ELDER SCROLLS OMNIBUS THREAD

[Eivion]

9 minutes ago, J.T. said:

So far, the only thing I hate about this game is the way the new Creators Club quests are introduced.  Couriers just magically finding and passing missives onto me that are stuck in my inventory until I complete the quest is kinda lazy.  It was better when I just discovered this stuff on my own. 

If you want to give me hints about new quest content, toss me a marker in Miscellaneous until I go talk to the targeted quest giver.  Don't jam up my main quest queue with a bunch of crazy shit.

Yeah the introduction for Creation Club content is somethign I've heard was never too great. There is some stuff that you can just discover. All the alternate armors are things you find out about via small notes in various taverns, jails, etc. in towns.

[BrianS81177]

I believe with the new anniversary edition, they removed all the auto start stuff for the CC content and you have to discover it yourself 

[J.T.]

12 hours ago, BrianS81177 said:

I believe with the new anniversary edition, they removed all the auto start stuff for the CC content and you have to discover it yourself 

Nope.   I'm playing the Anniversary edition and a lot of the quests auto-start.  If there is a setting that allows you to turn off auto-start, I haven't seen it.

Edited February 21, 2022 by J.T.

[RIPPA]

The CC creator folks claimed they turned it off

So maybe it isn't CC stuff that is showing up for you???

[Ramo2653]

On 2/19/2022 at 12:22 PM, Contentious C said:

I always treated shouts like Animal Allegiance - really, every found-in-game shout but Aura Whisper and Become Ethereal - like, "aw, shit, this was a crappy word wall, I will keep my dragon souls, thanks."  I didn't know that one did a single thing worth doing.

I'm pretty sure it's the only useful part of that shout. I'm sure there's a YouTube playthrough of someone using animals to beat the game but I'm not that guy.

On 2/19/2022 at 8:44 PM, J.T. said:

Holy shit.  It took FOREVER to clear the Faldar's Tooth bandit fortress, but I am now one more step closer to claiming the sword, Bloodthirst.  I don't really need the sword as I am dual wielding a Superior quality Blade's sword (a katana) and a Superior quality Elven dagger and my Sneak Attack crit perks are through the roof.  I tend not to use most magical weapons because I don't want to lug around a million Soul Gems to keep the weapons charged.

If you enchant enough gear to reduce the cost of destruction magic by 100%, then you won't need to recharge those weapons.

God I love this game.

[J.T.]

13 hours ago, Ramo2653 said:

If you enchant enough gear to reduce the cost of destruction magic by 100%, then you won't need to recharge those weapons.

The trade-off of investing mostly in Stealth skills is that I don't have the points to burn in magic skills.  The plus side is that my Backstabs are nearly one hit kills even on the beefiest of humanoid enemies and I am nigh undetectable when crouched and hiding in the shadows.

Edited February 22, 2022 by J.T.

[J.T.]

Wow, the game sure has gotten stingy with gems since the update.  I can't mine Flawless Amethysts to save my life.  Now I have to get into the practice of saving before I mine ore veins.

[J.T.]

Finished Laid to Rest last night.  Such a sad quest.  RIP Helgi.  You and your mother have been avenged.

Spoiler

Decided what the fuck and started the quest to see if I could tackle vampires before starting Dawnguard.  I did pretty good, but probably would've been better off waiting until I had the Bow of Auriel.  

Used dirty Khajiit tactics (bow sniping and backstabs) to pick off the Thralls and eventually forced Morvarth to flee after putting four or five arrows in his chest.  I had enough health potions to outlast Morvath and his final vampire helper.  I got the vampirism sickness during the fight but had enough Mudcrab Chitin and Vampire Dust to craft a Cure Disease potion at the Alchemy Lab in Morvath's Lair.

Totally forgot about Morvath's boot fetish.  There were like tons of shoes everywhere.  I'm kinda bummed that I cannot upgrade Morvath's Boots so I will probably destroy them for the Sneak enchantment once I get Nightingale Armor.  

