The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick

[Keltest]

Building swords for battle is cool, building walls for battle/defending the innocent isn't?


*takes a breath; Remembers that the Nords are objectively the dumbest playable race*

Looking at whiterun, I don't believe it would be very expensive, labour intensive or technical to repair their walls and build them up. They are very simple walls. I can understand not repairing every fort in skyrim, but Whiterun? that place aught to be a hub.


(also,like, from a technical perspective it's harder to make poorly repaired walls and they'd be slightly more taxing on your computer)



People in skyrim get attacked so often by wandering monsters, it's just incredibly strange so many of them do so little about their defence. I know not much can be done against a dragon, but everything's already screwed pre-dragon season; they were never in the equation. What're they doing with all those saw mills when they're not building anything worthwhile (and don't say it's all firewood, they're nords, the cold is their element)?

I mean, presumably you don't need terribly strong walls to keep out bears, wolves and saber cats. High quality walls are pretty much only necessary to keep out coordinated attacks of intelligent forces.

And fortifying Whiterun certainly isn't going to help anybody traveling between there and, say, Rorikstead.

[factotum]

Maintenance costs. Being old won't stop a catapult from launching stones through the walls; that sort of thing would still need to be repaired.

But that doesn't affect how big the building was to start with, does it?

[Aeson]

Well, for protein on a budget you could get rat meat (1 drake for 1 pound), crab (1 drake for 0.5 pound), a small kwama egg (1 drake for 0.5 pound), hound meat (2 drakes for 1 pound), a large kwama egg (2 drakes for 2 pounds). (On that note, don't ask me how the Empire considers the Kwama egg one of the few exports worthy of note from the province without either prohibitive upcharging or mind boggling volume).

For grains and fruit/vegetables we have Saltrice, which goes for 1 drake for 0.1 pound (which would probably be about 0.2 pounds cooked), ash yams (1 drake for 0.5 pounds), Marshmerrow (1 drake for 0.1 pounds), Wickwheat (1 drake for 0.1 pound, out which bread is presumably made), comberry (2 drakes for 0.1 pounds), Luminous Russula (a mushroom, 1 drake for 0.5 pounds), and Violet Coprinus (another mushroom, 1 drake for 0.2 pounds). There's other stuff too, but that's more or less what you can get on the cheap.

So, all told, you should be able to feel full, and even get a passable range of nutrients, every day for under 10 drakes. Getting a drink to go with it would definitely take a hit out of your budget, unless we assume there's an even cheaper (say, 2 - 5 drakes) beer that goes in all those empty bottles that you find in the game.

A few comments:
Equating the in-game weight unit with any of the real-world pounds strikes me as extremely questionable. The carry limit in Morrowind and Oblivion is five times your strength score, and your strength score is, barring exposure to Fortify/Drain/Damage/Absorb Strength effects, somewhere between 30 and 100, averaging about 40-45 for a first-level character. 200-225 pounds is a lot to lift - let alone carry indefinitely - and yet most low-level Morrowind and Oblivion characters are able to do so almost unhindered. There's also that the weapon weights are ridiculous if the in-game weight unit is the avoirdupois pound; very few historical swords weighed more than about seven pounds, and yet if you take the in-game weight units to be "pounds" there isn't a single sword in Morrowind that weighs less than some of the heaviest historical two-handed swords that were ever made. There are one-handed swords in Morrowind that, if the in-game weight unit is the real-world avoirdupois pound, weigh more than the average five-year-old child.

Luminous Russula and Violet Coprinus both have the Poison and Drain Fatigue effects. While these are the second and third effects and so have no gameplay effect, I'd be a bit leery of considering them to be edible, especially considering that Luminous Russula is described as a "toadstool" mushroom within the game; "toadstool," in common usage, generally indicates a poisonous mushroom.

A single cup of uncooked rice is about 7 ounces (0.4 pounds). If saltrice and real-world rice are to be considered equivalent, then 0.1 pounds of unprepared saltrice is practically nothing - especially if, as the graphic suggests, the rice grains haven't been separated from the grassy part of the plant.

