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[HTuran]

Love the smithing in this game. I've been reading about how guards somehow know when you kill/assassinate someone. Can anyone confirim this or can you actually get away with killing someone without the guards knowing?

Yeah, I can kill people fine without being seen/heard. My Sneak is ~90 though.

Slitting throats is just a random chance animation, AFAIK. The sneaking power attack is hilarious in 3rd person, my character manages to bend his arm through his chest.

 

[Unicorn]

What determines whether or not you trigger the "backstab assassin" animation? I know you just sneak up behind them and do a quick click, but sometimes when I do it (usually happens to armored enemies) I just do a lame slice to their back. It still kills them in one hit but it's dumb because I wanted to see the awesome neck slicing animation. Does anyone know the "If, then" logic the game engine uses to determine whether or not I deserve that awesome kill?

I'd like to know this as well, before I make my rogue.

 

[q_q]

Love the smithing in this game. I've been reading about how guards somehow know when you kill/assassinate someone. Can anyone confirim this or can you actually get away with killing someone without the guards knowing?

I've never gotten caught for a killing unless there was someone there to actually see it, or if the person I was trying to kill yelled for help before they died. Also if you kill someone in private and another person sees, you can kill the witness to remove your bounty, so long as they haven't yelled out or run outside to a guard.

 

[Deified Data]

Probably to encourage players to keep them.

I've found them to be a decent price as far as petty loot goes. It's just that they're too heavy to carry around until I get to a shop. I almost always end up dropping them when I start finding real loot.

I'd like to know this as well, before I make my rogue.

If it's any correlation, I've noticed that all of my animated finishers have been "criticals", while not all of my criticals have been animated. Perhaps animations trigger when the critical will kill the opponent, i.e. they have low overall health or their health has been greatly reduced? There's a perk with multiple levels that can be taken to increase the probability of criticals with one-handed swords, but I'm not sure about daggers.

 

[base shagohod]

I personally would like some cinematic bow kills.. As in the camera follows the arrow in slow motion to the target. Would be sick.

 

[Nostalgic Nightmare]

I'd like to know this as well, before I make my rogue.

For me it happens if im crouched or even non crouched.
I haven't been able to tell but its probably chance around enemy level. One good example is archers, or weakly armored enemies always get throat slitted.
One thing to remember too, is the cool 3rd person slit animation only seems to happen when standing. If crouched, you just do the first person slowed down version, that looks cool but nowhere near as good as the standing 3rd person.

 

[Moofers]

Um yeah, in the Dragonreach's fortress. You know, that mage dude you talked to for the quest. He has one in his room.

Thanks. On my way there now!

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

The systems are much more intuitive in this. None of that bullshit where your secondary skills determine how many attribute points you get to allocate into each category based on what category the secondary skills fell under. It's simplified, but not to the point of pointlessness like in Mass Effect 2. The only thing I would advise is not wasting your points in lockpicking, speechcraft or pickpocketing unless you are a really hardcore roleplayer. Doing that is about the only way to really cock up a character.

Wait, why?

 

[Alchemy]

Of all the places in this game Dwarven ruins scare me.

Ghosts scare me more then they really should in this game.

 

[Deified Data]

Wait, why?

Some people consider anything not combat-related to be a waste, I guess. I disagree, but know where they're coming from.

 

[HTuran]

Wait, why?

It doesn't cock anything up, they're just pointless. All those skills are fine without perks, and you'll be rolling in money in no time.

 

[faulty_fork]

Such ungrateful guards in this game. I had just taken out a dragon that was attacking me in Falkreach and this guard runs up to me and orders me to stop shouting, apparently I was scaring the townspeople .

 

[Alchemy]

I've found them to be a decent price as far as petty loot goes. It's just that they're too heavy to carry around until I get to a shop. I almost always end up dropping them when I start finding real loot.

I didn't know what they were for, but imagined that bad ass dragon parts would be useful in the future so I keep them in my house in Whiterun. Then I discovered dragon armor smithing and was very happy I saved them.

 

[Deified Data]

How many of you people got married as soon as possible? How many of you waited until after the main quest, when the world was no longer in peril?

 

[syllogism]

If you are careful with your perk choices otherwise, getting the Merchant perk from the speechcraft tree is worthwhile really

 

[Enco]

I think I might go hardcore and never reload unless if something crazy happens.

Live with my consequences. We'll see.

