The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Catch-All

Yumm, bear claws.
IMAGE(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Bear_claw_pastry.JPG/250px-Bear_claw_pastry.JPG)

So far with alchemy I have just been randomly brewing ingredients together. Whatever happens, happens. No it's not very efficient, but my character is not the most thoughtful lizard out there. He's pretty good at hacking people in two, though.

Gravey wrote:

"Now's lastly ya gunna need a giant's toe."

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/MX9Eg.gif)

Demosthenes wrote:

Mentioned previously... but the fastest way I have found to level enchanting while adventuring is the Black Star and a Soul Trap or Fiery Soul Trap weapon and a bunch of people to kill. Recharging your weapon grants experience based on the size of the soul used, not the number of charges refilled. So one charge with a grand black soul is like half a level. Typical bandit cave or fort can be like 4 or 5 points.

Note, my plan does require you to hit the menu and recharge after each kill... that part is not quite so awesome.

Because I thought it would be interesting, here's a correlated list of all the things from the game jam reel Bethesda showed back in February at DICE, showing what's actually come out (grey), and what's "left" (black)—including what's been seen in the Dragonborn trailer (bold), though who's to say how they will manifest.

Hoping for anything else on this list to make it in Dragonborn or the future? Water arrows? Werebear? Skeleton butler?

Seasonal foliage
Flow-based water shader
Spears (Dragonborn?)
[color=#A0A0A0]Kill cams for magic and ranged combat (1.5)[/color]
Water arrows and assassin vision
Guards re-light dark areas
Paralysis runes
Hanging structures and moving platforms in dungeons
[color=#A0A0A0]Water currents in dungeons (Dawnguard (in Darkfall Grotto at least))[/color]
[color=#A0A0A0]Dark dungeons (Dawnguard (well one anyway, Darkfall Cave))[/color]
New follower commands
Set favourites for followers
[color=#A0A0A0]Adoption (Hearthfire)[/color]
[color=#A0A0A0]Build your own home (Hearthfire)[/color]
Skeleton butler
Spell combinations
Goblins (Dragonborn?)
High level draugr
[color=#A0A0A0]Waygate fast travel (Dawnguard (in the Forgotten Vale anyway))[/color]
[color=#A0A0A0]Epic new mounts (Dawnguard (Arvak))[/color]
[color=#A0A0A0]Mounted combat (1.6)[/color]
Dragon mounts (Dragonborn?)
Soulbug familiar
[color=#A0A0A0]Kinect shouts (Xbox 360 title update)[/color]
Screen space ambient occlusion
[color=#A0A0A0]Enhanced underwater visuals (1.5)[/color]
Snow footprints
Verlet surfaces for non-rigid objects
[color=#A0A0A0]Ice & fire arrows (Dawnguard (as bolts))[/color]
Werebear
[color=#A0A0A0]Lycanthropy perk tree (Dawnguard)[/color]
[color=#A0A0A0]Vampire feeding (Dawnguard)[/color]
[color=#A0A0A0]Become a flying vampire lord (Dawnguard)[/color]
Vampire imp minions
Mudcrab animation tweaks
Giant mudcrab

Werebear

Dragonbjarn?

Damn! I've never seen that before. I really hope they implement a lot of those graphical tweaks (verlet surfaces, seasonal foliage, footprints, etc.) and I would friggin' love dragon mounts too.

theres a mod that does footprints quite well, if you're on the pc. very immersive

"But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there have only been one set of footprints in the snow. Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?"

Lydia replied, "I am sworn to carry your burdens."

ahrezmendi wrote:

I also went to hunt down 2 Giants that the Jarl in Whiterun put a bounty on. I finally took them out, after they nearly killed Lydia twice, and when I get back to Whiterun the steward gives me... 100 gold. I just about flipped out and burned him down on the spot I was so mad. I'm never doing another bounty for Whiterun again, those cheapskates can take care of their own damn Giants.

Don't give up Lydia! My theif/archer/assassin is level 67 and Lydia has never left my side (Xbox 360 version). She maxes out at level 50 and is quite the bad ass. She has single-handedly killed dragons and dragon priests. Are you giving her upgraded armor, weapons and shields? Are you improving said armor and weapons at the blacksmith? Are you enchanting said armor and weapons, and giving her enchanted circlets, rings and necklaces? Followers don't (by default) utilize all enchantment bonuses (like fortify one-handed weapons), but they will use some, like Fortify Health and Stamina, and resist fire.

