Can I get a ruling on this, please?
9200 is pretty much useless - it’s a cheap integrated GPU not designed for gaming. It’s 30-40 times slower than a good video card.
Well, shit. Any reason why it looks like it might have the ability to get the job done?
Better question: What should I upgrade it to?
I don’t understand what you’re asking. What makes you think it looks like it might have the ability to get the job done?
It might be able to run things at a low resolution with low settings, but I really have no experience with something like that. That hardware basically costs $5 to add to a computer and isn’t really intended to be used for gaming.
As far as what to upgrade to, depends on your budget. Does the computer even have a slot for a video card? Some of the cheapest models by the big manufacturers don’t. If you want something cheap, you could buy a Radeon 5750 off of EBay for $50 or so and that should run it fine. If you wanted something to run it really well (assuming the other components are up to snuff) a new Radeon 6850 runs somewhere around $140.
You’d also have to make sure the power supply has connectors for a PCI-E card. Again, this is a concern with low end Dell computers and stuff - they sometimes shave off basic components and connectors both to save literally a few dollars and also to force people to buy better models from them rather than to upgrade their own computers.
I think that’s only a concern on their bottom end cheap models, but I’m really not sure - I don’t typically look at the hardware they make.
Shit. I have to open his computer up next time I go over there, then. System Requirements Lab said it couldn’t run the game because of the video card, but then it showed what resources the card had and what was needed for minimum and recommended requirements and it beat both of those, prompting me to hope it was just a driver issue. Shit. I’ll let the old man know and see what he wants to do with it. At least he still has Minecraft to play with.
Does anyone has any tips for raising Alchemy quickly?
Mudcrab chitin and purple mountain flower are easy ingredients to get in huge numbers. With them you can make a restore stamina potion.
I used the UESP wiki ingredients page to see which ingredients combined with others to make useful potions, and to not waste them by eating them to learn properties.
My biggest boost was finding a helmet, a necklace and some gauntlets that boost my Alchemy skill. Alchemy lessons get really expensive after level 50 (10,000+ gold for five sessions), so buy your lessons at low skill levels if that’s your plan. The alchemist at Whiterun can train you.
A very good money-making potion is the one that reduces the target’s magicka restoration x% for y seconds. Even starting out, I could make potions worth around 300 gold from this recipe. Might as well be a recipe for crack.
Blue and red flowers and butterfly wings are pretty useful in a lot of potions. Tundra cotton too. Garlic is an ingredient, so take it when you see it on tables. After you sell a bit of stuff to a vendor, they’ll let you take a lot of ingredients off their shelves for free. There’s a mini quest that requires 20 Nightshade, 20 Nirnroot and 20 Deathbell. This quest gives you access to a renewing ingredients locker of an aspiring Alchemist, but it’s not an essential quest, IMO.
If you have a follower, give them any restore health potions you make but don’t want to sell. They’ll drink them as needed and they go through quite a lot of it. I’m not sure if they use restore magicka and restore stamina ones, too - depends on if they’re warriors or mages, I guess.
The Lover standing stone increases all your skills 20% if activated, so you might want to activate it. It’s northeast of Markarth on the western bank of the river. The Thief stone increases only Alchemy, Light Armor, Lockpick, Pickpocket, Sneak and Speech 20% faster, if you’re worried about leveling up too quickly using the Lover stone. You should’ve passed it after your initial escape on your way to Riverwood.
Finally, if you take any “boost Alchemy” potions that last for say, 30 seconds, the clock is running as soon as you take it. Time doesn’t freeze when your toon is using the Alchemy table. So drink the potion then imediately combine your ingredients to get the boost.
I hope this helps.
A couple of questions on smithing:
Is there any point to using potions and items to get your enchantment above 100? If I use a ring of smithing and fortify smithing potions, is my dragonscale armor any better than if I just make it without the bonus?
Is there a way to rename your enchanted items? I always end up selling my enchanted rings because they don’t have a unique name, in the othe TES games, you could rename items during the enchanting process.
nm
Sorry, I goofed on the previous post.
From the UESP wiki on smithing:
*No Perk With Perk Quality
0 - 13 0 - 13 Base
14 - 30 14 - 21 Fine
31 - 64 22 - 39 Superior
65 - 99 40 - 57 Exquisite
100 - 149 58 - 73 Flawless
150 - 195 74 - 90 Epic
196 + 91 + Legendary
Values higher than 100 can be attained using “Fortify Smithing” equipment and Smithing potions, thus allowing any item to be made Epic or Legendary. With the appropriate perk, values continue to increase past Legendary at the rate of about +0.2 per skill point for Armor, and +0.1 for other items.*
So, yes it sound like you can continue to improve your legendary armor. I haven’t done this yet. I don’t wear armor as a mage.
On XBox 360 you can get to the “rename” menu by hitting Y after you’ve selected the item, the enchantment and the soul gem. I name my stuff “boots of (enchantment + magnitude)” or “ring of (enchantment + magintude)” so that they’re all grouped together if I add multiple rings or boots to my favorites menu.
It’s from Ingun Black-Briar in Riften. The alchemy shop with the chest is a little hard to find since it’s down by the water instead of up with the other shops and such.
Yes, but only when you are making them.
