The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[sabotai]

I joined the Stormcloaks with my Wood Elf Ranger-type character and did that whole quest line. Was fun but a bit too easy in the 30s. The war will probably more of a challenge in the 10-20 range.

Just made a Battlemage type character. Sword in one hand, spell in the other and in heavy armor. About as different from my Ranger as possible so we'll see how differently the game plays.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Grover

Started a Khajiit tonight focusing on Sneak, Archery, 1H and Light Armor perks. I've got to say that sneaking around is a ton of fun.

Hey, that's me!

[Crapshoot]

Spoiler

Poor Lydia - helps me clear out the entire encampment, then dies while I got greedy going after the bandit chief.

I actually feel bad - useful companion.

[chinaski]

Poor Frost, finally died on me. She was a good horse.

[Grover]

the assassin Khajiit.

[chinaski]

Originally Posted by chinaski

The companion quest line is awesome! Was the toughest part of the game for me thus far.

Ran into a pretty lame bug recently, not sure what I can do about it...

Spoiler

I did the quest that ends up with you being friendly with the Forsworn. So now, I have a quest to retrieve a sword from the thieving bastards, but I can only talk to the Briarheart who has the loot, and he's not talking. Hopefully I can just kill him to retrieve the sword. Is there a way to make a faction go back to being hostile to you for the long run?

Made six levels today, the game just keeps getting better.

Looks like this bug hurt more than I thought it would, that or something else has corrupted all my saves from level 14 to 22. Lost a whole day and 8 levels. Guess that's what I get for leaving the game on all day.

Tempted to just start over.

[SackAttack]

Finished the Volenruud quest. Thankfully, there was only ONE Deathlord to contend with.

But the decision to be sneaky and use the bow served me in good stead, because Draugr Scourges are nearly as bad.

Spoiler

Kvenal or whatever his name is is bad news. He took me out once in four hits without showing any sign of damage from my sword, but I was able to snipe-and-hide him to death with the bow. In retrospect, I shoulda brought along a silver sword.

[BYU 14]

Still amazed, not negative vote on this game. For those that are seeing block level slowly I stumbled across something on the Souls: Black and White book quest from the College that got my block skill to go up 4 times in less than 20 minutes.

In the last Chamber I was in a pitched battle with a couple of Bandit archers and decided to try and exhaust their arrow supply. I have a Dwarven shield and equipped it and stepped out from behind my cover and let them fire away. Every 4-5 arrows I blocked took my skill up one. When I got hit a couple of times, ducked back behind cover and healed. Between restoration going up and block going up I leveled up during the battle. Finally drew one up by ducking into a side room and took him out with my Orc Sword of binding when he came around the corner.

Also, regarding the Sabretooth

Spoiler

I died the first time through this final chamber before the battle detailed above. Thought I would be smart and use my control Animal power on the Sabretooth in the cage and then unlock the cage so he would deal with the remaining Bandits. Discovered to my dismay that the power does not work on him and he quickly made me a chew toy, while the bandits that had been advancing on me backed up and watched the carnage unfold......Bastards!!!

I am really enjoying the way the challenge varies even within the same quest. In this one I dispatched some Bandits within seconds, walking through their attacks and shredding them, then was taken to the limit a couple of times by Bandit Thugs. Then there were a couple of groups where I had to plan a strategy carefully instead of just wading into combat. This game keeps you on your toes.

[BYU 14]

Also had my first Assasination attempt last night. I have no idea who could have taken the hit out on me as I really haven't pissed anyone off yet. The note was signed by Astrid of the dark brotherhood, so hopefully I will meet up with her down the road and see if I can find out who the culprit is.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Also had my first Assasination attempt last night. I have no idea who could have taken the hit out on me as I really haven't pissed anyone off yet. The note was signed by Astrid of the dark brotherhood, so hopefully I will meet up with her down the road and see if I can find out who the culprit is.

Let me ask you this (.ie do you buy my hypothesis): Have you shouted in a city and received a note of encouragement from a courier that also warned "everyone is not happy?" I did in the town below the Greybeards, and a couple hours later a long way from there, along comes an assassin. I'm pretty sure the two are related.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Let me ask you this (.ie do you buy my hypothesis): Have you shouted in a city and received a note of encouragement from a courier that also warned "everyone is not happy?" I did in the town below the Greybeards, and a couple hours later a long way from there, along comes an assassin. I'm pretty sure the two are related.

