I bought Skyrim when it first came out but was unable to play due to system requirements. Bought a new computer in '13 and still just looked at the box. It was daunting to me the size and scope of Skyrim. But I started pecking away at it till I finally achieved a character that didn't always die! I'm not sure if I'm going going to stick with this character the whole way through, but for now she'll do. I'm level 7 or 8 now. (Took me forever to start leveling.) Working on the main quest and Mage quests. There is so much to do! I haven't learned how to do alchemy or enchanting yet but I plan to. Don't have a follower (yet). Do you recommend Lydia? I hate to take her and then get her killed. Haven't found any standing stones yet except for the initial ones.

I'm having a lot of fun and feel that I'm finally learning how things work.

Just wanted to let you know that I'm finally playing this great game as you, for one, told me I should start playing it L4L! I still kinda miss morrowind though. And I really wish they had included levitation. Those mountains are tough to get around or over.

SharonB

Sharon, so glad you are playing. It's a big big world with many choices. I had Lydia. If you get her killed in combat, she comes back (or at least, she did)

Skyrim is a great game. I just started a replay of it last week on Legendary difficulty and on that level even the mudcrabs can kill you in one hit:-) - at least early in the game.

I think this is my fourth playthrough and Lydia is the only follower Ive had who ever dies. In this playthrough I didnt even bother with her - I've still got Fiandel (or whatever he's called) from the beginning of the game and he's still alive even though I'm to level 34 or something.

Don't know about this, as far as I know she doesn't respawn - she ends up in one of the catacombs if she dies. You can of course resurrect her with the console. Are you using a mod that respawns her?

A horse will help a lot for getting over and around mountains. They can scale steep inclines that your character on foot would never be able to manage. There are stables just outside any major town if you want to purchase one.

For a follower, especially in the earlier levels, I'd recommend Uthgerd, who sits at the back of the Bannered Mare in Whiterun. Give her good armour and weapons and she'll work like a tank. All you need to do to get her to follow you is beat her in a fistfight.

Awesome!

Like all the other Elder Scrolls games take your time with it and don't rush through the main quest (in this case the one about dragons.)

Lydia is actually a capable fighter especially in the higher levels. If you want to use her and not have her end up dying you can use the Console to change her to "Essential," in other words she won't die in battle, or ever for that matter.

Just hit the tilde key, that's the one usually in the far upper left of your keyboard with this symbol on it [~] and a shaded area will appear up from the lower half of the screen. Then type in the following (without brackets) and hit enter [ setessential a2c8e 1 ] hitting the tilde key again drops the console and you're all set with The Lydia who can not Die!

Once you get through most of the quests of if you feel like you need a little extra something please investigate the Skyrim Nexus here: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/? they have all sorts of add-ons and modifications for your game. If you do eventually use it, I would suggest you use the Nexus Mod Manager to download and install the mods, but it's also good to learn how to do it manually. You get a huge bang for your buck with these, they can be a little hard to manage at times (I'm currently running 92 mods ) There are also extra quests available to extend your gameplay even further. A couple are like full blown expansion packs. It's good to actually register on the site as it removes some of the ads and lets you download larger files. They run the site on donations so occasionally they might be down or things might seem a bit tweaky, but they straighten it out fairly quick. Also, be warned, there are some very adult mods on the site as well. You can filter them out of your search results though by using the Advanced Search function and checking off those categories you don't want in your results.

If you run into problems I highly recommend loading up the Unofficial Patches. Here's the link to the main one: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19/? make sure your game is up to date with all the official patches and updates first.

Did you get the version with the expansions; Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn? If you did there are also Unofficial Patches for those as well.

There are some great videos put together by a very knowledgeable individual who goes by the user name of Gopher. He is very detailed in his instructions on loading patches and mods and how to use the Mod Manager. Here is his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/GophersVids

Have fun!
TM

Hmmm, tis possible my memory is faulty as I haven't played in quite some time, but I thought while I was playing her, she would go down to one knee during a battle and then, after some time, come back. Maybe she was already set to essential in my game?

Ah yes she will recover her health if she is left alone. When she goes down on one knee her health is almost gone but she is not dead. Usually when this happens even enemies will leave her alone and turn their attentions to you. If you accidentally hit her when she is in this state then she will die.

I'm pretty sure that when you lose Lydia for any reason you can find her again in Whiterun at your first house, Breezehome.

As stated above exploring the mods available help to make Skyrim a great game. Among them, I use a mod to give me multiple followers. I generally travel with 5 and they really help out. In really tough fights you an lay back a little and allow your followers to do all the work.

One thing I really missed both in Oblivion and in Skyrim, is the possibility to join different combinations of houses and factions. That was a detail that made Morrowind fun to restart even if you've played it lots of times. Some combinations were not so great, but you had to make choices and I kind of miss that.

