The Elder Scrolls

[Angel Beat]

I find that a 100% resistance to magical attacks works just as well, to be honest.

I'm afraid I don't have that, so Spellbreaker will do for now.

[Makaru]

I like all these posts sayin' what the most powerful enemy is in Skyrim. You guys are all pretty cool. But you're also all wrong.Last night I faced my first Legendary Dragon. On Master. Looked them up, and yeah they have more health than Alduin (not surprising), but also more powerful shouts and physical attacks (that bite thing). They can use the fire and ice breath, but they really love that new Drain Everything shout.....sjdhgrghdfiogogdgjkfklGoodbye all of my ultimate potions (except stamina because seriously who cares).

Edited July 19, 2012 by Makaru

[Katuko]

I ran into a big anticlimax today. I finally went to do the last part of the main quest, after holding off on it to do side-quests. At first I thought it was like Fallout 3, that the main quests ends the game and it was labeled as the "point of no return" in a guide once you go to the final area. But hey, turns out that I was misinformed, because you can return to your regular adventuring as soon as you finish the final boss.

But yeah, ran into Nahkriin on the way there, and I am a rather non-optimized dual-sword/mage/sneak bow user. He spammed Thunderbolt, I spammed spells back for as long as my magicka lasted (thank you regen rate) but I didn't really take much damage at all. A single Close Wounds was needed on the whole battle. Then I cast Soul Trap and finished him off with Dawnbreaker and a fire-enchanted sword. Caught his soul and took his mask. :3That was a very nice and enjoyable battle. But then comes the final area, and Alduin is just... eh. I didn't even need Dragonrend, for he landed by himself to melee me and the three ancient heroes that joined up, and then (since he didn't even care about me) I Dragonbane + fire sword'd him to death in about half a minute. Dialogue volume was very low compared to the background noise despite my settings being 10/1 in voice's favor.Hey, at least I got two new shouts. Yay. :POn to play the Dark Brotherhood and the Khajiit homeland via modifications.

Edited July 19, 2012 by Katuko

[Takatu]

Well yeah, any of us could have told you that. None of the Elder Scrolls games ever end, at least not since Morrowind (haven't played Arena or Daggerfall). I advised someone before about not waiting too long to fight Alduin because I know he'd end up being too easy.Nahkriin isn't even close to the hardest Dragon Priest though, lol. Frickin Krosis...

[Makaru]

See, my plan was to role play. I was a nobody. Coming from nothing. So I figured THE DRAGONBORN should be a path of redemption instead of glory. So I started in with the thieve's guild, and worked my way up to the Dark Brotherhood. And in doing so discovering how the;

Emperor secretly worships Talos

I decided that the Imperial Legion should fall to the slightly less hypocritical Stormcloaks. In doing so, I, THE DRAGONBORN, learned some manner of loyalty to Skyrim, and only then decide to confront the dragon problem.By the time I hit the actual main questline, I was already level 50. I personally think Bethesda should have scaled the main quest line more effectively with the level of the player like they do with everything else. It really felt underwhelming to face Alduin at the end and defeat him quicker than I would an Elder Dragon which if I don't sneak attack can rock my socks off.

Edited July 19, 2012 by Makaru

[Katuko]

It's funny how a scaled Bandit Chief or Necromancer gives me so much more trouble than dragons. With Deadly Dragons installed, their threat was seriously ramped up, but it seems like the named dragons weren't affected or something. Shame.

[Havelock Vetinari]

I'm considering uninstalling Dawnguard-it's great, but the constant vampire attacks and raids are depopulating an already empty world. The old Skyrim seemed much more stable.

[Katuko]

And that's why I don't even care that PC gets Dawnguard so much later... because I know that just a day or two later (likely the very same day), someone will have modded in a fix for the annoying vampire raids. :)Oh, and Skyrim seems stable, even though it's supposed to be in the midst of a civil war. I tried using Warzones for a while, but unfortunately my computer couldn't handle the amount of extra spawns and AI all condensed into small areas.

Edited July 19, 2012 by Katuko

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

@ Valenti; Truth to that.@ Makaru; They made Alduin at his max level less powerful than a Legendary? Lolwut?And for the record, level scaling always has and always will suck. That's one of the least satisfying things about the game Mass Effect, in that monsters are always just a s strong, and about Oblivion. It's what made things like Morrowind great, because of what I describe below -@ Katuko; What did you expect the end fight to be like? Morrowind, where your character has been slowly rising in power so he can fight stronger enemies instead of rising to power and then fighting stronger enemies, and is now deep within the heart of the most dangerous location of all to fight a divine entity within his own lair? Nah, they stopped doing that stuff years ago.But yeah, fight Alduin low level or you're going to be sad.@ Takatu; Krosis is always a bit startling the first time you look around and get blasted by a magical blast, and then start asking "Why did the Dragon Priests not rule the dragons?"@ Basilisk; What happens if a Dragon spawns with the vampires?-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Havelock Vetinari]

Genocide. Death. My puny level twenty character lasting all of twenty seconds.It's annoying.

