So, I've seen all kinds of discussions around Dragon Shouts.... everything from how many there are, how you'll learn them, to if you can use them with your head chopped off. :facepalm:

BUT - I have yet to see anyone address how these Dragon Shouts will actually work in-game.

We know that in Skyrim you will be able to equip any weapon and/or spell to either hand; but how will you "equip" a Dragon Shout? You presumably don't need your hands to speak in this game (RL being another matter entirely), so what will the Dragon Shout menu and control scheme be like? Will shouts have their own slot and dedicated trigger? If so, how many can be active at once? I ask because I don't know and haven't found anything on this, and albeit somewhat of a non-issue to this point my concern is valid enough to merit a post. Bethesda surely wouldn't make it so that Dragon Shouts would have to be equipped to any one hand, right? That would make for some backwards gameplay.

It boils down to this: Would the following scenario be possible? -
While exploring the craggy depths of Skyrim's wilderness, you are surprised by an attacker. You immediately cast a force spell to knock your opponent back/propel them away, you then whisper shout to immediately teleport to your opponents rear, causing a considerable amount of disorientation... during which you promptly sink your dagger into your opponents back.

Not that it needs to be that exact, but I'm hoping this type of sequence is seamless and doesn't require a HUD or break in immersion of any kind. You know, so long as you have the necessary actions equipped and available at the press of a button. I guess this would be more relevant for console gamers and not so much for the PC elite.

Thoughts? Discuss!

No one knows, we don't have the game either.

My guess; You learn your first Dragon Shout in a quest involving the main quest, obviously, and learn the ability to absorb dragon souls from dead dragons you slay to learn more shouts via the great wall or whatever it's called.

Would it work if you actually had to use a mic and say the words yourself?

Spells now on hands, so old spell trigger=dragon shout

No and I hope it doesn't they dont have spears or weapon classes beyond one and two handers, no spellmaking(rumors) same size as Oblivion, less spells, but would waste time and energy recording every word for every race and gender AND have the player say it? really? k

it's a dedicated button. i think GI said it was one of the bumpers. the longer you hold it down determines how many words you actually say.

the fact that the shouts are referred to by unique names ("fus ro dah" is called Unrelenting Force) implies that there'll be a list you select them from.

That would be clever, indeed. I'm sure it would be a popular feature and something I might get a kick out of trying myself; but I for one would like the default trigger mechanism to be controller/keyboard based. Don't want the neighbors or SO thinking I'm crazy by shouting at my T.V., now do I. :blush:

We do know, actually.

1) You either start with 1 dragon shout (Fus Ro Dah) or learn it by killing your first dragon. Not confirmed, though.
2) You obtain dragon-shout power by killing dragons and learn actual shouts by finding/reading them from various sources. Confirmed!
3) You use a dragon shout by selecting it and holding down a button. Confirmed!
4) The longer you hold down the button, the longer (and more powerful) the shout will be. 1 word, 2 words, 3 words, etc. Confirmed!
5) There will VERY likely be one button for "left hand and two-handed", another for "right hand" and a third for "dragon shouts". Not confirmed!

I believe it's in the OXM Podcast, the one that lasts for an hour or so.

I think dragon shouts will work like greater powers in Oblivion, so there recharge time will probably be high. However since you speak them it wouldn't make sense to equip them like spells, so I have no idea what the control scheme will be like.

Oh good, thanks for that. I must have missed that tid-bit. If this is the case, then combos like what I described should in theory be possible. Now it's just a question of how many shouts can be active, or "hot-keyed", at once.

you DON'T learn new shouts by killing dragons. you gain the ability to learn new shouts from walls by killing dragons.

Yeah, it would make you sound like a bit of a hokerr for anyone in ear shot lol.

I think it'd be fun as an option though. Hold a button + attempt to speak the words = dragon shout (if you get it close enough)

You press a button. The shout "happens" (imagine casting a spell with only the vocal component). The shout's effects "happen". Game continues as normal.

tl;dr: It's a spell, bro.

Would it work? Yeah, provided you have the stuff needed. Would it svck? Yeah I'm not gonna yell at my computer, it's weird enough doing a Skype chat when someone else is in the room. Besides, as it has been said it is a dedicated button. I would like them to be treated as spells (attached to a specific hand) but that wouldn't be fair for people using 2 weapons or a shield and weapon.

Reread my post. :foodndrink:

Take a deep breath, count to ten... lol

I've read that a few times now, and I still have no idea what it is you are trying to communicate!

I remember someone here on the forums saying that in the GI article it said that dragonshouts have a small cooldown for all shouts when you use one and the specific one you used gets an extended cooldown. But yeah, bound to one button, hold it in to make the shout stronger, 20+ shouts.

It would work much better for the consoles than pc. Yeah, you might look a bit silly shouting words at your computer / TV. But as an option I think it would be fun!

Since spells are now actual weapons, the spell trigger is now the dragon shout trigger.

When you put it that way, it totally makes sense. I hadn't thought about Shouts as replacements for the old spell setup, and spells now essentially becoming equippable "weapons". Thanks.

Hadn't heard about the cool down before, so thanks to you and the others that have mentioned it. Also, is the fact that shouts are bound to only ONE button confirmed? If so, I guess stringing together a Shout combo is out of the question. No biggie, but it would have been neat to construct a sentence; a whole phrase of shouts, if you will.

yes I had my :disguise: on while I :flamethrower: the :brokencomputer: and wished for bliviongate: to take any heathens wanting to scream at their mic while beth already did the voice work for every race, and gender for each in regards to these Dragon shouts (so they say) so its a major piss off if the mic option is their despite all the WASTED work that could have been spears, Spellmaking etc etc etc

Ohh, I get what you're saying now.

Well, as an option I still think it could be fun. Your character (whatever race + gender) would still say the words, the only difference would be as a control/gameplay method.

As far as we know, ie not definite, you assign one of your list of obtained dragonshouts to the shout button, if you have learned more than one of the words for that shout, hold it longer for a two or three word, more powerful shout.
Confirmed (OXM) each dragonshout has a different cooldown period, depending on how powerful/useful it is.

That should make for some dynamic gameplay, for sure; but I was thinking more along the lines of combos across entirely different shouts. We'll have to wait and see.