Mahalo: The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: The Rogue

[Simonoly]

Having a companion when attempting to be a Rogue just doesn't work. The video even shows this as 1) herp derp companion walks in your way and 2) all enemies are agitated by your companion and therefore you cannot surprise a group of enemies with sneak attacks and your position is almost always given away. As a Rogue your best tactic is to use something like aura whisper to map out enemy locations and then systematically eliminate each one using stealth attacks with both a bow or a dagger if you can get close enough. If you're detected then you simply retreat or turn invisible, wait for all enemies to stop looking for you and then continue assassinating. It's as simple as that.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Not familiar with your other work, but whatev, new segment. Though, really, Skyrim battle classes? Will this cover Battlemages and Shadowcasters as well? It's not like these are hard things to figure out, especially with how easy Skyrim makes it for you. Good luck with your segment, I guess, but there's gonna need to be something more, or we're just gonna keep tearing it apart.

 

[uncanny474]

Wow, I didn't know there were IGN employees that spoke Hawaiian...

Seriously, this was the most useless, stupid Skyrim video I've ever seen. I bet if they do a "warrior" class, they won't mention bound weapons, restoration, or smithing and will just say "use sord herp derp".

Escapist, come ON, you can do better than this! I liked Anthony Saves The World and Pro Gaming Gauntlet, and I don't think you have an adventure-style video running at the moment. Why not get another one of those, instead of getting absolute idiots to talk about builds that not only anyone with a working brain could figure out, but that anyone who played the game for more than an hour could IMPROVE on and, as we see here, already have done.

The whole point of the Elder Scrolls not locking you into skills is that there are some Combat, Stealth, and Magic skills that work together for each class! Mages should look into smithing, if only to help train their enchanting skill, fighters should know how to use speechcraft to help them sell all their loot, and rogues should freaking use Illusion! Muffle, Invisibility, and eventually Chameleon, are absolutely essential to playing a sneaky character. Also, they didn't even TRY to mention the use of certain shouts to supplement spellcasting, like Aura Whisper covering for your lack of Detect Life spells.

Can this show and spend your budget on something that isn't COMPLETELY retarded, please!

 

[AngloDoom]

A low-quality video consisting of a single dungeon (and about 3 fights) to "explain" the rogue archetype in an incredibly simple way, missing 90% of the details on what actually makes the class. Spend 10 minutes editing video, throw in generic commentary about how a rogue is "sneaky" and "cunning", then get paid by major gaming magazine for your oh-so-hard work.

Escapist, what the hell are you doing. This is downright insulting, coming to a website full of gamers and acting as if they didn't even know how to play a game.

Pretty much this.

There's really nothing to add to this - the video shows one tiny bit of the game, encountering one enemy, while firing arrows from a distance, and talking about a 'class' everyone is familiar with and that you aren't necessarily restricted to. Hell, and all the advice given is more hampering than helpful.

This just seems extraordinarily lazy and thoughtless. Calling this half-arsed would be generous.

 

[draythefingerless]

HMMMMM, I WONDER WHERE MY LEVEL 67 CHAR WITH 100 IN ALL WARRIOR, AND 100 IN SNEAK LOCKPICKING, ILLUSION, AS WELL A TON IN ALCHEMY, LIGHT ARMOR AND RESTORATION WOULD FIT?

seriously htou, this video feels more like a sarcastic joke than for real advice.

 

[Zhukov]

All the information in that video could have been parred down to:

"Use the bloody sneak button."

 

[Fr]anc[is]

I found myself almost accidentally being multiclassed all to hell and back by the time I was done with the game, and completed all the various 'guild' quests. So my previously 2h-axe wielding, plate-wearing Nord was not only leader of the Companions, but was also an archmage, head thief and master assassin by level 55 or so.

That happens to everyone. I don't even think you need to be able to cast spells to finish the mages guild. It's just the way the game is set up.

 

[Baneat]

I kind of played this way my first run, but I felt it was cheat-mode and out of the spirit of combat so I rerolled mage and ditched my companion. The combat is easily abused and it sucks the fun out of it. Not as easily as morrowind, but still easily done. Stuff like reducing destro costs to 0 and abusing your meat shield to get sneak attacks that you aren't due..

Still cheaty (To me) is using muffle and heavy armour. You just shouldn't be playing stealth classes with dragonplate. And anyone that actually wanted to play a warrior role in the game would consider dropping stealth completely, it's not reasonable to expect to sneak up on people wearing massive armour and using your enormously buffed melee damage to annihilate them.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Yeah, crap advice all around in that vid.

Honest tips should, in my humble opinion, go something like this:
1. companions should wait outside of whatever dungeon or area you're wanting to infiltrate. They're only useful if you've caught the attention of a few enemies and can reasonably expect them to give chase. The way the AI's made gives the impression that NPCs can't really leave their cell of origin, but I've seen plenty of well-armed bandits leave their fortress and spawn outside because I derped around too much. Stealth builds can be fairly glass cannon-y if you're not careful, so telling your follower to regroup as soon as possible, once you leave, is a good plan.

2. it's slow as shit and it sucks, but you should never, ever run in an enemy-infested area, and always sneak. You want to boost that Sneak skill as fast as you possibly can. The only spell you need is Muffle or one of its stronger variants. Bow sneak attacks are fairly easy to land, but don't invest in your One Handed skill immediately. You'll probably want to use daggers for close range, but daggers are fairly weak. Take your time and level One Handed up, even if you don't really invest in it (Sneak, Sneak, Sneak!). You need to do that if you want to be able to triple the damage output from dagger or sword sneak attacks.

