[Gaming] Elder Scrolls 5 - Dawnguard is HERE!

When I want to recharge weapons on the PC version, I'm only getting to pick 3 gems. Of course they're the high end gems as opposed the the lower gems I"d like to use. Am I missing something?

Thanks
 
When I want to recharge weapons on the PC version, I'm only getting to pick 3 gems. Of course they're the high end gems as opposed the the lower gems I"d like to use. Am I missing something?

Thanks
They need to have souls in them. In the inventory, they'll have in brackets next to them the type of soul that they're holding, and if "selected" the long description will say "filled with <blah> soul" or "Empty" near the bottom. You can't recharge with empty Soul Gems. You can find both type of each "size" of gem on the mage merchants (court wizards, or the College at Winterhold), or often on general merchants as well.

To get souls, kill monsters while they have the "soul trap" effect on them, via the Conjuration spell Soul Trap, or via weapons that say "if monster is killed within X seconds, traps their soul."
 

Dave

Staff member
I want to know how NR is doing with his game! Or if we'll ever see him again due to his being too busy shouting hunters off of cliffs...
 
Getting kills with unrelenting shout is one of my favorite aspects of the game...

I love taking forts, and gathering 4 and more enemy soldiers on the keep's walls... the Fus Ro Da! they go flailing all akimbo off the edge of the wall.

I did it once to 2 daedra and I lost one of the bodies. So I had to wait 2 more game days to come back and farm the final heart for my weapons upgrade.
 
They need to have souls in them. In the inventory, they'll have in brackets next to them the type of soul that they're holding, and if "selected" the long description will say "filled with <blah> soul" or "Empty" near the bottom. You can't recharge with empty Soul Gems. You can find both type of each "size" of gem on the mage merchants (court wizards, or the College at Winterhold), or often on general merchants as well.

To get souls, kill monsters while they have the "soul trap" effect on them, via the Conjuration spell Soul Trap, or via weapons that say "if monster is killed within X seconds, traps their soul."
I've got plenty soul gems , petty on up with souls, *i have a soul trap bow* I'd usually have 20-40 gems on me when I'd get ready to PL enchanting, not too mention buying the filled ones from the vendors. I just wish the list was scrollable, so I could pick which gem I want to use, now that my enchanting is at 100, being able to blow a bunch of petty's thru common stones would be better than getting to pick from 3 of my best ones.
 
I've got plenty soul gems , petty on up with souls, *i have a soul trap bow* I'd usually have 20-40 gems on me when I'd get ready to PL enchanting, not too mention buying the filled ones from the vendors. I just wish the list was scrollable, so I could pick which gem I want to use, now that my enchanting is at 100, being able to blow a bunch of petty's thru common stones would be better than getting to pick from 3 of my best ones.
You have to scroll down to see the rest of your gems.
 
Alright, now that I have Skyrim for the PC, can anyone suggest some mods for it? I don't really want to get too heavily involved until I can add some stuff to it.
 
Go to Skyrim Nexus, download their UI which makes mod installation a breeze. You download off their website and it installs automatically.

Here's a screenshot of what I got running. I removed some nice that weren't stable yet but these ones are awesomesauce.


Untitled.jpg


There are a lot more mods out there but for now, that's what I got. I haven't played in 2 weeks....
 
I've decided my next character will focus on Illusion. I want to cause entire towns to be gripped with terror and attack each other. I shall be called The Scarecrow. If anyone notices me I'll just cast Calm on them and then backstab them with a dagger.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Archery is really fun when you can abuse skyrim's NPC pathing. I've found a place or two in Whiterun where the guards can't do much more than glare at me angrily.
 
Ok guys and gals, I have a confession to make. I bought myself a copy of Skyrim off of Steam Christmas night, I've played it for about 20 hours or so, playing various characters, trying to get a good feel for the balance of the game and what balance of heavy armor vs. light armor and one handed weapons vs. two handed, archery vs. spells, etc. makes the best character and I have to admit... I just don't get it. I don't get why everyone is all slobbering all over Bethesda's junk about how awesome this game is. Yeah, it's beautiful - and I have a computer capable of running it at pretty high graphics. Yeah, the sound track is good - and I have a computer with a nice stereo surround system. But the game play itself, the immersion, the questing, the blacksmithing and other crafting, balance, I just don't understand why this is being lauded as "teh bestest game evar."

Am I missing something? Does the game get significantly better after you get your character up to level 15 or higher? The highest I've managed is level 12. I die constantly. I'm wearing the best heavy armor I can find in game, but I can't improve the armor without stealing steel and or/dwarven metal ingots and having to pay a fine or go to jail; I have a decent weapon - but it's not great and again, can't improve it without stealing ingots; I have the restoration track trained pretty high up, but if I'm in the middle of combat and getting my ass kicked and I don't have any potions, it doesn't matter how much healing I cast on myself, I'm gonna die. Where the hell is the fun in getting your ass kicked over and over no matter what you do? At this rate, I'm probably going to hit Fry's Electronics for a new cooling pad for my wife's laptop and a couple copies of SW:ToR and never play Skyrim again.
 
Neither do I?

