I am sure that you all have read this http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/01/24/skyrim-building-better-combat.aspx or at least skim through it. If you haven't takin a glance at it yet, you should, its a good read in my opinion

How will the new combat system affect the tactic you used in morrowind and oblivion? What is your opinion on the new grittier look at the combat system?

You can't just use magic anytime you want anymore, has to be equipped
No more button mashing
You might be knocked around, lose balance
Blocking at the right time
Blocking with a weapon isn't as effective as the shield
you can actually specialize in weapon through perks
and more importantly, you can't just backpedal and spam the enemy with slashes and spells.
and whatever else they stated in this article that I might have left out?

How would this,if at all, effect on how you build your characters?
What weapon would you specialize?
Are you going to use magic less because of some changes from the last two games?

I know that we haven't learned everything about the gameplay but from what we have heard so far, how would you shape your character?

Well since I like to avoid too much buzz when engaging the enemy I'd say I'll specialise in Marksmanship and Blades (daggers!?). Sneak and Security goes without saying (but still I said it). Light armor too.

I'm just your average sneaky little Wood Elf,who likes to be at least a little bit prepared if all else (sneaking around) fails.

EDIT: I guess the list of my skills/specialisations would look like this:

Marksman
Blade
Light Armor
Sneak
Security
Mercantile
Illusion

I will most likly go swell sword, having a few spell hotkeyed in one hand, and a weapon in the other, using Destruction to soften a target before slicing the last bit off them.

I personally like to use bow and arrows to get off good bonus damage with a sneak attack, if possible. Then I would use destruction to get some more damage off before he would get to me and then finish him off with a claymore or long sword.

Going against groups, which happened a lot in Oblivion, I would use conjuration while I keep my distance with my bow and arrow or magic. I will finish them off with some slashing at the end

Yeah, I'll have to go Spellsword too. It has been my favourite way to play all the preceding Elder Scrolls games. I probably wouldn't mix Destruction and Swordsmanship though unless the spells therein are really fun to play with. In the past Destruction has had a tendency to compete with Weapon Skills for training opportunities, basically forcing you to sacrifice good opportunities to sharpen your sword against your enemies every time you blast them with magic, and naturally vice versa. I'll probably focus on spells that debilitate enemies or improve my own potency instead, with skills such as Alteration or Restoration.

I don't think I'll change my approach too much in Skyrim. I am unlikely to use to Two-handed weapons however. Forfeiting the ability of using magic alongside your weapon seems to be a hefty price to pay unless they are tremendously powerful. Presumably you wouldn't even be able to rely on magic to heal yourself in the midst of battle with a Claymore. So interestingly, I think Warrior type characters using two-handers will find themselves far more depending on Alchemy than in previous games. This makes for a very different play-style that I'll look forward to trying in a second run through the game. In Oblivion you were kind of set up to learn restoration from the very start of the game, with them offering you a cheap healing spell to cast repeatedly whenever you were hurt and moving between battles. I think the learning and use of magic needs to be far more restricted than it was in Oblivion to make it less of an obvious path of advancement in the game. In Morrowind it wasn't as obvious, given that magicka didn't regenerate and you weren't given a bunch of magic right off the bat either.

well we have heard the way magic can be used is expanded, hopefully that means we can use AOE spells as well as cone spells.

Also don′t forget they have confirmed recruitable NPC companions, so combat is no longer a one person show.

you like using the Breton?

@Ralos

oh yeah, I forgot about that, I might actually use that companion system.....though I hope he doesn't keep running into my attacks....Oblivion, I am talking to you

I like playing stuff that is pure -> something.

For example, In skyrim I'm probably gonna play a full on both hands equipped with spells, mage.

With this character, I'm probably gonna try to make use of the (dual hand spell -> greater effect) ability, in order to produce a high damage output, trying to take out the opponent fast and at range.

I am going to be either pure mage or spellsword style. It actually depends mostly on magicka pool/regen. If spending magicka to dispose of giant rats, common wolves and goblins is not wasteful, and if even in major skirmish against several enemies my character won't go out of magicks, then he won't need any weapons except maybe some dagger or short sword, unequipped, just in case. If magicka is more restricted and Breton does not have enough magickal resources (pool/regen) to fight against anything the world drops upon him, then, of course, good sword is a must.

Polearm, archery, or magic.

I will have to give up my mace so I can have a shield and a free hand. I always go for maximum protection so a shield + heavy armor + alteration/restoration spells are a must, in Skyrim I will have to have my shield in one hand and alteration magic in the other so no mace for me like I usually go with.

