Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Delargey]

So if I kill it myself...my conjuring skills will go up?

Also the higher Conj level I'm on does that mean the deadra is more powerfull and lasts longer?

My levels where racing up but suddenly seemed to slow at 34. I really like my fiery buddy so I want them to get good.

[tcharliel]

Speaking of the interface, Bethesda really haven't done much to tweak it for the PC. They've added a few shortcuts to get to the various menus (M for map, I for inventory and the like), but they haven't bothered to optimise anything for a mouse. Also, the favourites are all very well but you you'd think you could map items and skills to your number keys like in every PC RPG ever made. Instead they don't do anything. The interface is actually worse than Oblivion's!

Obviously that stuff's going to get modded in before too long, but Bethesda shouldn't be relying on mods for such a high profile title. It's a shame because everything else about the game is sublime.

On PC you can assign your favourites to numbers 1-8 by opening up the favourites menu and tapping a number next to each weapon/spell/item whatever. Especially useful for potions.

[Jarik]

Great moment with a trap in a burrow last night. I saw through & avoided it, but when I was attacked by a Draugh (Zombie-like creature) a little further on I backed up & stepped around it & when it charged straight for me it went off right in its face.

[Mogster]

On PC you can assign your favourites to numbers 1-8 by opening up the favourites menu and tapping a number next to each weapon/spell/item whatever. Especially useful for potions.

You beauty.

I thought that was a bit of a crazy omission.

[Cosmic_Guru]

Selling a lot of your swag is one way to level speech.

This, or succeding in persuasion or intimidation conversation choices.

[Cosmic_Guru]

I've just spotted there is a skill perk "Fists of steel" available at heavy armour level 30, so you can run around like Conan if you want I guess. Still, doesn't do anything for elves or mages in brawls.

[Magoo]

Also the higher Conj level I'm on does that mean the deadra is more powerfull and lasts longer?

I'm a little unsure as to what is going on under the bonnet here as well, in regards to all skills. I think your ability improves as you level the skill but it's very slight, the major improvements come from perks and being allowed use better spells/gear. Have been finding this to my cost as a jack of all trades, the game is giving me some tough enemies based on my level but I dont have an adept level attack skill to do damage with.

[Space Gibbon]

I'm a little unsure as to what is going on under the bonnet here as well, in regards to all skills. I think your ability improves as you level the skill but it's very slight, the major improvements come from perks and being allowed use better spells/gear. Have been finding this to my cost as a jack of all trades, the game is giving me some tough enemies based on my level but I dont have an adept level attack skill to do damage with.

As far as I know, the only improvement that a skill increase in a spell school gives is that you can cast the spell for less Magicka. To make spells you already have stronger, you need perks (like Atromancy). Alternatively, you can buy better spells.

[Space Gibbon]

This, or succeding in persuasion or intimidation conversation choices.

It seems like quite a hard skill to level - persuasion attempts are quite few and far between.

Any idea if you can increase it more by, say, selling 7 iron daggers one at a time than you would selling them all together?

[Distinct muttering]

Quick question, do enemies level up along with you in this like Oblivion?

[Rayn]

Quick question, do enemies level up along with you in this like Oblivion?

Quick answer: No

[Space Gibbon]

Quick question, do enemies level up along with you in this like Oblivion?

Yes, but not all of them.

[Cosmic_Guru]

It seems like quite a hard skill to level - persuasion attempts are quite few and far between.

Any idea if you can increase it more by, say, selling 7 iron daggers one at a time than you would selling them all together?

No - it's based on cumulative value sold.

[Distinct muttering]

Yes, but not all of them.

In Oblivion I always dreamed of adventuring my way to an area of the map with really high level creatures, an there I would sneak around and find some amazing items that I could use to help me on my quest. Only to realise that everything, no matter how amazing it looked, was jus more or less the same level of ability as me.

Is there an element of this sort of adventuring to it now?

[scottcr]

In Oblivion I always dreamed of adventuring my way to an area of the map with really high level creatures, an there I would sneak around and find some amazing items that I could use to help me on my quest. Only to realise that everything, no matter how amazing it looked, was jus more or less the same level of ability as me.

Is there an element of this sort of adventuring to it now?

I think so - I walked up a mountain and got twatted by a giant. Literally sent me about 10 miles into the air. I'm tempted to try and sneak up to them at night and see if there are goodies to be found.

That kind of stuff is what I loved about Morrowind.

[deerokus]

Speaking of the interface, Bethesda really haven't done much to tweak it for the PC. They've added a few shortcuts to get to the various menus (M for map, I for inventory and the like), but they haven't bothered to optimise anything for a mouse. Also, the favourites are all very well but you you'd think you could map items and skills to your number keys like in every PC RPG ever made. Instead they don't do anything. The interface is actually worse than Oblivion's!

Obviously that stuff's going to get modded in before too long, but Bethesda shouldn't be relying on mods for such a high profile title. It's a shame because everything else about the game is sublime.

The menus actually become a lot better to use when you realise they're ideally suited to WASD rather than mouse. You can zip through them pretty quickly that way. It also has hotkeys. I was using the 360 pad but I have switched to M+K.

