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[Mr. Luchador]

Oh why must you crash in the middle of an engaging atmospheric part of the game.

 

[HTuran]

Black gems can hold souls besides human souls; if you don't have any empty lower level gems when you drain a lesser soul it'll fill your black gems with crappy souls.

Wow, so there's absolutely no point getting Azura's Star instead of the Black Star? According to the game, the Black Star can only store black souls.


Ah, just checked UESP:

Note: Although the game tells you it will only hold humanoid souls, regular souls can be captured using The Black Star.

 

[DownWithTheShip]

deleted

ok, so it's old news.

 

[ThaddeusMcGee]

I'm level 11 and have 3 unused perks. I would apply them to light armor or 1 handed weapon, but I'm not high enough level in those yet.

Can anyone recommend some quality perks? My play style has kind of been all over the map. I mostly use 1H Axe/1H Magic, but I'm also quite the sneaky archer. Best case scenario would be to continue doing this throughout the game, but I just feel like if I don't commit to one of these styles soon I'm going to start getting crushed. I'm already kind of having a rough time as it is.

You sound like you're playing kind of the same way I am. I actually wound up putting a few points into Archery and Restoration. There's a perk in the archery tree that I think increases sneak attack damage which is very useful, as is "Overdraw". For restoration there's a perk that reduces cost of the spell I think. I find I do a lot of Sneaking, pop bad guys in the dome from afar with the bow, then switch to one-handed + restoration magic when all hell breaks loose.

Spoiler

Also, what's the sprint button?

 

[erragal]

This is part of my goal for my next character. Master Difficult 2H + Heavy Armor + Restoration character. I might throw in some other stuff to level just to raise the enemy scaling for difficulty but we'll see.

I'm considering conjuration/2H/light armor myself though dual wield is plausible too. Early game on master is actually pretty tough for the most part; it's late game where you start to just blow enemy health away with the silly alchemy/enchanting/smithing over-synergy that it becomes unfun.

If only I weren't so attached to my first character in games!!

 

[Blue Ninja]

Anyone see this yet?

Apparently the Entire Tamriel Landmass built into Skyrim.

Sorry if old.

It's been posted three times today already, I think. :lol

 

[Arjen]

Just finished A night to remember. I knew of the queest, but not what was happening. So awesome.

 

[Warnen]

Hmmm trying to become the thane in all the cites but I can't buy a home in Windhelm. It says there is a home available but there is a problem or something.


Anyone know what I need to do?

 

[GhaleonEB]

It's just left me wanting to somehow undermine their power, haha. I wish I could effectively do that. I could pickpocket them all, but that would be tedious and wouldn't actually have any impact on them.

I was pretty disappointed with the Thieves Guild, for a few reasons. (Thiefy stuff below.)

Spoiler

During the main quest line, there was relatively little thieving and sneaking going on. Only three quests actually involved theft or other such debauchery. For the rest, they were just normal dungeons, which I handled as normal. It was basically a revenge tale.

I was hoping I'd slowly build the Guild up through a series of increasingly risky and grand heists. I hear the Guild does go through an evolution - after I do a hajillion more of these random side quests. I'm up to about 10 or so since completing the main quest line - they're getting old.

What really gets me is that I'm the Guild Master, but no one acknowledges it. I'm still treated with suspicion, and one dude even tells me that just because I'm friendly with the Guild Master doesn't mean he has to like me. I AM the Guild Master, FFS. There's not a single person in the Guild who treats me differently now. We're still stuck in the sewers, they're still jerks to me, and I'm still doing random quests.

On that note, I really wish the random Thieves Guild quests were Misc. tasks. I hate scrolling through my completed mission log and seeing "The Heist Job" or "The Sweep Job" listed over and over. They're not even numbered (The Heist Job #4) so I can track how many I've done. Just a very unsatisfying endgame for the Guild. (For now, at least.)

 

[Ace Harding]

Oh hell yeah. I enchanted my bow with soul trap, and since I'm 1-shotting lots of dudes with my "Bow of Souls" (working my way up the sneak/archery trees) I have a steady supply of soul gems to refill my enchanted armor, jewelry, and second bow.

