I was reviewing the video below on Fallout 3 weapons (1:53), where Todd Howard was talking about the difference between Oblivion and Fallout 3. In Oblivion, once you got that powerful sword, you could basically just use it all the time. In Fallout 3, however, you had both limited ammunition for many weapons and they also had a "maximum repairable durability".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_32Ymr5c3A

So I was thinking, what if we allowed some "higher" weapons and armor to be acquirable earlier on, by limiting them to a skill or perks that affected the durability or effectiveness of that type of item. For instance, In order to use a Daedric Longsword at 100% durability you would need to have your Onehanded Weapons skill at 100%. The logic being that lower-end gear isn't as penalized by the lack of skill as the higher-end gear is. An Iron Longsword could easily be repaired to and used at 100% durability even with less that 10 points in Onehanded Weapons.

The idea here is that we introduce the players earlier to later-game content without taking the full step and unbalancing it. Also, in order for this to work, the game obviously needs to contain enough variety of gear so that it still feels like you're progressing through the levels. Maybe a secondary suggestion could be that Dremora or similar weapons were available early on (as in Oblivion, within the planescapes), while true Daedric is only available during late-game.

Replicae versus the Real Deal, brittle versus solid, that whole shabangle.

Discuss!

I'd prefer things to be "unbalanced" as you put it. I should only be able to acquire those high-end weapons if A. I know where they are and B. I'm strong enough or resourceful enough to get past the equally high-end enemies guarding it. It would also really take away from the fun of getting powerful items if they're not powerful at low levels.

It was easy enough to get a daedric weapon early on in Morrowind. The only difficulty lay in carrying it home. Conjured weapons, on the other hand, were all win.

Wasn't that hard in Fallout 3, either, long as you knew how to manipulate the system.

I think that the most sensible path would be to take what was done in New Vegas a step further. In NV, you could use certain weapons with insufficient strength or skill level, but you couldn;'t use them at their full potential. For Skyrim, I think I'd have a level/skill level where ytou couldn't use a given weapon at all, and a secondary one below which you could use it, but not well. Once you reached the necessary rank/skill level, you can use the weapon without penalty.

Bound Weapons?

You should be able to at least attempt to get high end weapons early on. It was awesome when I got the Zodiac Spear in FFXII very early.

NV but furthered. I agree with that most. A sword requires 75 one handed to be fully effected. At a lower level its garbage but slowly gets better.

I think you should be able to repair low-end gear easily by yourself, while high-end gear either requires a high smithing/armorer skill to maintain a high effectiveness of the weapon, or a very expensive and very skilled smithing/armorer NPC to repair them for you.

You could then, for example, use your repair hammers and whatnot to try to make your daedric longsword good, but you don't have the skill for it, and end up using lots of hammers to be able to improve the usefulness of the weapon (maybe tons of hammers to increase the durability a few %, not quite reaching 100% durability on it). This would encourage players to switch out their godlike weapons instead of spending too much money on them, and therefore keep the thrill of finding new, better equipment.

One of the best parts, and worst, of Morrowind was the static items. Sure its cheap to run in and grab that Deadric sword at level 5, but thats my reward for risking Red Mountain.
Unbalanced is best.

I liked Morrowind's system. I feel if I get lucky enough through exploration to happen upon one of the best items in the game, so be it. It's much more realistic to me than acquiring items through random drops (I find the very idea stupid) or having to be a certain level to acquire the item. Want to make it guarded by enemies that are level 25? Fine by me, because that doesn't mean you have to be level 25 to get it, you just have to figure out how to get past the enemies. Maybe they could do a better job hiding higher leveled stuff too, make it so you can't just walk into someone's house and go " oh look, a daedric shield just laying on a shelf, I'll just be taking that." My opinion, either have it very well guarded, locked up tight, or very well hidden.

Either a "New Vegas" like skill system, imposing penalties for using certain high-end weapons without enough skill, in addition to the Ammunition and repair issues. However, the repair system in previous Elder Scrolls games don't really let a Fallout 3/NV style decay system work. And obviously there is no Ammo.


What I'd prefer to see, is a little bit of a new system. Higher One-handed or Two-Handed skill, let's you more effectively wield more exotic weapons (Deadrics, Glass, Ebony, ect) if you do not meet the skill, instead of something as unreasonable as a damage penalty, instead these weapons decay incredibly fast during use. Then, making you need a certain Smithing skill to work with those materials could counter-balance that end of the system, or be very rich.

No.

Implementing game mechanics for the sake of balance when they fly in the face of both fun and realism and the spirit of exploration and a world where anything can happen is wrong. Make a penalty for trying to wield or use weapons that you aren't strong enough to wield or use? Okay. Skill requirement because a sword is made of a certain metal or has a certain pattern on it? Nonsensical kill-joy.

i agree with this 100% this is what i think bethesda should do, i hate when games say oh, youre not level 30? sorry no sweet item for you

honestly, i would rather take that "extra step" to be able to use good weapons. i play a lot ttho so time isnt an issue for me :spotted owl: