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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

VIDEO The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 11.11.11

Discussion in 'Archive: Games' started by zacparis, Dec 11, 2010.

  1. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    Too bad we couldn't merge the temp thread with this one. Oh well. So, I'm rather pleased with my new character, a Dark Elf rogue-mostly-evil assassin named Thanos. While not Listening to the Night Mother he enjoys roaming the world, looking for power and riches wherever he can find them. Though he was also offered the title of Guildmaster of the Thieves, neither the Thieves Guild nor Riften for that matter are his cup of tea. Getting pretty riled up at the Empire (more than he already was) after being captured with Ulfric at Helgen, he joined Ulfric's rebellion almost immediately simply because he'd have a chance to kill Imperials and not much else. Knowing a con artist when he saw one, he didn't believe in Ulfric as far as he could throw him, but his money was good. After finishing Ulfric's war and murdering the Emperor, knowing he'd like the world to continue, he then decided to deal with the dragon problem. The added benefit of acquiring and refining the power of his Thu'um was just an added benefit. He dislikes magic, and has spent a hideous amount of time honing his sneakiness and marksmanship so that they'll do most of the talking when dealing with prey. He's been extremely succesful in that regard, but the power to pull dragons down from the sky, shout enemies to their doom hundreds of feet below or simply summoning a thunderstorm to drench and fry lesser folk with lightning always brings a grin to his dark twisted lips. Life is good for Thanos, but he hears whispers of this vampire lord and there is a certain charm to acquiring that kind of immortality. He will consider seeking him out next.
     
  2. Master_Keralys

    Master_Keralys VIP star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 8, 2003
    Can you kill Ulfric once you've completed the war plot? (My understanding is no: he is unmarked as Essential if and only if you do the battle of Helgen.) I've opted to join the Imperials so Saryth the Dunmer can kill the immediate threat to Dark Elves in Skyrim – Ulfric – and then still wreak havoc on the Empire through his machinations against their leadership via the Dark Brotherhood.

    I wish they'd make him killable once, say, Season Unending and the Civil War are both done. I'd love to just be able to assassinate anyone, wreaking havoc in the realm. Goodbye, Tullius and Elisif, Ulfric and your entire miserable court, and so forth.
     
  3. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    I saw an Imperial Courier using Blackreach as a shortcut last night. I almost shot him before I realized that silhouette coming out of the darkness wasn't a Falmer like I initially thought. I followed him to the Alftand lift to the surface where he waited patiently for me to open the gates for him and then he was on his merry way. I had no idea that NPCs went down there as a travel route.
     
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  4. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    Let alone survive all the way to that lift, considering most ways to Blackreach involve stepping into Falmer and Dwemer-droid infested ruins no ordinary NPCs should survive. Still awesome though.
     
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  5. Master_Keralys

    Master_Keralys VIP star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 8, 2003
    I'm curious: if he waited patiently for you to open the gates for him, would he have gotten stuck without you there?

    I love the little touches in this game. For a (slightly crazy fellow) Blackreach might be more passable than the bandit-infested routes up top. Heh.

    I'm amazed how huge that area down there is. Mind-blowing that there's essentially another entire hold down there – not to mention the three connected Dwarven cities. My jaw dropped when I got down there the first time.

    Snuck down into the Thieves' Guild last night and started that whole plot. I don't know how it'll play out, but I already think it looks much more interesting than the College at Winterhold was, both in terms of meta-plot hook and in terms of the kinds of missions (and the variety of missions!) I'll be undertaking.
     
  6. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999

    Blackreach IS huge. Extremely awesome, beautiful in its gloominess and very dangerous. You can stumble into a helluva lot of enemies, ranging from all types of Dwemer-droids, Falmers with human slaves, Spiders, Trolls, one wandering giant and, if you unleash a Shout at the "sun", a named Dragon. If you undertake the Crimson Nirnrooot sidequest, you'll be spending a LOT of time going up, down and under that level down there collecting them all.

    As for the Thieves' Guild quest, again, it's...ok. Considerably better than the Winterhold quest but nowhere near as outstanding as the Dark Brotherhood's. It's definitely enjoyable is you are a thief at heart and like all the sneaking around. However, it's ultimate payoff is somewhat annoying, since you'll have to spend a lot of time doing a crapload of thieving across all of Skyrim before reaching the proper end of that questline.
     
  7. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    Wait...what's wrong with the Thieve's Guild questline? I think I like it BETTER than the DB. If by "ultimate payoff" you mean doing the 100+ radiant quests required to get every single piece of trophy loot then yes I agree with you but there are loads of good rewards along the way. Between Chillrend and the Nightingale equipment alone the questline is worth it. Plus, it gives you vendors who carry more than 1000 gold so they can actually afford to buy some of the high level loot.
     
