# The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim post-release thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 10, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540 "2011-11-10T22:09:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/481 "2011-11-24T09:32:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > I recall once reading that the BBQ is actually some thing seen from Korean online gamers that doesn’t mean what our BBQ does, but it got picked up by English speakers somehow attached to WTF. Get it now? Me neither. I always thought it was simply a commonly understood 3-letter abbreviation (Everyone knows that a BBQ is, after all) and when you see a whole heap of other apparently nonsensical (to people who aren’t internet geeks) 3 letter abbreviations (LOL, WTF, OMG and so on), it just seemed amusing to add another one to parody the whole thing. And since BBQ is 3 letters and recognisable to everyone (and clearly not something that belongs in the context of tech-speak), it went from there. One thing I will say I wish _Skyrim had_: a proper IFF radar like the most recent _Fallout_ games. I realise enemies will show up on the compass bar when they’re hostile and attacking, but Skyrim’s game world is huge and 98% of everything in the outside areas seems to be either hostile to your character (or game animals), so it’d be really nice to know that the mage you can see in the distance, for example, _isn’t_ about to bust out fireball spells on you, or the Orc you can see by that tree is actually a quest-giver and not a pre-emptive strike target. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/482 "2011-11-24T09:36:40Z")
Something that pisses me off about Skyrim? How hostile mudcrabs are. Something else that pisses me off about Skyrim? Not being able to wait or fast travel because of some mudcrab or, god help me, a fucking slaughterfish that can’t even get to me. Just more minor gripes though. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/483 "2011-11-24T13:18:59Z")
“Ohh a cave, I wonder what’s in there?” Well Damn, If I half to take a guess I’d say probably the ~50 corpses we killed before walking out of it 3 seconds ago, _Bitchslap_ ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/484 "2011-11-24T13:51:12Z")
“Stop playing that Damn game and get in here! It’s Thanksgiving!” A phrase heard at least once today by nearly everyone following this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/485 "2011-11-24T13:57:54Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I realise enemies will show up on the compass bar when they’re hostile and attacking, but Skyrim’s game world is huge and 98% of everything in the outside areas seems to be either hostile to your character (or game animals), so it’d be really nice to know that the mage you can see in the distance, for example, _isn’t_ about to bust out fireball spells on you, or the Orc you can see by that tree is actually a quest-giver and not a pre-emptive strike target. Well, you can use the detect life spell if you have sufficient Alteration skill. The quest-giver will flicker blue and the pre-emptive strike target will flicker red. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/486 "2011-11-24T13:59:24Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I realise enemies will show up on the compass bar when they’re hostile and attacking, but Skyrim’s game world is huge and 98% of everything in the outside areas seems to be either hostile to your character (or game animals), so it’d be really nice to know that the mage you can see in the distance, for example, _isn’t_ about to bust out fireball spells on you, or the Orc you can see by that tree is actually a quest-giver and not a pre-emptive strike target. Definitely. I have been going up to everyone, only for them to attack me. The one time I decide to fire first (on the steps up High Hrothgar) The guy was friendly, luckily he held no grudges and didn’t insist on fighting me to the death. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/487 "2011-11-24T17:40:57Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > I thought it was funny when I ran into one of the caravans. The leader laments how the Nords see them as just thieves and drug smugglers. I trade with her, and the most noteworthy goods she has for sale are moon sugar and lockpicks. Heh. Yes, I made the exact same encounter while playing yesterday, and it made me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/488 "2011-11-24T17:45:59Z")
> [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](#): > > Definitely. I have been going up to everyone, only for them to attack me. The one time I decide to fire first (on the steps up High Hrothgar) The guy was friendly, luckily he held no grudges and didn’t insist on fighting me to the death. Not 100% sure, but it seems to me that most “friendly” characters will agree to stop the fight if you put down your weapon/bow/spell/whatever upon noticing that what you’re fighting is a “farmer” instead of the expected “bandit”. Though it doesn’t help much when the generally feeble guy was killed by your first blow. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/489 "2011-11-24T20:23:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > There’s this talk about Lydia dying. I have never seen anything permanently kill Lydia unless it was me. She goes prostrate and NPCs start ignoring her, and later she pops back up to tank again for a little while before getting put down. . I think she can be killed. After I noticed that she would apparently never die, I stopped caring about what she was doing. And twice I’ve found her corpse after she had ran away from me to fight something. Since I’m an archer and never use destructive magic, I’m pretty certain it’s not me. There were also a couple cases where she dissapeared, and wouldn’t come back regardless of how long I would wait (When I lose her, I typically use the wait function to get her back). I assumed in those cases too that she was “missing in action”. Maybe she can be killed, as suggested above, by zone effects (Villains’ spells? Maybe traps?) or in other indirect ways? However, in one of these suspect deaths, we were fighting a bunch of evil town guards in a quest, and I don’t think any of them was using magic, either. My character was fighting near a tunnel entrance, Lydia in a room down this tunnel, and it’s where I found the corpse. I was fighting in close combat, so I don’t think a loose arrow could be the cause of death, even though I can’t be absolutely sure. It’s conceivable that she went down to a very low number of hit points very early and that one of the maybe two arrows I shot before switching to the sword randomly hit and finished her, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/490 "2011-11-24T21:12:48Z")
I had Lydia die while we were fighting Frostbite Spiders once; I think that the poison killed her after she went passive. Personally though I’ve been switched to using [Uthgerd the Unbroken](http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Uthgerd_the_Unbroken) instead of Lydia for a companion; she doesn’t sound whiny when you ask her to carry stuff and that was getting on my nerves. She’s also a good fighter and easy to get very early on. Her main problem is that despite (according to the Wiki) being better with 1 handed weapons she’ll equip 2 handed weapons if you give them to her, so I end up carrying any 2-handers I find. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/491 "2011-11-24T21:58:32Z")
