# 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:** 65
**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:** [January 3, 2012, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1281 "2012-01-03T12:50:26Z")
I have a few Enchanting questions. I want to eventually make a custom armor set with two enchantments per item, but don’t know everything I need to do to get good effects (like +50 or higher for each enchantment). I’m pretty sure the strength of an enchanted item depends on my Enchanting skill, the type of soul gem used, and the actual type of soul used, but what else? Do I need to get all five Enchanting perks to get the effect 80% better, or can I just rely on potions? I don’t want to burn my perks this way. I don’t completely understand how Enchanting potions/spell stacking works, either - sorry. Also, if I “learn” an enchantment by destroying an item, can I later enchant at a stronger level? Say I destroy a +20 speech necklace, can I later enchant a necklace with +80 speech or is +20 the max since that’s the specific enchantment “learned”? My lockers are filled with enchanted stuff that’s pretty good, but either not the type of equipment I want to use or the enchantment is too low and not worth wearing. My best enchanted stuff was randomly found and I’m doing OK with it, but I’d eventually like an ebony armor set with all the bells and whistles in order to be an unstoppable battlemage. I’ve got the dark version of Azura’s star. I’m level 40 with Enchantment at 82, but no Enchantment perks. Any help is apppreciated. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1282 "2012-01-03T13:54:04Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > My aforementioned post on Skyrim: [http://ruscumag.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/pen-n-paradise-1-skyrim/](http://ruscumag.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/pen-n-paradise-1-skyrim/) > > No. That’s simply the best outcome from the Thalmor’s perspective. However, having him suceeed is almost as good as an ongoing bloody civil war. An independant Skyrim would hurt the Empire immensely, while weakening Skyrim and preventing it from helping nearly as much as in the last war. Meanwhile, Ulfric’s bloody-minded racism neatly strips him of any other allies, such as the Dunmer or Khajit. > > This is the truly brilliant side of it, becaue the Thalmor plot is so simple it’s laughable, but frighteningly plausible. All they had to do was take an ambitious and morally-doubtful rising star, fill him with some guilt, and let him loose with assistance along the way. Ulfric did their bidding for years, and even now they simply consider it a minor setback that he’s trying to cut the apron strings. > > What’s hilarious to me is how they handle it. They introduce Ulfric first as a semi-ally, and imply that the Empire is your enemy. Only later do you start to get uneasy feelings when visiting Windhelm, seeing what Ulfric’s rule is like. Then if you follow the main quest, you realize that Ulfric, though not quite a pawn, still isn’t even honest in his cruel ambitions. when you fit in the facts from Solitude, and you realize he murdered his best friend and doesn’t give two flips about it… The Thalmor strategy is pretty much what the Germans did to Russia during WWI. They give some support to Lenin and hope he makes enough trouble for the Russian Empire that they are too preoccupied to give the Kaiser much of a fight. This is why I love the TES series, it’s clear there are people really thinking about the world as if it is a real place and that translates into a level of immersion that is far beyond any other game out there. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1283 "2012-01-03T16:22:22Z")
> [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](#): > > I’m pretty sure the strength of an enchanted item depends on my Enchanting skill, the type of soul gem used, and the actual type of soul used, but what else? Soul gem type doesn’t matter, only the soul that’s in it. > [@](#): > > Also, if I “learn” an enchantment by destroying an item, can I later enchant at a stronger level? Say I destroy a +20 speech necklace, can I later enchant a necklace with +80 speech or is +20 the max since that’s the specific enchantment “learned”? Yes. Not sure about your other questions though, I haven’t really looked into the game’s nuts and bolts since as you say, you can plow through the game just fine without having to get every last ounce of power you can trick out of it. I’d suggest looking up the UESPwiki, it’s usually pretty thorough/spergy on that kind of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1284 "2012-01-03T17:24:10Z")
So I took my dog for a walk in Rock Creek Park and there were these mushrooms growing on a tree and for a split second, I totall thought “I should harvest those.” I have yet to ask a panhandler to train me in pickpocketing though. ---
**Author:** ![Jbone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@Jbone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jbone)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1285 "2012-01-03T18:35:49Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > So I took my dog for a walk in Rock Creek Park and there were these mushrooms growing on a tree and for a split second, I totall thought “I should harvest those.” I have yet to ask a panhandler to train me in pickpocketing though. Did you at least give him a single gold piece to get a gift of charity? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1286 "2012-01-03T18:46:54Z")
I did, but then I waited until he was asleep and crouched down around him for about 3 hours to practice my sneaking, it was weird. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1287 "2012-01-03T20:55:00Z")
