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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Special Edition |OT| Winter is Here

Hobbes211

Member
Is there a point to having a companion as a pure mage? It's my first mage character. I feel like an atronach is enough?

Also I'm playing in adept and it feels ok, I'm not sure if I should hike up the difficulty. I've played around 50 hours of this game before as a stealth Archer but I barely saw much of the world and now I got the special edition hoping to see much more.

I've always found the mage builds, particularly destruction, to be woefully under powered on the higher difficulties. Around level 10 the enemies just take off in their resistances and damage output and become more of a grinding chore to beat and you're pretty much forced to use very specific equipment to make up for the magicka burn and lack of HP.

Master conjuration with two Daedras is what you want. They're extremely strong.
 

Hobbes211

Member
Thanks for the input but you didn't answer most of my questions :).

Dual wielding leaves you very vulnerable to arrow fire and heavy attacks. I never personally liked it, and no you can't parry attacks. I opted for a shield/axe or shield/mace combo for the most part, and played as an Orc/Companion. On higher difficulty levels the scaling will make dual wield builds less viable.
 

Humdinger

Gold Member
After becoming bored and annoyed of using archery I've decided to start a melee character. I know it's no Dark Souls or God of War, but If I want to experience the best combat possible, would you recommend 2H, dual wield, or shield? Dual wield seems mind-numbingly easy since it leaves you unable to block. But is it even possible to parry attacks? Otherwise I might as well go for dual wield anyway to make the fights faster.

Thanks in advance.

I suppose I'd recommend sword & board, but without a whole lot of enthusiasm. It provides a bit more variety than constantly swinging a big 2-H sword/axe or constantly slashing with two daggers, imo (though others prefer the latter).

I can't play straight melee, personally. It gets old fast -- clunk, clank, bonk, clash. Hope you're mixing it up with a little magic at a distance, at least.

My favorite style is archer, but it takes a while for it to get fun.
 

ephemeral

Member
Dual wielding leaves you very vulnerable to arrow fire and heavy attacks. I never personally liked it, and no you can't parry attacks. I opted for a shield/axe or shield/mace combo for the most part, and played as an Orc/Companion. On higher difficulty levels the scaling will make dual wield builds less viable.

By 'heavy attacks' do you mean 'power attacks'?

I suppose I'd recommend sword & board, but without a whole lot of enthusiasm. It provides a bit more variety than constantly swinging a big 2-H sword/axe or constantly slashing with two daggers, imo (though others prefer the latter).

I can't play straight melee, personally. It gets old fast -- clunk, clank, bonk, clash. Hope you're mixing it up with a little magic at a distance, at least.

My favorite style is archer, but it takes a while for it to get fun.

I tried to go full archery but it got repetitive after 20hours, and we all know that Skyrim is a lot longer than that and I don't see myself doing it for another 100+. It was also incredibly aggravating when the enemies moved all the time so the arrows often missed. The fights mostly consisted of not doing much else but backpedaling.

Was hoping that there'd be some thought put into the melee combat, but alas, that don't seem to be the case.
 

Humdinger

Gold Member
I tried to go full archery but it got repetitive after 20hours

Yeah, it wasn't much fun at lower levels -- lots of plunking away for minor damage. Once you level is up, though, and also level up stealth, and get good gear (enchanted), it becomes a lot of fun. Lots of slow-mo, stealthy one-shot kills. It does take a while, though; I think it was around level 40 or so before I really got it to where I liked it.

p.s. I wouldn't go full archery, personally. You always need something for up close and personal, imo.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Yeah, it wasn't much fun at lower levels -- lots of plunking away for minor damage. Once you level is up, though, and also level up stealth, and get good gear (enchanted), it becomes a lot of fun. Lots of slow-mo, stealthy one-shot kills. It does take a while, though; I think it was around level 40 or so before I really got it to where I liked it.

p.s. I wouldn't go full archery, personally. You always need something for up close and personal, imo.

Archery + daggers is a good combo. 15x backstab is a pretty hard offer to turn down. Toss in a certain pair of gloves and you get 30x.

