Today In Skyrim (Spoilerific), Like the other one, but with added spoilers!!! Options

[SubRosa]

The Bloodrunner is bloody huge! It fills up the whole river. They will have to back up get it out to the Sea of Ghosts.

Very neat mask in that second pic.

You found a shield mage too! I am glad it is not just in my game.

W00t to Abiene and her wild hair! Maybe Aela should teach Abie her Absorb Health spell? It is a Restoration spell, and makes a good combo with a ward (though that eats magicka!). Let me know and I'll email it to you.

[ghastley]

Gilda got bored waiting for me to create more of the Nocturnal quests, so she went and became Arch-mage, just for something to do. She didn't like the robes, probably because they were too tight in the chest, so she gave them to Clark/Marcurio. He still hasn't commented on that. You'd think that after the number of times he's reminded her that he's a mage, not a packmule, that he'd appreciate the outfit.

She'd been meaning to change his outfit for a while. The old one makes him look like he has a paunch, because everyone else in the game who wears it does.

[ghastley]

I switched back to Vicuña for a while this weekend, and she decided to make her Destruction and Alteration legendary, and build back up again, for the challenge. And it really is! Without the cost reduction on the spells, she has to use the lower-powered offensive ones for magicka efficiency, and throw more of them. She tried doing the same with defence, and dropping back to Stoneflesh, but she's lost the multipliers, and it's no longer viable at her level. So she still casts Ebonyflesh, and waits until she's regen'ed the cost before wading in. With the Restoration perk for faster magicka regen, that's reasonable.

She probably couldn't survive on her own, as she did before, so she has Serana (cured) with her. She's about level 40 now, so she's left quite a few possible followers behind. Alvin the Bullfrog's busy looking after Lucia, and she wasn't impressed with his tank abilities before. We considered Mjoll, who has her sword back, but two mages seems to work better than I expected.

D and A are back around 50, and beginning to be effective again. She has a level of augmented effect back, and can use a higher level of spells cheaply, and of course has a greater magicka pool than the first time round. But then, the enemies have more hit points, too, so it's still edgy, and fun.

Before this, the only skill I'd made legendary on any character was Smithing, and there's no downside to that if you've already got all the advanced gear made and fully upgraded. Since nothing wears out, you just don't use the skill any more. As a pure mage, Vicuña stopped Smithing around 60-70. She wanted to be able to temper her Dawnbreaker backup weapon, and it naturally raises when you're house-building.

---

Doing this has tempted me to fire up Fleur again, and try making two-handed legendary. She has a devastating legendary dragonbone sword, enchanted with fiery soul trap, so it would be interesting to see what the reduced skill does when she uses it. She has a mage follower for backup - I can't remember if it was Illia or Areana - so she should do OK. If I really get bold, I'd make her armour skill legendary and lose the multipliers.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Aug 4 2014, 03:05 PM

[SubRosa]

When I made Persephone's Two-Handed Legendary it was really challenging at first. You come to rely on all those extra damage and lopping peoples heads off perks.

[ghastley]

The thing that makes it hit home, is that you've added the multipliers on gradually, one at a time, but legendary takes them all away at once. So it's single damage, at full cost, until you build up again, for a mage. I was thinking that a melee character would have less problems, as the weapon enhancements (from Smithing) would stay. The cost part of using the weapon is stamina, and only Champion's Stance - an early perk - improves that. A two-hander can use a full-power weapon just as much (except for the one stamina perk), so their damage rate remains high. The perks for beheading are cosmetic, and I generally ignore them unless they're the path to one I need.

Vicuña still knows the higher-level spells, but she can't afford to cast them so often. She's lost damage, and increased cost at the same time. Making Destruction and Alteration both legendary at the same time was probably a mistake. I should have done one, built it back up, and then done the other, but the problem is really in Destruction alone being hit hard by the legendary process. She can use Wards for defence, as Restoration remains normal, and is boosting her magicka regen. But I can't find any perks etc. from other schools that put back any destructive effect, the way that smithing gives you a better weapon and armor, and helps out those skills.

[Acadian]

I agree that two mages work well. Buffy's taken several mages with her as followers. Brelyna probably works best for her. I was surprised how well two mages, each with a summon can do. And mages tend to stay out of the way, unlike steel-plated tanks.

Honestly though, Buffy's been able to adjust her tactics to work well with heavy tanks, bow & blade sneaksters, summoners and destruction mages. Each seems to have pros and cons. Buffy has to watch her own bow shots carefully when using a tank (to not shoot them). And she has to watch her own position carefully when using a destruction mage (to not get shot).

[ghastley]

Using a melee tank means not using AoE spells, so mage+mage avoids that restriction. Right now, she just wants those spells back in her magicka budget!

[SubRosa]

The cost part of using the weapon is stamina, and only Champion's Stance - an early perk - improves that. A two-hander can use a full-power weapon just as much (except for the one stamina perk), so their damage rate remains high. The perks for beheading are cosmetic, and I generally ignore them unless they're the path to one I need.

