The *playing* Skyrim Thread.

[SidewaysTakumi]

I'm starting my game over this weekend. Want to go about the quests more systematically and cover everything. I've also changed my mind as to which side I want to support in the civil war, haha.

 

[JackAxe]

I haven't chosen any side on the war.

BUT, starting over!!! How many hours are you in?

I'm in the eighties, but have had to stop for a project that's behind.

I did encounter a bug in one of the key Markarth quest and ended up going back to an earlier save -- which fixed it, but that knocked me down 2 lvls. I save like a mofo, which is a bit OCD on my part.

 

[SidewaysTakumi]

I'm not sure how many hours in, but I'm at level 16.

I have missed out on so much (after reading the guide) and I also am upset about the side I chose in the war.

I want to join the companions earlier, and really work on my one handed and archery skills from the beginning. When I started the first time, I didn't really know what I was doing.

Does that make sense?

 

[Ov3rlord Falc0r]

I'm not sure how many hours in, but I'm at level 16.

I have missed out on so much (after reading the guide) and I also am upset about the side I chose in the war.

I want to join the companions earlier, and really work on my one handed and archery skills from the beginning. When I started the first time, I didn't really know what I was doing.

Does that make sense?

This happens to people more than you'd think. They wanna do it again and play it the "right" way because they didn't know what they were doing the first time through. Did you happen to play any other Elder Scrolls game before this one? Lucky for me I played both Morrowind and Oblivion so I had some general ideas about where I wanted to focus my attention and what kind of play style I liked right off the bat. There isn't anything wrong with not knowing before hand but it does force you to have some trial and error period which may or may not be annoying for you.

As for the Markarth quest somebody recently mentioned, that has been a widely known bug for a while. There are TONS of people out there who have encountered that problem. Some can fix it by loading a previous save and trying again, others still have the problem and are waiting for a patch to fix it. Once again luck was on my side and it worked the first time through for me but on my 2nd character (which I'm playing concurrently with my previous) it bugged out on me.

 

[SidewaysTakumi]

This is actually my first rpg game and I'm in love. I definitely want to do the right things and make it a better experience.

Whats the glitch with the Markath quest? I had a glitch too but don't think it was Markath related.

 

[Ov3rlord Falc0r]

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This is actually my first rpg game and I'm in love. I definitely want to do the right things and make it a better experience.

Whats the glitch with the Markath quest? I had a glitch too but don't think it was Markath related.

Your first RPG?! Wow, that's awesome!

The quest in Markarth when you get far enough in the quest itself all the guards in town become hostile towards you and you can't undo it (as far as I know) so every time you go to that town they'll always attack. No matter what.

 

[Huntn]

I'm not sure how many hours in, but I'm at level 16.

I have missed out on so much (after reading the guide) and I also am upset about the side I chose in the war.

I want to join the companions earlier, and really work on my one handed and archery skills from the beginning. When I started the first time, I didn't really know what I was doing.

Does that make sense?

This is why reading up on a game like this is a must if you want the full experience. And no, it's not cheating or spoiling the game, it's launching into the game with knowledge. It's like the difference between stumbling around and learning by trial and error or by having a mentor to guide you. The SkyRim MacRumors Guide is now up. I don't know why the name got chopped off but I've asked the webmaster to fix this. It should say Skytrim Quick and Dirty when looking at the page. Remember it's a work in progress. I'm going to scan back through this thread and look for things to add to it.

Any leads on the best "beautiful people" style add-on for the game? I've got my 3lb game guide, my Razor Naga, now I just have to get educated and configured and off I go.

Thanks Jack for your setup post. I'll be seriously looking at that very soon.

 

[TrulyYuki]

LIFE!! Must bring LIFE into the thread!

I had an occasional issue, where as the game would start to slow down, as if it was going swap crazy when my PC has a ton of ram(and of course the game is only 32-bit without the mod.) -- I think because of a memory leak. Dragon Age: Origins did the same thing after a longer period of play and was eventually patched.

