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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 12, 2014 1:21:26 GMT -5
Alrighty, I set up my lizard dude with the only other lizard girl available in the game. Now it's just a matter of getting through the awful Alchemy, Enchanting, and Blacksmithing grind. At least this time I've got a shot at the Companions. I was planning to drop Alchemy, but then I discovered those +150% Smithing potions...yeah, it's actually stronger than Smithing.
Alchemy is turning out to be a pretty good money maker now that I have a good formula to work with: Blue Butterfly Wings + Blue Flowers + Wheat will get you a 400gp potion right at the outset of the game. Throw in a Giant's Toe and it adds 1000gp easy. The butterfly wings are a bit of a pain to get, but if you ever find a place where they spawn in threes, just exit and re-enter that place and they'll respawn over and over again. Banish Daggers is still by far the best, but in my last game, I didn't see them anywhere until I was in my 40s.
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Post by acathala on Jun 14, 2014 9:24:33 GMT -5
I quite like using alchemy with my new Khajit. Canis Root + Imp Stool is pretty nice and gets more effective the higher the level.. Plus my greenhouse at Lakeview Manor is quite useful now that I've got it growing the plants I want.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 14, 2014 12:16:06 GMT -5
It's actually quite sick what you can do with alchemy. My Khajiit thief had a glass bow that dealt 500 points of physical damage. Toss in Marked for Death and you don't even need enchantments.
One of the most powerful potions you can make involves Imp Stool. It's a lingering damage potion that deals something like 15 points/sec. for 20 seconds. I forget the exact formula but I think it includes Skeever Tails and Scathecraw from Dragonborn or Giant's Lichen. Definitely Skeever Tails though. Also note River Betties are the strongest source of poison in the game. It's not a fixed rate. Any Damage Health effect when combined with Betties is usually twice as strong as the next strongest effect (mine deal 150 hp per shot; throw in Deathbells for an added paralysis effect).
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Post by acathala on Jun 16, 2014 10:28:37 GMT -5
I personally favour Imp stool + Canis Root + River Betty. You can collect fish from from a pond, from one of the houses you build.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 16, 2014 11:55:18 GMT -5
That's Hearthfire though, right? Yeah I don't have that.
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Post by acathala on Jun 17, 2014 10:04:02 GMT -5
Yeah I got it when I upgraded to the Legendary version of the game. To be perfectly honest, I don't understand why they didn't add Hearthfire to Dawnguard or Dragonborn. It smacks of greed. Still the gardens, and the greenhouse(You won't really NEED more one greenhouse wing, as the garden space at all three manorhouses is fairly generous, and you can replace plants), are fairly useful. Finally redid the Wolfqueen SL with my Khajit Miamar. Like with my Dunmer Sarajahn, I used Dawnbeaker to decimate Potema's court, later Potema and felt like a badass doing it. It runs a very close second to descending on a Forsworn encampment, whilst using Call Storm, dispensing vengeance.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 17, 2014 14:24:30 GMT -5
My only problem with Call Storm is it hits your followers if you have any, and believe me, an angry Mjoll and Barbas is a big problem.
I found that scroll spell that creates a circle of energy that heals you and dispels any undead to be extremely useful against Potema. That quest in general is a major pain for rogue times because there are a series of scripted areas that automatically dispel Invisibility if you're using it. Very frustrating successfully sneaking up on a major target only to have your pants pulled down by some dumb script.
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Post by acathala on Jun 18, 2014 9:32:35 GMT -5
Does the Power you get from one of the black books that protects your allies from your attacks not work with Call Storm then? I don't really use illusion all that much. Too dependant on perks. As a side-note, I'd forgotten how much of a pain in the arse it was to become Thieves Guildmaster.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 18, 2014 12:24:39 GMT -5
I haven't played Dragonborn yet. Well, I haven't REALLY played it. Ran around a bit, sometimes jump in just to grab some Stalhrim, but I don't plan to play it until I have a character I really like. Wasn't too fond of my mage and thief. We'll see how my fire-breathing berzerker Argonian fares.
Illusion is generally blah but Muffle and Vanish are still generally useful. Muffle saves me a gear slot for Sneak upgrades and a few seconds of invisibility saves me from using too many potions.
I hate those Under New Management quests. I should have finished those before moving on to my Argonian but I just couldn't stand it anymore. I know how to focus them onto the cities you want but still...it was just taking for frickin' ever. Originally I was doing them while traveling between Dark Brotherhood quests (once again, the coolest overall questline in the game), but I managed to finish that off before I finished Thieves Guild quests. Blarg!
