spendavis

I used to always play as a rogue, utilising a combination of sneak, archery and daggers, and have always enjoyed playing this build. However, I find that I may have over-played it a bit, and this has made me lose interest in the game (I frequently find myself starting new alternative characters to try and get back into it). I've tried most of the standard builds; sword-and-board, 2H heavy-hitter, mage, paladin, etc, etc. But, I always find myself wanting to sneak. I love the sneak mechanics in Skyrim, and when I don't use it I miss it. However, I'm bored of taking pot-shots from the shadows with a bow, or sneaking up to a target for an easy 1-hit-KO. What I need is a build that utilises sneak, but makes things different. Incorporates magicka, and makes things a little more challenging. I want to think, and have more options other than just drawing my bow. So, without further ado, I present to you my hybrid sneak-meets-magicka build. I'd love to hear your thoughts! ---- Name: Valendril Gender: Male Age: 24 Race: Wood Elf Class: Shadow Hawk (Rogue/Druid) Primary Skills: Alteration, Illusion, Sneak Secondary Skills: Alchemy, Enchanting, One-Handed Background: Valendril never knew family. He never knew comfort and had few friends, and even they weren't human. They usually had four legs, or consisted of animated bark... He had an affinity for communicating with animals, had a natural flare for the arcane elements and could brew potent potions and poisons using the earth around him. He grew up in the forests of Cyrodiil, and learnt to pounce from tree to tree, shadow to shadow. This kept him safe. It kept him alive. Valendril was raised by Spriggans deep in the heart of Cyrodill's Great Forest. They found him sheltered beneath a rock, merely a few days old, wrapped in loose cloth. Foregoing the natural hostility that Spriggans usually show humanoids, they took pity in this son of Valenwood and raised him under the roof of nature. It was there that Valendril adopted the Spriggans arcane affinities. He sought to master the basics of alteration and illusion to manipulate the world around him, to help better stalk his prey and vanish into the shadows. They taught him all they could, and he lived each day as it came. Life in the wilderness with such powerful friends was beautiful. Then that terrible day came. The Thalmor were driving their way through Cyrodiil, and Valdendril awoke to see fire, and ash. He had been hunting that night, and returned to his home in the woods to find his family no more. Nothing was left, and his world had been turned upside-down. The Spriggans that raised him were gone. Feeling utterly isolated and alone, Valendril sought to flee Cyrodiil and the drums of war, seeking refuge in the North, towards Skyrim. He travelled to Bruma, where he took refuge before seeking a passage across the Pale Pass. In Bruma, Valendril found himself nearing the edge of existence. Falling fowl to hunger and the bitter cold, he stumbled into the Inn for the night. But, overcome by hunger, he attempted to slip a roll of bread neath his rustic shirt. Before he knew it, the guards were upon him, and he used all his remaining energy and finesse to vanish and slip away, taking flight in the night towards the Pale Pass. Hours later, when he thought that he had crossed the border into Skyrim, he dropped his veil and stopped to rest. He could feel the cold taking him, but his resolve told him to keep going. He stood up, his mind set upon reaching Helgen before daybreak, but before he could put his next foot forward a searing pain burst through the back of his head. He was out cold. He had been captured. He dreamt that he was on a carriage, to a destination unknown... Conditions: - Difficulty: Master - Fast Travel: No - Compass: No - Crosshair: No - HUD: No - Music: No Misc: - Adores nature and animals.- Loves exploring.- Wears rustic clothes and small pieces of light armour (e.g. boots, bracers).- Only uses a single (enchanted) dagger.- Uses alchemy to create strong potions/poisons.- Uses enchanting to enhance items.- Steps into the shadows to stalk prey.- Uses alteration and illusion to manipulate the nature around him.

Okay, I will!

