Severan's back in limbo for the time being. The atronach just isn't the right sign for him. I can see the benefits for a non-caster or a heavy magic user, but a hybrid character just doesn't get the spikes of magicka usage that require a large magicka pool. When a stealthy magic user is choosing not to cast detect life or nighteye to conserve magicka for a fight in the near future, they simply aren't set up right.

While it did let me find a better balance between bow and destruction magic, neither I nor Severan was happy with the setup. So he's taking a break from Cyrodiil, and I'm going to roll up a Mercenary Spellsword; because it's been too long since I played a character that could really go toe-to-toe with the enemy.

This post has been edited by Callidus Thorn: May 9 2016, 09:49 PM

Edit: Yeah, right. As if I could keep this guy alive for more than a couple of days

This post has been edited by Callidus Thorn: May 15 2016, 08:00 PM

Baurus always guesses your class wrong! It is a rite of passage, like the bath in the lake after leaving the sewer. I recall there was even a topic at the old Beth forums about how Barurus guessed your class wrong.

Don´t blame Baurus. He only works with what we give him




#DoNotScornBaurus


Edit: Lothran has left Silverhome and is currently dungeon diving in the eastern area along Panther River. He has done a cave not previously done and re-done another one. He´s on a necro/vampire hunt

This post has been edited by mirocu: May 15 2016, 07:10 PM

Well, following a pm about the rate I go through characters in this thread, I've decided, as you can see, to scrap Caliban. An unarmourd magic/melee character in my hands isn't going to last any time at all, so there's no point writing about him here. Or playing him at all really, for that matter. So instead I set out trying to make a more unkillable character, one that might be able to survive not only Cyrodiil, but myself as well

The end result?

Baltis Drethan; a Dunmer War Wizard. He's heavily armoured, fights with a two-handed sword, and primarily employs destruction, conjuration, alteration and restoration.

Thus far he's been carving himself a reputation in the Arena with a steel claymore, and a surprising lack of difficulty. I actually checked the gameplay options to make sure the difficulty was set to default.

The really surprising thing is that the vague idea I'd had for the Mercenary Spellsword crept into this guy, giving him plenty of character. I'm actually contemplating turning his story into a fanfic while Severan's on a break.

This post has been edited by Callidus Thorn: May 16 2016, 07:39 PM

Well, you can´t go wrong with a Dunmer.



At least that´s what Lothran tells me

Heh, I'm similarly biased when it comes to Dunmer

Baltis has now won six fights in the Arena, the sixth being against a particularly dangerous Khajiit with a silver battleaxe. That was a close fight that Baltis barely survived, and victory secured his promotion to the rank of Bloodletter. It also left him so tired that he put off departing the Imperial City for the day, and slept for most of it instead.

He's now in Skingrad, having hacked his way through a dozen stunted scamps and conjurers in a brief detour through Ceyatatar, hitting level two in the process, and has joined the Mages Guild.

He arrived in Skingrad as a storm was beginning, meaning he had the fantastically appropriate experience of his first sight of Skingrad Castle being accompanied by dark stormclouds and a roll of thunder

Wow, Baltis' arrival at Skingrad sure sounds appropriately spooky!

Oooh, this is the perfect way to reach Skingrad

Heh, it really was.

And to follow it up? A day of zombie fighting! They took a surprising amount of killing, since he was only using his sword(he thinks he's a little out of practice), but only took a single hit from them. Erthor was duly grateful, and inevitably annoying, though only briefly.

There was also one really cool moment on the way to Bleak Flats Cave when Baltis side-stepped a leaping rat as he drew his sword, turned, and slashed it out of the air. So if nothing else, this guy's got some style

I think a two handed sword can be great fun when used nimbly and maneuvering right at the sweet spot where you can reach foes but they can't reach you.

Very early on, Acadian 'tested' Oblivion before allowing Buffy to play. I recall backing up while swinging continuously with that two hander as zombies advanced. Killed 'em all and they never laid a rotting finger on Acadian.

I love two handed swords because of how you get in that sweet spot of having your enemy in range of your sword, but being out of range of their own weapon. Like Acadian, it takes a lot of backing up, but once you get the hang of it you don't need armor, because you will never be hit. The addition of bashing in Skyrim just makes it even more effective, since you can bash to break up your opponent's attacks.

Varla and the sweet spot

Persephone in Skyrim

The really odd thing to me about these two vids is that the sword action in the Oblivion vid looked more realistic (to me) than the swordplay in the Skyrim vid!

