Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[MrPogo]

At Level 16, every location seems suddenly to be filled with people who kill me almost instantly and I can do very little damage to. Is there anywhere I can get some decent weapons and armour? I'm mixing things up between one-handed swords, destruction and bows, but they're all becoming rapidly less effective.

Or else a cave will be filled with people I can kill with one hit, then at the end there's someone who one-hits me.

I'm finding a lot of the latter at the minute (at level 17). Now got four "come back to later" missions where I've cleared out most of the dungeon with ease and then come up against a boss who kills me with two hits whilst I barely scratch him.

[Sng]

Just stumbled on my second dragon. If I have hardly any arrows and am only levelling one-handed, How am I meant to kill it? Or is it just best to run and deal with it later?

[Jamin]

Did you, by any chance kill Lydia accidentally during that brawl? Cos I did, but then it crashed. Reloaded autosave and since then she's survived every single fight. Even when she should die, she goes into 'surrender' mode and all bad guys (even giant ice spiders) grant her mercy and leave her alive.

Its a trait I wish she had, the merciless bitch brutally executes everyone, even when they beg not to be killed.

Sadly not, basically I was fighting a couple of mud crabs, turned round after 30 odd seconds and there she was in the distance pegging it up to the front doors of the next-door heavily guarded fort . By the time I got there she was dead. Serves her right really! I sense that my guy isn't the social type anyway.

[SqueakyG]

I actually dislike the way stolen items are treated in ES, its a bit daft you can't sell any stolen items to normal shops.

Tamriel doesn't have any Cash Converters.

[Schnibbles]

Creepy bug.

[Yasawas]

Oh it's not a wolf Steve, it's a sabre-tooth ti

[Kryptonian]

Some people earlier mentioned characters getting catapulted across the map - this has happened to me a few times, the most memorable was up in the mountains where I bumped into a guy and I paused it mid or at the end of the conversation. When I unpaused it, the guy shot backwards like he was on a giant bungie cord - it must have been at least 500 in game metres into the distance. I started sprinting after him and came across his corpse and after taking anything of value I wondered if this is going to have repercussions later? (not the theft, the guy dying)

[Karzee]

I've been opening Adept and Expert locks and im just a Novice!

Its really quite easy ( ish ) once you get it.

You can attempt an unlock no matter what your skill level.. you'll go through a lot of picks, but its doable

Cheers! Didn't know this and just done it. My Companion quest continues....

[Majora]

I'm finding a lot of the latter at the minute (at level 17). Now got four "come back to later" missions where I've cleared out most of the dungeon with ease and then come up against a boss who kills me with two hits whilst I barely scratch him.

The bosses in this are hard. The boss at the end of the lighthouse quest would literally kill me in one hit. I've found they require a few goes so you can prepare for them and I've kinda cheesed most of them. Making them follow me into narrow corridors, stealthily hitting them with an arrow, retreat, arrow, retreat, leaving fire runes for them to stumble along when they follow me or just letting the fire guy I summon fight them. They'd be a lot easier with a companion but Lydia pisses me off, ruining my stealth, blocking me in corridors etc...so I sent her home.

[Lorfarius]

For 3 nights I've been meaning to climb that bloody mountain and see the greybeards. 3 ruddy nights and each time I'm about to set off I suddenly remember a nearby quest that needs doing! I've stopped for the day but I was on the second flight of steps up the mountain side and what comes swooping in but a bloody ice dragon! More distractions.

[Sng]

I started that quest when I got home (5pm) and am now halfway up the stairs

Fucking map is partly to blame as well as everything else though.

[Liamness]

Never played an Elder Scrolls game before, I feel like I'm just pottering around right now. Think I'm going to concentrate on magic, but I don't really know if that's a good choice. All I know if that it's a choice, and I like burning things. It's a marvelously pretty game anyway.

[CovisGod]

I've put 40 hours in so far, I'm loving every second. I've hardly done any of the main story, I've been concentrating on the side missions and forging etc.

