That's something i definitely have worked to amend in my thief characters. It's why i rock 1h as a subspecialization, so he gets his light armor skill a bit of a workout.
Playing the game as a thief/archer/assassin is the best way still. Warrior is still the most boring. I don t understand why they didnt just jack all the ideas in the deadly reflexes mod...
Played a few hours last night and advanced the thieves guild quests a bit. First time I didn't have a crash while playing in awhile, but I did kill a dragon and wasn't able to absorb his soul. Was a bit bummed about that, although I went through him so fast that the game probably felt like I didn't deserve a soul.
Played for a couple of hours last night and had my first big crash/lockup. Was playing one of the College's quests and I rescued some guy who conjured a Flame Atronach. I went into the next room where there were three dark mages to fight. Naturally, I conjured a Flame Atronach myself and then walked in to clear house. As I moved in and magic started flying, the framerate dropped steadily until it hit zero. I couldn't even move for like 30 seconds. I guess there was just too much going on. After the room was cleared, it rose a bit, but was still very poor.
So I just reloaded a save and replayed through that room without conjuring anything.
Weird how this type of thing could happen in a released game.
Played for a couple of hours last night and had my first big crash/lockup. Was playing one of the College's quests and I rescued some guy who conjured a Flame Atronach. I went into the next room where there were three dark mages to fight. Naturally, I conjured a Flame Atronach myself and then walked in to clear house. As I moved in and magic started flying, the framerate dropped steadily until it hit zero. I couldn't even move for like 30 seconds. I guess there was just too much going on. After the room was cleared, it rose a bit, but was still very poor.
So I just reloaded a save and replayed through that room without conjuring anything.
Weird how this type of thing could happen in a released game.
I had something smiliar happen to me. Only difference was that there was no framerate drop (game runs great), but instead it crashed without any warning. i was fighting a few mages with a companion and dog by my side. Haven't gone back since, because other games are taking up my time atm.
I'm starting to feel kinda burned out with this game. 40 hours in and I've been doing a bunch of side quests and not focusing on the main story. I already finished Companions and I'm about halfway through the Thieves Guild missions. There are a bunch of side missions to do, but I look at them and don't really feel like doing any of them. Do you guys think trying to hop back on the main storyline will give me a kickstart to continue playing? I'm on the mission where I have to
I'm starting to feel kinda burned out with this game. 40 hours in and I've been doing a bunch of side quests and not focusing on the main story. I already finished Companions and I'm about halfway through the Thieves Guild missions. There are a bunch of side missions to do, but I look at them and don't really feel like doing any of them. Do you guys think trying to hop back on the main storyline will give me a kickstart to continue playing? I'm on the mission where I have to
I personally found the main quest to be badass, a few awesome sights to see and much fighting of dragons.
I just beat the MQ last night and I'm more pumped than ever to go explore some more shit with my new shouts. Personally, I'd say power through it, the thing isn't more than seven hours long. Maybe longer, if you refuse to fast travel, as there is one quest that requires you to traverse pretty much the entire continent.
I have had my fare share of glitches now and it's getting to me. I met my first Dragon Priest after more than 100 hours played. hard to believe it took that long to run across one. Hell, I still hadn't even set foot in on the the major cities till the 98 hour mark. Anyways, the glitches. I'm still boned with no way of getting Karliah out of the spot she's in to be able to advance the Thieves Guild quest line. Seems I'll never get to finish that one. There's another quest that has been borked for longer in Markarth where I'm supposed to go to jail, bt no one takes me. Now I'm trying for the arrow glitch and the guys practicing, no matter where I go, have no arrows to steal. i want to up ebony and daedric but how do I do that if they have no arrows in their inventory to switch out? They just keep firing steel and there is no way to switch.
Something tells me that last one might be an adjustment brought about by the patch.
I hate how after a massive dragon attack in town, some dumb villager will immediately go back into their dialogue loop. "I don't mind magic, just make sure you don't use that stuff in this town." Motherfucker, did you not just see the huge-ass dragon I killed single-handedly?!
