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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim |OT2| Team Edward's Revenge

Gotta say it's very disappointing how none of the icebergs off the coast have any loot -good or bad- on, around or under them. Why even alow you to go snooping around them?

Something I plan to fix when the CK comes out. Maybe add a crashed rowboat, a couple skeletons and a chest to one place. Or a chest burried in snow with a note to the effect of "This is my hiding place, no one will find it" to another.

There are a number of ship wrecks off the coast and in the icebergs.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Did anyone else find Shaldors Maze a bit of a disappoinment, it's not really a maze at all just a corridor.

Yup. I looked at the place from above and thought it would be a great, challenging maze. Instead it's a (very) long hallway. I get that Bethesda doesn't like mazes, thus their generally linear dungeon design. But when you make something called "Shaldor's Maze", it should have a twist or two, you know?
There are a number of ship wrecks off the coast and in the icebergs.

Also, one unmarked cave with something interesting in it.

Though I agree with what he's saying. I spent a good 2 solid hours exploring the very northernmost bergs, scouring from east to west. And aside from the aforementioned, there was a little bit of ore, some ingredient plants, and that was it. (We're talking well north of the ship wreaks.)

I couldn't find a way onto the giant iceberg, the one potential route was too steep; been meaning to come back to it with a horse. Hmm, I think my morning session just got booked....
 

Andrew.

Banned
I have this lady living in my house...house jarl or something....aside from being able to use her for a misson or something...does she serve any other useful purpose?
 
Did anyone else find Shaldors Maze a bit of a disappoinment, it's not really a maze at all just a corridor.
Yeah and was it just me or were the instructions you found useless? Actually getting through was as simple as
using a school of magic on an equivalent plaque. The way they worded it I thought you were supposed to follow some weird mix and match order.

edit:
I have this lady living in my house...house jarl or something....aside from being able to use her for a misson or something...does she serve any other useful purpose?
Housecarl. That's basically it. They're kind of bodyguards you can take along with you. They say they also defend your property but I've never had any hostiles inside my homes so I haven't tested that.
 

Andrew.

Banned
Housecarl. That's basically it. They're kind of bodyguards you can take along with you. They say they also defend your property but I've never had any hostiles inside my homes so I haven't tested that.


what if i get married...will they fight....lol.
 
I have this lady living in my house...house jarl or something....aside from being able to use her for a misson or something...does she serve any other useful purpose?

You can also use her as a packmule/dragon insurance. Basically, as you are walking around in the overworld, take her along. If you encounter a dragon, give her the scales and bones and tell her to go home so you don't have to go back to town or lug them around if you want to keep them. Same deal with dungeons that have the potential to hold lots of loot.

Just be sure to save a lot, as she can still die from very high damage attacks or DPS targets. Don't go after dragon priests with a housecarl/companion you want to keep or is carrying lots of good loot.
 

Andrew.

Banned
Just be sure to save a lot, as she can still die from very high damage attacks or DPS targets. Don't go after dragon priests with a housecarl/companion you want to keep or is carrying lots of good loot.

-those are the guys that have the masks you can pick up right...?
 

GhaleonEB

Member
what if i get married...will they fight....lol.

Hit'em both with Frenzy. :p

Just wandered around clearing random caves for a break from the delivery boy main quest. Walked out of one pedestrian looking cave with one of the 'unusual gems' (I'll never find them all, not worth it) and a new world of power, second form of fire breath. I love stuff like that.

The loot system in Skyrim gets a lot of grief, but I think it's pretty decent. And one thing they really nailed was the word of power/dragon soul system. Tons of words to find, but then you gotta earn the right to use them by slaying a dragon. It's a great mechanic.
 

Andrew.

Banned
Hit'em both with Frenzy. :p

Just wandered around clearing random caves for a break from the delivery boy main quest. Walked out of one pedestrian looking cave with one of the 'unusual gems' (I'll never find them all, not worth it) and a new world of power, second form of fire breath. I love stuff like that.