All things considered, your main areas of expertise should be:
- Sneak
- Archery
- One Handed

In that order. Feel free to mix and match, but using heavy armor is counter-productive if you don't invest in it from the very beginning. You'll want to negate your defenses' produced noise as much as possible, and that's harder to do with everything from Iron to Dragonplate Armor. Considering this, Light Armor comes highly recommended.

3. stick to shadowy areas, and freeze in place if low-level enemies suspect something might be up. Even if you're in the dark, the AI can pick up your movement. Avoid notching arrows *while* an enemy's close by. Try and always notch your arrows pre-emtively. Watch your surroundings carefully, and avoid bumping into anything. Even disturbing a pickaxe on top of some measly crate from across the corridor could be picked up by the AI. For that very same reason, don't pick up anything or raid any corpses until you're reasonably sure you've cleaned out the area.

4. as an ancillary skill, both Alchemy and Enchantment are great picks. You'll obviously want to make poisons, and slapping on a strong, custom-made enchantment can be useful. Just be sure to carry a second primary weapon designed for soul-trapping if you do, and carry an ample supply of Soul Gems.

5. pray for Beth to add archery kill cams in a future update. That would be epic, and joining me in that vain hope makes a badass out of you. Because I said so. Yeah.

6. stop saying "Rouge". "Rouge" refers to either a Sonic the Hedgehog comic character or a synonym for lipstick. The word you're looking for is "Rogue", as in "Rogues gallery" or "My, this young lass is quite the handsome rogue!"

 

[leviadragon99]

Of course if you get the right perks, heavy armour can be just as effective or at least nearly as effective as light armour for sneaking in/in terms of general mobility, thus negating the disadvantages and making heavy armour really the only worthwhile armour.

 

[Abedeus]

The only companion I ever use is

Spoiler

Ghost of Lucien

because he's free to cast once per day and if he dies in combat, I'll just resummon him in 24 hours. And he's tanky enough to survive a couple of hits from Dragon Priest/Dragon while I get into hiding.

 

[Bvenged]

"The player here is able to clear the room without taking any damage, or making their presence known."

*looks at centre of screen*

*chuckle*

 

[andersgeek]

Besides all the shortcomings of the video itself... W. T. F. is "Mahalo"?! What does it do on the Escapist? Does one have to know what or who this is? Couldn't there have been some kind of introduction of this first for all the people who don't know it? Seriously, guys.

But yeah, after visiting and not one minute later closing their website, there's now one more "show" on the Escapist I couldn't care less about.

 

[TilMorrow]

Besides all the shortcomings of the video itself... W. T. F. is "Mahalo"?! What does it do on the Escapist? Does one have to know what or who this is? Couldn't there have been some kind of introduction of this first for all the people who don't know it? Seriously, guys.

I agree with this guy. Who is Mahalo and why are they hosting a video in which they clearly make a very poor attempt at playing a rogue? First thing he did wrong was bring a companion with him then it all spiralled downhill in the advice department from there. Also there was no adhering to the golden rule of 'Rogues do it from behind' and instead opted for attacking from three feet in front of the enemies and being constantly detected. Additionally, the joke about random fireballs was not funny.

 

[Steve Butts]

Thanks for all the feedback! We've commissioned Mahalo to produce videos in a number of different formats for us and this is their first effort. There are always some rough edges to work out in any series, both in terms of concept and overall production, but I'm confident that the value of these videos will grow over time. We've got two more in this particular series then we'll be switching gears to some more story-focused concepts for more recent games in the coming weeks.

Keep letting us know what you think!

 

[Webb Myers]

It's unfortunate that they called this a "Rogue" video. If they had called it an "Archer" video, it might have had a bit more merit. It wouldn't have been great advice, but it wouldn't have been BAD advice.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

I actually find this video insulting...

Some of the advice was just plain obvious and could have been summed up as "use the sneak button" and then the other half of advice was just bad advice. Companions good for stealth classes? Not a chance.

Are there going to be any more of these videos? What will you tell us about how to play a warrior class? "As you can see the warrior uses heavy armor and attacks things at close range" here's a tip: Try giving us helpful advice about things most people wouldn't think of on their own, with a more in depth description of the class you're talking about. Like maybe the various skills, perks, enchants and potions that are helpful to them. Not completely obvious things that even the worst player could figure out.

 

[DanHibiki]

It's unfortunate that they called this a "Rogue" video. If they had called it an "Archer" video, it might have had a bit more merit. It wouldn't have been great advice, but it wouldn't have been BAD advice.

Lydia... Lydia... Lydia! LYDIA!!!

Lydia: WHAT?!

Danger zone

 

[Tanakh]

Of course if you get the right perks, heavy armour can be just as effective or at least nearly as effective as light armour for sneaking in/in terms of general mobility, thus negating the disadvantages and making heavy armour really the only worthwhile armour.

By that time you can easly reach the armor cap with a light armor, negating the advantages of heavy ones and making armor little more than aestetic choices.

Also, I do join the choir, terrible vid. The only good thing is that the video is so bad it probably won't mislead anyone into following it's suggestions.

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

that was pretty crappy advise.
companions get in the way of stealth and that you are better off being alone if possible(during some quests people will have to be with you and that should be the only time you don't work alone)

the moment this guy mentioned use companions is the moment it was obvious he had no clue what the fuck he was taking about
also how about going in to more detail about the other stealth based skills
there is Light Armor, Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Sneak, Alchemy, and Speech.
he only went into light armor and sneak. he could have explained each individual perk did in a tree, explained things about alchemy(like poisons), what perks are not worth putting points towards(like the whole lockpicking tree), using pick-pocketing, etc. there are so many things that he could have explained Then again he would probably fail at explaining them too.
my experience(i am playing as a stealth character who is near a little bit above level 40)

seriously escapist why is this even letting him make videos on this site. if i had the equipment i could have made a better video then this.