I did a stealth build that played through DB and Thieves Guild that was daggers, archery and Illusion only (Frenzy is the best. spell. ever.), and had a blast. High stealth/archery/Illusion is what I call the puppet master build. Get enemies killing each other, tag a few with arrows, sneak in and cut the throats of the survivors.

I've cut so many throats in this game....
 

ephemeral

Member
Yeah, it wasn't much fun at lower levels -- lots of plunking away for minor damage. Once you level is up, though, and also level up stealth, and get good gear (enchanted), it becomes a lot of fun. Lots of slow-mo, stealthy one-shot kills. It does take a while, though; I think it was around level 40 or so before I really got it to where I liked it.

p.s. I wouldn't go full archery, personally. You always need something for up close and personal, imo.

I'll play around a bit with melee and see how I like it. Maybe I'll get enough points - to put into perks - to be able to go for a combination of melee and ranged along with enchanting and smithing.
 
CD keys has the legendary edition for PC for $10cad, of I bought that would it automatically upgrade to the special edition? The special edition is $25, but if I can get it for 10..
 

Lister

Banned
Now that most of the mods I used to run with have been ported to the PC version of the enhanced eidtion, I deicded it was time for another romp through Skyrim.

I had to install the mod that fixes the intro cart ride (holy fuck, at one point I was like 2 miles up in the ari!), but after that it's been smooth sailing with well over 40 mods installed. Also added a few mods I never tried, like diverse and more werewolfs and some survival mods too. I also love that there are mods now that add full 21:9 ultra wide support! Game looks relaly good with character overhaul + improved meshes + 4k textures + ENB.

It's going to be fun.
 
Now that most of the mods I used to run with have been ported to the PC version of the enhanced eidtion, I deicded it was time for another romp through Skyrim.

I had to install the mod that fixes the intro cart ride (holy fuck, at one point I was like 2 miles up in the ari!), but after that it's been smooth sailing with well over 40 mods installed. Also added a few mods I never tried, like diverse and more werewolfs and some survival mods too. I also love that there are mods now that add full 21:9 ultra wide support! Game looks relaly good with character overhaul + improved meshes + 4k textures + ENB.

It's going to be fun.

Can you link some must have mods please? Im going to start a playthrough soon and I'd like some recommendations please
 

Lister

Banned
Honestly if you go to the nexus and click on Skyrim Special Edition, and make sure mods are sorted by recommendations you're pretty golden. Just look around for what suits your fancy.

I'd deifnitley recommend using the nexus mod manager and the LOOT tool to automagically organize your mod load order for you. Modding is a cinch with those tools.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/modmanager/?

https://loot.github.io/

Other than that and my suggestion of just browsing the top recommended mods for what you like, I think the essentials are:

- The unnofficial Skyrim patch. Need this.
- Static mesh improvements (you'll need to downlaod the cart fix mod for the opening intro if you have this mod active it's here: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/8004/?)
- Total character makeover
- Skyrim flora overhaul
- Alternate start (in case you don't want to be the Dovakin)
- Immersive citizens
- Quality world map
- Cutting room floor
- Diverse dragons - and in that mod page you'll see the other two you shoudl download - mor epowerful dragons and radiant dragons.
- Immersive counds and climate sof tamriel
- Apocalypse magic
- Unread books glow
- Ars Metallica
- Wet and Cold

Then I'd also reocmmend the Paarthurnax Dilemma to tweak a particular point of the main storyline, as well as the Lost City, Helgen reborn and Falskaar to add some really cool and long quest chains to the game.

As you'll probably notice, most of these are ont he first page of the most recommended.
 

burnfout

Member
After all these years, this game still has its hooks in me like no other game. I feel like i will be playing this for years to come as well.


Walking around Skyrim is still something so special to me.
 
After all these years, this game still has its hooks in me like no other game. I feel like i will be playing this for years to come as well.


Walking around Skyrim is still something so special to me.
Skywind, Skyblivion and Beyond Skyrim will give this game even more life.

I just switched from Oldrim over to SSE, it's so much more stable. I miss the UI mods, but that's the biggest thing missing now. Getting 60 FPS with ENB + Noble + SFO + Verdant Grass and 100 other mods.
 