10 drakes/septims for a day is still quite a bit more than 1 drake/septim for a meal, unless you're assuming something above five meals a day.

Building swords for battle is cool, building walls for battle/defending the innocent isn't?

So thought Sparta, notionally because it'd give an invading army, such as the Persians, a ready-made fortified base.

Of course, Sparta may have had ulterior motives for not wanting their neighbors to build walls - especially a neighboring power, such as Athens, with which they were in competition.

Re: Nerevar vs. Dragonborn, are we forgetting that the Nerevarine is a Blade and thus sworn to protect the Dragonborn? Because I think we are.

Is the Nerevarine sworn to protect any random dragonborn, or even the Dragonborn Emperor, though? For all we know, Caius Cosades telling the Nerevarine that he (Caius) has been recalled to Cyrodiil could be the last thing that the Nerevarine ever heard from a superior in the Blades, and the Nerevarine might know nothing more of the Blades than can be learned within the game - namely, that the Blades are essentially a cross between a domestic intelligence service and something like the Order of the British Empire, with publicly-acknowledged Blades often being prominent members of society like ambassadors or notable warriors in the courts of local nobility while unacknowledged Blades are the Emperor's spies within the Empire. You certainly wouldn't know from playing Morrowind that the Blades are sworn to protect the dragonborn - that was introduced in Skyrim - or that the Emperor's personal bodyguard is made up of members of the Blades - introduced in Oblivion.

Beyond that, if you believe what the game tells you about the Nerevarine's background, the Nerevarine is essentially a transported convict who was essentially chosen at random because he or she had the appearance of fulfilling some of the conditions of a vague prophecy; there is no clear reason why he or she should, upon being asked to swear to protect the Dragonborn Emperor - or, more generally, any random dragonborn - to the best of his or her ability and possibly with his or her life, have responded with something along the lines of "sir, yes, sir" rather than "sod off" - and if the Nerevarine was asked to swear such an oath under the implicit or explicit threat of going back to prison instead of being released on Vvardenfell, it'd be an oath given under duress, which means that its sincerity, and the extent to which the Nerevarine could be expected to feel bound by it once the threat is removed, may be considered suspect.

If you played (and remember) Daggerfall, it had this to say about the Blades in the Stronghold of the Blades quest:

If you are unaware, the Blades were once the honor guard for Tiber Septim. Today they are loyal to the empire and Tiber's code, but not always to the current emperor.

while Arena described the Blades thusly:

A secret society comprised of the best warriors of the Empire. The Blades approach whomever they wish for membership. None know exactly what their ultimate goals are, for they have been seen on both sides of the law, sometimes helping those in need, other times attacking caravans or wealthy merchants. All that is known is that they are deadly in combat, trained by special swordmasters to a point where their thought and reaction are one.

Not really any solid support that I can see for "the Blades are sworn to protect the Dragonborn" in the timeframe when the Nerevarine could have become involved with the Blades.

I mean, at that point, what are you even going to spend 30 grand on anyway? The local beggars? (oh god please no, not after what happened with the last one).

Oh, Gaenor's not ... wait, on second thought, let's just forget about Gaenor...

In seriousness, since Morrowind we have had:

A Daedric invasion, which you'll recall also hit Skyrim
A major war
We're in the middle of a civil war as the game starts
And now there's an invasion of dragons on top of everything else



Lots of things to drain coffers and cause property damage.

- The Daedric invasion was about 200 years ago.
- Assuming you refer to the Great War, that supposedly ended about 25 years before the start of the game and was fought, for the most part, south of the mountains forming Skyrim's southern border.
- Neither the Civil War nor the dragon invasion, both of which start at around the time that the game starts considering that the guy who let Ulfric escape from Solitude is only being executed when you turn up and Alduin's first known appearance is at Helgen and neither of which seem to amount to much unless you hit the quests that trigger things to happen, can reasonably be considered responsible for the general state of disrepair.

