Skyrim Combat

Hi

I've started to dip my toes in the waters of Skyrim (at last ) and have made it out of the Keep.

BUT only by letting my companion do all the fighting

I've found out how to equip a weapon alright but not how to use it !! And I can't find any "suitable for a child" instructions anywhere.
[Mouse clicking certainly doesn't do it.]

Can someone help me out, please ??

I'm playing the PC version.

Thanks.

Mad

Are you sure that you have the weapon equipped? If you are in the 1st person mode then your weapons will show prominently 3d person you will see you character with weapon in hand. Right mouse controls the right hand and left mouse controls the left hand.

You character should swing their weapon when you click on the mouse key. If not then maybe you should check your key mapping.

Yep Mad, what Oldman said

Yes. I am holding my sword and am wearing all the armour I've acquired to date, oldman.
[ I've looked at myself in 3rd person mode ]

However, on meeting an enemy who I hope to fight, mouse clicking of either button just brings up a sort of star shape on screen with the options of Skills, Magic, Items or Map !!

And I have no idea how to map keys

Can you help at all, please ??

I never had this problem with Morrowind OR Oblivian.

[ Hi looney4labs ]

Mad, that sounds like a selection screen where you have to tell the game which attack you want to use...I think I remember having problems with that too. It is something simple, which I don't remember.....and I don't have Skyrim on this computer. However, son has it on his. He is not home at the moment, but I'll ask him tomorrow and I'm sure he will be able to show me how to pick.

Would this page possibly help?

Hi Mad,

Try this.

While playing the game hit your esc key, then select controls you will see all your keys in the game. Look for Left hand and it should show M1 and then Right hand which should show M2. If they don't then click on each of them with your mouse and it will say enter key and click on the appropriate mouse button.

If it is showing M1 and M2 and you are still getting the strange response then the game is acting weird. You could try hitting the T key while in the control setting which is to reset everything to the default setting. If none of this works well..... it's either tech support or just uninstall and install again.

I've never known this to happen to anyone and I have a lot of hours logged in to all 3 of the elder Scrolls from Morrowind to Skyrim.

I have a feeling that this may solve your problem but let us know.

Thanks Marian

Thanks Oldman

Mad, what Oldman says sounds like what I had to do when I was having a similar problem to you. Will check with son when he gets up and I get back from the vet

Hi.

to you all for responding and I have made some small progress at last.

Following your instructions, oldman, I went to controls (in-game) and meddled !! And I altered L Mouse Button to wield my sword and R Mouse Button to my other hand. And in 3rd person mode combat I can now see my character fight - but he just deploys a useless short swing of the weapon close to his own body and never strikes the opponent

So is there some way to alter that ??

[ Even though my RPG playing standards are definitely not the best, I never had such frustrations with previous Elder Scrolls games !! ]

Cheers.

Mad

Your sword and/or your character may not be powerful enough yet for some of the enemies.

What may help is to equip some magic in your right hand. To do this hit the tab key then magic then destruction and right click on whatever is there usually it is flames. This will allow you to use magic with your right mouse and sword with your left mouse.

Also you could try to hit the "w" key as you hit your right mouse button which allows you to attack. All this uses up vigor and it will reduce rapidly at this early stage.

In the event that you need to build up your character more and are not yet strong enough then you could use a cheat to get you through. God mode is ~ then tgm.

Also have you leveled up yet? If not when you hit the tab key you can also open skills and increase your stats.

What sort of weapon are you using? Dagger? Long sword? Are you near enough to the enemy to hit him? When I started Skyrim after playing Dragon Age II, I had to get used to basic real time fighting all over again--learning to get "up-close and personal" with enemies.

Also, remember you're only at a low level, so your character's skills are not at their best. So it's not all "user error."

I think the Tab key is what brings up that menu you were describing. Maybe you were hitting that key accidentally while trying to fight?