Maligna

Banned
I've been playing this game again in anticipation for the VR version. (I can't wait to live in this game)

I've never done the Dawnguard expansion content but I'm doing it now. Vampire Lord is way more fun than Werewolf.
 

Mahonay

Banned
I picked this up for like 25 bucks for PS4 during that big Amazon celebration sale. Been dumping in a lot of hours. Haven't had internet lately so it's been perfect actually.

Even though Sony has the absurd restrictions for mods, I've still added about 20-25 mods that have made it a much better experience than when I first played through Skyrim on the 360.

Just beat Miraak last night in the Dragonborn expansion. Love the Morrowind theme for Soltheim.

Probably jump into Dawnguard next.
 

Mahonay

Banned
I couldn't beat Miraak. I just left and am taking the long journey to the Mage's College to learn some destruction magic.
By the time I got to him I had level 100 two-handed, a bunch or boosts to my two-hand, stacked heavy armor, and the full Dragon Aspect shout. Pretty much steam rolled him before he could get much offense off on me. Had to restart it once though since the scripting glitched part way through

I'm playing an Orc that's just tanky as fuck and flattens people with hammers.
 
By the time I got to him I had level 100 two-handed, a bunch or boosts to my two-hand, stacked heavy armor, and the full Dragon Aspect shout. Pretty much steam rolled him before he could get much offense off on me. Had to restart it once though since the scripting glitched part way through

I'm playing an Orc that's just tanky as fuck and flattens people with hammers.

I'm pretty low level(and playing on hard) . I was insta killed if I got off the dragon. Only had novice destruction spells. I don't do any fast travel so the journey to get good at magic should be epic in of itself. My only decent skill was archery which I foolishly legendaried just before the fight.
 

Rellik

Member
If there's anything this game taught me it's that I'm a dirty hoarder.

Very first time I played this on the 360, my chest in the college was so full it would freeze the game for around a minute when I opened it up.

I had to start selling some of it.
 

Volimar

Member
I don't really use Nexus but the in game castle mods are mostly garbage. They're just about seeing how much you can cram with no style, or they're massive for the sake of it without much thought to function. Dova Strunmah Hall is the best one to me, but it's too open. Really hoping Beyond Skyrim - Bruma makes it to the in-game mod menu.
 

Rex_DX

Gold Member
I don't really use Nexus but the in game castle mods are mostly garbage. They're just about seeing how much you can cram with no style, or they're massive for the sake of it without much thought to function. Dova Strunmah Hall is the best one to me, but it's too open. Really hoping Beyond Skyrim - Bruma makes it to the in-game mod menu.

I remember trying one of these that was built in the north of the Rift. Basically it was a big room and a chest and bed. Many of these are first time modders trying things out. Which ... I get : who doesn't want to build a castle?!

However give me something amazing like The Scarlett any day. Anyone who hasn't checked that out I'd recommend it. And several of the other mods by the same author as well!
 

burnfout

Member
Very first time I played this on the 360, my chest in the college was so full it would freeze the game for around a minute when I opened it up.

I had to start selling some of it.


Yeah my chest in Breezehome probably has over 100k of items in it. Difficult to sell to the merchants when they only have 700 gold each time.
 
Bruma's world design is great.
bzC0fWR.jpg
 

JeffZero

Purple Drazi
I haven't played Skyrim since like the beginning of 2012. I picked up Special Edition for PS4 and I'm floored at how much prettier it is than it was on 360, haha. I understand the PS4 mod scene is... Spartan... compared with Xbox One's (and obviously PC's) but I dabbled in a few I saw USGamer recommend. This is my first time modding a game at all, so it's an interesting journey.

There's a weather one I downloaded, although the raindrops don't seem to appear as described. (They're still "rain lines".) I don't really mind. I also downloaded Immersive NPCs, although the mod's description notes that due to Sony restrictions, it only half-works, heh. (Alvor sure kept greeting me a hundred times as I worked the forge.) I downloaded No Fast Travel, because #hoofingit. (We'll see how I feel in another 40 gameplay hours.) I downloaded Immersive Patrols, although I have no idea if it'll work. (I don't really need parentheses here, but I've added some for every other mod I've listed, so.) And I downloaded Rich Merchants, mainly to see if any of these mods are even working, since I figured it can very quickly demonstrate itself. (It did. It does. Yay.)

