Skyrim V: Skyrim

[Tergon]

Gotta say, I'm finding Hearthfire a lot of fun! More than I expected I would, at any rate. I figured it'd be a nifty "build a better house" addon. But then, y'know, I adopted a couple kids, I got married, I got a horse and a dog and a Steward, and suddenly I've got a pretty awesome base of operations where I store two powerful followers, a horse that doesn't just up and bloody vanish on me, an animal companion, and a constant source of supplies. Plus my house just looks cool.

I do wish there was a little more modification available. Picking different styles of plates and goblets, or different colour schemes. And Bethesda has their wierd fascination with putting sacks and barrels everywhere, which I just don't understand. This is my house, I have a whole goddamn cellar and I have a kitchen and I see no point in this pile of storage crap in the corner of the dining room, it just looks stupid sitting there. Plus, it's irritating that I can't have, say, a Greenhouse AND room for the kids, or an armoury AND a library. Yeah, I know I can just buy two houses, but the whole point of having one big mansion is that I can do all that stuff in one place. The cellaris really pretty pointless once you have the full smithing setup in at least one other room as well as outside the house. The Alchemy and Enchanting towers are equally unnecessary since you already get the two crafting tables in the main hall, so why do you need to double up? The storage space in the North Wing is even more pointless, considering the house must have about forty containers by the time you're done. You do not need another entire wing dedicated to storing crap in.
I'd also have liked to be able to keep more than one companion at your house if you don't have a familiy. I can set the place up to have four single beds and two double beds, surely I could get a little band of followers to crash at my house. Even if I can only have one follower at a time, it'd be awesome to come home to my Mead Hall and have a half-dozen hearty warriors there to greet me. That sort of roleplaying is the whole point of Hearthfire after all, so it sort of seems odd that I can't do it.

That all said, though, I'm glad I have this addon. It's definitely a good addition to Skyrim, even if I feel it misses a few opportunities to be a GREAT addition.

[DigoDragon]

Just wondering if people have heard of this: Super Skyrim Brothers.

I did, and it's like the best train wreck I have ever couldn't look away from.

Gotta say, I'm finding Hearthfire a lot of fun! More than I expected I would, at any rate.

I haven't played it myself, but based on the videos I've seen it certainly makes my real life rented house look pretty boring by comparison.

[super dark33]

So Esbern didnt have voice in my game.
It was fine untill i found out that his voice actor is a very famous swedish one.
then i craged.

[Calemyr]

Just wondering if people have heard of this: Super Skyrim Brothers.

This reminds me of a request I once made for an armor mod resembling Mario's outfit. I had an idea for a let's play that really amused me:

Too long have the vampires of Skyrim lingered, skulking in the shadows and hiding in deep caverns. But their time of exile is ending soon. Even now, in the dark corners of the world, they plot to bring down their most steadfast enemy. Soon the sun will set on the world of man, and it will never again rise to disturb the night of the vampire. Let the blood of man run cold as the eternal hunt begins. But the sun has not fallen beyond the horizon, yet, and one man still stands in their way.

He is the Emperor's secret weapon. In Cyrodil he is known as the Destroyer of Obstacles. The Clearer of the Way. The Plumber. With a hammer in one hand and a fireball in the other, he has come to Skyrim. Now the predator will become the prey and the agents of fear will cower in terror before their executioner and they will ask "Who are you?"

And it will whisper back. "It's-a me."

Spoiler

Show

Bethesda Softworks
Presents:
Super
Mario:
Vampire Hunter

"I'm-a sorry, Harkon, but your princess is in this castle. And we're-a gonna kick your ass!"

[Yora]

I've started a new game of skyrim, having it made to only level 14 or so last time.
Now I am wondering if I should give any attention to gathering plants and making stuff. I'm not a fan of crafting and usually justuse the stuff I find or buy. But is there something that is really worth investing time in anyway?

[NineThePuma]

Crafting gives you the benefit of CUSTOMIZABLE gear, frequently as good or better than the gear you get from drops. If you focus primarily on smithing, at least, you can get Dwarven gear -levels- early.

Alchemy I'm less fluent in, largely because I don't use poisons much.


It's actually on my to-do list to try and play as a merchant.

[Tergon]

Crafting gives you the benefit of CUSTOMIZABLE gear, frequently as good or better than the gear you get from drops. If you focus primarily on smithing, at least, you can get Dwarven gear -levels- early.

Alchemy I'm less fluent in, largely because I don't use poisons much.


It's actually on my to-do list to try and play as a merchant.

Poisons and potions come in VERY handy at higher difficulty levels. I used to auto-sell all those "Draught of the Knight" or whatever potions I'd find, but the ones you can craft yourself can be very powerful and VERY useful. A few well-brewed poisons can rip through an enemy who's several levels above you, and the option to chug a half-dozen healing potions whenever you need to can't be underestimated. One of the best boosts, however, is the Snakeblood perk that reduces poison damage; in Falmer caves, riddled with Chaurus and Frostbite Spiders and Falmer with poisoned weapons, this will save your life a hundred times over.

