What? Rumors of Redguard?
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The Elder Scrolls V: Dragonborn |OT| Did you think you were the only one?
- Thread starter Blue Ninja
- Start date
What? Rumors of Redguard?
Blue Ninja
Member
It's a trademark for "downloadable content" Bethesda renewed sometime last year, and it's up for renewal again soon. If I recall, it's how people discovered Dragonborn's existence, as well.
The P of Poland
Member
Are you sure that raises all armor by 25%? That's brilliant. I love the Smithing bonus that you get, too.
Blue Ninja
Member
According to UESP it does, even if the in-game description states otherwise.
EDIT: Heh, Sapphire just opened the door to the Ragged Flacon: Cistern for me, even though I'm not in the Thieves Guild. The thieves there treat you like you're trespassing, and will actually "call the guards" if you stay too long. The guards never show up and you don't incur a bounty, though. If you stay for too long they'll grow hostile, including Mercer Frey, who'll proceed to chase you around the cistern with his dual blades. Funny as hell.
What are you fighting when you have to use them? Are you taking physical damage, or damage from magic users?
Well, I'd rather they held off Hammerfell for a next-gen Elder Scrolls VI personally.
Anything from Falmer (sadly) to Draugr Overlords. I got hit by Falmer arrows that took about half my life and it continued to slowly drain slightly after (maybe poisoned arrows?). Seemed a little ridiculous. I'll try to pay attention to whether magic seems to hurt any more next time I delve in.
Yeah, those guys are bruisers. Falmer arrows are often poisoned, so you're correct on those.
Two questions, then some suggestions.
What heavy armor are you using? And have you put many smithing perks into either heavy armor or smithing?
My recommendations, without knowing your build:
- Add perks to Heavy Armor, the first perk in particular (boosting it by 20% per perk). This is probably the fastest way to reduce the physical damage you take.
- Invest in smithing and only wear armor that you have the smithing perk for, because you can improve it much more when you have it. (Unless you find gear that's better than your improved stuff.)
- For melee combat, put a few perks into the Block perk tree, so you absorb more damage. If you use a shield (which is a good idea), make sure you get the slow time perk so you can interrupt power attacks. It wasn't until then that I started defeating Deathlords in melee combat.
(In my experience, Falmer are really powerful, nothing wrong with getting destroyed by them.)
For magic users, you need magical resistances in your enchantments, as physical armor won't help against them.
I have been working on getting my perks in Heavy Armor and Smithing. I'm using a full Ebony set right now. I'll have to doublecheck some things when I get home, like whether I have the Ebony smithing perk and if I'm maxing out my Heavy Armor perks.
I usually roll with Destruction in left hand and my Ebony axe in right hand so maybe I need to start getting a shield loadout going and add some perks to Blocking.
Lots of good info there, many thanks!
Another suggestion, try dabbling in Alteration. Spells like Oakflesh and Stoneflesh add significant points to your armor rating. I transitioned my stealthy archer to a sword and board on master difficulty in part by making heavy use of Oakflesh, which adds 40 points to your armor rating for 60 seconds. I'd cast it whenever I'd run into a heavy hitter like Deathlords. I'm up to Stoneflesh now, which adds 60 points to armor rating. It really helps me get by them. It would be a good option if you don't want to use a shield, keeping a spell and sword out.
Another magical option is tossing on Cloak spells in the Destruction school, which damage opponents doing melee damage; they might help finish off enemies faster. Toss on a flame cloak and Oakflesh then go after that Deathlord with a spell and sword in hand, and you'll probably do better.
The P of Poland
Member
Ghaleon's suggestions are great, but there's a couple things I'd like to add:
Falmer were beefed up in open combat to compensate for their ridiculous vulnerability to a stealthy character, but low level ones should still be easy.
Since you're a Heavy Armor character, stealth is not going to be your forte. However, I would highly recommend, for a spellsword build, NOT putting perks into Block. Your character's primary focus should be on offense, not defense. Take Alteration's line of Flesh spells, and Restoration's line of Wards, instead. Cast the best Flesh spell you can before going into battle against physical threats, and use wards against wizards. If you're making heavy use of destruction already, magicka should not be a problem. You just need to branch out.