 

[Jubs]

What do soul gem fragments do?

 

[GhaleonEB]

It's definitely possible to assassinate without aggroing the guards, though by the time I started experimenting I already had extremely high stealth (as in 90+ and +x% enchantments).

Yup, I've got seven murders and never had any guard troubles. The murders were for fun. Because that's how I roll.

A word of advice for MrOogieBoogie: if you go the archery route - and it's awesome, so I'd suggest it, especially if you are playing a thief - couple it with alchemy and its poison perks. I'm rocking a wicked enchanted bow and apply poisons to many of my first strikes, which results in one shot kills from sneak much of time. All but uber-dudes drop in 1-3 shots.

I haven't battled any dragons yet, though, I'm saving the main quest line for my second character.

 

[webrunner]

Wait, why?

I disagree.. It is quite possible to get through Lockpicking and Pickpocketing with few perks therein (as the sucess is mostly governed by your skill level) but there are some good perks in there. (although I can't imagine why you'd want Wax Key)

Lockpicking has ones that give you more treasure/gold and just makes things a lot easier (like starting you near the position)

Pickpocketing has a reverse-pickpocket perk (like Fallout's grenade-pants) and a carrying capacity upgrade, and has the hilarious ability to pickpocket people's equipment.

Speechcraft gives you the bribery option if you aren't in the theeive's guild, the ability to make anyone a general goods vendor or fence, and give more gold to merchants so it's far less time consuming to sell.

Basically, these are the ones that eliminate some things that might bother you, instead of necessarily making you fight better.

 

[Mindman]

How many of you people got married as soon as possible? How many of you waited until after the main quest, when the world was no longer in peril?

I still don't know how to get married. lol

 

[Gravijah]

so far i've been leveling as one hand, light armor, lockpicking, sneak. i haven't spent any perks in lockpicking, so i think i might drop it instead of getting the +gold, +special items perks.

i'm thinking of picking up alchemy, enchanting or smithing, but i'm not sure which. any recommendations?

 

[Dresden]

I'd like to know this as well, before I make my rogue.

Seems to trigger the most from a one-handed backstab from a dagger slash (not power attacks) right behind the target, as long as it's the killing blow. I get it 90% of the time.

 

[Deified Data]

I still don't know how to get married. lol

Visit the Chapel of Mara in Riften, have the head priest explain marriage to you, and procure an Amulet of Mara, which can be found all over Skyrim.

 

[HTuran]

Lockpick, Pickpocket and Speech all serve to get you more money, of which there is no need. The only money-sink in the game is property, and having more than one house is pointless, as far as I can tell.

On the other hand, you can drop gold coins, yes?

 

[Demon Ice]

I've read that there's a bug if you changed your POV (3rd person) key. Whatever you changed that to (it's normally F), that's the key you have to press in the menus to put sells/weapons in your favorites list (even though it still says you have to press F).

After you have favorited something, your Q will work.

Yeah I remapped the POV switch, that makes sense. Thanks!

 

[Lakitu]

Deal with the Skooma problem in Riften. You probably already have a misc. quest related to Skooma in your list.

I think there is a person around Riften who you accept a quest off and that will get you speaking with the Jarl.

Thanks guys. I'll look for it.

Damn, a lot of jerks in Riften. I want to punch that obnoxious prick (the annoying son of the Jarl). The Jarl is a jerk also. I hate them. Bethesda aren't doing a good job of swaying me towards the rebellion. I'm still on the fence about it.

The NPCs were lifeless in Oblivion, but a lot of the NPCs in this one are just assholes.

 

[Alchemy]

Lockpick, Pickpocket and Speech all serve to get you more money, of which there is no need. The only money-sink in the game is property, and having more than one house is pointless, as far as I can tell.

My end game goal is to get all the available houses and upgrade all of them. Also, crafting can be a decent gold sink while leveling it. Its extremely slow to try to level up crafting without dropping any money into merchants.

 

[Visceir]

ended up using enchantments and created a bow with 233 atk + 31 fire dmg +31 frost dmg. All together 257+181 dmg.

That's with the following equipment:
+35% bow dmg hood
+40% bow dmg gloves
+40% bow dmg ring
+40% bow dmg necklace

I can one shot most stuff without even using the 3x dmg modifier from sneak. Got 99 archery now, need one more for that stun perk.

Also

Spoiler

holy shit at that huge underground dwemer town/area

 

[q_q]

Wait, why?

