Skyrim - I'm finally playing it!

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??

BOSS is generally being considered obsolete because the Master List was no longer being updated as of the introduction of the stable version of LOOT. If you have mods that are getting updates or use a new mod that's utilizing the LOOT standards, you might hit an issue with load order eventually.

Antivirus apps should allow you to mark an application as safe. Check in Avast's settings or consult their website.

By Launcher, I think you're referring to the Steam Browser application, correct? When you are in your Library tab and you click the game, it will show the Steam browser page associated with that game and you'll see how many hours you've played next to the [> Play] button. I make it a habit to open the browser when I'm playing and do see my hours accumulating even using the SKSE launcher icon. Now that you have SKSE installed, always remember to use the SKSE Skyrim launcher icon or you'll be presented with error messages on start-up and any mods relying on SKSE won't work. I'm assuming you used Gopher's instructions on loading SKSE, it's the best method.

I'm not sure how many followers you can have, from a standalone perspective it's probably only limited by what your rig (PC) can handle overall. The Amazing Follower Tweaks mod allows you to "make" around 27 followers (can't recall the exact number), including the vanilla ones, so that might be the code limit, not sure though. Skyrim's save games can get huge when you start adding mods. Due to the number of mods I run I occasionally get the eternal load screen of death, even with the SKSE tweak, which if you are interested is as follows:

[Memory]
DefaultHeapInitialAllocMB=768
ScrapHeapSizeMB=256

Copy and past the above exactly as it is into your SKSE.ini file. That helps to stabilize the Skyrim bug that occasionally raises its ugly head when attempting to move from an interior to an exterior cell and when traveling from any of the main DLC locations (i.e. Solstheim,Fort Dawnguard/Dayspring Canyon)

I also use a rotating save system due to the occasional potential of CTD's in Skyrim. Use the Console to name your saves with the following command (remove the brackets though):

save ["name of save"]

If you use more than one word for the save name always place it in quotation marks as I've done above. I'll usually name my saves according to the character and do three in sequence; AltmerMage1, AltmerMage2, AltmerMage3 and AltmerMageSafe. The last one is saved directly after character creation and kept throughout the game. You need to use the console only once for each named save, after that they will show up in the regular Save menu.

I think they are referred to as Nord War Dogs. He cracked me up when I first started that quest. Interesting choice for the voice. I would have gone more along the lines of Scooby-doo





You can use the same command I mention in the first page of this topic to set any dog companion as essential so it is not killed in battle. The trick is that you have to find out their Base ID, not their Reference ID. In order to find that you'll need their name, which can be problematic if you pick up the "Stray Dog" that roams around. If they have a unique name such as Meeko you can find the Base ID by typing the following and hitting enter:

help Meeko 4

Then look for the resulting entry line that starts with NPC. (Disclaimer: I've never done this with dogs, so I'm assuming they are considered an NPC. I'll check it later this weekend and correct this if needed.)

Once you get the Base ID just type the following into the console (no brackets, just type in the BaseID) and hit enter

setessential [BaseID] 1

That will prevent your dog from dying in battle. When I get a chance I'll check out the stray dog entry and see how that shows up in the console. You can also find base ID's for known NPC's in the various Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Wiki's that populate the Internet.

Trail_Mystic thank you!!! That is great information and advice. I've been wondering how to make a named save and I will do the memory thing. I'm going to hold out for Barbas though. I'm really appreciative of all the information you and others have been giving me. There are people (I've heard..) who have played 2000 & 3500 hours each. So I do want to keep track of the number of hours played.

Back to Skyrim. I still have to go into the boilery @ Mzulft.

SharonB

and have fun

I played 400 hours and was only partially through the main quest. I just spent my time wandering and exploring. One of these days I'll start a new game and actually pay attention to the storyline.

I thought I'd mentioned this before but it appears that I haven't -

If you are swapping mods in and out of the game (when you are trying stuff out) it is usually a good idea to use a save cleaner to remove traces of mods you've ditched from your saves.

This is the one I use.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31724/?

Just checked my Steam profile - I've got 4652 hours logged in to Skyrim...and yes I do have a life

Thanks mj2c. I will use that if I start disabling mods. TrailMystic, How is it possible to have a life and play that many hours?? So far, I have 45 hours in.

Finished Mzulft and back at Winterhold. Next quest takes me to labrythrian. But before I do that I want to pick up Lydia and get her armored and sell some stuff. Maybe explore a little and pick some flowers, butterflies and whatnot. Maybe make an effort to learn enchanting, alchemy. Find some standing stones. Explore a little. Train some. We'll see.

Sounds like you're running the College of Winterhold quests, always fun. Remember to ask the established Magisters if there is any college business with which you can help. Some of those can yield nice rewards. One thing about Skyrim, in some cases it's easy to miss quests, partly because there are so many available and also due to the somewhat sketchy guidance given in the dialogue on occasion. I think the writers got tired at times and didn't really validate as well as they could have. That reminds me, there's a neat mod by a very reputable Developer that goes by the Nexus Forum name of Arthmoor. He's part of the group that worked on the Unofficial Patches, so knows Skyrim quite intimately. I'm assuming you've already loaded the Unofficial Patches, if you haven't, do so. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches and most of the good mods on the Nexus require that you have them.

Here are the links for you and anyone who needs them. Incidentally, for those that have been running these for the last few years the Dev group just released new updates and updated info on their respective pages as recently as this month if you're interested:

Skyrim Unofficial Patch: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19/?
Dawnguard Unofficial Patch: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/23491/?
Hearthfires Unofficial Patch: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/25127/?
Dragonborn Unofficial Patch: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31083/?
High Resolution DLC Unoffical Patch: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31255/?