The loot system in Skyrim gets a lot of grief, but I think it's pretty decent. And one thing they really nailed was the word of power/dragon soul system. Tons of words to find, but then you gotta earn the right to use them by slaying a dragon. It's a great mechanic.

ill have to try that....lol...

i wanna find the rest of the shouts for "marked for death"...anyone have any ideas where they may be?

-and how do you poison people?...i have all kinds of poisons and no idea how to use them
 
Hit'em both with Frenzy. :p

Just wandered around clearing random caves for a break from the delivery boy main quest. Walked out of one pedestrian looking cave with one of the 'unusual gems' (I'll never find them all, not worth it) and a new world of power, second form of fire breath. I love stuff like that.

The loot system in Skyrim gets a lot of grief, but I think it's pretty decent. And one thing they really nailed was the word of power/dragon soul system. Tons of words to find, but then you gotta earn the right to use them by slaying a dragon. It's a great mechanic.

I enjoy dungeon delving in Skyrim a lot more than I did in Oblivion/Morrowind. A combination of them looking great and there usually being a great reward at the end (usually a Shout word) does the trick.
 

Volimar

Member
Hit'em both with Frenzy. :p

Just wandered around clearing random caves for a break from the delivery boy main quest. Walked out of one pedestrian looking cave with one of the 'unusual gems' (I'll never find them all, not worth it) and a new world of power, second form of fire breath. I love stuff like that.

The loot system in Skyrim gets a lot of grief, but I think it's pretty decent. And one thing they really nailed was the word of power/dragon soul system. Tons of words to find, but then you gotta earn the right to use them by slaying a dragon. It's a great mechanic.

If i have two major gripes about Skyrim they'd be:

1). Lack of variety in treasure. Doesn't even have to be equipment. Could be busts, ornate decorations, etc. It'd be great to have trophy cases that you could arrange them on like the books with the book cases.

2). Loading screens. My God they get annoying.
 

erpg

GAF parliamentarian
You can map the controllers in the PC version in a lot of different ways. So you can have 8 items assigned to the 360 controller Dpad so pausing to switch is vastly removed and the favorites menu its not as cluttered.

I do plan on giving the PC version another go in a few months, I did wait in line for it after all! I just don't think the item and other menus are very effective at using mouse and keyboard controls. When I do switch over, I'll likely play a mage or something that can make better use of hotkeys. I sometimes feel limited by my character on 360, due to my hatred of the pausing favorites menu (wasting a quick slot item on Candlelight was annoying).
 
Hit'em both with Frenzy. :p

Just wandered around clearing random caves for a break from the delivery boy main quest. Walked out of one pedestrian looking cave with one of the 'unusual gems' (I'll never find them all, not worth it) and a new world of power, second form of fire breath. I love stuff like that.

The loot system in Skyrim gets a lot of grief, but I think it's pretty decent. And one thing they really nailed was the word of power/dragon soul system. Tons of words to find, but then you gotta earn the right to use them by slaying a dragon. It's a great mechanic.

I think people have confused criticism in this regard. It's not that, "Hey the loot that I get out of caves sucks!" it's more that it's easier to build enchant and make the exact same thing yourself.

I think the goal of the design is to make random spelunking really attractive early on, as you always get a few decent things to sell, disenchant or maybe equip. And later on you are mostly working on quest lines. I'm not convinced those are really bad things either. I mean, it means that you'll have more fun having two characters with 50 hours invested than one character with 100.

The criticism of "Combat sucks" falls into this same trap. People say "Combat sucks!" and it's kind of a meaningless satement, because I don't think the issue is so much how fun stabbing things is, but how does the system of stabbing things interact and add or detract from the rest of the game?
 
ill have to try that....lol...

i wanna find the rest of the shouts for "marked for death"...anyone have any ideas where they may be?

-and how do you poison people?...i have all kinds of poisons and no idea how to use them
"Drink" them... it'll ask you if you want to apply it to your weapon once you do.

Also if you do Pickpocketing there's a perk called "Poisoned" that will cause enemies to drink poison when you put it in their pockets.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
-and how do you poison people?...i have all kinds of poisons and no idea how to use them
Select the poison with a weapon equipped. The poison will be applied and used on the next blow/arrow.