 

[Visceir]

Elven arrows are real nice, so are orcish. But I would assume if there are daedric arrows in the game then those are, I have yet to come across them though

There are, daedric arrows are 24 atk.

 

[SnakeswithLasers]

Nope, I went to Ilinalta's Deep whilst exploring and the Black Star area was blocked off by a rock, lol.

Also, came across a cave. Inside, a spell to transmute iron ore to silver, and silver to gold. Man!

You can't just go there first. The passageway is blocked off by rubble if you haven't gotten the quest to go there; just having the quest sending you to the Shrine isn't enough, incidentally.

I'm not entirely sure that would work in that I think you would need to at the least visit the shrine to have the correct dialogue with Nelacar. I wouldn't doubt you can pick up the Star without taking the quest, however unless it's totally different from other quests.

Thanks all--guess it's off to the shrine and the inn.

 

[Amibguous Cad]

I'm level 11 and have 3 unused perks. I would apply them to light armor or 1 handed weapon, but I'm not high enough level in those yet.

Can anyone recommend some quality perks? My play style has kind of been all over the map. I mostly use 1H Axe/1H Magic, but I'm also quite the sneaky archer. Best case scenario would be to continue doing this throughout the game, but I just feel like if I don't commit to one of these styles soon I'm going to start getting crushed. I'm already kind of having a rough time as it is.

I had the same deal. I'd save 'em until you settle on a more defined play style. I was all over the map early game but found a couple of tools that I used more than anything else, leading me to level up those skills quickest. Then when it was clear where I was headed, I started investing points in there.

 

[ajf009]

so I think I need to increase the difficulty to master, sneak attacking with my poisoned arrows and 3x damage kills almost everything in 1 shot, except for bosses pretty much

 

[scy]

I'm considering conjuration/2H/light armor myself though dual wield is plausible too. Early game on master is actually pretty tough for the most part; it's late game where you start to just blow enemy health away with the silly alchemy/enchanting/smithing over-synergy that it becomes unfun.

If only I weren't so attached to my first character in games!!

I thought about Conjuration for a Shadowknight-esque character, but then I realized I've already done Conjuration on two characters as is. Same for Light Armor and one-hand/Dual Wield. So, 2H + Heavy Armor + Restoration is really all that's left and, hell, Restoration is only there so I can have some third skill to aim for leveling. May add in Destruction just for the Cloaks though.

And yeah, the early game is about the only rough time. Honestly, Master isn't that bad after a few hours, even without Smithing/Alchemy/Enchanting abuse (or any of them, really). My Archer had some slumps for awhile but that was due to Sneak/Pickpocket being 95% of her levels. She still hasn't hit 100 Archery ffs and I haven't stabbed anything for the past 15 dungeons. Confining my level ups like this may actually make things even easier, honestly :/

 

[HTuran]

I was pretty disappointed with the Thieves Guild, for a few reasons. (Thiefy stuff below.)

Spoiler

During the main quest line, there was relatively little thieving and sneaking going on. Only three quests actually involved theft or other such debauchery. For the rest, they were just normal dungeons, which I handled as normal. It was basically a revenge tale.

I was hoping I'd slowly build the Guild up through a series of increasingly risky and grand heists. I hear the Guild does go through an evolution - after I do a hajillion more of these random side quests. I'm up to about 10 or so since completing the main quest line - they're getting old.

What really gets me is that I'm the Guild Master, but no one acknowledges it. I'm still treated with suspicion, and one dude even tells me that just because I'm friendly with the Guild Master doesn't mean he has to like me. I AM the Guild Master, FFS. There's not a single person in the Guild who treats me differently now. We're still stuck in the sewers, they're still jerks to me, and I'm still doing random quests.

On that note, I really wish the random Thieves Guild quests were Misc. tasks. I hate scrolling through my completed mission log and seeing "The Heist Job" or "The Sweep Job" listed over and over. They're not even numbered (The Heist Job #4) so I can track how many I've done. Just a very unsatisfying endgame for the Guild. (For now, at least.)

Haha, went through the exact same thing. Tips!

1) You aren't

Spoiler

Guild Master

after finishing the main quest. I know, the game lies to you. You have to...

2) Do 5 mini-missions in each city. After doing so, you get 'special missions'.

3) These 'special missions' are the best part of the Guild questline. Lots of sneaking and thievery to be had. Doing all these missions will...

4) Bring the guild back to prosperity, get you fences, bring merchants into the tavern and end up

Spoiler

with you as Guild Master

.

I know, it's unintuitive and the game lies to you. I wrote a post almost exactly the same as yours a few days ago. Just go along with it.

 

[Dakota47]

Just finished A night to remember. I knew of the queest, but not what was happening. So awesome.

My favorite quest so far. It caught me totally off guard. A question about the

Spoiler

Flamajabab or whatever it's called. I tried it on an NPC once and it simply hurt him made him angry. Is that all it can do, shoot

?

 

[GhaleonEB]

Haha, went through the exact same thing. Tips!

1) You aren't

Spoiler

Guild Master

after finishing the main quest. I know, the game lies to you. You have to...

2) Do 5 mini-missions in each city. After doing so, you get 'special missions'.

3) These 'special missions' are the best part of the Guild questline. Lots of sneaking and thievery to be had. Doing all these missions will...

4) Bring the guild back to prosperity, get you fences, bring merchants into the tavern and end up

Spoiler

with you as Guild Master

.

I know, it's unintuitive and the game lies to you. I wrote a post almost exactly the same as yours a few days ago. Just go along with it.

Thank you for this. I've been activating two of the missions, one from each of the two that issues them, each time I head out. I'll do a misc. task or two, hit the two jobs, lap back to the Guild, and repeat. I was starting to wonder.

The game does a terrible job letting us know that there's more to it than this, though. No sense of progress, no one telling us to keep going. Had I not been reading about it here, I would have assumed that was the endgame for the Guild.

 

[Jonm1010]

Is your motivation to do things really only fueled by levels? You do know that for the most part actually completing quests will barely get you levels after a certain point. If you don't plan on cheating it you'll be spending a hundred + hours getting light armor and heavy armor up just to reach that level cap. To hit the cap you have to get EVERY skill to the max level; if you do that in the course of actually adventuring instead of grinding anything I contend that you'll actually finish all the content BEFORE you reach the level cap.

I do agree about the enemy scaling (I'm COMPLETELY opposed to the mentality that 'low level stuff should stay low level so I can feel overpowered'...I want every bit of content to scale and preferably to a few levels higher than me). That's a genuine flaw in the endgame experience, but it's one that half the fans of the game apparently like. Some people want EVERYTHING to be fixed with no scaling at all.

To be honest though I'm contemplating restarting mostly to take a path of not using some of the ridiculously overpowered abilities and doing a 'hardcoreish' mode where every crafting level is from gathered materials only (No buying from a vendor for grinding). And dropping shields because no matter how much I love it, power bash makes the game far too easy :/

No gaining levels isn't my only motivation but I don't like that the skills I use will most likely be maxed out before finishing most of the game and the difficulty will now apparently be maxed.

Maybe others are right and my complaints are premature. Maybe I won't be maxed out and the difficulty level cap reached by the time I finish most guilds and the main story.

I personally don't mind either a scaled or a fixed level system. In fact I'd prefer a mix of both. Certain enemies scaling to a point, certain enemies scaling throughout the game. Certain enemies that are just so hard, even from the beginning, that it will take a complete mastery of an entire skill class to beat.

Anyways, back to questing......any consensus yet on the best guilds? I've joined thieves, and companions so far and done a bit of the main story. Mostly lots of side quests and exploring.

 

[Dice]

FFS Bethesda if I buy a house it should be cleaned up from the butchery that took place in it.

Hmmm, that doesn't really show what a glistening pool of ever-fresh blood it is.

 

[HTuran]

Thank you for this. I've been activating two of the missions, one from each of the two that issues them, each time I head out. I'll do a misc. task or two, hit the two jobs, lap back to the Guild, and repeat. I was starting to wonder.

