The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim post-release thread

[Morgyn]

A while ago I add the Enchanting Freedom mod, and was eventually able to find a Khajit caravan selling the rings that let you learn some useful enchantments. I got Spell Absorption, and with perks and an Enchantment of 100, I was able to add 50% spell absorption to several objects. As a Breton, I also have a base 25% resistance to magic.

The good news is that between the spell absorption and the magic resistance, I am (so far, at least) pretty much immune to spell damage. I've actively avoided waking the dragons up, so I don't know how that will stand up against them.

The bad news is that my spell absorption is so high, I can't conjure familiars or flame atronachs by personal spell. I haven't tried using a scroll or staff, nor have I gotten any higher level conjure beasties. This is a trifle annoying, as having a pet atronach or dremora lord is useful, damnit. (I also don't have many perks in Conjure.)

The ok news is that the Midas Conjure Luggage spell is completely unaffected by this problem, so I still have my traveling luggage. And the Luggage is perfectly happy to attack enemies. It seems to have the same damage as the dwarven spider worker that it's based on, so it doesn't help a lot, but it's kinda cute to see it go after another spider.

This is a known glitch. I'm currently debating whether the near-immunity to spell damage is worth more to me than the ability to conjure extra help.

[Mr. Kobayashi]

After digging through the latest file contents of the most recent PC patch it seems Dawnguard may add crossbows, more vampires and the Snow Prince. The Snow Prince was a leader of the Falmer, vanquished by ancient Nords on Solstheim, the setting for Morrowind's second expansion, Bloodmoon. Spears were his signature weapon.

[Babale]

Just got back into Skyrim after not playing for a while. Going Mage this time, with a mod that adds a bunch of spells (Like Baleful Polymorph!) and the Deadly Dragons mod. Since my other character was a dual-axe-wielding Berserker type, the game is totally different... And I love it.

Apparently there are finishing moves on spells! I was a 2nd level Mage running around trying to get the Dragonstone. Fought the guy who pops up by running around and dodging while burning him, while that Elf from the first town followed him with a greatsword. So, I go into a kill animation. There I am, pumping flames out of my outstretched hands. The enemy raises his sword to attack, then stops and starts jerking back and forth in the flames. And then, BOOM! Slow-mo greatsword swing, fire flies everywhere, and he's down.

I don't think this was supposed to be a 2-man killcam, but it sure looked like it... Is that possible?


Having lots of fun with my mage so far. I play on Master, which made the first dragon fight ridiculously hard; I ducked behind rocks, jumped out and used Frostbite on him, and then ran away again. Finally, he landed (with about 1/3rd health) in front of the tower and started tossing guards into the air. I played medic, animating them as zombies and sending them back into the fight, but finally the only people who were left were Irileth, my companion, and one other guard. I decided to be a hero, chugged a fire resist pot, and dashed towards him, unloading my Frostbite on the dragon. He turned around, slowly, and opened his maws... And died!

I killed a second fire dragon without too much trouble with my companion, but then I decided that I wanted to go solo a dragon. At level 7, as a mage with all of his skill points spread out among the various magic skills. Found me a Shock Dragon... His breath hits much harder than the fire or cold dragons, and it cools down much faster, but it's a line attack as opposed to a cone. So the fight involved me running around, frantically dodging the dragon and shooting it with fire. It was epic!

[Gukumatz]

Crossbows would be cool as a disposable one-off weapon at the start of combat.

[Der Trihs]

Originally Posted by Babale

Apparently there are finishing moves on spells!

Checking back, Patch 1.5 added (among other things):

- New cinematic kill cameras for projectile weapons and spells
- New kill moves and animations for melee weapons

[Babale]

My problem with the finishing moves is that sometimes, I'll go into the slow-mo-cam and finish off an enemy by burning him to death... And then he doesn't take enough damage, and still comes at me. Or if I'm chasing someone, the slow-mo might give him enough distance to escape.

I think it might be because I'm playing on Master? The game calculates, "He has 10 health left, let's do a kill cam!" but because of the lower damage values in Master the enemy survives?

[Kinthalis]

I'm replaying with a new character. A chick assasin with what will be an arsenal of poisons and illusion spells.

