The OFFICIAL Anandtech Forums TeS V: Skyrim Thread

[jimpatrick]

Steam should be patching it for you. You can try verifying the local game files. Right click Skyrim in Steam library, click properties, click Local Files tab, then click Verify the integrity of the game cache. That's worked for me in the past when I've had flakiness with a Steam game.

thank you for the quick reply,i will try it now and post results after.

 

[slpnshot]

yeah, what is all of this about follower leveling?

they have min/max levels and it all depends on timing of when you meet them?

:hmm:

Followers have a static level based on when you first met them. I'm not sure what 'met' means tbh. It might be the first time you literally meet them in a town, talk to them, or actually hire them(probably the latter though). But whatever the requirement is, the follower will stop leveling based on that point.

So let's say you meet Lydia when YOU are level 10, Lydia will also be level 10 but won't level from there.

Now I'm not sure if this is a bug or not. Maybe Skyrim developers did this on purpose to make it so you felt that you had to eventually leave behind 'weak' followers for newer ones along your epic dragon slaying quest.

I personally think it's a glitch so I just forced console to re-level the follower at whatever my level is occasionally.

Followers also have a cap of level 50 to my knowledge. I lost my old saves so I had to start from scratch. But if anyone is 50+ on their account, you can use console commands to check your follower stats.

 

[dennilfloss]

As far as I've gathered, the follower's floor level is set when you first meet them and after that they level up when you do, until they reach their own ceiling (which reportedly varies between followers). That ceiling also places an upper limit one their HPs and MPs. For example, Aranea is said to have a ceiling of level 30 while Ilia has level 40. That's why I switched later in the game.

Earlier this evening, I saw Ilia defeat an elder dragon by herself while I had decided to just watch from the sides and not summon storm atronachs for a change.

 

[s1njin]

Okay, so I just started this up yesterday (since I had to finish ME2 first). First impressions:

A. Gosh, the world really is beautiful. I've read about this part over and over, but its different once you get into the world.

B. The world is HUGE. And there is so much to see and do - I can understand fully now how folks don't even touch the main quest for weeks.

C. I like wandering around and finding things randomly - it lends itself well to both short bursts of gaming time and long marathon sessions.

D. As I won't be playing this game exclusively for weeks and months on end - this game will be w/ me through summer. Easily.

Can't wait to get back into Skyrim !

 

[Markbnj]

More bitching about the quest system... first, I'm up to four "quest items" that are stuck in my inventory just because I picked them up. They add up to over 20 stone of carrying capacity used up. So last night I finally gave in and googled the items, and tonight I can go get the quests and get rid of this crap. Kind of a stupid way to get introduced to a quest, isn't it?

Second, I really hate the way my character gets swept up into quest lines without any ability to make choices about what I want to do, and no ability to abandon quest lines I'm not interested in, or that don't fit the way I'm role playing my character. I think Bethesda really messed this part up.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

Second, I really hate the way my character gets swept up into quest lines without any ability to make choices about what I want to do, and no ability to abandon quest lines I'm not interested in, or that don't fit the way I'm role playing my character. I think Bethesda really messed this part up.

I'm not sure that I understand you here. If you can do so without giving away spoilers, please elaborate.

 

[zinfamous]

Followers have a static level based on when you first met them. I'm not sure what 'met' means tbh. It might be the first time you literally meet them in a town, talk to them, or actually hire them(probably the latter though). But whatever the requirement is, the follower will stop leveling based on that point.

So let's say you meet Lydia when YOU are level 10, Lydia will also be level 10 but won't level from there.

Now I'm not sure if this is a bug or not. Maybe Skyrim developers did this on purpose to make it so you felt that you had to eventually leave behind 'weak' followers for newer ones along your epic dragon slaying quest.

I personally think it's a glitch so I just forced console to re-level the follower at whatever my level is occasionally.

Followers also have a cap of level 50 to my knowledge. I lost my old saves so I had to start from scratch. But if anyone is 50+ on their account, you can use console commands to check your follower stats.

weird. I haven't had many problems with Lydia, and she's been following me from level ~9to now 49. Granted, she is wearing some Legendary Ebony armor pieces and does submit rather quickly to mages--but she also doesn't have the magic resistance buffs that I have.