The Devastating Blow perk (that causes decapitations), also adds an extra 25% base damage as well. So it does make a big difference. Likewise all the levels of Barbarian are straight additions to damage, and the Deep Wounds makes you more likely to do Critical Damage. So the perks you lose when you reset Two-Handed (or One-Handed), do have a large bearing on the damage you can mete out. Your weapon is still smithed up, but you still won't be dishing out nearly as much damage as before.

For example, before Persephone went Legendary her Two-Handed was at 100, and her base damage with her sword was 92. After resetting her skill, her damage with the same sword went down to 40. It is only a Steel Greatword, but it is smithed up to Legendary level. Now that she has worked her Two-Handed back up to 60, her base damage is still only 67. So it does make a huge difference on a melee character.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Aug 4 2014, 11:05 PM

[SubRosa]

Tuonetar was exploring around Riften when she contracted Witbane from a skeever bite. Since she already had some charred skeever hide in her inventory, all she needed to make a cure disease potion was some mudcrab chitin. So she went walking along the shore of the lake to find a mudcrab. She walked all the way from Riften to Ivarstead, and back, following every inch of shoreline. There is not one fetching crab in The Rift!!!

[Acadian]

Isn't that the way?!? Never a mudcrab when you need one!

[Renee]

Yeah Acadian is right; there's always a mudcrab somewhere until you actually need one.

Acadian: Brelyna is a fun mage to have around. I like the little quest she does with us when we meet her. Brel was with my 3rd character (Claire Voyance) for quite awhile.

ghastley: Naw, you definitely don't want Motormouth Mjoll in your party.

I finally made a skill go Legendary. Interesting how that works. Mycharonna got 100 in Illusion pretty quickly (lots of Invisibility and Muffle spells will do that), and I finally understand what people mean by reassigning perks.

This post has been edited by Renee Gade IV: Aug 5 2014, 02:25 AM

[Grits]

Congrats to Arch-Mage Gilda! Now she’s Gilda of two guilds. I’ve also found that two archers is a lot of fun.

How funny about the crab-free Rift waters. I never noticed!


Capt. Z has filled his crew with the mercenary Stenvar and a tasty looking Dunmeri mage (Elsif from a mod) that he met on the road. First he hired Jenassa because he thought she might not object if she witnessed him in the act of his favorite deeds, but she was so grim and dour that he fired her before they got back to the ship. You have a life, woman! Enjoy it!

Anyway he took Stenvar on a midnight rampage up the coast. Due to his Steed blessing and vampiric gifts the Zanimal is pretty good at sneaking. He loves to creep up on unsuspecting mortals and then set off an explosion right in their face. (If he was better at sneaking he could sneak-bite them. That’s what he really wants to do.) Stenvar is a little heavy in the feet, though, so Zanimal has to approach very carefully when he has the big man at his back.

The sky was completely overcast so they approached Fort Hraggstad from the front. Capt. Z wanted to determine how far these Nords could see in the pitch dark, mostly for future reference. His hood and boots have glowing runes on them, by the way. The Captain is not worried that they might make him a target in the dark. He thinks they look magey, cool, and intimidating as befits a sorcerer. I can’t argue with the Captain’s sense of style.

The night was a silken cloak concealing their movements. The Zanimal slipped up toward the fort, picking out his first target. Stenvar had managed to get this far without tripping on a rock and giving away their position. Capt. Z readied a Fire Rune in his right hand and a zombie spell in his left.

Then there was a gigantic thump. A dragon landed pretty much right on the Zanimal’s head.

Things got confusing. Vampire night vision is not a good combination with dragon fire. Thankfully the Zanimal is far too lusty to let himself get blood starved (he’s usually more like blood-stuffed), so he didn’t burn to an instant crisp. The bandits joined in and it would seem they can shoot pretty well in the dark. Stenvar was extremely helpful lighting the dragon up with his shock-enchanted blade. (Called The Blade of Storms. Zanimal was not impressed with Stenvar’s creativity. The Z’s fire blade is called Ashmaker.)

The dragon turned out to be not terribly tough. Zanimal charged joyfully into the fort which was now boiling with alert bandits that the dragon completely failed to kill. The dragon’s soul swirled around like a big quest arrow for the bandits pointing at the Zanimal. Stenvar and his Captain ripped through the fort backed up by Zanimal’s awesome summoned skeleton. It was extra fun to not have him freezing to death by the end of the fight. As a vampire Capt. Z is not bothered by cold, wet, or hunger for food. In fact food and potions are no benefit to him. He does however still have a taste for wine. The Z will go to great lengths to loot every last bottle.

So the Zanimal drank a bunch of wine afterward while pillaging the fort. He takes just about everything. Stenvar got all of the ale and mead but it was hard to tell if he was lit, since he sounds like a guy who’s trying not to sound drunk even when he’s sober.

