Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[robdood]

Boozy, you don't HAVE to fight the dragons. I certainly ran away from most of them at the beginning (unless I was near a town). Once you get a bit further and stronger you'll find them a bit more doable.

[Boozy The Clown]

He started it so I had to finish it. Lydia's dead. It eventually took a cunning/cowardly combo of hiding under the eaves of a cottage and popping out to fire arrows and shout at the big bastard.

Then the sun came out and I took a stroll up a big snowy mountain, discovered a new sweary/shouty word at the top then the game froze up for no reason whatsoever and I switched it off quite frankly in disgust.

GOTY yeah maybe next year when they fucking finish it.

[Boozy The Clown]

Yes, that's typical. At least, it's typical of a scotsman who's only interested in making money and is too tight spend said money on better armour/clothing and better weapons/spells.

I spend my money on beer and giving free drinks to tramps.

It wants me to put it back on now. I suppose I could find a pub and get the local muso to play a few tunes in Lydia's honour while I get pished.

[scottcr]

I was bouncing around a cave the other night and being chased by someone quite powerful. I jumped into a room which was effectively a cupboard full of booze. I decided to tank all the mead in one go, thought it'd be a laugh to try some Drunken Warrior stuff on her.

Much to my dismay, the mead had no affect what so ever, so, when she opened the door I just twatted her in the face with my mace.

[Boozy The Clown]

All I want to do is find a nice quiet pub and have a few pints but nooooo. All this game wants to do is see how many creatures it can conjure up to kill me.

Sabre cats to the north, Frost Trolls to the south. I know it's my own fault for not wearing armour but come the fuck on. Give an imperial lady mage a friggin' chance. My flame skill would barely light a fag, my best weapon is a blunt axe and my arrows bounce off elk arse.

Yes for a mage I do kinda keep forgetting about scrolls and my shouts which admittedly don't seem to do much and I forget to block because I'm busy trying to offer the beast that's trying to eat my face a light for it's ciggie.

This is why I play racing games, you can't die.

[Monkeyboy]

Its a pity there's a level cap. I could play this forever.

There isn't a level cap. Well, I guess there is, but you would hit it only when you get every single skill to 100, and it'd probably take ages to get to that.

[Broker]

It's 81.

[Monkeyboy]

Is that the point they reckon you would have all skills at 100 then?

[Distinct muttering]

Syntax, that first issue is pretty much your own fault for having more than one quest marker switched on. If you're in a dungeon and you have a quest marker on for somewhere the other side of the map, then the quest marker on your HUD will point you to the exit or the nearest door that's close to another exit. It's important to have only one quest marker on at a time.

My first playthrough was hampered by bugs too however, two quests are broken because I did something too soon or 'wrong'.

But it wasnt pointing to a door, it was pointing to the middle of the floor in the area I was in.

[Broker]

Is that the point they reckon you would have all skills at 100 then?

Yeah, that's the level you would be with all skills at max, meaning there are 81 perk points available for any character to choose from over 200 perks.

[Distinct muttering]

Is this typical ?

I'm making my way across the plains to get the horn of jericho and I encounter my 2nd dragon at the same place we killed the 1st. It gets brought down and I get the goodies from it. 5 minutes later I encounter another but this time it's just me and Lydia. It's firing blue flame/light/frost at us and I'm doing my best to keep my shouts/health/magic/arrows in reasonable state and slowly managing to bring it's health down.

Just when I'm about to deliver the final fatal blow to it's big scaly napper a sabre cat appears from nowhere and bites me on the arse killing me.

2nd attempt - It kicks seven shades out of us both and bites my head off.

3rd attempt I try to use a nearby cottage for a bit of respite during battle only to be frozen to death by the occupant.

I'm only level 9, hardly wearing any armour (mage robes), rapidly running out of potions and a pretty crap archer. I'm pretty good at making iron daggers and getting a decent price for them but I don't think the dragon is impressed by this.

Oh yeah, exact same bit I did last night as well. I am level 22 and I was struggling with the dragon as well. Im really lazy when it comes to managing my inventory, I know I have frost resist stuff I could have put on to make it easier but couldn’t be arsed. Also I have loads of scrolls and tomes but have never successfully done one yet so don’t bother with those either! I ended up hiding in the cottage you mention and twatting the mage that was in there, he was actually pretty tough, so I was gutted to see he had no goodies of any note in there.

[Girth Certificate]

anyone know the console command to get rid of bugged 'collect bounty from skald' messages in misc quests?

I've 2 and they are fucking up my nice clear screen.

[Shook]

Marry him.

I did, and hes a good breadwinner! and as you say hes a tough character!

He has killed my dog twice so I sort of hate him.