Anyways, either I just have not encountered it again, or this 1.3 update resolved it. When it would happen, I would save and then restart the game, and then all was happy again.

In Steam, does the update for Skyrim automatically install? I had something download on Friday but I was so distracted I didn't notice much of what was happening.

I'm starting my game over this weekend. Want to go about the quests more systematically and cover everything. I've also changed my mind as to which side I want to support in the civil war, haha.

I restarted once but when I only got as far as learning some shouts the first time.
I haven't decided which side to be on either. Not sure what all my choices are yet. haahaa. I know I'm not going to the dark side, whichever that one is, and i'm not going Legion. Since Fallout, I'm not a fan of any Legion. Legion makes me think of things like Braveheart. I like the rebel sides sometimes.

I haven't chosen any side on the war.

BUT, starting over!!! How many hours are you in?

I'm in the eighties, but have had to stop for a project that's behind.

I did encounter a bug in one of the key Markarth quest and ended up going back to an earlier save -- which fixed it, but that knocked me down 2 lvls. I save like a mofo, which is a bit OCD on my part.

Not sure I know of the Markarth Quest... must have read past that in the thread. I am doing a couple quests by accident there. One was the abandon house of evilness. Another is the eating people thing, weird. the other was the one where someone gave me a note, I read it and had to find information of some people then I was attacked by an old guy. I then walk back into a house/temple and the guards arrest me and take everything. I restarted before going in that house and haven't been back because they took all my goods. Hate that!

This is actually my first rpg game and I'm in love. I definitely want to do the right things and make it a better experience.

Whats the glitch with the Markath quest? I had a glitch too but don't think it was Markath related.

Congrats on the first RPG. Oblivion was my first.

 

[JackAxe]

@ TrulyYuki,

Yep, STEAM updates automatically. When it did sow with the 1.2 patch, I had to do the cache defrag just to get the game to launch again.

The bug happened in "No One Escapes Cidhna Mine," on my second time there -- different save path.

In Markarth, I got arrested, then followed through the quest there, which asked me to kill one of the other prisoners. I didn't like that, so reloaded and instead KILLED EVERY GUARD in town trying to arrest me and anyone that was part of the corruption, so I even tried killing the Jarl and his support; but found that the game wouldn't allow me.

Anyways, then when I went online to read about what I was supposed to do, because I was annoyed that I couldn't murder everyone in that town , I found that my quest tree had closed already; even though I hadn't reached either of the two goals specified online.

To hopefully finish up my ramble. I then went outside and let the guards that I hadn't killed yet arrest me, because I wanted to try and reach the goals I read about. When I got thrown back in jail, the game NEVER gave me the key I needed to go see Madanach -- which on my earlier save, I had got the key right away. So I was actually trapped in the prison with no way out.

So, after all that and doing the abandon house and anything else I could find while on my murdering-rampage, I reloaded back to the part where I was supposed to kill the other prisoner and did so. bleh. :O

 

[Watabou]

I chose Dunmer and I'm about 10 hours in and level 5. I'm still in Whiterun and just defeated my first dragon.

I don't know if I should use heavy or light armor though. For one thing, the daedric armor looks epic but I picked Dunmer because I wanted to play as a mage+archer. I'm currently using my light armor but sheesh, I take a lot of damage from Draugrs.

Oh and I totally messed up on the Sven/Faendal love triangle quest. I took Sven's side and I just found out that I could have gotten my archery training from free if I chose Faendal instead. But now I'm too far in and have to pay for my archery lessons! </firstworldproblems>

 

[TrulyYuki]

@ TrulyYuki,

Yep, STEAM updates automatically. When it did sow with the 1.2 patch, I had to do the cache defrag just to get the game to launch again.

The bug happened in "No One Escapes Cidhna Mine," on my second time there -- different save path.

In Markarth, I got arrested, then followed through the quest there, which asked me to kill one of the other prisoners. I didn't like that, so reloaded and instead KILLED EVERY GUARD in town trying to arrest me and anyone that was part of the corruption, so I even tried killing the Jarl and his support; but found that the game wouldn't allow me.

