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[MWS Natural]

Elven arrows are real nice, so are orcish. But I would assume if there are daedric arrows in the game then those are, I have yet to come across them though

GLASS ARROWS FTW.

 

[Zeliard]

Yes, it should work fine, although there is an overall limit to armor's effectiveness. You can only block up to 80% of melee damage through armor. At some point you are likely to reach that limit through just workbenched heavy armor, at which point casting it would be a waste.

I'm gonna go up the Alteration tree with the rest of my playthrough, probably. There's a perk that ends up tripling Mage Armor, so with Ebony Flesh that gives an armor rating of 300. Not too shabby.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Are you sidequesting like crazy or what? I'm on hold with the main quest at the same point as you, but I've done half of the mages guild questline, and am almost done with the Companions questline. Also done a few random quests here and there. I'm level 12!

Re: Dragons. I've actually seen like 3 of them in the wild, circling around me. I get into position and prepare for the battle. Then I look up and see him just flying off into the distance. So, I've never actually fought in a random dragon encounter, but have seen them.

Unless that one when you enter

Spoiler

Winterhold

is considered random, but it seemed like that was scripted.

I've been exploring tons of dungeons and doing minor quests, and I'm into the Companions Questline fairly deep. I'm going to finish that off before I head to the next stage of the main quest I think.

I has assumed that after completing training with the Greybeards I'd start getting the random dragon encounters, but so far, none at all. I know where there is one more dragon to go after, but after that, it'll be just discovering them as I go.

I think I have at least two shouts to either activate or power up at this point and I could sure you those dragon souls.

 

[krioto]

I'm gonna go up the Alteration tree with the rest of my playthrough, probably. There's a perk that ends up tripling Mage Armor, so with Ebony Flesh that gives an armor rating of 300. Not too shabby.

Yes, but only if you're not wearing any armour - so this won't work if you're using a dragon-priest mask (they count as light armour)

 

[Wallach]

Does Mage Armor like Stoneflesh and Ironflesh help against magical attacks?

No, they grant the same kind of rating that physical armor does, which only affects physical damage.

@Zeilard - my mage has been using those perks the entire game, and I quite like them. The only disappointment is that items like

Spoiler

Morokei

can't be used or it will disable the benefit due to counting as armor.

 

[Double D]

After looking at some of the perks for blocking, I may want to get the shield back into rotation.

 

[Wallach]

After looking at some of the perks for blocking, I may want to get the shield back into rotation.

I posted this a couple pages back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1pIY3f8uTg

Shields are the bomb.

 

[Zeliard]

Does Mage Armor like Stoneflesh and Ironflesh help against magical attacks?

They're armors against physical attacks, but the Alteration tree has some Magic Resistance perks. Plus there are other ways to get mag res up, like potions and one of the Guardian Stones, as well as the Wards from Restoration.

Filthy Bretons have less of a problem there.

No, they grant the same kind of rating that physical armor does, which only affects physical damage.

@Zeilard - my mage has been using those perks the entire game, and I quite like them. The only disappointment is that items like

Spoiler

Morokei

can't be used or it will disable the benefit due to counting as armor.

The Wards also add to armor rating, so with Greater Ward and Ebony Flesh x3 you have a nice 380 armor rating. Does suck about not being able to wear certain pieces of armor, though Enchanting can make up for it to a degree.

 

[ckohler]

Yes, but only if you're not wearing any armour - so this won't work if you're using a dragon-priest mask (they count as light armour)

So the basic gist is that aside from non-armor being less weight, there is really no benefit to using just robes and clothes as a mage?! I've been under the assumption all along that NOT wearing armor would be better for my mage. But considering I have to cast IronFlesh every 60 seconds and it doesn't protect me as well as light-armor... it's a real hassle. I could just enchant some light-armor and never have to bother casting any Mage Armor spells.

Is this right? Is there any advantage to using only Mage Armor aside from a little bit of weight savings?

 

[universalmind]

I posted this a couple pages back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1pIY3f8uTg

Shields are the bomb.

Too bad there's a bug where it stops working for good after a time.

 

[krioto]

So the basic gist is that aside from non-armor being less weight, there is really no benefit to using just robes and clothes as a mage?! I've been under the assumption all along that NOT wearing armor would be better for my mage. But considering I have to cast IronFlesh every 60 seconds and it doesn't protect me as well as light-armor... it's a real hassle. I could just enchant some light-armor and never have to bother casting any Mage Armor spells.