The friendly fire situation with this game is a bit annoying.

[scottcr]

This fucking game - gives with one hand, takes with another.

I find a grotto, bloated mans or something... And I go in expecting a cave, but it's not, it's lovely. I work my way through it, smiting with extreme prejudice and find the loot within. Most satisfying. Then come out and head on my merry way to the next fetch macguffin quest and find a man asking for help. Always willing to help a stranger in need, in the off chance that it leads to epic loots, I go to talk to him... EXCEPT THE X BUTTON ISN'T DOING ANYTHING.

ARGH

I piss off annoyed, looking for someone else to talk to hoping that I've not broken my game and need to go back a few hours.

[Stolly]

Yeah it can be.

Terrified villager: "Dovahkiin!! Please help us, a dragon is attacking our village."

You: "Challenge accepted."

Terrified villager: "The Dragon is dead! But the Dovahkiin singed my skirt slightly!"

ALL OF THE VILLAGE: "DEATH TO THE DOVAHKIIN!!"

You: "Challenge accepted."

Haha. I accidentally picked up (sorry stole) a piece of salmon while in conversation with Ulfric last night. Jeez it all kicked off then but I calmed them down and surrended.... and then they went and confiscated my dragon's bane sword which, at that point, I'd previously 'borrowed'. As it was an accident I let myself re-load fromm the previous doorway

[Stolly]

This fucking game - gives with one hand, takes with another.

I find a grotto, bloated mans or something... And I go in expecting a cave, but it's not, it's lovely. I work my way through it, smiting with extreme prejudice and find the loot within. Most satisfying. Then come out and head on my merry way to the next fetch macguffin quest and find a man asking for help. Always willing to help a stranger in need, in the off chance that it leads to epic loots, I go to talk to him... EXCEPT THE X BUTTON ISN'T DOING ANYTHING.

ARGH

I piss off annoyed, looking for someone else to talk to hoping that I've not broken my game and need to go back a few hours.

Personally I think most of the problems can be avoided by regular saves (rather than relying on auto saves), a little bit of patience and the odd reload or fast travel. I found fallout 3 really frustrating for a while but the regular saving seemed to sort most of my problems out and, coming to Skyrim after fallout 3, meant that I was mentally prepared for it all. Even the glitch stopping me from progressing the main quest line right now hasn't particularly annoyed me - I'll just crack on with my other 40 odd open quests and no doubt stumble across many, many more.

[Boobni82]

How do the shouts work in this? I have got one working so far which is force I think but there is one called fire as well and when I try to access that it says I dont have any Dragon Souls despite the fact that I have absorbed about 5 or 6 since then.

[b00dles]

The other thing that is a shame about this is if on rogue travels and explores you fancy doing a dungeon or castle or whatever, if you go back there, all the dudes are in EXACTLY the same places. I can't remember exactly which one this happened on, one of the forts to the south iirc, there's a little camp of about three dudes outside a 'secret entrance' (blatantly obvious huge hole in the wall) who ask you to help them out. Unfortunately, first time I was there a dragon attacked the fort and the chaps so most have them got toasted but I gave it a go even though I was far too low a level.

I used the old one poisoned arrow, running away and hiding method which took AAAAAGES (even more so because the bandit chief was an utter shit, lots of potions, food and even a scroll of something in the end) when I got outside, the old bloke from the camp was all 'thanks a lot, you've reclaimed the fort for me blahblah' probably gave me some tat and then buggered off inside.

I then came back much much later for the Imperials or companions or someone (and probably 20 levels higher at a guess) and the chap was just sat outside again and I couldn't talk to him. I went back into the fort and there were still some arrows of mine in the wood, all the corpses had been tidied up and all the bad guys were stood in the same places, every one.

This is definitely one of those games where instead of bothering making it look prettier for number VI, I just wish they'd polish the hell out of the AI, the quests, the moral type options, the jobs and abilities and the living world. It's so nearly bloody amazing and then it just goes and does something really 'game-y' and a bit of a throwback to early 2000 games or the like.

One more thing (War questline spoilers, Imperial side)

Really thought it was crap that the attack on Whiterun with flaming catapults had absolutely no effect to the town. The building next to my pad was burning away for ages and then when I got back it was like absolutely nothing had happened. Would have been much nicer if some locals had died and houses had burnt down if I wasn't quick enough or whatever. Oh well, like I said, don't bother making super shiny VI, make better V.5

[Rudderless]

Okay, so I'd been taking it quite slowly at first, then I got Lydia, wandered towards my next location and ducked into a cave. Inside were two Trolls. Had no idea how tough they'd be so started swinging. One swipe took away a good third of my health, so I backed out of the cave. Of course, Lydia didn't follow and now she's dead because I decided to explore a bit. Fucksake.