I have shouted, but away from everyone and never got a note. I wasa almost wondering if it was from the love triangle thing in Riverun. I told the girl (forget the name) that the note I gave her was all lies and after that the guy that gave me the note said I would get what I deserved, but that was like 14 hours of gameplay ago......Maybe he holds a grudge

[RainMaker]

I have a couple questions I'm hoping you guys can help me out with.

1) Is there a huge disadvantage to heavy armor? I guess I just went with it from the start but not sure if I'm missing out on something with the light stuff.

2) Is there a way to spot ores? I occasionally run across an iron one but I'd love to get some of the others as I've been increasing my weapons a great deal.

3) How do I get enchantments? I don't have a single one and haven't seen anywhere in the game where I get them. I don't even know what they are.

4) Is there a reason to hang on to all the gems and stuff I come across? I assume I'll be able to add them to weapons at some point but I've got piles of them adding up and wondering if I should be selling.

5) Should I be saving the scales and bones from dragons? They are really heavy but could fetch some money. I'm assuming there is some use for them later on.

Dragons are sort of weird in the game. I haven't had many encounters on my own with them. They seem to be searching for other enemies nearby to target and sometimes I just give up trying to chase it down. It's also sort of interesting how different enemies have different skills/strengths. I can sometimes run up on some bandits and just mow through them. Then I'll come across a scavenger who will kill me in 2 shots.

[mckerney]

Dragonscales can be used in smithing,once you get good enough at it.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I have a couple questions I'm hoping you guys can help me out with.

1) Is there a huge disadvantage to heavy armor? I guess I just went with it from the start but not sure if I'm missing out on something with the light stuff.

2) Is there a way to spot ores? I occasionally run across an iron one but I'd love to get some of the others as I've been increasing my weapons a great deal.

3) How do I get enchantments? I don't have a single one and haven't seen anywhere in the game where I get them. I don't even know what they are.

4) Is there a reason to hang on to all the gems and stuff I come across? I assume I'll be able to add them to weapons at some point but I've got piles of them adding up and wondering if I should be selling.

5) Should I be saving the scales and bones from dragons? They are really heavy but could fetch some money. I'm assuming there is some use for them later on.

Dragons are sort of weird in the game. I haven't had many encounters on my own with them. They seem to be searching for other enemies nearby to target and sometimes I just give up trying to chase it down. It's also sort of interesting how different enemies have different skills/strengths. I can sometimes run up on some bandits and just mow through them. Then I'll come across a scavenger who will kill me in 2 shots.

1. You'll move a bit slower with heavy armor, since it is heavier.

2. There's a post a couple pages back where someone (I forget who, sorry!) posted a ton of pics of ore. Helped me out a great deal. Also, check any mines you run into. Ore kind of has a sheen or shine to it compared to the rest of the rock.

3. Soul gems are enchantments. If you get a weapon like Ancient Nord Axe of Cold, when its enchantment runs out, you have to put another soul gem (or more) into it to recharge it.

4. I *think* gems are used mainly for jewelry through smithing. I've run across a few gather quests where someone wants X amount of X type gems though.

5. The dragon stuff can be used for Dragonscale armor, the best heavy armor in the game. Not sure if it's useful for anything else.

[RainMaker]

Thanks. What about the dragon bones? Can I just sell those?

I've actually been building my smithing up. I got so much leather from wolves, bears, and cats that I picked up some iron ignot and just made a ton of iron daggers. Kind of a quick and easy way to build up smithing.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Thanks. What about the dragon bones? Can I just sell those?

I've actually been building my smithing up. I got so much leather from wolves, bears, and cats that I picked up some iron ignot and just made a ton of iron daggers. Kind of a quick and easy way to build up smithing.

The dragon bones make dragonplate armor, and the dragon scales make dragonscale armor. Dragonplate is heavy armor, and dragonscale is light armor, choose and sell accordingly.

[DougW]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

2) Is there a way to spot ores? I occasionally run across an iron one but I'd love to get some of the others as I've been increasing my weapons a great deal.

This was very irritating to me, I just flat out couldn't see them . This was very helpful - it adds a little brightness to them, without making them glow or look out of place.