So, quick question. Is there a mod that amends the, uh, hilarious exploit involving free skill training if a trainer person is your follower? I am playing a rogue and I noticed last night that Faenrel (is that his name? Elder Scrolls newblet, sorry) was more than happy to upgrade my archery and then cough over whatever cash I gave him, lol. Obviously I can just ignore this, but my will suffered under the pressures of laughable ease, and so in like 3.5 hours of game time my Archery has gone up from 20 to 32. If this is the way of things, okay! No big. But if there's some bug/exploit fixer-upper for PS4, do tell.

I had more to say though, so I figured I'd post here rather than the mod thread. I just wanted to gush a little bit about how pretty everything is. I thought going straight from a Dragon Age: Inquisition replay (that game, for all GAF's faults with it, is frequently environmentally gorgeous) to even Special Edition Skyrim would be a bit weird, but nope, not at all. It's especially impressive because I don't recall being wowed by Fallout 4's visuals back in 2015? Yet here I am? Gushing? Maybe I'm just more of an epic fantasy geek than a 50s punk sci-fi geek? Maybe pretty flowers are just more likely to get stares of approval than intentionally ugly rocks? Heh. Well, either way, it's working. Draw distance is a little rough sometimes, but other than that, I'm thrilled!

I picked up the guide when I grabbed the game. Combed over the early sections. The writers are great, and a little bit morbid. I recommend giving it a skim sometime if you haven't; it can be genuinely funny. I'm not going to use the guide for quests and stuff, but I'll check them out retroactively.

Is Light Armor truly so dire in vanilla/vanilla-esque Skyrim? I'm pretty sure I rolled a sword-and-board dude back in the day. I'm all about aesthetic, though, and I prefer this look over walking around like a bipedal tank. I flinch when I see the helmets my fellow is wearing, so I try to forget that's a thing, but I like the look of the Light Armor in general.

This message is all over the place! No worries if nobody gets to answering any of it. I've got to work for the next nine hours, so I'll check back later in case anybody has replies or tips for a first-time (ish) adventurer. There's so much to explore, so much to see and do! And what little I did 5 years ago, I barely even remember! Just flashes of memory, really. Something something something Blood on the Ice driving me up the wall...
 

Unai

Member
I haven't played Skyrim since like the beginning of 2012. I picked up Special Edition for PS4 and I'm floored at how much prettier it is than it was on 360, haha. I understand the PS4 mod scene is... Spartan... compared with Xbox One's (and obviously PC's) but I dabbled in a few I saw USGamer recommend. This is my first time modding a game at all, so it's an interesting journey.

There's a weather one I downloaded, although the raindrops don't seem to appear as described. (They're still "rain lines".) I don't really mind. I also downloaded Immersive NPCs, although the mod's description notes that due to Sony restrictions, it only half-works, heh. (Alvor sure kept greeting me a hundred times as I worked the forge.) I downloaded No Fast Travel, because #hoofingit. (We'll see how I feel in another 40 gameplay hours.) I downloaded Immersive Patrols, although I have no idea if it'll work. (I don't really need parentheses here, but I've added some for every other mod I've listed, so.) And I downloaded Rich Merchants, mainly to see if any of these mods are even working, since I figured it can very quickly demonstrate itself. (It did. It does. Yay.)

So, quick question. Is there a mod that amends the, uh, hilarious exploit involving free skill training if a trainer person is your follower? I am playing a rogue and I noticed last night that Faenrel (is that his name? Elder Scrolls newblet, sorry) was more than happy to upgrade my archery and then cough over whatever cash I gave him, lol. Obviously I can just ignore this, but my will suffered under the pressures of laughable ease, and so in like 3.5 hours of game time my Archery has gone up from 20 to 32. If this is the way of things, okay! No big. But if there's some bug/exploit fixer-upper for PS4, do tell.


