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[Ill Saint]

I want to yell at whoever thought puzzle doors were a good idea.

 

[Basileus777]

Conjuration for example levels up considerably faster than Destruction even if you use both roughly the same amount, and especially after you get the Dremora Lord, who seems to level your Conjuration up tremendously quickly. Going from Conjuration 75-100 is considerably faster than 0-25, 25-50 or 50-75.

Situation seems to matter a lot too. You get less experience conjuring something when no enemies are around, but do it in battle and it levels up extremely quickly.

 

[Aaron]

They should release an ipad app that contains the art book and all the text from the books in the game. A little extra money for very little investment, plus it'll be one more thing to promote the game.

 

[Wallach]

Hm, interesting. Some of the skill raising for certain spell types seems noticeably faster/slower than others. Conjuration for example levels up considerably faster than Destruction even if you use both roughly the same amount, and especially after you get the Dremora Lord, who seems to level your Conjuration up tremendously quickly. Going from Conjuration 75-100 is considerably faster than 0-25, 25-50 or 50-75.

Yeah, I experienced the same. Also, Alteration is another one that levels extremely fast after Expert. Paralyze gives a ton of skill experience it feels like. By comparison I can hardly level Restoration; maybe the anti-undead stuff levels Restoration faster.

If I start my Imperial I'll probably play with the undead turning stuff more.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

I think I know what my next character is going to be.

Bran Stark.

spoilers for Song of Ice and Fire...sorta

Spoiler

I'm going to make him a werewolf

 

[NBtoaster]

I want to yell at whoever thought puzzle doors were a good idea.

Why? Every puzzle I've found has been easy.

 

[Tr4nce]

So, I played Skyrim for the first time yesterday on X360, and I must say that I had a great day! We started from the beginning, and it feels so much more 'mature' than Oblivion. I enjoyed it very much. And as a PS3 owner, I must say that I'm starting to like the X360 controller more and more. However I was wondering: after the quest where you

Spoiler

slay the first dragon (Whiterun?), we didn't encounter another, not the whole gaming session!

That was like 7/8 hours. Is that normal?

 

[Trojita]

To the person saying that they wanted the next area to be a chain of islands so that the game is wind wakerish with traveling between the islands, they could easily write that The Sixth Chapter of The Elder Scrolls foretells of the reemergence of Aldmeris. It's reason's for reappearing now are unknown.

Aldmeris is a chain of islands.
The elves that lived there are different from the High Elves (Because the High Elves are their descendants, or what we know as the High Elves today were a clan kicked out by the original inhabitants of Aldmeris).
Other races and new creatures live there
All of the races/factions in the game have gone to Aldmeris for various reasons (To claim land, fortune, heroic tales, etc.)
Aldermis appeared 50 years after the events of Skyrim. It has been a total of 250 years since Skyrim happened when the game starts.
Interesting mystic ruins and caves

 

[Basileus777]

To the person saying that they wanted the next area to be a chain of islands so that the game is wind wakerish with traveling between the islands, they could easily write that The Sixth Chapter of The Elder Scrolls foretells of the reemergence of Aldmeris. It's reason's for reappearing now are unknown.

Aldmeris is a chain of islands.
The elves that lived there are different from the High Elves (Because the High Elves are their descendants, or what we know as the High Elves today were a clan kicked out by the original inhabitants of Aldmeris).
Other races and new creatures live there
All of the races/factions in the game have gone to Aldmeris for various reasons (To claim land, fortune, heroic tales, etc.)
Aldermis appeared 50 years after the events of Skyrim. It has been a total of 250 years since Skyrim happened when the game starts.
Interesting mystic ruins and caves

Hasn't it been implicated that Aldmeris never even existed? That it was a figurative homeland and that the mer have always been in Tamriel?

 

[balddemon]

so i'm trying to make a batch file so i can instantly get any character i want to max levels (or whatever i want), but i'm having a bit of trouble. i made the file test.txt with several commands. then i type bat test into the console, and it says "Batch file could not be found/opened." same thing with test.bat.

anyone know how to make batch files work?

EDIT: OK I FIGURED IT OUT LOL. the bat files were in the wrong spot.

 

[TurboLibre]

@Wallach

You can use the Alteration spell 'Equilibrium' in conjunction with a healing spell to level up Restoration fast, Not sure if you're into that kinda thing though.

Where can I buy Equilibrium? I've been meaning to level up my healing but it seems to take forever if you're doing it the normal way.