Yep, I didn’t know it was there until an NPC mentioned it as I passed them one day. I thought they were going to tell me about taking an arrow to da knee again.
Thanks, I guess I just didn’t notice it before. I’ll try to enchant something when I get home and give it a unique name.
I believe that any bonuses with smithing (item enchants/potions/etc) are only for improving an item on the workbench or grindstone. I do not think it improves the item when you initially craft your piece from the blacksmith forge. Can anyone confirm?
I’m pretty sure you’re right. For some higher-end armor and weapons, you cannot improve them on the benches/wheels above “Epic.” To get Legendary, you would need to use Blacksmith’s Potions etc.
For Ingun, Deathbell and Nightshade are plentiful in the marshes between Solitude and Morthal. Nirnroot cannot be found in any specific spot but is normally found by water. One of the villages, I think in the southeast (not Ivarstead) has Dunmer farmer sisters who grow several regrowing Nirnroots. I think despite what she says, all Nirnroots do regrow.
Alchemy increases not based on the number of potions you make, but on the gold value of each potion you make. Paralysis, Invisibility, Slow potions cost a mint.
UESPwiki has all the various ingredients if you really want to delve into that, but I know Lunar Moth and Vamp Dust make an invisibility potion, and both are fairly commonly sold in alchemy shops. Chaurus Eggs also have an invisibility component, and you can find tons of in Falmer caves (according to UESP, there are *516 *of them in Frostflow Lighthouse alone). As for Lunar Moths, they’re pretty easy to find - wherever you can catch blue and monarch butterflies by day, you’ll find lunar moths by night.
gone werewolf. the boss in gallows is v v hard at lev 15. managed to get him on lile the tenth try, didn’t save like an idiot and died , back needing to do him again.
I’m preparing a podcast about SKyrim, and it’s going to be rather long. This isn’t a review per se; I’m just talking about the game, why I like it, and where it could have been better. This isn’t a complaints or rants section, but it is about the successes and failings in the game, and better still how it succeeds or fails. These are my topics and notes for the cast.
Gameplay
-Fun as hell
-Adventure feels fun and exciting
-Lots to explore and see, though the palette turns awfully bland in the northern half of the game
-Graphically
Story/Quests
-Quite good for what they are
-Consistent Characterization, good voice work, ;lots are understandable and intriguing overall
Too short
-Brevity keeps drama out of the mix, because you don’t have time to get very attached to the storylines or characters
-Example via Thieves’ Guild – over in too few missions,; fortunately here there’s additional content
-Less so with the DB, Winterhold, and Companions
-Bard’s College is frankly insulting
Character Creation
-Perks great way to go
-Some perks aren’t worth it, or are just irritating requirements
-Some skills simply don’t do enough (Pickpocket and Lockpicking)
Social and Bartering
-Well this is completely useless. I mean, it sucks.
-Not much to buy, except ingots, houses, and spells
-You wind up progressing about the same with every character
Crafting
-Vastly improved from earlier games.
-Still has some odd omissions and quirks, like this was only half-done.
-Easy to mod and has lots of room for it; expect a lot of these to come around
Alchemy
-Missing some effects, but still quite good.
Magic
-A damn shame.
-Where the hell are all my spells?
-And spellmaking?
-Not nearly enough utility.
-Here’s a hint: removing movement effects does not make the game more fun.
-Likewise most of the utility effects are gone.
-Does have some good effects, with each spell being pretty fun and distinct.
-Fun as all get out
Enchanting
-A bigger shame
-Oh god, this is a huge crying shame
-Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani
Combat
-Too little enemy variety.
-Would be nice to see a bigger difference between heavy, light, and unarmored guys.
-Slightly too many melee guys, even for the barbaric setting.
-Combat can thus be a little grindy at times. Some enemies have a little too much health.
-Barrows show the best variety, and it’s impressive. Good mix, if predictable.
-Have had trouble fighting in groups, because you can wind up hitting your friends without even realizing it. Targeting is more than a little wonky.
-Want more weapon variety.
Monsters
-Too few varieties, plain and simple.
-Most are interesting and frenetic to fight.
Dragons
-Not enough unique dragons.
-Dragons don’t actually use shouts!
-Result being that dragons are fairly fun not that engaging.
-Dragons should had their own customized (random) shouts and used them.
-Dragons can kill NPC’s, which may really screw you up.
-Maybe unarmed NPC’s with no combat skills need to have a “run away!” script.
I won’t guarrantee to include what you want, but if anyone would like something, feel free to suggest a topic or issue.
Not actually true, but you do need extremely high skills and the perk unless you use the potions.
IIRC all plants, including Nirnroot, do come back. The village is Sarethi Farm, southeat of Ivarstead on the way to Riften. However, the fastest way to gather them outside of that is to run the coastline. Just start at Winterhold and go towards Solitude - you’ll find piles of them. Then you can go down the bigger rivers.
Bandit I pretty much agree with your review. Some things that are missing for mages really stand out if you’ve played the other TES games.
On crafting, one thing that I think they really missed out on was the chance to make your armor and weapons unique. They go to all the trouble of including crafting, but you can’t use alchemy to make different colored armor, or add different design elements to your sword. That’s too bad, because I could see spending hours designing and making a truly unique set of armor.