way of playing.

 

[shantd]

In Oblivion I had a super-awesome magic bow that soul trapped for 5 seconds, weakened to fire for 15 seconds, did 5 seconds of fire damage, and just for shits cast light on target for 15 seconds.

Pure awesome...especially casting light on the enemy. Nice touch. Too bad you can't do that in Skyrim. That's my one major complaint. In the interests of streamlining things and making it more appealing to the masses, they also dumbed it down a wee bit too much imo. But I won't complain too much, this is one of the best games I've ever played.

 

[Riddleofsteel]

Since patching and rolling back to 1.1 on two occasions now, I seem to be getting absolute low res textures on things like fort walls and even clipping through walls and ceilings. I hope I don't have to reinstall and start a new game...

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Anyone know any hints and tips on how to make and gain more gold in this game? im level 13 by the way

loot loot loot loot loot.

You can invest in speech skills by finding trainer and leveling up speech which gives you better barter prices, and you can invest skill points in to the speech skill tree and get bonus.

if you're planning on levelling smithing and/or enchanting I find that at higher levels it starts to make some decent cash, you can smith some iron daggers for cheap by buying iron ore and iron ingots and leather and then enchant those items and sell for some good cash.

I stopped looting stuff when I reached about 250,000 gold, it just became pointless, I only looted quest items at that stage

 

[shantd]

If you want to be a MAGE...then don't do that. Don't do any archery, sword fighting, armor, etc. Concentrate on just the magic classes. Don't build your defenses up with wearing armor...cast the Oakflesh or ward spells. Don't snipe enemies from range with a bow and arrow...cast an Icy Spear. etc.

Sure, I get that. But what if I don't care for any of the magic schools except for 1? It would be one thing if I was focusing on a warrior class and also tried to level up all the schools of magic. But I don't think it's as big a ding to throw in 1 (destruction, in my case...even though I know it's highly under-powered at higher levels).

And yes, part of it is I want the game to be harder. I'm not using conjuration at all for that sole reason. Haven't conjured anything yet, and I won't. Basically ignoring alteration/illusion as well other than a few handy utility-type spells, like candle light or clairvoyance, etc...

I more or less did the same thing in Dark Souls, my first character is always a hodge-podge. I basically pick my skills based on the fun factor. Dual casting lightning is fun, even if it's not as effective as something else. I guess I don't mind being a jack of many trades, as long as I'm still a master of one or two and having fun in the process.

 

[renswic]

Haha, I laughed when I saw the bribe and "I'm the thane..." responses when I got caught stealing.

On a side note about enchanting, I just enchanted my Ebony and Dwarven maces (I think both flawless condition) with frost and stamina damage. I hadn't considered, though, where I get new magical charges for the weapons. Is there some other item I should enchant to capture souls so I can fill my own gems? I'm telling you, I'm an enchantment noob. Thanks for any help.

Is it possible to add more then one enchantment to an item? Like adding soul trap for shits and giggles to my sword(I added fire to it)

I carry around the "Black Star" for trapping human souls....

I have noticed that black soul gems are quite difficult to come by in Skyrim. I don't know if you could create them like you could in Oblivion...

They ain't that hard to find. I'm sitting on 27 empty ones and 5 filled ones. I didn't buy anyone of them I just keep finding the damn things(I've lost count on how many normal ones I have found)

I just finished the College of Winterhold line, I'll be posting my thoughts about under the cover of spoiler warning and request reply's to it are done the same way.

Spoiler: College of Winterhold

This one I cheated on and read a walk through. I didn't make my toon to support magic AT ALL, only shouts So I wanted to make sure I could manage it. It was a really fun story arc I was bummed out with how short it was. Biggest disappointment was with Ancano, after I first met him I told my wife "I don't care how long it takes to finish this, but as soon as it is done that stuck up motherfucker is going to die a long, slow, painful death" Get to the end(mind you as a melee, not a mage toon), drop his shield and manage to one shot the fucker I was pissed. I wanted an epic battle. I gave up on that dream after 4 reloads and 4 total 1 hit and he is gone. With all of his talking and the walkthrough I was lead to believe that he would be a bit of a badass, guess not.

Dragon Priests are next!

 

[kledar586]

currently on the mage college line also, generally the major faction quest lines seem to be fairly decently done.
Black soul gems seem to be more uncommon, not sure I would call them rare, I've ran into 5 or 6 on one of dungeons filled with vampires and necros.

 

[Maplehamwich]

I'm wondering what the general stability people are finding with the patch? I've heard negatives, any positives worth noting?