Going to concentrate on the main quests and the thieve's/assasin's quest plot line only, since I didn't see any of those with my prior character.

I'm dumping mods into this bad boy left and right, so if you've got any suggestions, maybe you've got a colleciton set up over in SteamWorks, please share the link!

I'm specially looking for anything that makes dragons more interesting, anythign that might enhance my assasin build, and anythign that makes the world look better.

Right now I've got the enhanced outdoor and indoor sounds mods, the realistic lighting mod ( which makes dungeons terrifyingly dark places. I need to use magic or torches now!), a couple of the house mods, and the two mods that improve the way Whiterun and the town with the thieve's guild looks.

[ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies]

I haven't played in a few weeks, but whatever was in that last darn update seems to be causing my PS3 to freeze whenever I try to swim.

[ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies]

Originally Posted by ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies

I haven't played in a few weeks, but whatever was in that last darn update seems to be causing my PS3 to freeze whenever I try to swim.

In case anyone else runs into this, the fix is to use the Game Data Utility to delete any Game Data for Skyrim (this does NOT mean to delete your saved games, or you'll lose them) and then relaunch the disk to prompt a fresh download of the 1.5 patch and re-installation of the game, both of which take a few minutes.

[Der Trihs]

Originally Posted by Kinthalis

I'm dumping mods into this bad boy left and right, so if you've got any suggestions, maybe you've got a colleciton set up over in SteamWorks, please share the link!

I'm specially looking for anything that makes dragons more interesting, anythign that might enhance my assasin build, and anythign that makes the world look better.

At present I'm running Deadly Dragons and Deadly Dragons Armory, which adds more and tougher dragons & new weapons/crafting options. Neither is on Steamworks I think. I've also got No Blur Nightvision, Sounds of Skyrim (adds extra background sounds), Spells Give Off Light, Midas Magic, Detailed Cities, and More Argonian Colour (so I could have my blue Argonian mage; yes, she's a lizard wizard).

[Der Trihs]

One new mod since I posted last; I've added the "Open Face Helmets Compilation", which adds craftable helmets with an exposed face for helms like the Dwarven helmet. Makes you look less generic in kill-cutscenes.

And...<dramatic drumroll>..Patch 1.6 is adding mounted combat to Skyrim!

[madmonk28]

Anyone else underwhelmed by the mounted combat? I find myself running around in circles, it's too bad you can't crash into opponents with your horse.

[ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies]

Originally Posted by madmonk28

Anyone else underwhelmed by the mounted combat? I find myself running around in circles, it's too bad you can't crash into opponents with your horse.

That and having a chance for horse-as-weapon slo mo killscenes would be sweet.

[madmonk28]

And if only you could use lances, imagine using a lance to fight a dragon all St. George style.

[Invisible Chimp]

Dawnguard Expansion - Official Trailer.

[Claptree]

Originally Posted by Invisible Chimp

Dawnguard Expansion - Official Trailer.

That looks quite awesome. I didn't see a PC release date, anyone know?

[Kobal2]

Originally Posted by madmonk28

Anyone else underwhelmed by the mounted combat? I find myself running around in circles, it's too bad you can't crash into opponents with your horse.

Hi madmonk28, my name is Mount&Blade and I'd like to talk to you about our lancing peasants right in the face and trampling their friends program...

[Odesio]

I generally can't stand to be mounted when going from point A to point B so mounted combat doesn't seem like a plus to me.

[Der Trihs]

Originally Posted by Claptree

That looks quite awesome. I didn't see a PC release date, anyone know?

At least a month after it's released for the X Box, and the same for the next DLC; they have an agreement.

[madmonk28]

Originally Posted by Kobal2

Hi madmonk28, my name is Mount&Blade and I'd like to talk to you about our lancing peasants right in the face and trampling their friends program...

Yeah, but do you do anything else in the game? I've been meaning to check it out.

[Kobal2]

Yes and no.
In Warbands especially, there's a lot to do outside of battles (climbing the social ladder, managing your NPC friends and your budding army, building up your character, running quests and errands to build up cash and equipment, tournaments...) but it's no Skyrim in terms of plot, scripted sequences, world building, exploration, wandering around taking in the sights and so on. It's more freeform, procedural and open-ended gameplay with few real goals, if any.
Still, the lancing peasants right in the face part is really well done (mechanically if not graphically - the game is on the ugly side I'm afraid) and a near bottomless source of fun in and of itself IMO. Do check it out if you have the time.