Lockpicking is mostly based on your skill at the mini game to be honest. The perks make it easier for you, but once you get the hang of it and get enough lockpicks, it's really not that difficult without the perks. Pick pocketing is a skill you will probably rarely use outside of quest related situations. You'll usually have a 50 to 60% chance to steal if your sneak is decent without any perks from pick pocketing to begin with. Those are decent odds, especially considering you can save beforehand and then just try again if you fail. Lastly, speech craft is a bit more useful than the other two, because a higher skill and more perks will make you a lot of money in the early game. But in the mid to late game, I'd say level 20 and up, you make so much money just from random loot and quests that speechcraft isn't really going to matter much to you. Meanwhile you could spend those perks on combat skills or on enchanting, smithing or alchemy that will actually provide bonuses for your character.

 

[Deified Data]

What do soul gem fragments do?

You sprinkle them on stuff to make it look pretty and lived-in, as far as I can tell.

 

[Trasher]

So uh, I don't think I'm gonna be able to go back to Solitude anytime soon. I was pickpocketing people to level the skill up, and when I failed apparently the whole Solitude guard came after me. I proceeded to zone out of the city because that's what I usually do when I fail a pickpocket, and then I persuade or pay my fine to the guard outside. Well that didn't happen this time... Instead they ALL followed me out there and proceeded to battle me. The fight went on for so long that I trained them all the way to a village outside of Solitude...and that's when that village's guard joined the brawl as well. Long story short, I killed them all (Unrelenting Force shout was AWESOME when they all clumped up lol). I probably killed around 20-30ish guards and townsfolk (not sure why they jumped into the fray). So yeah, now I have huge bounties in those two places. So much for doing my Thieves Guild quest there I suppose. =/

Perhaps it's time to do that quest where I can sack Solitude... Hell, their guard numbers should be diminished now!

 

[HTuran]

ended up using enchantments and created a bow with 233 atk + 31 fire dmg +31 frost dmg. All together 257+181 dmg.

That's with the following equipment:
+35% bow dmg hood
+40% bow dmg gloves
+40% bow dmg ring
+40% bow dmg necklace

I can one shot most stuff without even using the 3x dmg modifier from sneak. Got 99 archery now, need one more for that stun perk.

Also

Spoiler

holy shit at that huge underground dwemer town/area

Very nice! What bow is it? Have you upgraded it to Legendary?

 

[kurohana]

Just got attacked by three dragons at once after exiting Dawnstar. Thankfully one dragon always seems to have ADD and attacks random things around it. Went through all my full heal potions and came close to death numerous times. At least the dragon graveyard looks a bit scenic.

 

[Nostalgic Nightmare]

Yup, I've got seven murders and never had any guard troubles. The murders were for fun. Because that's how I roll.

A word of advice for MrOogieBoogie: if you go the archery route - and it's awesome, so I'd suggest it, especially if you are playing a thief - couple it with alchemy and its poison perks. I'm rocking a wicked enchanted bow and apply poisons to many of my first strikes, which results in one shot kills from sneak much of time. All but uber-dudes drop in 1-3 shots.

I haven't battled any dragons yet, though, I'm saving the main quest line for my second character.

I like how you roll.
What is the best way to get started into enchanting. I'm like lvl 15 now, but really haven't leveled up smithing past 30, and haven't even started on enchanting. I was hoping to have the majority of my skills in archery/one hand/sneak

 

[Metroidvania]

Hardcover guide just came in. Took a few glances through, and realized just how much stuff is packed into the world.

Holy shit, this game.

My only real "complaint", if there is one, is that the companions are just walking aggro-tanks and storage chests. I miss Fallout's system with the hirelings having a bit more personality.

Also, question. Can chest armor pieces only be enchanted with +fortify magic regen/less percent cost to X spell school? I haven't seen anything else in my list of enchants thus far that will let me put it on a chest piece.

I need to find something with boost to alchemy or enchanting to start power-gaming, lol.

 

[Fantastical]

I'm a bit confused on how to get better destruction spells. I'm level 16 and I still have only Sparks and Flames. How do I get better?

 

[garath]

Lockpick, Pickpocket and Speech all serve to get you more money, of which there is no need. The only money-sink in the game is property, and having more than one house is pointless, as far as I can tell.

On the other hand, you can drop gold coins, yes?

