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[Jinjo]

Lol. Found a powerleveling glitch for magic powers. So what you do is you get the Secret of Arcana black book power (magic spells cost no magicka for 30 seconds), activate it. Then next you pick a continuous use spell (like Telekinesis), dual cast it (for better effect) and pick up an object, keep holding the buttons. Basicly, hold the buttons as long as you like, as long as you don't release the spell it won't use up any magicka. Ever. And watch as your alteration levels soar.

So far only used it for Telekinesis (alteration), will test later for other spells (Wards for restoration maybe? I dunno if wards needs actual damage to level).

Edit: Does not work for wards.

 

[NumberTwo]

I really wish Bethesda gave those who chose to play a straight mage something with better duration than Ebony/Dragon flesh. At least extend how long it's active. Maybe even a master level perk that allows permanent magical protection when you aren't wearing physical armor.

They allow permanent spells for conjuration but not alteration.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Currently a level 7 Dunmer Spellsword, roaming around on Solstheim. Had to get the difficulty down to Novice, I was getting my ass kicked horribly. Once I hit level 10/15 I'll bump it back up to Adept or Expert.

 

[The P of Poland]

Currently a level 7 Dunmer Spellsword, roaming around on Solstheim. Had to get the difficulty down to Novice, I was getting my ass kicked horribly. Once I hit level 10/15 I'll bump it back up to Adept or Expert.

lol why were you on Solstheim at level 7? I've got several newer characters and I don't plan on letting any of them go there until they've beaten the main quest.
Even if you don't want to go that route, you should at least beat Dragon Rising first. I always get that done by level 4-7.

 

[Blue Ninja]

lol why were you on Solstheim at level 7? I've got several newer characters and I don't plan on letting any of them go there until they've beaten the main quest.
Even if you don't want to go that route, you should at least beat Dragon Rising first. I always get that done by level 4-7.

Don't want a Dragonborn character. I just wanna get my inner Ashlander on. I want to wear heavy Chitin armor too, hope I can craft it soon.

EDIT: Level 10. Just came across two Deathlords, maybe three.

Yeah, good thing I'm playing on Apprentice.

 

[NullPointer]

Subscribed because I just fell back into the world of Skyrim. Always meant to come back to this GOTF after the big holiday games released.

And damn is it good to be back to continue the tales of my thieving, backstabbing, shadow within a shadow archer/enchanter Khajit, Ren.

I only have the vanilla game on Steam, am 28th level, with only a toe-claw dipped into the main campaign, preferring Thieve's Guild and Dark Brotherhood quests right now. Should I just pick up all the DLC? Any recommendations?

 

[GhaleonEB]

Currently a level 7 Dunmer Spellsword, roaming around on Solstheim. Had to get the difficulty down to Novice, I was getting my ass kicked horribly. Once I hit level 10/15 I'll bump it back up to Adept or Expert.

Solstheim is definitely tuned with powerful enemies. Playing on Master, I'm level 26 now and still can't engage directly with most. But I'm at least able to kind of grind my way through some quests now. This is going to be my level 78 character, so I wanted to pull her through the full difficulty curve, early brutality and all.

After three days of preparations - had to smith a new set of armor, a bow, and get certain perks - I tackled the last quest needed to get my house. And holy crap what a house it is. I squealed when I saw the weapon racks.

The quests in Dragonborn are so good. The excavation dig is hilarious and has me really fascinated by where it's going.

Spoiler

I love the details to it, like how the camp keeps getting bigger and more elaborate, and the journals the guy running it keeps writing. They're hilarious. Found two artifacts so far, and the dig is now in its 3rd phase. I kinda wish we saw actual physical progress, rather than the dig site jumping to the next phase at the appointed time, but that would have been a lot of extra modeling/scripting. And I love that it really does take a lot of time to unfold. I just go about my other work waiting for updates.

Off to kill my first dragon, the one that chased me half way around the island when I first got there. Time for a little revenge.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Off to kill my first dragon, the one that chased me half way around the island when I first got there. Time for a little revenge.

I'm fighting a Dragon Priest right now. I'm level 11. If I would be playing on Master, like you, I'd be killed in one hit. I'll stick to the lower end of the spectrum for now, it's hard enough. :lol

 

[yn-neko hates a cat]

@Blue Ninja:

Do you know if they did something to the level scaling with this patch? Master level is now bruttal... I'm at the cusp of specing myself to break the game but because I'm banking most of my skill points, I'm pretty much at the point where I'm being one-shotted by everything in the game at level 31 and I don't even remember it being this bad at level 40 (but that might have been on expert). Do you remember master being this unforgivable? Does this continue after max-spec?

