Game: Skyrim

[TwisT]

Since it offers less armor but is a higher crafting status my guess it's light armor. Which is what i really want anyways since i sneak around a lot. Well i have used a caster robe since i got my first "50% higher regen" piece. Now i have a 125% robe so my guess i will never get an armor chest piece unless i can enchant 125% or more mana regen in the future.

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My new mask i got is awesome. +10 speech, 20% better prices at vendor, 5% mana regen and 28 armor.

EDIT: What Dark Dragon said. You can make both. Finally some use for my bones/scales. Just went to my house and emptied my stash of crafting materials. Got myself like 20 Silver Bars, 50 Gold Bars, 150 Iron Bars, 100-200 Leather. I managed to craft from 75-100. only bad thing was that i gained 3 levels on it and i didnt go and train between. Always thought you would be able to just up one level, go to the trainer, up one more level and so on. But noooo. Had to level all at the same time. So 15 potential trained point turned to 5. And with 15 points trained i would probably gotten another level. So much lost potential >_<

So remember. Go train right away when you gain level instead of just continue crafting (if you plan on training for money that is).

[Animeniax]

Just completed one of the side quests that made my character (well.. me) think about where its morals really stood.

It's about the quest where a middle-eastern assassin-looking guy asks you to find this red guard girl in Whiterun and hand her over to them. Ignore if you wish to stay unspoiled.

spoilerish:



I got mad at myself for believing her sob story/pretty face and turned her in. The Aldric assassin guys seemed more trustworthy and righteous and their story sounded more plausible.

[animus]

I did that quest too. Although I regret not siding with the girl, because I wanted to kill those guys and grab their scimitars for myself :/ Oh well.

[Animeniax]

You could always visit the city they're hanging out in and try to kill them there.

[Ryllharu]

I managed to craft from 75-100. only bad thing was that i gained 3 levels on it and i didnt go and train between. Always thought you would be able to just up one level, go to the trainer, up one more level and so on. But noooo. Had to level all at the same time. So 15 potential trained point turned to 5. And with 15 points trained i would probably gotten another level. So much lost potential >_<

So remember. Go train right away when you gain level instead of just continue crafting (if you plan on training for money that is).

Huh?

I'm not clear on the trainers, mostly because I don't use them very much because they seem overpriced when I can just...use a skill more for free (except lockpicks since they are apparently made of sugar glass!). Do you mind explaining this one a bit more?


I take back what I said earlier, I'm probably not going to murder the Thieves Guild. They're more interesting than I had thought. I'll have to find some other affiliation to murder.

[TwisT]

Well every level you can train 5 skill points of you choosing for a fee. Let's say you want sneak. you have 30 in it. Then you train 5 points and get 35. It works just like when you gain it by sneaking around enemys. Every skill will award XP towards your next level. So let's say you have a level up but having gone to the meny yet and upped it. You go and train 5 points at a trainer, and then you up your level. Now you can train 5 more. Now thats 10 skillpoints worth of XP towards your next level. That should be more then 50% of that level. And the price i think is 10 times your skill level i think. So if you have 30 and gonna train to 31 it will cost 310 gold. Once you get to 51 it follows that formula. After that i think it's 30 times your skill level. So 51-52 will cost you 1560 gold.

You dont really get any extra advantages by doing this except it saves time but drains the purse. And it helps out by upping a single skill fast. For example sneak. Maybe it's so low you have problems sneaking around people. Well train it to 50 in a few levels and all of a sudden you can sneak around pretty good. That's how it was for smithing for me. It was low and i crafted some but neglected it in the beginning. Then i realized i watned that Dragon Armor and stuff since i had 40+ bones and scales. I think i ended up buying 30 levels of smithing from the trainer, and used my stashed materials to craft it to like 98. Then i just bought from vendors and then waited outside the shop for 48 hours and then bought their new shipment and BOOM, it was 100 ^^

Also what are you gonna do with all your money? After i bought my house and all the furniture, i haven't bought anything except spellbooks and the robe that gives 22%less cost on destruction spells and 125% mana regen. I always find better things then i can buy. When the shop sells Elven Dagger, i have already found a Glass Dagger. Once i find Dwarven things in the shops i loot Ebony from dungeons and enemys. I have 68000 now and i reckon i have spent at least 50000 on skill points so far. it will cost you between 1000-2500 to train 5 skills when it's under 51. And almost 10000 when its over 51. Unless someone knows of stuff costing over 100k then there is no reason to hoard money like crazy.