EDIT: Oldman beat me to the post!
If you don't want to do God Mode, you can always just lower the difficulty level in the options until you get used to fighting.

Oh .... I went for the easier combat difficulty level right from the start.
I know my limitations !!
[And I also have every intention of utilising God Mode should I need it ]

I am currently using a sword that I purloined from some poor unfortunate deceased but maybe I'd better go for a lesser weapon then, I'm sure I have at least one other in my inventory.

And I will certainly see if I can allocate some magic to my "spare" hand.

Thank you both VERY much

EDIT :
Using a lesser weapon worked !!
I haven't managed to get magic allocated to a "hand" yet so I'm holding a shield in my "spare" hand for now.
But again, a HUGE thank you

Have you ever thought what it would REALLY be like if you stripped the bloody armor and clothes off some guy you just slaughtered ... then actually put them on! Yuck!

In my current game, I'm playing a male Redguard. When I started out, it was pretty humiliating to find myself spinning in circles and ramming into walls trying to hit an enemy! Very embarrassing in front of minions, especially for a Redguard famed for their fighting ability.

EDIT: Congrats on the sword change success!

Congrats Mad. You have many hours of enjoyment ahead of you. I got hooked and, even though I have the DVD version, it is still on steam.

Anyway, the reason I mentioned that is that steam keeps track of your hours played and I have logged in 1010 hours played. I'm not sure if those are actual hours or game hours but it is a sizeable amount in any event.

Wow oldman 1010 hours and I thought my 550 was a lot

Hi

lanlynk ..
I don't apply "real life" rules to games. Otherwise there might be nothing suitable to play

oldman ..
Yes. I'm looking forward to getting on better with the game now.
I, too, was shocked to discover though that I had to register with Steam to play it !!
[Mine is a DVD version also - from Amazon.]
No mention of it in the blurb when I was looking at purchasing.
[And after months of my studiously avoiding getting entangled with Steam at all costs ]

Manxman ..
I don't count my game play in mere hours. It takes me MONTHS to get through an RPG

Hi everyone. I just wanted to join in and say that I'm happy for you Mad that you're discovering this wonderful game! I think I've played it about 3 times so far and I LOVE it with all of my heart. Now reading about your adventures, I think I might start it up again---LOL.

I do have a question though for any and all Skyrim players. My regular computer is boxed up because I'm moving so I've been using my laptop. Do you guys know if I can play Skyrim on a laptop? (I know....I'm impatient....lol)

Thanks so much,
Tracy

Tracy, that would be totally dependent on the specs of your laptop.

Now that I'm getting into the game more, I'm finding it to be quite like Morrowind and not so much like Oblivion - Hurrah !! - so I am ENJOYING myself !!

MAD says: "I don't apply "real life" rules to games. Otherwise there might be nothing suitable to play"

Too true. When you consider you might be playing as a half cat/half human and fighting dragons, then anything else is "game" for the imagination. I just pretend I do a cleansing spell before putting on armor I found on a rotting adventurer in a tomb.


I just ran the Can You Run It? app for my laptop and it fails to meet the Skyrim minimum requirements because of its lower graphics card. I'm not surprised. I just use this laptop to do email and basic internet stuff.

Can You Run It?
If you don't want to run the above app, here are Skyrim's requirements:

Minimum Requirements
CPU Speed: Dual Core 2.0 GHz or equivalent processor
RAM: 2 GB
OS: Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
Video Card: DirectX 9.0c compliant video card with 512 MB of RAM (NOTE: This requirement is NOT yet confirmed by Bethesda - NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT & ATI Radeon X1800. Please be advised this may change soon).
Sound Card: Yes
Free Disk Space: 6 GB

Recommended Requirements
CPU: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
RAM: 4 GB
OS: Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
Video Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1 GB of RAM (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 or higher; ATI Radeon HD 4890 or higher)
Sound Card: Yes
Free Disk Space: 6 GB

Thanks Lan, that should help

Am I able to sell quest items by mistake ??

