LE Intimidation is clearly broken. There should be a fix.

[KlinkKlink]

Hey, guys. I must ask. Do you remember ever passing intimidation checks more times than you can count on one hand? I daresay that you don't. If you ever tried to play an intimidating character, you'll realize that you're not passing many of them. For instance, I started running out of patience with this nonsense and decided test how functional this core game mechanic really is. I popped in some console gibberish that raised my speech skill to 100, forced on the "Intimidation" perk, and I added an "Amulet of Dibella" and "Dibella's Blessing" for good measure on a level 30 character. This is representative of a player that is pretty far in the game, and yet - and yet - you cannot even spook off the dirty guards on front of Riften. This isn't right at all. Why should your evil vampire orc warlock have to be polite and sociable? I looked in vain for a mod on the Nexus and then Steam, which brings me here. I, and I wager many others, would appreciate it if a person skilled at this sort of thing would create a mod that changes whatever formulas that are behind the intimidation mechanic to something that is actually playable. Thanks in advance, Nexus!

Edited April 4, 2013 by KlinkKlink

[StayFrosty05]

I have come across the same issue also and it's damned annoying....why is the option even given if we can't use it?.... :dry: ...I had a character with maxed out 'Speech' (achieved the old fashioned way), perk point in Intimidation, was wearing the Amulet of Dibella and was under the blessing of Dibella at the time when he was approached by a Thief....he failed the 'Intimidation' check.... :blink:

I would love to see a Mod that addresses this issue also, because Bethesda obviously is not.... :dry:

Edit...spelling

Edited April 4, 2013 by StayFrosty05

[ArtMurder]

I have NEVER ONCE had intimidation work.

 

On vanilla skyrim on my PS3 I have a vampire khajiit, leader of the dark brotherhood and thieves guild, mass murderer, level 81 (which means all skills 100) and the intimidation perk and I STILL can't even intimidate off the random weirdos walking down the road like thieves and nameless orcs/redguards/etc.

 

it's almost as if they included it in the game as a joke.

 

EDIT: I think SkyRe fixes this though, not 100% sure, but I'd be willing to bet it does, it fixes EVERYTHING wrong with skyrim's leveling/perk system in my opinion.

Edited April 4, 2013 by ArtMurder

[FreudianNoodle]

I have no perks in speechcraft, i am only lv 31 in speech-craft and i have never failed an intimidation check from day one. Are you doing something wrong ? :blink:

Edited April 4, 2013 by jona9098

[Bhanqwa]

I once started a thread about this, here's a quote covering something not mentioned here yet:

Check it out, there seems to be an actual "rule" (with exceptions, obviously) governing this:

A. "Persuade" seems to work best against tough-guy types: rogues, bandits, thieves, warriors, etc.
B. "Intimidate" seems to work best against soft targets, like ordinary citizens faux-tough-guys.

I *think* this is governed by the "Confidence" hidden NPC statistic (as well as your Speechcraft skill), but I am not certain. Try it out for yourself and see if it holds true for you. I've rolled two characters since I began to notice this and, in general, the principle seems to hold.

Hope that helps you out.

(Now, if only they'd have actually made it actually USEFUL to use these options in more situations....)

And yeah, a mod fixing specifically this would be great.

[EomerSkyrim]

I remember of one of my characters with absolutely no skills in speechcraft : I was in Karthwasten talking to the mercenary leader trying to help the miners getting their mine back. I used the "intimidation" option hoping them to refuse and attack me. But surprisingly the though mercenary leader suddenly cries and starts saying "it's okay i'll leave"... This though looking nord was in fact an imperial milk drinker !

 

I must agree with Bhanqwa's quote, the intimidation skill works depending on your target psychology. A guard in riften, surrounded by his teammates is not going to be afraid of you, but a coward guy playing the though mercenary will fear for his life and submit ;)

Edited April 4, 2013 by EomerSkyrim

[StayFrosty05]

@ Bhanqwa and EomerSkyrim....that's all well and good about the NPC's disposition and makes sense, but what doesn't make sense is why give the option in the first place if it's simply never going to work?...That's the question.

[blacksupernova]

I found it weird that it does not work for some people, it almost always works for me. When I am at level 81, I use Intimidate all the time and only fail on some particular NPCs.

[KlinkKlink]

Alright. Opinions seem to be somewhat mixed, but it seems that the consensus is that a lot of people would love to see a mod that addresses the intimidation mechanic. I you are a modder that knows how to make this happen, for the love of Thor, do it. Please.

[GoodfellowGoodspring]

Bumping an old post.. but speech checks were one of the most poorly implemented and broken parts of the game.. we need the checks from Fallout:NV where we can easily see the criteria needed to pass the check!

 

I havent really looked into speechcraft, but the intimidate option should also look at other stats as you are doing much more then just talking. Having 'enough' speechcraft could send the message that you were a tough guy but i think hidden stats as well should play apart.

 

Riften Guard

Intimidate <66/52>

Okay, no charge for you, just get outta here.

 

Riften Guard

Intimidate <13/52>

Hah, that kind of talk doesnt scare me, now pay up.