The OFFICIAL Anandtech Forums TeS V: Skyrim Thread

[you2]

Argggggg; that was the place (I think) where I Had to find 24 leaves. It took forever to find the last one.

Its in Blackreach, which is in Mzinchaleft, which is on your map.
I found it by wandering around. Didnt realize it was a main quest thing or I would have avoided it. But at least that will speed things up when I finally go back to the main quest.


http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Mzinchaleft

 

[Mootorks]

I just picked up the game on the Steam sale Yesterday and am loving it so far. However I'm looking for some advice on character builds, so i don't run into the same problem I had with Oblivion - namely I spread myself out so thin and get to a point in the game where I am underpowered and quit in frustration.

So far I have initial perks allocated to
- One-Handed Weapons
- Archery
- Light Armor
- Smithing
- Enchanting

I also have interests in lockpicking and sneak, but haven't allocated perks yet, as I'm starting to worry about spreading myself too thin again. Basically my playstyle has been to use a bow at distance, preferably while sneaking for double dmg, and then switch to my dual wielding swords when up close. So a couple questions:

1. Am I gimping myself by using Light Armor over Heavy Armor. I've only spent 1 perk in light, so switching over to Heavy wouldn't be a big deal?

2. If I stay with light armor, which smithing route should I go down?

3. Is DW worth it? I haven't put perks into those skills yet, only the base 1H weapons. Or am I better off focusing 1H + Shield?

Any thoughts would be most helpful to this Skyrim Noob.

 

[Borealis7]

2. If I stay with light armor, which smithing route should I go down?

you would want to create the Light armors, which are on the left branch of the smithing perk tree.

3. Is DW worth it? I haven't put perks into those skills yet, only the base 1H weapons. Or am I better off focusing 1H + Shield?

i like it, since i have 100 in Enchantment which means i have more items equipped = more active enchants! (damage effects can be very strong at high levels).

 

[Gheris]

Mootorks,
My main which took me forever to decide on is focusing on 1h, Light Armor, block, and smithing. The block is more by default as I do not use shields but block with the sword. I hang on to a bow and arrows for Dragons that just won't land. Here's my opinion on your questions.

1. Light Armor is 100% valid in my opinion. Their is an armor cap and you can reach it with light armor plus enchanting and smithing.

2. Go to the left. Elven Armor, Scale, and Glass armors are classed as light as far as I know. The other direction is Heavy armor sets I believe.

3. Go with what you find fun. DW, 1h, 2h, and 1h + shield are all viable.

I personally have limited perks to 1h, smithing and light armor with later enchanting once I level up some more. I spread myself too thin in Oblivion as well. I am also playing a thematic build of a Nord Swordsman, so I am using the sword specific 1h perks.

 

[Mootorks]

Thanks guys for your quick response.

I was going DW to take advantage of dual weapon enchants later on as Borealis pointed out. The only limitation to DW is that you can't block right? I believe when I press M2, it just swings my offhand.

And thanks for the reassurance on light armor, I'll keep going down that path, and work my way towards Light Armor smithing.

One final question before I go back to playing:

On level up, what do you recommend for balancing between more Stamina and More Health? I mean, I can always see having more health as a good thing, being light armored melee character, but how much stamina do I really need to be effective?

 

[shortylickens]

It took a shitload of work but eventually I maxed out enchanting and made a set of equipment.
Got -100 percent Destruction and a buttload of bonus mana and mana regen.

Yup, I can now cast fireball, ice storm, and chain lightning completely free. Also found out that you can dual fire cloak, though I have no idea if that makes it last longer, or makes it stronger.

I also kept those two shivs and made a mana drainer and a stun/fear sticker. Interestingly when you have a high enchantment (cuz of potions and misc equipment giving you a boost) and you put a black soul gem on a weak weapon like the shiv, you get 000 charges which I think means infinite use.
Can anyone confirm?

 

[Gheris]

Thanks guys for your quick response.

I was going DW to take advantage of dual weapon enchants later on as Borealis pointed out. The only limitation to DW is that you can't block right? I believe when I press M2, it just swings my offhand.

And thanks for the reassurance on light armor, I'll keep going down that path, and work my way towards Light Armor smithing.

One final question before I go back to playing:

On level up, what do you recommend for balancing between more Stamina and More Health? I mean, I can always see having more health as a good thing, being light armored melee character, but how much stamina do I really need to be effective?

At times I find staggering my opponents a huge advantage. To stagger enemies I either need to power attack or what I call pommell(block+attack) because I do not use a shield. To do this I need Stamina so I have been leveling stamina over health at a 2:1 ratio. Just my preference though YMMV.

 

[Powermoloch]

For those whose starting out, start enchanting and smithing strong especially if you're a melee type of person. It's gonna REALLY benefit you.

 

[Borealis7]

yes, but leveling up from making daggers/leather bracers without going out and actually killing anything can gimp you for a while. and later on the game becomes too easy.

today i'm going to try one difficulty level above Expert.