Edit: I mean, if I could figure out why I keep getting my ass handed to me by random bandits and frost sabre cats and horkers and well, dragons; I could fix the problem. As it is, I'll clear a cave or set of towers just fine, but then I'll head off to another quest or another area and come up against one mob and just get iced. And forget about going up against any casters - I'm fuckin' toast.
 
If you're getting your ass kicked over and over in a game as easy as Skyrim is (pre level 40s) then you've got problems kiddo.

It isn't the game's fault and I can guarantee you that the people having fun with the game probably didn't die once pre lvl 30.
 
bit of advice, make some money in game. Personally I make several trips to each dungeon I clear and carry back ALL the gear, then I load everything that I can't sell into the barrels outside the Whiterun Blacksmith. Then I go back to the barrel every 2 game days and sell more. Figure out who buys what. Don't be afraid to buy ore and ingots, it is a big drain on your resources but worth it.

Or just learn the console cheat command to give yourself gold.
 
If you're toasted by casters, try hiring the mage in Riften, he's pretty strong and helped me a LOT to conquer a bunch of frigging casters who were just wiping the floor with me...

And for the weapons... Just play the game as it comes, don't force too much on it, enjoy what it gets you into... I'm approaching this game quite differently than I usually do - I just let things happen. Unless I die, I don't use savestates to just look what happened... This game is so incredibly huge, I don't care if I miss on some content, if I don't try every single possibility that is given to me... As it is so huge, it allows me to just become a part of this world, playing as I seem fit for the role I picked up...

And just like in real life, where I cannot be everything at the same time either, but sticking to certain descisions and happenings, the game unfolds its charm to me.

Kinda difficult to explain what I mean, but the last time something like that happened was with Gothic I and II...

Btw... Already 45 hrs in the game, and just completed about 8 Main Storyquests... How many mainstory-quests are there?
 

Dave

Staff member
Do NOT spend all your time crafting! I can't stress this enough. If you do you gain a shitload of levels without doing anything to your own combat skills...which means you get waxed in a fight. Sure you'll have some great potions or the ability (if not the materials) to craft some awesome stuff, but that doesn't help if 20 levels are crafting and the monsters are all on steroids.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Ok guys and gals, I have a confession to make. I bought myself a copy of Skyrim off of Steam Christmas night, I've played it for about 20 hours or so, playing various characters, trying to get a good feel for the balance of the game and what balance of heavy armor vs. light armor and one handed weapons vs. two handed, archery vs. spells, etc. makes the best character and I have to admit... I just don't get it.
Your problem is you're not sticking with anything. For the first part of the game, you REALLY need to concentrate hard on specializing in combat. If you're a melee user, you work that sword/axe/shield/armor HARD. If you're a magic user, you pump destruction like there's no tomorrow. If you're a stealth stabber/archer, you do nothing but that. Every time you level, you spend your perks offensively if possible, and on your brand of armor (heavy/light) if not. You can dick around with smithing and enchanting once you get a good foundation in combat skills, and yes, your might starts to take off exponentially around level 20-25 or so.

Be aware as well, that this is not an mmo. There is very little dicerolling going on. You hit and do damage, or not, by the skill of your fingers. It's not like WoW where you just pick a target then mash buttons every time their timer is up. You have to watch your health, and manage your majicka/stamina carefully, and for god's sake when they attack you GERROUDADAWAY. Don't be shy about hiding behind a rock to get a quick breather, and always, always stock up on healing potions of whatever flavor you can find and when you get down to half DRINK till you're full again. Remember to go BEHIND STUFF vs ranged attackers while you get your wind back.

Don't worry too much about improving your stuff, it doesn't really make that much of a difference until you unlock the mastery for the given material, and even then, you need high smithing to get the full benefit, and as Dave said, crafting your way up levels can hurt you early in the game. Spend your time CHOPPING UP FLESH, and spend your points on increasing damage. When you can't increase damage, put the points in your armor, and if you use a shield, blocking. Don't neglect that first armor perk, every point you put there decreases the damage you take by a LOT. To increase your armor skill, you'll have to let something beat on you that isn't trivial, though, so unless you've got a lot of spare health potions it will probably go up a lot slower than your offensive skills.

When in doubt, FUS RO DAH. And don't put off doing that quest that gets you the third word of that either. That shout, at full power, is both a life saver and a game changer. All too often I forgot about unrelenting force.. but it will literally save your ass when it's getting beat to hell and back. FRD and run away a while.

Oh, and one last tip... when you've finished killing people and are low health, don't potion, hit T and just wait around for 1 hour. Everything full. Yay. Saves on potions for when you really need them - when you're getting the shit kicked out of you by a dwemer centurion-bot 3 times your size and CAN'T stand around healing.
 
My thief play style always has issues with rooms of 3 or more mobs. Especially if one is in steel or better armor. Except for the thief I created that used a two handed sword.
Added at: 20:58
It would also be nice to get one combat and one non-combat perk each time you level.
 
OK, so I gave it another shot after getting home and reading some of these helpful tips. Apparently my mistake was attempting to create a balanced character that could both deal damage with a one handed weapon and heal myself with a one handed spell; and trying to balance ranged attacks with melee attacks. Just going with a straight up, two-handed hammer wielding orc in heavy armor (and now that I know that the option to rest by pressing 'T' even exists) I've managed to play for several hours with no deaths. Now I can actually see some worth to this game that I dropped $60 for. Thank you.
 
Top