Glowing Ore Veins 300 at Skyrim Nexus - Skyrim Mods and community

[frnk55]

Just hit 35 hours of play and I'm at level 18. Strange thing is I don't want to keep playing because I don't want it to end. I know there will be some great mods but I think I'll be pacing myself to make it last.

[RainMaker]

I've put in 30 hours and I barely have half the map opened. There is just so much to do. I have piles and piles of missions to do also.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by frnk55

Just hit 35 hours of play and I'm at level 18. Strange thing is I don't want to keep playing because I don't want it to end. I know there will be some great mods but I think I'll be pacing myself to make it last.

For whatever it's worth, I've read that there's no level cap in Skyrim, though the mathematical tops is apparently around 81, once you hit 100 in all your stats....so you've still got a ways to go!

[frnk55]

Ah who the hell am I kidding. 5 minutes later I'm back at it. My toons in LOTRO are felling neglected.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Anybody having major problems mining ore? This is beyond the usual "step back & try again because the animation couldn't run for some reason", this is "hit-the-rock-once-or-twice-and-then-suddenly-stop-and-refuse-to-reload" kind of problem.

It's intermittent but I've seen it on both my game & my son's game, can't find any particular reason for it to be happening other than just buggishness.

Anybody else?

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

1) Is there a huge disadvantage to heavy armor? I guess I just went with it from the start but not sure if I'm missing out on something with the light stuff.

2) Is there a way to spot ores? I occasionally run across an iron one but I'd love to get some of the others as I've been increasing my weapons a great deal.

3) How do I get enchantments? I don't have a single one and haven't seen anywhere in the game where I get them. I don't even know what they are.

4) Is there a reason to hang on to all the gems and stuff I come across? I assume I'll be able to add them to weapons at some point but I've got piles of them adding up and wondering if I should be selling.

5) Should I be saving the scales and bones from dragons? They are really heavy but could fetch some money. I'm assuming there is some use for them later on.

1) You can forget about sneaking around in heavy armor, NPCs hear you coming a mile away. It also weighs more so you can't carry as much (there's a Perk in both Armor skill trees that make equiped armor weigh nothing)

2) No special way of making them stand out that I'm aware of. You just get used to seeing them. I would say that Iron is probably the hardest to spot. Some of them really stand out.

3) Find or buy equipment with enchantments on them. There are Arcane Enchanters that let you add enchantments to your equipment. You have to Disenchant an item to learn the enchantment, and use Soul Gems to add enchantments to weapons or armor.

4) Gems (garnets, rubies, etc.) are used to making jewelry with Gold or Silver ingots. There are also quests from people asking you to find certain types of gems (usually the "flawless" types). I find enough that I usually sell them.

5) Used for smithing. Dragon Plate armor needs both bones and scales, Dragon Scale armor just needs the scales: Dragon Armor (smithing) - The Elder Scrolls Wiki

[SportsDino]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Starting loading some high resolution texture mods last night, the high resolution road signs seems to be the most helpful. There's also a mod to display the time on the loading screens, not sure if that one's a good idea or not.

This looks very interesting also, the land is unaccessable but it looks like all of Tamriel is in Skyrim, though just as a height map with low quality textures and nothing there. That it exists in the game could make for some interesting mods or DLC.

If they put all of Tamriel in there that would be incredible for modding. All that landmass will just invite people to fill it in... if it is remotely close to the actual Tamriel specs I could just imagine the Tamriel Rebuilt people going hogwild with it.

No reason to lock it, if Bethesda builds a mod in those regions it will wipe out whatever has been built in there... modders need to get their junk out of the way. Just don't install mods that conflict with any DLC.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I have a couple questions I'm hoping you guys can help me out with.

1) Is there a huge disadvantage to heavy armor? I guess I just went with it from the start but not sure if I'm missing out on something with the light stuff.

Mostly weight/speed. Heavier armor means less room for loot. Also, you move slower in heavy stuff than light (plus, you drain stamina faster when sprinting).

Originally Posted by RainMaker

2) Is there a way to spot ores? I occasionally run across an iron one but I'd love to get some of the others as I've been increasing my weapons a great deal.

On the PC, there are mods that make the veins stand out more readily, but by default, the ore veins are 'shiny' in a way that regular rocks are not.

Originally Posted by RainMaker

3) How do I get enchantments? I don't have a single one and haven't seen anywhere in the game where I get them. I don't even know what they are.