 

[zinfamous]

Its in Blackreach, which is in Mzinchaleft, which is on your map.
I found it by wandering around. Didnt realize it was a main quest thing or I would have avoided it. But at least that will speed things up when I finally go back to the main quest.


http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Mzinchaleft

Oh, I thought you guys were talking about the one with all the glowing mushrooms and the stream running down the center near Whiterun. Mystgrotto or something. It is quite gorgeous.

 

[s1njin]

Do you have to smith or enchant to enjoy this game? Those of us w/ families and limited time need to make all those minutes count. One of the things I never did in WoW or Rift or EQ was forage/craft/mine/forge/etc. You can make a game out of just doing those things, forget about questing or getting into the lore !!!

Hell I just dumped hours into dropping probes onto planets in ME2 ... time I wish I had to get more into the story but this game sorta forces you to mine planets in order to upgrade.

 

[zinfamous]

Do you have to smith or enchant to enjoy this game? Those of us w/ families and limited time need to make all those minutes count. One of the things I never did in WoW or Rift or EQ was forage/craft/mine/forge/etc. You can make a game out of just doing those things, forget about questing or getting into the lore !!!

Hell I just dumped hours into dropping probes onto planets in ME2 ... time I wish I had to get more into the story but this game sorta forces you to mine planets in order to upgrade.

You don't really need to smith or enchant to be a caster, but I bet it helps a ton. I imagine a light armor caster is rather potent.

 

[s1njin]

You don't really need to smith or enchant to be a caster, but I bet it helps a ton. I imagine a light armor caster is rather potent.

When I start this up (after perusing my strategy guide that I ordered), I was going for either a sneaky archer or a caster. I've got enough in your face action w/ all the other games I play - I want this to have a different feel.

 

[zinfamous]

When I start this up (after perusing my strategy guide that I ordered), I was going for either a sneaky archer or a caster. I've got enough in your face action w/ all the other games I play - I want this to have a different feel.

well, you still completely ignore the mele perk trees: one/dual handed and blocking, b/c there are enough magic areas to focus on. It depends on what type of caster you want to be: conjurers can use bound swords, and a "shield" in the form of a ward, so that can make them mroe in your face. I would advise against it, b/c that isn't what you want to do. Also, those wards are easy to bash through if your opponent has a shield. (pretty much how I take down squishy casters--bash & decapitate).

Not sure if you can enchant clothes or not--I don't think you can--or if robes can be found clean, but enchanting will be useful, at least, for rings and necklaces, and especially dual enchanting, which requires max.

The archery and sneak trees both have excellent perks.

 

[Markbnj]

Not sure if you can enchant clothes or not--I don't think you can--or if robes can be found clean, but enchanting will be useful, at least, for rings and necklaces, and especially dual enchanting, which requires max.

I don't know whether you can enchant them but I have found "clean" robes, both blue and black mage robes and some others I think.

I'm going to mess with smithing and enchanting at some point. I've always favored Breton Spellswords, and currently my guy has almost all his perks in 1h, archery, and destruction. At level 16 and with Lydia in tow and decently equipped we don't run into much we can't kill. I think we're up to 9 or 10 dragons.

I'm liking the hot key system more now that I understand it better. It's not perfect but I get the rules that apply when you tap a key more than once.

Still not digging the quest system. Aside from the markers and maps and everything being handed to you, I don't like the quest management. The other night I found a gem and was advised to show it to an appraiser. Showed it to a guy in Riften and all of a sudden I have the quest to join the thief's guild, without any choices on my part (other than maybe I could have bailed from the conversation earlier, but it wasn't clear where it was heading). I don't play thieves, and I don't want a thieves guild quest on my list forever. The same thing happened with the "Investigate the Bard's College" misc. quest that I got early on.

Really wish they would rethink this.

 

[thespyder]

...snip...et.all...

Skyrim's level up system is definitely much better than Oblivion. I remember several times in O where my character would get totally borked if I leveled up to a certain point and I would start encountering monsters that I was totally unprepared for in areas that previously were cake walks.

I have found that Skyrim still has some of that in that there are areas that are tougher than those areas around them unaccountably so. And I believe in that approach. I think that there should be areas that require more skill to survive, provided that they are optional areas.

And I am all in favor of requiring different tactics. And even that there are/should be creatures that totally out class the player at lower levels. Just so long as eventually they are defeatable. And as stated, the fact that everything in the dungeon up to the overloard was pretty much cake (one hit kills on my part) only to encounter the opposite in one single monster seems a bit un-polished.

But... Been overall enjoying the romp.

 

[Markbnj]

If you want to easily fill up a bunch of soul gems have Aela the Huntress as a follower (or anyone with a bow) and give them a soul trap bow and a bunch of empty soul gems.

Just wanted to mention that I have not been able to get this to work either. I gave her an Orcish Bow of Binding, a bunch of arrows, and a bunch of gems. She uses the bow all the time, but none of her gems has capped a soul.

