Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[chicah 20]

Okay, just a few short things.

One, I discovered today that if you walk into the edge of the fireplace in the Companions HQ, you will fall through and down into the basement/ground whatever. You die, so it's no biggy, I just wondered if it was a bug or supposed to be that way.

Okay, here's the thing. I am doing the "Save Thorvald" quest for the Greymanes right now, (along with a dozen others, some of them for the Companions) and I chose the "I'll try to get him out with no bloodshed"-option. I've been checking out a bit online, and it seems like NO ONE has managed this quest without killing all the Thalmars guarding Thorvald. So I was wondering if any of you knew? Evidently, there's a back door in, but the game won't let you exit that way, so it's kind of bugged. So, is it possible to do this without 1. either an insanely high speech skill 2. a decree from the Empire (which I definitely won't get)? Does it help that I am a High Elf too? Or not at all? Have any of you tried? If it really isn't possible, I'll go back to my last autosave and get Ingulfar (or whatever he's called) with me to assault the place.

EDIT: Evidently, there is in fact a way, the only way I've found by now. "If you want to do it peacefully you need a complete Imperial Legion set of armor. Imperial Armor won't work, you need the legionnaire set. Weapon does not matter, boots, gloves, armor, and officer helmet. You approach the front guard and demand they release the prisoner and he'll appear outside." So, then my question becomes - where the hell do I get legion armor?

Riiight. Now, to the other things I was wondering.

1. I can't find all my quest destinations on the map - such as Northwest Watch (for the Thorvald quest) or News... Cairns for the Companions quest. Will it show up eventually?

2. Does anyone know if it's possible to get stabbed in the back in this game? I mean, I can, obviously, but it is possible for others to do it? I am not sure I would trust some of my companions (and co-Companions) if that was a fact...

3. Is there a dragon in Bleak Barrow Falls? I've still been avoiding going there, just doing bandit quests and stuff.

4. Does anyone know a good one-hand weapon? Right now, I'm swinging a war hammer, which is two-handed, and I wanted to practice my magic skills. But my one-handed weapons are crap. Are there any good ones, in the Skyforge for instance?

I still haven't gotten out of Whiterun, so much fun to do right here I was thinking of finishing up the "big" quests I've started (such as the Companions and Grey-Mane once), and the easy ones, such as getting that girl to stop bullying Lars, and then leave the rest of them (including the one with Hildergreen), and then start the main quest. Are there some things I should know/be aware of before I start it?

  Edited November 16, 2011 by chicah  

[suomi2005 52]

Is Oblivion still a good experience even if the first Elder Scrolls game you played is Skyrim? I am seriously thinking of buying the 5th anniversary edition of Oblivion but is it worth it?

[_marsh_ 1,117]

No there is no dragon in Bleak Barrow falls. They changed much for the demo ;)In fact that entire dungeon has much different enemies, though I think that's dependant on your level.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

New graphics card means new settings... so I upped all my settings in Skyrim to maximum.

[GMT 389]

Is Oblivion still a good experience even if the first Elder Scrolls game you played is Skyrim? I am seriously thinking of buying the 5th anniversary edition of Oblivion but is it worth it?

Like with many other games, it surely feels like a downgrade to a certain extent. As I said already (and many pre/reviews aswell), Skyrim is much more alive and delivers much more atmosphere than Cyrodiil did in Oblivion. Of course, the hardware (obviously) and software has changed since Oblivion (which was just like Morrowind on GameBryo Engine, Skyrim is Creation Engine; not to mention a new DX version) so more is possible, further the map is smaller so it grants more eye for detail. Also the main questline isn't as repetitive in Skyrim as it was in Oblivion. And the character creation and leveling system in Oblivion is by far not as good as in Skyrim. While you can either level magic, health or strength and then distribute a perk in Skyrim, you chose a bonus level up of 3 out of 7 major skills whichever you used most on this level, directly affected by the minor skills involved (eg the use of any magic falls into the major skill of intelligence); also the monsters level with you so if you got bad luck you turn out to be relatively weaker after leveling up.

What I also don't quite like is the permanent need to keep your equipment well maintained. You always need a stack of hammers to fix it.

I don't wanna take this too far, I guess there's already plenty of comparisons between Skyrim and Oblivion on the internet.

Bottom line is, Oblivion is no bad game at all. Some things feel old or not as thought-through as in Skyrim and the technical aspect pops up every now and then. But after all, you gotta keep in mind that you're planning to buy Skyrim's 5 years older predecessor.

I did the same as you ask advice for since I started my TES life with Oblivion, then got me TES Arena and TES Daggerfall and thereafter Morrowind. TBH I abandoned the first 2 but I like playing Morrowind.

