The Elder Scrolls

[Mare Tranquillitatis]

No Dawnguard for me either. Mostly waiting on more patches for it before I buy. =PAlso, did anyone else have trouble with that necromancer in Kilkreath during Meridia's Daedric quest? I still haven't beat him, and I want to know if I'm alone with this problem.(Why do Necromancers use ice spells anyway? They're not Ice Mages. He's got plenty of dead bodies he could ressurrect in his chamber down there; he could at least live up to his title before using that uber-frost-spell of doom. )-Inferna

Uh, no, never had trouble with him. I can remember that it's been a very interesting quest, though. But I never had problems of any sort in that dungeon, by that time I was still playing as a Master-of-stealth character. I think I used a powerful bow and hid in the darkness, or assassinated him. Anyways, I was probably at level 30 or 40. Yeah, I think I used a bow. Never liked to attack necromancers and stuff in daylight...

[Takatu]

Elder Scrolls goes with the idea that death = cold, so Necromancers and undead things like Draugr and vampires use a lot of ice spells. Somewhat makes sense, I guess.

[Mare Tranquillitatis]

Hmm, that makes sense. I remember that those Draugrs ( can't recall how they're named ) usually conjure a Frost Atronach, then switch to the Ice spell. And remember that they're dead Nords, after all. Snow is their "natural element", I'd say, if you get what I mean.

[Katuko]

No Dawnguard for me either. Mostly waiting on more patches for it before I buy. =PAlso, did anyone else have trouble with that necromancer in Kilkreath during Meridia's Daedric quest? I still haven't beat him, and I want to know if I'm alone with this problem.(Why do Necromancers use ice spells anyway? They're not Ice Mages. He's got plenty of dead bodies he could ressurrect in his chamber down there; he could at least live up to his title before using that uber-frost-spell of doom. )-Inferna

I had some trouble with him as a mage when I was mediocre in every skill and didn't want to be cheap, but if you don't care about that there are ways to make him easier:- Dual-cast Firebolt with the Impact perk. Low cost spell that staggers 50% of the time, and since it's fire-based it deals a bit more damage than usual on successive hits. You can easily keep most enemies locked down with this. Upgrade to dual-cast Incinerate later if you smith yourself gear to reduce magic cost.- Dual-wield enchanted weapons that drain Magicka. This will prevent most mages from using anything except their own (weak) melee attacks.- Stand in the hallway outside and spam arrows at him. He usually won't leave the chamber, so this makes it easier for you to dodge, plus it forces his minions to come to you instead of you being surrounded the moment you enter the area.- Spell/scroll: Circle of Protection or Turn Undead will force the minions away from you; the former will keep you healed as well. You might try Fire Storm or similar to deal a lot of damage at once to everyone around you, if you can survive without moving until it's charged.- Heavy armor, frost-resistant gear, flame-enchanted sword. Shield bash that sucker. Keep him off-balance and hack him down.- Shouts. Slow time (one word found in Korvanjund, for example) to dodge him more easily or use Unrelenting Force to knock him down so you can get some free hits in. Shouts have long recharge, though...The necromancer in Meridia's quest isn't too bad, I feel, but that guy in Azura's? His Dremora minions gave me some real trouble. I was playing non-modded mage in no armor as my first character, though. Edited August 15, 2012 by Katuko

[Inferna Firesword]

Still though. He's a Necromancer. Sure he's got Corrupted Shades hanging around in there, but come on -- he could at least ressurect a few dead bodies instead of using ice spells. He's got plenty of them in that last room; he's not exactly lacking in the materials department.In any case, my poor Redguard Spellsword is getting killed over and over again by him and his spell.@Katuko: I don't have the impact perk (or dual-casting, for that matter), since I've been focusing more on one-handed and conjuration, but I'll give it a shot. I have all the words to Unrelenting Force, so I've been trying that, but I guess I should do that later.Arrows aren't working that well, but I'll give it another try. Can't really shield-bash since I've been playing with a sword in my right hand and a spell (usually Conjure Flame Atronach) in my left. My main weapon right now is a Superior Steel Sword that absorbs health with each hit: great for dragons and animals, not so great for enemies that keep you at a distance.-Inferna

Edited August 15, 2012 by Inferna Firesword

[Havelock Vetinari]

Take cover and send a horde of summoned creatures to die for you.