The game does a terrible job letting us know that there's more to it than this, though. No sense of progress, no one telling us to keep going. Had I not been reading about it here, I would have assumed that was the endgame for the Guild.

Exactly, the game does an awful job of explaining things. You finish the main questline

Spoiler

with Brynholf telling you that you'll be guild master,

then get back and everyone's like "Hey, you're Brynholf's lad. We've got our eyes on you!".

 

[John Rabbit]

so i got azura's star instead of the black star. as a magic-user and enchanter i feel like i've gimped myself. should i go back and do it over?

 

[Kikarian]

FFS Bethesda if I buy a house it should be cleaned up from the butchery that took place in it.

Hmmm, that doesn't really show what a glistening pool of ever-fresh blood it is.

That's the least of your worries.

 

[scy]

so i got azura's star instead of the black star. as a magic-user and enchanter i feel like i've gimped myself. should i go back and do it over?

Honestly, I would. Black Star is basically the same as Azura's Star except it can also house Human souls. Really no reason to get the normal one unless you just want to go that route storyline wise.

 

[erragal]

I thought about Conjuration for a Shadowknight-esque character, but then I realized I've already done Conjuration on two characters as is. Same for Light Armor and one-hand/Dual Wield. So, 2H + Heavy Armor + Restoration is really all that's left and, hell, Restoration is only there so I can have some third skill to aim for leveling. May add in Destruction just for the Cloaks though.

And yeah, the early game is about the only rough time. Honestly, Master isn't that bad after a few hours, even without Smithing/Alchemy/Enchanting abuse (or any of them, really). My Archer had some slumps for awhile but that was due to Sneak/Pickpocket being 95% of her levels. She still hasn't hit 100 Archery ffs and I haven't stabbed anything for the past 15 dungeons. Confining my level ups like this may actually make things even easier, honestly :/

The biggest problem early/midgame master for me was relying on destruction for your damage. Even with 150%+ destruction damage potions the damage output is just agonizingly slow, never mind that the enemies are paralyzed for 15 seconds and useless. I do reccommend the cloaks; they actually do similar damage to the walls somehow (Pretty sure listed wall damage is not accurate)

I don't plan on confining level ups, the key is not power grinding anything that can break the challenge of the game. Not using rested/stone exp bonuses will also really slow everything down as well.

 

[Double D]

You sound like you're playing kind of the same way I am. I actually wound up putting a few points into Archery and Restoration. There's a perk in the archery tree that I think increases sneak attack damage which is very useful, as is "Overdraw". For restoration there's a perk that reduces cost of the spell I think. I find I do a lot of Sneaking, pop bad guys in the dome from afar with the bow, then switch to one-handed + restoration magic when all hell breaks loose.

Spoiler

Also, what's the sprint button?

Yep, this is exactly what I do. I actually started off really early with no magic at all, and just a shield in the left hand. I hate to say it but I wouldn't mind getting the shield back into play a little bit but magic is too awesome at this point.

LB is the sprint button on 360

edit: If you're like me and sitting at work plotting tonight's moves, check out this perks page. I went through all the categories and wrote down which perks I wanted in each and tallied them up. Skipped a couple that seemed cool, but could live without. Anyways when I added everything up I came up with about 65 total. It's also tailored to the style of play discussed above, so I'm just going to go from this list until they're gone, then start picking up the 'nice to haves'.

 

[scy]

I don't plan on confining level ups, the key is not power grinding anything that can break the challenge of the game. Not using rested/stone exp bonuses will also really slow everything down as well.

Well, I just mean I'll be sticking to really just leveling three (maybe four) core set of skills that are directly relevant to combat. That all take time to level. Not like Sneak and Pickpocket that always rocket my levels up and go up with little effort while having no real combat benefit (almost, Sneak kind of does). None of this Level 30 character with 20 1H or something, lol.

 

[Lakitu]

I was walking around near Arcwind Point. Two snow bears started mauling me to death, then I see fire coming at me. I sprint to safety and use Close Wounds. I look back, I see the Dragon killing the snow bears. It saved my life, so I felt guilty about killing it.