Oh, the reason they were up there in the first place. Sybille Stentor sent Capt. Z on an errand to clear out some vampires nearby. That went well. It was kind of a boring job. Zanimal knows that good and evil are in the eye of the beholder, so he keeps up relations with certain locals in charge. That means taking jobs from the Jarls of port cities. It’s a comfort to know that while you’re out pillaging the guards aren’t back home attacking your ship.

One neat thing happened as the Zanimal returned to the Solitude docks right before dawn. He saw most of his crew leaving the dock tavern (mod) and walking back to the ship. He made a mental note to contact the Solitude head jailor in case in the future any of them get into trouble while he is away.

[Acadian]

Zanimal nightfighting a dragon! How epic that must have been. Heck, sucking the blood out of a dragon ought to keep him good for a long time!

I'm surprised he's not traveling with a pretty young thrall that can double as a tasty snack when she's not defending him.

[SubRosa]

The dragon landing on Zanimal was a beacon for the bandits! I guess that makes it a Dragonball Z.

[Vital]

The plains of Whiterun, just chillin'.

Ravos is taking a slight detour en route to Solitude. He's headed there to gain General Tullius' support for a peace council to be held in High Hrothgar. He's already convinced Ulfric to come, so he hopes to use that to get Tullius there as well.

He's on foot for a change; Blaze, his horse, has misteriously disappeared. This is actually quite nice for a change though. He spent a few hours sitting by Gunjar's monument earlier and also watched some bandits get destroyed by a giant. He thought they were hunters and was going in to help, but upon realizing they were no more thanh brigands he let the giants do their work. Ravos likes to leave the tundrastiders to themselves, unless they pose a threat to someone innocent. That is the way of Kynareth, after all.

Oh yeah, he also has a letter from Falk Firebeard to look into, something to do with the Wolf Queen business he cleaned up a while ago...

[Acadian]

Sound fun, Vital. Sorry about Blaze. Mebbe a short fast travel to a nearby location will recover the missing horse?

Oh, I think both the Potema quests are neat as can be. Especially the first one for a sniper.

Buffy's near the Nightgate Inn. She and her posse are gradually making their way from the College to Solitude - plenty to do on the way though.

[haute ecole rider]

Sound fun, Vital. Sorry about Blaze. Mebbe a short fast travel to a nearby location will recover the missing horse?

Oh, I think both the Potema quests are neat as can be. Especially the first one for a sniper.

Buffy's near the Nightgate Inn. She and her posse are gradually making their way from the College to Solitude - plenty to do on the way though.

I agree that the Wolfskull cave quest is an awesome way for a sniper to level up her archery. My Alise did the same thing there. The big room with all the draugr coffins in Shroud Hearth Barrow is another great place to practice bow and arrow skillz.

[Acadian]

Buffy's visiting Dawnstar at the moment. I was simply delighted to discover a little thing where the game is so perfectly supporting our roleplaying. Buffy spoke to the Court Mage who was lamenting that she had asked the College for help regarding the locals having so many nightmares. That is exactly how Buffy is beginning to fit into Skyrim - as a traveling emissary of the College. Although she sometimes deals with Jarls and stewards, generally her point of contact is the Court Mage for whatever Hold she's visiting.

We simply pretended that the Court Mage of Solitude wanted College help with the Potema situation. And we pretend that Buffy is the only mage that the cranky Jarl of Whiterun will deal with.

Mara knows, there's certainly enough curious little fires and crises that can be attributed to magic in one way or another to keep her busy!

[Renee]

Acadian: I know exactly what you mean. There are those moments when everything lines up perfectly, and the game is supporting whatever RP we've got going on. It happens spontaneously sometimes.

Vital: I like how you've researched Kynareth there.

[Grits]

Dragonball Z.

Acadian, I thought he might do that when he hired Elsif the Sweetly Pretty within two seconds of seeing her on the road. He plays a little game when he’s going to feed on one of his crew. There’s a room in the crew quarters that has only one bed in it. They all sleep as part of their routine so he lets them decide who gets his attention by taking the single room. What a great role for Buffy to fill in Skyrim. It suits her perfectly!

Vital, that sounds like a nice time on the plains. Apart from the lost horse. I hope Blaze turns up safely.


Captain Zanimal and his raiders are taking down a rival crew in a multi-step adventure. They’ve already slaughtered most of the Blackblood Marauders and their leader Captain Hargar at their hideout thanks to a tip from Ahtar. Now they’ve doomed an entire merchant crew to a watery grave. Capt. Z has been operating under a halo of legitimacy lately, but his recent actions reveal a ruthless nature. Condemn a whole bunch of innocents to further your own goals? No problem. This guy is fun but not very nice.

Next up: meet the rest of the Blackbloods at the wreck and kill them all. Find that idiot Jaree-Ra and kill him too. Then they’ll head back to Broken Oar Grotto and mop up any survivors that manage to limp back home.

I’ve been able to simulate launching the longboats (which don’t actually exist) by having him swim in first person. Gosh this guy is fun.