Lydia will wear any Heavy Armor and Shield (if you give her a one-handed weapon). She will also use Magical Staves, including staves that summon creatures!

I have Enchanting and Smithing Maxed, and can assign two enchantments to my items. My Lydia is currently sporting:

Daedric Heavy armor (Legendary) +60 health & +35% Health Regeneration (helps when she get sh*t by spiked door traps!)
Daedric Gauntlets (Legendary) +60 Stamina, +45% Resist Fire
Daedric Boots (Legendary) with Muffle and +45% Resist Frost
Shield of Solitude, +35% Block, +30% Resist Magic
Gold and Ruby Circlet w/ Water breathing and +30% Resist Magic
Silver and Sapphire Necklace, +50 Health, +50 Stamina
Gold and Emerald Ring, +45 Resist Shock, +35 Heavy Armor

She is wielding Chillrend (Legendary). But before I got that awesome sword she was using a custom Daedric Axe (Legendary) w/ 30 Health Absorption and 25 Fire Damage
I have constantly upgraded her bow. She currently uses a Dragontooth Bow (Legendary) with 30 Fire and 30 Frost Damage, with Dragonbon arrows.
Occasionally I will give her Staves, particularly Lighting and Summon Frost Atronarch. You have to be careful giving her weapons that do burst damage (like Staves of Fireballs, Chain Lighting, or Summoning a Fire Elemental) because she will fire indiscriminately and sometimes the splash damage from those turn neutral NPCs hostile. One time she turned Shadowmere hostile against her and I had to reload an entire battle because I couldn't break them up. I currently have her using the Sanguine Rose staff, which summons a bad ass Daedric Fighter. Another good one for her to use is a staff of paralysis.

Before some of the patches, followers were bugged and wouldn't level up with you. Their level was locked at the level you were when you first acquired them. But there was a fix using the Wabajack staff, where you dismissed her and then changed her into a bunny, and when she respawned she was at your new level. You could test it by hitting her and seeing how much her health went down. Search Youtube for "Lydia Level Bug Fix" or something like that. But I think that was all fixed in the recent patches.

The UESP Skyrim Wiki lists what enchantments work by default with followers:

Enchanted Follower Equipment
Followers will only gain benefits from the following enchantment effects on their apparel and armor:
Fortify Health
Fortify Health Regeneration—only works during recovery phase/out of combat
Fortify Heavy Armor
Fortify Light Armor
Fortify Magicka
Fortify Stamina
Fortify Unarmed Damage
Muffle
Resist Fire
Resist Frost
Resist Magic
Resist Poison
Resist Shock
Waterbreathing (Followers won't drown anyway, but this stops them surfacing for air.)
All other enchantments on apparel and armor do not actually have an effect for followers, even if they should. Notably, this means:
Fortify does not increase the amount of damage they do.
Fortify does not reduce enchanted weapon usage cost at all, or remove it at values of 100%.
There are reports that this effect does work for some followers, but very few. See the discussion page for more information.
Fortify Carry Weight does not increase the maximum carry weight. [verification needed— see talk page]
There are reports that damage enchants on bows do work for followers with the Dawnguard plugin. Some report it only woks for them with DLC content bows/crossbows though others have reported it with vanilla bows as well.

Many thanks for the advice, GWJers.

I'm due to undertake a Mages Quest (Muzulf) next, but I think I will invest some time in smithing and enchanting a few trinkets for Lydia before heading up there. I've been equipping her with improved armour and weapons, and the odd Staff, for a while, but it never occurred to me to add some enchanted rings and amulets.

I take it she will equip these automatically.

I haven't found any items that I can disenchant for armour perks so I'll have to focus on giving her more resistance for now.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I've been giving Lydia improved weapons and armour regularly, but I hadn't thought about rings and amulets. I'll spend some time crafting some for her tonight before we venture into the Dwarven ruins for the first time.

I can't enchant with Fortify Armour so I'll have to focus on giving her better resistances.

One final question (again for console players, mainly), Lydia will no longer accept items from me (though I can direct her to pick them up). Every item I try to trade with her is too heavy. Is there a fix for this?