The multiplayer is also pretty cool, if less satisfying in the sense that you're not duking it out for anything. I had the same problem with Total War MP games: yes, having a big army and sending it at the other guy's army is fun... but without the part where you've been building up that army for the last 20 turns and you're having that battle to conquer Satsuma or free Jerusalem, it's not enough for me.

[ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies]

Level 62, still can't believe I'm finding new undiscovered locations if I speed-travel to an area that isn't already peppered with white icons. While trying to get the last few shouts that I don't already have, I ran into yet another bug where the 3rd installment of the Fire Breath shout doesn't unlock. Apparently a permanent bug. Grr.

Getting all of the masks was not nearly as climactic and fulfilling as I thought it was going to be.

[Mr. Kobayashi]

If you have Skyrim on the 360 you have the pleasure of the first DLC - Dawnguard is out later today for 1600 MS points, which is fairly pricey as DLCs go. Here's a link with what we know. Apparently one of the biggest problems facing 360 owners is their dwindling HD space and the size of the DLC.

I'll be enjoying it on my 1.5TB HD...sadly in months time, damn exclusivity agreement. Of most interest to me is the 3 new Shouts;

Soul Tear — Tears the spirit of its target from its body.
Drain Vitality — Coax both magical and mortal energies from hapless opponents.
Summon Durnehviir — Summons the undead dragon Durnehviir from the Soul Cairn.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrimawnguard
Gives me something to spend all those dragon souls on.

[Whack-a-Mole]

Originally Posted by Mr. Kobayashi

If you have Skyrim on the 360 you have the pleasure of the first DLC - Dawnguard is out later today for 1600 MS points, which is fairly pricey as DLCs go. Here's a link with what we know. Apparently one of the biggest problems facing 360 owners is their dwindling HD space and the size of the DLC.

I've been seeing pretty solid thumbs-up for the DLC in other places. So far most are seeming to think it is a worthy addition (worthy even if you don't do the vampire thing which, I gather, is a primary focus).

I was wondering about the 360 early release. What exclusivity agreement? Why would Bethesda do that? Did Microsoft write them a fat check for the privilege?

Sucks to have to wait a month but no biggie. PC owners get the Steam Workshop and all the goodies that provides for Skyrim.

[thelurkinghorror]

I like to imagine that Microsoft sent people to Maryland (Bethesda and more likely ZeniMax) with wheelbarrows full of money.

It's not new though; they did the same agreement with Fallout: New Vegas DLC and I believe Fallout 3. PS3 people have to wait too. And for Skyrim they jacked up the PC price $10 so that it matches console. ($50 to $60). I beat it and stopped playing in favor of other games but I'll probably come back.

I haven't read much about the expansion yet. It reminds me of Bloodmoon. You come to fight werewolves vampires, and can keep on fighting or join them in a separate storyline, with a meeting of the plots in the end.

[Mr. Kobayashi]

Originally Posted by Whack-a-Mole

I was wondering about the 360 early release. What exclusivity agreement? Why would Bethesda do that? Did Microsoft write them a fat check for the privilege?

Sucks to have to wait a month but no biggie. PC owners get the Steam Workshop and all the goodies that provides for Skyrim.

Dunno, but they did the same thing for Fallout 3's first DLC. At any rate, by all reports the rest of the DLC, like Fallout 3's, will be release simultaneously so it doesn't matter hugely in the long run.

[Der Trihs]

Originally Posted by thelurkinghorror

I like to imagine that Microsoft sent people to Maryland (Bethesda and more likely ZeniMax) with wheelbarrows full of money.

That's pretty much what happened I recall hearing.

Originally Posted by Mr. Kobayashi

Dunno, but they did the same thing for Fallout 3's first DLC. At any rate, by all reports the rest of the DLC, like Fallout 3's, will be release simultaneously so it doesn't matter hugely in the long run.

Unless they changed it, the next one will also be delayed 30 days.

Microsoft is furthering that approach, as today the company announced timed Xbox 360 exclusivity for Bethesda's upcoming open-world role-playing game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The first two add-on content drops for Skyrim will debut on the Xbox 360 and remain exclusive to the platform for 30 days.