[Inferna Firesword]

That's what I've been doing, actually.Whoever's in charge of the Flame Atronachs must really hate me by now. -Inferna

[Havelock Vetinari]

"Whatever happened to Theuksisus?""Dead.""The Reguard?""Yep.""Gonna kill her someday.""Yep."

[Katuko]

I think they're in charge of themselves, mostly. Hm, do you have any items or potions to resist frost? Flame Atronachs die rather quickly to ice as well, so you will probably want an Ice or Storm Atronach if you have them. Ice because it still does melee damage and is immune to frost, and Storm because it spams Lightning and Chain Lightning.Or, just summon more Flame Atronachs.What do you have in your arsenal at this point? Spells, gear, potions, everything. I know I hate to backtrack because a quest target requires different things than what I have, so let's try to make do with what you got.

[Inferna Firesword]

Yeah, I guess it'll be rather amusing when she dies. :PHmm. Maybe I can reload a previous save (before the hallway door got locked), go back out, get the Ritual Stone, come back, and then unleash its power. That'll teach him to not leave his unused material lying around where I can see it. @Katuko: I have a bunch of resist-frost potions (mostly taken from dead Ice Wraiths), but they don't seem to be doing much. I only have the Flame Atronach spell now, but maybe I should go get a Frost Atronach if I reload.Spells: Lesser Ward, Fast Healing, Bound Sword, Soul Trap, the aforementioned Atronach spell, all the Rune and Destruction projectile spells, and Oakflesh.Shouts: Unrelenting Force (3 words), Frost Breath (1), Disarm (1), Become Ethereal (1), Whirlwind Sprint (1), Kyne's Peace (1)Armor: All steel, along with a ring that improves lockpicking and the Stamina fragment of the Gauldur amulet.Weapons: Aforementioned sword, Gauldur Blackbow, Elven Bow of Fire, and more arrows than you can shake a stick at.Potions: Can't name them all off the top of my head, sorry. Lots of restoration items, skill enhancers, some resistance items, and a few poisons.Also, I have the Lady Stone activated and Talos' blessing.-Inferna

Edited August 15, 2012 by Inferna Firesword

[Katuko]

If I'm not mistaken the corpses in the room are "Desecrated", which means that they can't be resurrected. :/

[Inferna Firesword]

What? Aww, I hate him even more now. -Inferna

[Katuko]

That's probably why he doesn't use his Necromancy, by the way. There are no corpses in the room that the game recognizes as viable targets for zombification.

[Angel Beat]

My strategy for killing Malkoran was using a Fire spell in one hand and Restoration in the other.I also used the power of the Atronach Stone, which converts part of the incoming magicka damage into extra magicka for your pool, iirc.In other news...

I killed the Emperor.

Edited August 15, 2012 by Valenti

[Makaru]

Step one: Learn Summon Daedric LordStep two: Forget other summoning spells

[BenLuke]

I have begon working towards destroying the Dark Brotherhood.My plans for taking over all of Skyrim don't require competition.

Edited August 15, 2012 by BenLuke-116

[Mare Tranquillitatis]

@Inferna: I presume arrows didn't work for you and instead did for me because I was like at, huh, maybe 90 Archery that time. And I guess you're low-leveled, aren't you?@Makaru: I must agree with your method.

[Inferna Firesword]

Only level 22, sadly. Too busy adventuring.-Inferna

[Katuko]

My latest archer character had about 45-50 archery skill when I killed Malkoran with it. I can't remember her level, but I think it was somewhere from 18 to 20. Started off with a sneak attack 8with the perk for doubling sneak attack damage), then I used Eagle Eye/slowdown to deal with most things. I believe a single hit from ice storm would have done me in, though, if he had hit me with it.With your equipment, Inferna, I recommend downing a potion of Frost Resistance (it should help a bit) along with Fortify Health if you have it. Throw in Fortify Magicka as well.Use a bow to start the battle with a sneak attack to the Necromancer's back. Let the shade come towards you, and pick them off as you please with your sword and Destruction magic. Once you're alone with Melkoran, you will likely have regained Unrelenting Force. Use it to stun him, then prepare yourself with potion buffs and summon an Athronach. Throw Fire Rune spells below him or just spam fire spells while also hacking away with your sword. If you have any Slow or Paralyze poisons, use them just as he gets up. Make sure to add in some Magicka poisons if possible, to prevent his spells. Hopefully you'll take out a good chunk of his health or even kill him.Be wary, by the way:

When he's dead, he's not entirely dead. Buff yourself with fire resistance and keep going, with fire or Turn Undead spells. If you have a scroll, you will probably want to use it, as this guy can be tough if you're not prepared.