[Makaru]

Here's the thing though, scaling Alduin makes absolute perfect sense in Skyrim's lore. He's fueled by feasting on the the souls of the dead and living. The higher your level, statistically, the more souls that are "empowering" him. Add a twist; the more aggressive your play style, the more aggressive Alduin is. He's now a reflection of the Skyrim you're creating with your actions.But I agree. A bandit that I could kill at level 10 without much issue should be a fly at level 30. That's why Bandit Leaders, Draugr Overlords and Archmages exist; to challenge you as you level, and give you a sense that you're making higher level NPCs care about your power and influence as you progress through the game when earlier on they could not even care about you.GAME DESIGN RANT

[Katuko]

@ Makaru; They made Alduin at his max level less powerful than a Legendary? Lolwut?

Legendary dragons are DLC creatures. As such they are likely meant for players who have not only finished the main quest, but also leveled a lot. They exist to be a challenge to "overleveled" people. For other examples, there are the mutated people at Point Lookout in Fallout 3, who always does X amount of unblockable damage, rendering your fancy 85% damage resistance almost moot. Then there are the Super Mutant Overlords, who simply does a ton of damage and has a lot of HP. A mini-nuke (overkill on most other things) is spent well here, though that leaves the issue of it being a one-hit kill.Not so for Feral Ghoul Reavers, though, yet another DLC creature. It does a scary amount of damage and can often survive a mini-nuke to the face. It's telling that for these enemies, sniper rifle headshots via a sneak attacks become vital because they ignore damage resistance and allows you to at least halve the insane amount of punishment you must dish out before they die.They remain the sole challenging enemies in Fallout 3 after a while, where you are carrying enough stimpaks to heal yourself 300 times over. So these guys just say "screw that" and try to kill you before you can pause. With the Reavers, they try to circumvent the health bar by letting them pour radiation into you, which will severely debuff you and then kill you once it reaches max on the bar.

And for the record, level scaling always has and always will suck. That's one of the least satisfying things about the game Mass Effect, in that monsters are always just a s strong, and about Oblivion.

You get more powerful weapons as well, though. At the end of the game I did feel stronger than a lot of the enemies I faced; ditto for the second game. Fighting Harbinger early was a boss, then a mini-boss, then just a powerful mook to be dropped by 2 headshots. The rest of the Collector Drones was just small fry too, really.

@ Katuko; What did you expect the end fight to be like? Morrowind, where your character has been slowly rising in power so he can fight stronger enemies instead of rising to power and then fighting stronger enemies, and is now deep within the heart of the most dangerous location of all to fight a divine entity within his own lair? Nah, they stopped doing that stuff years ago.

I wanted Alduin to at least scratch me before he was dead. I wanted him to have time to say a voice line or something. I wanted it to be like Throat of the World, where I actually had a fight on my hands even with Dragonrend, Dragonbane and a high level. It's almost like they mixed up Sovngarde and Throat of the World, as the latter was actually more challenging both to reach and to survive.I wanted to see Alduin feel at least slightly different from a regular dragon. Perhaps he could spew chain lightning to hit both me and my allies and drain their magic; and radiate a field of soul-sucking mojo that drained stamina. He should probably have had the new DLC dragon shout that drains health/stamina/magic all at once. Let him shake off Dragonrend relatively quickly, and summon spectral creatures to keep you occupied. If the story demands that he couldn't have flunkies, then maybe at least have him use all kinds of shouts like Marked for Death, Unrelenting Force, Disarm, Become Etheral and even Slow Time and Storm Call. He could also keep using the fog call, except have it deal unblockable damage or something so that it actually seems like a "soul snare" and not just a regular fog.Alduin at least keeps his Meteor Storm shout, though I only know that because I read it on the wiki. I did not have time to observe it during the battle. I guess I'll replay this mission at lower level with a different character, and see how that goes.

A bandit that I could kill at level 10 without much issue should be a fly at level 30.

And they are. I kill them in one or two hits from either sword, bow or spell. It's only the top enemies - the Bandit Leaders, high-level Necromancers and Deathlords that can still put up a fight.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