I had more to say though, so I figured I'd post here rather than the mod thread. I just wanted to gush a little bit about how pretty everything is. I thought going straight from a Dragon Age: Inquisition replay (that game, for all GAF's faults with it, is frequently environmentally gorgeous) to even Special Edition Skyrim would be a bit weird, but nope, not at all. It's especially impressive because I don't recall being wowed by Fallout 4's visuals back in 2015? Yet here I am? Gushing? Maybe I'm just more of an epic fantasy geek than a 50s punk sci-fi geek? Maybe pretty flowers are just more likely to get stares of approval than intentionally ugly rocks? Heh. Well, either way, it's working. Draw distance is a little rough sometimes, but other than that, I'm thrilled!

I picked up the guide when I grabbed the game. Combed over the early sections. The writers are great, and a little bit morbid. I recommend giving it a skim sometime if you haven't; it can be genuinely funny. I'm not going to use the guide for quests and stuff, but I'll check them out retroactively.

Is Light Armor truly so dire in vanilla/vanilla-esque Skyrim? I'm pretty sure I rolled a sword-and-board dude back in the day. I'm all about aesthetic, though, and I prefer this look over walking around like a bipedal tank. I flinch when I see the helmets my fellow is wearing, so I try to forget that's a thing, but I like the look of the Light Armor in general.

This message is all over the place! No worries if nobody gets to answering any of it. I've got to work for the next nine hours, so I'll check back later in case anybody has replies or tips for a first-time (ish) adventurer. There's so much to explore, so much to see and do! And what little I did 5 years ago, I barely even remember! Just flashes of memory, really. Something something something Blood on the Ice driving me up the wall...

The unofficial Skyrim patch fixes these exploits (and thousands of other things). I think it's available on the ps4, but I'm not sure because I don't have the game on it.
 

Mithos

Member
The unofficial Skyrim patch fixes these exploits (and thousands of other things). I think it's available on the ps4, but I'm not sure because I don't have the game on it.

External assets so not available on PS4, but available for XB1.
 

Volimar

Member
Faendal is my bro, but it probably doesn't help with everyone eventually becoming a stealth archer anyway. What's he go up to, 50 Archery?



You might try Ordinator perks mod. It has lots of new little paths that your skills take but you'll end up going legendary for your alchemy and smithing over and over just to afford all the perk points. Worth it though.
 

burnfout

Member
I haven't played Skyrim since like the beginning of 2012. I picked up Special Edition for PS4 and I'm floored at how much prettier it is than it was on 360, haha. I understand the PS4 mod scene is... Spartan... compared with Xbox One's (and obviously PC's) but I dabbled in a few I saw USGamer recommend. This is my first time modding a game at all, so it's an interesting journey.

There's a weather one I downloaded, although the raindrops don't seem to appear as described. (They're still "rain lines".) I don't really mind. I also downloaded Immersive NPCs, although the mod's description notes that due to Sony restrictions, it only half-works, heh. (Alvor sure kept greeting me a hundred times as I worked the forge.) I downloaded No Fast Travel, because #hoofingit. (We'll see how I feel in another 40 gameplay hours.) I downloaded Immersive Patrols, although I have no idea if it'll work. (I don't really need parentheses here, but I've added some for every other mod I've listed, so.) And I downloaded Rich Merchants, mainly to see if any of these mods are even working, since I figured it can very quickly demonstrate itself. (It did. It does. Yay.)

So, quick question. Is there a mod that amends the, uh, hilarious exploit involving free skill training if a trainer person is your follower? I am playing a rogue and I noticed last night that Faenrel (is that his name? Elder Scrolls newblet, sorry) was more than happy to upgrade my archery and then cough over whatever cash I gave him, lol. Obviously I can just ignore this, but my will suffered under the pressures of laughable ease, and so in like 3.5 hours of game time my Archery has gone up from 20 to 32. If this is the way of things, okay! No big. But if there's some bug/exploit fixer-upper for PS4, do tell.