Anyway, the name of the mod I was talking about before going off on that tangent is "Cutting Room Floor." He (Arthmoor) basically went into the code and restored a bunch of stuff that Bethesda's Developers either never finished or didn't add due to continuity or dialogue misses. It can conflict with certain mods due to the introduction of new landmarks, NPC's and even quests. After playing Skyrim for as long as I have I only just recently added the mod and was pleasantly surprised at the little (and sometime moderately large) things that were added here and there.

Here's the link to the mod on the Nexus: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/47327/?

Here's the link to Arthmoor's Nexus page, it's worth it to page through his mod files: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/users/684492/?tb=mods&pUp=1

Wow, I thought I'd logged a lot with my 1318 hours. But I'm still not through playing I've just been taking a break with DA Inquisition and, more recently, Witcher 3.

Getting back to Mods, has anyone used Falskaar? If not it's well worth looking into. It's a whole new area with separate quests and all. It's like having another DLC.

Also there's an article on the guy who created the mod that's an interesting read.

I've played through the mod a couple of times and it's a fun little romp in a new land.

TrailMystic, thank you! I have installed all patches except the unofficial hi res dlc patch. It states it requires the official hi res dlc. Can you provide a link for that? I've looked, but nothing exactly matches the name. My Skyrim is the legendary version 1.9.32.08. Is the official hi res dlc something that steam would have installed?

SharonB

Thanks oldman, will take a look.

The HiRes dlc is a free download on Steam. Select Skyrim in steam then look to the right where it says DLC and that should take you there.

Oldman, I've played through Falskaar, and it's good: internally consistent and following the general style of Skyrim with a main quest-line and quite a number of side quests.

Thanks mj2c. Installing it now. - I've been working on the game all day, no time for playing. I added Nexus Mod Manager and then Loot to reorder my mods. Loot says I need to clean my master files. So I added TES5Edit and had to learn how to use that. I watched a video and that helped. But they said to verify the integrity of the cache to make sure there are no problems. Unfortunately it comes back to say 5 files were not validated and it reacquired them. I tried to do it again and it did the same thing. Boy this adding mods is complicated. I'm not sure what to do next. I'll look around for more info. Shouldn't hi res be in nexus mod manager? I can't find it to add it there. If it's supposed to be there. I'm almost afraid to play the game with all the fooling around with the files I've been doing.

SharonB

Run your Skyrim Launcher and select Data Files and tick all of the HiRes entries in there.

Did that - it's much better.

I don't think I'm cut out for smelling the roses. Sold some stuff, did alchemy. Now it's time for the next quest - once I pickup Lydia.

If you followed Gopher's video on TES5Edit, he states that you have to do the cleaning process again any time you verify the integrity of your cache afterwards.

See, when you clean your master files, you're pulling "bad" or useless files out of the original grouping that Besthesda (lazily) assembled. Steam's validation process can't differentiate those files because as an organization they have to trust what the game developers give them. So their process has a list of every file associated with the game and it's DLC. TES5Edit removes some of those files because they don't serve a purpose and can cause issues when running mods. Steam's cache validation detects that those file groups are gone (that's why it gave you that message) and downloads them to your game basically undoing the cleaning.

Really, the only time you need to run that cache process is just prior to the first time you run TES5Edit to do a cleaning or if you are having problems that you just can't solve and need to remove your mods and SKSE to try and bring the game close to it's "factory state."

Thank you TrailMystic. I thought Gopher said to run the integrity check to make sure the game was running right. I'll do the cleaning again and not check the verification. I must say that hi res sure makes a difference. I didn't know Steam had it till mj2c told me.

Well I feel much better about the game now and can consider what mods I would like to have. Are there any must haves you recommend?

SharonB

I would just recommend for your first playthrough just mods that make the game easier to use (like SkyUI) and maybe make the GFX and sound nicer rather that make the game easier to play (like extra followers and stuff).

Added SkyUI mod. Getting used to that. Seems better, but I'm still learning it. How do you change the filters? - I started a new game to test how my game runs now and it runs great. I got the Dawnguard quest. I'm going to get Lydia and go looking for some new sites - Azura's Shrine, etc. Going to check my map and just explore, clear out some bandit camps, mines, whatever I find.

In my new game I tried being a battle mage, but I seem to primarily stick to magic so I guess I'll go back to my previous game and do that. I'm a level 10 now.

With Dawnguard engaged you're going to come up across some challenging opponents so make sure you invest in what ever offensive and defensive skill you choose to pursue; don't try to multi-class on your first run through. Wait until you get to know the system better.

If you are going to be a mage, develop your Destruction, Alteration and Restoration skills. Conjuration comes in handy as well when you want to take some pressure off of yourself.

The armor skill of your choice and a little one handed can also come in handy depending on the direction you want to go with your character. Just be aware that you'll have to decide if you want to wear armor OR be a pure robe wearing mage. Reason being is that the Mage Armor perk is deactivated when you wear armor. No use in wasting perk points on that of you are developing an armor skill. Also don't be afraid to run out of range or into a pack of city guards. Trust me it can come to that when you face off against what's coming.

Wards do a great job of fending off magic attacks and temporarily reducing melee weapon damage, just be aware of your Magicka Level since wards continually drain it while you are holding them up (unless you have a mod that stops that from happening )