@ Makaru;That's the thing, though. You're ALWAYS fighting the high level creatures once you reached high level. While playing Morrowind, I remember coming into a dungeon and having the monsters far too powerful to face, and barely being able to escape if I didn't actually have to reload a quicksave from earlier. When you came back ten levels later, with items taken out of history books and higher ranks in a guild, you knew that you were far more powerful than before.When I'm going into a mages lair, I don't feel any different killing a Arch-Electromancer at Level 40 as I did killing a Storm Mage Adept at Level 20. They're mechanically the same, give or take a couple of spells and the hit points.I remember in Morrowind my first experience with a Daedric Ruin was just wandering through the mountains and randomly finding it. I remember it because it was the first time I had met a Scamp - the creature ripped me to shreds because my steel weapon and armor was completely useless, and I had no idea what a Scamp even was. The next time I met one was a different story - just a mook outside the dungeon. But you didn't fight an Arch Scamp in its place, you faced a Clannfear. Then Ogrims, and Dremora, and eventually even Winged Twilights and Golden Saints. Another ten levels, and the Golden Saints were powerless before you.Contrast Oblivion, where most of the Daedra stay the same but the Valkynaz and stuff are always just as tough as you are, so you stay parallel at level 20 and kind of stop there.Then comes Skyrim, where the monsters keep changing variety up until level 50 or so in the case of Vampires and the like. But it doesn't feel the same as in Morrowind because they're everywhere. You don't need to find a hidden crypt in the mountains to face the super powerful mage guarding the Daedric Pauldrons. Instead, you kill a few mages in a fort and the leveled list decides your loot instead of the monster you killed.About Alduin - True, but considering he's the legendary king of the of Dragons he should at least be a lot stronger for his level than any other monsters. The fact that a Legendary is stronger than his cap leads you to wonder just how he ended up in his position anyways.@ Katuko;Frankly I can't understand anybody actually playing the game to level all skills to 100. I Oghma Infinium'd one of my secondaries to get Level 81, in the off chance I would need it later, but seriously - what's the fun in power leveling those skills? Or do you actually like all skills? Meh, whatever.As far as Mass Effect, I never felt a power difference. Especially with Husks. God I hate Husks so much. To Oblivion with them all!As far as Alduin - you know how the sky turns red and meteors start falling? The problem is that I don't think I ever got hit by those meteors. Maybe it's because I was always with him engaged in melee or something. But yeah, he needed to have more shouts at his disposal.Marked for Death would be funny. You're sitting there with your Daedric Armor, completely impervious to harm, and then suddenly he goes and knocks half your hit points out with one attack because your AR just got reduced by half. I imagine it would be hard to implement Slow Time for creatures to use, though. Not giving him a version of Disarm able to work up to Level 80 is just inexcusable though.-Toa Levacius Zehvor :F

[Katuko]

That's the thing, though. You're ALWAYS fighting the high level creatures once you reached high level.

Not true. There are still plenty of low-level rabble spread amongst the high-level ones. On the other hand, creatures are very similar in this game. See one greatsword, you've basically seen them all. I agree that the earlier games had a lot more variety. Then again, they didn't spend an insane amount of resources on modern textures or voice acting every single person. In some ways, progress in game tech has produced a decline in game content. I'm just glad there are mods like Wildlife and Monsters of Skyrim, which adds more creatures.I have a ton of mods installed. Mods make this game for me. Where it not for mods, I would not be playing it still. Mods have, for me: rebalanced skills, changed some skill trees, added tons of new spells and items, touched up bugs and tweaked followers/other mechanics, improved graphics, optimized some code here and there, and even added a new area outside of Skyrim: the Khajiit homeland, complete with jungle/swamp and a few new creatures rather than just another copy/paste tomb with zombies.I don't power level. I don't try to max my smithing (I couldn't bother with such a terribly boring mechanic!), or my resistances, or my damage output. I simply try everything, be it blades or spells or sneaking. After a while, you naturally get them mid- to high up, and though my Speech is still abysmal I am at level 50+ with Conjuration and Enchanting maxed and Destruction not far behind. Smithing has gotten up there as well, since I do enjoy trying out enchantment combinations and I need gear for that. Might as well use my ingots, which I have plenty of despite not carrying a pickaxe. I haven't finished the Dark Brotherhood, or the Thieves Guild, or Civil War. I have just gone exploring everywhere. Alduin simply lacks the scaling of HP and attack power needed for an enemy of his caliber. I used a modded "Sense Status" spell on him, which revealed that he had about 2000 HP, while Nahkriin for reference had about 1500. Alduin has 50% resistance to spells and probably melee too (didn't check), but Dragonbane cuts through that and its a weapon most people will have and use at that point. Even without it, a regular sword at that point will do ludicrous amounts of damage to non-modded creatures. Skyrim, at its core, is unbalanced.This is also why I must simply pity people who play Skyrim on consoles. Modding is half the game, to me.EDIT: Slow time, by the way, would be easy. The game already has a timescale variable that is changed when your shout triggers. The player has a separate modifier in order to stay at separate speed. This sort of variable could easily be implemented in a creature as well, I bet, though I'm not sure if the Creation Kit could modify base code like that. Edited July 20, 2012 by Katuko