Also, shortly afterwards I seemed to lose the ability to jump, but that's righted itself now.

Anyway, I'm over all that now, but I'm wondering if anyone has any tips about perks and stuff I should learn. I'm not generally a big magic user, and have picked more of a warrior type as my hero (Redguard or whatever they're called). So far I've ploughed a few points into Two-Handed Weapons, but I'm wondering if I'm best with one and a shield, or whether I should consider some other approach instead. Any advice, anyone?

[Naysonymous]

Okay, so I'd been taking it quite slowly at first, then I got Lydia, wandered towards my next location and ducked into a cave. Inside were two Trolls. Had no idea how tough they'd be so started swinging. One swipe took away a good third of my health, so I backed out of the cave. Of course, Lydia didn't follow and now she's dead because I decided to explore a bit. Fucksake.

This is a good thing. It means you are one of the lucky few who wont spend the next 50-100 hours walking around with Lydia simply because she was the first person you met. There are 45 companions in the game, and there is much fun to be had teaming up with different ones.

As for the perks? Just do what you think mate. Everything seems viable, and it is quite easy to abandon one play style and level up another if you fancy a change. My guy was a pure destruction mage for the longest time (I always seem to play casters in RPGs) but once I got to 100 in Destruction I decided to stop using it so much, and now my guy is a very powerful archer and more than capable necromancer/backstabber. You can stick with the 2h tree for now and change later. I am rolling with a warrior who uses a 2h weapon at the moment, and I have to admit it makes me smile when he decapitates a bad guy or impales them on his sword and picks them up. Kinda wish I could do that if I am being honest, but I have at least three completely different ways to fight which I am more than proficient at so I musnt be greedy. (currently level 49)

Oh, and slight spoiler:

Enchanting feels hugely overpowered when you reach 100. I presume blacksmithing is great too, but even with no points in crafting weapons or armour I have some of the very best gear in the game which I got just from looting or as quest rewards. I dont think blacksmiths can get items which have super powerful double enchants on them just through the course of normal questing.

[b00dles]

The great thing about this game over and above the majority of Western RPG's (and specifically the ones using this engine, Gamebryo or whatever the name is that I've temporarily forgotten) is that there really doesn't seem to be a 'right' or 'better' way to play it. You can literally be anyone at all and play it however you want.

Check a few skill trees and see what might interest you or how you play the game and go with it. You can always do all the other stuff later if you fancy it. I've pretty much topped out my sneaky archer and I might try and nail a few Draugr and mudcrabs with magic just so I can get some of that on the go and keep getting perks.

[Cosmic_Guru]

One more thing (War questline spoilers, Imperial side)

Really thought it was crap that the attack on Whiterun with flaming catapults had absolutely no effect to the town. The building next to my pad was burning away for ages and then when I got back it was like absolutely nothing had happened. Would have been much nicer if some locals had died and houses had burnt down if I wasn't quick enough or whatever. Oh well, like I said, don't bother making super shiny VI, make better V.5

Yes, it's all a bit disappointing. The only slightly satisfying thing

the group of former stormcloak notables who you will come across supping in Windhelm and who I assume are now being held hostage.

Anyway, I'm over all that now, but I'm wondering if anyone has any tips about perks and stuff I should learn. I'm not generally a big magic user, and have picked more of a warrior type as my hero (Redguard or whatever they're called). So far I've ploughed a few points into Two-Handed Weapons, but I'm wondering if I'm best with one and a shield, or whether I should consider some other approach instead. Any advice, anyone?

I would say the best perks to get are those which:

Improve your principal weapon damage (IH and 2H in your case) plus improve block

Improve damage from combat whilst stealthed

Enable you to craft and improve more types of either heavy or light armour

Improve the effectiveness of enchanting and ultimately enable you to duel enchant

Gives you 100 more carrying capacity

Enable you to sell any items to any vendors

Otherwise give you gameplay or combat options you wouldn't otherwise have access to e.g to pickpocket equipped items or to use shield bash

I am sure there are many other views on the subject, though. I also went for the increased treasure finding option being a greedy Khajiit, but found I didn't need any of the more specialised combat ones other than the first archery slow time one.

As for combat style I went from IH plus destruction to an archery focus and then back to 1H plus shield or 2H just to mix things up and depending on the enemy type.

[scottcr]

Personally I think most of the problems can be avoided by regular saves (rather than relying on auto saves), a little bit of patience and the odd reload or fast travel. I found fallout 3 really frustrating for a while but the regular saving seemed to sort most of my problems out and, coming to Skyrim after fallout 3, meant that I was mentally prepared for it all. Even the glitch stopping me from progressing the main quest line right now hasn't particularly annoyed me - I'll just crack on with my other 40 odd open quests and no doubt stumble across many, many more.