 

[The P of Poland]

See, guys, this is why I play on Adept. I have a level 57 Imperial girl (not my main character anymore), and she is an absolute tornado of destruction. 100s in Sneak and Archery, 97 in One Handed and 88 in Block. I mean, I just beat the College of Winterhold quest line with her. She killed the Dragon Priest Morokei in three hits. Ancano in two. I don't get the point of setting it to be so hard that an Ash Hopper or a Skeever can kill you in one hit. It just doesn't sound like much fun.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I'm fighting a Dragon Priest right now. I'm level 11. If I would be playing on Master, like you, I'd be killed in one hit. I'll stick to the lower end of the spectrum for now, it's hard enough. :lol

That was how hard it was with most enemies for a while. Still the case with Deathlords and high ranking bandit dudes, and ash spawn kill in 2-4 hits, while taking ~10 non-sneak arrows each. Brutal stuff, but every now and then I love punishment. It feels good to overcome.

For my last character I used Expert and then bumped it up to Master when I was around level 30 since I didn't want to be brutalized so hard, but I just felt like making my first trip to Solstheim a really long, tough one. Been leveraging Unrelenting Forge as a weapon to kill lots of guys, tossing them off hills, forts and down stairs. So satisfying. :lol

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

See, guys, this is why I play on Adept. I have a level 57 Imperial girl (not my main character anymore), and she is an absolute tornado of destruction. 100s in Sneak and Archery, 97 in One Handed and 88 in Block. I mean, I just beat the College of Winterhold quest line with her. She killed the Dragon Priest Morokei in three hits. Ancano in two. I don't get the point of setting it to be so hard that an Ash Hopper or a Skeever can kill you in one hit. It just doesn't sound like much fun.

THe way you play doesn't sound like fun to me. Just a matter of opinion.

 

[GhaleonEB]

See, guys, this is why I play on Adept. I have a level 57 Imperial girl (not my main character anymore), and she is an absolute tornado of destruction. 100s in Sneak and Archery, 97 in One Handed and 88 in Block. I mean, I just beat the College of Winterhold quest line with her. She killed the Dragon Priest Morokei in three hits. Ancano in two. I don't get the point of setting it to be so hard that an Ash Hopper or a Skeever can kill you in one hit. It just doesn't sound like much fun.

What I really savor in these kinds of games is, feeling the affects of my improving character build on the world. Skyrim's leveling is so fast early on, you blow though those first 15-20 levels in the span of a couple of quests. So that period of time before you get awesome is really short.

On normal settings Skyrim goes from modestly difficult to making me feel kinda powerful to me straight up crushing my enemies and seeing them driven before me, humming along to the lamentations of their women, in the span of a few days. And I kinda find being that awesome, all the time, to get stale. A lot of people find it fun, but I love a good challenge. To me Skyrim is all about the reward loop of explore --> battle --> loot--> self-improvement --> explore some more!

That awesome new bow I crafted or that next super awesome perk isn't as valuable if I'm already one-shotting everyone. I want loot to feel valuable, to have a noticeable affect on the way I play and how powerful I feel, for as long as possible.

I've handled this in a few ways, depending on the character. With some I start out on Expert, and as I mount the difficulty curve and start one-shotting everyone, I bump it up to Master. With some characters - such as my last one - I deliberately gave my character a weakness: I had very little health. So while she could sprint forever and was super beastly with her arrows and dagger, boosted by nearly maxed out crafting perk trees, she was a glass cannon. So my sneaking around was very high-risk, high-reward. (I mitigated this with Alchemy: I carried 30+ invisibility and paralysis potions at all times, at the end.)

And with two characters, I played on Master from the get-go. That means that before I can even start doing much formal questing, I need to get my character ready. Sort of a character training period: Gotta get crafting skills up to buff my weapons and armor. Leverage poisons to kill enemies faster. Acquire certain perks to make combat more manageable. Get my archery and sneak skills up so I'm a viable assassin. And all the while, I'm running in terror from most enemies in the game world....and then the scales slowly start to tip.

Along the way it presents opportunities to do one of my favorite things: to power through a dungeon I have no goddamn business being in. I killed a Dragon Priest at the end of a fantastic Nordic ruin way up north on Solstheim. The ruin itself was tricky, but I killed the most powerful enemies by luring them through their own traps. And then the boss: It took 29 shots from sneak, doing 3x damage per shot, and about 20 minutes of constant cat and mouse sneaking around his huge chamber to pull off. But I got this badass mask and crazy loot (was was less than level 20 and walked out with some Ebony gear). I was grinning from ear to ear all night. I can see why some would think that tedious, but I loved it.