One minor thing, when you buy a house and buy all the bits that go in it you get a weapon rack yeah ? Well I've bought the house in Solitude and it doesn't let you put your weapons in the weapon rack, also sometimes when you return home all the stuff is all over the floor and the tables missing ! Just a couple of little bugs but nothing that's gonna stop my love for this game.

My game of the year by a country mile and I've played a lot of games this year !

[NecroMorrius]

Ok, serious problem in potential. I've just found 2 dead named NPCs, Belethor and the son of Battle-born. No idea why they're dead at all, they're just spark out in Whiterun. No rhyme, no reason and no I didn't kill them. Robbed them blind, obviously, but is this going to fuck my game? I've just

become a werewolf

.

Belethor runs the shop in Whiterun - someone will take over from him without a hitch. I don't think the son of battle-born is anyone special, there are loads of named NPCs in the towns which don't do much but add flavour.

My savegame is at 63 hours now

Finished the mage quest line today, it stayed great all the way to the end, and the reward for finishing it is massive. I've found something strange on my travels,

a wooden 'the mask' style mask, which transports me back in time to an altar of some sort, covered in statues which seem to need items putting in them.

So, so, so captivating. I wonder what it's for

[simms]

There are more than just those three as well. You can read a book in the game that updates your map with their locations, or use your burlap effect map (there are red crosses in the locations)

I've read a book or spoken to someone a few times and it says map updated but I never really know whats new stuff has been added.

Okay I'm trying to get my head around this...

I buy two iron ignots for 34 coins each (or whatever) = 64 coins in total

I turn them into some armour (which is apparently 125 value)

I attempt to sell the armour for twice the profit I paid for the source materials...

shop offers me 32 coins...

Am I missing something really obvious or is the inherent value actually in mining and smelting ore and then flogging that?

(not trying to cheat the system, it just doesn't seem to make much sense to me that's all)

Get out there a do a proper days work mining for iron ore rather than buying the ignots The better you become at speech the better you cash you could probably make and no doubt there will be perks and garments you can wear to improve this.

[MrPogo]

The bosses in this are hard. The boss at the end of the lighthouse quest would literally kill me in one hit. I've found they require a few goes so you can prepare for them and I've kinda cheesed most of them. Making them follow me into narrow corridors, stealthily hitting them with an arrow, retreat, arrow, retreat, leaving fire runes for them to stumble along when they follow me or just letting the fire guy I summon fight them. They'd be a lot easier with a companion but Lydia pisses me off, ruining my stealth, blocking me in corridors etc...so I sent her home.

Sounds like you've got a lot of little tricks I haven't picked up yet. Might be time for me to actively searh out decent weapons and spells instead of sticking with the same old fire blast and "beat sword I've stumbled across so far" combo!

[deerokus]

I really like the rather believable shades of grey to the two warring factions in this. I really can't decide who I want to side with.

I mean the idealistic lefty sometime-semi-anarchist Scottish nationalist with a side-helping of Irish republican side of me wants to take up the Stormcloak sword, but Ulfric seems like a bit of a dick, and there's a nasty racist edge to them. The Imperials, meanwhile, are rather corrupt and tyrannical, and it seems from reading some of the preceding lore that the Empire itself isn't long for the world.

They've taken something from games like Fallout New Vegas, in that respect, though this actually seems better done than the Legion/NCR/Indy vegas thing in NV. The fact that I actually care about it is an achievement too.

[snowbind]

Just stumbled on my second dragon. If I have hardly any arrows and am only levelling one-handed, How am I meant to kill it? Or is it just best to run and deal with it later?

Wait till it lands and then smack it at the back. Draw it out into more open ground.

I had a sweet finishing blow animation earlier, where she (yup playing a girl) jumped onto the dragons neck and then maced it straight in the face!

I can compeltely understand how people spent so much time in Oblivion and Fallout now. It is basically a huge, functioning world. I can see myself dipping in and out of this for ages, after the initial poop-socking stage has worn off. There is so much to do.

