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

[Acadian]

SubRosa: Rider's right - the adventures of Molly the round-ear in Skyland are great fun. I especially loved the Druglord mutant with the sonic emitter where she found that nifty hotplate. Mebbe she'll be able to program some of the Dwemer tech to work for her.

[haute ecole rider]

When I'm not reading (and chuckling through) Molly Hatchet Does Skyrim, I'm spending time with Alise.

She has officially started the MQ. She's at level 22, so things are going to get tough. But she's ready! She now carries a glass mace upgraded to Epic, a Penobscot War Bow II also upgraded to Epic, and a bunch of glass arrows. Her Vagabond Armor is also upgraded, to Flawless, I think. She needs the extra armor rating, as she likes to snipe first to injure the enemies, then get in close with her mace and Firebolt spell in support of Argis.

Lydia has just joined her, after Alise killed the dragon at the Western Watchtower outside Whiterun. Alise experienced her first dragon soul, and by the Gods, it hurt! It is also the first time she heard the term 'Dragonborn', whispered in the dragon's dying breath. The whole experience has left her puzzled and a little bit scared, as being a Cheydinhal Dunmer, she has not paid much attention to Nord stories. And now she has to go see the Greybeards at High Hrothgar? She is inclined to ignore it, but the way the high-ups in Dragonsreach are talking about it, she'd better not take chances at alienating anybody that she might regret.

So this time, instead of going through Helgen, Alise and her two housecarls are on the northern road, and have just cleared Valtheim Towers. I just can't talk Alise out of clearing out every bandit nest she comes across. And it was a good opportunity for her to see just how Lydia fights. Now if only the damn woman would quit the incessant humming and sighing!

[ghastley]

Mellewen has been working her way through the quests on Solstheim, both the DB MQ, and Neloth's side-quests, as shown by her last screenshot.

As she was going along, having epic battles in Apocrypha, and towers full of Ash Spawn, I was hammering away on the Fraps screenshot key, expecting to sort through the results and pick out the best for here. When I closed the game down after finishing off Miraak, I discovered that I hadn't started Fraps.

So she's got Ildari's Telvanni robes, and all Miraak's gear, hanging on mannequins at Severin Manor, but no record of getting them. Now she's back in Skyrim, looking to enchant some Fortify Restoration items to bring the magicka expenditure for her Absorb Health spells down. She finds that she runs out too quickly when she's battling groups of enemies, and has to run and recover too often. One lurker in Apocrypha would drain her completely, and she'd be keeping an eye on the nearest magicka fountain. Her Robes help, but apart from that she's only found a ring and a circlet, both with a paltry 10% assistance, plus one duplicate that taught her the enchantment.

Unfortunately, she's neglected enchanting, so that has to be her next priority. Boosting it with potions isn't an option, as that's another weak skill. Without a weapon to recharge, she's only been getting experience from disenchanting items, which is slow.

The positive aspect is that the Absorb Health spells aren't unbalanced. She doesn't need a lot of defense, as she's getting health back as fast as she loses it, but she's limited by magicka from being OP. Some enemies, like the Ash Spawn, resist it, and she has to use Destruction instead.

[Acadian]

Ghastley, glad to hear that Mellewen's surviving Solstheim and doing pretty well with her absorb health spells.

Buffy's hunting Forsworn. She overheard the Markarth Jarl and Steward lamenting that the Forsworn were too elusive for soldiers to find/fight/kill. She took that as a challenge.

This post has been edited by Acadian: May 5 2015, 04:50 PM

[Grits]

Lopov, I’m glad Aard is deceiving his ‘Leader.’ Your writing reminds me of all the things I liked about the Dark Brotherhood questline.

ghastley, I love it when your characters start demanding things from you. Do the Psijics view Mysticism as a valid school of magic? Darnand finally got to the point where Quaranir holes up in the Frozen Hearth, and he’s fascinated by him. Quaranir of course has little to say to Darnand, which helps us ignore the role Darnand played in getting the College settled. Great pictures of Mellewen, she is gorgeous and so very tall! Apocrypha sounds tough with a mage. I haven’t tried that yet, I’ve only gone through with warriors.

haute, it was great to hear some of Alise’s background and adventures. A mature character provides some fun insight into Skyrim’s sometimes strange events. I lol-ed at Argis the Teddy Bear! Alise, Lydia, and the Big Bear must be a force to be reckoned with.

SubRosa, Molly’s view of Skyrim is great fun to read. As I have gushed on and on before, I absolutely love her look. Sonic emitter and stone wall computer array!! The Dragonstone hot plate is going to stick in my memory.

Acadian, soon the Forsworn will be talking about an elusive hunter that they just can’t track down…

*
Chases the Fish returned the stolen item he recovered from Bleak Falls Barrow with a couple of hours of daylight to spare. He had considered trying to find a buyer for it, but in the end he decided it was probably worth the most to its owner. In the Sleeping Giant Orgnar was still pissed off about catching him cheating at cards. Chases decided he could make it to Whiterun before dark. And if he didn’t make it, he might find someone to rob on the way while the guards couldn’t see them.