 

[Markbnj]

I'm not sure that I understand you here. If you can do so without giving away spoilers, please elaborate.

*Maybe some mild spoilers*

Meaning, I often have quests added to my list just by talking to an NPC, without having a "no I don't want to do this" option. An example that I mentioned earlier was finding an unusual jewel, following the quest markers to "show it to an appraiser" and getting the "Join the Thieves' Guild" quest line added to your journal. I could have opted not to show it to an appraiser, leaving that quest on the list forever, or I could follow through, and then maybe later decide not to go ahead with the Thieves' Guild line, leaving both the quest and the item active forever. I currently have one of these items in my inventory, and I guess it will be there for the rest of the game.

Same thing happens if you follow up on the initial "Visit the College of Winterhold" or "Investigate the Bard's Guild" quests. As soon as you go to those areas and visit the NPC you get assigned further quests. You can tab out in the middle of the conversation, but that leaves the previous quest incomplete. Or that Aventino kid: it's not like he asks if you want to kill his nemesis: the job gets assigned as soon as you talk to him past a certain point, and then you have to decide whether to do it or leave it on the list. If you do it to clear it from your list, lo and behold you're now engaged in this whole Dark Brotherhood thing.

Last example: the House of Horrors quest. As far as I can tell once I spoke with the guy on the street and offered to help him I really had no choice but to follow through and do what Molag Bal wanted me to, or leave the quest unfinished. I never saw a "No Molag Bal, I won't do your dirty work!" choice.

Maybe it's me, but I'm not picking up early that these things are going to lead somewhere I don't want to take the character, and I'm not getting presented choices to back out, which is aggravated by the fact that I'm stupidly anal about clearing my quest list.

 

[Gheris]

I seriously need to pick a character and stick with it....Just realized on Steam that I have 80 hours in game and not one char past level 10...too many mind changes and deleted chars to stick with another. I hate that I do that.

Something I realized last night on my sneaky guy. I think I might have leveled Sneak a little too much without focusing enough on weapons and armor skill. I initially wanted to stay away from using the bow too much, but I am still being noticed far too early for a backstab. Pretty annoying as I would have taken a reduced backstab modifier if it meant I could sneak up on enemies more often. As a result it's bow or suffer from a straight up fight that I am not really prepared for.

 

[zinfamous]

I seriously need to pick a character and stick with it....Just realized on Steam that I have 80 hours in game and not one char past level 10...too many mind changes and deleted chars to stick with another. I hate that I do that.

Something I realized last night on my sneaky guy. I think I might have leveled Sneak a little too much without focusing enough on weapons and armor skill. I initially wanted to stay away from using the bow too much, but I am still being noticed far too early for a backstab. Pretty annoying as I would have taken a reduced backstab modifier if it meant I could sneak up on enemies more often. As a result it's bow or suffer from a straight up fight that I am not really prepared for.

I was reading somewhere that you can exploit sneak leveling by hiding out in a well populated area like a tavern. Crouch in a corner where you should be in view of people, but still out of sight. Your level will simply continue to increase.

Of course, you end up with a few problems of overleveling on one skill, and may leave you weaker on damage (without focusing on one-handed, for example).

What I found, early on, that the best combat way to level sneaking is to sneak through tombs and stab restless draugers before they wake. you know they are around as your eye icon widens while sneaking, then closes to hidden when you stop. you can easily sneak up on them and one-hit them before they see you. I must have gained 10 levels in sneak early on in the game doing this in just one tomb. I also had the thieves stone active.

As for me, I'm a heavy armor-wearing shield and sword character, that hasn't much focused on sneak, aside from getting backstab and 2x arrow damage. I've maybe paid a trainer 5 times. I don't know off the top of my head, but I'm close to level 60 or more sneaking. I have Boethiahs Ebony Mail--which is heavy armor but has a muffle sound function. Once I added that, Nothing can really see me. Even with heavy armor on the rest (no muffle sound perks).