Is this right? Is there any advantage to using only Mage Armor aside from a little bit of weight savings?

I think the benefit is still there for the mage-armour alteration tree - but it's just annoying that you cannot use any dragon-priest mask if you do.

 

[Zeliard]

So the basic gist is that aside from non-armor being less weight, there is really no benefit to using just robes and clothes as a mage?! I've been under the assumption all along that NOT wearing armor would be better for my mage. But considering I have to cast IronFlesh every 60 seconds and it doesn't protect me as well as light-armor... it's a real hassle. I could just enchant some light-armor and never have to bother casting any Mage Armor spells.

Is this right? Is there any advantage to using only Mage Armor aside from a little bit of weight savings?

Go after the perk that triples Mage Armor effectiveness. It's a perk with three levels so you do have to use three points on it (at 30/50/70), but I imagine it's well worth it, especially once you get Ebony Flesh. Also dual casting doubles the duration time. When you combine that with the Wards, you'll have some solid defense going.

The downside is mainly not being able to use Dragon Priest masks.

 

[Lakitu]

:lol This fucking game.

I was out in Whiterun selling a bunch of shit, and this guy comes up to me and challenges me in a magic duel.

I use Greater Ward + Flames, I'm not dishing out as much damage as I like so I duel wield flames and he gets the upper hand taking a bunch of my health. I spam restore health and magicka potions as we battle through Whiterun's streets.

Then I forgot Lydia was with me and she starts attacking him with her greatsword. He's like 'this is a magic duel! you know.. with spells and stuff!' while he's getting hit. Lydia goes down and we finish our battle at the bottom of the city near a stream. He was down begging for his life but I had no choice to finish him. Thanks Lydia!

 

[HildyB]

So I guess telling your dog it's time to go home doesn't mean return to the home you own, to be with lydia....

I found the Stray Dog and took him to my Home in Whiterun. He was there for a few days (told him to stay, he would sleep by the fire). Then one day he wasn't there anymore I was so sad...

 

[Einbroch]

Go after the perk that triples Mage Armor effectiveness. It's a perk with three levels so you do have to use three points on it (at 30/50/70), but I imagine it's well worth it, especially once you get Ebony Flesh. Also dual casting doubles the duration time. When you combine that with the Wards, you'll have some solid defense going.

The downside is mainly not being able to use Dragon Priest masks.

Just saying, you know there's a "flesh" spell that's better than Ebony, right?

 

[Zeliard]

Just saying, you know there's a "flesh" spell that's better than Ebony, right?

Is there?

 

[scy]

Also don't wait too long to do your honor proving mission of the companions or you'll be stuck fighting 30 dragur deathlords.

Honestly, that's the entire reason I'm putting the quest off for so long. That's exactly what I want.

Even though you can upgrade stuff to legendary, I wish there was a top-tier Nord equipment. The coolest weapons and armor in the game for a warrior are the Nordic steel line, but they're only level 2. They have skyforge steel and Nord hero weapons, so why not armor?

I think there's a mod for PC that adds them, actually.

 

[Wallach]

Is there?

I guess he's talking about Dragonhide, but it's as inconvenient as any other master class spell. 80% melee damage reduction for 30 seconds.

 

[Einbroch]

I guess he's talking about Dragonhide, but it's as inconvenient as any other master class spell. 80% melee damage reduction for 30 seconds.

I think it's the only one that's worth a damn! You can power level block and your armor skills so easily with it when attacking giants.

 

[Zeliard]

Power leveling is for pussies. :>

 

[Wallach]

I think it's the only one that's worth a damn! You can power level block and your armor skills so easily with it when attacking giants.

Yeah, but the wind up bluuuuuuh so little duration seriously I can't be arsed to cast that shit all the time. Not when I have the Dremora Bros out in front taking most of the hits nowadays anyway. Much rather be able to just refresh Ebonyflesh on the move.

 

[Double D]

I posted this a couple pages back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1pIY3f8uTg

Shields are the bomb.

Whoa. Let me ask you though, how do you switch to that restoration spell and back to sword/shield on the fly like that?