As for making a merchant, I'm doing that now, actually. Made him an Imperial, which is a race I've never played before, and as handsome as possible, and he's just gonna get rich buying and selling and trading, with hired mercenaries and animal companions to protect him. So far it's working well!

[BladeofObliviom]

This reminds me of a request I once made for an armor mod resembling Mario's outfit. I had an idea for a let's play that really amused me:

Too long have the vampires of Skyrim lingered, skulking in the shadows and hiding in deep caverns. But their time of exile is ending soon. Even now, in the dark corners of the world, they plot to bring down their most steadfast enemy. Soon the sun will set on the world of man, and it will never again rise to disturb the night of the vampire. Let the blood of man run cold as the eternal hunt begins. But the sun has not fallen beyond the horizon, yet, and one man still stands in their way.

He is the Emperor's secret weapon. In Cyrodil he is known as the Destroyer of Obstacles. The Clearer of the Way. The Plumber. With a hammer in one hand and a fireball in the other, he has come to Skyrim. Now the predator will become the prey and the agents of fear will cower in terror before their executioner and they will ask "Who are you?"

And it will whisper back. "It's-a me."

Spoiler

Show

Bethesda Softworks
Presents:
Super
Mario:
Vampire Hunter

"I'm-a sorry, Harkon, but your princess is in this castle. And we're-a gonna kick your ass!"

I approve. Greatly.

[Yora]

Bwahaaa... I'm making may way up the steps again at level 7, and again I am stuck at that stupid troll. He kills Lydia in three hits and my pansy stamina drain bow doesn't do much against him. Kiten doesn't work, because he regenerates so much faster.
Last time I played, I somehow got it to leave me alone and then Lydia reappeared from nowhere and I just went with it.
Usually ging around would be my usual plan of action, but I can't find a way for myself, so there is no way to get Lydia over the rocks.

[Reynard]

I suggest using Lydia's tasty tasty flesh as bait, and running the hell up the steps.

Alternatively, fire damage works wonders.

[Morty]

I've started a new game of skyrim, having it made to only level 14 or so last time.
Now I am wondering if I should give any attention to gathering plants and making stuff. I'm not a fan of crafting and usually justuse the stuff I find or buy. But is there something that is really worth investing time in anyway?

Crafting skills can be very useful, but you need to be prepared to spend time, effort and money training then. They level up slowly on their own. Alchemy is especially bad about this - potions and poisons are very handy for reasons already mentioned, but it's the slowest crafting skill to advance.

[Yora]

I did find a way around going a considerable distance down the slope.

I did start with a bit of alchemy, that one seems easy enough. I just grab all plants and animal parts I come upon and throw them into the beakers. Trying to figure out the logic by which the developers assigned traits to the ingredients is quite fun.

[God Imperror]

I've started a new game of skyrim, having it made to only level 14 or so last time.
Now I am wondering if I should give any attention to gathering plants and making stuff. I'm not a fan of crafting and usually justuse the stuff I find or buy. But is there something that is really worth investing time in anyway?

You can make broken (read extremely powerful) weapons (and armors but who cares). My bow can kill everything with one hit (except for some few lucky dragons).

For alchemy the best combination is giant toe + wheat it really raises your skill. Wheat is easy to get, giant toes at low level isn't really easy, but if you find a spot where a giant can't get you can fire arrow at it until it dies.

Enchantment is really easy once you get a weapon that casts soul trap, you can enchant the weapon yourself, giving it only a sec of effect, that will give you a lot of charges.

Smiting is useful, you can improve your weapons/armors to make them really powerful. The easiest way to level it is crafting iron daggers / leather bracers. The most profitable way is to transmute iron ores into gold ores (using the transmutation spell, if you are low in mana enchant your armor so it reduces the mana cost of your transmutation spells to 0) and then craft some jewelry.

The most broken combination though, is enchantment + alchemy, as you can enchant armor to grant bonus to alchemy and craft potions to increase your enchantment rating. To increase the effect/duration of your potions the time stop shout is great.

[Divayth Fyr]

For alchemy the best combination is giant toe + wheat it really raises your skill. Wheat is easy to get, giant toes at low level isn't really easy, but if you find a spot where a giant can't get you can fire arrow at it until it dies.

If you have Hearthfire, Salmon roe + something that gives water breathing is even better. And getting the ingredients is easier for a low-level character ;)

[Ulm11]

Actually, with smithing what matters more is how much the individual item is worth, so forging the most expensive armour you can will increase smithing the most.

[NineThePuma]

Dwarven Bows are actually really good for upping smithing.


Also, if you plan to level enchanting, buy every single empty petty soul gem you see at low levels. Once you hit about level 8 or so, merchants stop carrying as many petty soul gems.

[Tergon]

Well, all three crafting skills only have three relevant questions.
- How do you maximize experience?
- How cheap or easy to find are ingredients?
- How much profit will the skill make you?

And they cover the bases pretty well with the three different skills. Alchemy will make you a fortune, and ingredients are infinite and readily available, but levels at a snail's pace. Enchanting's ingredients are relatively difficult to get hold of - you need unenchanted gear, charged soul gems, and a suitable enchantment, which take time to collect - but levels amazingly fast. And Smithing's ingredients can be purchased anywhere (though they can be expensive) and levels moderately fast for moderate profit. You just have to find the path that makes things easiest for you.