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

1. Yes, the rabble are mixed in. And eventually some things like bandits cap off. Bandits should cap off, becuase they're normal, mortal men who rarely have magical abilities. What I mean to say is that most dungeons will have a high level monster - it's not like only one out of every twenty Warlock lairs has an Arch-Master-God Wizard. It would be more impressive if only two or three dungeons could have the maximum level monster, such as the Dragon Priest lairs.2. You downloaded Moonpath too? See, I like the mods, but once you get to many than you notice that the feeling of the game starts to get a little bit off, which is kind of offputting to me. Tamriel Rebuilt, a Morrowind moderator, is really good because it seems to flow into the setting really well. Some of the mods for Skyrim and Oblivion just... meh. Too many contradicting things.3. I only power leveled smithing on my first character, back when four Iron Daggers got you from 99-100. On my characters after that I just made jewelry whenever I could because I could make a quick buck at the Thieves Guild fences (after completing all of those quests, they have 4000 gold!) Enchanting I like to have at 100 for Dual Enchantments, though.4. Actually, I don't think very many monsters other than NPCs have an armor rating at all. And none of them have as high as the player can get. I believe every melee attack you perform will be max damage on Alduin or even a Legendary Dragon.5. Yeah, but any person who's played D&D can tell you that it wouldn't be a good idea. It's not fun to have a game slowed down by status effects penalizing people. This holds doubly true in video games. If you're being slowed down, and the monster is moving faster, it just wouldn't be as exciting as, say, Alduin knocking away your weapon and forcing you to rush across the battlefield while being blasted by fire and meteors from the sky.-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Makaru]

@Toa Levacius ZehvorMy rant/diatribe is basically how I would have personally change the game from a standpoint in what enemies you face and when. You wouldn't face the arch-mages or Master Vampires until you reach a certain level. Then the difficulty changes with your skill, not in an arbitrary immersion-breaking way, but with meaning and purpose. Powerful boss-type characters aren't going to face you early on because you aren't impacting their individually tailored laundry list of world-taker-overage. As you level and become more powerful, not only are they taking notice of you as a potential threat, they have a personal stake because you are hindering their progression in the game.To me, it would make the game more organic. More alive.Maybe I'm wrong? I dunno.

[Takatu]

I actually really like the sound of that. You'd just have to figure out a natural way to get the enemies' viewpoint across to the player.

[Katuko]

Actually, I don't think very many monsters other than NPCs have an armor rating at all. And none of them have as high as the player can get. I believe every melee attack you perform will be max damage on Alduin or even a Legendary Dragon.

They do. Every humanoid who wears armor (including Falmer) gains its benefits, and some other monsters (like Draugr and dragons) have resistance to one or more types of magic. Alduin is (now that I've checked) listed on the wiki as having 2355 HP and 50% resistance to all damage sources. I can confirm the armor rating on most enemies by using a modded spell that tells me their stats upon use, but I forgot to do it on Alduin. I'll find an empty area and spawn him via the console to test.

See, I like the mods, but once you get too many than you notice that the feeling of the game starts to get a little bit off, which is kind of offputting to me.

That depends entirely on what mods you download and which ones you like/don't like. The purpose of them is to mold the game into a more enjoyable experience for yourself, after all, and for me it's mostly gone upwards. Usually you would sit down and think "I wish this was different" and then you would start looking for a fix.

Yeah, but any person who's played D&D can tell you that it wouldn't be a good idea. It's not fun to have a game slowed down by status effects penalizing people. This holds doubly true in video games. If you're being slowed down, and the monster is moving faster, it just wouldn't be as exciting as, say, Alduin knocking away your weapon and forcing you to rush across the battlefield while being blasted by fire and meteors from the sky.

To be fair, having your weapon knocked away from your hand is the single most annoying ability I can think to face. Being slowed is a bit annoying and lessens the rate of movement/attacks/healing, but losing the weapon amongst world clutter is even more annoying no matter how realistic it is. It probably took some time to craft and enchant said weapon, after all, and if it's a unique blade you can bet I want it back for other reasons than killing my enemy. I could do that with my six other swords. Fear my magic 300-pound carrying capacity, yarr.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