Early on when I got to Solstheim, I started the quest to help the guards at Raven Rock find out what was causing the ash spawn to attack the town. I approached the fort we suspected the attacks were originating from, only to find that 1) ash spawn took 20+ arrows to kill and could one-hit me. So overcoming that fort was my goal from Thursday through to last night.

I'm now level 26 and have a freshly forged Glass bow (my 3rd forged bow), and a full suit of custom forged and enchanted armor. I can kill ash spawn in ~10 shots when not sneaking, and 3-4 when I am. I have to be sneaky, and do a bit of snipe and run, but I was able to slink through and clear the fort. (The tipping point for being able to do so was my new set of crafted gear.) Lots of leveraging Muffle + invisibility potions to save myself when I got caught, but it worked, and walked out with a ton of loot, improved skills, and then got rewarded with an awesome house to boot. (I'd been lugging ~250lbs of loot I needed to store so it was a huge relief.)

Now I'm wandering the world carefully, but no long in abject terror. I've gone from running from everything to running from about half of everything. And in another two weeks time, I'll be the one to be feared. It's a hugely satisfying experience - big investment for big payoffs.

Not trying to sell you on this kind of punishing play style, or to tell you you are doing it wrong. There's no such thing. Just wanted to try and make you see why it appeals to me: it's not for punishment. It's about making the rewards matter even more.

 

[BootlegSnackz]

maybe this has been answered before... but i'm puzzled as to why uflric stormcloak can use dragon shouts.

is he dragonborn too? why is he so special? don't understand.

 

[Finn of Ooo]

maybe this has been answered before... but i'm puzzled as to why uflric stormcloak can use dragon shouts.

is he dragonborn too? why is he so special? don't understand.

He just took the time to learn them, much like the greybeards

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

I beat it earlier today with my walking God level 81 character. I could kill everything except dragon priests and ancient dragons on Master in two dual wielding power attacks. Those require 3.

Being able to respec now and get rid of the points i put in conjuration and destruction that made it easier to level those and enchantment up mean i am now even more powerful. Its crazy. I thought going into this DLC with a max cap character would kill some of the fun, instead of starting a new one like i usually do for new DLC, but i didnt. There was enough cool loot and options that i didnt even think about it.

Anyway, i fucking loved this DLC. It didnt reach the heights and wonder of Shivering Isles, but it came close, mostly because mechanically this is the better game.

I enjoyed Frea as a companion and really like the look of the Stalhrim armor and weapons.

The few dwemer dungeons here were easily some of the best they have been in Skyrim so far and really makes me wish some giant Dwemer rise up DLC could come next, but i doubt the lore supports something like that. Have their been any hints to what really happened to them? Maybe they somehow went even deeper underground and found some power source to keep them alive or jumped ship to some plain in oblivion for awhile?

 

[The P of Poland]

-snip-

Oh, don't worry. I completely get what you're saying. And I sort of do miss the earlier days when I wasn't very good and everything was a challenge. I've been thinking of bumping up the difficulty to Expert. Skyrim's difficulty kind of seems more or less equivalent to Halo's actually; Novice & Apprentice= Easy, Adept=Normal, Expert=Heroic, Master=Legendary. I just don't see the appeal of getting constantly one-shotted.

The few dwemer dungeons here were easily some of the best they have been in Skyrim so far and really makes me wish some giant Dwemer rise up DLC could come next, but i doubt the lore supports something like that. Have their been any hints to what really happened to them? Maybe they somehow went even deeper underground and found some power source to keep them alive or jumped ship to some plain in oblivion for awhile?

No. They simply vanished out of existence, in all planes of existence, due to their abuse of the Heart of Lorkhan. (If I remember my lore correctly).

 

[Volimar]

Beth could easily bring the dwemer back if they want. It's rumored to be one of the last 2 large dlcs. We'll see. I wouldn't mind. They were incredibly cruel, and I'd like to see that.

 

[Hobbestetrician]

The Deathbrand quest is really cool, definitely should seek it out.

 

[cory021]

Oh, don't worry. I completely get what you're saying. And I sort of do miss the earlier days when I wasn't very good and everything was a challenge. I've been thinking of bumping up the difficulty to Expert. Skyrim's difficulty kind of seems more or less equivalent to Halo's actually; Novice & Apprentice= Easy, Adept=Normal, Expert=Heroic, Master=Legendary. I just don't see the appeal of getting constantly one-shotted.