Edit: REALLY, GHALEON?!
YA RLY
Also a good idea.
I'm going to spin up a new character in a month or so to get that damn stalhrim achievement in Dragonborn, and he's going to be a two-handed bruiser of an orc named Thag. It'll be a short, normal difficulty run of him smashing anything that moves with his war hammer, until the stop moving. I got a few good ideas on how to buff him from this discussion, so thanks.
Blue Ninja
Member
I did a non-Dragonborn runthrough of Solstheim with an Ashlander Dunmer armed with two bound swords and a bound bow. Shit was cray.
Until I kept getting one-shotted by those Riekling Chargers, at least.
The P of Poland
Member
Why don't you just put perks toward Ebony Smithing with your current character? You can even respec if you've beaten Dragonborn's main quest.
Ohhhh.
Blue Ninja
Member
Can't forge Stalhrim unless you do the quest, which, in his case, is bugged.
Yeah. I have every perk on the smithing tree.
And just got the final perk for enchanting for the first time with any character, which means I went on a forging spree: new dagger, sword, bow, shield, armor and gauntlets, all forged with two enchantments, and improved with a 20% boost via smithing gloves and 30% via a potion. (I know you can go higher, but it was a huge leap from my old set.)
Daedric Firestorm (bow) and Dragon Firestorm (sword) are forged. Time to revisit Solstheim to see if I can plant a certain skull where it belongs, and live to tell the tale.
Blue Ninja
Member
Came upon Treva's Watch (again) last night, a big fort near Riften. Several bandits were patrolling along the walls, and a small group of people had made camp a little distance from the castle. Leading that merry company was Stalleo, who told me the fort belonged to him and his family, and that bandits took it over while he wasn't there. He hired bodyguards to take it back and rescue his family, but ended up being routed and having to retreat. Only him and two bodyguards remained in the little camp. He asks me if I want to infiltrate the fortress and open the gates from within, and I'm only too happy to oblige.
But now comes the kicker. Normally, the bandits only realize you're inside once you start chopping them up, but this time, they were prepared. As I'm talking to Stalleo, an arrow hits the ground behind him. And then another. And another. His bodyguards get up and cover him with their own bows, while I see several bandits swarming over the wall and coming our way. Stalleo, in a moment that couldn't have been timed better, tells me to "head inside", so I do that and leave them to deal with the ones outside.
I enter the fortress and, somehow, the bandits already know I'm there. I fight my way through them (which wasn't easy, mind you), and eventually find the doors to the courtyard. I open the door for Stalleo... But nobody comes rushing through. I head through the gate and discover the body of one of his bodyguards. Then another bodyguard, surrounded by a few dead bandits. And then I hear an explosion.
Stalleo's still kicking ass out there, blowing up Bandits with his magic. One of them literally flies past me with an Ice spear in the brain as I run the remaining few through with Dragonbane. Just as I'm about to hit the last one Stalleo fires off one last spell and snipes the guy from underneath my blade.
What a badass.
But now comes the kicker. Normally, the bandits only realize you're inside once you start chopping them up, but this time, they were prepared. As I'm talking to Stalleo, an arrow hits the ground behind him. And then another. And another. His bodyguards get up and cover him with their own bows, while I see several bandits swarming over the wall and coming our way. Stalleo, in a moment that couldn't have been timed better, tells me to "head inside", so I do that and leave them to deal with the ones outside.
I enter the fortress and, somehow, the bandits already know I'm there. I fight my way through them (which wasn't easy, mind you), and eventually find the doors to the courtyard. I open the door for Stalleo... But nobody comes rushing through. I head through the gate and discover the body of one of his bodyguards. Then another bodyguard, surrounded by a few dead bandits. And then I hear an explosion.
Stalleo's still kicking ass out there, blowing up Bandits with his magic. One of them literally flies past me with an Ice spear in the brain as I run the remaining few through with Dragonbane. Just as I'm about to hit the last one Stalleo fires off one last spell and snipes the guy from underneath my blade.