I think people have confused criticism in this regard. It's not that, "Hey the loot that I get out of caves sucks!" it's more that it's easier to build enchant and make the exact same thing yourself.

I think the goal of the design is to make random spelunking really attractive early on, as you always get a few decent things to sell, disenchant or maybe equip. And later on you are mostly working on quest lines. I'm not convinced those are really bad things either. I mean, it means that you'll have more fun having two characters with 50 hours invested than one character with 100.
I don't disagree there. 90% of the weapons I've ever used are ones I make (or improve) myself because they are superior to the vast bulk of the loot, especially once you get up to a decent level. The system encourages you to find your own treasure early on, and then if you invest in smithing and enchanting, are able to outclass what is out there. There's some natural tension in that they need to build rewards for both; I've put a ton of time into those systems and I want to make awesome stuff with them. But if I do, they outclass most of the loot. (Oddly, I find much more useful armor than weapons, possibly because I haven't spent the relevent enchanting perks.)

There are a lot of unique weapons that cannot be disenchanted and have their effects applied generaly (Mehrune's Razor, etc.), and it would have been good to see more along those lines. I consider the shouts a big part of the loot system, and really enjoy finding those dragon doors inside a dungeon, or hearing that faint chanting coming from the next room. I hope they're able to find some other kind of great hook like that in all their subsequent games.

Agree with the sentimen ton combat as well.
I'm talking about the ones that are farthest north, away from any land or map locations. Haven't found anything really around those.

Yeah that was a suprise. Related: commit a crime in Winterhold and choose to go to jail ;)

*adds to the to-do list*

My next character, the Orc, will be getting the Achievement for 1,000 bounty in all holds. I'll make sure to take the trip to jail on that one.

What really got me wasn't so much what was inside, as what was waiting outside when I got there. 0_0
 
I just made one heck of a badass sword. Traveled to Ironbind Barrow to get the Fiery Soul Trap-enchantment, put it on a smithed-up Blades sword and, after some deliberation, named it "Anguish".

Now my enemies souls will burn before they are trapped forever. Feels good man.

EDIT: Anyone have any great landscape screenshots? Either my google-fu is failing, or people just don't make those shots for some godawful reason.
 

Volimar

Member
Suddenly, my followers have started dying. I'm not hitting them, and I'm not using anything that splashes damage. They'll be fighting the enemy, get hit, go flying back like a shot and be dead.

Lost Lydia, the chick in the Whiterun tavern, and Sven all today because of this. I wouldn't care if it weren't for the fact that I don't have much carrying capacity.
 

NBtoaster

Member
EDIT: Anyone have any great landscape screenshots? Either my google-fu is failing, or people just don't make those shots for some godawful reason.

There's no shortage in the screenshot thread.

Don't know if these are worthy...think these are my favorite ones I've taken in my adventures..

 

Synless

Member
Ok, so a ways back I stole a horse from the storm cloak camp. Now I have a mission to do and Galmar keeps trying to kill me. I've tried yielding and everything. I can't reload because this happened a long time ago, what do I do? I have a 50g bounty in the west marches for this crime, but I have no idea where that is.
 

Volimar

Member
Ok, so a ways back I stole a horse from the storm cloak camp. Now I have a mission to do and Galmar keeps trying to kill me. I've tried yielding and everything. I can't reload because this happened a long time ago, what do I do? I have a 50g bounty in the west marches for this crime, but I have no idea where that is.

You could try a Calm spell or scroll.
 
Ok, so a ways back I stole a horse from the storm cloak camp. Now I have a mission to do and Galmar keeps trying to kill me. I've tried yielding and everything. I can't reload because this happened a long time ago, what do I do? I have a 50g bounty in the west marches for this crime, but I have no idea where that is.

If you're on PC:

setrelationshiprank <target> <#>

0=acquaintance, 1=friend, 2=confidant, 3=ally, 4=lover, -1=rival, -2=foe, -3=enemy, -4=archnemesis. (All other values are unassigned ranks and will default to "acquaintance.")

