The OFFICIAL Anandtech Forums TeS V: Skyrim Thread

[dennilfloss]

I just set a mine on fire by accident, There seems to be methane build-up in some of the mines

You can notice the methane buildup as a wavyness in the air in caves and dungeons. No flame spells then.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

So last night my level 13 Warrior type in full Superior Dwarven armor/shield/sword along with Lydia equipped with same(except for helmet) got manhandled on the first word quest from the Greybeards. Am I doing something wrong here? My skills are spread amongst smithing/heavy armor/block/1h and 1 in restoration. Up to this point the only thing that has given me any issues was the Troll on the way to see the Greybeards.

I like to shield bash then slash enemies but sometimes it just pays to front load the damage. Makes me think dropping everything in Stam, using 2handers and light armor would be a better option for melee combat. Add Zerker Orc to that to destroy anything in your path.

Probably a good idea to carry a lot of potions into battle with you. Obviously restore health, but also fortify health, fortify one-handed, and other potions that aid in the specific combat skills you tend to use. Between level 10-20 is really kind of a pain in the ass; you're going to have a real challenge with some of the main quests, but it can feel like a grind to level all your combat skills just to progress, and your smithing/enchanting/alchemy will still be fairly low-level so you can't make gear that masks your character's weaknesses. Joining the Companions or getting involved in one side of the Civil War will give you a good opportunity to level your warrior skills outside of the main quest. Invest some money in trainers for heavy armor, one handed, block, etc... And, of course, have the Warrior Stone activated so you level up combat skills faster.

And I hear you about the orc. My buddy started a playthrough with an orc tank and the berserker rampage or whatever it's called is really useful. He runs in with a battleaxe and clears a room in no time.

 

[Skott]

So last night my level 13 Warrior type in full Superior Dwarven armor/shield/sword along with Lydia equipped with same(except for helmet) got manhandled on the first word quest from the Greybeards. Am I doing something wrong here? My skills are spread amongst smithing/heavy armor/block/1h and 1 in restoration. Up to this point the only thing that has given me any issues was the Troll on the way to see the Greybeards.

I like to shield bash then slash enemies but sometimes it just pays to front load the damage. Makes me think dropping everything in Stam, using 2handers and light armor would be a better option for melee combat. Add Zerker Orc to that to destroy anything in your path.

Another thing you can do is go get the Giant's club that is basically a big bone and give it to Lydia. You have to ask her to pick it up to equip it to her. Once she has that she can one shot and two shot most anything she goes up against. She's one bad ass follower with that 2h club. Youtube has several vids on where it is if you want to get it. Unfortunately only followers can equip it.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Seems like everyone is playing mage now. I guess I might have to start a new save or reset my perks

I never start an RPG as a warrior anymore.. mage builds offer more depth and eventually domination

<--- just unlocked the 3 master destruct spells.

 

[cytoSiN]

Mage may offer more depth, but I still say that archery/sneak/light armor is more OP than anything in this game. I can stand literally on top of something and it won't see me, or I can one-shot anything from 3 miles away. Pretty OP, especially with the double-enchant perk.

 

[Markbnj]

I became a Thane of Morthal last night. I'm now Thane in five Holds. I'm the richest man in Skyrim. I have five powerful fighters as my followers. I've slain hundreds of bandits, necromancers, draugr, and falmer. I've cleared whole fortresses of armed enemies. I've rid the land of tigers, bears, bunny rabbits, and butterflies. I am the Dragonborn, and my shouts shake the very bedrock of the land. Alone I have slain more than 30 dragons.

And still that little bastard in the trade shop in Solitude thinks his dad can beat me up, and that other little bastard in Solitude wants to play tag, and that little twit in Whiterun isn't scared of me, and the mouthy guards call me mead-fetcher, and mock my lost sweetroll.

Respect, is that too much to ask?

 

[shortylickens]

You've got 5 followers? Using mods or something?

 

[Markbnj]

You've got 5 followers? Using mods or something?

Nope, no mods... let's see... Arlis, Jordis, Iona, that wizard in the temple above Dawnstar, and Aranea at Azura's Shrine. I would have six but I got Lydia killed.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Respect, is that too much to ask?