I save all the time. I'm starting to get into it now after a disappointing first while... But really, I've already hit a few bugs that have annoyed me. It shouldnt happen. It's almost as though you need to play a bethesda game knowing its going to be buggy...

[Nate Dogg III]

It's almost as though you need to play a bethesda game knowing its going to be buggy...

Almost?

[Cosmic_Guru]

You can always do all the other stuff later if you fancy it. I've pretty much topped out my sneaky archer and I might try and nail a few Draugr and mudcrabs with magic just so I can get some of that on the go and keep getting perks.

Muffle and Oakflesh are two magic spells which melee types can use to keep illusion and alteration magic ticking upwards. I was looking out for the teleportation spell for a long time but never found it for sale.

For those wanting to improve destruction and restoration there is a

truely "captive" audience

awaiting your attentions if you complete the DB quest chain.

[Stolly]

It's almost as though you need to play a bethesda game knowing its going to be buggy...

But when you factor in the sheer scale and scope of the game, its really a small price to pay. And thus far, if you ignore the odd freeze, I've hardly encountered any bugs. I did have a bit of a time which I thought was a bug when I finally tracked down the guy that could cure me of vampirism but, not only did I have to meet him at dawn, I had to wait for him to stand beside a shrine or something before he could do the business. Like I said patience helps.

[scottcr]

But when you factor in the sheer scale and scope of the game, its really a small price to pay. And thus far, if you ignore the odd freeze, I've hardly encountered any bugs. I did have a bit of a time which I thought was a bug when I finally tracked down the guy that could cure me of vampirism but, not only did I have to meet him at dawn, I had to wait for him to stand beside a shrine or something before he could do the business. Like I said patience helps.

I find this attitude far too forgiving. When playing it, I am actually enjoying it now... But when I run into some bugs I'm like FUCKSAKE. Quite often it makes me want to switch off and do something else. I've had game freezes and quest breaks.

It isn't a small price to play. Other open world games like RDR and GTA are rock solid compared to this.

I played Oblivion for about 160 hours total between PC and Xbox and don't recall ever encountering bugs like these.

[Gringo]

Yep I've hit a wall with the main quest, trying to speak to Ulfric (to get him to go to the peace parley with Tullus). Its because I have the join the stormcloaks quest open I think (I've killed the ice wraith for Garmer, Ulfric's lieutenant, to join and my quest log for that requires me to report to Garmer now).

So if I speak to Ulfric, he says speak to Garmer and if I speak to Garmer, he just waffles on about not believing that I've convinced Ulfric to go to the peace meeting (which as yet I haven't). I'm stuck in a loop and I guess I'll have to just do other things in the game (which I'm not short of it has to be said) and hope for a PS3 patch . I was really getting into the main quest story though....

Shit, I have done this but on the 360. I haven't actually progressed the main quest line very far but I wonder so I just go and join the Stormcloaks to avoid encountering this problem myself. Don't really want to join them though because Ulfric seems like a right knobhead.

[Boobni82]

Go to to the magic menu, then shouts, then select the shout and press whatever button it says to unlock it. I take it you haven't been up the High Hrothgar yet.

No havent got that far yet. When I try to add anything to the shout it just says I have no souls from the magic menu. Every time I play it I mean to go there but end up just dandering about the place picking flowers and killing things. Honestly think this game will be the end of me an the missus. Every night I go in and plan to to do something and end up sticking on Skyrim for 10 minutes resulting in about 3 lost hours doing nothing.

Had a weird bug last night where I couldnt wait or fast travel at all as there were enemies nearby even when in villages where there was no one so had to walk about for ages. In the end it turns out Faendal my mate who had went through dozens of dungeons and I had kitted out with mad weapons and really expensive dwarven armor had randomly taken as dislike to me and would instantly attack me as soon as I walked up to him and pressed A to talk. Tried different areas but everywhere the same so was gutted to lose him after 20+hours service. Quickly forgot about him in the end and just grabbed Lydia when stockpiling stuff in my house again.

[bingowings]

decided to sack all the quest stuff for a couple of hours, go exploring and collect souls for my enchanted kit. this involved killing lots of things, including Stormcloaks - which turned out to be pointless as they have fuck all cash and i don't carry gems large enough to trap the souls. word travels fast, any time i approach another encampment i get set upon - of course everyone dies apart from the various camp leaders who, i'm guessing, are part of the rambling Stormcloak side quest which i haven't touched at all. that Ulfric cat is a fucking dick and deserves nothing but grief.