What a badass.
The P of Poland
Member
I've done that before, but usually what I do is hide behind the palisades on the southwest corner of the fort, and snipe and cast Illusion magic from that spot where the bandits can't reach me.
Always a fun welcome to the Rift.
I started replaying this on PC after having gotten very far in the PS3 version. Figured since I got it cheap with that GamersGate debacle last month I might as well start over. Looks so much lovelier on PC, even with modest hardware.
Anyway, since I'm not sure I want to putz around grinding as much as I did on the PS3, what sorts of speed-leveling didn't Bethesda patch out? I've read that the smithing thing is gone. It seemed like throwing a basket over someone's head and running around in sneak mode didn't do much for my sneaking skill. Is there anything useful left?
Anyway, since I'm not sure I want to putz around grinding as much as I did on the PS3, what sorts of speed-leveling didn't Bethesda patch out? I've read that the smithing thing is gone. It seemed like throwing a basket over someone's head and running around in sneak mode didn't do much for my sneaking skill. Is there anything useful left?
Blue Ninja
Member
Craft them or hope for them to spawn in random containers. You can only get them if you have Dawnguard installed.
No, it doesn't. At least, not a lot. It's a slaughterhouse for low-level characters.
I tried turning on the Kinect for shouting again (for kicks), but for some reason the game isn't recognizing any shout. When I hold down the Shout button and say Fus Ro Dah, for instance, the prompt will fade away and the game will do nothing. It won't even tell me "Try again" or anything, it just doesn't do anything.
I've had a lot of problems with shouts since installing the last two batches of DLC. Often, they just won't happen. I'll have Unrelenting Forge equipped, and try to use it, and nothing happens. I'll repeatedly hold and release the button, but nada. Checking the Shouts menu, I'll see all options greyed out, and trying to change it results in the message that I can't change shouts while they are being used, as if it's mid shout.
Usually I'll bark "Fus" at some random point in the next 15-20 seconds, then go through the recharge. It happens once a day or so (real life days, not in game days). Annoying.
Nice story, Blue Ninja. I cleared out the same place a couple days ago, but I went through the entire place solo, having broken into the fort proper, entered the inside through the door near the gate switch, and cleared it out backward, slitting throats galore. (The few times I got caught were pretty brutal, tough place.) I wander out, hit the switch to open the gate, and then tell Stalleo and his buddies the fort was his. I was delighted to see, after he asks me for his help, that I have the option to tell him I already cleared the place out. Something along the lines of, "The fort is already yours."
He was flabbergasted. :lol
My current character's ultimate mission is to kill a Legendary dragon. Along the way I was planning a Dawnguard romp, but having smithed near peak gear for myself, I've decided to spin a new character for that quest line. I love finding new loot and gear and having it be valuable and using it, and my gear will crush everything the game will churn out. I'll craft a vampire hunter from the ground up. (My daughter, a master vampire currently terrorizing Skyrim, wants me to join her in her reign of terror. Alas, I will not. At least not yet.)
So, instead of Dawnguard, Luna is taking on an increasingly large list of quests. I've decided to clear the main quest for the second time, but this time settling the civil war before the two intersect, to see how that plays out. And also, because killing Stormcloaks and Thalmor will never cease to be entertaining. I've been alternating the civil war with side quests, crafting sessions, random dungeon looting and just recently assassinations for the Dark Brotherhood.
One one my non-civil war sessions, I'm trying to take a wide path around a fort I don't want to tag (I try to keep the map clear of sites I am not going to clear yet), and I get a quest notice that I've met up with the Imperial troops at the fort. This is the one where I was supposed to free the prisoners first - whoops. Fortunately, it's not one of those forts where you count down from 100% cleared and whittle away at a respawning series of Stormcloak waves.
That's the good news. The bad news was, I was on the opposite side of the fort from the Imperials I was to meet, and there was a huge pack of Stormcloaks pouring out of the front gate. I hop down from the rock shelf I was using as a path around, pull out Frenzy with arrows whizzing past my head on both sides. I strafe side to side on the approach, and then tag the ground in the middle of a Stormcloak throng. Then I run out of the center amidst a cacophony of swords clanging on shields and pissed off Nords.