Time to go on a multihold killing spree! They will respect you when their life blood drips from your sword!

Fight monsters long enough and you just might become one.

 

[Gheris]

Probably a good idea to carry a lot of potions into battle with you. Obviously restore health, but also fortify health, fortify one-handed, and other potions that aid in the specific combat skills you tend to use. Between level 10-20 is really kind of a pain in the ass; you're going to have a real challenge with some of the main quests, but it can feel like a grind to level all your combat skills just to progress, and your smithing/enchanting/alchemy will still be fairly low-level so you can't make gear that masks your character's weaknesses. Joining the Companions or getting involved in one side of the Civil War will give you a good opportunity to level your warrior skills outside of the main quest. Invest some money in trainers for heavy armor, one handed, block, etc... And, of course, have the Warrior Stone activated so you level up combat skills faster.

And I hear you about the orc. My buddy started a playthrough with an orc tank and the berserker rampage or whatever it's called is really useful. He runs in with a battleaxe and clears a room in no time.

Thanks Atomic. I finished the quest using a good number of stamina and health potions. The perk that makes attacks go slow motion when blocking was a life saver. The astronimical number of power attacks was what was doing the majority of the damage against me.

To be honest though I think I might go with a Mage or Stealthy type character at this point because I think it will be more interesting for me.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Aranea at Azura's Shrine...

You missed out on getting the Black Star, which, in my opinion, is the single best individual item in the game. Sure, Aranea's path is more noble, but the game seems to reward being a cut-throat douchebag more than a paragon of virtue. Kind of like real life in that regard...

 

[Markbnj]

You missed out on getting the Black Star, which, in my opinion, is the single best individual item in the game. Sure, Aranea's path is more noble, but the game seems to reward being a cut-throat douchebag more than a paragon of virtue. Kind of like real life in that regard...

Yeah, I was aware of the alternate path. Maybe I'll do that next time I play through. And anyway, Nelacar seemed a little sleezy to me. The guy lives in a tavern.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Yeah, I was aware of the alternate path. Maybe I'll do that next time I play through. And anyway, Nelacar seemed a little sleezy to me. The guy lives in a tavern.

Oh, yeah, the guy's a dirtbag. I felt really guilty following his path... but I really, really wanted the Black Star. Totally worth it... until I built up a collection of like 50 filled grand soul gems and the Black Star became more meaningless. Instant gratification is so much more fulfilling in the short term.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

You missed out on getting the Black Star, which, in my opinion, is the single best individual item in the game. Sure, Aranea's path is more noble, but the game seems to reward being a cut-throat douchebag more than a paragon of virtue. Kind of like real life in that regard...

I really regret my choice in that quest. Oh well. Now I just buy whatever grand souls that I need.

 

[zinfamous]

Oh, yeah, the guy's a dirtbag. I felt really guilty following his path... but I really, really wanted the Black Star. Totally worth it... until I built up a collection of like 50 filled grand soul gems and the Black Star became more meaningless. Instant gratification is so much more fulfilling in the short term.

I didn't think Nelacar was that skeezy or anything, just that he was living in the tavern because they didn't mind him blowing things up as much.

but yeah, the black star is quite awesome. It's useful for keeping your weapons and such constantly recharged as you are out and about, murdering bandits.

 

[dennilfloss]

Every once in a while I return to a specific cave where I left a bandit marauder unrescued to rot in his cage to improve my destruction & restoration skills a bit. Just for a few minutes when I feel the need to level up.

"So... The child of Baal has awoken..." :sneaky:

ZAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!

*Harming frost (because that harms a Nord more slowly) spell in one hand, healing hands in the other.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Every once in a while I return to a specific cave where I left a bandit marauder unrescued to rot in his cage to improve my destruction & restoration skills a bit. Just for a few minutes when I feel the need to level up.

Grinding spells is silly but necessary. I was sick of how slow things were leveling so I made some gear that made alteration spells cost 0 magic, sat in solitude and cast "Detect Life" on both hands for about 20 minutes while I played Scrabble on my phone. I did a similar thing with some poor fox in the wilderness, alternating between Calm and Courage spells to slowly level Illusion.