For anyone who’s into alchemy, I just stumbled upon this extremely handy [alchemy lab wizard](http://skyrim.melian.cc/?cmd=cmdSkyrimAlchemyWizard) tool that someone made. Also, the [ingredient list](http://skyrim.melian.cc/?cmd=cmdSkyrimIngredientList) page here for reference. Their description: > [@](#): > > The Alchemy Laboratory Wizard is finished. There you can multiple effects and see the ingredients that are needed for sucha potion or posion. Additionally you can also simply select ingredients and see which ones match. Here also multiple selects are possible. > This ingredient list is a nice starting point for asprigin alchemists. The Alchemy Laboratory Wizard really lets you delve into potion and poison creation, letting you create potions and poison easily with 3, maybe even 4 effects! ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/492 "2011-11-24T22:25:01Z")
Dragon armor: I have 100 skill in smithing and the perk to make dragon armor. I have made dragon armor, both light and heavy. 1: The difference between light dragon armor and heavy dragon armor seems quite small in terms of armor rating but quite significant in terms of weight. Am I getting the right impression? 2: I have improved both my light and my heavy set of dragon armor once. It seems that I have the possibility to improve it a second time. I have the materials for it. Yet I’m told that I don’t have the skill to improve them a second time. My smithing skill is 100. What am I not getting? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/493 "2011-11-24T22:36:49Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Dragon armor: > > I have 100 skill in smithing and the perk to make dragon armor. I have made dragon armor, both light and heavy. > > 1: The difference between light dragon armor and heavy dragon armor seems quite small in terms of armor rating but quite significant in terms of weight. Am I getting the right impression? What are your Light Armor and Heavy Armor skill ratings? The armor rating of any particular suit (and indeed the rating of any item you can find) is going to depend on your skill as well as the quality of the suit. According to the [wiki](http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Armor_(smithing)), the _base_ armor ratings are thus: Dragonplate armor - 46 Dragonplate boots - 17 Dragonplate gauntlets - 17 Dragonplate helmet - 22 Dragonplate shield - 34 Total heavy dragon armor rating - 136 Dragonscale armor - 41 Dragonscale boots - 12 Dragonscale gauntlets - 12 Dragonscale helmet - 17 Dragonscale shield - 29 Total light dragon armor rating - 111 So the _base_ difference between the sets is 25. That amount can go up or down depending on your light and heavy armor skills. Edit: Interestingly, glass armor seems to be better than dragonscale, with a total light armor rating of _112_, due to a slightly superior helmet. Someone will have to compare a glass and dragonscale (not plate) suit on their own side by side in the same game to confirm this. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/494 "2011-11-24T22:51:44Z")
Dumb question: Does “dual casting” mean a spell in each hand or the same spell in each hand? ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/495 "2011-11-24T22:57:52Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Dumb question: Does “dual casting” mean a spell in each hand or the same spell in each hand? Same spell in each hand, both buttons pressed at the same time. This gives you a more powerful (and costly, not sure if it’s efficient) spell. Destruction dual casting can change the game with the right perk. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/496 "2011-11-24T23:14:43Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Same spell in each hand, both buttons pressed at the same time. This gives you a more powerful (and costly, not sure if it’s efficient) spell. It’s very inefficient in terms of Magicka for the damage dealt (someone did the calculations, I’m trying to find where I saw it), you’d be better off casting a different spell in each hand for that. _However_, Dual Casting with the Impact perk is much safer, since it tends to knock enemies around. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/497 "2011-11-24T23:32:03Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > One thing I will say I wish _Skyrim had_: a proper IFF radar like the most recent _Fallout_ games. Although they’re by the same company, it is obvious that at least some parts of the games are designed by completely different teams. New Vegas’ companion wheel would have been a crucial addition. Hopefully a mod will add both of these, all I see so far is graphical changes like “Better Face mod #417.” My usual solution for this problem as someone stated above. 1) save the game 2) get out of sneak and run up to the enemy friendly-like 3) if they attack, then load and sneak attack them. > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Something that pisses me off about Skyrim? How hostile mudcrabs are. Something else that pisses me off about Skyrim? Not being able to wait or fast travel because of some mudcrab or, god help me, a fucking slaughterfish that can’t even get to me. Just more minor gripes though. It may have been a bug, but some slaughterfish attacked me by flopping on the shore. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/498 "2011-11-25T02:54:39Z")
Thanks for the help on the dual casting question. Another question: is it normal for cleared areas to respawn or is that a bug? [Minor Spoiler] There’s a bridge near Whiterun where bandits try and shake you down. I cleared it very early on and it shows as cleared on my map but today I went back to actually use the bridge and the Bandits were back, complete with their scripted shake down. Is that normal? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/499 "2011-11-25T05:06:37Z")
For Alchemy, I’m sampling every ingredient I pick up in order to discover their effects. Is this the only way to do this, or are more effects revealed automatically as one’s Alchemy skill increases like in Oblivion? I don’t like wasting my only samples of certain ingredients by eating them, but having their effects revealed in-game vs. looking them up in the tables provided above should eventually make it more convenient by letting the XBox provide cues that ingredients are compatible. Should I continue sampling everything I find, or instead make enough cheap and easy potions to fill a swimming pool in order to increase my Alchemy and reveal ingredient effects? Thanks for any help. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/500 "2011-11-25T05:39:26Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Although they’re by the same company, it is obvious that at least some parts of the games are designed by completely different teams. New Vegas was made by Obsidian. There were a number of elements from New Vegas that I was hoping would show up in Skyrim, but you’re right… there doesn’t seem to have been much communication between the two groups. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540.md?page=26)