[Mr. Kobayashi]

Originally Posted by Der Trihs

Unless they changed it, the next one will also be delayed 30 days.

Ffff, well I didn't know that. Thankfully we've got mods to tide us over in the meantime. If you're on the PS3 I guess you get to eat shit sandwiches.

[Raza]

I played for about 90 minutes last night, which was plenty of time to get into the Dawnguard world and reach "decision time" on whether to become a vampire or not. After a save (of course) I chose to accept the invitation and became a vampire.

SPOILER:

I'm not impressed with vampirism. The bat-flying-ability is not at all what I thought it was going to be (you seemingly can only move a short distance), and the two stances/modes just adds to the cumbersomeness. Combat as a vampire seems really weak compared to what I can normally do. Add to that the pain you feel in sunlight, plus the need to frequently feed on sleeping humans, and...well, I don't see the attraction, other than the novelty of it. A lot of extra work, with (to me) no useful extra abilities.

Nothing I said in the spoilered section should be taken as a comment on the story line quality.

[Raza]

Since I'm usually a thread-killer, I'll follow up with a link to a good, concise article on what some of the DLC's goodies are and how to get them, without being spoilers:

15 Essential Dawnguard Tips
The tips are helpful whether you play as a vampire or not.

[Kyrie BunnyLover]

Originally Posted by Duke

I killed a bunny. I was very remorseful about this, and even more so when I noticed that there is an entry for "Bunnies Slaughtered" in the General Stats menu. Please don't tell me that this is something like ADoM where near the end of the game there is a special bonus for not killing a single bunny the entire game.

I have tried to not kill any animals except the real baddies (wolves, saber cats, trolls, etc), not even the evil enchanted Elk (just bashed 'em away with my bow) and lately I've left food, flowers and even jewels when I find a dead animal and it finally happened!...I was running pell-mell super far down the wrong path and A BUNNY STOPPED AND LEAD ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!! I've had the foxes do that, and the goats lead you to the action, but never before has a bunny not run away.

I'm so happy!!!

And this is on Xbox mind you, with no hint of console controls. Level 15, Wood Elf with barely any skills besides sneak, whose been helping citizens and specifically NOT chasing poor frightened animals.

YAY!!!

[Der Trihs]

Now only do I tend to go out of my way to kill bunnies (there's something delightfully over the top about hunting bunnies with fireballs), but I often have that lady from the A Taste of Death sidequest as a follower. She likes to spam necromancy, and I've found myself being followed around by zombie bunnies and chickens fairly often.

[thelurkinghorror]

Originally Posted by Kyrie BunnyLover

I have tried to not kill any animals except the real baddies (wolves, saber cats, trolls, etc), not even the evil enchanted Elk (just bashed 'em away with my bow) and lately I've left food, flowers and even jewels when I find a dead animal and it finally happened!...I was running pell-mell super far down the wrong path and A BUNNY STOPPED AND LEAD ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!! I've had the foxes do that, and the goats lead you to the action, but never before has a bunny not run away.

I don't know if it's a personal choice or if you are role playing, but if the latter, lore-wise Bosmer are not the nature hippies like in other medieval fantasies. They protect the forests at any cost, but that doesn't necessarily extend to the animals within. They are usually carnivorous and often cannibalistic. Also, I'm not quite sure if they are supposed to protect all forests or just Valenwood in particular.

[Oliveritaly]

I found a fairly humorous, blog I guess, about a unique way to play Skyrim. Meet Olaf, the hard working, but non-questing, non-fighting citizen of Skyrim. Olaf's goal, through hard work, earn 25k ... but again no magic, no quests, no fighting monsters...

Fairly interesting and fairly humorous I thought.

link here

[Brainiac4]

Thanks, Oliveritaly. That's entertaining. The Youtube versions are excellent - I subscribed to the series.

[Autolycus]

Indeed. The blog is so-so but the youtube version is very entertaining. I have also subscribed.

[Oliveritaly]

Man I haven't even watched the Youtube stuff yet, guess I know what I'm doing later ... glad you both enjoyed, I thought it was a interesting take on the game.