And maybe it has already been said but I've found Muffle to work great towards leveling up Illusion. For a while I was gaining a level with every cast, and even after a couple of days it still levels every five casts or so. Even better, it gains the same amount of EXP outside of combat, so I can spam it all over the place and still gain a bunch of levels.

 

[derFeef]

Got that

Spoiler

Fire Breath

shout yesterday and I yelled "HOLY SHIT!" When I used it for the first time. So awesome.

 

[Lakitu]

I'd love something like that or Summerset Isle.

Little of the geography of the Summerset Isles is known. Cloudrest, atop Eton Nir, the highest mountain in Summerset, is an odd mixture of architectural styles, with buildings like strangler vines, built on top of older structures. The oldest, and most isolated, of all ruins there are made of coral, which must have been carried many, many, miles away from the sea. This highly suggests original occupation by the Sload.

The island has idyllic orchards and clear pastures, still and silent lagoons, misty woodlands, and the unique Psijic architecture that seems to be as natural as its surroundings. The Ceporah Tower is a relic from a civilization that predates the High Elves by several hundred years. It is the location of the Dreaming Cavern, which Sotha Sil once used as some sort of portal into the realms of Oblivion, but which has since been sealed off by the Psijics.

That sounds amazing.

 

[Wallach]

Hasn't it been implicated that Aldmeris never even existed? That it was a figurative homeland and that the mer have always been in Tamriel?

Pretty much, yeah. It would be pretty hard to claim it is now real when the Moth guys couldn't even see any evidence of it.

 

[Ill Saint]

Why? Every puzzle I've found has been easy.

Those door ones that you have to open with a claw drive me nuts. I must be missing something, but so far the only way I manage to get them open is from frustrated perseverance.

 

[Wallach]

Those door ones that you have to open with a claw drive me nuts. I must be missing something, but so far the only way I manage to get them open is from frustrated perseverance.

The answer:

Spoiler

All of the claw door puzzle solutions are on the claws themselves, take a look at them in your inventory sometime.

 

[iNvid02]

Got that

Spoiler

Fire Breath

shout yesterday and I yelled "HOLY SHIT!" When I used it for the first time. So awesome.

thats nothing, so many other crazy shouts out there.
there's even a

Spoiler

whisper shout

 

[Trojita]

Hasn't it been implicated that Aldmeris never even existed? That it was a figurative homeland and that the mer have always been in Tamriel?

Retcon awayyyyyyy

I haven't gotten that far if they do say that, but for where I'm at with reading the in game books they are always vague as hell whether Aldmeris exists and whether it might just be an early civilization on Summerset Isles.

 

[Zeliard]

I can only speak for myself, but from where I stand it isn't a matter of the game becoming difficult or anything, it's the problem of having a 35 hour progression curve for a game with 150 hours of content. Obviously you hit plateaus with all skills but it happens with destruction extremely rapidly. There's no next sword, or better enchantment or even really anything new to do with it once you get to expert level spells (the master spells are basically worthless, kind of a huge troll after the cool quest to unlock them). Once I got the ability to spam expert destruction spells for zero cost, the feeling of growth was gone. Maybe worse is the fact that the expert level spells are the most boring--shoot damage at single enemy, woooo. Yeah there are other support spells at that level, but I sure would like some more aoe options like the adept spells or something. Also, the other issue with the magicka reduction enchantment options is that they made my 25 levels spent on magicka boosts, as well as the perks I dumped into lowering costs in destruction an almost complete waste. So yeah, destruction in particular is a pretty disappointing skill tree, regardless of it's viability late game.

I don't see it as a waste. Unless you cheese enchants earlier on and fit yourself with magicka reduction, having a high magicka count and high magicka regen is still going to be very useful for much of the game.

There are undoubtedly aspects that are broken as they always are in Elder Scrolls if people want to insist on cheesing. Melee-oriented chars are broken in a similar way due to Smithing.

I'm sitting on something like 60 filled petty gems right now. I can go create a bunch of leather bracers or iron whatever, and level enchanting up to 100 right now, along with Smithing. But I'm not going to because I know it would cheapen the experience.

I made another character to play anyway, but guess what; I can spend almost all of my playthrough focusing on bow/melee up until I max enchanting, spend 3 perk points buffing out the damage on a destruction element of choice, and with a little time spamming spells to boost my skill level, be exactly as effective a destruction mage as I am with a character that spent 50 hours, lots of perks, and lots of stat boosts in the effort. To me, that's lame.

