I'd say NPC's and such will not be able to take down dragons alone. They will probably put on a good show: villagers running for their lives, guards/soldiers fighting in vain, children screaming for their parents in the chaos, veils of flame spouting forth from the dragon's mouth as he lands in the center of the street.....

It will probably be up to you, yet I could be wrong. I don't see a level 2 Wood Elf that's out of arrows slaying the creature. Maybe they only appear when you reach a certain level? The scripted appearances of the dragons will probably supply you with the ability to kill them.

I'm going to try and lead one flying into the backside of a mountain somehow.

Maybe a little help from a slow fall or jump spell?

I hope they have attacks where they divebomb and try to grab at you.

I think its pretty simple....
They will get DESTROYED by the Dragons!

HAHAHA :rofl:

I think that would be very cool to have others try to fight back, it's a fighter's nature to stand and fight that's what makes them a great fighter. It would also be cool to see a dragon grab someone trynig to run away and fly off with them. And maybe give you the option to later find them imprisoned in the dragon lair and possibly rescue them.

Hey if we're gonna have dragons, we need at least one damsel in distress, right?

They will stand, and die, it is they way.

Besides other considerations, if an entire town can't kill a dragon that you can kill, an entire town won't be able to defeat you. This can't be the case.

i;m guessing everybody will try to punch the dragon

With oversized Anti-Dragon weapons :rofl:

I imagine others will be killed in 1 shot or knocked unconsious when a dragon appears leaving you alone to take it down. I can see a idiotic guard running straight for it before you see it and then he gets killed in 1 hit.

Probably with magic. Silence seems like the spell to use against dragons. They can't speak or use magic to fly...so they'll be ground bound for at least a little while. And while their down they'd use swords or other sharp things to slash at the things wings. Sure its a dragon but if it can't talk or fly at least one guy with a sword should be able to get to it if 20 men are surrounding the thing. Then when it tries to fly again it won't be able to control its flight path with its wings so it eventually will crash again, allowing for npc's to once again hack away at it.

It wouldn't be impossible for npc's to fight...its just they'll need a lot of bodies fighting it and someone who knows silence and is smart enough to use it.

I'm fine with NPCs trying to fight dragons, but I don't think NPCs should stand a chance against them. Otherwise, what's the point of the Dragonborn? Dragons aren't so bad if a few regular soldiers can defeat them. :shrug:

I think this is the most brilliant post I have seen for weeks and was just thinking it myself this morning,.... good post dude !

I personally would like npc's to be able to bring dragons down just not easily or often, maybe 1out of like 4-5x that they try, like if just the right amount of npc are available and of the right types needed to do so but just ones that can respawn periodically, not necessary npcs nor regular townsfolk, want them to run and hide

The point of the dragonborn is to stop Alduin. And by the way, I would find ridiculous if my level 5 character can defeat a dragon and level 50 NPC can't kill the same foe.

Considering dragons aren't a normal encounter, I would expect guards to stay away for the most part. Unless you are on the storyline with the Greybeards or the Blades, they might help. Otherwise, I think everyone else would just like run away. It also really depends on what modifications BGS makes to the AI in terms of combat.

That's interesting, but I remember dragon shouts are not magic. They can't be silenced.

Yep, the NPC's should fight.

As to them running away and letting me fight....HELL NO!

I want as much cannon fodder help as I can get! Strength in numbers and all that. Besides, the more they die, the more loot I can get. Yes, my character is an immoral chaotic greedy bastard :nod:

I know you're the dragonborn, but I think I'd like to see some really powerful ordinary dragonslayers to be able to defeat them on occasion, or at least in groups. I mean yeah, they're super tough, but there's no rule that only the Dovakhiin can do it right? I mean if they are really skilled and lucky and manage to come close to killing one, is the hand of Alduin gonna come and squash him because he's not the dragonborn?

Whereas I like the idea of "If you die, the world ends." Gives you some motivation for this "hero" thing. And a sense of actually having some importance.

Ok.

They faint at the sight of dragon, and lose control of bodily functions. Realistic puddle around their unconcious bodies!

except for maybe guild masters and some pretty powerful peoplee. and that dragon slayer guild someone suggested. then everyone should just say "AHHHHHHHHH NOOOO!!! I'm too pretty to die!! " and run.

I would assume that they would put up some defense, but unless there was a high level mage/fighter etc in the town I don't think it would be a successful defense. I do remember vaguely that there will be dragons just kinda out and about and not always after you the PC...so maybe they are more stratified then we think, many weaker ones who the towns might have some chance of defeating, and a few that are much more powerful that only the Dovakhiin can kill and take their voices like so much lewt. (also i could be completely wrong on the dragons i'm not following this as obsessively as I did OB)

i don't nobodies to take down a dragon. not even a throng of them. only my character should, and a few unique characters scattered across the country.

but i would like to see them struggle just to even take 1 hp from the dragon, and then the hero comes and saves the day.