 

[darkswordsman17]

I'd stopped playing it a while ago. Fired it up recently only to find Steam had updated the game despite me turning that off, so it broke the Skyrim 4gb. Oddly enough the game did seem to be running smoother than before though (despite the fact that I was no longer overclocking anything). It might have been that I wasn't as used to it so it just seemed smoother though.

I wish the difficulty level of this game was different. I know there's play styles and things like that, and some of the well documented weirdness from Elder Scrolls games, so it'd be hard to implement a stellar AI that wouldn't screw up scripted stuff (then again, maybe it would improve it, I accidentally hit a guard when fighting a dragon and they attacked me). However, the hardest difficulty just seemed to increase the cheap one hit kills compared to the second hardest. Even then, its just way too easy to completely dominate. I have little motivation to increase past my current level (37 I think).

I guess I can try a different character, but overall the game really doesn't play differently enough to me to warrant it.

*Maybe some mild spoilers*

Meaning, I often have quests added to my list just by talking to an NPC, without having a "no I don't want to do this" option. An example that I mentioned earlier was finding an unusual jewel, following the quest markers to "show it to an appraiser" and getting the "Join the Thieves' Guild" quest line added to your journal. I could have opted not to show it to an appraiser, leaving that quest on the list forever, or I could follow through, and then maybe later decide not to go ahead with the Thieves' Guild line, leaving both the quest and the item active forever. I currently have one of these items in my inventory, and I guess it will be there for the rest of the game.

Same thing happens if you follow up on the initial "Visit the College of Winterhold" or "Investigate the Bard's Guild" quests. As soon as you go to those areas and visit the NPC you get assigned further quests. You can tab out in the middle of the conversation, but that leaves the previous quest incomplete. Or that Aventino kid: it's not like he asks if you want to kill his nemesis: the job gets assigned as soon as you talk to him past a certain point, and then you have to decide whether to do it or leave it on the list. If you do it to clear it from your list, lo and behold you're now engaged in this whole Dark Brotherhood thing.

Last example: the House of Horrors quest. As far as I can tell once I spoke with the guy on the street and offered to help him I really had no choice but to follow through and do what Molag Bal wanted me to, or leave the quest unfinished. I never saw a "No Molag Bal, I won't do your dirty work!" choice.

Maybe it's me, but I'm not picking up early that these things are going to lead somewhere I don't want to take the character, and I'm not getting presented choices to back out, which is aggravated by the fact that I'm stupidly anal about clearing my quest list.

I agree, but none of that matters that much, which is disappointing. There really is not that drastic of a change in how the game is depending on how you play your character.

I thought it was silly that I'd laid waste to the elves fortress and yet the guy in the one Dwemer city asks me to do a quest for them despite every other one of the Falmor or whatever they were called attacking me on sight. I get that it would make part of that city inaccessible (since he was near the head guy), but I think that would be a good thing as it throws a serious wrench into things and makes you have to seriously consider your actions more.

The game just really is not strong in absolute repercussions, and yet at the same time stuff like that does kinda ruin your "role playing". The Molag Bal quest definitely highlighted that.

 

[slpnshot]

weird. I haven't had many problems with Lydia, and she's been following me from level ~9to now 49. Granted, she is wearing some Legendary Ebony armor pieces and does submit rather quickly to mages--but she also doesn't have the magic resistance buffs that I have.

Well maybe it's been patched up, but when I had Lydia I noticed that she got her ass kicked pretty quickly even though she was in legendary daedric armor. I once used double cast Heal Other and MAXED her health from the 'near death' state. And no, I didn't have the dual cast talent spec'd.

I didn't know her actual health rate up to that point because there was no in game UI for follower health like there was in New Vegas. The only way was to look up console codes through it I found that she had 200-250 health when I was level 50. I used the reset code and she went up to 500 due to health enchants.

 

[Martimus]

As far as I've gathered, the follower's floor level is set when you first meet them and after that they level up when you do, until they reach their own ceiling (which reportedly varies between followers). That ceiling also places an upper limit one their HPs and MPs. For example, Aranea is said to have a ceiling of level 30 while Ilia has level 40. That's why I switched later in the game.

Earlier this evening, I saw Ilia defeat an elder dragon by herself while I had decided to just watch from the sides and not summon storm atronachs for a change.