[I've got a horrible feeling that I might have done !! ]

Mad, seems to be a mixed answer. Most quest items can't be sold, but some can be. What do you think you sold?

If you did, try to remember who you sold it to and go buy it back

Also if you can't remember where you sold the item (or if you sold the item) there is a great cheat where you can go to find all the items in the game. Sometimes it takes a little searching because that's a lot of items to search through.

Anyway you can use your console and type in "COC Qasmoke" and that will take you there. To get back you type in "COC Riverwood"

Hi All - And thanks for the tips

I can't definitely remember what the items even were specifically, now, but I think the quests involved were very minor.

However, I re-started the game after I posted my question and intend to keep a note of any "Quest Items" I might have in my possession.
[Yes .... A good old "paper" note !! ]

It would have been so much more sensible for the "game" to identify these items in some way !!

Thanks again.

Cheers.

Mad

Mad, that is so what I would have done too

looney4labs

Wow !! I think I like this game as much as I like Morrowind !!

WoooHoooo Mad, I'm so glad you are having fun. There is a whole lot of content there

I've been playing this on the PS3. I never EVER thought that I'd enjoy an RPG, but decided to give it a shot, and wow. A steep learning curve (to put it mildly), but fantastically great fun.

Oooo... A new RPG fan! Now, we need to get you to try Witcher 1 on the PC!

Whoop Whoop, welcome to the Darkside.....<ominous cackling sound>

Careful, Rushes, it's a slippery slope.

But great fun sliding down it !!

I watched the start of a YouTube playthrough for The Witcher a few weeks back. It looked daunting then. (But I'm braver now.)

I'm on my second play through Skyrim. On my first run I was a Level 57 Warrior specialising in two-handed battleaxe. Towards the end I was also dabbling in archery and one-handed. I made my own dragonplate armour with a final armour rating of 790! (I ranked up on Alchemy, Enchanting and Smithing until I popped.)

(This slope has no brakes!!!)

Nope !! If you slide on your bottom, though, you just have to patch the jeans now an' then

I need a bit of help, please

I have been using the "Z" key for my Dragon Shout but can't remember how I found out that that was the key to use

So when I learn a new shout, where will I find the info as to which key to use for that ??

Mad, I think I remember that you have to choose from your screen which shout you want to have active. So it will always be the "z" key. You choose that at the same screen that you choose your magic spell, etc. Of course, with my memory, I could easily be wrong. The good thing is other members have much better memories and will correct me if I'm wrong.

That's right. You can only ever have one shout active at any time. They also have to be unlocked with dragon souls before you can use them.

Fus-Ro-Dah!

Ahhhh .... I've been experimenting since I posted and have discovered that the Z key is actually the only one I need.

And to use any "Shout" I must :

(1) access Magic
(2) select and equip the shout of my choice
(3) use the required number of Dragon Souls

Is that right ??

[And thank you both for responding ]

You've got it, Mad.

The shouts are one of my absolute favourite things about this game.

(Once you've unlocked a shout -- or a part of it -- with a dragon soul, then that's it, you can use the shout as many times as you like after that.)

Thanks, Rushes !! I think I will enjoy using them, too

No, looney, you're right.

One of the tabs on the spell screen (go to your inventory, then it left-alt, to go there) is for shouts. As you come across new words in the world, you can use R to spend dragon souls to learn the new words. Shouts can also be favourited, so that they show up in the Q menu too.

Skyrim is fresh in my mind just now as I'm currently working my way through it for the first time: level 48 Nord fighter/wizard, that sneaks around in awesome dragonbone armour, and can crack locks as soon as look at them (And I love the effect when you score a sneaky critical with a bow and arrow and one-hit a bad guy... eat your heart out Robin Hood)

eta: it seems that no matter how long I've been responding to posts on forums like GB, I fail to notice that other people have responded before me (usually on the next page) with exactly the same info!

Gremlin, it never hurts to confirm information