  8. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    No way I'd do the 100+ radiant quests. But you have to do the nearly 100 little quests/thefts/jobs in order to get the Thieves Guild back to its glory and get the Guildmaster title/armor. I settle with just getting Chillrend and the Nightingale gear, thank you. But, since my new guy is rotten to the core, I suppose he'd have no qualms about being the Vampire Lord Listener of the DB who moonlights as Thieves Guildmaster. It annoys me I can't kill Maven Black-Briar, though. How dare she be so damn arrogant when speaking to the godsdamn Listener or the Dark Brotherhood?
     
  9. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    It only takes 20 jobs if you do it right. 5 each in Whiterun, Windhelm, Solitude, and Markarth. Plus the one special quest in each city. What I do is quicksave right before I pick up quests from Delvin or Vex. If they give me a job in Riften or a city I've completedI quickload and try again. They give new ones every time. There's also a mod on PC that lets you chose which city to take a job in. I stopped using it though when it broke with a new patch. That was before Dawngaurd though so it could be fixed by now.
     
  10. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    Dawnguard. Well, what can I say. I definitely like what if offered but I definitely could do considerably less with the constant crashes/freezes. Extremely annoying. Thankfully none occured prior to a quicksave (I've set my settings so that the game autosaves everytime I go to the character menu, but then I think this might be a cause of the problem). Playing as a vampire lord is extremely satisfying given all the cool powers at your disposal. Of course, the only downside (whether in monster form or not) is being so diminished during daytime. Par for the course of course but at least you don't spontaneously combust, you're just extremely weaker without anything regenerating unless heading undergound or indoors.

    Speaking of vampire shenanigans, I had a curious and very cool NPC encounter moment last night. I was playing as a vampire lord, racking up kills for the vamp perks cheevo, making my way north from Riften towards Windhelm. As I passed the gassy bog and killed a dragon (you don't absorb the soul if you're playing as a vamp), some mamoths and giants, a little girl come running down the road. I hit her with the drain life and nothing happens. Curious as to what is a little girl doing there in the middle of nowhere and in the wee hours, I approach her. It's Babette, from the Dark Brotherhood! Even though I'm in my monster form she obviously addresses me as Listener. We chat up a bit and she's pretty much doing what I am, grabbing a bite (or two), but it's nearly dawn and she has to make her way back to the Sanctuary, for obvious reasons. She was pretty damn far from Dawnstar, so I hope she made it.

    Another curious yet annoying bit: I went and lost Shadowmere. It was during the Dawnstar quest. As I made my way to the Moth sancturary near Falkreath, I decided to mount the ghost horse I acquired in the Soul Cairn. It seems that as far as the game is concerned, I replaced one mount with another and it seems Shadowmere is no more. Though I've looked for him where I last left him and in the old and new Sanctuaries, he's MIA. I've read conflicting stories saying that he can spawn back in the world several game days later and others that state that once you mount a new horse and leave him behind, he's gone. Anyone know which account is true?
     
  11. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    Playing as a werewolf is loads more fun with the Dawnguard skill tree. The extra damage makes them a viable playstyle in the upper levels now. I picked up the werewolf achievement last night and it was pretty simple but long. I wish they would let you fast travel as a wolf. That and ending Beast Mode earlier and not having to wait for several hours. One time I had fed on so many people that it took me nearly 12 hours of waiting before it finally wore off.
     
  12. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    Good to know. I'll try that with my second character since she already has Hircine's Ring and is higher levelled. Becoming a mutt was usually suicide when going up against, well, nearly anyone. Whether at higher or lower levels and even with the ring, the werewolf form seemed pretty damned useless.
     
  13. Darth-Vassago

    Darth-Vassago Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 28, 2004
    I haven't touched either DLC packs for this game (one is forthcoming?). I loved it, played it tons and tons. DLC worth getting or is it just a shallow addition?
     
  14. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    Dawnguard doesn't disappoint. It offers meaty new sidequests and definitely make it more fun to play as either a vamp or a werewolf. It features a few new weapons such as the crossbow, the ability to smith arrows and dragonbone weapons, a ghostly mount and new alchemical ingredients, amongst other things. As for Hearthfire, I haven't tried it yet but it seems to offer console players like me the ability to create custom homes and extended families.
     
  15. Darth-Vassago

    Darth-Vassago Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 28, 2004
    I like the sound of Dawnguard. I enjoyed playing as a Werewolf in the game, as it was so improvements are welcome. Building a house sounds cool, but how much can I do with it? Seems a little "The Sims"-ish to me. :p
     
  16. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    Another new change brought by Dawnguard: if you manage to cure yourself from vampirism or lycanthropy, you can always be embraced again by Serana or Aela (from the Companions), respectively. However, as I played as a werewolf and gained perks, I couldn't access any of the additional totem howls/powers. I'm playing the Xbox version so I don't know if it's glitched or if I'm doing anything wrong.
     