Learn the enchantments by disenchanting an item you aren't using at an arcane enchanter station. For what it's worth, the strength of the enchantment you install depends upon the strength of the soul gem you use and your skill at enchanting, so if you find a fiddly bit trinket with fire protection and a really expensive piece of armor with the same, you might as well disenchant the fiddly bit, since you can at least sell the armor.

Originally Posted by RainMaker

4) Is there a reason to hang on to all the gems and stuff I come across? I assume I'll be able to add them to weapons at some point but I've got piles of them adding up and wondering if I should be selling.

Enchantment! Also, you may wish to learn the 'soul trap' spell so that you can cast that on critters/folks before you kill them, and fill gems that way.

Originally Posted by RainMaker

5) Should I be saving the scales and bones from dragons? They are really heavy but could fetch some money. I'm assuming there is some use for them later on.

Dragonscale and dragonplate armor, as mentioned above. If you're smithing and you plan to kit your character out with either of those, plan accordingly. I bought my house in Riverrun mostly just to store the dragon offal, although I've since cleaned it up nicely.

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Dragons are sort of weird in the game. I haven't had many encounters on my own with them. They seem to be searching for other enemies nearby to target and sometimes I just give up trying to chase it down.

Sometimes that's HOW you can get into a fight with 'em. I stumbled on a dragon picking on the guards outside of Riverrun, and as soon as it landed, started whacking on it. That put me in the 'enemy' class, and it stuck around long enough for me to finish off. The ones just flying around looking for shit seem to ignore the dude throwing fireballs at 'em, though.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by sabotai

1) You can forget about sneaking around in heavy armor, NPCs hear you coming a mile away. It also weighs more so you can't carry as much (there's a Perk in both Armor skill trees that make equiped armor weigh nothing)

I rock the heavy, and my sneak skill is up to the low 50s. It's not easy, but it's not impossible either.

[Grover]

Master Vampires are not my friend.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I rock the heavy, and my sneak skill is up to the low 50s. It's not easy, but it's not impossible either.

I was sorta guessing on that one. It's certainly the impression the game gives (that heavy armor = no sneak for you!).

[SackAttack]

Okay, dragon fights are in fact a pain in the ass when the dragon camps 50 feet up and just spams flamebreath on you.

They're less difficult in melee.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by sabotai

I was sorta guessing on that one. It's certainly the impression the game gives (that heavy armor = no sneak for you!).

The muffle perk seems to work well with heavy, as I do fairly well. As soon as I find some high grade light stuff I will be swapping though.

[DougW]

Last one is my favorite haha.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Learn the enchantments by disenchanting an item you aren't using at an arcane enchanter station. For what it's worth, the strength of the enchantment you install depends upon the strength of the soul gem you use and your skill at enchanting, so if you find a fiddly bit trinket with fire protection and a really expensive piece of armor with the same, you might as well disenchant the fiddly bit, since you can at least sell the armor.

Enchantment! Also, you may wish to learn the 'soul trap' spell so that you can cast that on critters/folks before you kill them, and fill gems that way.

Sorry for the dumb questions again, but how do I do this? I've gone to enchantment stations and it shows nothing under enchantments. How do I get something to show up in there? You can probably tell I don't do much with the magic side and mainly focus on more formal combat.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by DougW

Last one is my favorite haha.

Is that a mod or something? If he did that legit, that's absolutely incredible.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Sorry for the dumb questions again, but how do I do this? I've gone to enchantment stations and it shows nothing under enchantments. How do I get something to show up in there? You can probably tell I don't do much with the magic side and mainly focus on more formal combat.

You need to learn an enchantment before you can use it on items. You can learn enchantments by destroying items with them at the enchantment stations. So if you have a bow that deals cold damage you take it to an enchantment station and destroy it and then you'll be able to add cold damage enchantments to weapons.

[RainMaker]

Ahhhhhhh that makes sense. Thanks.

[BYU 14]

Was on my way to Riften for the first time and just for the hell of it decided to charm a Mammoth. The timing could not have been better as I turned around and the second assassin sent for me was right in my face. He was a badass, much tougher than the first one and was on his way ro routing me, when the Mammoth stomped him to death.

The note still offered no clues as to who was behind his hiring.