I turn and take a count - we've got a full dozen Stormcloaks in one big mass fighting one another. I tag them all with Frenzy once more for good measure, to make sure the late comers are good and crazed. Then I pull out Firestorm and start plowing through them, like I had a scythe in a field of wheat. A fus-roh-dah later to pitch an archer off the walls, and the fort is clear.
I lead the surprised prisoners out of the gates, where they start bitching about how they didn't get to fight. Now that's gratitude.
PumpkinPie
Banned
After playing through Dragonborn and Dawnguard I think Dawnguard is vastly superior. I found Dragonborn to be utterly boring, whereas Dawguard is amongst the most fun I've had playing Skyrim.
The P of Poland
Member
If you're talking about the main quests of each, sure. But the island of Solstheim is great fun.
I get that glitch too. It's annoying, especially when you tried to use the Disarm shout, it didn't work, and there's an enraged Bandit Chieftain bearing down on you with a battleaxe.
Don't want to join the Volkihar but still want the achievement? Going through the Dawnguard path, right before you enter
The Soul Cairn
PumpkinPie
Banned
I think my favourite location in all my time of playing Skyrim has been Blackreach from Dawnguard.
Solstheim just seemed lazy to me, like "okay so instead of snow we'll just pretend this is ash, and it gives us and excuse to plaster white everywhere, just like the rest of Skyrim". I'm aware that Solstheim was present long before Skyrim was even made, but the lack of colour just grates on me. Plus I couldn't even get the dragon riding to work on mine, it just crashed into objects randomly and then wouldn't land at all.
For the similar achievement in Shivering Isles back in Oblivion, I just saved right before the key decision, advanced it until I got the achievement, then reverted. The way things are going with Skyrim, I might just spin up another character to be a vampire lord. :lol
I'll know if I'm getting burned out near the end of this character's run. If so I'll take up your advice - thanks for it.
I loved Solstheim. The main quest was so-so, but the side quests were really fun, my favorite in the game. (Reiklings! Treasure map! The excavation!) And the desolate ashlands, espeically near the mushrooms with the silt strider's wails echoing across the land, was really ethereal. Dunno, the desaturated visuals worked for me. Bummer it didn't click for you.
Dragon riding sucked ass for everyone, though.
PumpkinPie
Banned
^ Actually I did enjoy the weird creatures in Solstheim, especially the Netch and Silt Striders. Raven Rock was a nice place too. I did also really enjoy going to Apocrypha.
So at level 24, should I level up more before I do Dragonborn?
Do you know a good level to start it at?
Blue Ninja
Member
Blackreach was in before Dawnguard, though.
And I liked the ashlands. They looked like ashlands, not like they were covered with snow. The way the trees all looked like they'd been blasted sideways was great, too. The only thing that bothered me is that Solstheim suffered from Capital Wasteland-syndrome: 200 years after a volcanic explosion you'd expect life to return somehow. And yet the only thing that's growing are those ash yams. Maybe it has to do with the mountain being in a perpetual state of eruption for the last 200 years, but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, either. :lol
Do yourself a favor and try out Morrowind sometime.
It all depends what type of character you have, I guess. There's a lot of heavy hitters on Solstheim: Riekling Chargers killed my low-level character on Solstheim in one or two hits. I also think Dragonborn is best played post-main quest, for both story and gameplay reasons.
And if you want the "Vampire Mastered"-achivement, just make a save after you beat the main quest and get Serana to turn you (Dawnguard side). Then wreak havoc across Skyrim until you unlock it, and reload.
I'm mostly a melee charcter who uses some archery and magic (mostly healing) I guess I'll go back at lvl 30, see what happens, I'll also make sure I complete the main quest.
I don't have any of the DLC yet. Don't know if I'm going to get any at the moment. The game still has lots of things for me to do. So I guess Daedric weapons are the best I can get.
And it really sucks that the best equipment doesn't look good at all. I'm wearing all Daedric stuff and I look like something out of hellraiser.