@ Makaru;It's an interesting proposition, yes. In a tabletop game setting with a highly malleable setting, such as a game of D&D, it's incredibly easy to do something like that, something which makes such games capable of supporting more interesting story set ups than video games.The problem is that you're fighting that Arch-Conjurer in the same dungeon that you previously cleared and had Apprentices of the same type. Having to face more powerful enemies no matter what breaks through to me, just like the leveled lists of equipment do. If you really wanted to make a system like that organic, here's how you would do it -What you're stating would make sense if you were going into a dungeon and you stopped a ritual by some Novice Conjurers and an Apprentice Conjurer to summon a bunch of Daedra or something, and then, say, your fast travel between locations got inerrupted part of the way through your travels at some bridge and you got attacked by a bunch of random bandits and a normal Conjurer who might even be too strong for you. Since events are randomly scripted, you might even have a Dragon land in the middle of the interaction, or maybe it's at night and a Vampire shows up and starts life draining everyone.Then, after killing this Conjurer, you go to another lair where some Adepts and a few Apprentices and Daedra are all working for a second Conjurer, and their overall leader, and Ascendant Conjurer, who you may need to run away from because he's way too high level to kill - or perhaps you manage to kill him, and get awesome loot. At higher levels closer to his (25+), he may even have an entourage of lower level Dremora guarding him, but it should cap off at Level 30 for the hardest possible fight, where he has, say, two Kynval bodyguards.If you succeed in killing the Ascendant, nothing much happens until you've cleared another Conjurer lair featuring a few of his equals and the lower levels - the normal mooks are never anything past normal, level 19 Conjurers, but they Daedra they're with become increasingly deadly, and their forces might be boosted by hired bandits to keep you occupied in melee. The Ascendant Conjurer keeps a note detailing the location of a Master Conjurer who taught him, we'll say, and you head over there - it's a small, isolated cave, not too fancy, that you might not have noticed. If you went there at a level lower than 30 or so, you're going to get pummeled by the Strom Atronachs and Dremora within. Inside, you fight the Master Conjurer. Good loot, and everything stays equal.Then, finally, you may either kill other Conjurers or just happen upon another Dungeon - this one a Level 42+ Dungeon that's incredibly massive. The complex is filled to the brim with traps, Dremora, Atronachs, and maybe even a pair of Wispmothers. The outside of the dungeon is blocked by a massive bridge guarded by Frost Trolls, making entry at lower level hard anyways. So you just mark it off until you can go there.Then, once inside, you meet the Arch Conjurer himself. Unlike the others, who were lower level and relied solely on robes (with the Masters wearing, obviously, Master Conjuration/Destruction robes), this one is wearing a suit of Daedric Armor with the rest of the pieces being ebony and fights with a unique staff that boosts the power of targeted summons, and access to the Dual Souls perk. He's also fought in a location that makes reaching him in melee difficult, forcing you to think smarter. And if you do get into melee, he can teleport, because all of the cool wizards teleport. Oh, and it's a Dwemer ruin, so two Master Centurions get involved with the fight as well.See, that right there would make that fight memorable - you would always remember that dungeons name (or, at least, for a month or two) because it was that place where you fought the epic battle against a epic wizard. In-game itself, you go through the loot and find a book called Conjuration Masters Guide or something better than that that grants an unseen perk which causes your summons to be more powerful (Atronachs are as strong as the actual monsters in addition to any perk applications, and Dremora Lords gain access to the full spell list used by Valkynaz), and boosts your conjuration by 5 points if lower than 50, or 3 if above 50. You keep his staff, which allows you to keep your summons alive longer, and his high level equipment, which is worth a pretty penny if nothing else.Afterwards, you find the Conjurers lairs are usually empty, and now occupied by other forms of Warlocks or even plain Bandits at the earlier times. A few forts might even get occupied if it's during the Civil War. Maybe lower level Dragons start living there, just to be different. If you got there, it's never going to get you very good or high level stuff, but it might be worth checking out. As you wander the world, you might meet young Mages who want you to teach them, and you can direct them to the College or blow them off or whatever. Maybe one will pull a Gaenor and pop up later to challenge you to a ridiculously hard duel. Or, sometimes, you might meet remnant Conjurers whose masters are trying to replace the Arch Conjurer. Maybe he might be replaced - you get attacked by a gang of Ascendant thugs, and one of them has a note directing you to the lair in the works of the new leader. Maybe when you get there it's a Falmer hive, and he's been killed by a gang of the beasts - or it's a crypt, and deeper within is a Dragon Priest that makes his power look like nothing.But that would be way too hard for them to implement into a video game, so sucks for us. If this is what you want to happen in your gaming experience, pull up a seat and grab your dice.Also - oh my god did I just write that whole thing. O_O@ Katuko;1. Well I've been wrong before. I guess those sharpened scythe scales have to be of some use.2. And in the cases of some people, that moderator choice is pretty freaky weird.3. Yeah, that's true. But let's look at some of the shouts he could use. Well, the first one could be to summon half a dozen spirits by releasing their souls, only forced under his control. They keep you occupied as he flies away, and use the word Fus to stun you whenever you start charging Dragonrend - a script to do that would be neat, for sure, and it would be neither debilitating or lacking in power. During the fight, Alduin might use Dismay to send away the Tongues. Marked for Death would make an interesting scenario, for sure. Or imagine him with Whirlwind Sprint.That would be kind of funny. Especially if he could do it from midair - just suddenly blast out of the sky and knock everybody around him down like with a full power Unrelenting Force so he could blast them with fire breath. That would be some neat effects.Of course, then we're really missing the point - what's more important, the combat or the story?Though epic combat scenes are nice.-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Katuko]

But that would be way too hard for them to implement into a video game, so sucks for us. If this is what you want to happen in your gaming experience, pull up a seat and grab your dice.

Sounds mostly like various monsters at different levels placed into static encounters rather than randomly generated ones and connected to a quest line. If you use already-existing monsters, then you don't have to work for ages to make mods for something like this. In fact, if you got the Creation Kit, you might as well try to make a quest-line like that. I was thinking of making one based on Order of the Stick, in fact (basing a moderator on something is usually the best way to get the hang of it), though I'm wondering how best to do certain things. I can make the plugin work with Apocalypse Spell Package and Cloaks of Skyrim in order to add certain items and abilities, but since I'd possibly need a bunch of other packages as well I'm wondering where best to start...