[RainMaker]

The weird encounters like that are what makes the game so unique and fun. My first encounter with a mammoth was memorable awhile back. I needed a tusk and figured this couldn't be that hard. Shot at him, then noticed all his mammoth friends and two giants decided to come after me for it. It did not end well.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by mckerney

You need to learn an enchantment before you can use it on items. You can learn enchantments by destroying items with them at the enchantment stations. So if you have a bow that deals cold damage you take it to an enchantment station and destroy it and then you'll be able to add cold damage enchantments to weapons.

Also, it should be noted that since you (as a new character) suck at enchantments, you're going to lose a lot of power in the transfer. E.G. if you disenchant a shield with 30% fire resistance, you'll likely be lucky to turn that into a 15% fire resistance enchantment.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Also, it should be noted that since you (as a new character) suck at enchantments, you're going to lose a lot of power in the transfer. E.G. if you disenchant a shield with 30% fire resistance, you'll likely be lucky to turn that into a 15% fire resistance enchantment.

FWIW, the quality of the soul gem used in the new enchantment seems to be critical in that process. Trying to enchant with a petty, for example, produces a whopping 1% increase enchantment on item X.

It seems as though level determines your max % increase cap, even with a filled Grand I can only get to about +15% (I'm in the mid-20s in enchantment skill)

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Did you find your Treasure Map shortly after leaving the cave coming from the tutorial? If so I know where that treasure chest is appromixmately and can give hints if need be. Mine is labeled Treasure Map IX. Turns out I was at the wrong bridge in my report earlier. Looked at the map today again, realized I needed to be on the other side of Riften. Have found the area where the chest is supposed to be, but have not found it yet.

All right, I think I need those hints. I followed the map to what seems to be the right place but I didn't find anything. I don't have a shovel either, in case it's buried.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Also, it should be noted that since you (as a new character) suck at enchantments, you're going to lose a lot of power in the transfer. E.G. if you disenchant a shield with 30% fire resistance, you'll likely be lucky to turn that into a 15% fire resistance enchantment.

I have to admit I have no idea how the strengths of enchantment works. I'd assumed you just learned fire resistance through disenchanting and then the % depends on the soul gem and your skill, though I've only done three enchantments so far and haven't really looked into the mechanics of it.

[thesloppy]

Oh yeah, the level of the soul gem totally matters, good catch. I've got an enchantment of around 66 and still can't get anywhere near a full return, even with grand soul gems...I think that you have to put some perks into the enchantment tree to really start enchanting worth a damn.

As an aside, is the lockpicking tree the obviously worst tree, or is that just me? You have to sink a bunch of perks into making apprentice, and novice locks easier to pick before you can get to anything even approaching interesting, and apprentice and novice locks aren't tough or anywhere near worth spending perks on, in the first place. Or you can sink like 10 perks in, to get to "makes lockpick start closer to opening position", when again: locks aren't anywhere near tough in the first place, or "lockpicks don't break" which hardly matters once you've got the requisite high lockpicking skill and never less than 100 lockpicks in your inventory. I am a dedicated lockpick with skill in the high 80s, but I've ignored the perk tree entirely, and likely will for the life of my character.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Oh yeah, the level of the soul gem totally matters, good catch. I've got an enchantment of around 66 and still can't get anywhere near a full return, even with grand soul gems...

I've sort of drawn the conclusion (based on weak evidence admittedly) that it's going to take either extremely high levels or a dark soul gem to reach something like max potential

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I've sort of drawn the conclusion (based on weak evidence admittedly) that it's going to take either extremely high levels or a dark soul gem to reach something like max potential

I researched the black soul gems, and apparently they contain/release the same amount of power, but they only come from humanoids, whereas regular soul gems apparently only hold the soul of creatures (who knew? I never even noticed that you couldn't suck up humanoids on my own).

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Oh yeah, the level of the soul gem totally matters, good catch. I've got an enchantment of around 66 and still can't get anywhere near a full return, even with grand soul gems...I think that you have to put some perks into the enchantment tree to really start enchanting worth a damn.