While this is true, the followers skills don't raise when they level, so they dont' really get anymore powerful as they level up (although they do gain HP, MP or Stamina). Reseting them once in a while through console commands does fix this. (I did it to Uthgherd, and now she doesn't die in every fight anymore.)

 

[Markbnj]

I'd stopped playing it a while ago. Fired it up recently only to find Steam had updated the game despite me turning that off, so it broke the Skyrim 4gb. Oddly enough the game did seem to be running smoother than before though (despite the fact that I was no longer overclocking anything). It might have been that I wasn't as used to it so it just seemed smoother though.

I wish the difficulty level of this game was different. I know there's play styles and things like that, and some of the well documented weirdness from Elder Scrolls games, so it'd be hard to implement a stellar AI that wouldn't screw up scripted stuff (then again, maybe it would improve it, I accidentally hit a guard when fighting a dragon and they attacked me). However, the hardest difficulty just seemed to increase the cheap one hit kills compared to the second hardest. Even then, its just way too easy to completely dominate. I have little motivation to increase past my current level (37 I think).

I guess I can try a different character, but overall the game really doesn't play differently enough to me to warrant it.



I agree, but none of that matters that much, which is disappointing. There really is not that drastic of a change in how the game is depending on how you play your character.

I thought it was silly that I'd laid waste to the elves fortress and yet the guy in the one Dwemer city asks me to do a quest for them despite every other one of the Falmor or whatever they were called attacking me on sight. I get that it would make part of that city inaccessible (since he was near the head guy), but I think that would be a good thing as it throws a serious wrench into things and makes you have to seriously consider your actions more.

The game just really is not strong in absolute repercussions, and yet at the same time stuff like that does kinda ruin your "role playing". The Molag Bal quest definitely highlighted that.

Yeah, exactly. They obviously put a ton of time and effort into the look and feel of the world, and the voice acting, and it shows. Kudos to them for making it so engaging visually. In terms of how NPCs behave we really haven't advanced much since Morrowind. Now they huddle down and beg forgiveness when near death, and... that's about it. The quest system thing is... really the journal in Oblivion is hard to improve on from a role playing perspective. Everything that happened was right there, and you always had an option to take a path or not. They've obviously made an attempt to drastically simplify everything for the current market, and the game's overall level of challenge and replay value suffers for it, imo.

 

[Skott]

I've tested various leveling and get gold cheats and so far I find they do not work. They have been patched and fixed since launch I'm guessing. I started the game after 1.2 though. So if you are getting ideas to use cheats from say on Youtube check the dates they were posted. Most are from the first week of game launch.

Anyhow, when I went and did the werewolf quest I had Lydia as a follower in the beginning at the ceremony. Then I went on the quest with the other guy. I figured Lydia would be waiting when i got back. When I came back from completing the quest that follows the ceremony Lydia was gone. I figured she may be at the castle. Nope. I checked my house. No Lydia. I looked around the Companion's hall and forge above. No Lydia. Looked all over Whiterun both during the day and night hours. No Lydia anywhere. Anyone have this happen? I have a new follower now but I'm curious where Lydia ran off to. She was holding some sellable loot I'd like to get back although it is nothing critical or game breaking.

The game world is incredibly beautiful and the game itself is amazing in many ways but in some ways I question some of the dumb things Bethesda did. Like the inventory management. Or the way you cannot save a game by giving it a title. Numbers? What a silly way to do saves. I'm not real keen on the perk and leveling screen either. Can't wait for the SK to come out so the real modding can begin. I just know the modding community is going to take this game to new heights.

 

[Red Storm]

I've tested various leveling and get gold cheats and so far I find they do not work. They have been patched and fixed since launch I'm guessing. I started the game after 1.2 though. So if you are getting ideas to use cheats from say on Youtube check the dates they were posted. Most are from the first week of game launch.

player.additem f has worked since Oblivion.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

*Maybe some mild spoilers*

Meaning, I often have quests added to my list just by talking to an NPC, without having a "no I don't want to do this" option. An example that I mentioned earlier was finding an unusual jewel, following the quest markers to "show it to an appraiser" and getting the "Join the Thieves' Guild" quest line added to your journal. I could have opted not to show it to an appraiser, leaving that quest on the list forever, or I could follow through, and then maybe later decide not to go ahead with the Thieves' Guild line, leaving both the quest and the item active forever. I currently have one of these items in my inventory, and I guess it will be there for the rest of the game.