So, I'm thinking of setting myself a new challenge. Creating a new character and making it as hard as possible, whilst still attempting to stay immersed and giving my character a decent personality. I am forever finding myself quicksaving as I roam around Skyrim, so to combat this I will not allow myself to quicksave and will only save the game at the end of my current session. Furthermore, if my character dies, that is it. Game over. The save gets deleted. By adding a permanent aspect to death, I think that the feeling and emotion gained knowing that my character is in mortal danger will change the way I play and view different aspects of the game. I think knowing that the death of my character is permanent will make the play-through more authentic. It will make it more real. The loss becomes greater, and so the emotions felt will become more real. The challenge that arises out of that loss will be more real. The game will become more real. And I plan on making it as hard as possible. I will be playing on Master, using little or no armour. I will turn off the HUD, Compass and Crosshair to add immersion. I will also disable the music and I will never fast travel. My character will be as follows: - Name: Athilien - Race: Wood Elf - Skills: One-Handed, Archery, Sneak - Weapons: Bow & Dagger - Secondary Attributes: Embraces Alchemy & Smithing. - Immersional Attributes: Eats and sleeps daily. Walks everywhere, though occasionally uses horses and carriages. Only acquires useful items and gear (he has no interest in gold). - Background Story: Athilien is a direct descendant to the Champion of Cyrodiil, though he does not know this, as his father left his mother for distant land before he was born, and his mother died during child birth. He was born in the Imperial City, and was raised in the building in which he was born - The Merchant's Inn, in the Trade District of the capital. The elderly couple that raised him were the owners of the Inn, and he has fond memories of the place. He spent his childhood roaming the city streets, scaling walls, reading books, sometimes pinching apples and (when he was caught, which wasn't often) being chased by the guards. Athilien developed a good relationship with the beggars of the city, who were a decent source of information. As he grew up, he much became the opportunist, using shadow as a veil to steal items for coin, whilst distributing much of his wealth to the beggars whom he had become friends with. Most within the city walls held Athilien in kind regard (though most did not know of his shadowy antics, for whom they blamed the illusive 'Shadow Hawk'...) and were surprised at his sudden disappearance, just a short time after his last guardian at The Merchant's Inn had passed away. Athilien had left to travel North, as the last people he considered family had left for another realm, and he no longer felt any connection to the city. With the Empire in constant turmoil, Athilien wanted to get away, so he travelled North to Bruma, hoping to scale the Pale Pass into Skyrim. At Bruma, he stopped for the night, as he was exhausted and the cold was chilling him to the bone. He had left the imperial city with nought more than the clothes that wrapped him and a dagger made of fine steel. His stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten for a long time. Athilien went to the Inn, and attempted to slide some bread from the counter, neath his cloak. However, in his tiredness he had become clumsy and the innkeeper spotted his actions and let out an almighty yell, alerting the guards. Athilien fled from the city, making for Pale Pass with the guards hot in his tracks. After a while he thought he had lost them, so slowed down to eat whatever bread had lasted the sprint. As he sat in the shrubbery by the roadside, he ducked neath a bush as he heard hooves, and thus two guards galloped past towards the border. He needed to move. The cold was taking him. Athilien raised the strength to stand, and left for the border, no longer trusting the road, but walking closely by its side instead. Further on, when he was sure he had made it into Skyrim and twilight was on the horizon, he stopped to finish the last of his rations. Before the bread could reach his mouth, a hood veiled his vision. Pain shot through the back of his head, and darkness took him. He had been captured. What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts on my idea for permanent death. Will you join me in creating a new character under the same circumstances? If so, what is their story?

Having played Skyrim for almost an uncountable number of hours, I am sure I have not nearly discovered all of the available locations that are scattered throughout the land, and I was wondering how many locations you have discovered over time? Which are your favourites? Also, does anyone know exactly how many locations there are to discover in total? I've heard various figures ranging from 300 to 700, but have never been able to find a concrete answer.

Although seen as an 'easy' option, perhaps, my favorite build is definitely the silent type, firing arrows from up-high and prancing from the shadows with daggers. Setting the game difficulty to Master and using little armor, I found this challenging but very rewarding. In this way, it is necessary to prepare before engaging in combat, either by collecting ingredients to apply poisons or enhancing you weapons using smithing and enchanting. Also, I enjoyed the game a lot more, and became much more immersed, when I turned off the music, HUD and compass.

Video from BethesdaSoftworksUK on YouTube: http://youtu.be/k4GgjHoOYkU

Oh cool! What's the book about?

Yeah LOTR was epic but The Hobbit is a wonder in itself. I'll also be revisiting Oblivion tomorrow when I get my new PC components (can't friggin wait!! 4 months of hard saving for Skyrim). I think i'll do the thieves guild and dark brotherhood quest lines.

Mountains, dragons, elves, dwarfs, forests, giant spiders, goblins, bears, wolves and butterflies. In my opinion, the best fitting time-waster for the next 10 days. Anyone else doing this?