[Blackhawk748]

Hey everyone, this is a more technical question but it is Skyrim specific. I just had a HDD failure recently (my Skyrim data is safe thank god) but I had to reinstall NMM and get all my stuff rescanned, now my mods arent working. I reset the Archive Invalidation and that did nothing. Interestingly, Ordinator seems to be working and now Serana has a weirdly colored face, though that may be bacause the Official Skyrim Patch is no longer working.

Do i need to redownload all of my mods or something?

[Triaxx]

Did you uninstall and reinstall them?

[Blackhawk748]

Did you uninstall and reinstall them?

Im doing so now. Interestingly some of them are outdated, but Im fairly certain I played it a few weeks ago and the updates happened in early December, and I know I played it before that.

Edit: That seems to have solved whatever issue was going on.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

How is this almost on page 2?

...I mean, I still haven't heard anything about the Blades game. Has anyone else? I suspect they're having some problems with it or we'd have at least gotten some hype by now. >_>

[Triaxx]

I think they've forgotten they announced it.

[PopeLinus1]

I think they've forgotten they announced it.

Is anyone looking forward to it?

[The Jack]

What blades game?

I have no faith in bethesda, so now i only listen out for the big things. Blades game wasn't one of em.

Also we've been blades for 4/5 mainline tes games and they've never managed to be interesting.

[The_Jackal]

What blades game?

I have no faith in bethesda, so now i only listen out for the big things. Blades game wasn't one of em.

Also we've been blades for 4/5 mainline tes games and they've never managed to be interesting.

https://elderscrolls.bethesda.net/en/blades. Appears to be a aobile-based ARPG, it's basically Bethsoft's take on Diablo Immortal, ie: more garbage for the plebs.

[unseenmage]

So, should I buy Skyrim for PS4 for the mods or is all my PS3 Skyrim-ing all the Skyrim I'll need?

[Triaxx]

Assuming you can't get it on PC? PS4 is okay, but Sony's mod policy is... Draconian.

[unseenmage]

If it helps I have rather greatly enjoyed the Fallout 4 mods for PS4.

Some.mods being better than none after all.

[Mando Knight]

The main thing about Skyrim Special Edition for the PS4 vs the Legendary Edition on the PS3 is that the Special Edition is a newer, more stable iteration of the engine and runs on significantly better hardware. It's not going to be a radically new game, even with mod support, but it'll be a better-running and (slightly) better-looking game.

I don't think I'd pay list price for it on PS4 (and I got the Special Edition on PC for free due to owning the Legendary Edition), but if you already own the newer hardware and are looking for a bit of a quality bump, I could see the argument for buying it on sale.

[halfeye]

One of the books in Skyrim says that there is an enchantment that can be found that fortifies enchanting. I don't think I've ever found this. Is it in a particular place, or just very rare, or does it not exist after all?

[factotum]

One of the books in Skyrim says that there is an enchantment that can be found that fortifies enchanting. I don't think I've ever found this. Is it in a particular place, or just very rare, or does it not exist after all?

Fortify Enchantment exists as an effect on potions and potion ingredients in Skyrim. As far as I'm aware, it does not exist as an actual enchantment itself.

[Silverraptor]

One of the books in Skyrim says that there is an enchantment that can be found that fortifies enchanting. I don't think I've ever found this. Is it in a particular place, or just very rare, or does it not exist after all?

Fortify Enchantment exists as an effect on potions and potion ingredients in Skyrim. As far as I'm aware, it does not exist as an actual enchantment itself.

You can however get fortify alchemy enchantment which can be combined like this:

1) You make a bunch of throw-away armor sets
2) Chug a fort. enchant potion
3) Enchant an armor set with fortify alchemy
4) Wear newly enchanted armor set
5) Repeat steps 2-4 as many times as desired in an infinite scaling loop
6) Pick whichever armor set and weapons that look coolest to you because the enhancement to fortify smithing from both enchanting and alchemy used together will put the armor well over the Armor rating cap and give your weapon 9 Divines levels of damage!
7) Switch game to Legendary mode when you get bored after finding the game too easy on Adept, and still think you are breezing through it fairly well.