For Smithing, if you add it all up, Dwarven Gear is incredibly easy to find ingredients for, sells for a hefty profit, and gives great experience. Plus it's just pretty good gear, especially at lower level. It'd be by far the superior choice if it didn't cost you a skill point (which is wasted if you don't want Heavy Smithing). I personally think it's worth the sacrifice, but if you don't, then probably the easiest and cheapest method is to smith Iron until you can make Advanced Armours. Corundum is absolutely everywhere in the game and plate armour will give you very hefty experience points.

If you have Dawnguard, the best thing to do is charge up the Aetherial Crown with the Lover Stone's enchantment. Use the three stones near Riverwood to give yourself the proper buff, then don the crown, and the crafting skill in question goes up a huge amount. I don't know if this stacks with Well Rested or Lover's Repose, but if it does, that's definitely the path you want to take. Then anything will level up nice and fast.

[Yora]

I think the big problem is, that it really doesn't matter. Skyrim is not a hard game, you don't need an edge.
I'm level 10 with an imperial bow, and even that already kills a lot of things with one hit. Getting my Bow Backstab perk and increasing Overdraw and I think there won't be much left that ever gets to swing at me.

You can craft super special awesome equipment and fill yourself up with potions. But you can also not do that and I doesn't matter. The game plays well without them just as it does with them. And there's also no need to grind your way up to maximize your skills for the same reason.
I'm doing some alchemy now, mostly for the entertainment of discovering new properties by trial and error.

Though somehow I think this is actually a strength of the game. This game is actually what you want it to be. I want it to be Thief or Metal Gear Solid in the wilderness, and when I play my character like that, it really works great.
And I guess playing Trog Smash! or the super special awesome hellfire mage works just as well.

[NineThePuma]

Difficulty has a lot to do with that.

[Triaxx]

The simple trick to the troll is to run past it until you reach High Hrothgar. The Greybeards will then ROFLSTOMP it. Which is hilarious.

[Maugan Ra]

The simple trick to the troll is to run past it until you reach High Hrothgar. The Greybeards will then ROFLSTOMP it. Which is hilarious.

I, personally, have formed a habit of never heading towards High Hrothgar until I'm something like level 25+. That troll has thus never really posed much of a problem for me. No, the real enemy in the game, the things which scare me more than any other wilderness creature, are the bears.

Seriously, those things are terrifying.

[Tergon]

Well, ignoring that it's incredibly easy to simply run up the mountain and come out past where the you meet the troll, there are plenty of ways to take care of it. Running to the Greybeards is an easy one; luring it into the path of one of the many bears or Ice Wraiths that hang about the 7000 steps is another. It's easy enough to sneak past, or let it follow to the hunter paying her respects at one of the ten shrines. Not to mention that the troll's actually saved my life more than once; I don't know if I'm just amazingly unlucky, but about 1/3rd of the time, right before you turn the corner and catch sight of the troll, a Dragon tends to swoop past overhead and attack me. The troll is a simply wonderful distraction.

For my money, though, the most entertaining way to deal with the troll is to run up the side of the mountain to High Hrothgar and avoid it until you've learned all three words of Unrelenting Force, and then go back down the path to find him.
"What's that, Mister Troll? You like jumping off high places to ambush people? Well, why don't you go ambush that town in the distance, just visible from the edge of this high cliff. FUS RO DAH!"

[Triaxx]

If you have Midas Magic, you don't have to wait that long. Dual Cast Force Push has the same effect.

[super dark33]

Ah the troll....

I killed him while riding a stolen stormcloak horse.

The same horse was used to kill the stormcloaks.



I am very disappointed that there is no caverly in the game.
Noone attacks you on horseback!

[NineThePuma]

Okay, so, everyone knows that the trip to High Hrothgar, at low levels, is a pain, not just because High Hrothgar is in bloody ivarstead-ish area, and the closest you can get with the wagon is actually Windhelm.

I just discovered a small short cut that trimmed 3/4 off my usual travel time.

Just south east of the Whiterun Stormcloak Camp, there is a small pass that cuts Valheim towers out and actually lets you out within a minute or two's travel of the troll's den just south of ivarstead. I'm never ever ever going to go the long way again. :D

[Triaxx]

Another shorter way with more bears and fewer trolls is south of the mountain past helgen.

[NineThePuma]

I've tried that route, and it actually takes slightly longer than going past valheim towers. While it definitely "feels" shorter, given the fact that you're not having to climb up a mountain, it actually takes about the same amount of time.

[Castel]

I've found that the Hearthfire mansions and adoption system is great for vampires: it gives me a nice little 5 people blood farm, and a coffin that grants me a small (but neat) magic resistance bonus.

[Yora]

Why actually use the wagon? You can fast travel to any place you've been, so why not just fast travel to the stables?

[super dark33]

I've found that the Hearthfire mansions and adoption system is great for vampires: it gives me a nice little 5 people blood farm, and a coffin that grants me a small (but neat) magic resistance bonus.

Thats just wrong man.