I've played four characters all on master, working on the fifth right now, and I don't think I've ever really been one-shotted or cheated out of the game. If I do get killed really quickly, it's because I stumbled upon an enemy who was clearly higher leveled than I was. I'll come back a couple levels later, and as a result of level locking, fight him on more even turf, which, in my opinion, is more rewarding than killing everything on the first sweep of the dungeon.

On a different note, I haven't touched Dragonborn yet, but are spears actually in or not?

 

[Volimar]

I've played four characters all on master, working on the fifth right now, and I don't think I've ever really been one-shotted or cheated out of the game. If I do get killed really quickly, it's because I stumbled upon an enemy who was clearly higher leveled than I was. I'll come back a couple levels later, and as a result of level locking, fight him on more even turf, which, in my opinion, is more rewarding than killing everything on the first sweep of the dungeon.

On a different note, I haven't touched Dragonborn yet, but are spears actually in or not?

The Rieklings throw spears at you, but when you pick them up they're treated as arrows. Awful arrows from what people are saying.

 

[GhaleonEB]

The Rieklings throw spears at you, but when you pick them up they're treated as arrows. Awful arrows from what people are saying.

Same damage as steel, and they are heavy so they only go a short distance. I haven't actually hit anyone with them, I'm hoping they at least stagger.

I just cracked into Kagrumez. Read the journal. Placed some those things.

OMG

 

[gblues]

Beth could easily bring the dwemer back if they want. It's rumored to be one of the last 2 large dlcs. We'll see. I wouldn't mind. They were incredibly cruel, and I'd like to see that.

The mystery of the disappearance of the Dwemer is one that is woven into almost every TES game. If they came back, it would have to be for TES VI. Not relegated to DLC.

 

[Blue Ninja]

No. They simply vanished out of existence, in all planes of existence, due to their abuse of the Heart of Lorkhan. (If I remember my lore correctly).

Yup. There was one who survived, because he was exploring a realm of Oblivion at the time, and when he came back he was the last surviving Dwarf. We met him in Morrowind, when he had been suffering from Corprus disease for a while. He probably died when the Red Mountain erupted, too.

Beth could easily bring the dwemer back if they want. It's rumored to be one of the last 2 large dlcs. We'll see. I wouldn't mind. They were incredibly cruel, and I'd like to see that.

Now that would be interesting. Maybe interesting enough for the next numbered game even. However, since we've seen the Dwarves' main sites of operations (Vvardenfell and Skyrim) in the last few games, I doubt we'll be seeing them soon. Unless it's DLC, as you say.

EDIT: I just found Meridia's Beacon on Solstheim. Lol.

 

[GhaleonEB]

EDIT: I just found Meridia's Beacon on Solstheim. Lol.

I did the same. Really cracked me up. She gets around!

I was reading Kotaku's review and noticed this:

Dragonborn, on the other hand, delivers on Bethesda's promises. Plunging you into Solstheim, an island located northeast of Skyrim and right on the edge of Morrowind, Dragonborn gives you a whole bunch of new stuff to play with: there's a new map, new types of weapons and armor, new dragon shouts, new cities, new enemies, and all sorts of new quests, from the mundane (find out where a wizard's assistant ran off to) to the insane (pick up a gem that turns out to contain the spirit of a goddess, who asks you to escort her to her temple and clear out the evil within).​

Maybe it's something else I have not done yet; I've only done a relative handful of quests. But that sure sounds like Meridia's Beacon quest to me. I'm guessing he never ran into it in Skyrim. :lol

The excavation quest is so, so great. Onto phase 4.

Spoiler

I love the growing hints about what is really going on, between the journals and even the courier dialogue. So great. And that word wall tease! Almost uncovered, ung!

 

[The P of Poland]

LMAO at the Kotaku reviewer who didn't know about Meridia's Beacon being in Skyrim proper. How can you not, seriously? That's like one of the very first side quests you get.

Eh, that's kind of a weird one really. It starts on a random chest spawn that you could get right away at level 12 but I have characters that still don't have it. Usually if I'm over 12 I get it in the first Embershard Mine chest but the last time I tried that it wasn't there.

If you want to start it and the beacon hasn't shown up yet, just walk to the statue of Meridia. It's incredibly easy to find.

 

[Balya]

Eh, that's kind of a weird one really. It starts on a random chest spawn that you could get right away at level 12 but I have characters that still don't have it. Usually if I'm over 12 I get it in the first Embershard Mine chest but the last time I tried that it wasn't there.

 

[The P of Poland]

Quest: Hired Muscle (Companions)

Objective: Beat up Nazeem in Whiterun.


