Skyrim: ProTips

[Carrots_macduff]

SKYRIM PROTIP!

play how you want to play...
then play again!

but seriously the only one of these tips that are really tips i think would be to save often, apart from that, this is really just step by step instructions on how to play like you...
maybe i prefer to make my own potions instead of using restoration, this game is quite well balanced i think, and at this point i think it would be very difficult for anyone to say what skills are more effective than others, so yeah im gonna go play skyrim now

 

[photographerleia]

Well then, if you are a thief or just like to steal a lot of shit, then Faendal wont object, hell even help you carry the loot

Your logic cannot be disputed. You know what? I have yet to play a thief in any of the TES series. Maybe that needs to be changed ...

 

[ChocoFace]

If you're only following the main storyline you're doing it wrong.

 

[Jaeke]

I always thought that leather bracers were always the easiest way to upgrade smithing, its the way i did it.

I probably got ninja'd but one thing i always do is have 2 different hand-made saves and whenever a make a new save, i save over the former of the two.

 

[Jaeke]

Edit: damn Ninja'd

one other tip:

Do not talk to the man who challenges you to a drinking competition ( I think in Winterhold )
That shit is crazy.

 

[Azarhac]

Some good tips around here, I have none to add except that using a shield and a heal spell early can give you wicked ass levels early on, I probably got lvl 9 in 15 minutes letting a random bandit bash me while I used heal.

Also, using a weak 2h to train it is insanely effective, if you can tank a mob for ages that is.

I do feel a bit weird running around at Master difficulty as a level 54 Dark Elf Dual-wielder with 384 damage and around 690-730 armor rating depending on what items I use.

Also, Dragon Priest helms rule ass imo, been using Otar - a heavy armor mask for ages, simply because it gives 30% to all resistances combined with a frost defense shield with the 50% resistance perk dragons are easy as shit and it does annoy be that 1 heavy attack with dual-wielding kills normal ones. Especially since you can just use the most broken shout ever Elemental Fury to boost your attack speed to over 9000....

So real advice is to fucking play how you want, I haven't really set a goal for my Dark Elf and it has hindered my experience a bit when I just standing around thinking "Why do I want to be a thief/mage when I am already the harbringer of the companions..."

Luckily making a new character even if it is for like 5-10 hours is easy and very fun and gives you back the drive to play a stronger older one so it's all good... Can't wait for some sick mods to come out, ahhh.

 

[Swyftstar]

1: Don't buy the house in Solitude. The house in Windhelm is twice as cheap and much better, with more mannequins and weapon stands if fully upgraded and IMO its much more homely. It also has a nice quest related to it.

7: For easy smithing, go to all the blacksmiths you know and buy all the iron ingots/iron ore and leather strips you can buy and then go to Whiterun, use the smelter to make the iron ores into ingots. Then, craft as many iron daggers as possible and rinse and repeat until you have attained your desired smithing skill.

8: For easy enchanting, enchant these daggers with your best enchantment (one that's worth the most) and sell them to the various blacksmiths around the world...or Tonilia from the thieves guild.

11: GET A F*CKING COMPANION; when your a low level, don't ***** about not being able to kill the Frost Troll on the way up The Throat of The World...get your companion to charge in and aggro them, then hit them from behind as your companions takes the beating.

That's about it.

1) That's actually really nice. I've been chillin' in my Whiterun house, and it turns out there's a lot more to house.
7) If you don't mind carrying around a TON of pelts and furs, I find that making leather bracers from all the animals you find and kill throughout the game is a lot more effective. You also don't have pay for your materials.
11) How do you keep them from dying?
8) And how do you get all the soul gems for that?

OT:
Anytimes on how to easily raise Speechcraft/barter? Do they still give you points for each transaction, like they did in Oblivion?

EDIT:
My own tip: The fully upgraded Unrelenting Force is crazy strong. Use it to punt things off cliffs as often as possible.
I've cleared over 100 yards with a spider. I launched a bear over a hill, off a cliff, and nailed a pack of wolves. I launched a briar heart off a gaint cliff just because I got tired of dealling with god damn Briar hearts, and there were Hagravens shooting at me.

11) You can make your companions a lot tougher by giving them better gear and weapons. Give them stuff you find that you cant/wont use. Better still, if you are good at smithing and/or enchanting you can give your companion a full set of enchanted armor and an enchanted weapon and watch them go to town on enemies. Lydia in a full ebony armor set is sexy.

 

[Frost27]

1: Don't buy the house in Solitude. The house in Windhelm is twice as cheap and much better, with more mannequins and weapon stands if fully upgraded and IMO its much more homely. It also has a nice quest related to it.

1. Homely means ugly so, that's not a selling point.

2. Are the mannequins in the Windhelm house subject to the same bug as the Solitude house Mannequins are?

3. You can push Falk Firebeard in the corner of the Jarl's room in Solitude, pay $25,000 for the house, then hide behind him so the rest in the room can't see you and pickpocket the $25,000 back. Also works with the money for the home upgrades.