2. And in the cases of some people, that moderator choice is pretty freaky weird.

There is an immeasurable amount of stuff found on the internet, and we all have to shift through it and pick what we like. Even if 50 people have weird setups in their game, what does it matter? I don't see how that affects you at all.

Of course, then we're really missing the point - what's more important, the combat or the story?

The combat underlines the story, but I dare say this game isn't so much about the story so much as the open world. A lot of people play Fallout and Skyrim not for the main quest, but for making their own character and going out into the world to put their mark on it.Hence I have my "main" character that is level 50 and beefed up with artifacts and does a bit of everything; he is the Dovahkiin that was taken to Helgen and narrowly escaped. But then we have my other characters, like "Redcloak". He is obviously based on OoTS, an orc mage running around with a red disease-resistant cloak and using necromancy, summoning, destruction spells and healing as his primary abilities. His goal is to show everyone goblin orc superiority, and that by using brute force and a little intellect the orcish race will take their place in the world.Next is Jenny, a Nord woman who (with the help of Live Another Way) was shipwrecked off the coast and is just trying to survive in the war-torn land of Skyrim. She uses a sword and a shield and just a little magic to keep herself going. Finally there is Fights-A-Lot, an Argonian who one day just quit his job and is really, really angry at everything. He uses his fists and punches everything. He does this because he likes to. He is a maniac.Very different characters, and yeah, I play them for their stories, if not the main story of the game. However, the main story ending was still disappointing to me mostly because the final showdown felt very little like a final showdown when randomly generated spawns gives me more grief than the World-Eater himself. Alduin was built up to be more powerful than all the other dragons, hence he was their leader. But there he was, just another victim of my blade. Visually, the final areas were impressive. The portal to Sovngarde, the battle with Nahkriin just before, the sky and the mist and the background music... all very nice. Shor's Hall could have been slightly more fleshed out, but it was nice. And then suddenly, instead of a massive battle worthy of the area he's fought in, Alduin dies in less than a minute, without even saying much. As said, I enjoyed Nahkriin more, perhaps because he actually moved to dodge, summoned a Storm Athronach to keep me busy, and used visually impressive lightning to spam at me. He also seemed to resist attacks better, so his lower HP seemed to last longer for some reason. Looking forwards to Krosis, if he's actually as challenging as I've been told.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

@ Katuko;1. Well, see, that's the thing. In Morrowind, every NPC was at a set level, with set spells,set eqipment, and had a name. Even if the name isn't memorable, some of the monsters were. I remember that, in order to get the Ring of the Wind, you had to go to this dungeon that ended with a massive cave, with a large spire of stone rising from water in the center and a narrow pathway leading to the top. The boss was this wizard who had the ring, and I still can think of exactly what he looks like - blue robes with a Dwemer helmet. The contrasting appearance just leaves an impression in your mind.The way I was describing it there was just as an example of something that would be more exciting to do than just the generic spawn points. I don't like having the highest level monsters being able to spawn at the same frequency as the step below them did a few levels lower. They should be hard to find, and be the thing that dictates what your reward is. If you're fighting the highest level wizard NPC type in the game, it should be something that's a rare and challenging fight. I wouldn't really mind if the leader of all Conjurers was radiant leveled from 50+ or something like that.2. Everyone has their interests, some of them are just weirder than others.3. That's what separates the Elder Scrolls games from other RPGs, like Legend of Zelda or Dragon Age, is the open world set up.As far as my characters, I usually make up the story as I go to make for the most interesting idea and then roll with that during interactions. I have an idea of their prior background, but I don't like that being the thing that dictates it all.And yeah, Alduin should have been a more dynamic fight than he ended up being. Nobody can argue that. There's also the lack of emotion being directed against him. Let's compare -!~~SPOILERS~~!Well, for, like, two people.Morrowind ~ You've climbed up from a Level 1 loser to the pinnacle of being one of the strongest people on Vvardenfell. There might be a few, like Fyr or Vivec, who can still stand to your power, but that's not many. You've probably conquered a few of the deadly Ash Vampires, if not all of them. Now, armed with Wraithguard, Keening, and Sunder, you make your way into the heart of Red Mountain to challenge Dagoth Ur, who has reached you through your dreams and through his minions. Once in the core of the volcano, you meet with him, and the two of you engage in a final conversation. He greets you as an equal, and the two of you meet in combat. He unleashes powerful spells and strikes you with armor piercing blows, but you overcome. His spirit reforms on the other side of the door, and you go withing to beat him. However, he is still tied to the Heart of Lorkhan, and your great powers are still useless. So, either by walking or levitation, you make your way to the Heart and strike it. The massive robot collapses, and Dagoth Ur is finally destroyed (if you pushed him into the lava, bonus points). And at the end, Azura herself bestows her ring. The blight storms are gone, any remaining Ash Vampires fade away, and Vvardenfell seems a better place for your actions.Skyrim - It doesn't matter how powerful you are. You may be level 50, you may be level 14. Unlike Morrowind, where you were told to increase your power throughout the quest line, you're basically directed to move as fast as possible, so if you actually do what the NPCs say, you're probably not even level 20 by the time you meet Alduin at the Throat of the World. There, he flees, and you go through a bunch more quests to reach Skuldafn. Once there, you fight a bunch of Dragons and eventually a Dragon Priest, who is an even match for even the highest level characters. Then, you go to Sovngarde, a breathtaking experience. Everything is building up to this, just like the showdown with Dagoth Ur. Only... Alduin is just a normal dragon, despite all of this. He doesn't send his minions. You don't need any kind of complicated combat techniques. You just Dragonrend him and rip him up. Unless you are really low level, in which case you don't have the satisfaction of growing in power.I love Skyrim, but things like that just seem like they could have been done better.-Toa Levacius Zehvor