[madmonk28]

Originally Posted by thelurkinghorror

I don't know if it's a personal choice or if you are role playing, but if the latter, lore-wise Bosmer are not the nature hippies like in other medieval fantasies. They protect the forests at any cost, but that doesn't necessarily extend to the animals within. They are usually carnivorous and often cannibalistic. Also, I'm not quite sure if they are supposed to protect all forests or just Valenwood in particular.

Don't Bosmer eat an entirely meat based diet including meat beer? I think I read it in one of the books you can pick up in game.

[Oliveritaly]

Originally Posted by Autolycus

Indeed. The blog is so-so but the youtube version is very entertaining. I have also subscribed.

Brain and Auto, I just finished watching the video diary, much better than the blog ... it's pretty cool, thanks, not sure how I missed them.

[BunnyTVS]

Good news: Dawnguard is up on Steam.

Bad news: I don't have a day off til next Friday.

[thelurkinghorror]

Steam's a big tease. "SKYRIM 50% OFF" I click it, knowing full well that Dawnguard is exempt. Still, I feel a little let down.

[Mr. Kobayashi]

Originally Posted by madmonk28

Don't Bosmer eat an entirely meat based diet including meat beer? I think I read it in one of the books you can pick up in game.

The Green Pact, in lore.

How's Dawnguard on PC? Hopefully the bugs'll be fixed by now after letting the 360 pick through it for a month.

[D_Odds]

Originally Posted by thelurkinghorror

Steam's a big tease. "SKYRIM 50% OFF" I click it, knowing full well that Dawnguard is exempt. Still, I feel a little let down.

I did the exact same thing. Should be discounted by the Christmas sale.

[Alessan]

To anyone plating Dawnguard - what level should I be to start? I don't want to be too weak or worse, too powerful.

[Balance]

I'm not playing Dawnguard yet--in fact, I've only now really started playing Skyrim since I got a new machine. I'm just posting because I want to share some classic TES weirdness I witnessed last night:

I fast-traveled to a spot on a mountain slope (don't recall the name, it was just the closest point to my destination that I had mapped). As I loaded in, I heard the dramatic music start, and before I could get my bearings, there was a dragon right in front of me. Then, just as suddenly, there wasn't. It was skidding down the slope and plowed into some rocks a little further on. I ran down and whacked it once with my mace, and it died. Cue the Highlander lightshow, which I ignored in favor of a more pressing concern: somewhere in the immediate vicinity was something that had beaten a dragon to within an inch of its life. I turned to look up the slope and saw...a goat. Staring down at me and the bony remnants of the dragon with its strange goat-eyes.

I elected not to trouble Mr. Goat, and went about my business. Which was somewhere not on Mr. Goat's mountain.

[D_Odds]

I would have gone after the goat. No goats, no glory.

[ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies]

Must have been one baaaaaaaad mofracky.

[Balance]

Originally Posted by D_Odds

I would have gone after the goat. No goats, no glory.

We have many goats. Goats are a key resource for Lightly Enchanted Daggers, Inc*. Just not this particular goat. Besides, I had no empty soul gems at the time.

*A wholly owned subsidiary of the Cheez Weasel Corporation. LEDI has no operational associations with CWC's other subsidiaries, Levitating Buckets, Limited and the Whiterun Market Realtime Census Bureau.

[wolfman]

Man, am I scarred from early games full of bugs.
I went to install something on my computer, and it told me I was out of space.That seemed kind of wierd, I have 1.5T of drives on the system, and I don't put any of my huge files from work.
So i fire up a file system analyzer, and gave it a look. 10 minutes later it showing me a pretty multicolored picture , with one enormous purple block in the middle, scanning over it, Skyrim save... Skyrim save... Skyrim save...

I had 98G of Skyrim saves.
I had no idea I was saving basically ever 2 minutes of play time. There were also 42 of New Vegas, 35 of Drakensang. And more in the steam folder from when my computer crashed and I had to reinstall the OS, I left the old windows partition around.
over 500G of save files altogether.

Can anybody beat 98 Gigs of Skyrim. or do I win

Well at least it's obvious what the next step is, Off to MicroCenter for another Tera drive, I could never delete my preciousess.

[clairobscur]

I've 4 Go for something like 600 saves. So you must have about 15 000 saves!