Ya' know, if the game has a "yield" mechanic, they should actually yield instead of just getting up in a few seconds. It serves no point but giving me a free kill, because if I don't, they'll just get up and attack me anyway. Dumb.
Agree. I'd liked to have seen defeated foes actually crawl away from the battle for good. In addition to making sense, it would enable additional role playing for those who wanted to be merciful to defeated foes. There are a few mechanics in the game like that which don't make sense.
Alis began her quest last night, on Master difficulty. I'm doing something unusual for me, which is following the planned story path for a bit (I'll go off the rails later tonight). Doing so led to many enjoyble details, such as the extended conversation about the civil war back in Riverwood, and the brother of the guy that runs the Riverwood Trader escorting me out of town and directing me to the path up to Bleak Falls Barrow.
Alis is a one-handed axe user who specializes in Alteration, Illusion and Destruction magic, as well as Alchemy, Smithing and Enchanting. She will make heavy use of the axe's bleeding damage augmented with heavy long-lasting poisons to strike enemies and watch them bleed out, when she's not busy turning them on one another or setting traps. She will not pick up a bow. I didn't yet have an axe by the time I was at Riverwood, so I smithed one, improved it, and hauled it there with me. It felt good to make my own equipment and head off with it. I might make that part of her character.
The draugr kicked my ass. It got to the point where I was terrified of individual Draugr Scourge, and had to resort to leading them through traps or otherwise using hit and run tactics. The giant spider also presented a formidable challenge and took several minutes of dancing to take down; one bite would sap half my health.
And I loved it. I'd forgotten what it was like to have to proceed with caution, to have to rummage through my inventory for potions and scrolls. I've learned a fair bit about the melee system (shield staggers FTW) and while it's still clunky, it's got a touch more depth than I had thought.
Now to pick up my first Alteration spells (leaning toward Frenzy) so I can start building that side of her character.
I'll probably get dragons out into the word and work on saving for a house in Whiterun this time around (I didn't buy that house previously), then work on jugging the College, Companions and Main quest lines as the week progresses. It was tough to get myself to retire Luna, but I think this will be more fun in the end.
