The Elder Scrolls: It's the IX Divines, you milk-drinkers

[DigoDragon]

I carried 800 pounds worth the gear, on horseback, from my hidden stash in labrynthian to the house. ;-;

I remember one time accidentally forgetting that my horse had 200 pounds of loot in his bag for like... a few in-game months. I was level 60 when I stumbled upon it. I think I stashed all that back when I was level 9.

[Triaxx]

Last time I emptied a horse I had nearly ten thousand pounds of junk on it. That was when I sorted stuff in to the house on Solstheim.

I've found that mods are weird. The one that I spent a little less than half an hour on, has one hundred and twenty endorsements, the one I spent weeks on has thirty-five. Go figure.

[DodgerH2O]

Speaking of mods, I've finally got nearly a hundred hours in Skyrim, and am just starting to gently mod the game (no DLC). Right now I have a follower tweak because one at a time isn't enough, and one to spend dragon souls for perks because I don't like caps on customization once I've finished the main storyline.

Magic is the thing that I want to alter the most, but also the one where individual mods range from subtle convenience toggles and scaling damage to mods that rework the entire magic system. I've been wary, but magic in Skyrim feels far too limited. Any recommendations?

[Triaxx]

Balanced Magic is my favorite. It modifies the way the progression perks for Destruction work, actually increasing damage as it goes. It also changes the way the duration perk from Alteration, and the Mage Armor perks work, making them much more effective. It's also pretty completely compatible with SkyRe when you eventually try that. I think they both change the mage armor perk though, so you'll have to have one or the other. The one downside is that it does add spell effectiveness penalties for wearing armor, though that's mitigated by the vast improvement to the Mage Armor Perk.

Balanced Magic

[Avilan the Grey]

Without doing a bunch of sidequests to get XP beforehand, I found it almost impossible to just do the main questline. On the way to High Hrothgar there's like three bears and a Frost Troll, maybe even a dragon if you're really unlucky.

But, that Frost Troll.

It's a gate boss. Meaning you should take that as a hint to not proceed with the main quest until you can beat it. It's like the group of enemies on the road to Ostagar (Dragon Age Origins) that works the same way.

[Triaxx]

It seems almost trivial to beat if you've brought Lydia along though. I guess they intended you to want to bring a companion.

[Feytalist]

You have the first word of Fire Breath by that point as well. From experience, that works surprisingly well. Never mind that a well-placed FUS can send it ragdolling off the mountain.

It's a gate boss. Meaning you should take that as a hint to not proceed with the main quest until you can beat it. It's like the group of enemies on the road to Ostagar (Dragon Age Origins) that works the same way.

Thing is, they never warn you about it in-game. No "take care, the mountain is dangerous". Nope, the most you get is "some wolves, no worries, now here take these supplies to the top, kthxbye". By the time you reach it, you're not going to run away all down the mountain, are you.

[NineThePuma]

They never say "oh, there's a troll" but there are two people on the path who are like "be careful, mang"

[Feytalist]

They never say "oh, there's a troll" but there are two people on the path who are like "be careful, mang"

Oh, the pilgrims. That's true. Still, by that time you're halfway up the mountain.



Had an awesome moment last night. I was last wandering around with my horse, when out of nowhere a dragon landed in the road right in front of me. I'd finished the Companion quests but not much else, so my character is still a bit squishy. I went for the dragon anyway, but was having some trouble. When out of the blue, three wandering Companions came literally charging over the hill to my aid. I wanted to put on Ride of the Valkyries. They slaughtered the dragon and then just strolled away, like a boss.

[DigoDragon]

By the time you reach it, you're not going to run away all down the mountain, are you.

I would.

Actually there have been times I get chased down by a troll or giant. I tend to climb up a cliff outside their reach and pelt them with arrows until they die or leave. Assuming I get up there before they snap my neck. :3 Well, there was one giant who "helped" me get up the cliff side. .And over it. And down the other side.

[Winter_Wolf]

Thing is, they never warn you about it in-game. No "take care, the mountain is dangerous". Nope, the most you get is "some wolves, no worries, now here take these supplies to the top, kthxbye". By the time you reach it, you're not going to run away all down the mountain, are you.

That's actually one of the things I enjoy about the game. I've wandered into a lot of "oh, crap, son!"* situations and had to get really creative. Been jumped by frost trolls on many occasions, and a bear snuck up on me and tore out DB's throat. Maybe it wouldn't have gone down like that if I played with sound on, but I don't.