EDIT: To apologise for the double post.

@Draco - I'm not sure where you got that I was giving up on Lydia. I'm giving up on doing bounties for Whiterun, because that Jarl is a cheapskate. Winterhold hired me to take out a Dragon, and paid me 1200 gold to do it. Whiterun hires me to take out 2 Giants and pays me 100 gold. Seriously, wtf is up with that, Balgruuf?

Lydia w/2 Staves is a sight to behold, I have a screenshot of it somewhere. I gave her a Firebolt and Icebolt staff, and she went to town on a Dragon near Falkreath. It was quite entertaining. Of course, she burned through all the charges on the staves, so now she's back to her Ebony Axe and Shield of Solitude. She's also a crack shot with a bow! Last night I was swimming to an island, and caught the attention of a few Slaughterfish. When I reached the island, Lydia turned around, fired off 3 arrows, and a few moments later 3 Slaughterfish corpses floated to the surface. I was impressed, not that Slaughterfish are dangerous, but my spells won't penetrate water so they're just annoying to handle myself.

Tonight I will venture into the heart of Azura's Star, and then it's off to buy lumber to expand my home. At some point I'll get back to Delphine, she asked me to meet her in Riverwood about... 3 weeks ago.

She has a weight limit, take some of the other 'burdens' off her. Sure, she is sworn to carry them but one woman can only do so much!

ahrezmendi wrote:

Tonight I will venture into the heart of Azura's Star, and then it's off to buy lumber to expand my home. At some point I'll get back to Delphine, she asked me to meet her in Riverwood about... 3 weeks ago. :D

It's amazing how long people are willing to wait for you in Skyrim!

Citizen86 wrote:
ahrezmendi wrote:

Tonight I will venture into the heart of Azura's Star, and then it's off to buy lumber to expand my home. At some point I'll get back to Delphine, she asked me to meet her in Riverwood about... 3 weeks ago. :D

It's amazing how long people are willing to wait for you in Skyrim!

And they always seem to be holding a private conversation at just the right time to let me know there's a new questline in the area. Heck, Queen whats-her-face, could have returned and wrecked untold damage if I hadn't walked into the Solitude court at exactly that moment! That steward was totally willing to write it off as some crazy tale.

Demosthenes wrote:
Citizen86 wrote:
ahrezmendi wrote:

Tonight I will venture into the heart of Azura's Star, and then it's off to buy lumber to expand my home. At some point I'll get back to Delphine, she asked me to meet her in Riverwood about... 3 weeks ago. :D

It's amazing how long people are willing to wait for you in Skyrim!

And they always seem to be holding a private conversation at just the right time to let me know there's a new questline in the area. Heck, Queen whats-her-face, could have returned and wrecked untold damage if I hadn't walked into the Solitude court at exactly that moment! That steward was totally willing to write it off as some crazy tale. :D

You too? Man, I lucked out in the same way! And the Solitude court wizard still calls me names when I see her, you'd think they'd show a little more gratitude and respect.

ahrezmendi wrote:

you'd think they'd show a little more gratitude and respect.

IMAGE(http://www.mememaker.net/static/images/memes/969215.jpg)

ahrezmendi wrote:
Demosthenes wrote:
Citizen86 wrote:
ahrezmendi wrote:

Tonight I will venture into the heart of Azura's Star, and then it's off to buy lumber to expand my home. At some point I'll get back to Delphine, she asked me to meet her in Riverwood about... 3 weeks ago. :D

It's amazing how long people are willing to wait for you in Skyrim!

And they always seem to be holding a private conversation at just the right time to let me know there's a new questline in the area. Heck, Queen whats-her-face, could have returned and wrecked untold damage if I hadn't walked into the Solitude court at exactly that moment! That steward was totally willing to write it off as some crazy tale. :D

You too? Man, I lucked out in the same way! And the Solitude court wizard still calls me names when I see her, you'd think they'd show a little more gratitude and respect.

Don't hold your breath

I found Far Horizons on Spotify and now I want to leave work, fire up Skyrim and go for a walk.

Draco wrote:

Lydia will wear any Heavy Armor and Shield (if you give her a one-handed weapon). She will also use Magical Staves, including staves that summon creatures!