Galmar's refID is 0001b133



So to set him to friend:

setrelationshiprank 0001b133 1
 

PNut

Banned
A quick question about the end of the main quest that I couldn't find an answer to:

Are there any interesting items in Skuldafn Temple (I looted almost everything in the actual temple), Sovngarde, or the Hall of Valor that I should go back to get? Once I arrived in the Hall of Valor I immediately began the dialogue and had to rush out.
 
A quick question about the end of the main quest that I couldn't find an answer to:

Are there any interesting items in Skuldafn Temple (I looted almost everything in the actual temple), Sovngarde, or the Hall of Valor that I should go back to get? Once I arrived in the Hall of Valor I immediately began the dialogue and had to rush out.

Outside you can meet and talk to the
dead High King
if you want to.
 

NBtoaster

Member
There are nice. You wouldn't happen to have 'em in a bigger resolution, would you?

Still though, thanks! Very awesome.

My monitor only goes up to 1600x900 :(

I'd say check the 2012/2011 pc screenshots threads for bigger and better ones.

Outside you can meet and talk to the
dead High King
if you want to.

I didn't think to speak with anyone in there...I just did the quest objectives and left :|
 

Smidget

Member
I feel overwhelmed by the billion optional quests to do, if I just stick to the ones not in the "Misc" section, would that allow me to beat the game? I've only just got the
"Whirlwind shout"
and I know I'm not far in at all, but I don't think this game is my cup of tea. Wondering if I should just stop... Just too much micromanaging and stuff to do which I know isn't a complaint for most people, but it is for me.
 

Feature

Banned
Lady: 'are you the dragonborn? I've waited so long for you! lets go too *INSERT TOWN* to kill a dragon, so you can prove to me you are the dragonborn!!, finally we have found our calling again because you are here!!'

Me: 'okay lets go'

*Come accross a bandit attacking me, lady ofcourse helps me*

I accidentaly hit her with my axe, she start beating the crap out of me... *her beloved dragonborn for whom she has been waiting 200 years = dead*

Makes no sense.
 

NBtoaster

Member
Lady: 'are you the dragonborn? I've waited so long for you! lets go too *INSERT TOWN* to kill a dragon, so you can prove to me you are the dragonborn!!, finally we have found our calling again because you are here!!'

Me: 'okay lets go'

*Come accross a bandit attacking me, lady ofcourse helps me*

I accidentaly hit her with my axe, she start beating the crap out of me... *her beloved dragonborn for whom she has been waiting 200 years = dead*

Makes no sense.

Sheathing your weapon will usually make people forgive you.
 
I feel overwhelmed by the billion optional quests to do, if I just stick to the ones not in the "Misc" section, would that allow me to beat the game? I've only just got the
"Whirlwind shout"
and I know I'm not far in at all, but I don't think this game is my cup of tea. Wondering if I should just stop... Just too much micromanaging and stuff to do which I know isn't a complaint for most people, but it is for me.

Misc Quests will often lead to fullblown quests, but for the most part they're pretty shitty, with no story to them. Misc Quests will be required to become Thane of a hold, but I'd avoid them unless you think they'll lead to a proper quest.
 

Darkkn

Member
I think level scaling just kicked in a crazy gear for me. I spent some time smithing daedric gear for myself and suddenly dragurs that i previously killed quickly and easily, now take like 5-10x the amout of hits with my mace that i upgraded to supposedly be more powerful. WTF.
This has really made the game not very fun, because it's just tedious to kill 4-5 dragours at the time when they take ridicilous amout of hits to kill. It's 'difficult' in a worst possible way. Bad melee combat mechanics with enemies that take stupid amout of hits to kill... I'm out.
 
Well, DirectSong just sent me another replacement CD.

I hope to god they packaged this one a little better than the previous two. We'll see when it arrives, I guess.
 
I think level scaling just kicked in a crazy gear for me. I spent some time smithing daedric gear for myself and suddenly dragurs that i previously killed quickly and easily, now take like 5-10x the amout of hits with my mace that i upgraded to supposedly be more powerful. WTF.
This has really made the game not very fun, because it's just tedious to kill 4-5 dragours at the time when they take ridicilous amout of hits to kill. It's 'difficult' in a worst possible way. Bad melee combat mechanics with enemies that take stupid amout of hits to kill... I'm out.