Did you get your sneaking up to a point where you could backstab him for 6x one-handed damage? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1288 "2012-01-03T21:01:39Z")
All I can say is check the crime section of the Washington Post for the next couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1289 "2012-01-03T21:10:26Z")
Santa brought me a new rig last week. Last night, I killed my first dragon. I was a little disappointed that it was easier than that mammoth that repeatedly kicked my ass. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1290 "2012-01-03T21:11:48Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Yeah, Daggerfall was very much the other way around: the MQ was a bear but the sidequests were pretty much all slightly randomized formulaic crap. You could join 12.542 proudly different knightly orders, 26.328 discrete fighter’s guilds, 35.008 different temples dedicated to 256 different gods across 2 continents, and they _all_ gave the same 5 or 6 quests over and over. One of the huge frustrations I remember from Daggerfall was the random name generator. As I recall, the names of all the minor towns and dungeons and whatnot were randomly constructed from a handfull of of syllables, resulting in a map full of unique names that were still indistinguishable from each other. “Let’s see, was that quest for Galurbel, or Urbelgal, or Belgalur? Fuck it. I’m going to go play _Ultima_.” > [@madmonk](#): > > All I can say is check the crime section of the Washington Post for the next couple of weeks. My local police blotter is full of reports of people being shot in the knee with arrows. A good backstabbing will be a refreshing change. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1291 "2012-01-03T21:18:38Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Last night, I killed my first dragon. I was a little disappointed that it was easier than that mammoth that repeatedly kicked my ass. Yes, a common complaint and one I’ve had as well. There are some “deadly dragon” mods out there that pump up the stats on the dragons, but I find that unbalances the gameplay since dragons show up all the damn time and having long exhausting battles every day when you’re just trying to walk to your next quest location gets tiresome. A better mod someday will probably pump the stats but also change the storyline or something. In the meantime, I’ve gone back to the regular game dragons and just think of them as young or immature or something that makes them easier to kill. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1292 "2012-01-03T21:23:56Z")
Even the elder dragons are pathetically easy, especially by the endgame. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, on almost every enemy, firrbolt dual cast with the stagger perk will kill it dead. For those with fire resistance, use ice spike. With the Mokeoi (sp?) mask, leveled Archmage robes, a good ring of magicka regen and maybe some enchanted gloves or boots with magicka regen (optional, honestly), you should have enough native magicka and fast enough regen that as long as you wait just a few seconds between charging up spells, you’ll cast long enough to blow away the biggest dragon. Throw in a tanking minion, and then a summoned beasty, and dragons are child’s play. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1293 "2012-01-03T21:40:42Z")
> [@duality72](#): > > In the meantime, I’ve gone back to the regular game dragons and just think of them as young or immature or something that makes them easier to kill. Be fair. Are you immediately in top form when you roll out of bed in the morning? And the dragons have been sleeping _how_ long? I’m sure they’ll be more challenging foes once they’ve had their first barrel of coffee. I gave in and bought _Skyrim_ in the Steam sale, but I haven’t really played it yet. I was traveling, and my laptop made it a slideshow on the lowest graphics settings. The Creation Kit will be out this month, and I think I’ll wait until the mod community has had some time to play with the new shinies. I’d rather start the game with a good set of overhaul mods in place. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1294 "2012-01-03T21:41:00Z")
Yeah, at higher levels you really need to work at it for it to stay challenging. I try to intentionally gimp my character by avoiding never taking the followers and by not doing all the faction quests with one character. I’ll play a sneaky guy, or a mage or a fighter, but I avoid the uber 60 level mage/fighter/sneak that all TES games seem to end up. At some point you just have to start a new player and go back to the days when a mudcrab puts up a pretty good fight. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1295 "2012-01-03T23:26:00Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > At some point you just have to start a new player and go back to the days when a mudcrab puts up a pretty good fight. I tend to do that a lot ;). I do think this is a pretty damn fun game all around, despite a few minor flaws. Certainly one of the best-realized RPG worlds ever. But honestly some of the most entertaining moments have come from me dieing early in the game. Like the first time I took on a giant and it sent my broken body soaring so high in the air I got a great aerial view of Whiterun. I had to laugh. Or the first time I decided to snipe at a Cave Bear. I had idiotically hit the quicksave _after_ it detected me and my last save before that was far enough back I didn’t want to revert. Fucker must have mauled me nine times before I managed to kill him/her, draining every health potion I had in the process. I even tried running a couple of times only to get dragged down from behind by this roaring nightmare. I distinctly remember yelling ( out loud ): _AHHH!!! Get it off me!!!_ 😛 . ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1296 "2012-01-04T00:31:49Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > One of the huge frustrations I remember from Daggerfall was the random name generator. As I recall, the names of all the minor towns and dungeons and whatnot were randomly constructed from a handfull of of syllables, resulting in a map full of unique names that were still indistinguishable from each other. “Let’s see, was that quest for Galurbel, or Urbelgal, or Belgalur? Fuck it. I’m going to go play _Ultima_.” The worst part is, you got introduced to that concept right out of the starter dungeon: you had a letter in your pocket from Lady Brisennia, telling you to meet her at “The So-and-So Inn in Daggerfall”. So you pack it up for Daggerfall (the city) and spend ages running around in circles in that huuuge city, looking for the So-and-So Inn. If you’re lucky, you won’t get killed by the high level ghosts that wander the streets of Daggerfall at night. Spoiler: you won’t find it. Ever. You’re supposed to go to a random village called “So-and-So Inn” in the Daggerfall _province_. This is the first quest in the game. It’s also the most basic quest ever: fast travel to point X and talk to NPC Y. And the game \*still \*manages to get in your way. Gotta respect that kind of dedication to user fuckyouness. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1297 "2012-01-04T00:50:57Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Or the first time I decided to snipe at a Cave Bear. I had idiotically hit the quicksave _after_ it detected me and my last save before that was far enough back I didn’t want to revert. Fucker must have mauled me nine times before I managed to kill him/her, draining every health potion I had in the process. I even tried running a couple of times only to get dragged down from behind by this roaring nightmare. I distinctly remember yelling ( out loud ): _AHHH!!! Get it off me!!!_ :p. I think that’s a lesson every \*Skyrim \*adventurer learns very early in his career. Oh, he might rock bandit caves easy peasy, ambush legion patrols, stalk vampires in their lairs or even destroy ancient necromancers in the heart of their evil dominion. He might even have gored a dragon or two… but bears do \*not \*fuck around. Giants even less so. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1298 "2012-01-04T01:38:24Z")
I also enjoyed getting clubbed into the stratosphere by giants. Well, the one I didn’t see while I was trying to take down another. But once I knew he was there, well I just went back to a saved game and let him knock me ass over teakettle a few more times just to watch the ground disappear. For the record, I dig the Fus Ro Da meme. I was fortunate enough to still kind of enjoy All Your Base by the time that died out, and I’m hoping to repeat that pattern. However: I think it’s better if in the video one person (or kitten, as the case may be) actually knocks down another, rather than just having somebody hit somebody or slam into something (though these are sometimes pretty funny anyway). I fear that I may not sustain the enjoyment of arrow-to-the-knee jokes quite so long. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1299 "2012-01-04T02:50:00Z")
Man, I’m so pathetic at video games. I died 3 times in some cave just outside of Winterhold trying to fight falmer which I’d never seen before and then died 4 times trying to get past some fort with mages in it further down the road. All I want to do is level up destruction enough to get the impact perk because maybe, just maybe I’ll actually be able to complete one of my quests if I can stagger people with my firebolts. (My usual modus operandi for battles is to summon a flame atromach and then run into the room and back out again so the atromach and Lydia clear it out and then I loot the bodies. Sometimes I lob a lightning bolt or firebolt into the fray but usually I hit Lydia. Like I said, pathetic.) edit: it took me about 5 levels to even get in the habit of looting bodies. My brother was so confused at how I’d managed to get as far as I did and only have 37 gold. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540/1300 "2012-01-04T07:32:10Z")
I have the opposite problem of picking up everything that isn’t nailed down. For awhile at the earlier levels my MO was stealing every piece of cheese that crossed my path. There’s good money in cheese, and I don’t remember not being able to sell it to non-fences, but my memory is usually like the Swiss variety. I do kinda miss those halcyon days of last month… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540.md?page=64) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-post-release-thread/602540.md?page=66)