Edited July 20, 2012 by Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Makaru]

Zehvor, you've basically outlined the same ideas my buddy and I tossed back and forth on how we would each make Skyrim a more epic and compelling story. The only difference is we kept going, eventually coming up with an alternate ending. Basically everything leads up to a "civil" war between the followers of Deadra and the followers of the Divines, which eventually leads to the Divines v. Daedra somewhere in Oblivion or Soverngarde, depending on your loyalties. This happens after the main "Alduin" quest. It got really weird after that.I think it all started with the hilarious idea of trying to "uncover" the secret behind the murder of Sanguine for some reason. Drunken Skyrim conversations. Good times.

Edited July 20, 2012 by Makaru

[Wotz]

I just lost loads of save files for my main guy by accident. I didn't realise that making a new character overwrote all the autosaves for the others, and now I have to revert all the way back to bloody Labrynthian which was like, two levels ago, and fight the same blimmin' Dragon Priest (fortunately a pretty easy one ) and then finish that whole College of Winterhold questline again, then do all the other quests and things I did in that time. A whole days work, people.A WHOLE DAYS WORK.*sigh*

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

First of all, I've decided that the best NPC in Skyrim is the drunk guy at Elenwen's party. Partially because he's the only one who, despite being there to cozy up to the Thalmor, shows them absolutely no respect.Second, as I've been going through Skyrim, and noting all of the times where you help somebody, and all of the times you might have spared an NPC's life even if it cost you a Daedric artifact. By the end of it, you could have anywhere from ten to twenty or more people who you've befriended, some of whom are willing to be your followers. And (without mods) only one of them will ever fight for you.The best quest I can imagine would be one of those ones where you're finally fighting an enemy far beyond your powers to kill, even as Dragonborn, and then all of them showed up to help you against it - all of those people you might have helped, either than to help you in the fight or just to give support. Those kind of things are cool. Even if it would lag your computer to Oblivion and back.-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Havelock Vetinari]

Just crunched then numbers, with the proper skill selections, I can build an uber-assassin mage. Cue the bond them ladies and gents. Cue the bond theme. The Dreaded Necromancer-Assassin-Illusionist-Vampire-Just Realizing How Insane This Is-Character is on the way.

[BenLuke]

That's not a really insane concept.A normal mage in Skyrim? Now that's crazy.

[Havelock Vetinari]

Might go with a pure Path of Shadow build instead. I love magic. It's great. But I have used it for my last three games.....Heck with it. Sounds like a blast. I'll crunch the numbers and draw up a build.

[Wotz]

So I was talking to a Whiterun Guard the other day, and he was all like, "I saw a Dragon last night, flying around Shearpoint by the looks of it." and I just smiled to myself and took off without bothering to find out what else I might find at Shearpoint....Turned out to be one of the more... Interesting fights of my time in Skyrim...Didn't die though. The Dragon got a swift backhand and died, and me and the big beastie grappled over the edge of the cliff, falling and swiping at each other, until my Ebony Sword got the better of him, and he collapsed and exploded in a shower of ash, bone and armour bits. I then fell down the cliff and landed next the the Priest's remains, retrieved my prize(s).So all in all it turned out pretty well. Never had a fight whilst falling down a cliff before but there you go.

[Makaru]

So I am now at the level where all crypt bosses are Dragon Priests.Now this is fun.

[Mare Tranquillitatis]

So I am now at the level where all crypt bosses are Dragon Priests.Now this is fun.

Yes, it is. I can confirm. Red Eagle has been nice to fight, as Dragon Priest.