As much as I'd like to agree:

- I'm level 22 and still not rolling in money. This is 20 hours in. Even if the perk is less useful later in life, if it's good for 20+ hours, then I'm ok with that. In fact I'm usually pretty broke and I still haven't gotten to buy my house yet. But I've been buying equipment that I like (or want the enchantment from) and working on some blacksmithing and enchantment in between dungeon crawls.
- The carrying capacity perk for pickpocketing is fantastic. Add in my stamina and the Steed stone and I can carry 550 stones right now.

I like how you roll.
What is the best way to get started into enchanting. I'm like lvl 15 now, but really haven't leveled up smithing past 30, and haven't even started on enchanting. I was hoping to have the majority of my skills in archery/one hand/sneak

Best way is to get some empty petty and lesser soul gems (as many as you can find) and use the soul trap spell (or enchantment) to grab some souls. Then find some magic items and disenchant them for their enchantment and use the souls you collected to enchant cheap items like daggers. You'll get plenty of skill points that way.

Alternatively you can enchant a weapon with soul trap and run around trapping souls then recharging it when it runs out.

 

[Enco]

On the other hand, you can drop gold coins, yes?

http://i.imgur.com/5EmZD.jpg[/IM G][/QUOTE]
Dear lord.

What a brilliant idea. A room full of gold! Will get some money and do this.

 

[Trasher]

I like how you roll.
What is the best way to get started into enchanting. I'm like lvl 15 now, but really haven't leveled up smithing past 30, and haven't even started on enchanting. I was hoping to have the majority of my skills in archery/one hand/sneak

Enchanting is quite easy. Every time you get some items with enchants on them, go to an enchanting table and disenchant them. I generally use the table in Dragonsreach since Whiterun acts as my home anyways. Once you disenchant a magical item, you will permanently receive that item enchant, and you won't be able to disenchant items with the same type of enchant on them. Then, once you accumulate a number of different enchants, just start forging cheap gear or using random gear you find to put cheap enchantments on. You will need soul gems (filled with souls) in order to do so. This is also a good way to make some cash because the items will be worth more with enchants on them.

 

[HTuran]

As much as I'd like to agree:

- I'm level 22 and still not rolling in money. This is 20 hours in. Even if the perk is less useful later in life, if it's good for 20+ hours, then I'm ok with that. In fact I'm usually pretty broke and I still haven't gotten to buy my house yet. But I've been buying equipment that I like (or want the enchantment from) and working on some blacksmithing and enchantment in between dungeon crawls.
- The carrying capacity perk for pickpocketing is fantastic. Add in my stamina and the Steed stone and I can carry 550 stones right now.

You've made me realize that stating something as fact about this game is impossible, as it's a system. Different people play different ways and get different results. I guess what I should've said is that if you seek it out, it's super easy to get rich.

Dear lord.

What a brilliant idea. A room full of gold! Will get some money and do this.

You should've seen my face when I realised this might be possible :lol

I wonder how long it takes to drop 80k coins?

 

[Smash88]

As much as I'd like to agree:

- I'm level 22 and still not rolling in money. This is 20 hours in. Even if the perk is less useful later in life, if it's good for 20+ hours, then I'm ok with that. In fact I'm usually pretty broke and I still haven't gotten to buy my house yet. But I've been buying equipment that I like (or want the enchantment from) and working on some blacksmithing and enchantment in between dungeon crawls.
- The carrying capacity perk for pickpocketing is fantastic. Add in my stamina and the Steed stone and I can carry 550 stones right now.

I'm level 22 Master Thief/Archer, I'm 24 hours in and I have over 22k in gold, and I haven't even sold half the stuff I potentially could, because I'm a hoarder. I don't know how people are low on money in this game?

Also, it's not like I've been skimping on money either, I've fully furnished the home in Whiterun, and always buy lockpicks, arrows, and potions when permitted.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Thanks guys. I'll look for it.

Damn, a lot of jerks in Riften. I want to punch that obnoxious prick (the annoying son of the Jarl). The Jarl is a jerk also. I hate them. Bethesda aren't doing a good job of swaying me towards the rebellion. I'm still on the fence about it.

The NPCs were lifeless in Oblivion, but a lot of the NPCs in this one are just assholes.

Fuck the Stormcloaks.

That is all. :lol

 

[webrunner]

Lockpick, Pickpocket and Speech all serve to get you more money, of which there is no need. The only money-sink in the game is property, and having more than one house is pointless, as far as I can tell.