So I can totally suggest you to get yourself Oblivion. The graphics are still considerably good (altho some animations feel odd) and the gameplay keeps you hooked for many many hours.

And if you want, you can download some of the fan-created enhancements/overhauls which really make it even better to play both visually and in terms of content.

I did it with both Morrowind and Oblivion. Took me quite some time to download as where talking GB sized mods but at the end of the day I am playing Morrowind in vanilla Oblivion graphics and Oblivion with overhauled landscapes, godrays and whatnot.

  Edited November 17, 2011 by GMT  

[suomi2005 52]

Thank you for your answer GMT! I have bought previous installments for other games and some have been disappointments but others have been truly great games. I like Skyrim a lot by now, I actually consider it to be one of the best games I have for my ps3 atm. I also read trough comparisons on the internet and it seems that Skyrim has greatly improved upon Oblivion which is still a highly regarded game. I think I will pass on buying Oblivion for now and just focus on progressing in Skyrim. I'm sure Skyrim has hours of gameplay and replay value like other games by Bethesda.

[Wiecher 192]

Do you think I can run this game on a laptop?

[chicah 20]

I'm running this on a laptop, and not a particularly good one at that... so yes, I believe you can.

[Wiecher 192]

Well, my computer can't handle it, although I have more than the double of the minimum requirements...

It's incredibly slow, even on the lowest of the lowest settings.

There is a lag of 1 minute between speech and the animation when someone speaks.

My framerate is approximately 3 per second.

I can barely move and I can't fight at all, because normal clicks are too short for the game to handle, the only way I can use my weapon is with the Power attack, a long click, but then it gets even slower and my screen freezes, and when it starts moving again, I'm dead.

I closed all processes in task manager that weren't necessary for my system to work, to get as much memory free as possible, and still the game didn't run any smoother.

[_marsh_ 1,117]

Wiecher: http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/intro.aspx

Just search for Skyrim and you will find out.

[Wiecher 192]

Wiecher: http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/intro.aspx

Just search for Skyrim and you will find out.

According to that site, it should be able to run it.

Only the video card is just minimum.

[chicah 20]

Well, if it is any comfort, it says I CAN'T run it, it says my video card is not good enough (but when it lists the features by themselves, it is, so I'm kind of confused), but I've been running it on this game with nothing but a lag - no crashes, no texture issues, and so forth.

[Wiecher 192]

I can run it now. After an hour of playing, my computer got used to it, and the lag partly disappeared, although I still play at the lowest quality so the world looks like Minecraft now.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Skyrim is Creation Engine; not to mention a new DX version

It's still DX9, unfortunately. Bethesda have talked about releasing a DX11 patch later on down the track though...

I can run it now. After an hour of playing, my computer got used to it, and the lag partly disappeared, although I still play at the lowest quality so the world looks like Minecraft now.

It could be your RAM. Maybe add more, and it'll be able to run smoother.

[GMT 389]

well my system specs are

core 2 quad q8300 (2.5ghz; not overclocked atm), 8gb ddr2-800 ram, nvidia gtx260 1792mb, skyrim installed on a half full 568gb partition of a 2tb wd caviar black sata2 (7.2k rpm, 64mb cache), running vista home premium 64bit.

everything patched to latest versions/drivers and such.

so according to the requirements I found at bethblog (see below) my graphics card aswell as my cpu is lower limit of recomended specs and thats just how the game plays. a few minor lags here and there but all together, framerates are just high enough to deliver a mostly smooth and enjoyable gameplay.

Specs according to bethblog:

Recommended Specs: Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit) Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU, 4GB System RAM, 6GB free HDD space, DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1GB of RAM (Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or higher (i.e GTX550Ti); ATI Radeon 4890 or higher), DirectX compatible sound card, Internet access for Steam activation

Minimum Specs: Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit), Processor: Dual Core 2.0GHz or equivalent processor, 2GB System RAM, 6GB free HDD Space, Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 512 MB of RAM, DirectX compatible sound card, Internet access for Steam activation

of course we all know required specs can be about as bogus as can be (*caugh* FSX *caugh*)

I had this problem of the pc having to adjust a few minutes till the game runs smooth waaaaay back on a 500mhz intel whatever with a hand full of ram and an even worse onboard graphics card when I played CS back in the days. same problem here, the specs matched the requirements but the game took a couple minutes (bout 2-3 rounds) till the game ran smooth.

try updating to the latest drivers and if this doesnt work, feed some more ram to the system. cheapest way to increase performance and many a time enough to do.