Holy SHIT, I knew there was a reason for staying up late. I feel like everything crappy that has happened in the last few weeks has just been vindicated. My life has meaning again.

I have been waiting for this glorious moment for far too long.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Nearly stayed up until 1:00 exploring a Dwemer ruin, altering water levels with cubes. Still have at least two huge parts to go, but it's already one of the best dungeons in the entire game.

I finished the Unearthed quest, which was fantastic from end to end. Loved the details: the slowly expanding camp, the journals, notes, courier dialogue, the cocktease on the

Spoiler

word wall slowly getting uncovered. And then the black book a the end (saving it for later) and some absurdly great and unique loot. I killed the bastard, naturally.

I was having a lot of trouble with the resurrected Dragon Priest in there, as he chased me all through the entire dungeon a few times over, resurrecting everything in sight. Then a pair of Rieklings showed up and mauled the guy while I pounded him with arrows. <3 my Riekling buddies, they seem to pop up just when needed.

Now I'm rocking a fire resisting, fire spell boosting badass mask as a reward.

Over a week in and I've still just scratched the surface of the content on Solstheim.

This expansion is bananas.

 

[Martian]

Without much spoilers: Is Umbra in the DLC?

She was supposed to go to Solstheim, right?

 

[Blue Ninja]

Without much spoilers: Is Umbra in the DLC?

She was supposed to go to Solstheim, right?

No. Umbra was destroyed in Umbriel about 160 years before Skyrim. The spirit inside the sword was destroyed as well, so I'm not sure how it'll make a comeback.

 

[minasodaboy]

Due to halo 4 being not that great, I decided to put Skyrim back in on Monday while my wife is out of town. For whatever reason I stopped playing it in February without finishing the main quest-line and then basically forgot about it over the summer/fall.

After roughly 15 hours of playtime in two nights, I think I've remembered why this is such an amazing game. In particular, I love how much extra story there is in the world that is easily accessible (especially compared to Halo 4)!

Unlike Halo's terminals/data pads that require you to completely forget about the main game, the books in Skyrim are always right in front of you. Whether you want to read them or not is still optional, but you are constantly reminded that they are there for you to dive into.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Due to halo 4 being not that great, I decided to put Skyrim back in on Monday while my wife is out of town. For whatever reason I stopped playing it in February without finishing the main quest-line and then basically forgot about it over the summer/fall.

After roughly 15 hours of playtime in two nights, I think I've remembered why this is such an amazing game. In particular, I love how much extra story there is in the world that is easily accessible (especially compared to Halo 4)!

Unlike Halo's terminals/data pads that require you to completely forget about the main game, the books in Skyrim are always right in front of you. Whether you want to read them or not is still optional, but you are constantly reminded that they are there for you to dive into.

Yeah. Skyrim is what I call a "the more you look the more you find" game. There's a huge abundance of content, and it's left up to you to decide what you consume and when. A couple times a week I crack open a new book in the game and learn a bit more about how deep the lore goes. From the background on a specific ruin to a summary of past games ("The Oblivion Crisis") it's all right there. And they strike this balance where the primary story telling is comprehensible and accessible, and enriched by the side lore. It's a hard balance to strike. I think Halo 4 is a game that failed at finding the right balance, pretty spectacularly.

 

[minasodaboy]

Yeah. Skyrim is what I call a "the more you look the more you find" game.

In that vein, after completing the main story I moved onto finishing up some of the other quests starting with the College of Winterhold, which has been great so far.

I'm just blown away by the content that keeps coming at me even after finishing the main game. Reading about what is there in the latest DLC means that I'm realizing that I will never, ever even remotely come close to exploring all this game has to offer.

I have a feeling this is going to be my 2013 (2011) Game of the Year.

 

[Osietra]

The only problem with Skyrim?

No sharks.

 

[Arjen]

Started Dragonborn today with my 78 Dunmer. Did a couple of quest, and I can already tell this DLC is pretty huge. Love the atmosphere so far.

 

[The P of Poland]

In that vein, after completing the main story I moved onto finishing up some of the other quests starting with the College of Winterhold, which has been great so far.

I'm just blown away by the content that keeps coming at me even after finishing the main game. Reading about what is there in the latest DLC means that I'm realizing that I will never, ever even remotely come close to exploring all this game has to offer.

I have a feeling this is going to be my 2013 (2011) Game of the Year.

It truly is an all-time great. Skyrim is the greatest game, in any genre, on any platform, of the past three years, so far as I'm concerned.

