When a game doesn't facilitate your specific play style (Skyrim)

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I can offer some:


One With Nature [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/54090/?] - Tired of being attacked by wolves? Then don't! Manually set AI for animals - set to "friendly" and enjoy nature walks in peace, or "allied" to become Princess Mononoke.

True Wolves Of Skyrim [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/59174/?] - Changes the wolf model from Bethesda's horrible one to an actual realistic wolf.

Logical Health Limits [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/39388/?] - The leader of a band of thieves may be a legitimate badass, but he's still a regular fucking human. There's no reason that he would have 10 to 20 times the health of any other man there. This mod normalizes enemy HP values so that higher ranking enemies are only slightly tougher than normal ones.

More Spawns - Scriptless [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/60028/?] - Multiplies the number of spawned enemies 2x, 3x, or 4x. Battle wave upon wave of bandits that threaten to overwhelm any opposition.

ENBseries [http://enbdev.com/download_mod_tesskyrim.htm] - Fantastic mod that adds a number of user-configurable postprocessing effects into the game. There are many ENB presets people have made, of which my personal favorite is VandB ENB [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/65584/?] (amazing color balance, subdued DoF, and low system requirements).

Remove Interior Fog [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/29253/?] - Removes the depth fog of interior scenes that causes all distant objects to be less visible.

Simple Destruction Magic Rebalance [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/69235/?] - It's no secret that Skyrim's vanilla magic system sucks. The biggest problem is that the damage output of weapons scales based on skill level, while the output of spells is static: a spell will do the same damage regardless of level and cannot be increased. This mod allows mages to viable by having Destruction magic scale by skill points and perks.

NPC Magic Rebalance [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/66313/?] - Enemy mages blatantly cheat. They have enormous mana pools, their spells costs half of what they cost the player, and while the player gets their regen cut by 2/3s in combat, NPCS's don't. This mod increases the spell cost for NPCs to be on a more equal field.

Heart Breaker [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/32598/?] - Kill essential NPCs by ramming your hand through their chest and tearing their heart from their body. Quests involving them will now be broken, but they probably sucked anyway.

Males of Skyrim [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/61937/?], The Ordinary Women [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/70547/?], rxkx22 [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/users/2650523/?]'s Bijin series, many others - Alters the appearances of NPCs.

Interesting NPCs [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/8429/?] - Adds 250+ Voiced NPCs and 50+ Quests, with extensive dialgoue options that provide humor and depth to each conversation.

Inconsequential NPCs [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/36334/?] - Adds random citizens to towns in order to make them more populated.

Intro Music Replacement by Malukah [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/2101/?] - Replaces the main menu theme with YouTuber Malukah's rendition of 'The Dragonborn Comes'. Original Video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z9TdDCWN7g&feature=youtu.be&hd=1]

Creepier Daedric Princes [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/71562/?] - Alters Daedric Prince voices. Example [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDV6D5ttb0E]

damn alot of those sound great, too bad there isn't a way to sticky specific posts like this for later, I'll just have to favorite it and hope I notice it later when I install skyrim again.

The enemy's level increases with the dragonborn's. So if you accidentally level a skill that you aren't building toward, the enemy just got better and you basically didn't.

Yah, Critical Miss did a (rather amusing) comic regarding that:

Spoiler

Leveled enemies are a cruel mistress.

lol fuck I completely forgot about that comic, great stuff.

OT: it sucks that this happens, unfortunately I think the people at bethesda might just NOT enjoy your build of a character, so they don't think to test/think about it in that way, so it juts falls to the wayside as side/support skills and nothing more.

 

[fezzthemonk]

I went with a destruction/conjeration build that focused more on melee combat via the summon[weapon] spell. It works well enough, but i do keep various healing spells in my quick select just in case.

 

[Asita]

There are perk overhaul mods, PerkusMaximus comes to mind, though I don't remember if that one is the newer version or the discontinued one. If you're not on PC, well, you have my condolences.