Yes if you lose her (she gets stuck somewhere) then after so many game days she will return back to
( I think her original location ) she may return the Breezehome if she was
the housecarl - but not if she actually dies.

I stand corrected. If she dies she's gone. However there is a mod that is available in which followers can't die. Don't ask me the name though

Agreed, the faction aspect is somewhat limited. They approached the story from a more segregated perspective. There's almost no reason you can't complete nearly every quest line with one character, but some are in direct conflict from a philosophical and continuity perspective
I was fairly surprised that they didn't incorporate a more involved Thalmor faction quest line for the player. Makes me wonder if the Summerset Isles may be a potential future jump off point for either an upcoming TES game or expansion.

There is pretty decent mod that allows for the ability to turn anyone into a follower, allows for a good deal of follower control and makes them essential. It's calls Amazing Follower Tweaks and can be found in the Nexus here: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/15524/?

I use it for most of my game play. It can be a bit glitchy at times (Never make a roaming hunter into a companion with that mod) and you need to be aware that it changes some of the stock follower dialogue for vanilla followers. As an example, the usual "This is your new home" dialogue is replaced by "Dismissed, but hang out here" not very immersive, but it works. The nice part is being able to control followers gear. You can change their default gear as well as assigning them Home and City gear that automatically changes by location. Plus you can control somewhere around 26 followers. So you can basically staff most every residence you buy or build.

Speaking of residences and mods, my two favorites are the following:

Kagranac's Instant Fortress

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/17835/? <--(Corrected link, my earlier posting duplicated the follower mod link.)

The Tesseract House inspired by the mod above

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/24967/?

Lots of advantages in having a house with a magic ring that allows you to transport to it while over encumbered and then back to the previous spot again (as long as you don't leave the house before transporting back again)

Thanks guys!! I appreciate all the advice and information. Being over encumbered is no longer a problem for me. I used the console to increase my carry weight. It was supposed to be set to 500, but instead it added 500 so now it's 800. I'm a little worried about adding mods, though. I know the load order is important. I presently have one mod, forgot the name of it but it balances magic. I'll take a look at Gopher's site for more information - thanks!

Don't have a home yet. Not enough gold. I keep using it for training. I think I need to slow down a little and smell the roses as I seem to keep rushing off to the next quest. As a mage I'm going to use robes instead of armor, but I want to get a follower and give them armor I've enchanted myself if I can learn how to do it.

Having a great time in Skyrim and wish you all could join me. Thanks again for the information, the more the better.

SharonB

Another way to get the encumbered problem (if you have a follower that is) is to drop your stuff and ask your follower to pick it up rather than transferring the items in the usual way. If you do it this way it doesnt count as weight for your follower.

Yes, if you are running >3 mods plus patches or more than one patch load order can make or break a mod or the game. The best way to handle it if you aren't sure what order they should be placed is to download "LOOT" That's the latest in a line of applications that can order your mods for you. It has one minor drawback, if a mod developer doesn't hold to the standards that Loot requires it may not be placed correctly in the load order, but in all the mods I've used off the Nexus I've only come across two that I had to place in the order manually.

Here's the download site for LOOT:

https://loot.github.io/

Just download and run the set-up app and your set. After it's loaded use the Update Master List function, then Sort apps, then Apply and you're good to go. For issue, just consult the forums found here: http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1519842-rel-loot-thread-19/

That's good info, Trail

I downloaded Nexus Mod Manager and Loot. Installed my second mod via the manager and it worked! I installed "A Quality World Map - with Roads and Solsteim." That should help. I still have to watch the second mod installing video by Gopher and something else he recommended. What a good tutorial! I'm going to get Lydia when I get back to Whiterun and make her essential so I don't have the anxiety of watching her die. What about fast travel? Does that include your follower? Or must I leave her behind when I fast travel? I'm liking this game!!

SharonB

I downloaded the latest version of Loot a few weeks ago and it kept getting flagged by my virus checker (Avast) so I had to go back to using Boss. They both do the same job though.

Yes they fast travel with you (most of the time). If you also have a horse but arent using him when you fast travel he will end up at the local stable.

No problems with my antivirus for Loot yet. Thanks for giving me a head's up.

That's good to know about fast travel and the horse. Thanks mj2c!

One valuable follower is Barbas the dog. He is part of a quest. I never finished this quest because I wanted to keep him. He was so good. I don't think he can die while the quest is still active. Purchased dogs can die but Barbas never did for me.

Rowan...you guessed it; I never finished the quest either, for the same reason. I loved that dog. Irish wolfhound, I believe. Magnificent beast.

How do you keep track of how many hours you've played Skyrim? Do you have to go through the Steam launcher for that?

I've installed the SKSE. Now it remains to be seen what mods I want to install.

I'll keep my eye out for the Barbas quest. How many followers can you have??