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Post by acathala on Jun 19, 2014 10:25:23 GMT -5
The only reason to persist with UNM is for the Fences. Somebody has to be able to afford the stuff you make/obtain right? I enjoyed the DB missions, but I think I enjoyed the Civil War ones more. I have yet to go Stormcloak, but I think I'll wait until a make a Nord.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 19, 2014 14:47:59 GMT -5
Alas, I'm pretty much finished with my rogue character. Stealth just isn't as much fun in Skyrim. The Hood of Nocturnal was oh so much more fun to use, and the Grey Fox storyline in general was so much better. And now that I've discovered the Drunken Huntsman in Whiterun isn't just another tavern, I have more than enough selling opportunities. Throw in that small town at the beginning of the game and you've got something like 8 good merchants available with at least 800gp.
I know in Oblivion they sold the various lairs individually. They were a little pricy at $5 each, but you could always wait for a sale, and unlike the various manors in Hearthfire, every lair had a story and some quest behind it. I loved the wizard's tower, but then, you didn't need crafting tables or forges to craft stuff in Oblivion.
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Post by acathala on Jun 19, 2014 21:00:27 GMT -5
My Dunmer Sarajahn was like a ghost when it came to stealth, ironically my Khajit Miamar not so much. I liked the houses more in Skyrim. Proudspire and the one at Markath being particularly nice. I remember being disappointed that the lairs weren't included on my Oblivion game of the year edition.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 19, 2014 22:31:38 GMT -5
Stealth buffs seem to do it. I've seen some sites that say you should use Muffle over Stealth%, but I noticed a night and day difference between stacking Stealth bonuses and Muffle. Once I started using Stealth, I could walk right up to people in broad daylight. Before then, it was non-sensical. I could be standing directly under a torch with an enemy staring at me and not spotting me, but then he walks into a patch of shadows and I'm behind him...oh! I'm spotted. Blarg.
Unfortunately, I played a bit of Dark Souls with Drem the other day and now I'm having trouble going back to Skyrim. Played it 5 months straight. I guess my Argonian will have to wait a bit.
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Post by acathala on Jun 23, 2014 11:39:39 GMT -5
Did you go either Vampire or Werewolf? I'm only going werewolf with Miamar out of completess to get all the werewolf perks. Probably have to go vampire at some point, but not with Miamar. Redid Anscestral Worship. I've always thought this a fun, if somewhat easy quest. I'm about to do the daedric quest with the Skull of Corruption.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 23, 2014 12:42:57 GMT -5
Neither. Don't have Dawnguard and I never really liked playing as a vampire or werewolf anyway.
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Post by acathala on Jun 24, 2014 11:34:20 GMT -5
I think if you're a guildleader in a time of trouble, you should be very nervous of any hero you keep hearing about. Especially if said hero joins your guild.
I revised my opinion of the Mage's Guild SL to not very good. Also I don't understand why weapons with the banish property are so expensive. Great for when you're selling them though. Any spare weapons I have that are not going to a follower, get that slapped on it and sold.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 24, 2014 14:05:50 GMT -5
Banish is weird. Daedra are awfully rare in this game. Not like Oblivion at all where they could get pretty darn powerful. Some are strong but you so rarely encounter them it doesn't matter. Turn Undead, however, is super useful.
Magic College quest line sucks. It's just a series of fetch quests, a couple of very long generic dungeon delves (Thieves Guild final dungeon was way cooler, and you get to see some side/underboob to boot), and your reward is a mostly useless staff that is required to complete certain boring kill quests, a bizarre summoning device that requires extension research to use it properly, and a "home" that requires at least two screen transitions to reach it. To top it off, the plants in the garden don't seem to regrow. At least they didn't for me after months of revisiting it. Worth joining the college though since it helps lead into Blackreach and a few other cool quests. Getting to max skill level, and their accompanying quests, was not worth it though. In fact, magic in general in Skyrim sucks ass. At least in the previous games you could make your own spells, and with enough experimentation, could create some pretty cool effects.
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Post by acathala on Jun 26, 2014 5:32:18 GMT -5
I think one of my major gripes with the Mage Guild quests is that most of them need very little actual magic. So what's your favourite house? Mine is Proudspire. I would love to live in a house like that for real. The one in Markath is also fairly good. Never really enjoyed Honeyside that much.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 26, 2014 11:17:24 GMT -5
Sadly, I haven't gotten around to seeing any of the other houses besides Breezehome yet. I've got a nice thing going there, it's very convenient, and all of the merchants are nicely gathered around the house. Whiterun is also the only city I can think of featuring two blacksmiths in it, and a run to Riverwood is quick and easy if necessary. Enchanting is a pain in Whiterun, but you can actually quick travel directy to Dragonsreach and I find myself enchanting in bursts anyway. Anise's Cabin is also readily available if I need it.
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Post by acathala on Jun 26, 2014 20:12:42 GMT -5
I take if you've not done all the Thane quests yet then? Pretyy sure you have to buy Honeyside before becoming Thane of Riften. Completed Dark Brotherhood quests. Mostly good quests with good unique rewards, especially if bonus objectives were done. Quite liked Nazir's snark as well. However it was fairly obvious Astrid was going to betray you.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 26, 2014 21:45:58 GMT -5
That image of getting close to a corpse will never leave my mind.