 

[limitedaccess]

You can buy black soul gems from Enthir at the Mage's College.

You can also get a reusable Black Soul Gem version of Azura's Star.

Is it possible to add more then one enchantment to an item? Like adding soul trap for shits and giggles to my sword(I added fire to it)

There is an enchanting perk which allows you to add 2 enchantments per item.

Some enchantments also have 2 effects.

 

[renswic]

There is an enchanting perk which allows you to add 2 enchantments per item.

Some enchantments also have 2 effects.

Ty, sadly after some research it looks like I wont need to save up 3 perk points to totally redo my sword. How ever As I've been thinking about ditching the shield for dual wield I may end up doing it.

Side note, Dragon Priests are done and at long long last my light armor has hit 100

 

[black_b[ ]x]

If you want to be a MAGE...then don't do that. Don't do any archery, sword fighting, armor, etc. Concentrate on just the magic classes. Don't build your defenses up with wearing armor...cast the Oakflesh or ward spells. Don't snipe enemies from range with a bow and arrow...cast an Icy Spear. etc.

Just so I have it right, the wards are only effective while you cast them right? so basically it's like a shield, only useful when you actively block with it.

Transmute can make some money. You can buy iron ore and convert it to silver, then gold and turn it into jewelry. It's a little cumbersome to make silver though. When you cast the spell, it first checks to see if you have any silver ore and if so, converts it to gold. Then it looks for iron to convert to silver. So two casts with iron ore make one gold, instead of two silvers. You have to drop the silver ore to keep it (and gold usually needs higher quality gems to actually make something besides gold rings).

 

[harsaphes]

Guys....I have an armor question. I know how to give and take armor to my companion, but there is a default set she is wearing that seems to never change. Is there a way to "see" the stats on that? and is it possible for her to change that?

 

[dderidex]

Just so I have it right, the wards are only effective while you cast them right? so basically it's like a shield, only useful when you actively block with it.

Yup. Oakflesh (etc) is a one-time cast, though, and does increase your armor rating outright for a period of time.

Transmute can make some money. You can buy iron ore and convert it to silver, then gold and turn it into jewelry. It's a little cumbersome to make silver though. When you cast the spell, it first checks to see if you have any silver ore and if so, converts it to gold. Then it looks for iron to convert to silver. So two casts with iron ore make one gold, instead of two silvers. You have to drop the silver ore to keep it (and gold usually needs higher quality gems to actually make something besides gold rings).

FWIW, if you are going the 'mage' route, I'd actually skip the smithing the gold/silver into jewelry. You do make more money that way, but 'smithing' isn't a skill a mage needs. You don't want to be using weapons that deal damage by their quality, or any armor at all. So leveling your character does as a result of learning smithing skills is kind of wasted leveling. It skills you are learning, but aren't really useful to you.

Stick with transmuting iron to silver or gold, then just selling the ingots outright.

 

[Bigbacon]

I have come to the conclusiom that i am totally lost in this game. There is just sooo much to deal with stat wise and im game wise i dont really know were to go now.

Im level 12, and have just been exploring and getting my ass handed to me a lot unless i sort of exploit the ai and just bow them to death.

With all the extras you can do (achlemy, smelting, etc) like to much for me...i just to explore ans kill things

Pretty much went sneak and archery. Been using the flame spell some and back up with a two handed hammer if needed.

Also, some enemies randomly seem to get their life back mid fight.

Liking the game but man... i am close to just finding a mod to max my stats and perks so i can just not have to worry so much.

And one have a weight mod also so i can carry liek 600 or so pounds of stuff

 

[dj_2004]

I have come to the conclusiom that i am totally lost in this game. There is just sooo much to deal with stat wise and im game wise i dont really know were to go now.

Im level 12, and have just been exploring and getting my ass handed to me a lot unless i sort of exploit the ai and just bow them to death.

With all the extras you can do (achlemy, smelting, etc) like to much for me...i just to explore ans kill things

Pretty much went sneak and archery. Been using the flame spell some and back up with a two handed hammer if needed.

Also, some enemies randomly seem to get their life back mid fight.

Liking the game but man... i am close to just finding a mod to max my stats and perks so i can just not have to worry so much.

And one have a weight mod also so i can carry liek 600 or so pounds of stuff

Just plan your character ahead of time. Do you want to be a rogue? Then why are you using flames and a two handed hammer? And do you know you can lower the difficulty level?