*Scary Movie 2 has been on tv a lot lately, that Wayans brother character kind of sticks with ya, and that's the voice I hear when "it" hits the fan.

[Divayth Fyr]

You have the first word of Fire Breath by that point as well.

You can have it, but aren't guaranteed to.

[Triaxx]

Technically you can have two words if you're interested.

[Feytalist]

You can have it, but aren't guaranteed to.

Huh. I thought I remembered it being on the main quest line earlier. I stand corrected.

That's actually one of the things I enjoy about the game. I've wandered into a lot of "oh, crap, son!"* situations and had to get really creative. Been jumped by frost trolls on many occasions, and a bear snuck up on me and tore out DB's throat.

Fair enough, but that's just random encounters in the wild. That's fine. I was talking about gate bosses that are static challenges. Usually you get some kind of warning about them.

(By the way, in my book, "fairly creative" means running away hard )

[Triaxx]

Not quite as awesome as sprinting past it and leading it to High Hrothgar. Watching the Greybeards shout it to death is pretty funny.

[Cobalt]

Huh. I thought I remembered it being on the main quest line earlier. I stand corrected.

I actually remember some LPers complaining about how weak the fire breath shout was considering they only got the first word from Paarthurnax. I certainly never found the other words before going up the mountain. I think it just depends on how exploration-hungry somebody is. Although, when Paarthurnax is talking to you as he gives you the word, first or not, I think I remember what he says basically making it sound as if it was the first of the three you were getting, even if it was your second or third.

[Triaxx]

I ended up with the first word because I got sidetracked by the Companions before going beyond the first quest. My first character first character fell head over heels for Lydia, and he stopped on his way out of town to see if the Companions had any more errands for him, and they made him trade his hot housecarl for a walking piece of shag carpeting. Needless to say, Farkas was on the receiving end of a lot of 'accidental' hits. :P

I got lost the second time it happened. Alternate start dropped me at Pinewatch and I got turned around.

[Feytalist]

I ended up with the first word because I got sidetracked by the Companions before going beyond the first quest.

That's how I always do it too. The quest to get it is like the third companion quest, and it's like right there in Whiterun.

Then again, I have a habit of doing pretty much everything I can before taking on the main quest.

[Bloody Peasant!]

Just started getting into Skyrim again after abut a two-year break from playing it regularly (got into other stuff, especially Morrowind). Decided to try out a bunch of mods this time to rack up the replay value. I downloaded deadly dragons, CWO, DCO, Frostfall, Realistic Needs and Skyre, and holy crapola does that change the dynamics of the game. The entry quest for the Stormcloaks where you have to kill the ice wraith on serpentstone island went from being an annoying little side quest to being an epic battle against the elements for survival- I just got this incredible feeling when I got back to Windhelm dying of frostbite that I had really gone through a rite of passage, like I was really worthy to be a stormcloak. Frostfall alone just seems to make the world of Skyrim a thousand times more immersive and believable.

The Dragon mods are fun too, and they certainly make the dragon fights feel a hell of a lot more exciting, but I do wish there were some setting to prevent the dragons from killing swathes of NPCs (yes, I know I could use the console, but that's a lot of work and I try to avoid the console whenever possible). I'm playing an orc character and I had just settled into one of the stronghold working with the other orcs there when a dragon appeared and killed every single one of them before I managed to put it down. I could have handled one or two casualties but it just felt a little ridiculous.

[DigoDragon]

The Dragon mods are fun too, and they certainly make the dragon fights feel a hell of a lot more exciting, but I do wish there were some setting to prevent the dragons from killing swathes of NPCs

There are mods that try to force NPCs to run indoors during a dragon attack. Usually works for me and definitely recommended if you're going to have Deadly Dragons. The way dragons should be I think.

[Bloody Peasant!]

There are mods that try to force NPCs to run indoors during a dragon attack. Usually works for me and definitely recommended if you're going to have Deadly Dragons. The way dragons should be I think.

Thanks! That looks like it'll just about do the trick.

[Cobalt]

Careful with the mods that make NPCs go indoors, though; I have had problems with that and its vampire-attack equivalent sending NPCs into buildings long after an attack is over and them not coming back out. Ever. Comments I've seen elsewhere showed that some others have similar issues, but it's not universal, so you might be fine for it.