 

[BootlegSnackz]

It truly is an all-time great. Skyrim is the greatest game, in any genre, on any platform, of the past three years, so far as I'm concerned.

it is pretty damn good. not sure if it's greatest game of all time and space, but i love it.

 

[GhaleonEB]

In that vein, after completing the main story I moved onto finishing up some of the other quests starting with the College of Winterhold, which has been great so far.

I'm just blown away by the content that keeps coming at me even after finishing the main game. Reading about what is there in the latest DLC means that I'm realizing that I will never, ever even remotely come close to exploring all this game has to offer.

I have a feeling this is going to be my 2013 (2011) Game of the Year.

What really boggles my mind about this game is not just the scope of content. Which is absurd. But the fact that you can play it in so many different ways. I did a cave last night, and played a hybrid play style I've never tried before. And it was awesome and a lot of fun. But I could go through the same cave as an archer, or a sword and board basher, or a conjurer, or.....and it would play out totally differently.

I have a few experiences from the past few days I wanted to share.

Last night I went looking for someone who sells spell books on Solstheim. I haven't found one - might have to head back to Skyrim if I come up empty. I checked into the temple in town, but the two people there I could talk to didn't have any on offer. So I went down stairs and checked the rooms down there. Open one door, no one there. Open door #2 and there are three Hired Thugs hanging out. They turn to me and whip out swords. I'm like, hi guys? Fuck! I'm an archer, CQC is not part of my skill set yet.

I run upstairs and they are close behind. The head of the temple doesn't offer to help out, but he does quip, "Well this should be interesting." Thanks dude!

Now, I had just completed a long quest. One of my favorites in the entire game. One of the reward items lets you learn some new spells, and one of those spells lets you set guys on fire - for 15 seconds. Since Destruction is one of the skills I plan to level for this character (to eventually get to 78 and tackle a Legendary Dragon), I try it out. And there's just something magical about setting three guys on fire and running in circles as their life bar slowly shrinks.

So, that's how I took care of the hired thugs. Every one one would go out, I'd hit them again and keep running. Eventually they would collapse as their health got low. When the third one dropped, I just sheathed my weapons (er, hands), stood over him and just watched him die. I felt so badass, I didn't even know what to do with myself. (Which reminds me, I need to look up the name on the note, I apparently pissed someone off.)

Later I find a Riekling cave, and enter it. The cave is interesting, since I went in from what looks like a back door, located halfway down a series of cascading waterfalls. I decide that instead of using my usual sneak/archery/illusion mix, I'd sneak, and set guys on fire with my newfound ability. And that's when I found that the effect of the spell stacks. So I can hit someone say, four times, and their life drops 4x as fast (meaning 16 points per second for 15 seconds).

Yeah. This is life-altering stuff people.

I cleared about 75% of the cave just by setting dudes on fire repeatedly and backing up as they ran at me...only to collapse first. The rest fell to backstabs and arrows as my magika recharged. And just like that I now have Destruction magic mixed heavily into my play style.

Now, in an earlier Riekling cave I'd found a creepy skull with horns. It's quest item, but I have no quest or task associated with it. And I found that at the end of this new cave, I can put the skull where it belongs.

The result creates a problem I have to deal with another time. I'm not ready. So that item is now on a list of about 20 others I have to check off, on Solstheim alone.

I'm sitting here realizing I can write about 10x this much about the adventures I've had over the course of the past week or so. So many great quests, so many emergent fun encounters. And I've still only done a small subset of the expansion, with just one character (I plan a melee sword and board/illusion combo romp, eventually).

Then there's the three freaking Lurkers roaming one area of the map, related to the main quest, that I now can't touch, as I can barely fell one of them alone. But I'm plotting a return visit once I gear up properly. Or the time some Riekling buddies came out of freaking no where to save my ass (<3 you guys) deep in a dungeon. Or the time I got a dragon to fight a Riekling camp while it was also being assaulted by a pack of horkers.

A few days ago I accidentally used Unrelenting Force on a Raven Rock guard. I paid my fine and moved on. Last night I walk past him and he says, "Don't even think about attacking me again." :lol

Skyrim was my GOTY last year, and I'm going to cheat and put Dragonborn as my GOTY this year. Probably getting close to "game of the forever" territory here. I've never had a game hold me in its thrall so hard for so long.

 

[Blue Ninja]

What really boggles my mind about this game is not just the scope of content. Which is absurd. But the fact that you can play it in so many different ways. I did a cave last night, and played a hybrid play style I've never tried before. And it was awesome and a lot of fun. But I could go through the same cave as an archer, or a sword and board basher, or a conjurer, or.....and it would play out totally differently.