If you want an example, you can watch the 2 videos below:


Skyrim Legendary mode

[Kadesh]

Anyone play ESO? Picked it up a few days ago to play essentially as a 1p Elder Scrolls Game. Playing EU Server on Daggerfall Covenant, just started in Morrowind apparently. No idea why, I've seen videos of people starting in a dungeon of some sort, but hey, I love it.

Playing my Eternal Character "J'San Bourne", who in this play through, is going to be a Dragonknight, using Stamina. No idea yet it plays, but currently using a Bow. Give me a PM if you're able to play. Only low level though, so don't really want anything to carry me, as I'm kinda here for the story of the game, rather than typical MMO stuff at the moment.

[unseenmage]

Anyone play ESO? Picked it up a few days ago to play essentially as a 1p Elder Scrolls Game. Playing EU Server on Daggerfall Covenant, just started in Morrowind apparently. No idea why, I've seen videos of people starting in a dungeon of some sort, but hey, I love it.

Playing my Eternal Character "J'San Bourne", who in this play through, is going to be a Dragonknight, using Stamina. No idea yet it plays, but currently using a Bow. Give me a PM if you're able to play. Only low level though, so don't really want anything to carry me, as I'm kinda here for the story of the game, rather than typical MMO stuff at the moment.

Wish my work schedule allowed me to do stuff like this cuz this sounds like so much fun.

[halfeye]

Fortify Enchantment exists as an effect on potions and potion ingredients in Skyrim. As far as I'm aware, it does not exist as an actual enchantment itself.

That's sort of what I thought. Seems odd that an in game book would say it exists if it doesn't, even if it was incapable of being disenchanted so you couldn't actually duplicate the spell it would be interesting to have the one item.

You can however get fortify alchemy enchantment which can be combined like this:

1) You make a bunch of throw-away armor sets
2) Chug a fort. enchant potion
3) Enchant an armor set with fortify alchemy
4) Wear newly enchanted armor set
5) Repeat steps 2-4 as many times as desired in an infinite scaling loop
6) Pick whichever armor set and weapons that look coolest to you because the enhancement to fortify smithing from both enchanting and alchemy used together will put the armor well over the Armor rating cap and give your weapon 9 Divines levels of damage!

Yeah, you can do that. However, there seem to be limits to it. You quickly get to the point where new enchantments aren't any stronger (for a start, fortify alchemy (like most (all?) enchantments) only goes on four items (2 jewelery, 2 armour)) and while grand soul gems are cheap later in the game, they're not that common.

[The Jack]

Part of the reason It infuriates me that skyrim got rid of attributes is that they could've really been better for enchanting/alchemy.

Fortifying specific skills is gamey bull**** (you mean this increases my one handed weapons but not two handed weapons? I see. You mean I can only get the enchanting bonus from potions, and potion bonuses from enchanting? Right...) so Fortify Attribute has always been a better idea than Fortify Skill.

But also you could just like, cap attributes at two or three hundred and not worry about exploits.
(Bonus points maybe have 200 as a soft cap where side affects start to occur as you go beyond... )


The only problem with the attribute system (other than the lack of cap) was that trying to get multipliers for each level up was really, really dumb.
And also you weren't superhuman enough with high attributes...
But it really could've been worked on. It would've made enchanting/alchemy so much more wholesome.

[factotum]

That's sort of what I thought. Seems odd that an in game book would say it exists if it doesn't, even if it was incapable of being disenchanted so you couldn't actually duplicate the spell it would be interesting to have the one item.

It's possible the book comes from an earlier game where Fortify Enchantment as an actual enchantment existed--I honestly don't remember enough about Morrowind or Oblivion to say if it did exist.

[Rynjin]

Fortify Enchantment was definitely a thing in Oblivion. It was the first step to real ultimate godhood with the Constant Effect/Dupe glitch.