Edit: Also, the Wood Elf in Riverwood that you can get as a companion is also an archery trainer. Train your 5 levels of archery every level and trade with him to take your gold back. Then snipe giants at level 20.

 

[synobal]

Am I the only one who thinks these 'tips' ruin the spirit of the game? It isn't all about stats and min maxing and cheating your way to the best stuff.

 

[Navvan]

Don't use super powered equipment. It isn't that hard to get your character to a point where you are slaying everything within a few hits on master difficulty. While fun for awhile it takes away any semblance of challenge.

Honestly there isn't a thing in the game that I can't kill in under 5 seconds (if its grounded) on master difficulty. I went back to using weaker equipment just so things would be a challenge again.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

Troll troubling you?
Kill it with fire!

 

[Platypusbill101]

The Transmute spell (turns iron ore into silver and silver into gold), if you can find it, makes a nice profit. You can get two pieces of iron ore (can be bought for 6 coins each), use the spell 4 times, turning them into silver and then gold, make an ingot out of the gold ore and make that into 2 gold rings, selling each for about 25 coins. The spell takes a lot of magicka and waiting for it to recharge is kinda tedious, but you can cast it while wandering around as you don´t need the magicka so urgently.

 

[Platypusbill101]

Some good tips around here, I have none to add except that using a shield and a heal spell early can give you wicked ass levels early on, I probably got lvl 9 in 15 minutes letting a random bandit bash me while I used heal.

Also, using a weak 2h to train it is insanely effective, if you can tank a mob for ages that is.

I do feel a bit weird running around at Master difficulty as a level 54 Dark Elf Dual-wielder with 384 damage and around 690-730 armor rating depending on what items I use.

I heard that armor rating makes no difference beyond 576- it equates to 80% reduction, which is the highest possible value.

 

[Platypusbill101]

The only tip you REALLY need is: Stay the hell away from the giants.

Once you figure it out, the giants´ attacks are actually pretty easy to dodge, and with heavy armor and/or defense boost spells, you can survive at least one hit.

 

[Rhaff]

Well then, if you are a thief or just like to steal a lot of shit, then Faendal wont object, hell even help you carry the loot

Your logic cannot be disputed. You know what? I have yet to play a thief in any of the TES series. Maybe that needs to be changed ...

It is highly recommended to complete the thieves guild, since the inhouse fence gets 4000 gold to barter, without any speechcraft perks. And also you get nightingale armor, which in my opinion makes you look like skyrims batman. I cannot stress that last part enough. SKYRIMS. BATMAN.

 

[DarkRyter]

See a Thalmor? Kill them. Pay the fine. It's worth it. You know this to be true.

 

[Bvenged]

500 saves, 3rd playthough and counting.

CommonSenseTip: Make a new save after passing through into a new zone in combat areas such as bandit forts, etc. Also do it when you're about to enchant/smith, in case you bollocks up your maths and waste too much money.

ProTip: Currently horse physics is messed, so exploit it! Your horse can run up anything up to a 90 degree slope, as long as it has some form of continuity to it. As long as there's a bridging surface, you can progress up from the floor to the almost-wall in the width of one horse leg.

With enough determination you can climb up The Throat of The World horseback in almost a straight line from Whiterun, just dodging sheer flat cliff faces.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Protip: go straight Archery with Sneak and Restoration. Congratulations, you can now beat everything.

Or you can get Impact in the Destruction tree. All I do is cast Firebolt(had to restart Mage thanks to corruption, so I don't have Incinerate back yet) and even dragons fall with little to no resistance. You get the first shot and it's game over.

Am I the only one who thinks these 'tips' ruin the spirit of the game? It isn't all about stats and min maxing and cheating your way to the best stuff.

You're preaching to the choir here, bro. I don't mean to sound rude, but no one "actually" cares. :/

 

[Ironman126]

The only tip you REALLY need is: Stay the hell away from the giants.

Once you figure it out, the giants´ attacks are actually pretty easy to dodge, and with heavy armor and/or defense boost spells, you can survive at least one hit.

Yeah... Heavy armor... Um... Yeah... See, playing a "Ranger" Bow/sneak/single one-handed sword user who wears leather armor, giants are a problem for quite some time. I mean, higher levels, i can pretty much just shoot them to death before they have the chance of hitting me or even getting close. But have fun going toe-to-toe with them.

 

[kuyo]

twice as cheap?

you can go around that troll by climbing the rocks on the left or freezing it with the ice form shout. Really, I only used the shouts to pussy out of fights at low levels. Maybe it's cause I was using Lydia. seriously, I did a test with her at full health and decked out with flawless ebony armor. guess how many hits it took from my mace to kill her.

Spoiler

one

Don't go for destruction magic. You're going to want that magicka for healing and possibly summons. Candle that burns twice as bright and all.

no matter how strong the Draugr is, it has the same weakness: AI. mess with the pathfinding, and any fight can be one (at the expense of every arrow you have.)