As an aside, is the lockpicking tree the obviously worst tree, or is that just me? You have to sink a bunch of perks into making apprentice, and novice locks easier to pick before you can get to anything even approaching interesting, and apprentice and novice locks aren't tough or anywhere near worth spending perks on, in the first place. Or you can sink like 10 perks in, to get to "makes lockpick start closer to opening position", when again: locks aren't anywhere near tough in the first place, or "lockpicks don't break" which hardly matters once you've got the requisite high lockpicking skill and never less than 100 lockpicks in your inventory. I am a dedicated lockpick with skill in the high 80s, but I've ignored the perk tree entirely, and likely will for the life of my character.

I haven't touched it yet and been fine. I think I'm right around 30 in lockpicking now without building any of the perks and have only struggled with Master locks. And even those you can get if you are patient and have enough lockpicks to burn.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Oh yeah, the level of the soul gem totally matters, good catch. I've got an enchantment of around 66 and still can't get anywhere near a full return, even with grand soul gems...I think that you have to put some perks into the enchantment tree to really start enchanting worth a damn.

Just looked up enchanting here (which looks like the best place to go to learn about how enchanting works) and if you're talking about return on value it looks like there's either a bug or incredibly odd design decision with enchanting.

The value of enchanted equipment is inversely proportional to your current level of Enchanting. For example, a leather bracer enchanted while under the effects of a Fortify Enchanting potion will have less value than a leather bracer enchanted without a Fortify Enchanting potion. If creating enchanted items for sale, remove any Fortify Enchanting buffs you may have equipped and don't drink any Fortify Enchanting potions.

And from the discussion page.

I can confirm that the value of enchanted items decreases as your enchant skill goes up. I did some experiment with the console and this is what I found when enchanting an iron dagger with Banish and Paralyze, with all enchantment perks maxed out:
Enchant skill 0: value was 6194
Enchant skill 100: value was 2074
Enchant skill 200: value was 370
Further increasing enchant skill past 200 did not further decrease the value, though the enchantments became more potent.

[DougW]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Is that a mod or something? If he did that legit, that's absolutely incredible.

I didn't read anywhere it was a mod, I think it was legit - but who knows. I guess it could've been. I was entertained regardless haha.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Just looked up enchanting here (which looks like the best place to go to learn about how enchanting works) and if you're talking about return on value it looks like there's either a bug or incredibly odd design decision with enchanting.

Hadn't thought much about it but now that this is brought up I wonder if it's also working that way on some smithing.

I tricked out a steel sword to Exquisite, it's been my go-to weapon from about levels 10-24 so far. It's value is like 68 gp. Picked up an identical steel sword while scavving, decided to trick it out the same way, value was just 47.

[BYU 14]

Damn it is a long way to Riften the first time. Had nothing to do today and played damn near 8 hours of this freaking game. I don't think I have ever played a video game that long straight on my life.

On the way there a bunch of little cool things happened that make this game so immersive.

First I aggroed some Bandits from a keep near that road and pulled them down into a camp of prospectors with some Stormcloak Soldiers there. Cool, we can handle this group so I stop to fight with them all. Well the Stormcloak Soldiers take off, leaving me and the prospectors to fight the Bandits, WTF? Three prospectors die and I barely escape to a bridge with little health left. It is here that I notice the Stormcloak Soldiers have returned and they proceed to take out the bandits that are already weakened from the fight with me and the prospectors. Bastards!!

I am heal and out of spite fire an arrow into one of the Stormcloak cowards and then run over the bridge and resume my journey. not far up the trail a Cave Bear appears and it is apparent I am no match for him. I take off, with him on my heels bleeding my health when I come to a second bridge. Almost dead, I leap over the side in blind faith. Splash, the water is deep enough that I don't die and I am happy, until I realize the current is really strong. Before I can even start to swim I am swept over a waterfall, which I somehow survive and washed down river.

I am so concerned about just getting to the river bank I don't realize until it is too late that I got out of the water at that same prospectors camp and I have to go through the whole thing again

Just a small sequence of events, but things like this are making the game for me

One other cool thing was killing 2 treasure hunters further down the road and then dragging their bodies into the river and watching them float downstream as opposed to just stay in the same spot in the water like a lot of games would do. This game is fucking addicting.

[korme]

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but a pretty quick way to level up is smithing. With just one leather strap and iron ingot, you can make an iron dagger. So if you go to a warmaiden and buy all the leather and iron ingot you can, turn the leather into strips and make as many daggers as possible. My roommate leveled up to 100 in smithing in just a couple hours.