  17. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    To use these abilities you must first become Harbinger of the Companions and then do some quests for Aela to retrieve some totems to place in the Underforge. Once the totems are retrieved you can pray at them like you would a shrine to access different powers in Beast Form.
     
  18. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    Yeah, I read up on that a while ago. :oops: I honestly hadn't come accross that before in previous playthroughs because, well, I ditched the Companions after I was done with their main quest. Now I'll probably let her bite me or whatever but still cure Farkas and Vilkas.

    Funny thing: I cured myself of vampirism by taking the wolfblood in the Companion quest. So last night I went to Castle Volkihar to have Serana embrace me again. She bites me, I gain Vampire Lord and decide to hulk out into Vampire Lord form in the middle of the hall. Then EVERYONE starts attacking me. WTF? I'm a vampire again, why the hell are these guys freaking out? Since nearly everyone there is essential, I can't kill them and if I escape the keep, they still pursure me outside the gates. You have no hope of winning and it's funny and ridiculous at the same time.
     
  19. zacparis

    zacparis VIP star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 1, 2003
    Check out my character's Wuuthrad video :D



    Completed Dawnguard, just built my first house (Lakeview Manor) and just adopted a girl. Oh yeah, and just discovered Bard's Leap Summit. I wasn't expecting that. [face_laugh]
     
  20. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    To be honest, it never occured to me on my first playthorugh that I could recover Wuuthrad after putting it on the statue. But none of my characters have ever been two-handed weapon guys, so I decided to hand Wuuthrad to Vilkas or his brother. Same thing with Ysgramor's shield.

    Speaking of the Companions, a very interesting bug has popped up with my second character. Skjor, Aela's BFF who dies during the Companions questline, is suddenly and mysteriously back from the dead. I figured this happened sometime ago when I had that character walking the wilderness and she stumbled unto Aela and a couple of the lesser Companions simply hunting somewhere between Windhelm and Riften. Aela had a creepy looking Skjor half phased through the ground in tow. After playing around with my third chracter and returning to the second, I sent her to Jorvaskr and there he was. When you approach him he addresses you as when he first met you, whereas the others address you as Harbinger. I took a radiant job from him, with the result that now I can't ask any of the Companions as followers. Also, the Purity and Werewolf Totem quests no longer pop up.

    Another character back from the dead is a Louis Letrush. You find him inside the Bee and Barb in Riften and he asks you to get a horse back from the Black Briar mansion. Long story short, both him and the horse died shortly thereafter when attacked by Spriggan possesed beasts near that location. However, he now pops up near the Whiterun stables....with a clone. Both usually stand there all the time, nearly joined at the hip, and they do not speak if you address them. Without a doubt one of the creepiest bugs I've encountered in this game so far.
     
  21. Reynar_Tedros

    Reynar_Tedros Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 3, 2006
    Just got this on the PC. Anybody have suggestions on some essential mods to get?
     
  22. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    So I installed Hearthfire and decided to start building. To say the least, I'm really not impressed with it. Building a house in The Sims is considerably less stressful and arguably more satisfying. I was hoping you could build a custom home (or castle even), but the building options are severely limited and you have to follow the strict layout for the keep available to you. You can't even give your home a custom name, the game gives your preset names for each keep.

    You can buy plots of land to build only from the Jarls of Dawnstar, Falkreath and Morthal. I bought my first plot at The Pale. However, when I went to Morthal, the Jarl doesn't give the option to buy land even though I'm already a Thane. And at Falkreath that pompous jerk that is Jarl doesn't even give you the option to become Thane. So I'm looking at a glitched cheevo or two right there if I'm unable to do it with the other two PCs available to me. In short, not really worth the $5.
     
  23. Darth-Lando

    Darth-Lando Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2002
    My house in Falkreath is coming along nicely. :) The customization (or lack thereof) is about what I expected.
    Although I think I've caused a Skyrim-wide iron shortage as I attempt to build all the furniture in it. How long does it take the mineral nodes in mines to respawn?

    The big one you'll want is the Unofficial Skyrim Patch. It fixes tons of small little glitches that tend to populate Bethesda games.
     
  24. RC-1991

    RC-1991 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 2, 2009
    I'm avoiding Hearthfire, seeing as I already have the mod that Bethesda took it from. Didn't Todd Howard say something about how all of the Skyrim DLC was supposed to be as large as the Fallout 3 DLC?
     
  25. Zer0

    Zer0 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012
    I've thought of HF as jut some little dlc to keep the masses from getting too bored.