If you are going to do this quest, I highly suggest talking to the townspeople, especially Hroggar and Alva.  Alva is a vampire, but you can find her at the inn at night and she has rather suspect dialogue. 

I enjoyed the uneasy feeling it gave prior to starting the quest.

You can save Hroggar by using a spell in the Calm line or a poison with the Calm or Fear effect to turn him passive or make him flee before heading down to claim Alva's journal.  There is also a way to spare Alva and eventually marry her, but I didn't want to head down that rabbit hole.

Returned to Morthal just in time for a dragon attack.  Killed the dragon and the thugs hired by a Bandit Chief to rough me up rushed to look on in awe at my handywork.  I used that opportunity to backstab them all before they could attack me.

Now I need to save money to build the mansion near Morthal that is part of the Hearthfire DLC.  It is in the middle of a spawn zone where Bandits, Giants, and Hoarkers show up with some regularity, so I won't be moving Lucia or my wife-to-be to that house unless my wife is a badass like Aela or Mjoll.

I love this game so much.

Edited February 23, 2022 by J.T.

[J.T.]

Sawmill owners sure do take their sweet fucking time getting to work.  Why can't I just buy logs from the mills at Riverwind or Ivarstead?

Anyway, I built the Small House configuration of Winstad Manor and had to rescue my housecarl because he got jumped on the way to my steading. 

I need to read up on the Hearthfire DLC.  I know I have clay deposits and stone quarries near my property, but there is also a fucking barrow nearby and the woods are full of Frostbite Spiders.  I am not so much worried about me as I am about my housecarl if I send him on an errand.

Edited February 24, 2022 by J.T.

[Ramo2653]

You can also just pay your housecarl to grab supplies for you if you don't feel like mining stone or clay or going to the lumber mill yourself.

[J.T.]

10 hours ago, Ramo2653 said:

You can also just pay your housecarl to grab supplies for you if you don't feel like mining stone or clay or going to the lumber mill yourself.

That's true, but I also enjoy going out on the road for the random encounters.  I missed like three because I decided to follow Delphine to slay the dragon at Kynesgrove rather than meet her there (I hate the bug where she goes in ahead and starts the encounter before you arrive) and we rushed through several random encounters on the way.

I think we ran by the Imperial couple heading to Solitude for the wedding, some poor sap lying dead on the side of the road who undeniably had a letter or message on his body, and the traveling Vigilants of Sterndarr.

Edited February 25, 2022 by J.T.

[J.T.]

Bah.  Encountered a bug where Lucia turns invisible if you give her a child's doll and does not reappear.  Had to revert to an earlier save.  She only gets dresses and sweets as presents from now on unless she asks me for gold to spend at the market.

I also finished the Grey Fox's hood quest.  I forgot that the end of the quest takes place in the same barrow where the Disarm shout is found. Bonus!

On the way, I completed Delayed Burial and got the farmer to help Cicero the Jester knowing that the crazy bastard was Dark Brotherhood and will kill the farmer and his wife later on.

Had to be done if I am going to join the Brotherhood and maybe take them out.

At some point I need to stop making the Thieves' Guild tons of money and go do the quest for Mehrune's Razor now that I've got the invitation to the museum in Dawnstar. Dual wielding Dawnfang / Dustfang and Mehrune's Razor will be fun.

Edited February 25, 2022 by J.T.

[Kevin Wilson]

6 hours ago, J.T. said:

Bah.  Encountered a bug where Lucia turns invisible if you give her a child's doll and does not reappear.  Had to revert to an earlier save.  She only gets dresses and sweets as presents from now on unless she asks me for gold to spend at the market.

I also finished the Grey Fox's hood quest.  I forgot that the end of the quest takes place in the same barrow where the Disarm shout is found. Bonus!

On the way, I completed Delayed Burial and got the farmer to help Cicero the Jester knowing that the crazy bastard was Dark Brotherhood and will kill the farmer and his wife later on.

Had to be done if I am going to join the Brotherhood and maybe take them out.