 

[scy]

Power leveling is for pussies. :>

But grinding out non-combat skills to raise the enemy level makes the game harder as they scale above you. Better yet, don't even utilize those skills you grinded if it's one of the crafting ones. Levels for no reason! Hooray!

Part of me is curious to see how ridiculously hard game is if I grind out all the non-combat skills on a character before doing anything in the game. Need a way to adjust the loot drop scaling to my combat skills, though (i.e., see Ebony equipment at 80+ Heavy Armor skill rather than Clvl 35+ or whatever it's tied to).

 

[Zeliard]

Yeah, but the wind up bluuuuuuh so little duration seriously I can't be arsed to cast that shit all the time. Not when I have the Dremora Bros out in front taking most of the hits nowadays anyway. Much rather be able to just refresh Ebonyflesh on the move.

I imagine like most Master spells, it's powerful but has less of a functional application than some of the spells below it.

 

[krioto]

I guess he's talking about Dragonhide, but it's as inconvenient as any other master class spell. 80% melee damage reduction for 30 seconds.

I thought that was a once-per-day deal - so not really an alternative.

 

[Wallach]

Whoa. Let me ask you though, how do you switch to that restoration spell and back to sword/shield on the fly like that?

That's not my personal video, but you can use hotkeys by assigning them from within the Favorites menu. On 360/PS3 you hold left/right on the directional pad for like two seconds on the item to bind it, whereas on PC w/ keyboard you just press 1-8 to assign it to that number. Much more limited on the controller with only two hotkeys.

I thought that was a once-per-day deal - so not really an alternative.

Nah, that's the Breton ability Dragonskin. Dragonhide is a master-level Alteration spell.

I imagine like most Master spells, it's powerful but has less of a functional application than some of the spells below it.

Basically. 80% gives you the same protection as the armor cap of 567 without perk investment, but has the big wind-up time and much shorter duration. I just don't take enough melee hits anymore to care that much, and the ones I do are still covered by Ebonyflesh, which is usually enough to prevent me from getting one-shot anymore.

I do think the Illusion master-class spells look fun if you can land them on high enough level folks with perks. I'll probably specialize in Illusion on my thief character to see how well it works. I'd do it on my mage but I don't really want to level Sneak that much and I want to be able to drop Mayhem bombs on unsuspecting folks.

 

[Haunted]

Again I wish I were part of the master race. I guess I'll continue to use steel arrows in that case.

The PC mod maker has made the requirements kinda steep, though. I've barely managed to craft 20 Ebony arrows because of those damned Hawk Feathers!

That said, Steel Arrows are terrible, Dwarven arrow should be the very minimum to get proper results.

Then again, I guess it all depends on your level. Shops are usually well stocked with arrows.

 

[Yopis]

Well 70 hours in and I think its time to knock out the first main story quest lol. Great game maybe my favorite of this gen. Only want is a HC mode ala New Vegas (Obsidian). Really miss the extra strategy of balancing gear, water, and food supplies before heading out on a quest. Props to bethesda. Some of the info in the books relating too the world and even missions is brilliant. (Played Morrowind and Oblivion)

 

[Haunted]

Whoa. Let me ask you though, how do you switch to that restoration spell and back to sword/shield on the fly like that?

hotkeys

 

[Double D]

That's not my personal video, but you can use hotkeys by assigning them from within the Favorites menu. On 360/PS3 you hold left/right on the directional pad for like two seconds on the item to bind it, whereas on PC w/ keyboard you just press 1-8 to assign it to that number. Much more limited on the controller with only two hotkeys.

Wow, thanks. I'm on 360, but 2 is better than nothing. Yesterday I discover there is a sprint button and now this! What else am I missing out on?

 

[evangd007]

They're armors against physical attacks, but the Alteration tree has some Magic Resistance perks. Plus there are other ways to get mag res up, like potions and one of the Guardian Stones, as well as the Wards from Restoration.

Filthy Bretons have less of a problem there.

That explains why I don't understand all of these problems people are having with early game mages, I always found them to be free kills: sprint up, bash face to interrupt, cut to ribbons. It's the damn trolls that keep giving me problems. I figured that in heavy armor with a shield and Ironflesh I'd be able to outlast them, but when facing more than 1 it gets dicey. Adding a Flame Atronach to my repertoire seems to have mitigated that.