Also, some enemies have the ability to heal (potion or spell).

 

[Splinter24]

Just plan your character ahead of time. Do you want to be a rogue? Then why are you using flames and a two handed hammer? And do you know you can lower the difficulty level?

Not to mention, avoid maxing stats like blacksmithing and alchemy the cheap way. Raising those stats raises your level. which is fine, but enemies will also level. So sure you have 99 smithing and 99 alchemy, but that does shit to things like how much damage you do if you neglect your magic/melee/archery skills

 

[jiminator]

FWIW, if you are going the 'mage' route, I'd actually skip the smithing the gold/silver into jewelry. You do make more money that way, but 'smithing' isn't a skill a mage needs. You don't want to be using weapons that deal damage by their quality, or any armor at all. So leveling your character does as a result of learning smithing skills is kind of wasted leveling. It skills you are learning, but aren't really useful to you.

Stick with transmuting iron to silver or gold, then just selling the ingots outright.

you don't know what you are talking about. The robes max out at 150% mana regeneration and provide no protection and none of the massive bonuses available for wearing matched sets of armor. Smithing is the way to get the decent armor and doing it you can boost your armor ratings to 600 or more, with no shield and no need to worry about casting weak spells. When combined with 100 level enchanting you can make two magic skill trees cost 0 for spells, so that doubly makes the regen ability of robes obsolete.

 

[Dark Shade]

So I was going to make a new character, but when I'm done creating them and it asks if I'm done and to name them, I can't click OK or Cancel to continue. What the fuck? It worked fine on my first character. I have no mods installed.

 

[socK]

the AI astounds me sometimes

Spoiler: dark brotherhood shit

Have to murder some guys wife on her wedding day.

She gives her speech, sits down, eats my arrow to the face. Everyone screams OH FUCK MURDER WHY GOD... but... beyond that, nothing. Nobody even moves after their initial 2 seconds of shock. My backup arrives to help me fight off the horde... but nobody gave a fuck anyway so he decided he'd mingle with the rest of the guests.

Literally shows up 5 seconds after the murder with a fucking sword drawn, in full brotherhood armor, then decides to go have a nice conversation with someone. Nothing suspicious about the only guy in the area with a bow and the lizard man who came charging in moments later with a weapon drawn, nope

 

[renswic]

the AI astounds me sometimes

Spoiler: dark brotherhood shit

Have to murder some guys wife on her wedding day.

She gives her speech, sits down, eats my arrow to the face. Everyone screams OH FUCK MURDER WHY GOD... but... beyond that, nothing. Nobody even moves after their initial 2 seconds of shock. My backup arrives to help me fight off the horde... but nobody gave a fuck anyway so he decided he'd mingle with the rest of the guests.

Literally shows up 5 seconds after the murder with a fucking sword drawn, in full brotherhood armor, then decides to go have a nice conversation with someone. Nothing suspicious about the only guy in the area with a bow and the lizard man who came charging in moments later with a weapon drawn, nope

Heh I shot her, waited 15 secs and fast traveled out

I've been working on the special jobs that you have to do for the thieves guild. It's pissing me off, up to 6 jobs in one area and no special job. Grrr, knowing my luck one has to do all 5 in one go.

Side note 7 more achievements left. This will mark the first 360 game that I've played and snagged all the achievements on

 

[UtopiA]

the AI astounds me sometimes

Spoiler: dark brotherhood shit

Have to murder some guys wife on her wedding day.

She gives her speech, sits down, eats my arrow to the face. Everyone screams OH FUCK MURDER WHY GOD... but... beyond that, nothing. Nobody even moves after their initial 2 seconds of shock. My backup arrives to help me fight off the horde... but nobody gave a fuck anyway so he decided he'd mingle with the rest of the guests.

Literally shows up 5 seconds after the murder with a fucking sword drawn, in full brotherhood armor, then decides to go have a nice conversation with someone. Nothing suspicious about the only guy in the area with a bow and the lizard man who came charging in moments later with a weapon drawn, nope

I'm not using fast travel, so he actually got me in trouble when he showed up.
Everything was FINE and then he comes running in and suddenly every NPC turns hostile to me! What the fuck, bro!

 

[djoye]

So I was going to make a new character, but when I'm done creating them and it asks if I'm done and to name them, I can't click OK or Cancel to continue. What the fuck? It worked fine on my first character. I have no mods installed.

Did you create your first character in an earlier version? They probably changed the buttons around and now your keyboard doesn't work. Roll back to 1.1 or try a 360 controller.