SSE Ideas for a different view of dragon combat in Skyrim

[Cowgoesmoo3]

It's no surprise that dragon combat in Skyrim feels weak, unrewarding, and easy. The dragons are supposed to be the most fearsome enemy in Tamriel yet it tends to be the bandit that just slaps the dragonborn back to the last save point with one swing. (I only play mage, and heavy bandits frustrate me.)

There are many mods out there that do make the combat more interesting but I wanted to suggest to everyone my idea for changing how dragon combat can work.

Extending the dragon's HP and damage are the simplest ways to make combat more interesting than it is now, however has few directions it can ultimately go.

I think making dragon challenging and strategic and rewarding is ultimately the way to go. Making dragon combat too difficult only means the player will die trying to fight it, or bring millions of potions. Instead of devolving gameplay to this state, I think emphasizing teamwork is the way to go. This makes dragon combat feel more group-focused and plays nicely with the theme of dragon invasions, making players feel that they are dealing with a continent wide threat but with help.

Radiant NPC's hireable for combat like the Assassin Creed's ambient courtesans or thieves or mercenaries would be the analogy for what I'm thinking of.

1. The player in order to slay the dragon up the hill should do so by hiring mercenaries.

2. These swords, mages or specialized archers for hire should be limited in some way by either expense or by time so that they don't dungeon crawl with the player and oneshot all the way to the dungeon boss.

The blades could see some good integration in this aspect. What the blades storyline in Skyrim did really poorly was basically make the dragonborn Delphine's Consuela. They don't want to help you unless you kill Paarthurnax, Delphine pretty much has more respect for the blades than the dragonborn. In return you get more damage. That's not fair, nor is it worth it.

What the blades should be offering us is some BALANCED system of providing us highly capable dragon-hunters to assist us in defeating these seriously tough enemies.

With enough allies, dragonslaying should become a more doable task. Mods can also increase the element of strategy involved perhaps by emphasizing the role of shouts. For instance, imagine if you have to cancel the dragon's shouts with your own, otherwise the dragon's shouts will deal tons of damage or make the fight much harder in some way. Imagine dragons could shout themselves armor, requiring the player to respond with specific shouts. If you've ever played runescape, imagine the idea of making dragonslaying more like slayer, where particular groups of hires or shouts or even equipment are needed for you to dispatch dragons properly.

The shortcoming of what I suggest however is the random radiant dragon encounter. While I suggest making dragons so difficult that they require a group beyond your houscarl, this would make radiant dragons very difficult. I think the solution may be that the dragons on the hill can be the ones made to receive special attention.