[chicah 20]

...today I ran around for an hour IRL before I realized I'd been running in a circle (yes, even by checking the map regularly) and I cursed the map when I once again was at the shore of the lake by fort neugard. Hello, I was looking for Ivarstead! I get to the top of one mountain, think "yes, nearly there" and then... Oh damn, that lake again. And even if I cross it or run around it, the mountains on the other side are impossible to climb. Trust me, I spent twenty minutes doing just that. I am too stubborn to give up, so I bet it will take another fifteen minutes before I see sense, fast travel to Whiterun and go the other way around that effing mountain. Or I'll kill Lydia in frustration. And I really don't want to do that. (I've accidentally killed both her and Sven once, annoying, had to go back to the last save point...)

So... Did anyone else actually get to High Hrotghar that way? Because I DO hear it should be possible to access it from the Southern side of the mountain, you even avoid the frost troll and stuff. Or do I need a horse for that? (I always get ALMOST to the top, when I can basically just tilt and see over it, but, DAMN, I'm stuck and have to go all the way back down. Nooooooooo...)

[GMT 389]

I did the normal route Whiterun - Ivarstead - High Hrothar. Altho I must be honest and say it took me 2 attempts to even find that way. I don't know about any other routes. And the frost troll was not that much of a problem either... ok granted, it took me 3 attempts till I finished him off (at like lvl 5 or so, very early at least), but only because I had a plan layed out to do this but failed to make it happen that way, stupid me.

Anyways, I got myself the skyrim guide in pdf format. the essentials alone are almost 400 slides and the actual walkthrough is almost 700. and then comes the maps section... all together almost 1500 slides of material.

looks like i gotta log off from real life for the next 3 years ^^

[Wiecher 192]

You can climb mountains by jumping backwards.

But walking those 7000 steps is worth it, you find some nice stuff.

But is there any way to see what supplies you have to take to the monastery, I forgot, and I can't finish this guys little sidequest.

Something else,

on the way to Ivarstead, there is some guy next to a river singing, but then a sabre-cat appears and bites him to death?

When I went back to my last save, only 1 minute ago, and walked that way again, there was no guy, but a sabre-cat appeared and attacked me instead.

  Edited November 21, 2011 by wiecher  

[suomi2005 52]

Oh I think that I am to at this point in the game going to talk to the Greybeards. I already killed a saber-cat and a troll on the way to the village at the base of the mountain. I also visited a small fortress full of Dark Mages. I bought a horse in Whiterun and it really helped me in the battles but I am so afraid that the horse is gonna get killed.

[Wiecher 192]

Those dark Mages are horrible, I almost got killed by those inside the building itself (the noobs outside are not a problem).

And, at least when you visited the Greybeards, I think, there is a dragon flying above the fort, which comes down to fight when it sees you. It's pretty easy to kill.

[GMT 389]

i have three horses killed already... I quit riding. theres better things to spend the money on plus i think the horses die too fast.

as for the sidequests, have you tried to look in your journal under miscellaneous? sometimes it says which item you gotta get or deliver

[suomi2005 52]

Is there any way you can heal your horses? Oh and I just killed that frost troll on my way up to High Hrothar. I took me few tries but I managed to get up on a rock where it could not reach me and from there I used a flame staff from one of the dark mages to take it down.

[chicah 20]

I am terrified of the dragons. I was a total coward with the first one, hid in the tower sending arrows at it from the door opening - then, when it was almost dead and couldn't fly, I finished it off with three well-placed arrows. I'm on my way to the Greybeards now facing the frost troll, which kills me with TWO strikes. I have some quite powerful fire spells - in scrolls, and I don't know how to learn those spells. Am I not able to yet because my magic level is so low? Do I have to go to Winterhold to learn them? Because it is very annoying, to have some that take 75 health points each second but not being able to use it, stuck with the "8 points a second" which is horribly slow with that troll. Now I even tried to back away and send fire at it while Lydia was fighting it but it just brushed her away and went straight for me. WTH? Do trolls hate high elves too? Everyone else seems to be kind of racist. They're mostly nice, but sometimes (especially when we fight) they yell stuff like "power to Thalos" and "Skyrim for the Nords!" (The high elves call me "sister" and say stuff like "it's good to see a familiar face this far from home".)

Soooo... is there any way I can use that scroll to learn that fire spell? Or do I have to approach the troll differently? I know it should be possible to sneak past it, sneaking by the rocks on the left hand side, but I feel that if I can't deal with THIS, how the hell am I going to kill a DRAGON, right, so I decided to kill this damn frost troll. Does it help using Force on it, I know Force is pretty weak? Should I ditch the flames and use healing instead while hacking at it with a sword, so I won't die? Should I apply a two-hand weapon with much more force in it? I guess I should for the dragon, at least... If I don't kill the troll, is there a chance the dragon will attack it instead? I heard someone had seen a frost troll fighting a dragon right by High Hrothgar. But I suppose it would be a fast fight since the dragon breathes fire. Speaking of, the dragon fire hurts me much less than this freaking troll.