The explanation got a little long winded.

BTW does daedric smithing allow for creating weapons? Because Dragon smithing didn't. Want to craft weapons better then Ebony. But don't wanna waste a perk on it. Oh and DAMN improving weapons and armor became great once i had 100 in smithing. Upped my companions Ebony War Axe that had 42 in damage. It got upped to 68 damage. And her Dragon Plate armor that had 50-something in armor got upped to 80-something.

[Dark Dragon]

I'm not sure i understand Twist explanation.

The iron dagger that take 1 iron + 1 leather strip will still give you skill up points at level 99. It doesn't cost anywhere near 10,000 for 10 level of skill points until maybe level 80+? I find that leveling smithing is generally so easy that you're better off saving your 5 training per level for harder to get skills. The cheapest and fastest way to level smithing is just go gather as much Iron and Leather as you can and make Iron Dagger or Leather Bracers (1 leather + 2 strips). It will always be cheaper for you to go buy iron + leather and skill up from that rather than pay a trainer for it as far as smithing is concern.

Deadric gears use the same material as their Ebony counterpart + 1 Deadric heart. Deadric weapons are the best available crafted weapons in the game. It still cost just one Ebony Ingot to upgrade each piece (same as Ebony) so as long as you have Ebony you're good. You might have some difficulty getting enough Ebony Ingots for the Deadric set though if you've created a full Ebony set. Deadric Armor is also the strongest non-unique set in the game since each piece is a few defense points higher than Dragon's Bones. If you have the full Deadric set then there's really no benefit to getting level 100 smithing unless you simply just prefer light armor (Dragon's Scales). I think Dragon is just higher in skill level because the material is so common as oppose to Deadric Hearts which is rather rare and expensive.

If you're having trouble finding Ebony, go sleep for about a month game time. That how long it takes for the mining points to repspawn. The best Ebony mining spot is southeast of Windhelm hugging the mountains. The mine is right behind an orc fortress that require a special quest for you to enter, but the mine itself doesn't require anything though so you can just walk the around the fortress to enter. The orc inside won't become hostile, they'll just trash talk you the entire time while you're looting their precious Ebony.

[TwisT]

Yea it's cheaper to craft by yourself, but it's faster to just spend some cash instead. That's what i meant by not hoarding your money. Unless you guys have a cash flow problem? And what about sneak, lockpick, onehand, archery and so on. Can't just go buy shit to level. If it's already low it can be a pain to get up. So if you have the cash, why sit on it. Use it for some fast leveling of those crucial skills that you need. 3 points away from getting that awesome perk in a combat skill? Well go train instead of playing 3 hours to reach it is my advice. BTW if you have a problem with cash a good way to earn it is to by Iron Ore from vendors. then get the Minerals Transmutation spell (adept alteration spell) When you used that spell it will turn Iron ore to Silver ore, and then Silver ore to Gold Ore. Then start hoarding Iron Ore and stash it. Once you have plenty just put on your best magic regen gear and start transmuting everything. Then smelt it down to Ingots and start making jewelry of it. Boosts smithing and gets you cash big time when you sell it all.

Oh and if money ain't a problem, best place to get Ebony is from vendor

The weapons & armor vendor in Whiterun usually have 5 Ebony Ingots to sell for me. Don't know if thats because I'm lvl37 or if it's because i sell high level gear to him. Don't remember him selling fancy things like that early on in the game. So if i really need it i will just buy, wait/sleep for 48 hours then repeat until i have the desired number. But so far i have only needed Ebony to improve my weapons and armor i have found since i don't have the crafting skill. I went Elven, Improved, Glass and Dragon since i don't use heavy armor myself. but my weapon problem have fixed itself now.