[veti]

Yeah, you can do that. However, there seem to be limits to it.

The unofficial patch closes that exploit, so it will only work if you play without that.

[Inarius]

It's possible the book comes from an earlier game where Fortify Enchantment as an actual enchantment existed--I honestly don't remember enough about Morrowind or Oblivion to say if it did exist.

Enchanting didn't exist as a skill in Oblivion, but it could be from Morrowind. Or maybe it was something that was planned for in Skyrim but got cut at some point.

On a side note for those who have been wondering, it looks like they sent out sent out closed beta invites for Blades and they're still planning a spring launch for it so the game shouldn't be too far off.

[veti]

In Morrowind having any Fortify Skill spell allowed you to fortify any other skill, either by an enchantment or by paying a spellmaker to teach it to you. Getting a Fortify Skill effect to start with wasn't easy, though.

But enchantment skill has no bearing on the strength of enchantment in that game, so it's not nearly as abusive as the Skyrim version.

[Aeson]

Enchanting didn't exist as a skill in Oblivion, but it could be from Morrowind.

Fortify [Skill] existed as an effect in Morrowind, but it was basically impossible to obtain as a spell (and thus for enchanting) unless you had Tribunal or Bloodmoon installed because none of the spell merchants sold spells with a Fortify Skill effect without either Tribunal or Bloodmoon installed. The UESP says that the reward for completing Threads of the Webspinner - the spell Mephala's Skill - was a way to obtain Fortify Skill prior to the 1.2 patch, but Threads of the Webspinner is basically impossible to complete without a guide unless you're running around killing nonhostile NPCs in towns for no apparent reason.

As to books referencing enchantments to fortify enchant skill, if halfeye's thinking of the Complete Catalogue of Enchantments for Armor, the UESP says that the book was introduced in Skyrim, so while it might be referencing something that was possible in Morrowind the book itself is not a holdover from an older game where it was possible to enchant equipment with Fortify Enchant effects.

But enchantment skill has no bearing on the strength of enchantment in that game, so it's not nearly as abusive as the Skyrim version.

Unless you're abusing Fortify Intelligence effects, you aren't going to successfully create a reasonably powerful enchantment in Morrowind without having a high Enchant skill. Morrowind's Enchant skill may not directly affect the strength of the enchantments, but it absolutely affects the strength of the enchantments which it's practical to create without resorting to exploits.

There's also that the Enchant skill affects the charge expended with each activation of a Cast on Use or Cast on Strikes item. If I can use a full-charge Ring of Fireballs five times at Enchant skill 5 and 20 times at Enchant skill 100 before having to wait for the item to accumulate more charge, there is a case to be made that the enchantment on the Ring of Fireballs is more powerful when I have an Enchant skill of 100 than it is when I have an Enchant skill of 5 - all the more so because not only can I use the ring more before depleting its charge but also because, the way the game works, I also don't need to wait as long for the ring to regain enough charge for me to use it again.

[halfeye]

As to books referencing enchantments to fortify enchant skill, if halfeye's thinking of the Complete Catalogue of Enchantments for Armor, the UESP says that the book was introduced in Skyrim, so while it might be referencing something that was possible in Morrowind the book itself is not a holdover from an older game where it was possible to enchant equipment with Fortify Enchant effects.

That looks like it. Especially in specifically saying that there exist gauntlets that power up enchanting. I do wish they wouldn't tell lies.

[veti]

Unless you're abusing Fortify Intelligence effects, you aren't going to successfully create a reasonably powerful enchantment in Morrowind without having a high Enchant skill. Morrowind's Enchant skill may not directly affect the strength of the enchantments, but it absolutely affects the strength of the enchantments which it's practical to create without resorting to exploits.

I would hardly call fortifying intelligence an "exploit", it's a perfectly standard effect that's designed to be used in exactly this way. Once your enchantment skill reaches 50-60 or thereabouts, you can reasonably hope to create any level of enchantment you like in a few attempts. You need a surplus of soul gems, but by that time even grand souls are easy enough to find.