On the other hand, you can drop gold coins, yes?

There are several situations where having Speech or Pickpocket or Lockpick can make a quest easier or faster by breaking into a house, stealing a key, or using persuede/intimidate.

Hardcover guide just came in. Took a few glances through, and realized just how much stuff is packed into the world.

Holy shit, this game.

My only real "complaint", if there is one, is that the companions are just walking aggro-tanks and storage chests. I miss Fallout's system with the hirelings having a bit more personality.

Also, question. Can chest armor pieces only be enchanted with +fortify magic regen/less percent cost to X spell school? I haven't seen anything else in my list of enchants thus far that will let me put it on a chest piece.

I need to find something with boost to alchemy or enchanting to start power-gaming, lol.

Fortify Health is available on chest armor. Basically if you can find an item that has it on the chest you can usually enchant it on chests.

As for companions, I find that some of them (like

Spoiler

the three novices

) at least have some interesting stuff at least in the lead up to getting them.

I miss follower quests from New Vegas, though.

 

[Trasher]

Also, question. Can chest armor pieces only be enchanted with +fortify magic regen/less percent cost to X spell school? I haven't seen anything else in my list of enchants thus far that will let me put it on a chest piece.

I need to find something with boost to alchemy or enchanting to start power-gaming, lol.

I was wondering the same thing. I still haven't found a good chest enchantment for my character. =/

 

[garath]

You've made me realize that stating something as fact about this game is impossible, as it's a system. Different people play different ways and get different results. I guess what I should've said is that if you seek it out, it's super easy to get rich.

I can definitely agree there. It's amazing how different people play. I work in software development and practically my entire office is playing the game and the stories that they tell are amazing. Wildly different experiences.

I'm level 22 Master Thief/Archer, I'm 24 hours in and I have over 22k in gold, and I haven't even sold half the stuff I potentially could, because I'm a hoarder. I don't know how people are low on money in this game?

Also, it's not like I've been skimping on money either, I've fully furnished the home in Whiterun, and always buy lockpicks, arrows, and potions when permitted.

Ok, so for my own edification, where are you guys getting the monies from? I've only done a little stealing. Most of my time has been in dungeons where I'll get a few thousand coins which I'll then spend on neat things.

 

[Gravijah]

if i focus on leveling a new skill, am i going to fuck myself over by going 5-10 levels without leveling anything combat?

 

[Smash88]

I love being in the Dark Brotherhood, especially when city guards come up to me and say:

Spoiler

"Psst, I know who you really are [in terms of what guild you are with]... Night Mother."

Makes me feel well renown and respected.

Ok, so for my own edification, where are you guys getting the monies from? I've only done a little stealing. Most of my time has been in dungeons where I'll get a few thousand coins which I'll then spend on neat things.

I steal a lot of stuff, basically every chance I get. I also raid a lot of dungeons, and I do a lot of side quests, that offer 1000 gold, 2000 gold, etc...

 

[Nostalgic Nightmare]

Don't want to shit up the thread but thanks for the info garath and Trasher

 

[Johnlenham]

Getting fucked off with stupid npc helpers getting killed. I think im going to jack in using anyone as I cant use high tier magic for fear of the splash damage hitting them and constantly have to dance about trying to avoid shooting the stupid bint with fire bolts!

God know what im supposed to do with Gold, I have like 30k and there is nothing to buy, Ive got a chest dedicated to Gems of all kinds probably worth a fortune aswell..

 

[Trasher]

I'm level 22 Master Thief/Archer, I'm 24 hours in and I have over 22k in gold, and I haven't even sold half the stuff I potentially could, because I'm a hoarder. I don't know how people are low on money in this game?

Also, it's not like I've been skimping on money either, I've fully furnished the home in Whiterun, and always buy lockpicks, arrows, and potions when permitted.

I don't understand this. I'm level 34 and I'm always wishing I had more cash. There's always something you can spend your money on it seems. I see no point in hoarding my gold because there's always something I can spend it on to further my character's progress. Whether it is buying mats for new weapons/armor, buying new skill training, or just for power leveling a skill like smithing. In my opinion, if you have that much gold at your level, then you aren't trying hard enough to spend it haha. Or maybe I'm so poor because I can't carry as many items as you to vendor since I'm wearing heavy armor? I dunno.

Don't want to shit up the thread but thanks for the info garath and Trasher

Np!