She will also wear mage robes in preference above all else, so you kind of have to be careful what you give her.

Daedric Heavy armor (Legendary) +60 health & +35% Health Regeneration (helps when she get sh*t by spiked door traps!)

There are mods that make followers not trigger traps. I highly recommend finding one As for Lydia specifically, she specializes in bow and sword & board, but will use a 2 hander if you want her to.

LobsterMobster wrote:
ahrezmendi wrote:

you'd think they'd show a little more gratitude and respect.

IMAGE(http://www.mememaker.net/static/images/memes/969215.jpg)

I pulled out this line on a guard in Whiterun after I garnered a whole 5 gold bounty by breaking into the Battle-Born house. I must say, it was rather fun.

Is it part of random guard banter to say they're worried that you'll steal something or burn the town to the ground? There are towns I've never caused trouble in where the guards sometimes talk to me like I'm an escaped criminal.

complexmath wrote:

Is it part of random guard banter to say they're worried that you'll steal something or burn the town to the ground? There are towns I've never caused trouble in where the guards sometimes talk to me like I'm an escaped criminal.

They make random quips based on what your highest skills are, and this includes skills boosted by enchantments. Personally I think it's annoying, and I might install the larger NPC banter distance mod to stop it. Guards warn me all the time not to burn down the town, or ask me if I can brew them some Ale since I'm an Alchemist.

Has anyone worked out how to add weapons to the quick menu if you duel wield? I intend to swop between duel wield and spells alot and so far the quick menu only remembers one weapon for me.

strangederby wrote:

Has anyone worked out how to add weapons to the quick menu if you duel wield? I intend to swop between duel wield and spells alot and so far the quick menu only remembers one weapon for me.

When using the quick menu, hitting the key/button for the assigned item will assign it to your off-hand. So if you want to dual-wield, you assign each weapon to a different slot, double-press the one you want in your off-hand, then single press the one you want in your main hand. Same goes for spells.

I use SkyUI so I'm not sure if this applies, but when selecting weapons in the quick menu they go to the mouse key you press, so left key equips primary weapon, right key equips secondary weapon. My primary skills are magic and dual wielding and this has never caused me a problem. It's just a bit slow since my quick menu is really long. I think there's also a mod that categorizes the quick menu, but I haven't tried that yet.

complexmath wrote:

I use SkyUI so I'm not sure if this applies, but when selecting weapons in the quick menu they go to the mouse key you press, so left key equips primary weapon, right key equips secondary weapon. My primary skills are magic and dual wielding and this has never caused me a problem. It's just a bit slow since my quick menu is really long. I think there's also a mod that categorizes the quick menu, but I haven't tried that yet.

I used Categorized Favorites, it's very useful. Sadly it doesn't properly categorize everything (there's probably a fix for this somewhere), so things added by mods show up outside of categories. Still, it's useful for the most part, since a lot of core spells/items do work properly.

I should clarify my earlier statement - I meant when using quick keys (i.e. I have Firebolt set to 1, Soul Trap set to 2. If I want to dual wield Firebolt I hit 1, 1 and if I want Firebolt main and Soul Trap secondary I hit 2, 2, 1). When going straight to the quick menu itself, I do the same thing complexmath does, just press the mouse button I want it assigned to, and I also use SkyUI. Really there's no reason NOT to use SkyUI if you're on PC, and if you're not then using quick keys should solve your problem.

complexmath wrote:

Is it part of random guard banter to say they're worried that you'll steal something or burn the town to the ground? There are towns I've never caused trouble in where the guards sometimes talk to me like I'm an escaped criminal.

The guards are all c*cks and talk smack.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
complexmath wrote:

Is it part of random guard banter to say they're worried that you'll steal something or burn the town to the ground? There are towns I've never caused trouble in where the guards sometimes talk to me like I'm an escaped criminal.

The guards are all c*cks and talk smack.

Yeah, all I get all day long is "best not go fiddling with any locks,"or "Heard about you and your honeyed words," which is funny because my speech is not that great. There is, however, a few special ones. Items like Azura's Star will amaze people, I think Spellbreaker does as well. Someone mentioned something to me one time about being asked about his character's orcish armor. But yeah, even those are irritating too when you hear them too many times... which will always happen with a game like this where I'm spending hundreds of hours in it.