Only issue I really have is the bugs. I have two quests so far I cannot complete because for some reason when I go to collect my reward, it doesn't say so and so is completed. I get my reward but quest is still in my log. And another one is some times I don't absorb Dragon Souls after I beat them. They just lay there with their skin and all.
And it really sucks that the best equipment doesn't look good at all. I'm wearing all Daedric stuff and I look like something out of hellraiser.
Only issue I really have is the bugs. I have two quests so far I cannot complete because for some reason when I go to collect my reward, it doesn't say so and so is completed. I get my reward but quest is still in my log. And another one is some times I don't absorb Dragon Souls after I beat them. They just lay there with their skin and all.
The P of Poland
Member
I have that bug with Dragon Souls as well. For me, it always occurs when I kill a respawned dragon at a Dragon Lair, never a random encounter or an initial assault on a lair.
I return to Soltheim cloaked in glory and power, having reunited Skyrim under the Empire and wielding powerfully enchanted armor and weapons crafted from defeated dragons. I head north, to Castle Karstaag, and all but walk through the Rieklings who once gave me such trouble. I encounter a Reikling charger, who used to chase me all over the island, one-hitting me any time they got close. This one bounced off my dragon scale shield and fell beneath my blade in moments. And I didn't even have the enchantments charged.
I arrive at the throne, enchant my weapons, equip dragon bone arrows, cast Stoneflesh, and
He arrives in his usual blizzard, and I'm ready, bow drawn, crouched in the corner. I fire, and land a critical strike, along with 3x damage.
Squinting, I can kinda sorta see the chink I just made in his life meter. Despair sets in as I realize how outmatched I am. And that's before I realize his life regenerates rapidly. As he closes on me, I notice my life meter dropping by just being in his proximity. I cast invisibility, and try to roll away, but his mace lands and I'm batted into the heavens (nice view of Solstheim), and hit the loading screen before my ascent even starts to slow.
Welp. There's always next time.
I reload and head out the gates without summoning him, where I find a hunting bow on the ground. I remember leaving it it there on my last trip, discarding it as loot I could no longer carry. I pick it up as a consolation prize. I'll be putting the gold toward ongoing light armor training back in the brotherhood's sanctuary. I'll need it for my next trip
I arrive at the throne, enchant my weapons, equip dragon bone arrows, cast Stoneflesh, and
place Karstaag's skull in it, then turn tail and run to the far side. I crouch and await his arrival.
He arrives in his usual blizzard, and I'm ready, bow drawn, crouched in the corner. I fire, and land a critical strike, along with 3x damage.
Squinting, I can kinda sorta see the chink I just made in his life meter. Despair sets in as I realize how outmatched I am. And that's before I realize his life regenerates rapidly. As he closes on me, I notice my life meter dropping by just being in his proximity. I cast invisibility, and try to roll away, but his mace lands and I'm batted into the heavens (nice view of Solstheim), and hit the loading screen before my ascent even starts to slow.
Welp. There's always next time.
I reload and head out the gates without summoning him, where I find a hunting bow on the ground. I remember leaving it it there on my last trip, discarding it as loot I could no longer carry. I pick it up as a consolation prize. I'll be putting the gold toward ongoing light armor training back in the brotherhood's sanctuary. I'll need it for my next trip
when I can hopefully summon a goddamn dragon down to lend a hand.
Blue Ninja
Member
He's like a frost troll and a giant rolled into one, and then given a quadruple health meter. He has an ice cloak which permanently damages you when you get close, and he'll summon a pack of ice wraiths any time he takes too much damage. And yeah, unless you use fire damage on him, he'll keep regenerating.
There's no simple strategy for survival for this guy. Either you can withstand the punishment, or you can't. My badass Nord managed to live, but only with the (occasional) help of a dragon and a few Rieklings, and it took my entire potion supply to actually live through it. :lol
The P of Poland
Member
I'd almost suggest you lower the difficulty, Ghaleon, this guy sounds impossible to deal with on Master. They should have made Alduin that hard, maybe this is Bethesda's way of apologizing for the laugher in Sovngarde (I typically kill Alduin in two hits with Jarrin Root poison.)