Sundas, 1:21 pm, Frost Fall 14, 3rd Era 434

Joan of Arkay is Level 4, and in the Office of Imperial Commerce right now. Since she's devoted to Arkay, and Arkay is all about death, rebirth, etc. Joan has been devoted to the banishing of undead. She's in Vinicia's office because I'm RP'ing that Vinicia has some sort of library, which is already extant due to my other characters' involvement at mapping various areas. Lady Saga was especially involved with mapping stuff, since she visited more caves, forts, ruins (etc.) than my others.

What Joanie is doing is trying to find areas near Battlehorn Castle, which is west of Chorrol, where undead lie. She already has been to Wendir and Fort Carmala, but what other places are there near Battlehorn? This is where I get my excuse to go on UESP and look them up, pretending that Joan is raising Vinicia's library for answers!

The original reason Joan went to the I.C. was to find the guy who sells upgrades for Battlehorn Castle, but unfortunately each upgrade costs 2,300 gold! Joan had maybe 600 on her person after selling some loot. But the trip wasn't entirely wasted--the Starlight spell she bought at the Discount Spells place is already coming in handy.

Edit: she is now in ... um... Elenglynn, taking down the necromancers who live there.

This post has been edited by Renee: May 30 2016, 04:28 PM

Happy undead hunting to Joanie as she quests for cash to upgrade Battlehorn!

Good thing Saga has mapped out those places for Joanie (and Chachi?) to go investigate. I did much the same thing thing in my last playthrough of Teresa, when she explored every Ayleid Ruin in the game. I used the UESP Wiki to make a list of every one, and crossed them off one by one as she went around Cyrodiil cleaning them out.

Baltis has finished making his way to Anvil, and has traded in his shiny steel claymore for an even shinier silver one.

Of course, he's practically broke as a result, but at least he had do some jobs for the Fighters Guild.

So, how´s it going for Joan and her castle upgrades?



He´s going thee way of silver. Smart move I´d say

If there are two experiences I hate above all, they are;

Going into battle without my weapon or armour,

And walking into an ambush that I know is there,

And here I am, doing both.

The road west of the Brina Cross Inn was quieter than it had any right to be. No birdsong, no sound of animals scampering through the undergrowth, it was like the whole damn county was holding its breath, waiting for what was about to happen.

To me.

I can't even hear those damn Battlemages anymore. They'd better've stayed close, if they've gotten too far ahead of me then it's my arse that'll pay for it. The closest I plan to get to the fighting is to summon a scamp and head the other direction. This isn't my fight.

Traps within traps can go either way. The bait walks a knife edge, and right now, I've got one foot either side of the knife, and I'm praying to every one of the anticipations that nothing makes me slip.

"Stop right there, traveller!" The voice burst from behind a tree to my left, followed by the speaker. The female Altmer from the bar, the one with something to hide. I wasn't expecting to see her out here. I'd barely recognised her before she started hurling balls of frost my way, their edges nipping at my skin through the thin grey robe I was wearing. I called my scamp forth from Oblivion, the ugly creature hurling itself towards the Altmer, only to be blocked as she summoned a skeleton.

"Battlemages!" I bellowed as I backed away from our proxy fight, as the Altmer woman stepped around the fight and resumed her assault. Gods! I know that it wouldn't be much use against magic, but I'd feel so much better if I were armoured. And this fight would be over by now if I had my claymore.

I hurled a few fireballs her way, not willing to turn my back on the murderous Altmer, which meant I was able to see the Battlemages burst onto the road from opposite sides.

What took them so long?

As my scamp shattered the Altmer's skeleton, and I hurled another fireball, the Battlemages closed in on her, axes swinging. That Altmer might have been experienced killing unarmed merchants, but those Battlemages hacked her apart in moments, despite her attempts to defend herself with magic. The Battlemages barely stopped to make sure that she was dead, leaving me to loot the body. She hadn't been carrying much in the way of coin, surprisingly, but she had a quartet of powerful potions that were certainly worth hanging onto.

I've had worse days. Not many, but some.




Yeah, that kinda ran away with me, I'll be honest

This post has been edited by Callidus Thorn: Jun 6 2016, 05:02 PM

Totally unrealistic. Those two battlemages are never that useful in the real game.

Caminalda always seem to summon a ghost in my games, and the two battlemages then flail at it ineffectively with non-silver weapons, while my character has to do all the work. They never seem to remember they can use spells against a ghost.