Elder Scrolls IV - Any advice for a newbie

[Megaton]

I have no idea how any excels as a bowman. Even if you try to kite, you'll eventually backpedal into a wall or otherwise box yourself in, or you'll just get caught.

My roommate ended up doing a wood elf bowman, and it worked out pretty easily. If you do the Dark Brotherhood first and get a bunch of sneaking and invisibility, you're virtually invincible because you can always shoot at least one arrow for 6X damage while sneaking. Usually with maxed sneaking he could fire more than one shot.

This also makes the game really boring and repetitive though imo. I much prefer my battle mage getting into the fray and messing stuff up.

 

[Felon]

Thanks for all the advice. I've been running around the country side for about ten hours now, just marvelling at the game and killing wolfs and goblins. Done couple of quests too but still just beginning. Now a quick question if someone would be kind to answer. I'm planning on joining a guild as many rumors point me to. But can I be a member of more than one guild or am I stuck to the one I choose for the rest of the game without chance to get to the others?

You can and should join multiple guilds. Note that you earn a reputation for the quests you complete, so the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves' Guild quests tend to make you disliked.

 

[Zoatebix]

Since you've already got your character started, I'll give you some techniques that, when you do them in moderation, actually aren't as lame as I make them out to be:

How to be not so nice while making money
Find a farm! Pick the fruits and vegetables and make tons of money off of the plentiful potions you brew! Remember to use your lightest (and cheapest!) ingredients first.

Join any and every guild! Don't feel too bad about absconding with the guilds' stuff, especially the alchemical devices found in Mage Guild halls.

How to "game the system"
If want to be a meany to the game's poor creatures and NPCs, get really good at your minor skills. You'll be significantly more capable than the leveling system thinks you are! (Someone said almost the same thing, above.)

 

[Felon]

My roommate ended up doing a wood elf bowman, and it worked out pretty easily. If you do the Dark Brotherhood first and get a bunch of sneaking and invisibility, you're virtually invincible because you can always shoot at least one arrow for 6X damage while sneaking. Usually with maxed sneaking he could fire more than one shot.

Oh, I can get the one shot off for x6 damage, maybe a second. But that still doesn't kill a lot of enemies, and I'm just not that good at melee. Playing this on the Xbox, btw, so there's always that lack of speed and precision that comes with using a thumbstick intead of a mouse.

Of course, spells make everything easier, but I foolishly tried to play with a non-spellcaster--not to mention a non-metal-armor-wearer and a non-shield-user. Despite the game's catering to thieves', they sure don't seem to want you to gear-up like one. No little Bos elf with leather armor, a short sword, and no helm is going to survive in this world. After I finish this last thieves' guild quest, I'll restart and do all of the other guild quests with a warrior-mage-illusionist.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Yeah, the one thing about ES:O is that magic is far and away better than Everything Else.

It's really the worst part about the game IMO (really, the entire Elder Scrolls series). They offer you so much character customization, but when it comes down to it all the best builds use a lot of magic.

I went a somewhat different route; I used magic almost exclusively for buffing. It was pretty hard going at first; I've gone back and forth on the idea many times, to the point where Destruction is one of my highest skills. But I've reached the point where my armor and assortment of buff spells makes me nigh-unkillable. It's kinda fun wading into 10 things and not dying.

I don't know, maybe that route's not so different, I've never spent too much time reading the guides and things, at least no more than I needed to to understand what to do.

 

[Bront]

It's a shame you have the X-Box version and not the PC version. The PC version lets you add mods that are quite usefull.

I refused to buy the game due to the stock leveling system, but I found 2-3 that looked interesting and picked one. It's a smooth leveling mod that simply increases my atributes automaticly as I increase skills, and my level goes up every 8-10 atribute points (if I remember right). Lets you go over 100 in a stat, but maxes you out at +60. It means you can level more organicly, and don't have to do any of the weird skill tracking and sleep deprivation stuff.

The magic customizition system scared me a bit, but I never even tried to delve much into it because of simply reading about how complex it was. I since found other things to interest me, and only got myself past the first Oblivion Gate before I stoped playing.

Ultimately, I think the game's a little too sandboxy for me, but I don't regret playing it either. Looked very nice and ran fairly well on my PC. Hopefully you'll get more milage out of it.

 

[Blackrat]

Ultimately, I think the game's a little too sandboxy for me, but I don't regret playing it either. Looked very nice and ran fairly well on my PC. Hopefully you'll get more milage out of it.

For me the sandbox is just the thing. Now after the easter-weekend I have about 30 hours played, I'm 3rd level and have completed a dozen or so quests. I think I chose my skills a bit silly. I play a melee, heavy armor nord but chose my major skills mostly from magic and alchemy. Which seems to mean that I level pretty slowly but when I do I get most out of it. Mainly I've been running around the wilderness bashing bandits and wolwes. Though I run into a grove in the middle of nowhere and was attacked by three minotaurs and a unicorn. Those kinda scared the hell out of me.

 

[Megaton]

Woah, there are unicorns in this game? Is that PC exclusive because I've never fought one of those in the XBox version.

 

[Blackrat]

Woah, there are unicorns in this game? Is that PC exclusive because I've never fought one of those in the XBox version.

It's the xbox version . Keep running around in the wilderness, you'll stumble upon them some day.

 

[Bront]

For me the sandbox is just the thing. Now after the easter-weekend I have about 30 hours played, I'm 3rd level and have completed a dozen or so quests. I think I chose my skills a bit silly. I play a melee, heavy armor nord but chose my major skills mostly from magic and alchemy. Which seems to mean that I level pretty slowly but when I do I get most out of it. Mainly I've been running around the wilderness bashing bandits and wolwes. Though I run into a grove in the middle of nowhere and was attacked by three minotaurs and a unicorn. Those kinda scared the hell out of me.

That's unfortunately, exactly how you're supposed to do it to level effectively. That's why I'm not thrilled with the leveling system.

Woah, there are unicorns in this game? Is that PC exclusive because I've never fought one of those in the XBox version.

You probably had to be a virginal female