Anyways, then when I went online to read about what I was supposed to do, because I was annoyed that I couldn't murder everyone in that town , I found that my quest tree had closed already; even though I hadn't reached either of the two goals specified online.

To hopefully finish up my ramble. I then went outside and let the guards that I hadn't killed yet arrest me, because I wanted to try and reach the goals I read about. When I got thrown back in jail, the game NEVER gave me the key I needed to go see Madanach -- which on my earlier save, I had got the key right away. So I was actually trapped in the prison with no way out.

So, after all that and doing the abandon house and anything else I could find while on my murdering-rampage, I reloaded back to the part where I was supposed to kill the other prisoner and did so. bleh. :O

I read this and thought... something I would do... step by step.

 

[Ov3rlord Falc0r]

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Heavy/Light armor debate all depends on your play type. If you're gunna Mage/archer you're probably best off with light because they weigh less and thus offer quicker movements. Conversely, the Heavy armor gives more protection while sacrificing some movement slightly. Typically it's used for one handed/two handed specialist.

 

[SidewaysTakumi]

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Yeah and now that I know I have to betray Sven later, I may chose Fendal. Although, maybe the quest will flip if I choose him? Lol

This game just has so much. The weekend was packed so I'm going to try to start over tomorrow.

Yeah my first rpg and it's awesome. Haven't touched Modern Warfare since I got it, lol.


I also ha a glitch where I was supposed to go talk to someone in winter hold. Got there, talked to him and then talked to the innkeeper. When I did that it brought up a dialogue and I accidentally selected and then it reset that objective but no matter how many times I talk to the guy it won't cofirm that I've done it.

 

[MRU]

I'm a vampire and have no idea how I became infected.

I can still go out in the day though, so I must be one of those modern day Twilight type of vampires .


How to cure it or is it worth curing ? I haven't drank anyones blood yet.


oh it seems I was in

Haemar's Shame
Morvath's Lair
Bloodlet Throne

killing vampires, must have contracted it there at some point. How do I know if I've gone past the 'can be cured by any shrine stage' ?

 

[antonis]

Ahhh.... I had no idea that picking the other guy would give you free archery training. Damn, that is very usefull... especially since I'm a melee fighter and I cannot spend the hard-earned gold for a secondary skill (which I use often, though).

This game is huge... Maybe I'll start a new char, one-handed and shield this time. A true tank. And I'll know better, not to pick Sven

 

[Ov3rlord Falc0r]

I'm a vampire and have no idea how I became infected.

I can still go out in the day though, so I must be one of those modern day Twilight type of vampires .


How to cure it or is it worth curing ? I haven't drank anyones blood yet.


oh it seems I was in

Haemar's Shame
Morvath's Lair
Bloodlet Throne

killing vampires, must have contracted it there at some point. How do I know if I've gone past the 'can be cured by any shrine stage' ?

Here check this out. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Vampirism

Just a little light reading about what you've gotten yourself into! haha, its not horrible it just takes a little work is all.

 

[whooleytoo]

Had a funny problem with vampirism back in Oblivion. I was wandering in the wilderness only to realise when I started to burn at sunrise that I'd contacted vampirism. I broke into a nearby house for safety.

Thus the problem: I couldn't run back home for a cure, I'd die long before I got there. I couldn't fast-travel from within a building. If I went outside, I'd start taking damage and you can't fast-travel when taking damage. I couldn't Wait, as you can't Wait while trespassing. The only option was to wait 30-40 (real world) minutes for night to fall again, or load an old save game. Grrrrr.

Be careful out there. It's dangerous.

 

[Tsuchiya]

So I've just finished up an assassination for the Dark Brotherhood using my trusty Ebony Bow (Legendary) and I'm starting to wonder what to do next. Wondering about aimlessly, I come across a talking dog who wants to take me to his Daedric master.

Never a dull moment in Skyrim

Also I really want to divorce Ysolda, she is super-boring. I've finished up a bunch of Companion quests and have my eye on Aela who seems to be a lot more durable then Lydia because she is an essential-NPC...