Also, some of these dungeons are just stunning. I just cleared out Broker Oar Grotto, so pretty.
Don't know about the English version but in the German version most NPCs try to really piss me off and insult me - too bad I can't kill most of them. I kill dragons, rule the Dark Brotherhood but I still hear their empty threats
The worst enemies to encounter for me (playing as a mage) are those damn bears. Everything else I can handle, but they always seem to get the jump on me. Ran into a cave for a side quest that had three (!!) grizzlies lying in wait for me. They crushed my frost atronach too.
I was being fascious in my spoiler tag, since it was in the quote I was replying to. Falmer are in the loading screens. :lol
I love all the unmarked little details in the world. I just now found the burned down shack south of Riften, where the guy apparantly burned his place down doing the Black Sacrament. Whoops!
My current character is going to finish up the civil war story line, and then do nothing but side quests. Once a few pathes are out, I'll start my second. I'm almost settled on a build strategy for him. It's fun plotting out characters.
The worst enemies to encounter for me (playing as a mage) are those damn bears. Everything else I can handle, but they always seem to get the jump on me. Ran into a cave for a side quest that had three (!!) grizzlies lying in wait for me. They crushed my frost atronach too.
So I got the 100,000 gold trophy, and finally start spending this on houses... and they're dumps. I mean, if I fork over even more cash I can deck them out awesomely, but they're already pretty expensive. And I've gotta buy nine houses if I want to be Thane of everywhere. I honestly don't think I can afford nine houses and all their decorations.
Sorry, my new housecarls, guess you'll be sleeping on straw for a while. Maybe I should start turning these dragon remains into armor and then into gold...
In other news, I just hit 100 hours, and I've apparently never been to Falkreath. Huh.
EDIT: Wait, how to I purchase a house in Markarth? I'm pretty sure I've done the relevant quest, I've got a note in my quest log to go do it, but talking to the steward won't do anything. And there's no quest marker for the objective. Wtf? Does taking a side in the Civil War affect this, perhaps?
Finally getting a 'Rambo' feeling playing my Mage character. So awesome. Fireballs, Ice and Fire cloaks. Oh, and don't forget the BOUND BOW. I freaking love warping in a bow and using it. The magic animations in first person are sooooooo much better than those in Oblivion. That's why I always go for Mage characters. Just using weapons would be way too dull for me. Oh, and did I say I love Bound Bow very much?
Also, a question about a shout: what is the use of the one shout where you
say 'Hey Skeever Butt!'
and stuff like that? For the life of me, can't seem to figure this out.
I'm probably 80 hours in and just came across Falkreath too. I've added it to the map, but that's about all I've done there. Made it into town just long enough to pick up the quest with the dog and off i went again.
There is still so much to see and do in this game. Love it!
I just read a few of you said you finished the Companions...how long does it take? because for now,they just keep giving little quest/jobs non stop it seems...Aela sends me on animal extermination quests all over the place,Farkas joins me in clearing some dungeons of bandits or what not,it seems to never end...
Also for those on PC,is Steam messed up right now for you guys? steam cloud stuff seems to be down and it says I have no connection on the bottom but I can still browse other stuff in there and my internet is fine.
I'm still running into dungeons that surprise me, quite pleasantly.
The other night I found one where the entry way was a trap that dumped me into a cage, where a necromancer was torturing and enslaving would-be adventurers. Best part was, after I'd escaped and was looking around, the body of another guy drops down the chute. He'd bagged another! Hilarious.
Last night I wandered into a cave, and found it was a massive open cavern with high walkways, waterfalls and a river running through it. I really never know what to expect when I walk into a cave/dungeon. 130 hours in, the game still keeping me on my toes.