The worst part about how slowly the spells level is that they don't get any stronger as you get more powerful (unlike warrior skills), so although the destruction mage is hugely overpowered early, it's almost a joke later in the game. The Master level destruction spells have a cast time of several seconds, use 800 or so magic without "fortify" enchantments to reduce cost, and do so little damage that you need to hit higher level draugr with them 10-15 times to get a kill. What the hell? It's really disappointing to invest so much time into leveling destruction to get awesome spells only to have them be more worthless than the spells you start the game with. I guess there are some mods that fix this by making spells level as you progress, reduce the cast time of the Master level spells, and all that, but I haven't checked them out.

Speaking of mods, there are two more that I have to mention. Skyrim Realistic Overhaul is a texture mod that replaces a lot of the landscape textures. I like it more than a lot of other HD packs because it tries to keep the same look as Vanilla, albeit with much crisper and more realistic textures (almost photorealistic in some cases). It looks great ingame. Realistic Water Textures and Terrain is one I've mentioned in this thread before, but the author just updated it with new waterfalls which look awesome, as seen below.

 

[Gheris]

Is it just me or is the companion pathing straight up awful. Last night I was running through the wilderness to explore and a Dragon showed up. Took care of the dragon and waited around for a bit and no Lydia. Even explored the area a little more....no Lydia. Finally I needed to fast travel back to Whiterun and she was right behind me. Not very helpful as I needed her to carry some things. Any mods out there that anyone has seen that resolves this pathing issue?

I am noticed NPCs sliding across the ground last night. Must be some kind of bug but last night was the first time I have seen it. Anyone else ever see this?

 

[Markbnj]

Is it just me or is the companion pathing straight up awful. Last night I was running through the wilderness to explore and a Dragon showed up. Took care of the dragon and waited around for a bit and no Lydia. Even explored the area a little more....no Lydia. Finally I needed to fast travel back to Whiterun and she was right behind me. Not very helpful as I needed her to carry some things. Any mods out there that anyone has seen that resolves this pathing issue?

I am noticed NPCs sliding across the ground last night. Must be some kind of bug but last night was the first time I have seen it. Anyone else ever see this?

The only places where I've run into real problems is when I jump over rocks or down a cliff or something. They definitely won't follow then. Sometimes they will follow when I jump off a ledge straight to the ground, but not always. When an NPC is flagged to follow you they will always spawn right behind when you cross into another cell, which is why she popped up when you zoned. Before that she was probably stuck on a rock.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

The only places where I've run into real problems is when I jump over rocks or down a cliff or something. They definitely won't follow then. Sometimes they will follow when I jump off a ledge straight to the ground, but not always. When an NPC is flagged to follow you they will always spawn right behind when you cross into another cell, which is why she popped up when you zoned. Before that she was probably stuck on a rock.

Yeah, the behavior of followers is annoying. I spawned on Bard's Leap Redoubt to do the leap of faith (or whatever you want to call it), and the unkillable demon horse Shadowmere decided he should follow me over the cliff... and promptly died. Apparently he's supposed to respawn, but that never happened, so now I'll have to spawn him via console if I want to get him back. But why the hell did he decide to follow me over the waterfall in the first place? Stupid horse.

 

[Skott]

Yeah the follower pathing is not that great at times. Sometimes it is rather comical though. Like when they try to get around traps. They don't try. They go straight at them time and time again. LOL

Ever since I got Lydia the big bone club she really decimates people. Most of the time I dont get more than the first shot or swing off and she wipes the ground with that thing. Its funny to watch her run around with it out. I call it her, 'Big Boner Club'. LOL. She's so funny with it. Got my main guy to level 20 now. Still working the Dark Brotherhood quests. I hope I get Shadowmere soon.

I also been watching TrendKill's Let's Play series on youtube.. He cracks me up. You guys should check his vids out. Pretty good. He has a bunch of different vids covering character builds, play through's etc.,

 

[Gheris]

Yeah the follower pathing is not that great at times. Sometimes it is rather comical though. Like when they try to get around traps. They don't try. They go straight at them time and time again. LOL

Ever since I got Lydia the big bone club she really decimates people. Most of the time I dont get more than the first shot or swing off and she wipes the ground with that thing. Its funny to watch her run around with it out. I call it her, 'Big Boner Club'. LOL. She's so funny with it. Got my main guy to level 20 now. Still working the Dark Brotherhood quests. I hope I get Shadowmere soon.