Same thing happens if you follow up on the initial "Visit the College of Winterhold" or "Investigate the Bard's Guild" quests. As soon as you go to those areas and visit the NPC you get assigned further quests. You can tab out in the middle of the conversation, but that leaves the previous quest incomplete. Or that Aventino kid: it's not like he asks if you want to kill his nemesis: the job gets assigned as soon as you talk to him past a certain point, and then you have to decide whether to do it or leave it on the list. If you do it to clear it from your list, lo and behold you're now engaged in this whole Dark Brotherhood thing.

Last example: the House of Horrors quest. As far as I can tell once I spoke with the guy on the street and offered to help him I really had no choice but to follow through and do what Molag Bal wanted me to, or leave the quest unfinished. I never saw a "No Molag Bal, I won't do your dirty work!" choice.

Maybe it's me, but I'm not picking up early that these things are going to lead somewhere I don't want to take the character, and I'm not getting presented choices to back out, which is aggravated by the fact that I'm stupidly anal about clearing my quest list.

I understand and concur!

 

[NoSoup4You]

Looked all over Whiterun both during the day and night hours. No Lydia anywhere. Anyone have this happen? I have a new follower now but I'm curious where Lydia ran off to. She was holding some sellable loot I'd like to get back although it is nothing critical or game breaking.

Same happened to me, I found in my Whiterun home but I missed her the first time I checked. She was sitting in a chair inside MY bedroom, why she thought it was okay to sit in MY room I do not know. Insolent wench.

As for the modding community, they've already fine tuned this game in incredible ways. Graphically especially.

 

[zinfamous]

Same happened to me, I found in my Whiterun home but I missed her the first time I checked. She was sitting in a chair inside MY bedroom, why she thought it was okay to sit in MY room I do not know. Insolent wench.

As for the modding community, they've already fine tuned this game in incredible ways. Graphically especially.

she does this after you first take her with you, then send her away. I thought she had disappeared, too, then found her sitting in my bedroom.

 

[dennilfloss]

Gave Illia the Otar mask and the archmage robes to wear. This is the result. NPCs aren't commenting about her lack of modesty, so it's probably just her robe not showing while still being actually equipped. The robe shows if I remove the mask from her inventory.

 

[queequeg99]

anyone know who the best mage companion/follower is?

While perhaps not technically a companion/follower, Esbern has some really kick-ass magical skills. I took Lydia with me to get Esbern in Riften. Once we got him, we were told to take him to speak with Delphine. Well, suffice it to say that we're taking the scenic route. It's been about 10 days game time and we're in Solitude now. True, he can't hold stuff for you. But he is very handy in tight battles.

 

[Markbnj]

Gave Illia the Otar mask and the archmage robes to wear. This is the result. NPCs aren't commenting about her lack of modesty, so it's probably just her robe not showing while still being actually equipped. The robe shows if I remove the mask from her inventory.

If I could have gotten Lydia to disrobe I might have reloaded after she died.

 

[Gheris]

Anyone notice that the summoned pets can't really keep up? Started up a Conjurer who wears Heavy armor, summons pets to kill, and summons swords to help pets kill. I made my way to Winterhold specifically to get the ice pet and I am finding the Ice pet to be pretty slow. Got smacked around by some Ice Wolves, maybe my fault for not leveling Heavy Armor enough....but I guess I was expecting more from my summons.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

Anyone notice that the summoned pets can't really keep up? Started up a Conjurer who wears Heavy armor, summons pets to kill, and summons swords to help pets kill. I made my way to Winterhold specifically to get the ice pet and I am finding the Ice pet to be pretty slow. Got smacked around by some Ice Wolves, maybe my fault for not leveling Heavy Armor enough....but I guess I was expecting more from my summons.

By "Ice pet" do you mean "Frost Atronach"?

 

[Gheris]

Frost Atronach is what I meant, however I could not recall the name. Thank you.