Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[stray]

This game is amazing. And I've always been a critic of Bethesda. They hit all the right notes on the stuff I thought was missing (mostly storytelling).

[Lucas]

Yeah, atmosphere is fantastic (superior to Oblivion in every possible way), very similar to Morrowind, for example (spoiler about the very early game in Riverwood):


Leveling is too fast for my taste, though, just like in Oblivion. I think I'll use a mod for that quite soon.
---

Hmm, what about creating another topic entirely dedicated to mods?

[stray]

Leveling is too fast for my taste, though, just like in Oblivion. I think I'll use a mod for that quite soon.

I've gotten quite a lot of done, but I'm only level 7. For the most part though, I've stuck to quests.. haven't wandered other than the times when I'm running around a little bit for those quests. I've killed two dragons, made my pilgrimage to the Greybeards.. only group I've joined so far is the Companions though.

Or.. maybe I haven't got a lot done. Maybe it just seems like it. No doubt there's a ton of things to do in this game.

[Ruvaldt]

Leveling slows down substantially later.  Or at least it has for me.

[kildorn]

Leveling speed is pretty much determined by how focused you are. If you pretty much just use 2-3 skills (sneak, archery, 1h for example), you should level one or two times a dungeon until your mid 20s.

If you switch it up and get hit a bit and level block, light armor and restoration in there you will level a bit slower(not much, since those are all reactionary), if you switch it up a LOT and swing some 2hs, kill a few dudes with destruction and conjure up some zombies you'll level at a snail's pace.

[Ingmar]

I'm pleased that the fact that I leveled largely by accident through stealth, lockpicking, and smithing hasn't utterly fucked me in this game like it would have in just about every other Elder Scrolls game.

Melee still kind of sucks mechanically, other than the occasional cool kill animation. I'm glad the archery is reasonable.

EDIT: Also game is really making me wish some competent bunch of people would get the DAOC license, I would kill for a Midgard that looked like this.

[kildorn]

When I first started playing, I was so tempted to send you a joke about how they captured the feel of migard perfectly. Right down to the fact that I hadn't seen another actual player since I started the game. ;)

[Lucas]

Right now I'm level 3 and filled half of the bar to level 4. So far I've done:


I'm a redguard: 1h + shield; occasionally using the longbow + sneaking if enemies are very far ahead and talking to each other ; I may also use lighting bolt or flame to finish up enemies.

[stray]

I like melee. I started off sword and board, but switched to 2h once I got to Bleak falls. It was slow at first, but clicked for me.

It feels slightly clunky like swinging a claymore should, but I kill pretty quick.

Plus, my dude's an aggressive looking Nord. Really.. what else is he going to use? 

[Nebu]

Every time I stop to read this thread I feel $60 slipping between my fingers. 

God help you all if I end up buying this. 

[kildorn]

Every time I stop to read this thread I feel $60 slipping between my fingers. 

God help you all if I end up buying this. 

If you wait a week, I'm sure someone will mod in your furry avatar.

[stray]

Every time I stop to read this thread I feel $60 slipping between my fingers. 

God help you all if I end up buying this. 

There are worse things to regret. Like I said, I'm not a big fan of Bethesda, but it's great.

I'll just keep it simple.

[climbjtree]

I'm playing an argonian, 1h + destruction and occasional restoration and using heavy armor. I feel like a sith lord when I electrocute people.

[Ironwood]

I'm going to break tomorrow.  I can feel it.

When I head out to lunch, there's a store on the way.

I blame you all.

[tgr]

What you mean is, you'll thank us all.

It's the wife that'll want to kill us.

[Bunk]

Leveling speed is pretty much determined by how focused you are. If you pretty much just use 2-3 skills (sneak, archery, 1h for example), you should level one or two times a dungeon until your mid 20s.

If you switch it up and get hit a bit and level block, light armor and restoration in there you will level a bit slower(not much, since those are all reactionary), if you switch it up a LOT and swing some 2hs, kill a few dudes with destruction and conjure up some zombies you'll level at a snail's pace.