It's the newer one. And it is glorious.

 

[The Bucket]

If you're not on PC,that's your problem. ANY game with the Bethesda stamp on it is made for PC first,consoles second,because the ladies and gents who made the game knows; Build it from the ground up with modding in mind,and the game's active community will last DECADES. Morrowind's still going strong,per exemplar..

Bethseda games modding support is definitely a commendable feature, but you're making it sound like having a vanila magic system that a big chunk of your userbase (both console and PC) believe is trash is a feature. There's absolutely no reason a game cant be moddable and also excellent by itself

 

[Dimitriov]

I like vanilla magic in Skyrim. I'm sorry to say but you were just doing it wrong. Shield spells are garbage for pure mages, and a conjuration should always be your first spell. And it should be done out of combat otherwise the cast basically just adds a bunch of aggro on you.

 

[sumanoskae]

Skyrim's default RPG mechanics are awful; if you have the PC version, I can recommend you some mods if you like. Just let me know.

Deus Ex Human Revolution: "What do you mean you don't really like guns and want to take out enemies with stealth? You some kind of ******?"

 

[sumanoskae]

If you're not on PC,that's your problem. ANY game with the Bethesda stamp on it is made for PC first,consoles second,because the ladies and gents who made the game knows; Build it from the ground up with modding in mind,and the game's active community will last DECADES. Morrowind's still going strong,per exemplar..

Bethseda games modding support is definitely a commendable feature, but you're making it sound like having a vanila magic system that a big chunk of your userbase (both console and PC) believe is trash is a feature. There's absolutely no reason a game cant be moddable and also excellent by itself

Agreed. If Bethesda just took a fucking second to think about the design of their skill systems, modders wouldn't have to fix them. Honestly, I think Bethesda should just bite the bullet and hire the guys who make those giant overhauls; they seem to know more about game design than Bethesda does.

 

[Kyrian007]

The enemy's level increases with the dragonborn's. So if you accidentally level a skill that you aren't building toward, the enemy just got better and you basically didn't.

Yah, Critical Miss did a (rather amusing) comic regarding that:

Spoiler

Leveled enemies are a cruel mistress.

lol fuck I completely forgot about that comic, great stuff.

OT: it sucks that this happens, unfortunately I think the people at bethesda might just NOT enjoy your build of a character, so they don't think to test/think about it in that way, so it juts falls to the wayside as side/support skills and nothing more.

I love that CM too, it was a great one. But I don't think it's Bethesda not liking specific builds. Remembering a just 2 rules, every build I've tried is possible. Rule 1: Pick 5 or 6 skills and ignore them entirely (or at least until level 30 or so.) This is enough to keep you from "wasting levels" and will keep the enemies from getting overpowered until the dragonborn is so overpowered he's basically untouchable. And rule 2: You have to have a combat skill of some type. Other than that, just about anything works. If there were a rule three that breaks all other rules, stealth as a primary skill makes any build totally OP.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

The enemy's level increases with the dragonborn's. So if you accidentally level a skill that you aren't building toward, the enemy just got better and you basically didn't.

Yah, Critical Miss did a (rather amusing) comic regarding that:

Spoiler

Leveled enemies are a cruel mistress.

lol fuck I completely forgot about that comic, great stuff.

OT: it sucks that this happens, unfortunately I think the people at bethesda might just NOT enjoy your build of a character, so they don't think to test/think about it in that way, so it juts falls to the wayside as side/support skills and nothing more.

I love that CM too, it was a great one. But I don't think it's Bethesda not liking specific builds. Remembering a just 2 rules, every build I've tried is possible. Rule 1: Pick 5 or 6 skills and ignore them entirely (or at least until level 30 or so.) This is enough to keep you from "wasting levels" and will keep the enemies from getting overpowered until the dragonborn is so overpowered he's basically untouchable. And rule 2: You have to have a combat skill of some type. Other than that, just about anything works. If there were a rule three that breaks all other rules, stealth as a primary skill makes any build totally OP.

fair enough about the combat skill, not that I particularly disagree with it, but due to single player/non-party constraints, it's hard to *fully* roleplay if your character is forced to level a combat skill, but I suppose that's more to do with bethesda's lack of good speech/charisma/conversation writers than it is them not paying attention to it.