The silliest of all these confessions comes right now: I have avoided using shouts after the dragon fight, fearing that it will attract a dragon... Because they would hear it, right. And understand it. Does anyone know if that happens?

And I got a letter when I entered Whiterun after the dragon fight, from a friend, telling me to go to some cave or whatever where this "friend" would be waiting for me, he claimed he would protect me from those fearing the Dragonborn, but I have a feeling he might not be sincere. Have any of you done that quest?

Oh, and I learned that the things marked off at the map with the... M/opposite Y/fork-icon marked the location of a dragon shout, but I helped this guy clear out a small cave/dungeon (Hillgurd's or something) where there was such a symbol, and no dragon shout there... is this random? If it doesn't mean dragon shout, what else does the symbol mean? Or does it mean "chance of dragon shout"? The other places I have gotten dragon shouts, or know there is one, have that symbol - such as where I did the Companions quest with Farkas, at Bleak Barrow Falls and at high hrothgar, where I know I learn two more Th'um words. There's also such a symbol by the barrows in Ivarstead. Can anyone tell me what is there, a necromancer, vampire, witch, unfriendly (not companions) werewolf? Is there a dragon shout there?

Sorry for asking all these questions, some of the fun is finding out myself, I know - I did walk the entire way from down in the mountains below Fort Neugard to High Hrothgar (okay, then, after messing around below Ivarstead on the map and being stuck in the mountains every time I fast-travelled back to Whiterun and took it from there), and I did discover lots of places - guess I'll fast travel to some of the places later, such as some of the forts I just snuck by and wasn't seen, but still discovered it. I also picked up some side quests. I have to learn to say no. Everything from clearing out the barrows to carrying those supplies up the mountain to helping a random farmer woman get some grapes. Haven't done all of them yet. Did clear out Valtheim Towers on my way to Ivarstead, I love it when I can combine two quests.

I also killed a drug dealing orc and took the drugs anyway. Mohahaha.

[Wiecher 192]

What's the deal with the Valtheim towers anyways.

The bandits say it's a toll road, but there doesn't seem to be any kind of road/path after the second tower across the river? Or am I just blind.

[chicah 20]

They just attacked me, lol, so I thwarted them. They just say that because they're bandits and want your money.

[GMT 389]

chicah

you cant learn spells from scrolls. you can only learn spells from books. to cast spells from scrolls, you gotta equip the scrolls like an item and then you can cast the respective spell as many times as you got it's scroll.

I blasted some fire ward around me, stealth attacked the troll then used the "flamethrower" spell (you know that constant flame you can cast with 8 damage per second) until my magic was empty. by that time i had to drink a few healing potions and thereafter powerattacked the gutts out of the troll with 2 enchanted axes (one had fire damage, dont know what the other had; I got both very very early in game, I think it was loot, I'll check later which axes and look up where I found them). worked pretty well actually. problem is to be quick enough with healing yourself, thats how I failed the first attempts to get past the frost troll

[_marsh_ 1,117]

So I'm at level 19 now, almost 20. However one problem, I really hate my character. I've been holding it off for so long now and I hate him more and more each day. Sadly I'm not on PC so I can't use console commands to change anything. I'm very motivated to start a new game. :|

...no console commands on a console... <_>

  Edited November 24, 2011 by _marsh_  

[Wiecher 192]

A funny story:

I was at Falkreath, and all of a sudden a dragon appears.

It landed right in the middle of the village, and the guards and I started to fight it.

I killed the dragon, and all of a sudden everybody forgot it, and one guard, who was standing right at the dragon skull even said: the guards might get nervous if you walk with your sword like that.

Anyways, there's a giant dragon skeleton in the middle of the town right in front of the jarls longhouse now and nobody seems to care...

Watch the skies, traveler!

So I'm at level 19 now, almost 20. However one problem, I really hate my character. I've been holding it off for so long now and I hate him more and more each day. Sadly I'm not on PC so I can't use console commands to change anything. I'm very motivated to start a new game. :|

...no console commands on a console... <_>

What's wrong with your character then?

[suomi2005 52]

My character has had a arrow stuck trough his head for a pretty long time now, it seems like a glitch and its kinda annoying.

Edit: Oh well! I guess he has to live with a arrow pointing out of his head the rest of his life.

  Edited November 26, 2011 by suomi2005  

[Wiecher 192]

My character has had a arrow stuck trough his head for a pretty long time now, it seems like a glitch and its kinda annoying.

Edit: Oh well! I guess he has to live with a arrow pointing out of his head the rest of his life.

It's a known bug, and I believe you can get rid of it by de-equipping everything, then fast travelling or sleeping.

Or by becoming a werewolf and take beast shape.

But it doesn't really matter: unless you play in 3rd person, you can't see it.