I'm far enough into Alteration to get Magic Resistance, and am debating if I should push to get Atronach. I don't see myself using too many Adept or Expert Alteration spells, but Atronach is quite good.

I also sincerely wish that Conditioning didn't require Fists of Steel and Cushioning. They are just so bad.

 

[Zeliard]

But grinding out non-combat skills to raise the enemy level makes the game harder as they scale above you. Better yet, don't even utilize those skills you grinded if it's one of the crafting ones. Levels for no reason! Hooray!

Part of me is curious to see how ridiculously hard game is if I grind out all the non-combat skills on a character before doing anything in the game. Need a way to adjust the loot drop scaling to my combat skills, though (i.e., see Ebony equipment at 80+ Heavy Armor skill rather than Clvl 35+ or whatever it's tied to).

Doesn't matter as much that you're not getting those drops, though, when you can level Smithing to 100 relatively early on and buy ebony materials from vendors, then craft ebony stuff.

It could be a fun added challenge if you leveled stuff like Smithing & Enchanting to 100 early but then didn't actually use them.

 

[Grisby]

Hit my first difficulty spike. Had to face some necromancers and one of them was ascendant. Had to do the battle 4 times because they were raping my 2 hand warrior build.

 

[Ace Harding]

Dumb question:

If I level up, but do not apply a perk, do I keep that perk point when I level up again (and thus have two points to apply)?

Or do you have to NOT level up to save perk points?

I could have sworn I leveled up, didn't apply a point, then leveled up again and I only had one point to apply.

Also, why are dragons so damn easy in this game? I have faced 4-5 so far (I'm at level 13) and I don't think I've taken any damage from them at all. It can take a while to kill them, but using a bow I just hit them over and over until they die and they never actually hit me. Granted, a couple of those times they were distracted by other NPC's and/or beasts. But still...

 

[Haunted]

Wow, thanks. I'm on 360, but 2 is better than nothing. Yesterday I discover there is a sprint button and now this! What else am I missing out on?

did you know there's a jump button

Joking aside, a friend of mine didn't know that you can wait/rest wherever without having to look for a bed.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

So I'm doing the quest for Hircine.

I've been given the option to

Spoiler

spare or kill the werewolf guy.

What should I do?

Also, this place looks awesome.

 

[Haunted]

I've played quite a lot of Skyrim and only two quests are broken and can't be finished/continued so far. Pretty good for a Bethesda game.

So I'm doing the quest for Hircine.

I've been given the option to

Spoiler

spare or kill the werewolf guy.

What should I do?

Also, this place looks awesome.

Go with your gut feeling!

Also, why are dragons so damn easy in this game? I have faced 4-5 so far (I'm at level 13) and I don't think I've taken any damage from them at all. It can take a while to kill them, but using a bow I just hit them over and over until they die and they never actually hit me. Granted, a couple of those times they were distracted by other NPC's and/or beasts. But still...

Dragons are damn weak, yeah. Trolls, Witches, Wispmothers, Mammoths and Giants all feel stronger and more dangerous. Fuck, most Snow Bears would probably drop regular Dragons if they had a ranged attack.

 

[HildyB]

Wow, thanks. I'm on 360, but 2 is better than nothing. Yesterday I discover there is a sprint button and now this! What else am I missing out on?

Lol... RTFM. I just found out about the 360 hot keys a couple days ago too. THEN I took a look in the manual.. nothing else worth mentioning in there.

In third person you click in the right stick and using the left stick zoom in or out.

 

[Zeliard]

That explains why I don't understand all of these problems people are having with early game mages, I always found them to be free kills: sprint up, bash face to interrupt, cut to ribbons. It's the damn trolls that keep giving me problems. I figured that in heavy armor with a shield and Ironflesh I'd be able to outlast them, but when facing more than 1 it gets dicey. Adding a Flame Atronach to my repertoire seems to have mitigated that.

I'm far enough into Alteration to get Magic Resistance, and am debating if I should push to get Atronach. I don't see myself using too many Adept or Expert Alteration spells, but Atronach is quite good.

I also sincerely wish that Conditioning didn't require Fists of Steel and Cushioning. They are just so bad.