I spent an hour and a half working through a dungeon south of Riften (someone outside started a full quest for some staff) and the place is just absurdly riddled with traps. I keep getting mowed down by them thinking I'm safe. On the flip side, I coaxed a Drauger Deathlord and two mid level Dragr into getting mauled to death by a spiked wall.
On a totally random note, I spent 45 minutes last night doing nothing but prowling mountain paths so I could use Unrelenting Force and blow guys off of cliffs. I can do entire gaming sessions and realize I made no tangible progress on anything, just happily farting around.
Yeah, I'm amazed at how awesome some of the dungeons and caves are as well. Just when you think, ho-hum, another cave, you go inside and discover an amazing, multi-tiered and complex interior to explore. I love those with underground rivers and waterfalls too. Beautiful.
I've found the use of traps in the game to be far more ingenious than in the earlier Elder Scrolls games. I'll never forget the first time I saw the colored liquid on the ground and as I stood round wondering what it was, a skeever ran across the pressure plate that set off the flames that ignited the oil.
I ran around on fire, and screaming like a little girl, for the next few minutes.
The game really has a few amazing dungeons. But heck, those 'dungeons' don't even have to be in a seperate cell: there's a wonderful Nordic ruin near the Cyrodiil border, up in the mountains. The first time I saw it my jaw literally dropped.
I still haven't explored that dungeon near Riften somebody mentioned, though I've been meaning to.
I'm also getting the hang of using Shadow Warrior. It's a bit hard sometimes, but when you roll around an enemy and slit his throat it's just so satisfying.
BTW, Ghal, I sent you an FR, it dawned on me that I had very little HaloGAF representation on my FL. :lol
Seriously fuck Bethesda for making this game require Steam (after shipping no less). I keep getting kicked out of the game and I can't even launch now due to Steam downtime. This is a single player game ffs.
Vampiric Illusion is god-like, folks. See an enemy you can't sneak up on? Calm it, sneak behind it, 30x dagger strike to the spine. With great power comes great responsibility - I'll have to try not to abuse this.
Oblivion is better at quests than Skyrim. Skyrim is better at everything else. Morrowind beats all of them by default on graphics but not artistic style.
Okay, talked to Parthanax (sp), did a whole long fight, and afterwards he teaches me how to meditate on words or something, what does that mean? Far as I can see, nothing has changed.
Okay, talked to Parthanax (sp), did a whole long fight, and afterwards he teaches me how to meditate on words or something, what does that mean? Far as I can see, nothing has changed.
Check your active effects - you can choose one of three to expand on. Whatever one you choose, an new active ability will appear telling you what skill was improved and how.
Oblivion is better at quests than Skyrim. Skyrim is better at everything else. Morrowind beats all of them by default on graphics but not artistic style.
lol, I post about the game here instead of the Bethsoft forums to avoid arguments like these. I don't really have an opinion on the matter. I love all TES games.
Check your active effects - you can choose one of three to expand on. Whatever one you choose, an new active ability will appear telling you what skill was improved and how.
If I recall, choosing to improve Fire Breath increases damage by 25%. Choosing to improve Unrelenting Force improves stagger on the enemy and reduces recoil on yourself. I've never chosen to improve Become Ethereal. I assume it just make it last longer.
Oblivion is better at quests than Skyrim. Skyrim is better at everything else. Morrowind beats all of them by default on artistic style but not graphics.
Seriously fuck Bethesda for making this game require Steam (after shipping no less). I keep getting kicked out of the game and I can't even launch now due to Steam downtime. This is a single player game ffs.
Got my 100k gold achievement finally, now to find something to spend it on.
Finally finished the main quest to after 110 hours. Ending was pretty underwhelming.
And after all this time i still havent been to Falkreath and only set foot in Windhelm twice.
Mjoll is wandering around Riften following some dude. She asks you to find a sword she drop in a dwarven tower. Get it back to her and she'll be willing to follow ya
Yeah, I've talked to her in Riften before but never bothered to find her sword. Last night I finally decided to hunt it down (in an awesome ruin by the way) so I should be able to get her as a follower tonight. I'm loving some of these dwarven ruins... the first one I found was kind of boring so I didn't expect much from them, but the last couple I've explored have been really cool.