I have a few experiences from the past few days I wanted to share.

Last night I went looking for someone who sells spell books on Solstheim. I haven't found one - might have to head back to Skyrim if I come up empty. I checked into the temple in town, but the two people there I could talk to didn't have any on offer. So I went down stairs and checked the rooms down there. Open one door, no one there. Open door #2 and there are three Hired Thugs hanging out. They turn to me and whip out swords. I'm like, hi guys? Fuck! I'm an archer, CQC is not part of my skill set yet.

I run upstairs and they are close behind. The head of the temple doesn't offer to help out, but he does quip, "Well this should be interesting." Thanks dude!

Now, I had just completed a long quest. One of my favorites in the entire game. One of the reward items lets you learn some new spells, and one of those spells lets you set guys on fire - for 15 seconds. Since Destruction is one of the skills I plan to level for this character (to eventually get to 78 and tackle a Legendary Dragon), I try it out. And there's just something magical about setting three guys on fire and running in circles as their life bar slowly shrinks.

So, that's how I took care of the hired thugs. Every one one would go out, I'd hit them again and keep running. Eventually they would collapse as their health got low. When the third one dropped, I just sheathed my weapons (er, hands), stood over him and just watched him die. I felt so badass, I didn't even know what to do with myself. (Which reminds me, I need to look up the name on the note, I apparently pissed someone off.)

Later I find a Riekling cave, and enter it. The cave is interesting, since I went in from what looks like a back door, located halfway down a series of cascading waterfalls. I decide that instead of using my usual sneak/archery/illusion mix, I'd sneak, and set guys on fire with my newfound ability. And that's when I found that the effect of the spell stacks. So I can hit someone say, four times, and their life drops 4x as fast (meaning 16 points per second for 15 seconds).

Yeah. This is life-altering stuff people.

I cleared about 75% of the cave just by setting dudes on fire repeatedly and backing up as they ran at me...only to collapse first. The rest fell to backstabs and arrows as my magika recharged. And just like that I now have Destruction magic mixed heavily into my play style.

Now, in an earlier Riekling cave I'd found a creepy skull with horns. It's quest item, but I have no quest or task associated with it. And I found that at the end of this new cave, I can put the skull where it belongs.

The result creates a problem I have to deal with another time. I'm not ready. So that item is now on a list of about 20 others I have to check off, on Solstheim alone.

I'm sitting here realizing I can write about 10x this much about the adventures I've had over the course of the past week or so. So many great quests, so many emergent fun encounters. And I've still only done a small subset of the expansion, with just one character (I plan a melee sword and board/illusion combo romp, eventually).

Then there's the three freaking Lurkers roaming one area of the map, related to the main quest, that I now can't touch, as I can barely fell one of them alone. But I'm plotting a return visit once I gear up properly. Or the time some Riekling buddies came out of freaking no where to save my ass (<3 you guys) deep in a dungeon. Or the time I got a dragon to fight a Riekling camp while it was also being assaulted by a pack of horkers.

A few days ago I accidentally used Unrelenting Force on a Raven Rock guard. I paid my fine and moved on. Last night I walk past him and he says, "Don't even think about attacking me again." :lol

Skyrim was my GOTY last year, and I'm going to cheat and put Dragonborn as my GOTY this year. Probably getting close to "game of the forever" territory here. I've never had a game hold me in its thrall so hard for so long.

Heh, I posted a fun story on that skull this weekend.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Heh, I posted a fun story on that skull this weekend.

I read your warning in bold when it was originally posted, and saw the spoiler tags, and avoided it. I'll read once I'm able to, um, complete the task. Thanks for letting me know it's the same one.

Spoiler

Dude hit me so hard I got very nice top-down view of Solstheim, even higher than when we're clobbered by giants back in Skryim. I tagged him with multiple arrows but couldn't even tell if he was damaged, then got clobbered again (cue nice overhead view again). I declined to place the skull a third time and went on my merry way. I'll come back later, when I'm more capable.

 

[ironcreed]

The only problem with Skyrim?

No sharks.

Sea Dragons would be cool. Make them much different and more like sea monsters guarding various treasure, quest items and new gear underwater. Could even have some underwater temples and such.

 

[Mindman]

It truly is an all-time great. Skyrim is the greatest game, in any genre, on any platform, of the past three years, so far as I'm concerned.

it is pretty damn good. not sure if it's greatest game of all time and space, but i love it.

Love it when people on NeoGAF show some Skyrim love, it is far too rare. Game of the Generation for me. Especially with mods.