[sana]

Just started getting into Skyrim again after abut a two-year break from playing it regularly (got into other stuff, especially Morrowind). Decided to try out a bunch of mods this time to rack up the replay value. I downloaded deadly dragons, CWO, DCO, Frostfall, Realistic Needs and Skyre, and holy crapola does that change the dynamics of the game. The entry quest for the Stormcloaks where you have to kill the ice wraith on serpentstone island went from being an annoying little side quest to being an epic battle against the elements for survival- I just got this incredible feeling when I got back to Windhelm dying of frostbite that I had really gone through a rite of passage, like I was really worthy to be a stormcloak. Frostfall alone just seems to make the world of Skyrim a thousand times more immersive and believable.

The Dragon mods are fun too, and they certainly make the dragon fights feel a hell of a lot more exciting, but I do wish there were some setting to prevent the dragons from killing swathes of NPCs (yes, I know I could use the console, but that's a lot of work and I try to avoid the console whenever possible). I'm playing an orc character and I had just settled into one of the stronghold working with the other orcs there when a dragon appeared and killed every single one of them before I managed to put it down. I could have handled one or two casualties but it just felt a little ridiculous.

I would suggest adding: Bellyaches New Dragon Species and Dovahkriid - The Dragon Lords, both of whom work perfectly with Deadly dragons and DCO. Just be sure to use the option in Deadly dragons MCM to make important NPC's essential. You'll see dead guards and maybe a dead NPC or two but most NPC's will not die. You need to disable the setting for two quests however. One of the Dark brotherhood kills and the white phial.

Oh and don't wonder if you can't defeat Alduin under lvl 60 DCO really upped him to the most epic fight ever. Took "only" 40 minutes with dragonbone armor and weapons >80% resistance to everything.

If you can kill every dragon from Dovakriid, you might have a chance at killing Alduin...

[Triaxx]

Am I alone in not liking Dragon Combat Overhaul? Even with a dedicated archer and proper backup, dragons seem to take forever to actually kill. Never mind actually surviving their attacks. It's a really cool mod, but it just doesn't strike me as enjoyable.

[DigoDragon]

Careful with the mods that make NPCs go indoors, though; I have had problems with that and its vampire-attack equivalent sending NPCs into buildings long after an attack is over and them not coming back out. Ever. Comments I've seen elsewhere showed that some others have similar issues, but it's not universal, so you might be fine for it.

There is usually a risk with script-containing mods, yes. I had a rare occasion of an NPC stuck indoors, but I got him unstuck by resetting him. In the long run it's still better than having to resurrect half the town after an attack. :3

[Divayth Fyr]

Ironically using the mod that makes people flee indoors when vampires attacked made me suffer my biggest loss of NPCs ever - the vampires decided to park in front of Riften's inn and every NPC tried to get inside

[Bloody Peasant!]

Ironically using the mod that makes people flee indoors when vampires attacked made me suffer my biggest loss of NPCs ever - the vampires decided to park in front of Riften's inn and every NPC tried to get inside

You're telling me a millenia-old wizard lord and his seven clone-daughter-concubines couldn't save a town from a few vampires? You've lost your edge my friend.

[Divayth Fyr]

You're telling me a millenia-old wizard lord and his seven clone-daughter-concubines couldn't save a town from a few vampires? You've lost your edge my friend.

None of those people had Corprus or any real knowledge on the Dwemer nor have they been an attractive Dark Elven female. Why exactly would I care? If I need someone, I can make him.

Also, this clearly shows the lack of any common sense or reason among the Nords - why would you try to run past a pack of vampires instead of going in the other way? If they had the decency to cast a Flame Cloak spell I could undestand that - but the way they did it defies logic. Sheogorath could have been involved I guess, but schemes of the Princes of Oblivion never really interested me.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Also, this clearly shows the lack of any common sense or reason among the Nords - why would you try to run past a pack of vampires instead of going in the other way? If they had the decency to cast a Flame Cloak spell I could undestand that - but the way they did it defies logic. Sheogorath could have been involved I guess, but schemes of the Princes of Oblivion never really interested me.

Sounds to me like Keerava really should water down the mead.

[Artanis]

Sounds to me like Keerava really should water down the mead.

Bah, mead so good that an entire town died trying to save it from the depredations of foul blood-drinkers deserves to be remembered in legend and song, not ruined by sissifying it with melted snow