. I snuck inside his house, slit his throat, and quickly got the hell out of there. I opened up my map to see the closest route to my next mark (
the Orc bard in Morthal
) and realized I might as well walk there. It was still night, but since I'm playing an assassin, some cover of night is always welcome.
Anyways, I headed off into the general direction of my next target (I'm not using map markers or fast-travel unless I absolutely have to). Along the way I ran afoul of a few bandits that saw me fighting a Sabertooth. I quickly sneak-ducked behind a rock, let them pass, and then picked them off one by one with my twin daggers. The final pair discovered me, so I fooled around with the Shadow Warrior perk a little bit. Rolling around somebody and slitting their throat feels so badass.
Afterwards, I carry on, the bandits' looted corpses left in a ditch. There was a mountain right-smack in the middle of my path, but as I was nearing it, I noticed my compass shows an upcoming pass through the mountain. I headed up, knifed a few trolls, and finallyd emerge from the other side of the mountain. It was still dark.
A bit higher up, there's a dragon lair. Now, my current playthrough hasn't progressed the main quest at all (nor will he), so I was wondering if I'd actually find a dragon there already. I followed the path up to the peak, but found no dragon: only three pissed-off Frost trolls. Took me a bit of trying before I managed to take 'em down: the nasty fuckers seem to be able to hear you from a mile away, even with 100 in Sneak skill.
The trolls dealth with, I turned back the way I came, and descended into The Pale. I saw a few familiar landmarks in the distance: Morthal was close. Then, all of a sudden, I noticed two shapes lumbering towards me in the distance... It was a farmer and a cow. The farmer explained he was going to offer the cow (which he painted with ritual markings) to the giants, so they wouldn't touch the rest of his livestock. I volunteered to tag along, but the man declined and resumed his journey. I followed him anyway.
As we were slowly walking along, the sun started to rise. The bogs of the Pale looked pretty and peaceful for a moment. We emerged from the trees and into a more open area, and I could see the familiar shape of Solitude looming in the distance, the sun rising behind it. All the while, we kept walking, our silence occasionally disturbed by the cow moo'ing or the farmer complaining that he wants to go to the inn.
Then, I heard arguing in front of me. Two Redguard Alik'r warriors were accosting a Redguard woman, who they seemed to be confusing for someone else. I had already played the related quest with Wulf, so I stayed out of the whole affair. They realized their mistake, sent the woman on their way, and decided to tag along with our merry band for a while. The woman, before heading in the other direction, told me she hopes "they get lost in the forest".
So now we've got a farmer, a cow, an assassin and two Alik'r warriors walking together. Nobody said a word: we just walked. All of a sudden, the Alik'r drew their swords as a mudcrab dragged itself ashore to attack us. The two Redguards rushed forward... And were violently cut down by the foul creature. The cow and the farmer freaked out and fled as I ended the mudcrab's life with one flick of Mehrunes' Razor. As my two companions made their way back to the road, I looted the dead redguards: a disguise like that might come in handy sometime.
By then the sun was shining and we had passed from the Pale into Haafingar, heading for the Reach. I had no idea to which giant camp the farmer was headed, nor did he feel like telling me. In fact, the cow was the most talkative of the three of us. We passed a few Imperial soldiers who invited me to join the Legion, but I had more pressing matters to attend to. Like following a farmer and his cow.
Suddenly, though, the cow and the farmer freaked out again. The cow made a U-turn and ran back the way we came, while the farmer fled forward. I have no idea what caused it, but I realized the end of our epic journey was in sight. I had to make a choice between two friends... So I picked the farmer, who was headed in the direction of a bandit fort filled with some of the meanest specimens of humanity you can imagine. The farmer quickly realized his mistake, too: I found him cowering behind a rock while a bandit marauder was taunting him. Then he noticed me.