 

[Huntn]

I'm a vampire and have no idea how I became infected.

I can still go out in the day though, so I must be one of those modern day Twilight type of vampires .


How to cure it or is it worth curing ? I haven't drank anyones blood yet.


oh it seems I was in

Haemar's Shame
Morvath's Lair
Bloodlet Throne

killing vampires, must have contracted it there at some point. How do I know if I've gone past the 'can be cured by any shrine stage' ?

I realize there are differences between Oblivion and Skyrim, and I am too new to Skyrim, but I'll point you at the MR OBlivion Guide, Vampire Section. There may be some parallels here.

Fighting vampires is all it takes to contract the disease. Some people like the challenge of playing a vampire, but due to the restrictions, others hate it.

First stop would be Vampirism @ ESWiki and then UES Pages. For nostalgia reading see this. However my understanding the mechanics of sleep in Skyrim are different than they were in Oblivion:

MacRumor Oblivion Guide: Vampirism in Oblivion*

*This info may not apply to Skyrim!!
The key to avoiding full blown Vampirism is recognition and to seek early treatment. On a regular basis, especially after fighting in a dungeon, and prior to sleep, check your character stats as follows:

Open the Oblivion interface (tab) and select Magic Tab- Active Effects you will see indication of Drain Fatigue- 5 for Porphyric Haemophilia and other diseases if you have them. Be sure to check all items listed as "Drain". My character had both Dampworm and Greenspore diseases in addition to the vamp disease.

Porphyric Haemophilia also appears as a drain on fatigue of a couple of points that shows up on your stats page. Open the Oblivion interface (tab) and select the stats section (portion of window with 3 horizontal bars- red, blue, and green). Then select the left icon (a fist) which shows a page with your character's race, birthsign, class, and level. On the bottom of that page will be stats for Health, Magicka, and Fatique. In my case my Fatigue was showing in red at 149/154. This is a clear indication of the disease.

In the first 72 hours, the disease can be cured as a simple disease (cure disease potion, eat item that cures disease such as a mandrake root, or receive a blessing at church alter). According to the game guide, if you have contracted the disease and don't seek a cure within 72 game hours, upon sleep you'll become a full fledged vampire. In case you've forgotten to check your stats, making it a habit to save your game frequently and especially prior to sleeping is a good idea.

Had a funny problem with vampirism back in Oblivion. I was wandering in the wilderness only to realise when I started to burn at sunrise that I'd contacted vampirism. I broke into a nearby house for safety.

Thus the problem: I couldn't run back home for a cure, I'd die long before I got there. I couldn't fast-travel from within a building. If I went outside, I'd start taking damage and you can't fast-travel when taking damage. I couldn't Wait, as you can't Wait while trespassing. The only option was to wait 30-40 (real world) minutes for night to fall again, or load an old save game. Grrrrr.

Be careful out there. It's dangerous.

Can you go to sleep like you did in Oblivion until it is night time and then scurry home?

 

[TrulyYuki]

So I've just finished up an assassination for the Dark Brotherhood using my trusty Ebony Bow (Legendary) and I'm starting to wonder what to do next. Wondering about aimlessly, I come across a talking dog who wants to take me to his Daedric master.

Never a dull moment in Skyrim

Also I really want to divorce Ysolda, she is super-boring. I've finished up a bunch of Companion quests and have my eye on Aela who seems to be a lot more durable then Lydia because she is an essential-NPC...

Nothing about your quote... your name and specs of your system sound just like my brothers. Creepy! You're SERIOUSLY off by like one year on your CPU. Everything else matches. wow.

Update: Actually I think my brother has the black iphone 4s.

 

[Huntn]

Important EDIT: This information has to do with dealing with Vampirism after you are a Vampire. Not after you have contracted the disease and before becoming a Vampire. You can drink a cure disease potion or visit a shrine to cure yourself... according to the game guide, you have 3 days to cure yourself. This info has been added to the MR Skyrim Game Guide.