 

[Kikarian]

I was walking around near Arcwind Point. Two snow bears started mauling me to death, then I see fire coming at me. I sprint to safety and use Close Wounds. I look back, I see the Dragon killing the snow bears. It saved my life, so I felt guilty about killing it.

I hate how Snow bears are stronger than dragons.

 

[flyinpiranha]

Honestly, I would. Black Star is basically the same as Azura's Star except it can also house Human souls. Really no reason to get the normal one unless you just want to go that route storyline wise.

I forgot which one I snagged (just did it last night and at work), is the Azure if you take it back to the priestess and the Black if you take it to the elf guy in Winterhold right?

Man, I don't want to have to go back that far but if it really gimps me (I'm also a mage/enchanter type character) I'll have to.

I got whichever one was from the Elf guy ...

EDIT: Are dragons purely random? I'm level 30+ and have roamed quite a lot but have stuck to mostly one part of the map (mage college and Whiterun) and I have only ever encountered one dragon in the wild after the first scripted one for the Jarl. Am I just unlucky? My girlfriend has fought like 3 or 4 of them.

 

[Naito]

FFS Bethesda if I buy a house it should be cleaned up from the butchery that took place in it.

Actually you can pay the guy to clean up the bloody mess, but the option is only available before buying the Living room.

 

[erragal]

I forgot which one I snagged (just did it last night and at work), is the Azure if you take it back to the priestess and the Black if you take it to the elf guy in Winterhold right?

Man, I don't want to have to go back that far but if it really gimps me (I'm also a mage/enchanter type character) I'll have to.

I got whichever one was from the Elf guy ...

Just buy pre-filled grand soul gems from all over the place. I haven't even done that quest in my game and I've never really found myself lacking in souls. Unless you want to suck every soul you use in the game I doubt you'll notice it.

 

[scy]

I forgot which one I snagged (just did it last night and at work), is the Azure if you take it back to the priestess and the Black if you take it to the elf guy in Winterhold right?

Man, I don't want to have to go back that far but if it really gimps me (I'm also a mage/enchanter type character) I'll have to.

I got whichever one was from the Elf guy ...

EDIT: Are dragons purely random? I'm level 30+ and have roamed quite a lot but have stuck to mostly one part of the map (mage college and Whiterun) and I have only ever encountered one dragon in the wild after the first scripted one for the Jarl. Am I just unlucky? My girlfriend has fought like 3 or 4 of them.

To Azura -> Azura's Star
To Nelacar (the Elf) -> Black Star

 

[la flama blanca]

Man, so crazy how there are so many locations that you can't "discover" or fast travel to.

 

[garath]

What's the best house to buy with easy quick travel access to enchanting, alchemy, a forge and some sellers of stuff nearby? I use Whiterun right now but it's a pain to trek up to Dragonreach for enchanting needs but it is excellent having the forge and 2 weapon buyers right next door.

 

[Raxus]

EDIT: Are dragons purely random? I'm level 30+ and have roamed quite a lot but have stuck to mostly one part of the map (mage college and Whiterun) and I have only ever encountered one dragon in the wild after the first scripted one for the Jarl. Am I just unlucky? My girlfriend has fought like 3 or 4 of them.

Yes and yes. I fought 4 IN the college alone. No worries. They have guaranteed spawns in select locations and in quests.

 

[The Lamonster]

What's the best house to buy with easy quick travel access to enchanting, alchemy, a forge and some sellers of stuff nearby? I use Whiterun right now but it's a pain to trek up to Dragonreach for enchanting needs but it is excellent having the forge and 2 weapon buyers right next door.

I have the exact same problem as you...but note that the 2 Warmaiden blacksmiths have the same pool of money and inventory. Actually not positive about the inventory but they have the same pool of money.

 

[Bisnic]

So what exactly give the tag "Cleared" to a cave, fortress, etc.? I went into a cave, killed everything inside, looted the big chest at the end, but i got no "Cleared" when looking at the map. I want to clear everything in the end, but if some zones are really cleared but not tagged for it, its going to be annoying.

 

[Amibguous Cad]

I forgot which one I snagged (just did it last night and at work), is the Azure if you take it back to the priestess and the Black if you take it to the elf guy in Winterhold right?