You seem to have leveled your Smithing which in turn increased your overall level. Since your combat skills did not go up accordingly you'll find it pretty hard. Biggest reason not to power level your skills is the unbalanced enemies.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
You seem to have leveled your Smithing which in turn increased your overall level. Since your combat skills did not go up accordingly you'll find it pretty hard. Biggest reason not to power level your skills is the unbalanced enemies.

This is true, but it can kick in even if you balance things out. I've been meticulous about leveling my skill somewhat evenly, and last night I had my first run with this, in the area right after (main quest spoilers)
I got a lift from the captured dragon to find Alduin's gateway to Sovengard.
I spent over an hour working through the outside, which had no less than 14 Draugr Deathlords (4-5 of them archers). I'm using a smithed, improved ebony bow with 27 points of fire damage, and using some of my better arrows (glass/elven), they take about 20 to kill one - and my archery is 100. One small interior had three Deathlords and a Wight - just a hallway and a spiral staircase. It was ridiculous and I'm hoping not a sign of things to come.

MQ spoiler comments, followed by a question.

Capturing what's his name and interrogating him was pretty cool. I ended up having to do it twice, because there wasn't an autosave after you arrive (I thought there was) and got thrashed by two Deathlords and a dragon.

The jackass court wizard walks over and nails him to steal some dragon blood for study on the first time through, but on the second I let him go before he could. I didn't think the dragon deserved to be a test case.

The
peace summit
was okay. It just reinforced that I hate everyone. The Imperials are assholes, the Thalmor are evil assholes, and Ufric is stupid asshole. I was surrounded by assholes.

Speaking of which, the Blades.
They want me to kill Parthanaax, and I'm not down with that. He's the only character in the entire freaking game I really like. And they want me to kill him? Fuck that. Please tell me I don't actually have to. Even better, tell me I get to kill the Blades.
 
Speaking of which, the Blades.
They want me to kill Parthanaax, and I'm not down with that. He's the only character in the entire freaking game I really like. And they want me to kill him? Fuck that. Please tell me I don't actually have to. Even better, tell me I get to kill the Blades.

You don't have to. It actually changes the ending.
 

KorrZ

Member
You don't have to. It actually changes the ending.

Woah, really? In what way? Main Quest:
I of course didn't kill Parthanaax cause fuck the blades they haven't done shit for me compared to the Greybeards/Parth, do you get an entirely different ending scene than the one where you go back to the throat of the world and all the dragons are shouting and flying around the air?
 
Woah, really? In what way? Main Quest:
I of course didn't kill Parthanaax cause fuck the blades they haven't done shit for me compared to the Greybeards/Parth, do you get an entirely different ending scene than the one where you go back to the throat of the world and all the dragons are shouting and flying around the air?

Basically,
instead of Parthuurnax flying off to convert the other dragons to the Way of the Voice, you get Odahviing coming down to tell you you're the true ruler of the dragons now. The random dragons still try to kill you, though.
It's pretty minor.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
You don't have to. It actually changes the ending.

Thanks, I chose not to (obviously). I was pleased with the outcome.

Alduin went down far too easy.
His dragon fire was hugely powerful, but after his first fly by I hit him with Dragonrend, then he got the crap kicked out of him while I fired poison ebony arrows from behind the safely of a pillar. Chain Dragonrend shouts kept him at bay. He never touched me after that first fly by. Easy as pie. Great death sequence, too. Though I was sad I got neither a soul nor loot off him. I wanted my arrows back. :(

With that down, I have just the Dragon Priest masks before this character has fulfilled her destiny. I still need to hit level 50, so she'll retire to spelunking and improving her secondary skills (Illusion most notably), and retire shortly after.

Hey, have you finished the main quest yet? Because if not, I strongly recommend you do that first.

I now understand why.
I'd found the six not tied to a quest line, so I would never have found that last one had I not done the main quest; I was saving the one in Labyrinthian for last (which seems fitting).
Thanks for the heads up. Tonight, I finish up that quest, and Azel's dual purpose will be fulfilled.