OK, although it may offer some insight, forget about what I said about Oblivion. The ESWiki and UESP page links in my previous post hold the answer. According to the Official Game Guide the only two ways to cure Vampirsm are:

1.Visit a mage named Falion in Morthal the Hold Capital of Hjaalmarch and complete the sidequest: Rising at Dawn.
2. Become a werewolf.

And it says if you allow yourself to contract Vampirism a second time, the quest must be repeated. There is no excuse for this accidentally happening.

 

[whooleytoo]

Can you go to sleep like you did in Oblivion until it is night time and then scurry home?

The quote above was from Oblivion. And unfortunately, no. I couldn't Wait or Sleep in the above case since neither aren't allowed while trespassing; and if I went outside in the daylight Waiting or Sleeping would have killed me. I would have just left the console run, but the house occupant was getting angsty about me being there, so I had to reload an old save game. Just a funny predicament I got myself in!

On the subject of Oblivion-Skyrim comparisons, I've realised one thing that's been bugging me a little. Fights in Skyrim are a bit more tedious because of the Favourites functionality (on console, don't know what it's like on PC). With the old Favourites 'wheel' you could select items/spells without leaving the combat; whereas in Skyrim you either have to bring up the Favourites or the main menu, continuously pausing the battle, thus making the fights a real stop-start affair.

 

[Huntn]

Well I have scanned back through the entire thread and added links and stuff to the Skyrim Guide. Please let me know if there is anything substantial you think I missed. Thanks!

The / and ? key will pull up your skill perk page and ask if you want to raise magicka, health, or stamina each time you gain a level.

As far as I can tell, as a strictly a magic user, you (anyone) really want to focus using your one or two main area of damage dealing. For me, it's destruction magic. For others it will be their bows, one-handed, two-handed, conjuration magic, or whatever you like to use that takes down enemies. I initially wanted to master several schools of magic, but lately I've found that I only needed 2 schools of magic and have wasted perk points in things I don't need, because I was spreading myself too thin on the offensive side of things.

Also, if you look at the perks page, you'll see that alchemy, smithing, and enchanting fall under a specific area of skill (warrior/thief/mage). They're also adjacent to one of the areas that can lend strengths to that area. For instance, enchanting falls under the mage perks/signs. Both smithing and alchemy are adjacent to the mage skill areas. I've focused on enchanting, but I also use a bit of alchemy to brew health and mana potions. I highly recommend each class use their crafting skill associated with what they're character is trying to be, your archetype. It will make a big difference in your effectiveness. Thieves/assassins should be using a lot of poisons. Warriors should be improving their weapons and armor.

If you're spending too much time raising the skill level of other skills you don't use often, just to gain levels, you're doing more harm than good. Also, don't sit on perks unless you've got a good plan for them. Spend the perk points on what you use. I read somewhere that you can skill up your sneak to 100, but if you buy "all" of the perk points in sneak, your effective sneak can be 200. I don't know what they meant by all of the perks in sneak, but I doubt it means literally all of them.

For me, I use lightning bolt alot, even though I'm level 35 and have access to chain lightning, wall of sparks, frost atronarchs, and whatnot. My gauge is that I can take out thugs in 5-7 or so hits with just lightning bolt (I haven't given Jordis enough magic/spark resistence yet to not risk killing her with chain lightning). That seems fair to me and I think if you're taking longer to take out these common foes, then you need to work on your damage output.

I think my point is that you have the potential to conquer just about anything if you focus your skills with a plan. A jack of all trades with decent everything can help in any situation, but a master maceman with exceptional gear and a bunch of crappy potions or crappy heal spells can win in any situation. Role-play your character to an extent. What is it that your character has been training all of their Skyrim life to be good at? "Everything," shouldn't be an answer, because that's as ineffective in the game as it is in our lives.

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't try a fighter/mage/thief. I'm saying you're creating challenges for yourself that are additional to what the game presents you. Have a plan and stick to it. When you get bored, that's when you should branch out and test the waters with trying something new or just create a new character that fits your style.