I also been watching TrendKill's Let's Play series on youtube.. He cracks me up. You guys should check his vids out. Pretty good. He has a bunch of different vids covering character builds, play through's etc.,

You know it's tough too say this without just being straightforward. I was going to give the Giant bone club to Lydia but I don't want her decimating everything. As the Do-vah-kiin(thunderbolt) I want to be responsible for laying waste to my enemies. Not my sidekick who can't even follow me down a hill without getting lost.

 

[zinfamous]

Grinding spells is silly but necessary. I was sick of how slow things were leveling so I made some gear that made alteration spells cost 0 magic, sat in solitude and cast "Detect Life" on both hands for about 20 minutes while I played Scrabble on my phone. I did a similar thing with some poor fox in the wilderness, alternating between Calm and Courage spells to slowly level Illusion.

The worst part about how slowly the spells level is that they don't get any stronger as you get more powerful (unlike warrior skills), so although the destruction mage is hugely overpowered early, it's almost a joke later in the game. The Master level destruction spells have a cast time of several seconds, use 800 or so magic without "fortify" enchantments to reduce cost, and do so little damage that you need to hit higher level draugr with them 10-15 times to get a kill. What the hell? It's really disappointing to invest so much time into leveling destruction to get awesome spells only to have them be more worthless than the spells you start the game with. I guess there are some mods that fix this by making spells level as you progress, reduce the cast time of the Master level spells, and all that, but I haven't checked them out.

Speaking of mods, there are two more that I have to mention. Skyrim Realistic Overhaul is a texture mod that replaces a lot of the landscape textures. I like it more than a lot of other HD packs because it tries to keep the same look as Vanilla, albeit with much crisper and more realistic textures (almost photorealistic in some cases). It looks great ingame. Realistic Water Textures and Terrain is one I've mentioned in this thread before, but the author just updated it with new waterfalls which look awesome, as seen below.

looks nice. I actually tried realistic overhaul, but switched it out for the 2k HD, which runs a little better for me, and I like what it does for the major holds.

I need to install that water pack though; that's damn sexy.

 

[Markbnj]

Yeah, the behavior of followers is annoying. I spawned on Bard's Leap Redoubt to do the leap of faith (or whatever you want to call it), and the unkillable demon horse Shadowmere decided he should follow me over the cliff... and promptly died. Apparently he's supposed to respawn, but that never happened, so now I'll have to spawn him via console if I want to get him back. But why the hell did he decide to follow me over the waterfall in the first place? Stupid horse.

Haha. Loyalty?

 

[Rakewell]

Grinding spells is silly but necessary. I was sick of how slow things were leveling so I made some gear that made alteration spells cost 0 magic, sat in solitude and cast "Detect Life" on both hands for about 20 minutes while I played Scrabble on my phone. I did a similar thing with some poor fox in the wilderness, alternating between Calm and Courage spells to slowly level Illusion.

The worst part about how slowly the spells level is that they don't get any stronger as you get more powerful (unlike warrior skills), so although the destruction mage is hugely overpowered early, it's almost a joke later in the game. The Master level destruction spells have a cast time of several seconds, use 800 or so magic without "fortify" enchantments to reduce cost, and do so little damage that you need to hit higher level draugr with them 10-15 times to get a kill. What the hell? It's really disappointing to invest so much time into leveling destruction to get awesome spells only to have them be more worthless than the spells you start the game with. I guess there are some mods that fix this by making spells level as you progress, reduce the cast time of the Master level spells, and all that, but I haven't checked them out.

Speaking of mods, there are two more that I have to mention. Skyrim Realistic Overhaul is a texture mod that replaces a lot of the landscape textures. I like it more than a lot of other HD packs because it tries to keep the same look as Vanilla, albeit with much crisper and more realistic textures (almost photorealistic in some cases). It looks great ingame. Realistic Water Textures and Terrain is one I've mentioned in this thread before, but the author just updated it with new waterfalls which look awesome, as seen below.

I totally agree Atomic Playboy about unbalanced destruction ratio as you level up.

Does anyone know any mods that change the balance in destructive spells, so you do more damage as you level up?