I've not played this for a couple of days for various reasons. When I left it I had started off towards Windhelm but had taken a wrong turn somewhere and got lost in a mountain range, then found a dungeon full of weird traps and things which reminded me of

a Fallout vault

. Jonesing like mad.

[Cosmic_Guru]

Yes, but not all of them.

That's the correct answer. Giants for example are all at level 32 regardless of your level, ditto with trolls and frost trolls (having a single level each I mean), and wild life such as bears and sabre cats. For other enemies there are different levels which you start to encounter as you level up. In fact, flicking through the bestiary suggests that the vast majority of enemy types do level up. I am not sure whether entering a specific dungeon and then backing out again "freezes" the enemies at the level you originally entered, or not.

So essentially the same as Oblivion but with rather more real toughies out there from the outset, I would suggest.

[Space Gibbon]

Giants seem to be the exception rather than the rule in this. I've seen the reverse effect - you still get really low-level poorly-equipped bandits later on, but things like bosses in dungeons tend to be level-appropriate.

[NecroMorrius]

Is there no quick-save in this? I'm sure holding Start quick-saved in Oblivion?

I'm playing with a 360 pad, it takes about 1/4 of a second to press start/lt/A/A. Bethesda should be commended for the quickest non-quicksave in history - a constant bugbear for me when I play their games on console.

Funny bug number two: I was set upon by a giant textureless dragon earlier, who upon dying fell off the side of the mage college, never to be seen again. No soul for me

[daveodeth]

Only thing that affects damage is a heavy armour perk, other than that you just need to keep twatting them.

[NecroMorrius]

Giants seem to be the exception rather than the rule in this. I've seen the reverse effect - you still get really low-level poorly-equipped bandits later on, but things like bosses in dungeons tend to be level-appropriate.

The scaling works in different zones. I.e. there are easy, medium and hard dungeons, which scale with your level but still present different difficulties. Going into a 'hard' dungeon will present you with a chunky relative challenge, whereas going into an easy dungeon will present you with something of a cakewalk for your level. There's no way to tell which dungeons are easy or difficult, I imagine it's dynamic. I actually think the system works extremely well, I've had to turn tail from some dungeons and go back with a load of potions or a new spell/weapon to get through it, leading to a sense of accomplishment. I don't know if there are any level-locked areas, but there's certainly none of the stupid enemy scaling from Oblivion, where the entire world is covered in rats for two levels, then wolves, then trolls etc. The enemies do 'level up' with you to some extent, it seems that they start at a certain level, level with you for a bit and then stop? I.e. the mountain lion things were absolutely eviscerating me for a few levels, then I was able to put up a fair fight for a few levels, and now I can more or less oneshot them using the same spells.

I think this is easily the best game Bethesda have ever put out, they've really nailed what it is I enjoy about their games while addressing most of the problems. There are always plenty of ways to improve, and some of their omissions and bugs are disappointing. But for sheer scale and breadth and spectacle, you can overlook the issues. It feels like a gigantic step up from Oblivion to me, in every respect. I've yet to play a melee character though

Has anyone had the bug where you get off your horse and it mysteriously catapults itself hundreds of metres across the world until it hits the side of a mountain and dies? That's a bit of a weird one.

Re: the console hotkey 'issue', I see the limitation as a concession to the Halo 'Two/Three guns' thing, but more so I see it as a way to keep the combat-pausing of games past. The Fallout 3 combat was totally staccato thanks to VATS, and Oblivion was similar thanks to constantly diving into the menus for potions etc. I do think a radial menu would have been slightly quicker than an alphabetical list, but on the flipside it encourages you to keep your favourites well organised. 'Sets' would have been good, I wish I could have a different set for Ice, Lightning and Fire.

[Kayin Amoh]

Has anyone had the bug where you get off your horse and it mysteriously catapults itself hundreds of metres across the world until it hits the side of a mountain and dies? That's a bit of a weird one.

You don't say?

[Yewone]

Quick question, do enemies level up along with you in this like Oblivion?

Word of warning mate... As fantastic as this game is, it's the ultimate timesink. If you do pick it just be prepared to kiss your family & anything resembling a normal sleeping pattern goodbye

[moosegrinder]

They're working on a patch for that and for the texture scaling, whatever that is. I'm presuming it's when they don't go from the N64 far away textures to the more detailed textures when close up.

[Captain Kelsten]

I've easily won every brawl I've had thus far, although brawling in this game is essentially a prettier version of this

[siread]

I read a review (Edge?) which said that a dragon's skeleton stays where it is forever. Is this true? I'm sure I travelled back to where I had slain a dragon but the remains had gone.

[Space Gibbon]

I wish Lydia would get out of my bedroom. Bitch watches me sleep every time...

[hub2]

I had a weird issue where from a distance the remains of the first dragon I killed looked like it was still alive but then a moments later it turned back into the skeleton. Don't know if if was a bug or an optical illusion.

[Broker]

I wish Lydia would get out of my bedroom. Bitch watches me sleep every time...

Right? She's clearly decided to move in, why can't the bitch hang out in the spare room and have it for herself, instead of sitting in my bedroom staring at me while I'm sleeping?

[Thread Astaire]

I love cooking.