The sun was setting over the mountains as Chases walked through the Whiterun gates. He decided to first unload the heavy-ass rock he was hauling for Farengar and possibly get paid enough to buy a spell or two and/or bankroll a big night at the Bannered Mare. Things got dragon-y as soon as he got to Dragonreach. Chases decided to tag along and watch the fight, partly because he was curious and partly because he was sure there would be some bodies to loot afterward.

In the end there were indeed some bodies. Chases staggered back to Whiterun in moonless darkness under the burden of dragon scales and bones. Maybe these Nords were mocking him with their talk of Dragonborn, or maybe there was something to it. Either way it sounded too much like work.

After Jarl Balgruuf gave him some advice and a ridiculously heavy axe, Chases went to the tavern. He was feeling lucky. But he lost a bunch of money playing cards with Hulda. Then he rented a room and on the way up spotted another Argonian, Jeer-Tai was his name. Chases bought him a drink (for real, Speechcraft mod) and then won his money back playing cards with Jeer-Tai. Feeling super lucky now he attempted to entice Jeer-Tai up to his room (Speechcraft mod again), to no avail. That was embarrassing. So he bought a drink for Olfina (I think), but that didn’t make her like him either. It crossed his mind to try his luck hitting on an elf, but the only one available was that snotty Altmer from the market. Even Chases the Fish’s accommodating standards did not stretch that far, so he went to bed alone.

He slept for twelve hours. Now it’s midday and he has a bunch of stuff to sell. Tonight he’s going out on the road again. There are a lot of soldiers about, but eventually he is going to find someone he can rob, dammit.

[SubRosa]

Sounds like someone will need to change his name to Chases-The-Dragons. Maybe he can try mugging them?

[Acadian]

Chases the Skirts is now Chases the Reluctant Dragonborn, is it? Hmm, someone's been having fun with that new card game mod! Anyway, Chases had a big day. His night . . . not so much.

[Renee]

Whhat is that when you say "playing cards", Grits? Is that imagination, or an actual mod? If it's a mod, I'd like to see what that's all about. And if it's not a mod, cheers!

Alise and her two housecarls are on the northern road, and have just cleared Valtheim Towers. I just can't talk Alise out of clearing out every bandit nest she comes across.

That's because it's fun! And epic!

When I closed the game down after finishing off Miraak, I discovered that I hadn't started Fraps.

Hate when that happens!

This post has been edited by Renee: May 6 2015, 01:47 PM

[Grits]

Whhat is that when you say "playing cards", Grits? Is that imagination, or an actual mod? If it's a mod, I'd like to see what that's all about. And if it's not a mod, cheers!

It’s a card minigame added by this mod: Minigame Mod - The Battle of Heroes. Time passes in the game while you’re playing, so it’s easy to accidentally stay up late playing cards in a tavern.

[Renee]

It’s a card minigame added by this mod: Minigame Mod - The Battle of Heroes.

Wow WOW holy [censored]. Must .... have ... this ... mod. I wonder if it includes rummy. That's one of the only games I know how to play. Well, that, Uno, and Go Fish.

[Grits]

It’s a pretty simple game at this point, but just being able to actually do something in-game adds a lot to tavern life. It’s a lot like basic War with an optional dice roll to increase your hand. Also I love the art on the cards. I’m still testing it in Chases the Fish’s game to make sure nothing bad happens in the long run, like with NPC disposition.

[mALX]

Whhat is that when you say "playing cards", Grits? Is that imagination, or an actual mod? If it's a mod, I'd like to see what that's all about. And if it's not a mod, cheers!

It’s a card minigame added by this mod: Minigame Mod - The Battle of Heroes. Time passes in the game while you’re playing, so it’s easy to accidentally stay up late playing cards in a tavern.

This is an awesome mod! Like playing Caravan in New Vegas! I've added fake card games to all my mods to make it look like people were playing, but to actually be able to play would be great! Thanks for the link!

[Acadian]

So Buffy was approaching Dragon Bridge from Solitude today and encountered a hostile cave bear. Buffy’s fox distracted the bear so Buffy could open fire from the saddle and dispatch it. She then noticed a child wandering – within sight of but still a ways from Dragon Bridge. Buffy doesn’t really know that children are invincible, you see, so she dismounted and approached the child to suggest he return to the safety of town.

As soon as she got close enough to see the child’s name come up (Clinton Lylvieve), she heard, "All right, hand over your valuables, or I'll gut you like a fish." Fully focused on the child, she was quite confused – why did this child sound like a male adult Argonian? Why was he threatening her? Why weren’t his lips moving? No kidding, it took her several seconds to realize that a thief had come up behind her while she was focused on the child.