Somewhere I read, and now I can't find it that you should focus on two primary skills and two secondary skills. I'll keep looking. It may be in the Official Strategy Guide, but as far as I've seen there is nothing substantial about character leveling...

Yeah, I'm curious abou the guide. I'm going to buy it hopefully soon, just haven't got to it. i wonder if the hardback is worth it at $40?

In my opinion, $16 at Amazon is plenty for the paperback version. And if you buy something for $9, you 'll should get free shipping. I bought a movie.

That is hilarious. When I lose lydia, i reload my game. I don't care how far back i might have to go. I won't want to ever lose her. She is my new best friend.

How do you save her?

I think horses should not charge into battle so easy... it makes them useless right now. Its like ... oh an enemy.. I'm out of range.. I get off my horse then... the majority of the time the charge off to attack... I'm like WTF!!! Maybe someone will make a Mod for it.. though that won't help if your using a console.

Horses were nice in Oblivion especially with the Saddle Bags mod. Armor was a must or they frequently died when attacked by just about anything. Anyone heard of a Skyrim Saddlebags mod?

The quote above was from Oblivion. And unfortunately, no. I couldn't Wait or Sleep in the above case since neither aren't allowed while trespassing; and if I went outside in the daylight Waiting or Sleeping would have killed me. I would have just left the console run, but the house occupant was getting angsty about me being there, so I had to reload an old save game. Just a funny predicament I got myself in!

Sorry to hear that. Just let the game run for 40 min, might have worked while you work on something else?

On the subject of Oblivion-Skyrim comparisons, I've realised one thing that's been bugging me a little. Fights in Skyrim are a bit more tedious because of the Favourites functionality (on console, don't know what it's like on PC). With the old Favourites 'wheel' you could select items/spells without leaving the combat; whereas in Skyrim you either have to bring up the Favourites or the main menu, continuously pausing the battle, thus making the fights a real stop-start affair.

Although still too new to the game, this is my primary critique of the game. I want to be able to pick new items/attacks on the fly without stopping the action and picking off a list. In Bioshock it annoyed me so much, that I sold my Xbox version and purchased the PC version so I could accomplish this using my Nostromo which now due to driver issues appears to be kaput.

 

[whooleytoo]

Sorry to hear that. Just let the game run for 40 min, might have worked while you work on something else?

I was going to, but the house occupant was demanding I leave, the dialogue options didn't feature any "Help! I'm a NOOB vampire and can't go outside!" option, and I didn't want to have to attack her.

Actually, I've just remembered the exact details of the situation, which makes it even sillier. It wasn't any old house, it was THE house of the witch in Oblivion who could cure vampirism. I broke into her house to get cured, but she won't help you if you're trespassing. When I left, the sun had come up. I couldn't run, Wait, Sleep, stay there, or kill her!

Although still too new to the game, this is my primary critique of the game. I want to be able to pick new items/attacks on the fly without stopping the action and picking off a list. In Bioshock it annoyed me so much, that I sold my Xbox version and purchased the PC version so I could accomplish this using my Nostromo which now due to driver issues appears to be kaput.

It's annoying even on the 360 controller, given that the D-pad (as bad as it is) is only used for one action, brining up the Favourites menu. I know it's comparing different genres, but the difference in the fluidity of combat in the Assassin's Creed games, and Skyrim (or, indeed, Oblivion) is huge.

On another note, I'm finding the game is stuttering a bit more now, particularly when doing the Ice shout but often just when exploring. That's a bit worrying, given how Oblivion and Fallout 3 performance degraded for me, over time.

 

[Huntn]

I was going to, but the house occupant was demanding I leave, the dialogue options didn't feature any "Help! I'm a NOOB vampire and can't go outside!" option, and I didn't want to have to attack her.

Actually, I've just remembered the exact details of the situation, which makes it even sillier. It wasn't any old house, it was THE house of the witch in Oblivion who could cure vampirism. I broke into her house to get cured, but she won't help you if you're trespassing. When I left, the sun had come up. I couldn't run, Wait, Sleep, stay there, or kill her!

Oh, are we talking Oblivion? Nevermind.