Man, I don't want to have to go back that far but if it really gimps me (I'm also a mage/enchanter type character) I'll have to.

I got whichever one was from the Elf guy ...

EDIT: Are dragons purely random? I'm level 30+ and have roamed quite a lot but have stuck to mostly one part of the map (mage college and Whiterun) and I have only ever encountered one dragon in the wild after the first scripted one for the Jarl. Am I just unlucky? My girlfriend has fought like 3 or 4 of them.

I've been hanging around the same places you have, and I've encountered maybe 5 or 6 dragons in around 20 hours. Two of em attacked the mage's college, actually. It was hilarious how quickly he went down with 6 master level mages casting firebolts at him.

 

[ckohler]

Can someone explain to me how to make a Potion of Fortify Enchanting? Also, if you drink multiple fortify potions, do they stack? Like if I drank five Fortify Enchanting potions?

 

[Hawkian]

Just saw what the Black Star is used for... need it.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

Just met the Jarl of Falkreath.

Hmm.

 

[erragal]

I have the exact same problem as you...but note that the 2 Warmaiden blacksmiths have the same pool of money and inventory. Actually not positive about the inventory but they have the same pool of money.

Adrianne has her own inventory/money until you go indoors. Once you go indoors the inventory/money resets and now they match even if you go back outside. It's really weird.

 

[Luthos]

lol, what's wrong with Bonechill Passage? (it's an ice cave to the right of Falkreath)

I checked online, and apparently people are having the same problem as me. Which is, you crash to desktop within 5-30 seconds of being in the cave. What the hell is wrong with that place to make it crash you?

 

[garath]

I have the exact same problem as you...but note that the 2 Warmaiden blacksmiths have the same pool of money and inventory. Actually not positive about the inventory but they have the same pool of money.

Yeah, I've been investigating the different houses and I'm leaning toward Honeyside in Riften but I don't know where the house is in relation to the local forge. Doesn't seem that ANY house lets you build a forge

And the warmaiden blacksmiths definitely have a different inventory. The coin pool seems... weird. Sometimes I'll sell everything to the gal outside then go inside and see the guy has a full coin pool. Other times he'll be out of money as well. Not quite sure if it's bugged or maybe I'm just crazy.

edit:

Adrianne has her own inventory/money until you go indoors. Once you go indoors the inventory/money resets and now they match even if you go back outside. It's really weird.

That seems to be exactly it. Sell to Adrianne first then go inside and sell.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Still confused about my Black Star containing a lesser soul. As far as I can tell, black souls are always grand, no? The Black Star can only store black souls.

It's because the game lies and tells you that the Black Star can't contain White Souls but it can. It's consistent with how Black Soul Gems worked in Oblivion, as well.

So what exactly give the tag "Cleared" to a cave, fortress, etc.? I went into a cave, killed everything inside, looted the big chest at the end, but i got no "Cleared" when looking at the map. I want to clear everything in the end, but if some zones are really cleared but not tagged for it, its going to be annoying.

The Cleared tag might refer to quests that require to go there and do something and/or mobs spawn or travel there after a quest is accepted.

 

[subversus]

What the hell is wrong with that place to make it crash you?

ancient evil which can't be described with a program language.

 

[erragal]

Can someone explain to me how to make a Potion of Fortify Enchanting? Also, if you drink multiple fortify potions, do they stack? Like if I drank five Fortify Enchanting potions?

Do not stack.

Spoiler

blue Butterfly wings, hagraven claws, snowberries all make fortify enchanting. One other ingredient I can't remember ATM.

 

[Sol..]

Just saw what the Black Star is used for... need it.

get it early because the last boss gets stupid harder the longer you go.

 

[Davedough]

I have the exact same problem as you...but note that the 2 Warmaiden blacksmiths have the same pool of money and inventory. Actually not positive about the inventory but they have the same pool of money.

Her husband inside sold me 47 iron ingots and 32 straps, I cleaned him out of money by selling him my drops. I went outside and she sold me 35 iron ingots and 27 straps and had over 2500 gold on her.

Edit: beaten