Fortunately, the thief gave her enough time to reply – and formulate a response. The words 'Take it from me if you can' were not fully out of Buffy's mouth before she spun to face the thief. Green magic flew from one hand to paralyze the Argonian even as blue magic in her other hand blossomed into the mystic bow that would end this thief's career.

At some point during all this, little Clinton disappeared – most likely at a dead run back to town.

[SubRosa]

An Argonian thief disguised himself as a human child! I hope it wasn't Chases-The-Fish!

[Grits]

If Chases met Buffy on the road, I expect he would also make his last mistake!

I’m chuckling over Clinton’s hasty retreat. Now he has a story to tell his pet patrol goat. Outstanding response from Buffy! Yay!

[ghastley]

That's a dangerous direction for Clinton to wander. There's always something lurking by the road, often a troll. However, it's not uncommon for two enemies to spawn close enough to engage each other. I've watched Thalmor fighting the troll a few times.

----

Mellewen just hit 100 in restoration, from using her Absorb Health almost exclusively. So now she's looking for another skill to work on. She has 30% cost reduction from her Psijic Initiate robes, so it may be Enchanting next, to see if she can bring her magicka needs down with Fortify Restoration. At present, the best she can make is 10%, so she wants more levels and perks before she can make something better than the ring (12) and circlet (15) she has. I expect her to find better ones first, although she always seems to find that enchantment on armour.

She won't find a spell tome for Ebonyflesh for another six levels, and since she's not joining the College of Winterhold, she can't buy one from Tolfdir. Alteration will get used, but it won't get any attention for a while.

[mALX]

*

@ Acadian - I had to look up who Clinton was, lol. At first I thought Buffy's sympathetic heart almost cost her here; that she had been set up by a decoy child belonging to some thief, lol.

Aw, Clinton's background story is a little sad! That said, I may be looking into Lucky's AI packages and scripting for Patches!

@ Ghastley - Wow, I have never hit 100 in restoration in any game! In Oblivion I barely got over 25 in restoration, lol.
ba
What is "Ebony Flesh?" Is it kind of like the "Barkskin" perk in FO3?

Mellewen's build is amazing, I have never sat down and thought out all these workarounds for a mage character before; it is really intricate! I never realized how much so before! This was an Awesome insight - I think I'll be scared to have a mage character now though,

[Lopov]

Acadian, that's a funny story about the Argonian thief disguised as a child. It's good that Buffy took her time and thought about the oddity of the situation, instead of attacking Clinton. As a side note, if anyone knows what it means to "gut you like a fish", it must be Argonians.

[ghastley]

What is "Ebony Flesh?" Is it kind of like the "Barkskin" perk in FO3?

There are four levels of it, and it is like Barkskin, but temporary. The lowest is Oakflesh (40), then Stoneflesh (60), Ironflesh (80) and finally Ebonyflesh (100). The Alteration tree has perks that multiply the effectiveness of these, up to x3, so you can get the equivalent of 300 points of real armour (36% damage reduction), but these perks don't stack with real armour, so you have to choose. They're cast as spells, lasting 60 seconds, and there are perks to increase duration. The Lord Stone gives you a permanent variety, but adds magic resistance at the same time.

There's one more "Mage Armour" spell, but it works differently, giving you the defense cap (80% reduction) regardless of all other considerations. Dragonhide is a Master spell, which means it takes almost as long to cast as it lasts.

Regular armour gives you more defense as you go, as your skill gradually increases just by using it. The mage armour only improves when you switch up to a better spell, and increasing skill lowers the cost of casting instead. Improving armour with smithing can take it to the 80% defense cap. Spells can't get past half-way.

[mALX]

What is "Ebony Flesh?" Is it kind of like the "Barkskin" perk in FO3?

There are four levels of it, and it is like Barkskin, but temporary. The lowest is Oakflesh (40), then Stoneflesh (60), Ironflesh (80) and finally Ebonyflesh (100). The Alteration tree has perks that multiply the effectiveness of these, up to x3, so you can get the equivalent of 300 points of real armour (36% damage reduction), but these perks don't stack with real armour, so you have to choose. They're cast as spells, lasting 60 seconds, and there are perks to increase duration. The Lord Stone gives you a permanent variety, but adds magic resistance at the same time.

There's one more "Mage Armour" spell, but it works differently, giving you the defense cap (80% reduction) regardless of all other considerations. Dragonhide is a Master spell, which means it takes almost as long to cast as it lasts.

Regular armour gives you more defense as you go, as your skill gradually increases just by using it. The mage armour only improves when you switch up to a better spell, and increasing skill lowers the cost of casting instead. Improving armour with smithing can take it to the 80% defense cap. Spells can't get past half-way.

By "Takes as long to cast as it lasts" - does that mean they play that "magicka charging up" animation before the cast will fly? That little animation almost cost Maxical her life against like 50 draugr in a dungeon once; she spent so long in the animation that they were on her by the time she cast (and therefore within a safe zone from the fallout). It was the last time I used that spell, and I really don't like that animation anyway; it looks ... weird.