There is also a version of the Dark Brotherhood quests where you can kill them all. Just kill Astrid in the shack and then you'll get the option to report the event to a guard.
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Post by acathala on Jun 27, 2014 2:59:06 GMT -5
Yeah, played through both. The reward for destroying the DB is so not worth it. Did you fulfil the Emperor's last request? I did, mainly because I didn't like the slimey Breton whom hired us. Did you kill Commander Moro?
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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 27, 2014 4:19:30 GMT -5
I was able to kill Moro from clear across the docks with an arrow, lol. To be fair, he really wasn't a bad guy. He was just doing his job and then the DB killed his son. And aside from whatever happened with the elves, the Emperor didn't seem like a bad guy. In the end, all the villains were on the player's side.
So yeah, I killed the employer, heh.
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Post by acathala on Jun 27, 2014 9:56:03 GMT -5
Moro was an interesting moral choice, and it was purely a choice which had no bearing on the mission. I left him alive, though I suspect his life would have been pure hell, after failing to protect the Emperor. He may have preferred to have been killed in the line of duty. So not killing him may have turned out to be not the merciful choice. Oh did you remember to pick up Windshear from the Emperor's ship?
So whom did you sacrifice to Boethiah? I chose Eola.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jun 27, 2014 12:37:47 GMT -5
I didn't really want to kill Moro, but then I saw him on the docks and I wondered if I could hit him from the bank of the river. Turns out you can, heh.
I didn't know about Windshear. It's on my list of unique weapons but the description for it is craptacular. All they say is that it's a "unique" weapon which often signifies it just looks cool. Doesn't say anything about the enchantment. Sounds game breakingly powerful, but not sure how to fit it into my assassin build.
I haven't done Boethiah's quest yet. Reward sounds warrior'ish and I was saving that for my current character. I got sidetracked by Dark Souls and a free week of WoW.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 2, 2014 16:58:08 GMT -5
Finally got to do some of the Black Books. Found them in my explorer's run but I left them for later. First truly cool setting I've encountered in Skyrim and easily one of the coolest areas in all of Elder Scrolls. Granted, I haven't played much of ESO.
Is there any way to just read the books? I'd like to know what they actually say, but all I see is guides for completing the quests. Nothing on what is actually written in the books.
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Post by acathala on Jul 3, 2014 15:40:49 GMT -5
As far as I'm aware, no. I do like reading some of the normal books though. A pity Kodiak's journal was bugged though.
Speaking of settings, where would you set the next ES game?
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 3, 2014 18:12:47 GMT -5
Blarg. If you had asked me before ESO, I would have had an answer, but now that we have ESO you can see pretty much every province in the game. There is a good chance we'll see off-continent lands too. I was hoping Obsidian would do another spin-off ES game like they did with New Vegas, and I thought a spin-off title would be a chance to do something like Elswyr or Blackmarsh, but so many big corporations are so focus group centric these days it's unlikely they'd set an entire game among cat and lizard people. I'll bet we'll see something safe like a remake of High Rock. Maybe throw in a trip to Orsinium as an expansion or something. I hear it's a very small province.
I'd love to see Akavir though.
Right now I'm looking to complete a set of Nordic armor. I don't like the helmet, but I like the rest of the set. Really don't get why platemail crafting is set in the light armor branch.
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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 4, 2014 1:00:55 GMT -5
Well, I've just gotten into the Companions questline and have just had my first taste of being a werewolf.
They suck. Seriously.
Okay, so Skyrim werewolves are tri-cool, and it was totally neat at first pouncing on people and throwing them around with my claws and stuff like that, but I'm playin gat Lv.40 and a SINGLE arrow takes half my health, and a single weapon strike takes my health all the way down to a sliver. Yeah, sure, the enemy runs in fear from me, but unless I'm perfect they kill me lickity-split. I wish they better balanced the transformative abilities for higher levels. Guess I'm supposed to not power up before doing all the quests, heh.
Not sure why EVERY race becomes a werewolf. The standard human races, sure, but the other races should become something else. Argonians should turn into badass dragon like were-creatures, Khajiit were-tigers, and elves should become deadra-like.
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Post by acathala on Jul 4, 2014 4:49:16 GMT -5
I forget if you have Dawnguard or not, but that fixes the werewolf quite a bit. You get DR based on level, as well as perk tree which advances based on how many people you've chomped. In Dawnguard, being a werewolf is a much better exerience. Though I admit I haven't used it much since getting all the perks. Mainly because I find it a pain having to go back for loot. Personally I was hoping for a return to Morrowind for some of that Dunmer/Argonian conflict. I guess ESO makes that moot sadly.
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