I think you are missing a detail though. Really low skills raise quickly, so if you do a bunch of stuff you've never done before, you'll grab a couple levels really quickly, as each of those skills jumps from 5 to 7.

[sinij]

Don't buy this if your rig is AMD /w crossfire. Game is unplayable.

[Abelian75]

The skill tree I imagine is far more usable with a controller as well. I have issues clicking on the sides of the tree, it likes to think I meant "GO TO THE NEXT TREE OVER", not "Please show me that shield upgrade on the left"

It's really not, imho.  I've been using both a controller and keyboard/mouse, and the skill tree sucks either way.  It's incredibly obnoxious.  Navigation to the various skills is clumsy as hell, and it's zoomed in preposterously far.  You should always be able to see the skill node you are on, and all skill nodes it is linked to.  This is... not the case.  It's pretty damn weird.

Also, unless you can really nail the feel of it, it would seem like a reasonably choice to only allow navigating along the branches of the skill tree.  They did not nail the feel of it, thus you can push slightly too far in one direction and end up navigating miles away to the node you can't see in another direction, sometimes from another tree.  I really don't see what reason they have for allowing you to move directly from a node in one tree to a node in another, particularly with no strong indication that you have done so.  The tree navigation just feels like total ass, on console or pc.

I love the hell out of the game, though.

[tmp]

"You have commited a crime! What do you have to say in your defense?"

Where's my "the fucking UI bounds "steal" and "speak" to the same key and asks for no confirmation for the former" option

[tmp]

Plus, my dude's an aggressive looking Nord. Really.. what else is he going to use? 

I figure the 2h axes or warhammers are even more fitting but yeah, 2handers totally for the Nords. Parrying the dragon's jaw snaps with the blade is just sweet. Even the random guards recognize it.

"You have two hands and use them both for your weapon. I can respect that."

[Lucas]

Yep, 2h is how I played my Nord in Oblivion too; right now, for my Redguard I'm using Steel Mace + Iron Shield (like I said, I'm just at the beginning), but I want him to play more like a heavy armored "sailor", so I'll switch (and stick) to sword as soon as I find a decent one (beside crafting, of course). Does Skyrim have katana/sabre/scimitars?

[MisterNoisy]

Don't buy this if your rig is AMD /w crossfire. Game is unplayable.

No ETA from AMD on optimized drivers?

[kildorn]

Don't buy this if your rig is AMD /w crossfire. Game is unplayable.

There is a patch incoming. But the temporary trick is to rename the executable to "Fallout3.exe" :P

[kildorn]

Leveling speed is pretty much determined by how focused you are. If you pretty much just use 2-3 skills (sneak, archery, 1h for example), you should level one or two times a dungeon until your mid 20s.

If you switch it up and get hit a bit and level block, light armor and restoration in there you will level a bit slower(not much, since those are all reactionary), if you switch it up a LOT and swing some 2hs, kill a few dudes with destruction and conjure up some zombies you'll level at a snail's pace.

I think you are missing a detail though. Really low skills raise quickly, so if you do a bunch of stuff you've never done before, you'll grab a couple levels really quickly, as each of those skills jumps from 5 to 7.

They don't count for much thankfully. The system tags your highest skills as your focus, and those are the majority providers for leveling. If I have 70 sneak, 70 1h, and 70 bows I can go from 20-40 smithing and not raise a full level (but I'd probably be close)

It's to keep you from level match fucking yourself by taking non combat skills like alchemy late in life.

Basically, a primary skill rising gives you say, 100 xp. A minor skill rising gives you 20 xp.

[koro]

I'm just kind of sad that one of the precious few characters I actually enjoyed in Oblivion - a two-hander wielding spellsword - can't really be done in Skyrim because you must have a hand free to cast spells.

And since you can't easily swap between having weapons readied and spells readied, you can't even do a Morrowind-style one without a lot of hassle.

[Ironwood]

Interesting.  I've heard a lot of explanation, but that one really makes it simpler to understand.

[kildorn]

I'm just kind of sad that one of the precious few characters I actually enjoyed in Oblivion - a two-hander wielding spellsword - can't really be done in Skyrim because you must have a hand free to cast spells.