At some point I need to stop making the Thieves' Guild tons of money and go do the quest for Mehrune's Razor now that I've got the invitation to the museum in Dawnstar. Dual wielding Dawnfang / Dustfang and Mehrune's Razor will be fun.

I LOVE Skyrim but it cracks me up how buggy it still is. Like can they not fix these things. Although I do think its funny that fans (myself included) have just accepted the bugs and issues as part of the game's charm.

[J.T.]

10 hours ago, Kevin Wilson said:

I LOVE Skyrim but it cracks me up how buggy it still is. Like can they not fix these things. Although I do think its funny that fans (myself included) have just accepted the bugs and issues as part of the game's charm.

There are a lot of dialogue and pathing bugs.  If you go into the Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun at the right moment, the patients who are supposed to be lying down will be standing up on their tiptoes.

I'm in Solitude tracking down the mysterious buyer of the meaderies for the Thieves' Guild and got sidetracked.  I forgot how much fun The Mind of Madness quest was.  Such an easy Daedric artifact to earn and Sheogorath is fucking awesome.  I don't think I'll be using the Wabbajack on a regular basis though.  I'll keep it in my manor near Morhal which is still under construction now that I have converted the Small House into an entryway to my Main Hall.

The Hearthfire crib I am building is destroying my Riften househunting fund.  I have to do more smash and grabs to make more gold.  If anything good is coming from Hearthfire, it's that all of this house and furniture building is beefing up my Smithing.

Edited February 26, 2022 by J.T.

[J.T.]

I am a shitty thief.  It has taken me this long to figure out that the windows of the small mausoleum in Riftin are in the shape of the Shadowglyph (Theves' Cant for you D&D types) for the word "Safe" as is the button you press on the coffin that give you access to the secret entrance to the Cistern.

The Shadowglyph for "treasure" can be found near some of the chests in various barrows.  You learn new shit about this game every time you play.

I have enough gold saved up to buy the hideout in the Ratway which means that I will have to steal the Golden Dragon Claw from Lucien at the Riverwood Trader not too long after I found it for him.  Poor bastard, but the shelves in my trophy room cannot have empty spaces.

Edited February 26, 2022 by J.T.

[J.T.]

Got the big betrayal mission over and met with Karliah.  Happy that I am now on the road to redeeming the Thieves' Guild and becoming a Nightingale.

Also ran Unfathomable Depths because I got tired of the crazy, ranting Argonian wandering around Riften Fishery and remembered everything I hate and love about Dwemer ruins.  Scrapping automatons is a prime source of smithing materials and soul gems but holy fuck, the shitty lighting is perfect for obscuring traps to the point where not even Night Eye can spot them all the time.  I hate carrying around Torches, but I almost have to when I am investigating Dwemer ruins.

I also hate Dwemer ruins because I feel compelled to grab as much Dwemer crap as I can.  I got cups, bowls, and pans for the dining room table in my main hail, but I could use a couple more plates.

Speaking of my dining room at the Hearthfire place, my goddamned trained Skeever, Skritch, encountered a pathing bug and knocked everything off of the main table.  He now stays in the cellar where he can do no harm.  Thistle, the rabbit, is still at Breezehome.  I had to tell Lucia that she could not keep the wild fox that followed her home.  We've got an intelligent bunny roaming the house, kid.

I also did Brand-Shei a solid and recovered the journal containing cluse about his heritage from a shipwreck near Winterhold.  Escaped two snow bears only to be nearly killed by Bandits.  I almost felt guilty accepting his reward since I am responsible for getting him put in jail.

Edited February 26, 2022 by J.T.

[J.T.]

Backtracked and completed Hendraheim and The Rising Dead to get them out of my quest queue. 

Rising Dead is a nice prelude to more stuff and the necro cult makes for a perfectly fine adversary.  I hate it that the zombies are more prevalent at night since I am a Thief and business hours start when darkness falls.