 

[rockx4]

Just finished Dragonborn (had to start a new playthrough). It was very good, a lot better than Dawnguard. It has a shorter main quest, but it has a LOT of other quests, dungeons, caves, ruins, etc. Dawnguard felt like a quest dragged out for hours leading you through caves and shit, while Dragonborn brings back the exploration and immersion of Skyrim.

A few points about the dlc:

-Dragon mount sucks ass, if I didn't have to do it 5 times for the achievement I would have skipped it. It's horrible.

-The Black Book abilities are pretty neat, though it does make my already overpowered character feel even more overpowered. Oh and you can respec your perks on consoles now.

-The new armor\weapon sets are pretty nice. I love the Carved Nordic set, and the Stalhrim is nice also.

-Dungeons are great, but the puzzles are still a joke just like they were in vanilla Skyrim.

Overall I'd give Dragonborn a 9/10.

Skyrim is just amazing though, I've clocked over 600 hours across multiple playthroughs combined on both PC and 360. Definitely one of the best games I've played.

 

[Blue Ninja]

I read your warning in bold when it was originally posted, and saw the spoiler tags, and avoided it. I'll read once I'm able to, um, complete the task. Thanks for letting me know it's the same one.

Spoiler

Dude hit me so hard I got very nice top-down view of Solstheim, even higher than when we're clobbered by giants back in Skryim. I tagged him with multiple arrows but couldn't even tell if he was damaged, then got clobbered again (cue nice overhead view again). I declined to place the skull a third time and went on my merry way. I'll come back later, when I'm more capable.

I'll put it like this.

It took my level 56 character at least twenty health potions, a dozen health spells, a dragon as (variable) backup and a fortunately timed level up to get the guy down. And I was playing on Expert, not Master.

Once you're done with him,

Spoiler

go read up on him on UESP or TES Wiki. He was originally in Bloodmoon.

By the way, judging from your Legendary Dragon comment, I take it you bought Dawnguard?

Narvajn the Dunmer got settled in Raven Rock. Level 20 now, clad in heavy Chitin (which looks awesome, really fitting for traversing the ash wastes) and his only weapons are the ones he conjures up. Lots left to do.

 

[Marleyman]

Quest: Hired Muscle (Companions)

Objective: Beat up Nazeem in Whiterun.


Holy SHIT, I knew there was a reason for staying up late. I feel like everything crappy that has happened in the last few weeks has just been vindicated. My life has meaning again.

I have been waiting for this glorious moment for far too long.

HAHA; I murder him all the time after I save my game. He is so god damn annoying.

 

[Jibbajabbawockky]

Sea Dragons would be cool. Make them much different and more like sea monsters guarding various treasure, quest items and new gear underwater. Could even have some underwater temples and such.

Nah nah nah, we need some krakens in the oceans. I remember swimming in the northern sea exploring one of the shipwrecks up there and thinking how spooky it was in the murky water. If some giant squid had lunged out at me I would have been pretty freaked out.


Still making my way through Dawnguard for the first time. The Soul Cairn kind of sucks. Its sort of cool at first, but despite its size, it gets pretty boring and its easy to lose your way.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Nah nah nah, we need some krakens in the oceans. I remember swimming in the northern sea exploring one of the shipwrecks up there and thinking how spooky it was in the murky water. If some giant squid had lunged out at me I would have been pretty freaked out.


Still making my way through Dawnguard for the first time. The Soul Cairn kind of sucks. Its sort of cool at first, but despite its size, it gets pretty boring and its easy to lose your way.

Heh, I love the Soul Cairn. It's so spooky and alien. Put on headphones or surround sound and play at night, it's glorious. Has an amazing Morrowind reference hidden in there, too.

But you haven't reached the best part of the DLC yet.

 

[Jibbajabbawockky]

Heh, I love the Soul Cairn. It's so spooky and alien. Put on headphones or surround sound and play at night, it's glorious. Has an amazing Morrowind reference hidden in there, too.

But you haven't reached the best part of the DLC yet.

It is pretty cool, I just wish it was a little more visually diverse. I do like the lightning in the distance- thats pretty cool.

I'm actually enjoying Dawnguard quite a bit. I was hesitant to get it after reading some of the more tepid reviews but its a nice chunk of content so far.

 

[The P of Poland]

I really like Dawnguard, don't get all the hate for it. I thought the main quest was better than Dragonborn's.

The ability to make your own arrows is a godsend.

I still haven't experienced all of Dawnguard, let alone all of Hearthfire or Dragonborn. I know what I'm going to do over Christmas Break.

But first, I have to do well on my Russian final tomorrow. FUCK THESE CASES AND ENDINGS!