Sorry that got a little long, let me get the point: HELL YEAH I want more damage on top of that!

Until you max enchanting - how, exactly? Of course you can break it, we already knew that. Anybody can create any character and max Smithing and Enchanting to 100 early in the game, and best pretty much every normal playthrough with any other build. I'm not sure that really says anything. With Smithing at 100 you can create better gear than late-game characters will find.

The one thing I'll give you guys as far as Destruction magic is you should have perhaps seen a scaled boost with the level 1 Destro spells, since they are continuous stream attacks, which makes them different from the others in functionality. I wouldn't have minded seeing a slight boost there.

At the same time, Destruction is arguably already overpowered due to the stagger dual-cast perk. You don't need to output monstrous damage when you can simply keep the enemy from moving with even low-level spells.

 

[Ill Saint]

The answer:

Spoiler

All of the claw door puzzle solutions are on the claws themselves, take a look at them in your inventory sometime.

Bloody hell. Would have never crossed my mind. Thank you!

 

[Wallach]

Bloody hell. Would have never crossed my mind. Thank you!

For context,

Spoiler

in Arvel's journal that you find along with the Golden Claw, he writes: "The legend says there is a test that the Nords put in place to keep the unworthy away, but that "when you have the golden claw, the solution is in the palm of your hands." That is what they meant by that. It's not guaranteed that the Golden Claw is the first one you'll find, but that's what they were going for.

 

[show me your skeleton]

is the general consensus to not ignore the 'smithing' tree, due what you can craft later in the game?

 

[cackhyena]

Don't ignore smithing.

So, besides upgrading my first shout through story means, I'm not sure how to upgrade the others.

 

[nelsonroyale]

What the hell

Skyrim has now just started automatically quitting when I load up the game, at the main menu... Anybody know what is causing this issue?

I hate that I have to go through steam to play this game...

 

[Dresden]

is the general consensus to not ignore the 'smithing' tree, due what you can craft later in the game?

You want at least two points in it just to upgrade magical items.

And yeah, smithing is useful for almost every character.

 

[show me your skeleton]

i shall stop ignoring it then, cheers! gonna' go get my smith on.

 

[Mairu]

is the general consensus to not ignore the 'smithing' tree, due what you can craft later in the game?

Smithing + enchanting breaks the game, so I would say it's definitely worth investing in

 

[Zeliard]

is the general consensus to not ignore the 'smithing' tree, due what you can craft later in the game?

There's no "later in the game" about it.

Smithing and enchanting are sort of fucked because you can level them both to 100 using the most basic of materials. And vendors sell crafting items that scale to your skill level.

 

[Mik2121]

Wow, finally decided to get back to the main quest for a short time, I'm on my way to visit the Greybeards and I'm climbing the 7000 steps, and just now a dragon appeared. This couldn't get any more epic

 

[cackhyena]

So, besides upgrading my first shout through story means, I'm not sure how to upgrade the others.

Anyone?

Also, I've never seen the 7000 steps. I couldn't find them and somehow made my way, perilously up the backside of the mountain. Ugh, what a bitch that was.

 

[Nocebo]

Don't ignore smithing.

So, besides upgrading my first shout through story means, I'm not sure how to upgrade the others.

Same way you got the first words for your other shouts. I'm also pretty sure the grey beards explain how to do it.

is the general consensus to not ignore the 'smithing' tree, due what you can craft later in the game?

I haven't touched it with any of my characters and I'm fine. Though one is a mage that doesn't wear armor... I don't really feel the need to upgrade or craft my own stuff with my thief either playing on expert.

But the great thing about this game is you can do whatever you want. There really is no best way, it all depends on what you want to get out of the game. Some people like breaking the game while others like to limit themselves and set challenges...

 

[Dresden]

Anyone?

Also, I've never seen the 7000 steps. I couldn't find them and somehow made my way, perilously up the backside of the mountain. Ugh, what a bitch that was.

You just find new words to 'upgrade' the shouts.

 

[nelsonroyale]

Wow, solved it....had to set my audio down to 96khz...bizaare

 

[Zeliard]

Yeah you find the next word. Do some side quests to find other words and new shouts. Misc quests as well, like ones involves killing a dragon guarding some tower.