What followed next was a rather epic struggle. I ran up to the bandit, disappeared with the aid of Shadow Warrior, and then slit his throat. Unfortunately, his dying screams seemed to have alerted his cronies, including a powerful hedge wizard. The bandits came pouring out of the fort. The farmer drew a dagger and charged them, but one ice shard from the wizard's hands cut his epic last stand short. They then proceeded to kick my ass violently, with me only occasionally managing to roll behind one and slitting his throat. My health was getting low after a few kills, and that wizard didn't seem to feel like stopping, so I just ran to hide behind a rock for a few moments. As I was running, the Imperial soldiers I had passed earlier rounded the corner and proceeded to throw themselves into the fray. They cut down one of the bandits, but the wizard skewered them to death with ice bolts regardless.
Now I was pissed. I didn't want to run, I just wanted to kill that wizard bitch. I drew her to my hiding spot, jumped up on a rock, rolled behind her and skewered her like the bitch she was. The other bandits still put up a fight, but eventually the last one fell and only I was left to pillage the bodies. I looted the armor, gold and lockpicks I needed and turned around, back the way I came... I still had a friend out there, who possibly needed my help. And if not, he could still provide me with some tasty steak. I left the dead behind and set off.
The leveling for some of these skills is a little weird to me. For some skills, it almost feels like I gain less experience the better I play. Light armor for example, if I'm playing right I'm minimizing the amount of times I get hit so rarely gain any levels in it. Because of that, I get wasted instantly if someone hits me with a decent spell or I get caught up in some dragons breath. Same thing with archery. It seems to gain experience by the number of hits landed. And since I play stealthy I'm killing guys in one shot, so it's taking forever to level. Even lockpicking seems to level faster when I'm breaking picks.
If I recall, choosing to improve Fire Breath increases damage by 25%. Choosing to improve Unrelenting Force improves stagger on the enemy and reduces recoil on yourself. I've never chosen to improve Become Ethereal. I assume it just make it last longer.
The leveling for some of these skills is a little weird to me. For some skills, it almost feels like I gain less experience the better I play. Light armor for example, if I'm playing right I'm minimizing the amount of times I get hit so rarely gain any levels in it. Because of that, I get wasted instantly if someone hits me with a decent spell or I get caught up in some dragons breath. Same thing with archery. It seems to gain experience by the number of hits landed. And since I play stealthy I'm killing guys in one shot, so it's taking forever to level. Even lockpicking seems to level faster when I'm breaking picks.
Yeah, a bit silly. Same goes for blocking. If you successfully counter a power attack with a bash, you get a very minimal exp gain. If you just hold block and let stuff hit you (you still get some damage), your block level increases way faster.
My Giant sparring partners have made me quite masterful in Block, Light armor and Heavy armor
The leveling for some of these skills is a little weird to me. For some skills, it almost feels like I gain less experience the better I play. Light armor for example, if I'm playing right I'm minimizing the amount of times I get hit so rarely gain any levels in it. Because of that, I get wasted instantly if someone hits me with a decent spell or I get caught up in some dragons breath. Same thing with archery. It seems to gain experience by the number of hits landed. And since I play stealthy I'm killing guys in one shot, so it's taking forever to level. Even lockpicking seems to level faster when I'm breaking picks.
Some of the skills probably only advance if you play certain play styles. I use light armor since I'm a stealthy character, but my skill is low since I don't engage in direct combat often. But a melee player would get hit more, and so it would level and help that player more. Which makes sense to me.
True on archery, though I've read that you get more skill progression for stealth shots to compensate - anyone know for sure? I hit 100 on archery around level 40, and I am an archer for about 95% of my kills.
Lockpicking goes up much faster depending on the lock picked. I hit level 100 just today, and even in the 90's picking a Master lock shot the progress bar up a very large chunk (a third or more), while breaking them moved it so little I could barely see it go.