[snowbind]

Does anyone have any tips on the creation side regarding potions, smithing and armor creation. I really don't know what I am doing or where to find out what I need to make epic gear.

[Space Gibbon]

Belethor runs the shop in Whiterun - someone will take over from him without a hitch. I don't think the son of battle-born is anyone special, there are loads of named NPCs in the towns which don't do much but add flavour.

My savegame is at 63 hours now

Finished the mage quest line today, it stayed great all the way to the end, and the reward for finishing it is massive. I've found something strange on my travels,

a wooden 'the mask' style mask, which transports me back in time to an altar of some sort, covered in statues which seem to need items putting in them.

So, so, so captivating. I wonder what it's for

I did the College earlier today. The fight with

the undead guy to get the Staff of Magnus

was fucking hard. I had to slow time, slash him up, run away and hide, and repeat. His lightning attacks killed me in two hits.

[Sng]

Are there traps in buckets or bugs? At a Witches camp, tried to pick something crap out of a bucket and it blew up, send me bloody flying, insta-kill.

[snowbind]

I did the College earlier today. The fight with

the undead guy to get the Staff of Magnus

was fucking hard. I had to slow time, slash him up, run away and hide, and repeat. His lightning attacks killed me in two hits.

Argggh, just starting this, so tempted to click. I finished the companions line earlier.

Does anyone know how long the main storyline is? I have only slain the first Dragon.

[Space Gibbon]

Does anyone have any tips on the creation side regarding potions, smithing and armor creation. I really don't know what I am doing or where to find out what I need to make epic gear.

Well, Smiithing and Alchemy are quite heavily perk-reliant. With alchemy, combining two ingredients that have the same effect will create a potion or poison with that effect. Trouble is, you can only find out what effects ingredients have by tasting them or fluke-creating a working potion. Perks help this.

Smithing tells you what you need if you go to a forge. All items you can see can be created if you have the materials. You usually need some metal and leather. Leather can be made from any animal pelt at the tanning rack at most blacksmiths. Metals can be obtained through mining ores and smelting them, or just buying them.

For enchanting you need an object to enchant, a filled soul gem, and you need to know an enchantment. You can learn an enchantment by disenchanting an enchanted object you've found. The higher your skill and the stronger the soul gem, the better the result.

[Space Gibbon]

Are there traps in buckets or bugs? At a Witches camp, tried to pick something crap out of a bucket and it blew up, send me bloody flying, insta-kill.

It might have been a rune you didn't see.

[Exit Chamber]

Here is my character. The last thing you will see before you die.

[MrPogo]

Sounds like you've got a lot of little tricks I haven't picked up yet. Might be time for me to actively searh out decent weapons and spells instead of sticking with the same old fire blast and "beat sword I've stumbled across so far" combo!

Yet another quest where I breeze through it until I reach an almost invincible boss - emptying my magic metre of fire into him barely takes off 5% of his health, whereas I'm running around the room like mad on a "take two hits and you're dead" basis. I'm definitely doing something wrong, as surely there'd be someone else complaining about the lack of balance otherwise!

Here is my character. The last thing you will see before you die.

Is he curling one out?

[Exit Chamber]

Yeah. That's his thing. He leaves a corpse and a poo.

[Yewone]

Hmmm I really hope dragon corpses eventually disappear.. I've caused a bit of an issue in Riverwood by killing one in the middle of their highstreet!

[siread]

[Davros sock drawer]

So I thought, with my limited free time, that I'd maybe put 7 or 8 hours into the game. Nope, 20. How?!

Just did the little dungeon with the guy who wants to rescue his aunt from the necromancer. The boss fight was a real challenge, but I just adjusted my tactics and won through in the end, which was very satisfying.

Time to head of to the Greybeards, I thought, but no. Stumbled across a hideout, which of course I am now investigating.

The dungeons in this are so much more varied than previous games in the series. I did one last night that was like an underground forest, with Ent type things that attacked me.