With Breton you started with 25% magic resistance of the bat, so you're able to get it to its max (I think it caps at 85%) more easily than others can. With the 3x Magic Resistance perk, you'd have a meaty and permanent 55% magic resistance.

And if you're going Mage I'd definitely recommend playing with the Conjuration tree. Not only is it just fun (and extremely useful) soul trapping enemies with Bound Weapons and such, but also summoning and resurrecting various creatures/people. And later on Conjuration gets hugely powerful.

So I'm doing the quest for Hircine.

I've been given the option to

Spoiler

spare or kill the werewolf guy.

What should I do?

Also, this place looks awesome.

Oh man, you definitely want to

Spoiler

SPARE HIM

.

You end up with something quite nice. :>

 

[CHEEZMO™]

Oh man, you definitely want to

Spoiler

SPARE HIM

.

You end up with something quite nice. :>

...

I better!

 

[Haunted]

There are no wrong builds, a jack of all trades build is fine, and any two skills maxed out (and used) will make you very powerful. No reason to be afraid to spec incorrectly, imo.

Oh man, you definitely want to

Spoiler

SPARE HIM

.

You end up with something quite nice. :>

 

[Cudder]

I killed a dragon a while ago and it didn't disintegrate or give me a soul. Is that normal?

 

[MMaRsu]

Huh i just killed a blood dragon and didnt gain its soul.. Im on ps3 should i reload?

 

[erragal]

Basically. 80% gives you the same protection as the armor cap of 567 without perk investment, but has the big wind-up time and much shorter duration. I just don't take enough melee hits anymore to care that much, and the ones I do are still covered by Ebonyflesh, which is usually enough to prevent me from getting one-shot anymore.

I do think the Illusion master-class spells look fun if you can land them on high enough level folks with perks. I'll probably specialize in Illusion on my thief character to see how well it works. I'd do it on my mage but I don't really want to level Sneak that much and I want to be able to drop Mayhem bombs on unsuspecting folks.

I tried using Dragonhide but the shorter duration and irritating cast time led me to switching back to ebonyflesh. Using a shield I'm at 370 armor which is good enough to be tough but not invincible. Dragonhide technically is the best armor in the game because it can't be reduced by armor penetration but the annoyance isn't worth it.

My friend with illusion says the master level spells allow you to calm/frenzy entire towns; they seem to be far and away the best master spells. Mass Paralysis is kinda neat but it's usually faster to just cast paralyze a few times separately and FAR less dangerous. Conjuration ones are neat but technically weaker than Dremora Lord; I think Guardian circle with all the resto perks is pretty strong but likely just as annoying as dragonhide.

 

[Ramma2]

Fuck work. All I want to do is play and this thread does not help.

 

[Zeliard]

img

What, for going with that option or telling him in the first place?

 

[MMaRsu]

I killed a dragon a while ago and it didn't disintegrate or give me a soul. Is that normal?

Heh..same here

 

[ckohler]

Go after the perk that triples Mage Armor effectiveness. It's a perk with three levels so you do have to use three points on it (at 30/50/70), but I imagine it's well worth it, especially once you get Ebony Flesh. Also dual casting doubles the duration time. When you combine that with the Wards, you'll have some solid defense going.

The downside is mainly not being able to use Dragon Priest masks.

Other downsides are that doing all that stuff requires constant buffing and eats mana where has light-armor you know... you just sorta wear it. No effort. Do you see what I mean? I'm still not seeing the Mage Armor advantage when I can just wear a bunch of quality light-armor and never have to think about it.

 

[Prezhulio]

so what perks do i need to use on enchanting for the 25% spell magicka reduction X 4 equppied pieces to get infinite magicka to work? or was someone just making that up?

 

[garath]

Dumb question:

If I level up, but do not apply a perk, do I keep that perk point when I level up again (and thus have two points to apply)?

Or do you have to NOT level up to save perk points?

I could have sworn I leveled up, didn't apply a point, then leveled up again and I only had one point to apply.

Also, why are dragons so damn easy in this game? I have faced 4-5 so far (I'm at level 13) and I don't think I've taken any damage from them at all. It can take a while to kill them, but using a bow I just hit them over and over until they die and they never actually hit me. Granted, a couple of those times they were distracted by other NPC's and/or beasts. But still...

Level and don't spend the perk point and you'll have it to spend later whenever you want.