SPOILER

i went and did all the Daedric quests i had in my journal. And one (think it was Molag Bal) gave me a one hand mace that when upgraded has almost 90 damage and an awesome enchantment on it. It does 20 stamina and 20 magic damage and if the target dies within 3 seconds of getting hit he will fill a soul gem. So now i have soulgems to replenish the charges to. But when i went to Winterhold for a quest, the townsfolk started telling me "Get that cursed mace away from me" and shit so seem at some places people know what it is. My guess is at some point i will get attacked by some group just for wearing it.

[Buffalobiian]

And what about sneak, lockpick, onehand, archery and so on.

Besides hunting Mammoths, I also farmed my skills by attacking this Liar guy outside Whiterun. He doesn't report you, he doesn't fight back, and he doesn't die. I just sat there dicing him whenever he got up.

I really need to find some more good places to steal from, or a land filthy rich in ingredients. I've got a lot of potions, by only a smaller amount is really that useful (and can run low at times), such as Health and Stamina.

The weapons & armor vendor in Whiterun usually have 5 Ebony Ingots to sell for me.

Hmm... can't remember if I killed the owner.. :S

[animus]

Around level 16 so far, with a focus on Destruction Magic (Frost focused as well), One handed Weapons, Light Armor primarily and secondarily Enchanting. Gonna be a bitch trying to get smithing up for the end game armor sets.

[Splash!]

Around level 16 so far, with a focus on Destruction Magic (Frost focused as well), One handed Weapons, Light Armor primarily and secondarily Enchanting. Gonna be a bitch trying to get smithing up for the end game armor sets.

The iron dagger technique that Dark Dragon mentioned is very effective. If you have a bit of money to spare, just buy as many iron ingots and leather strips as you can and mass produce daggers (this is way more cost effective than paying a trainer). Smithing is probably one of the easiest skills to level up. But yeah, power leveling smithing won't do a lot of good unless you have access to the raw materials required to make higher level armors (unless you want to go all the way to 100 and make dragon armor, for which you can easily find raw materials)

Speech, on the other hand, is causing me a lot of grief. I know life in Skyrim would be alot easier if I were richer, but I simply am not making enough money because my speech skill is at about 29 (level 13) and am just not getting good bargains on all the loot from plundering. I haven't even gone for the 5k house yet (just storing my spare items in the Companians Dorm in Whiterun and checking on them regularly to make sure stuff doesn't dissappear).

[Animeniax]

Around level 16 so far, with a focus on Destruction Magic (Frost focused as well), One handed Weapons, Light Armor primarily and secondarily Enchanting. Gonna be a bitch trying to get smithing up for the end game armor sets.

Not at all. Read around, I think it has been mentioned in this thread. I got my smithing up to 41 in about 20 minutes of making leather bracers at the blacksmith forge.

It's awesome being able to use the grindstone to improve your weapons. My superior elven bow does 62 base damage now. Once I get good at conjuring spirits to tank for me, I'll sit back and shoot arrows at my foes.

[Kraco]

Do the dragons have some bounding box/damage detecting issues? My Breton isn't that tough at level 10, but I decided to have a look at the dragon the Winterhold jarl would pay a bounty for. I was sneaking closer and happened to end up to a spot between some rocks that caused the dragon to hang between sitting at its favorite place and jumping to the air. So, it was statistically hovering a foot above the ground. I must have sent 30 arrows its way (since it looked like there was absolutely no way to miss) but the dragon took zero damage. When I moved to a different spot, the dragon finally decided to attack and I couldn't beat it.