I had more to say though, so I figured I'd post here rather than the mod thread. I just wanted to gush a little bit about how pretty everything is. I thought going straight from a Dragon Age: Inquisition replay (that game, for all GAF's faults with it, is frequently environmentally gorgeous) to even Special Edition Skyrim would be a bit weird, but nope, not at all. It's especially impressive because I don't recall being wowed by Fallout 4's visuals back in 2015? Yet here I am? Gushing? Maybe I'm just more of an epic fantasy geek than a 50s punk sci-fi geek? Maybe pretty flowers are just more likely to get stares of approval than intentionally ugly rocks? Heh. Well, either way, it's working. Draw distance is a little rough sometimes, but other than that, I'm thrilled!

I picked up the guide when I grabbed the game. Combed over the early sections. The writers are great, and a little bit morbid. I recommend giving it a skim sometime if you haven't; it can be genuinely funny. I'm not going to use the guide for quests and stuff, but I'll check them out retroactively.

Is Light Armor truly so dire in vanilla/vanilla-esque Skyrim? I'm pretty sure I rolled a sword-and-board dude back in the day. I'm all about aesthetic, though, and I prefer this look over walking around like a bipedal tank. I flinch when I see the helmets my fellow is wearing, so I try to forget that's a thing, but I like the look of the Light Armor in general.

This message is all over the place! No worries if nobody gets to answering any of it. I've got to work for the next nine hours, so I'll check back later in case anybody has replies or tips for a first-time (ish) adventurer. There's so much to explore, so much to see and do! And what little I did 5 years ago, I barely even remember! Just flashes of memory, really. Something something something Blood on the Ice driving me up the wall...

Yeah the graphics, although dated, still wow me everytime I boot this up. Maybe I'm easily pleased, but I love the way this looks.

I walk around taking screenshots of buildings/mountains/the sky so much.
 

JeffZero

Purple Drazi
I'm not sure why Uthgerd the Unbroken decided to attack me, but she's a feast for the crows now.

I've been experimenting with a few more mods! The Rustic Weather series is absolutely amazing. The game feels colder, wetter, and rougher. I wasn't sure about the Some More Trees mod at first, because I don't want to mess with the original design intent too much, but I'm finding myself even more absorbed in the plains surrounding Whiterun now that they're more of a forest outskirts area. I'm also still happy about using the No Fast Travel Mod, although it should be noted I only play for a couple of hours a day maximum and I'm still in the Whiterun region. My hope is that I'll adore how much of a journey it'll feel like once I decide to trek to Riften, which is where I thiiink I'll be headed next. And then I'll stick there for a long time, and so on. I kind of enhanced my Dragon Age: Inquisition replay experience by sticking to one zone at a time, so Skyrim will be somewhat like that.

I'll look up that Ordinator mod thingy once I'm home!
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
I am curious how Content creation trophies/achievements will be implemented.

Anyone have a guess?

I'd imagine there is no possible way they will allow each and every mod to increase your gaming score and there would absolutely be a limit.
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
My guess is that they won't have any achievements.

It has already been said that they will.

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-fallout-4-creation-club-goes-live-with-3-horse-armor/

"Featuring new items, abilities and gameplay created by Bethesda Games Studios and outside development partners – including the best community creators—Creation Club content is fully curated and compatible with the main game, official add-ons, and achievements," Bethesda said. "Currently available for Fallout 4, Creation Club will be coming to Skyrim Special Edition next month. All Creation Club content works on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. And of course, Mods will remain a free and open system where anyone can create and share what they'd like."

Of course, upon reading it, it could just mean that they won't disable achievements not add new ones.
 
I'm looking to get back into Skyrim once I get my new PC sorted... currently I only have the original.

With all of the pretty mods applied to the original, is it worth upgrading to the SE? I'm just wanting it to look and play nice; when I played the original I found it quite pleasant even on 720p etc.
 
I'm looking to get back into Skyrim once I get my new PC sorted... currently I only have the original.

With all of the pretty mods applied to the original, is it worth upgrading to the SE? I'm just wanting it to look and play nice; when I played the original I found it quite pleasant even on 720p etc.
Special Edition is a lot more stable. You can add a lot more visual mods and retain a good frame rate.
 
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