I've never really been a fan of fighter / warrior type characters, so it won't affect me whatever changes they make to the combat mechanics.

Surprising as it sounds, my character's main combat tactic won't change much: sword in one hand and spell in the other, standing still and parrying my opponents swings, dodging only power-strikes from heavy weapons, attacking with the sword while they are up close and steady, and using a fireball when they either lose their balance or try to back down. With this style, I had to time my blocks anyway as 70% of the time I'd be either swinging or casting a spell.
As for the backpedalling, I'd only need to do it against really beafy opponents such as Ogres. So I'll just have to compansate for it with a stronger Shield spell than before, and possibly any new spells that help you maintain balance if there are any such spells this time around.

PS. Yeah, I like Breton

I will use a really big hammer (poisoned of course) and yell, "GURK SMASH!"

Stealth (Sneak attacks, remaining hidden, killing silently)
Alchemy (Poisons)
Marksman
One handed (Daggers for added melee assassination if I run out of arrows, as they are fewer in the game)
Light Armor (as long as the armor doesn't give away my location by adding noise to my footsteps)

So basically the same I love to have in Oblivion, exept some points that obviously couldn't be done in Oblivion, such as dagger assassinations.

Nords actually, surprising as that sounds; Nords with the Apprentice Birthsign. Mostly because I like looking large and powerful like a Norse Viking. Magic also gets more of a supporting role for my characters so being strong and skilful with weapons is a primary priority. I'd probably play dark elves though if they actually had their gravelly Morrowind voices and their rugged and tattooed Ashlander appearance. Maybe they will in Skyrim? We can always hope! :biggrin:

A Nord with the Apprentice birthsign, i.e. 100% weakness to magicka? Damn, those fireballs are really gonna hurt!
You'd might want to take the Mage or Atronach instead.

It probably won't change my style much at all. I detest the melee style of having to block, parry, thrust, stab...I'm as good as Robinhood Daffy! I could never do a correct power attack, time a dodge, etc. Just too many buttons, mouse maneuvers and directional control to make it fun for me. I was fine with the MW swing swing swing (dice dice dice) method d

I might play around with it to see if I can become competant. If I can, then I still probably won't change as I see no sense in putting my chaotic greedy butt in harm's way

So, it doesn't really sound like it's changing archery all that much, hence my style won't change much.

yes, but ya be surprised how even the most subtle change can do things, with things like more powerful but rarer arrows, and slower bow drawing animations, unless your a stealthy sniper, expect to learn to rely on a sword.

I do take Mage occasionally, but Atronach is way too limiting in that it doesn't allow magicka regeneration. I can usually rely on equipment and spells to offset my weakness to magic though, using reflection and absorption, fire shields and the like. Sometimes I supplement my spells with home-made resistance potions when I'm up against something particularly nasty. It works out quite well actually.

"Will the promised changes in the gamplay change how you play"

Let's see... Skyrim is a game, and you can play it. A change in game play will theoretically change the way you play a game. So if we can say Skyrim = game then a change in game play is a change in Skyrim play.

I'd say yes.

@Dragonbone
yeah I know but I can't change so yeah :whistling:




I did one character where I used Atronach and if used right, you can get 100% magicka absorb stat(which is just as good as 100% magicka resistance)

"You can't just use magic anytime you want anymore, has to be equipped"
- Might discourage me from using a shield, or find alternatives to my standard build of "heavy warrior with restoration specialty."
"No more button mashing"
- Didn't anyway.
"You might be knocked around, lose balance"
- Not sure about this. I'm sure I'll adjust in some way since there isn't really alternative, short of relying on marksman or destruction so you never get hit. This happened in Oblivion to an extent, but I guess they're making it more frequent and realistic.
"Blocking at the right time"
- I'll do it.
"Blocking with a weapon isn't as effective as the shield"
- I either will use a shield or deal with it.
"you can actually specialize in weapon through perks"
- This'll be good. Will obviously impact my playing style. I tend to just use one weapon type anyway, though.
"and more importantly, you can't just backpedal and spam the enemy with slashes and spells."
- Might end up playing on lower difficulty or turning around to spring away more often.

The "no more backpedaling" thing will be a difficult thing to get over for a lot of people :biggrin:

The no backpedaling will make the game unplayable unless we get means to look in other directions that the way we run, aka freelook. Currently we can only do this in 3rd persons vanity camera. There *must* be a way to do this also in 1st person. In other games we can't backpedal, only walk backwards. But we can still *look* backwards (nearly completely, but good enough to "work"), which makes the no backpedal a non issue.

If spatial and situational awareness is only maintained for 3rd person players, it has the potential of killing of the game for me.