[Ultimate_Kardas]

I finally got my last achievement. I have managed to kill a legendary dragon.It wasn't too difficult, just long and annoying. I power leveled all the skills I had to 100 except for archery and alchemy which both sit at somewhere around 87 right now. After that I was level 80. Then I begun my search across Skyrim. I went to every single dragon lair, but was only met with revered dragons, ancient dragons, or nothing. I almost gave up hope. But then I had an idea. Since Shadowmere respawns after 10 days while you're in a walled city for that amount of time, maybe dragons respawn in the same amount of time on word walls! So, I go to dragonsreach. Just before I start waiting, I decide to talk to a guard to see if he says anything about my new skills I have leveled up. Instead, he just starts to taunt me. Every single thing he says to me is about dragons."My cousin is out fighting dragons and I'm stuck here doing guard duty!" "Did you hear a dragon attacked Kynesgrove? Is nowhere safe?" "I saw a dragon fly northeast to Shearpoint" and so on and so forth. I was getting so angered by him, that I pulled out my swords and was about to attack him, but suddenly, he pulls out his bow. I thought he was going to attack me first! But low and behold, he starts firing at the sky as a legendary dragon flies right into Whiterun. It wasn't a hard battle as long as I interrupted his firebreath with my dual sword attacks.feelsgoodman.jpg~U_K~

[Katuko]

So I packed my stuff and ran off to Shearpoint today, in order to meet a certain Dragon Priest. For a fun battle, I deliberately made sure that both he and the nearby dragon attacked at once. Lydia was with me, in Ebony gear. Aela too, via mods that removes follower limitations, though she had default gear because I haven't equipped her yet. Now, usually, I need to heal both of them constantly when in combat with powerful things, but today Lydia looked like she could have tanked them both to death. Me, I just spammed magic and then some arrows and soon enough they were both dead.Deadly Dragons seems to have failed me again. This dragon was at normal strength as well, and I had gotten used to a manifold increase in power from their side...

Edited July 24, 2012 by Katuko

[Let's Henshin!]

Um... yeah Shearpoint.I sort of got the words around level 15ish by charging in, reading the words, and then running like heck away from there. I didn't actually fight the dragon or the Priest.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

My first encounter with Shearpoint at Level 24 or something like that was without any followers. I remember using Fire Breath on the Blood Dragon guarding it while he flew around, and then beating on him when he landed. He only did so twice, which gave me ample time to shield bash and strike him until he died. I was completely unprepared for the Dragon Priest that popped out, but I recognized what it was and charged. I ended up winning only by use of a lot of healing potions (which I never use) andReally, it's no harder than any other battle in the game. Krosis is just another Dragon Priest. The fact that you're prone to meeting him there at a much lower level than any other Dragon Priests is the problem.My second encounter there I killed the Dragon and then attempted to go into Werewolf mode on Krosis when he popped out. it was an epic battle for about five seconds, that being the time it took for my armorless, resistanceless character to be ripped into shreds.Beast. Form. Sucks.-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Havelock Vetinari]

Well, my time as a Vampire Assassin is so far, incredibly fun. Cleared out one fort without detection and it made Bleakfalls Barrow very easy. Only got hit once or twice.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Basilisk

[Wotz]

Um... yeah Shearpoint.I sort of got the words around level 15ish by charging in, reading the words, and then running like heck away from there. I didn't actually fight the dragon or the Priest.

I wanted his mask for the thingy in Labrynthian, just for the sake of displaying all my lovely masks in a pocket dimension (or the past or whatever that place is).

[Angel Beat]

My character Terina seems to be mellowing out a little bit after 100 hours of gameplay.She got a nice house in Skyrim, joined the Bards College, married Lydia, went back to her Forsworn armor set and cured her furry ear problem (Lycanthropy)....OK, maybe she's not so mellow after all.

Edited July 28, 2012 by Valenti

[Takatu]

I'm a little irked with Bethesda over their complete lack of announcement regarding Dawnguard for PC and PS3. Thirty day wait period's over, and after a month of silence, all they say is, "We have no news on Dawnguard for other platforms, nor do we know when we'll have an announcement. Oh well." Now I'm a PC player, and as much really want Dawnguard, with the Steam Workshop and other places for mods, I really can't complain. But I really feel for the poor PS3 players, they've been getting the short end of the stick pretty much since Skyrim was released. Their version is the buggiest, they've constantly been a ways behind PC and 360 in patches, fixes and updates (seriously, PC just got patch 1.7, PS3 is still on 1.5). At the very least, now that the month-long exclusive period for 360 is over, they deserve at least some kind of update on DLC beyond "We're announcing that we have no announcement."Sorry, had to vent that.

[Archer Vonn]

It's okay, PS3 does everything else so I can preoccupy myself before I preoccupy myself.

[Ultimate_Kardas]

You think beast mode sucks Lev? Just wait until you get dawnguard. The werewolf perk tree makes werewolves so much more viable. I fought the last boss of the main dawnguard story and it was fun. My sprinting power attack can kill almost anyone in 1 hit. It's great. Plus, having 2 other werewolves join you that can also knock enemies to the ground is very helpful in not only a distraction, but doing damage as well.~U_K~