Rudo comes next. He's going to be...different. :lol
 

Zoso

It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely lonely time.
"Find 20 Jazbay Grapes" is the hardest quest in the game. I got the quest around the 60 hour mark, and now that I'm 200 hours in I've only got 10 grapes. I haven't been actively searching for them, but I always check when I visit alchemy shops and they rarely have them in stock. I think I found one out in the wild somewhere near Windhelm.
 

Andrew.

Banned
can someone tell me whether i should kill vold or do the bribe mission thingy? im pretty strong with a bow but not good up close. is he hard to deal with physically?
 

NBtoaster

Member
"Find 20 Jazbay Grapes" is the hardest quest in the game. I got the quest around the 60 hour mark, and now that I'm 200 hours in I've only got 10 grapes. I haven't been actively searching for them, but I always check when I visit alchemy shops and they rarely have them in stock. I think I found one out in the wild somewhere near Windhelm.

They're mostly found in the volcanic area below windhelm.
 
I'm using a smithed, improved ebony bow with 27 points of fire damage, and using some of my better arrows (glass/elven), they take about 20 to kill one - and my archery is 100. One small interior had three Deathlords and a Wight - just a hallway and a spiral staircase. It was ridiculous and I'm hoping not a sign of things to come.
My biggest problem with the Bethesda formula right here. If you do your due diligence and prep for a battle knowing your strengths and the enemy's weakness, NOTHING should take 20 arrows or attacks to drop. It ruins immersion and makes any prep time and thoughtful strategy look like a waste of time.

These are the moments when the spell is broken and the lovingly crafted world loses a lot of its luster.
 

TTG

Member
I now understand why.
I'd found the six not tied to a quest line, so I would never have found that last one had I not done the main quest; I was saving the one in Labyrinthian for last (which seems fitting).
Thanks for the heads up. Tonight, I finish up that quest, and Azel's dual purpose will be fulfilled.

Rudo comes next. He's going to be...different. :lol

Yea, I tried to not spoil it for you the best I could.

My biggest problem with the Bethesda formula right here. If you do your due diligence and prep for a battle knowing your strengths and the enemy's weakness, NOTHING should take 20 arrows to drop. It ruins immersion and makes any prep time and thoughtful strategy look like a waste of time.

These are the moments when the spell is broken and the lovingly crafted world loses a lot of its luster.

Just for reference, I also went through that dungeon with bow and arrows and it was one of the best ones in the game, for me. I think I was using an enchanted ebony bow at the time and my archery skill was somewhere in the 90s, did not have all 5/5 perks to boost archery at that time. But, I did have as much enchanted gear to boost archery as was possibly allowed. I could handle the deathlords just fine, it was one of the few areas in the game where you had to face a couple of them at once and it actually made for some fun gameplay. Some of the more conventional fps tactics applied(prioritizing targets, divide and conquer etc) so that was nice. I would get as many sneak attack, critical strikes as I could and then make sure to bonk them on the head with my soul trapping mace at the end. I got so many soul gems out of that one dungeon... I don't know why it took Ghaleon 20 shots, maybe the difficulty really ramps up, I did not have it on master. It's not typical.

Anyway, I like when the enemies have some teeth to them. Stuff that can really put a dent in your health quickly or just overwhelms you with numbers is cool. If I replay the game, I might actually go with a character that focuses more on secondary, noncombat skills just to see how much ingenuity I have to use. Ultimately, I would love a lot more hard, persistent, unique enemies that did not scale to your ability to make the world more immersive... but I'm not going on that rant again.
 
I didn't. That's like killing Yoda. The Blades can go to hell.
I hope him not dying is canon for future installments/DLC. The way they set up the conflict where
Odahviing hints some dragons won't follow his example
is just ripe with possibilities.

"Find 20 Jazbay Grapes" is the hardest quest in the game. I got the quest around the 60 hour mark, and now that I'm 200 hours in I've only got 10 grapes. I haven't been actively searching for them, but I always check when I visit alchemy shops and they rarely have them in stock. I think I found one out in the wild somewhere near Windhelm.
I'm not gonna lie this was also the hardest quest in the game for me.
 
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