 

[happyninja42]

Skyrim's default RPG mechanics are awful; if you have the PC version, I can recommend you some mods if you like. Just let me know.

Deus Ex Human Revolution: "What do you mean you don't really like guns and want to take out enemies with stealth? You some kind of ******?"

I....what? I don't understand your Deus Ex: HR comment in the slightest.

 

[Lightspeaker]

To be fair I personally found magic to be even worse in Oblivion. To the point of near-irrelevancy. The fact that ANY magic AT ALL is usable in Skyrim was a pleasant surprise.

The Elder Scrolls games seem to have this as a general problem though in terms of balancing styles. In the real world I do archery (well I used to, its been a couple of years). So when I first started Oblivion back in the day I wanted to be a sneaky archer assassin type character. Then I realised bows were pretty damn awful, even with the sneak attack bonus. And you basically had to use a sword or something.

In contrast using bows in Skyrim is the most hilariously, absurdly overpowered thing you can do pretty much. At least in my experience. Everything just dies in a hail of arrows.


Edit:

Skyrim's default RPG mechanics are awful; if you have the PC version, I can recommend you some mods if you like. Just let me know.

Deus Ex Human Revolution: "What do you mean you don't really like guns and want to take out enemies with stealth? You some kind of ******?"

I....what? I don't understand your Deus Ex: HR comment in the slightest.

Its probably a reference to the fact that in Deus Ex HR you kept getting thrown into boss battles which forced you to fight straight-up. So if you'd been taking any approach other than dumping everything into direct combat abilities and guns you would have a nightmare of a time.

 

[Ironman126]

There are perk overhaul mods, PerkusMaximus comes to mind, though I don't remember if that one is the newer version or the discontinued one. If you're not on PC, well, you have my condolences.

Ugh. PerkusMaximus is rubbish. I've been using that mod for a playthru recently and it makes anything but Sneak+Archery unplayable. I'm currently trying a Heavy Armor+One-Handed+Blocking character and she's worthless. How I got to the end of the civil war quest line is beyond me. I can only imagine that as soon as I have to solo a Blood Dragon it'll snap me up and thrash me about like a leopard seal with a penguin.

The armor actually offers less protection than in vanilla until you put 15+ perk points into it. I'm level 20ish with at least 12 of my 20 perk points split between Heavy Armor and One-Handed and it's hopeless. I do no damage and I take very nearly full damage. With the equivalent of Exquisite Plate Steel, I get 15% damage reduction on a good day.

 

[Glongpre]

I have had that problem as well. But really the only way to get a good late game character is to pick one or two skills and focus on them. Otherwise you will hit a huge wall pretty fast (maybe around lvl 18-20).

I made a pure destruction mage and I had a blast. I never had any problems killing things although mana becomes an issue, but there are a few ways around that. Beat most of the game with it, I forget what level he is, must be at least in the 30s. Late game becomes more about kiting and strategy.

I would restart with your character but just do resto and conjuration only. Focus more on conjuration till it gets strong, then start buffing your summons and you should be golden. Conjuration is pretty good in Skyrim.

To be fair I personally found magic to be even worse in Oblivion. To the point of near-irrelevancy. The fact that ANY magic AT ALL is usable in Skyrim was a pleasant surprise.

Really? I found Oblivion way more fun for magic! First, you get spellmaking. Was always fun making super strong spells. Second, you don't need to "equip" spells like in Skyrim, so you can go sword and board and still hurl stuff.
Plus, I am pretty sure Oblivion had more variety too.