[Inferna Firesword]

Thanks for the advice, Kakuto. I'll take those strategies when I return to Kilkreath. I loaded a previous save back before I wound up in the catacombs so I could level up a little more, maybe get new armor and enchant it, or get that Frost Atronach.Incidentally, I ran into a Dragur Deathlord in another dungeon, and to get some breathing room I used Unrelenting Force on him. However, I wound up knocking him into a corner where there was a brazier, and when he recovered he couldn't get at me.After I realized that (and after I had a good laugh), I pulled out my Elven Bow of Fire, and me and my Flame Atronach just took potshots at him until he died. :PHe had some great loot, including an Ebony War Axe, so it was worth it. I'm not sure how I managed to do that, but I'll see if I can do that again in another dungeon.-Inferna

[Katuko]

Getting stuck in clutter can happen a lot. Some enemies are simply too large to get through certain places as well. I once met a Frost Troll in one of the cave ruin areas, and it couldn't get through a passageway without getting stuck most of the time. Jumping onto decently tall rocks or ledges can also be a good way of avoiding melee fighters, as they won't ever jump to get up there.

[Archer Vonn]

Unrelenting Force is ridiculous. Trolls and bears are the toughest things in the game until it's maxed, at which point they're just a mountainside away from instadying

[Wotz]

I troll Giants with my good friend the Wabbajack :3

[BenLuke]

I just spam the basic Flames spell whenever dealing with trolls. It's about the only thing it's useful for.

[Takatu]

You gotta be careful with the Wabbajack though, sometimes it'll turn the enemy into something like a rabbit, but other times... it ended up changing an ice wolf into a Dremora Lord once.

[Mare Tranquillitatis]

Haha, Wabbajack! I love that ( and its related god, btw... ), but it can be quite risky, yeah.As for Trolls, I don't care about damage and shield bash them repeatedly until their health drains, then use a bound weapon. Enchanted weapons tire me.EDIT: on other news, I finally stepped past Knifepoint Ridge bug during Boethiah's Calling. All I had to do has been waiting some time before going back to that mission. Now I have all Daedric artifacts and all but one achievements. Feel so... tired and... bored.

Edited August 17, 2012 by The Renegade Emperor

[Takatu]

Quick question: Anyone know if the vampiric drain spell (the one you get automatically as a vampire, not the explosive one you get as a Vampire Lord) counts toward furthering your destruction skill? I know it's considered a destruction spell in the game, but wasn't sure if it actually helped you level up the skill.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

Quick question: Anyone know if the vampiric drain spell (the one you get automatically as a vampire, not the explosive one you get as a Vampire Lord) counts toward furthering your destruction skill? I know it's considered a destruction spell in the game, but wasn't sure if it actually helped you level up the skill.

Nope. :(On that note, finished Vampire and Werewolf. In fact, I did the Werewolf perks in one setting. The rampage went from between Rorikstead and Whiterun and continued on to Riften. I even ate the heart of a bunny once. My advice - don't take any other perks until you finished the right hand side. Being able to eat anything makes things much easier.-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Takatu]

Darn. >:/ Well, I have the PC version of the game, anyone know if it's at all possible to toy around in the files and make that possible? It's a helpful spell, and it'd be nice if I could actually gain some kind of experience using it.Yeah, I heard with all the perks and a high enough level, werewolves with Dawnguard are terrifying. I'll have to make a new character sometime to try that.

[Chols]

Darn. >:/ Well, I have the PC version of the game, anyone know if it's at all possible to toy around in the files and make that possible? It's a helpful spell, and it'd be nice if I could actually gain some kind of experience using it.

There's many existing mods that modify Skyrim to make it more balanced. I have not seen any for that specific spell, but you might be able to find one, or moderator it yourself if you know what you're doing.I've never really been interested in The Elder Scrolls, but I've been enjoying Skyrim a lot lately. I haven't played most of the main questlines though; I've mostly been running about doing random side quests and hunting stuff. Screw your civil war and dragon problems. :3

[Katuko]

Darn. >:/ Well, I have the PC version of the game, anyone know if it's at all possible to toy around in the files and make that possible? It's a helpful spell, and it'd be nice if I could actually gain some kind of experience using it.Yeah, I heard with all the perks and a high enough level, werewolves with Dawnguard are terrifying. I'll have to make a new character sometime to try that.