 

[Martimus]

well, you still completely ignore the mele perk trees: one/dual handed and blocking, b/c there are enough magic areas to focus on. It depends on what type of caster you want to be: conjurers can use bound swords, and a "shield" in the form of a ward, so that can make them mroe in your face. I would advise against it, b/c that isn't what you want to do. Also, those wards are easy to bash through if your opponent has a shield. (pretty much how I take down squishy casters--bash & decapitate).

Not sure if you can enchant clothes or not--I don't think you can--or if robes can be found clean, but enchanting will be useful, at least, for rings and necklaces, and especially dual enchanting, which requires max.

The archery and sneak trees both have excellent perks.

You can enchant clothes, gloves, and boots. I used those to make my smithing gear. Cheap, and light.

Dragons really seem too easy in the game. Even before I was uber powerful, where no-one could do any damage to me, Dragons were easy to kill with just a few health potions. There were tough enemies who would kill me (like Krosis) quite often, but dragons were never one of them. The only thing I ever worry about with them is that they will go off and kill my horse if I have one since he always runs away when a fight starts.

 

[shortylickens]

Finally went ahead with the main quest and nailed my first dragon, at level 50.

Proceeded up to High Rock (I'd already visited before) and talked with the sages. Got several more shouts and a couple more dragon souls. Since Ima Nord I figured it best to join the Storm Cloaks. Will join the Legion next game, as an Orc Mage.

I got lucky and picked up Thunderbolt much earlier than I could normally purchase it at the College. Made it easy to zap dragons, probably much better than bows. Been leveling up Destruction and finally got the good spells like Walls and the other Expert attacks. Again with reduced casting costs they are so much easier. The Walls are like the Sprays but they stick around and also do more damage. Very helpful.

I activated the Storm shout but so far its stinks. I wasted a soul just to summon rain?

 

[coldmeat]

I activated the Storm shout but so far its stinks. I wasted a soul just to summon rain?

I used that shout once. It ended up just striking all the friendlies around me with lightning.

 

[thespyder]

You can enchant clothes, gloves, and boots. I used those to make my smithing gear. Cheap, and light.

Dragons really seem too easy in the game. Even before I was uber powerful, where no-one could do any damage to me, Dragons were easy to kill with just a few health potions. There were tough enemies who would kill me (like Krosis) quite often, but dragons were never one of them. The only thing I ever worry about with them is that they will go off and kill my horse if I have one since he always runs away when a fight starts.

"Most" dragons do seem a bit weak once you reach a certain point, particularly if you have some kind of ranged reasonable damage ability. My "Wizard" was blowing them out of the sky quite easily at 22nd level. Several "Incinerates" and they land on the ground. Then blast them with whatever you have left (usually for me it was fireball). I am having much more trouble with other baddies.

and yes, you can enchant regular clothing. My Wizard is definitely of the opinion that cloth is the only apparel that wizards need. He has enchanted all of his stuff, until it gets replaced by better than he can enchant.

 

[zinfamous]

Just wanted to mention that I have not been able to get this to work either. I gave her an Orcish Bow of Binding, a bunch of arrows, and a bunch of gems. She uses the bow all the time, but none of her gems has capped a soul.

I still haven't given Alea any arrows, but she has a Dwarven bow of Alacrity and some soul gems.

before, without anything else equipped, she would prefer to go unhanded. Now, after giving her that greatsowrd again, she seems to want to go more into the bows. Funny thing, without any arrows equipped, she is firing ebony arrows.

I don't get it, but works well for me. I'm able to pull most of her arrows out of corpses so it keeps my ebony arrow stock up. And still, she isn't capturing any souls. I'm sure she's bugged.

 

[QuantumPion]

So I just realized that the latest nvidia drivers allow you to enable SSAO on Skyrim. It seriously improves the visual quality quite drastically compared to the little tweaks. And it doesn't seem to be a huge hit on frame rate either.

 

[Mem]

"Most" dragons do seem a bit weak once you reach a certain point, particularly if you have some kind of ranged reasonable damage ability. My "Wizard" was blowing them out of the sky quite easily at 22nd level. Several "Incinerates" and they land on the ground. Then blast them with whatever you have left (usually for me it was fireball). I am having much more trouble with other baddies.

and yes, you can enchant regular clothing. My Wizard is definitely of the opinion that cloth is the only apparel that wizards need. He has enchanted all of his stuff, until it gets replaced by better than he can enchant.

My mage I should say Archmage is wearing dragonbone armour(light version enchanted) it gives a bit more protection then mage robes but has all the important enchants ie mana/health regen and increased destruction spell damage to name a few.

I have killed so many dragons now its annoying like a grind lol..anyway I'm looking for that ancient vampire I keep hearing about.

 

[thespyder]

I am curious about other people's strategy in taking out mages in the game. most mage battles I get in usually end up with some version of playing cat and mouse while spamming ice storm until they are out of Magicka. Then blast them into oblivion with fireball (my destruction spell of choice).

I just don't find the wards to be that great as they eat up Magicka on top of the casting (to the point where using that Magicka on offensive would be more beneficial) and are relatively easy to overcome. Anyone else find this to be the case? If so, any suggestions on other methods?