 

[Lightspeaker]

Second, you don't need to "equip" spells like in Skyrim, so you can go sword and board and still hurl stuff.

This is pretty much why I felt magic was worse in Oblivion: because it wasn't a primary option. It was entirely supplementary. Being a straight up mage was really bad because you were effectively hamstringing yourself.

Hell, nothing could be a primary option other than sword and board pretty much. Magic was too jerky and weak to use as a primary weapon, archery was awful, 2-handers were okay but pretty slow and didn't offer much over 1H, you COULD go 1H without a shield (and in fact I did for a large part of it) but honestly not throwing a shield on there was just giving yourself a disadvantage.

I liked that Skyrim opened it up a bit. Its not perfect but still...

 

[Benpasko]

Try the Requiem mod. It's really hard, and requires some finnicky setup, but once you get it working it's worth it. The author totally overhauls the ENTIRE GAME. Fully replaced enemy spawns, all new spells, fully reworked perk system. The difficulty and settings do require tweaking if you're not an insane person, but I highly recommend it.

This is pretty much why I felt magic was worse in Oblivion: because it wasn't a primary option. It was entirely supplementary. Being a straight up mage was really bad because you were effectively hamstringing yourself.

Did you ever try spellmaking? You could 100% stunlock any enemy in the game. I have no idea where you're coming from, spellcasting was by far the strongest thing in Oblivion. Personally, I always liked going 2-hander and magic.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I've been playing Skyrim again nonstop for the past two weeks, and since the beginning I was determined to focus on mastering Conjuration and Restoration as my main playstyle, expecting to be able to get through the game. Unfortunately as encounters were becoming more and more grueling I slowly started to realize that wasn't the case.

You cannot triumph in Skyrim focussed only on two skill trees. It would be like trying to beat the game with just lockpicking and alchemy.

You can approach combat in one of two main ways. Stealth or frontal. If you go frontal assault, you have a choice of style, melee, shields, magic, etc. Conjuration is a good main focus...summoning pets to damage/tank for you and bound weapons that benefit from conjuration perks. Restoration OTOH is a supporting tree. The wards are useful vs casters and circles vs undead, but those are specific enemies and won't help vs. an arrow or sword.

Generally speaking, you need an offensive weapon of some sort. Bound weapons will increase one/two handed skills and will help. Alternatively, destruction magic (certainly with mods) is also competitive and meshes well stylistically with other casting schools. You can also use illusion to keep enemies off you with calm spells or frenzy spells to turn odds in your favour.

You should also have defensive abilities. Wards are great but don't help vs physical damage. In addition, there is light armour or shields, restoration obviously, invisibility and such. They all go up by usage but care should be taken when facing different threats. Rather than pick 2/18 skill trees, consider a "role" of caster, archer, assassin, knight, barbarian, soldier, ranger, druid, etc. Pick some offense, pick some defense, pick support that meshes well with other choices.

 

[Glongpre]

Second, you don't need to "equip" spells like in Skyrim, so you can go sword and board and still hurl stuff.

This is pretty much why I felt magic was worse in Oblivion: because it wasn't a primary option. It was entirely supplementary. Being a straight up mage was really bad because you were effectively hamstringing yourself.

What, magic was perfectly viable...We must have played two different games. If anything, Skyrim's spells are more supportive.

 

[sumanoskae]

Skyrim's default RPG mechanics are awful; if you have the PC version, I can recommend you some mods if you like. Just let me know.

Deus Ex Human Revolution: "What do you mean you don't really like guns and want to take out enemies with stealth? You some kind of ******?"

I....what? I don't understand your Deus Ex: HR comment in the slightest.

I was saying that Deus Ex is structured to reward certain styles of gameplay and punish others, even though the game itself presents each development path like they're each an equally viable choice.

 

[BadNewDingus]

Yeah, I ran into the same problem as you. I wanted to create a Orc Shaman and like you, it was pretty useless.

I always fall back to my bow and arrow. *cries*