Blue Ninja
Member
I'll go that route if I can't beat him in round 3. I'm level 60, and this dude is level 90. Since my goal is to get to level 78, I'll close the gap a bit. Between now and then, I have a plan:
- Add perks to the Alteration tree, specifically the one resisting spells.
- Add perks to my Enchanting tree, to boost both the power of overall enchantments and my magical resistance. I've got two points in it, another 60% boost should do much.
- Finish getting Alchemy to 100, then brew some powerful resist frost, armor and regenerate health and potions
- Also, brew a shitload of potent health potions.
- Swap the ring I'm wearing from improving stamina regeneration (40%) to health (50%).
- Toss most of my level up points into health. Another 150 HP ought to help.
- To hit level 78 I'll need to crank schools of magic I'm not currently using. So I'll summon a Dremora Lord or two to assist.
Then utter a prayer to Crom and go one final round.
I kind of like the idea that this character has a boss battle awaiting her as a final task before retirement. But if THAT doesn't do it, crank it down a notch.
According to the wiki, the frost giant dude is 10 levels higher and has nearly 2x the health. Plus, this dude isn't invulnerable to my paralysis poisons (15 seconds), making him an Ebony Pinata.
Hmm. Might have to grind to 80 to polish him off, too.
Blue Ninja
Member
According to the wiki, the frost giant dude is 10 levels higher and has nearly 2x the health. Plus, this dude isn't invulnerable to my paralysis poisons (15 seconds), making him an Ebony Pinata.
Hmm. Might have to grind to 80 to polish him off, too.
UESP says he is invulnerable to paralysis.
UESP says he is invulnerable to paralysis.
Hey, I was just going off your link! Use UESP next time!
Okay, so he's not an Ebony Pinata. I guess that would be rather anti-climatic. :lol
Looks like he casts his own 15-second paralysis spell. And looking his full list of buffs....I can see why he's be the hardest fight. My ghostly bastard just became a mini-boss. Oh lord.
Blue Ninja
Member
Hey, I was just going off your link! Use UESP next time!
Okay, so he's not an Ebony Pinata. I guess that would be rather anti-climatic. :lol
Looks like he casts his own 15-second paralysis spell. And looking his full list of buffs....I can see why he's be the hardest fight. My ghostly bastard just became a mini-boss. Oh lord.
It's all Google's fault for putting the Elder Scrolls Wiki first, those bastards.
The P of Poland
Member
Hey, I was just going off your link! Use UESP next time!
Okay, so he's not an Ebony Pinata. I guess that would be rather anti-climatic. :lol
Looks like he casts his own 15-second paralysis spell. And looking his full list of buffs....I can see why he's be the hardest fight. My ghostly bastard just became a mini-boss. Oh lord.
Looking at the talk pages, he's actually a lot easier than you'd think. You can just Fus Ro Dah him repeatedly off the cliff he conveniently stands next to, jump on an unreachable ledge and shoot him to death, use shield charge to keep him on the ground, stagger-lock him with Destruction spells, etc. Or summon King Karstaag lololol
You actually get the power to do that after defeating him! Sadly, however, it's only good for 3 times.
Blue Ninja
Member
This needs to happen.
Well, I didn't know that I could - I intentionally had no idea what the reward was for defeating him. Would have been a nice surprise.
Poland...
(But yes...that sounds like an apt finish.
)Edit: not the end of the world. I just try to keep quest rewards a mystery until I've completed them, to me it's a big part of the fun. That said, I now have something to look forward to, on balance.
The P of Poland
Member
Sorry for the accidental spoiler Ghal.
Blue Ninja
Member
Well, I didn't know that I could - I intentionally had no idea what the reward was for defeating him. Would have been a nice surprise.
Poland...
(But yes...that sounds like an apt finish.
Edit: not the end of the world. I just try to keep quest rewards a mystery until I've completed them, to me it's a big part of the fun. That said, I now have something to look forward to, on balance.
You don't know everything about that reward yet, though.
I'm gonna take a short break from Skyrim and play through Halo 4 again, the want just struck me. :lol