And since you can't easily swap between having weapons readied and spells readied, you can't even do a Morrowind-style one without a lot of hassle.

There's a bit of a delay as you draw your new weapons, but the hotkey system works well enough for swapping my shield with fast heal and back.

I find it a bit hilarious and arbitrary that I cannot have a hotkey 9 or 0, only 1-8.

[Draegan]

I hate this game for one reason:

I started off with my character with a Paladin-like type of build in mind.  Then I quickly shifted to a caster/summon type of build with bound weapons.  That build shifted just a little bit here and there in detail.

Now I want to make a full summoner and then go dagger/assassin light armor type of build.  So many wasted points .. but .. I'm only level 18ish and I have too many points in resto and one or two in Heavy Armor.

I KEEP CHANGING MY MIND ON CHARACTER BUILDING!  GAH!  TOO MANY CHOICES I LOVE THIS GAME.

[Ingmar]

I'm just kind of sad that one of the precious few characters I actually enjoyed in Oblivion - a two-hander wielding spellsword - can't really be done in Skyrim because you must have a hand free to cast spells.

And since you can't easily swap between having weapons readied and spells readied, you can't even do a Morrowind-style one without a lot of hassle.

There's a bit of a delay as you draw your new weapons, but the hotkey system works well enough for swapping my shield with fast heal and back.

I find it a bit hilarious and arbitrary that I cannot have a hotkey 9 or 0, only 1-8.

Leftover from FO3 I think.

[Sky]

but with the fucktastic UI, god knows what I ate at some point.)

I've eaten a lot of stuff because I forget to press "R" to put it in my alchemy crap chest in my house. Really, with a chest open we can't just default clicking to moving it into the chest? Ye gods.

Falc, I'm pure melee, though I do use some healing to conserve potions (not in combat, just healing up after) and I've moved to using a magic light once in a while rather than swap out my shield for a torch. Neither is mandatory and I'd be just fine. As Nix said, there's a hump early on before you get a few perks but it's pretty strong. You can dodge fireballs and whatnot, though channeled spells are tougher. And you'll want to use your dragon shouts, the story version of which will disrupt channeled effects.

I'm also playing it on a couch! 

[stray]

Does Skyrim have katana/sabre/scimitars?

I haven't seen any yet. It could be because of how I'm exploring, but I'm mostly running into Nord equipment.

It seems like the Redguard model in the loading screen has a scimitar, so I wouldn't doubt that they're in here somewhere.

On a sidenote, even the theme song for this game is badass. Just as good as the one in Conan.

[Sheepherder]

Plus, my dude's an aggressive looking Nord. Really.. what else is he going to use? 

[Slyfeind]

I haven't seen any yet. It could be because of how I'm exploring, but I'm mostly running into Nord equipment. It seems like the Redguard model in the loading screen has a scimitar, so I wouldn't doubt that they're in here somewhere.

There are scimitars among other Redguards. You could kill them and take theirs!

[Ruvaldt]

Does Skyrim have katana/sabre/scimitars?

There are scimitars!  My character briefly wielded one after finding some corsairs with them on a pirate vessel near Solitude.  It's not a bad weapon, either; Skyforge Steel is better, and is just as easy to get, but not by much.

[Merusk]

Though, as an aside, I've never understood the idea of "couch gaming". Most all of my gaming in my life has been done in a chair, on the floor, or rarely on my bed; sitting way back on a couch to play feels incredibly uncomfortable for me, even with a controller. Not to mention that I've had to spend enough time crashing on couches in my life that I've got an almost Pavlovian response to fall asleep very easily on a comfy enough couch.

Give me a sturdy cushioned chair over a couch any day.

Get yourself a La-Z-Boy or other quality recliner and you see the appeal of couch gaming.   If I could get the leather recliner to work at my computer desk I'd be set for all conditions TV or PC.

I'm going to break tomorrow.  I can feel it.

When I head out to lunch, there's a store on the way.

I blame you all.

I just keep reminding myself I hated Oblivion and Morrowind which both turned into incredible wastes of money.  I've plugged this into the Eve category of "better to read than to play."