[animus]

The iron dagger technique that Dark Dragon mentioned is very effective. If you have a bit of money to spare, just buy as many iron ingots and leather strips as you can and mass produce daggers (this is way more cost effective than paying a trainer). Smithing is probably one of the easiest skills to level up. But yeah, power leveling smithing won't do a lot of good unless you have access to the raw materials required to make higher level armors (unless you want to go all the way to 100 and make dragon armor, for which you can easily find raw materials)

Speech, on the other hand, is causing me a lot of grief. I know life in Skyrim would be alot easier if I were richer, but I simply am not making enough money because my speech skill is at about 29 (level 13) and am just not getting good bargains on all the loot from plundering. I haven't even gone for the 5k house yet (just storing my spare items in the Companians Dorm in Whiterun and checking on them regularly to make sure stuff doesn't dissappear).

Hm, I guess I'll try that when I stop being lazy and have the need and materials to craft those higher end sets.

Do the dragons have some bounding box/damage detecting issues? My Breton isn't that tough at level 10, but I decided to have a look at the dragon the Winterhold jarl would pay a bounty for. I was sneaking closer and happened to end up to a spot between some rocks that caused the dragon to hang between sitting at its favorite place and jumping to the air. So, it was statistically hovering a foot above the ground. I must have sent 30 arrows its way (since it looked like there was absolutely no way to miss) but the dragon took zero damage. When I moved to a different spot, the dragon finally decided to attack and I couldn't beat it.

Don't quote me, but I believe the random encounter dragons scale with your level.

[Kraco]

Don't quote me, but I believe the random encounter dragons scale with your level.

They must, since the random dragon I slew after exiting Windhelm was easier than a white sabertooth. But the one I was talking about isn't random encounter; it's a named quest wyrm. I wasn't really expecting to be able to beat it (and I wasn't about to exhaust my potion reserves or anything for its sake). I was merely wondering if it's a common bug they don't do collision detection with arrows.

[Splash!]

@Kraco

How high is your marksman skill? I remember the way things worked in the older elder scrolls (Morrowind) was that shooting a mudcrab at point blank range with an archery skill between 10-30 worked only 30% of the time. As you mastered it, you could make impossible shots that would self correct, even if your aim was slightly off. Although in Skyrim it isn't as ridiculous, maybe it's a question of how far you were from the Dragon. If you were quite far away, your archery skill might be coming into play regardless of how huge the target is. Either that or it's a one time glitch. Plenty of those happen all the time. I have defeated a couple of enemies that would have probably killed me, had they not gotten stuck chasing me around the corner of a turn.

[Kraco]

The performance of the Thalmor assassination squad left me wondering how they managed to conquer so much land and make the Empire yield. They looked suspicious trotting down the road (and who wouldn't claim the chance when some dominion fools erred far away from towns?), so I decided to donate a few arrows to their cause. The warrior receiving the first arrow was quick to turn around and come beg for more, but apparently not quick enough because the Thalmor wizard blasted some lightning spell right in the back of his ally. The end result was funnily the warrior flying right past me. So, I only needed to sort out the wizard and the other warrior.

[Animeniax]

I attacked that trio too, not sure why. Might have been their haughty self-importance and lack of respect for my station. With my 74dmg bow and 3x sneak attack, I killed each one with ease. I don't know what killing Thalmor will do for you. Maybe attract the brotherhood?

Got my smithing up to 60 with just an hour's work and buying lots of leather. Now I can upgrade all my magical weapons and armor. Even with 180-220armor and 35dmg blade, I still got my ass kicked by some weak mobs. Not sure what's up with the hit/dmg calculations in the game.

[Buffalobiian]

TWICE!

I'm in a mess involving a dragon, a giant, an ice-troll, some bandits, my lackey and myself..

TWICE I've died because holding ALT to sprint, then pressing TAB to access your inventory = ALT-TAB to windows...

/me is very, very pissed right now.

[Splash!]

TWICE!
I'm in a mess involving a dragon, a giant, an ice-troll, some bandits, my lackey and myself..

Lol, that is indeed quite a mess. At level 16, if I catch even sight of a single Frost Troll, I take of all my heavy armor and just sprint the hell out of there.