Elder Scrolls : Skyrim

[Kzach]

Here's another legitimate drawback: I'm levelling faster through smithing than I am through anything else.

Completing quests, even, gives zero XP. But make a few iron daggers and WHOOSH! you level like crazy. I'm up to 70 Smithing at level 19 and I'm only up to Whiterun 0.o

The drawback comes from the fact that all my other skills are low. I'm having to stand and let wolves attack me for a good 15-20 minutes in order to keep my Heavy Armour skill up to speed. I'm spending even more time struggling to keep my Two-Handed Weapons skill up by running and around and hunting wolf packs and bandits.

Then again, I do have flawless orcish armour and a flawless dwarven warhammer

 

[Stumblewyk]

Here's another legitimate drawback: I'm levelling faster through smithing than I am through anything else.

Completing quests, even, gives zero XP. But make a few iron daggers and WHOOSH! you level like crazy. I'm up to 70 Smithing at level 19 and I'm only up to Whiterun 0.o

See, I don't see that as a drawback - it's simply another aspect of the sandbox/simulationist properties of the game.

You're a 70th level blacksmith. Probably one of the best smiths in all of Skyrim. Very definitely in the upper echelon, because you've taken the time to become a great smith. But you're a lousy adventurer, because you've taken the time to become a great smith - at the expense of swinging your large warhammer and crushing bandits and wolves out in the wilderness.

If you want to be a better warrior, spend less time smithing, and more time killing.

As to quests or killing enemies giving zero XP, more sandbox/simulationism - what makes you better at being an adventurer? Killing baddies and rescuing princesses, or the ACT of killing guys and rescuing princesses by getting more experienced with your weapons and armor, and casting spells, and unlocking doors and chests?

It's just a different approach to rewarding your actions - you're rewarded for doing the actions making the thing possible, not just doing the thing.

And it's not like this is a system new to Skyrim - this is how every TES game has worked. Personally, I jumped in back in the Morrowind days, and thought it was brilliant, but to each their own.

 

[Kzach]

See, I don't see that as a drawback - it's simply another aspect of the sandbox/simulationist properties of the game.

Stop making sense; it's becoming super annoying.

 

[Agamon]

Here's another legitimate drawback: I'm levelling faster through smithing than I am through anything else.

Completing quests, even, gives zero XP. But make a few iron daggers and WHOOSH! you level like crazy. I'm up to 70 Smithing at level 19 and I'm only up to Whiterun 0.o

The drawback comes from the fact that all my other skills are low. I'm having to stand and let wolves attack me for a good 15-20 minutes in order to keep my Heavy Armour skill up to speed. I'm spending even more time struggling to keep my Two-Handed Weapons skill up by running and around and hunting wolf packs and bandits.

Then again, I do have flawless orcish armour and a flawless dwarven warhammer

Doc, it hurts when I do this.

Then stop doing that.

*rimshot*

My first play through, Smithing didn't get over 70, I had other stuff I'd rather do than stand in front of that forge. My buddy did that though, 100 smithing by L25.

 

[Kzach]

Actually, the point I was trying to make but got lost because of my absent-mindedness, is that it's FAR easier to level (and get levels) smithing than anything else.

Take my orc. He's got a relatively low Heavy Armour skill because he hardly ever gets hit because he kills stuff so quickly (pretty much one hit kills on everything bar dragons, giants, that sort of thing). And yet, despite this, his Two-Handed Weapon skill is also very low (perhaps because he doesn't need to swing it very often?). Yet compared to how much time I've spent hitting things to how much time I've spent in the forge, my relative return is about 1,000% higher.

 

[Stumblewyk]

Stop making sense; it's becoming super annoying.

Sir, yes, sir!

 

[Goodsport]

Official trailer for the upcoming The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Dawnguard game add-on (DLC for consoles, Expansion Pack for the PC):

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PjBSicSVqI]The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Dawnguard - Official Trailer[/ame]​

Scheduled for Summer 2012 (no exact date given yet), but with one caveat: it will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 for thirty days, after which it will then be released for the other platforms.


-G

 

[Goodsport]

• "Mounted Combat arrives in 1.6 Skyrim Update" (Thursday, 5/24/12)

-G

 

[SolitonMan]

I'm still enjoying Skyrim, it's opened my eyes to the main advantage of a pc game over a console game - free mods! The SkyUI mod is a must have for anyone who hates the standard interface. It allows for sorting and filtering, which is great when you get to higher levels and have to find that one Shout or Spell and your list is very long.

The load times are much, much faster on my pc than my Xbox. I can wait anywhere from 20 - 30 seconds to just leave my house on the Xbox, whereas the longest I've waited on the pc is about 15 seconds, but usually only wait 5 - 6 seconds.

I like the Magicka Sabers mod which provides the player with effective light sabers of various colors. Wielding the sabers while wearing the Nightingale armor gives one the look of a Dark Jedi.

Some of the monster mods (Skyrim Monster Mod, Deadly Dragons) are pretty good, too, and add a nice variety to the game to supplement the repetitiveness of the existing monster set.

The Levelers Tower is a "cheat" mod that adds a tower to the game near Helgen. The Tower is a kitchen-sink of a residence, with an entry area containing many storage units to house specific content (e.g. - daedric weapons, daedric armor, food, dwarven items, gems, etc. - many, many containers) and with a simple button to immediately sort out those items from your inventory and store them (and clean them of the "stolen" tag); a map of Skyrim with teleport links to major sites; and teleport pad to other areas of the tower. The basement contains all the necessary crafting stations, a practice dummy that can help build skills, a skill cheat area where you can click a button to gain a skill rank, and many other features. My favorite area is the arena, in which you can summon creatures to face yourself, or pit them against each other.

I've barely scratched the surface of the mods that are out there. I'm still loving this game, and I'm sure once I start adding new quests that kind users have created I'll be more entertained still.

Anybody have any mods to suggest? I'm always looking for something fun to play!

 

[JDBrockin]

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