Wow, solved it....had to set my audio down to 96khz...bizaare

You'll want to set it to 24-bit 44100hz. The sound will tend to crackle and skip otherwise. Known issue with the game.

 

[Dresden]

Hmm, Thieves Guild armor (the one you get for joining) is pretty hot. Reminds me of BG2's thief model.

 

[BigJonsson]

I now have a full set of dragonscale and dragonplate armour lol

Now I need to pick up more useful enchants lol

Still not started on the main quest really

 

[cackhyena]

Oh, I thought the sidequests were just to discover new shouts. Thought I had to do something extra to get upgraded.

 

[StarEye]

I kind of find it annoying that most of the crafting abilities are almost a requirement. Alchemy is definately important to create health potions (and magicka or stamina potions if those are needed), and I've yet to find a place where you can just buy them instead in larger quantities than one or two. Enchanting is important because nobody can enchant weapons for you, so you're stuck with what you find and making a badass weapon out of standard one is not possible without enchantment. Smithing is needed to upgrade your weapons.

I'm a bit OCD when it comes to upgrading skill trees, so that when I first start putting perk points into them, I have a hard time stopping and I'm obsessed about maxing it out.

 

[Aaron]

Oh, I thought the sidequests were just to discover new shouts. Thought I had to do something extra to get upgraded.

A number of side quests will lead you to areas that have new words to upgrade shouts. You'll need to use another dragon soul for each upgrade.

 

[cackhyena]

Cool, thanks.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

A number of side quests will lead you to areas that have new words to upgrade shouts. You'll need to use another dragon soul for each upgrade.

I've fully upgraded at least three shouts and I have a backlog of 14 Dragon Souls.

These guys love to die.

 

[Nocebo]

Oh, I thought the sidequests were just to discover new shouts. Thought I had to do something extra to get upgraded.

So do you have a habit of not listening to and or not reading anything the game tells you? Pretty sure the game tells you to go to Ivarstead too (and marks it on your map), which is the side of the mountain where the 7000 steps are.

 

[Zeliard]

I kind of find it annoying that most of the crafting abilities are almost a requirement. Alchemy is definately important to create health potions (and magicka or stamina potions if those are needed), and I've yet to find a place where you can just buy them instead in larger quantities than one or two. Enchanting is important because nobody can enchant weapons for you, so you're stuck with what you find and making a badass weapon out of standard one is not possible without enchantment. Smithing is needed to upgrade your weapons.

I'm a bit OCD when it comes to upgrading skill trees, so that when I first start putting perk points into them, I have a hard time stopping and I'm obsessed about maxing it out.

I've been using Alchemy quite a bit and I think I've only put the initial perk into it so far (I also have a couple pieces of equipment I found that boost Alchemy - that can also be done through enchants, of course).

If you're the scouring/thieving type you tend to come across a LOT of ingredients for Alchemy and crafting in general. Personally I'm frequently coming across potions as well, though magicka ones definitely seem to be more rare than healing/stamina.

 

[cackhyena]

So do you have a habit of not listening to and or not reading anything the game tells you? Pretty sure the game tells you to go to Ivarstead too (and marks it on your map), which is the side of the mountain where the 7000 steps are.

I just got sidetracked and when I decided to go there, just blazed my own trail. Be more of an asshole, by the way. I bet you just threw a conniption learning people didn't know there was a sprint button for hours upon hours.

 

[Log4Girlz]

I returned to a mine where the iron had refreshed...but there is no option to mine it, even though I have a pick axe...what should I do?

 

[Zeliard]

Cackhyena snag the Clairvoyance spell, it'll save you some headaches in the future.

 

[cackhyena]

Yeah, maybe I should. I've kinda avoided magic mostly besides a lil destruction here and there. Thanks.

 

[Log4Girlz]

NM reentered and its all good.

 

[Zeliard]

Yeah, maybe I should. I've kinda avoided magic mostly besides a lil destruction here and there. Thanks.

It's a minor level 1 Illusion spell; you should be able to buy it for pretty cheap from any vendor who sells tomes (like the mage in Dragonsreach).

 

[Nocebo]

I just got sidetracked and when I decided to go there, just blazed my own trail. Be more of an asshole, by the way. I bet you just threw a conniption learning people didn't know there was a sprint button for hours upon hours.

I was just seeing a pattern forming there and wondered how it could be that you missed such obvious things.
Reading this thread certainly made me realize why Bethesda feels the need to "streamline" their games.