Shouldn't be hard at all to make a modification for it. Just open the Dawnguard packet in the Creation Kit, browse until you find the spell in question, and then add it to the list of Destruction spells that do level. If there are any other new Destruction spells in Dawnguard, that should help you narrow it down if the list names are confusing. Edited August 21, 2012 by Katuko

[Takatu]

I figure it's not too hard to accomplish, but yeah, that's the problem, I have no idea what I'm doing. I can download and install other mods fine, but I'm pretty clueless on game modding myself lol. Still, I'll poke around the Creation Kit and whatnot and see if I can accomplish anything.

[Katuko]

Meh, I have no idea what I'm doing either, but I managed to moderator in a new stealth perk in Fallout. Just duplicate existing values and stuff. This would be as simple as adding one item to a list, I imagine.

[Takatu]

Well, I've managed to change the damage of the spell, which is good because now it's actually pretty useful, but still haven't figured out how to get it to level destruction. Also, Serana. I like the idea of followers, but none of them were particularly good, and most barely had a personality, so I really ended up dumping whatever follower I had after a while and went solo. Serana is wonderful, though. Perfectly capable in battle (though I have to watch where I stand, I've been hit with plenty of rogue ice spikes from her) and essential, meaning I don't have to babysit her. She actually has a decently-written personality, and makes plenty of comments about places and situations. Yeah, it becomes a bit more limited after you finish the main Dawnguard questline, but it's still more than Lydia's "Oh hey, a cave!"

[Wotz]

but it's still more than Lydia's "Oh hey, a cave!"

Lydia was set to be my wife until I got sick of her and she... Died. By falling off an unexpected cliff. In Blackreach.Serana is just the best follower ever. She's like my best friend in-game, because everyone else gets stuck on rocky terrain or tries to kill me.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

After about 50 dungeons, Serana's comments do get kind of annoying, though. All of the followers do. :PShe's still a trap magnet, though. If she wasn't essential, she'd have gotten brained by rock traps a hundred times now. It's like she's a falling rock magnet. :|It would be nice if a moderator made Vampiric Drain level with you, and only changed that (maybe making it Destruction, maybe not). 2 points/sec is just irritating. Meanwhile, Volkihar Lords can drain you at like 50 per. Or, at least, they try. Heh heh heh heh heh.-Toa Levacius Zehvor

Edited August 22, 2012 by Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Takatu]

She's got a pleasant voice I think, though, so her comments haven't bothered me yet. Yeah, she is pretty bad at avoiding traps, though. Kinda bittersweet that she's not able to be married. Seems like a lot of players like her, but Skyrim marriage seems to turn your spouse into a puppet, so forget that lol.I've changed the Vampiric Drain damage for the four levels of it from 2, 3, 4, and 5 to 10, 15, 20, and 25. Didn't wanna make it too over powered, I'll test it a little later and see how it is. Still gotta find the list of spells that levels your skill to add Vampiric Drain to it, if there is one.

[Katuko]

Eh, I got Ultimate Follower Overhaul and some other mods. Makes followers avoid traps, stay in stealth, keep their weapons and not revert to default gear, all are essential, they level with you, etc. So I'm all good. Gonna ge the Specialized Followers extension too, I think, if it's compatible.Regarding magic, are you running default magic otherwise? Because Destruction magic is pretty weak without any changes. Even with cost reduction it's just inferior to swords, I feel, and yet I love magic and its spiffy effects. Mods made it so much more enjoyable. Viable without being overpowered.

[Angel Beat]

Finished both the Civil War and the main quest lines.The boss fights were rather easy for my level 54 Redguard.

[Takatu]

Yeah, like I said (somewhere) before, gotta be careful about waiting till you're too high a level before fighting Alduin, else you lose the challenge. Speaking of which, the new Legendary Dragons are apparently more powerful than Alduin in every way, which is a tad odd. I heard rumors Bethesda's going to do a patch that updates him and puts him at least on par with the Legendary ones, if not stronger, and make him a static level and strength as opposed to the leveling with you and cap off he has now, but I dunno if that's true.I haven't invested much in destruction magic yet, mostly because I'm not real big on it and just prefer swords, but I'm going to eventually work on it since I'll need it to level up overall more at some point. Problem is, the Vampiric Drain spell is only affected by the dual casting perk to put it in both hands, but doesn't benefit from any of the other perks. At least not without modification, of course.