Hendraheim is kick ass house.  It is nicely designed and well stocked with stuff.  The backstory of the quest is also awesome and pretty sad.  The owner of the hall, Eydvina Shield-Hearth, apparently killed someone she cared for who fought for the opposing side during the Skyrim Civil War and so she's challenged the Dragonborn to ritual combat to atone for her deed and be allowed into Sovngarde.  Suicide by hero.  Tragic, really.  I fought her clean and she nearly beat my ass.  I used healing potions, but did not resort to poisons.   I tried to be as honorable as a Khajiit can be.

The house is visually stunning but mechanics wise, I kinda hate it.  It has the same display racks for iconic game items as Shadowfoot Sanctum (ie. the Dragon Priest masks, the Dragon Claw keys, etc.) so this house is better suited to Warriors or Mages.  Most Thief players as far as I can tell from the Skyrim boards, buy Shadowfoot as soon as they can. 

The second reason I hate Hendraheim is because you can't use a follower to steward the place.  I took Lydia there and once she was inside, I only had the options of telling her to wait where she stood or dismissing her from my service.  If you are a horrible person, you might leave one of your Pets of Skyrim alone by itself.  I am assuming you can move your wife and child there, but one of the houses in the holds is probably safer.  They're not like the Hearthfire houses that are located near spawn zones and subject to bandit or dragon attacks.

Edited February 28, 2022 by J.T.

[J.T.]

After a brief hiatus, I have given into the grind a bit.  My misadventures in Markarth have finally come to an end for the time being.  The King in Rags is dead and I have made my peace with the Silver-Bloods.  I have also recovered the Mace of Molag Bol as well as the Sanguine Rose. 

It was a shame about Moira, but now I can rob her sister, Anais's house and only expect possible retribution from thugs rather than Hagravens.

I've pulled off enough jobs for the Thieves' Guild to receive and complete the Confidence Jobs from Whiterun and Markarth.  I did Ulfrid Battle-Born a solid in the Whiterun job, so I am definitely going to have to break Thorald Grey-mane out of prison to achieve balance.

I got the quest for the Staff of Hasedoki while hunting elk for Large Antlers for my manor.  I have been looking for an excuse to raid Brittleshin Pass so that the trip to Falkreath runs a bit smoother, so here we go.

[Contentious C]

I have never murdered an NPC harder or more consistently than Thonar Silver-Blood.  Every damn time that quest ends, he learns how to fly off that waterfall.  That, I think, is where I learned the best way to Push shout was at someone's feet, since it actually bounces off the ground while traveling and gives them lift.

[J.T.]

Thonar is a certified douche, but Cidnha Mines is packed with Foresworn.  It's not like he didn't put the right people in prison.

Besides, it's the Guard that's the real problem with Markarth.  Those soldiers are worse than the ones in Riften.

Edited March 9, 2022 by J.T.

[Contentious C]

Luckily, there's a guard respawn point right outside the palace, so whenever I get done visiting Calcelmo for the latest dumb garbage he's whining about, that guard respawns in the air and falls to his death.  Serves him right.

[J.T.]

Chance's Folly used to be my favorite in-game book, but now it might be Alduin is Real.  AKATOSH AND ALDUIN ENT THE SAME THING~!  IMPERIALS ARE IDIUTTS~!

[AaronMLuke]

Start to really dive into Skyrim. Demanded, imperial siding with the Storm Cloaks. Harbinger of the companions, kept the wolf form though, very good in tight spots. Currently  working my way through all other guilds. I will be the Wilson Fisk of skyrim. Love this game.

[J.T.]

My current Khajiit build is tailored more for stealth so I blow through most of the Thieves' Guild quests, and I could probably complete the Companions questline as a dexterity fighter / archer. 

Unless I am playing a Breton Mage or (God forbid) an Altmer Spellsword, I never bother with learning a large number of spells, so I'd be a crap member of the College of Winterhold in my current incarnation.

Right now, as long as I have Healing, Healing Hands, and one or two Illusion spells, I'm good.

Edited March 10, 2022 by J.T.

[J.T.]

The creator that designed Skyrim:Guests for Dinner - The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP) can eat a bag of shit.