- Name: Athilien - Race: Wood Elf - Looks: Golden blonde windswept hair, green eyes, youthful looks, short in stature but lean in structure. - Style: Dual-wielding daggers to pounce from the shadows. Also dual-wields short swords when caught out in the open and has a keen eye as a marksman. - Story: Athilien is a direct descendant to the Champion of Cyrodiil, though he does not know this, as his father left his mother for distant land before he was born, and his mother died during child birth. He was born in the Imperial City, and was raised in the building in which he was born - The Merchant's Inn, in the Trade District of the capital. The elderly couple that raised him were the owners of the Inn, and he has fond memories of the place. He spent his childhood roaming the city streets, scaling walls, reading books, sometimes pinching apples and (when he was caught, which wasn't often) being chased by the guards. Athilien developed a good relationship with the beggars of the city, who were a decent source of information. As he grew up, he much became the opportunist, using shadow as a veil to steal items for coin, whilst distributing much of his wealth to the beggars whom he had become friends with. Most within the city walls held Athilien in kind regard (though most did not know of his shadowy antics, for whom they blamed the illusive 'Shadow Hawk'...) and were surprised at his sudden disappearance, just a short time after his last guardian at The Merchant's Inn had passed away. Athilien had left to travel North, as the last people he considered family had left for another realm, and he no longer felt any connection to the city. With the Empire in constant turmoil, Athilien wanted to get away, so he travelled North to Bruma, hoping to scale the Pale Pass into Skyrim. At Bruma, he stopped for the night, as he was exhausted and the cold was chilling him to the bone. He had left the imperial city with nought more than the clothes that wrapped him and a dagger made of fine steel. His stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten for a long time. Athilien went to the Inn, and attempted to slide some bread from the counter, neath his cloak. However, in his tiredness he had become clumsy and the innkeeper spotted his actions and let out an almighty yell, alerting the guards. Athilien fled from the city, making for Pale Pass with the guards hot in his tracks. After a while he thought he had lost them, so slowed down to eat whatever bread had lasted the sprint. As he sat in the shrubbery by the roadside, he ducked neath a bush as he heard hooves, and thus two guards galloped past towards the border. He needed to move. The cold was taking him. Athilien raised the strength to stand, and left for the border, no longer trusting the road, but walking closely by its side instead. Further on, when he was sure he had made it into Skyrim and twilight was on the horizon, he stopped to finish the last of his rations. Before the bread could reach his mouth, a hood veiled his vision. Pain shot through the back of his head, and darkness took him. He had been captured. I mean, he could have just asked for the bread. Idiot.

Is he bringing the Hobbits? Or did they get the chop too?

There are many posts in this forum asking people for names or stories relating to their character and Skyrim. I thought I'd create one to cover all the aspects in a nice and easy-to-read format for all to enjoy. My back-story runs right up until my character is being led to his execution in Skyrim - which is where the game will actually start. - Name: Athilien - Race: Wood Elf - Looks: Golden blonde windswept hair, green eyes, youthful looks, short in stature but lean in structure. - Style: Dual-wielding daggers to pounce from the shadows. Also dual-wields short swords when caught out in the open and has a keen eye as a marksman. - Story: Athilien is a direct descendant to the Champion of Cyrodiil, though he does not know this, as his father left his mother for distant land before he was born, and his mother died during child birth. He was born in the Imperial City, and was raised in the building in which he was born - The Merchant's Inn, in the Trade District of the capital. The elderly couple that raised him were the owners of the Inn, and he has fond memories of the place. He spent his childhood roaming the city streets, scaling walls, reading books, sometimes pinching apples and (when he was caught, which wasn't often) being chased by the guards. Athilien developed a good relationship with the beggars of the city, who were a decent source of information. As he grew up, he much became the opportunist, using shadow as a veil to steal items for coin, whilst distributing much of his wealth to the beggars whom he had become friends with. Most within the city walls held Athilien in kind regard (though most did not know of his shadowy antics, for whom they blamed the illusive 'Shadow Hawk'...) and were surprised at his sudden disappearance, just a short time after his last guardian at The Merchant's Inn had passed away. Athilien had left to travel North, as the last people he considered family had left for another realm, and he no longer felt any connection to the city. With the Empire in constant turmoil, Athilien wanted to get away, so he travelled North to Bruma, hoping to scale the Pale Pass into Skyrim. At Bruma, he stopped for the night, as he was exhausted and the cold was chilling him to the bone. He had left the imperial city with nought more than the clothes that wrapped him and a dagger made of fine steel. His stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten for a long time. Athilien went to the Inn, and attempted to slide some bread from the counter, neath his cloak. However, in his tiredness he had become clumsy and the innkeeper spotted his actions and let out an almighty yell, alerting the guards. Athilien fled from the city, making for Pale Pass with the guards hot in his tracks. After a while he thought he had lost them, so slowed down to eat whatever bread had lasted the sprint. As he sat in the shrubbery by the roadside, he ducked neath a bush as he heard hooves, and thus two guards galloped past towards the border. He needed to move. The cold was taking him. Athilien raised the strength to stand, and left for the border, no longer trusting the road, but walking closely by its side instead. Further on, when he was sure he had made it into Skyrim and twilight was on the horizon, he stopped to finish the last of his rations. Before the bread could reach his mouth, a hood veiled his vision. Pain shot through the back of his head, and darkness took him. He had been captured. I mean, he could have just asked for the bread. Idiot.