Impossible to make a spellsword or bard in this game! : V - Skyrim

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 1:29 am

Get a cheap, lightweight shield (a hide shield is only 4 pounds, I think) and hot key it. Equip/unequip it to clear the left hand. I know it's a bit out of character for you, but it IS a solution you don't have to pause the game for.

I totally agree that it's silly that having a spell readied in your off hand means you can't block with your right. Unfortunately, I don't know how to remap mouse buttons, else I would suggest changing block to mouse button 3 (if you have one - clickable wheel)

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:53 am

Riddle me this how can anyone make a spell-sword when you are completely unable to unequip spells in the off hand? I cannot drop a spell in the off hand as to use that hand to block with the one handed weapon. So unless you just don't mind running around like a moron getting stabbed and bludgeoned to because you are too stupid to use just one hand to block you might as well not even try to make a spell-sword. The limitations on blocking with just one hand is kinda dumb imo, but really that is secondary, I was willing to work within your mechanics. I understand I need an empty hand to block with one handed weapons, yet you give us no way to simply empty the hand???

I know I can go into the menus...pause the game swap some weapon in mmy left hand unpause, then pause unequip it again, then unpause...but really how much fun is this to do when you are trying to be fluid and play like a real spell sword. You removed casting with weapons, you made it impossible to block with only one hand holding a weapon, and unfortunately you made it nigh unfeasible to empty a hand as to meet your empty hand + one handed weapon requirement. I guess our only [prayer is a modder.

All you have to do is hot-key a spell in your left hand and then, with the spell equipped, tap the hot key again and the spell will go away and you will have an empty hand... now you can block. Or you could hot key a shield.

J

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:38 am

The tedium of equipping and unequipping spells does get on my [censored] sometimes. Proper 'weapon' selection could not have been that difficult to code ...

Honestly all they need as a bandaid fix is one key that you can assign that unequips your left hand. As your right hand is your primary anyways. this would take like probably 30 minutes to code and fix.

» Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:42 pm

Well from what I am reading apparently Xbox can drop spells? It seems that the PC UI is seriously messed up. You ought to be able to unequip spells without having to fumble through menus and pausing the game. It is the whole concept behind hotkeys in the first place to not have to pause and select everything. I have been looking for a mod to fix this, so far I can't find anything. Just stuff that adds more hotkeys.

yeah that's rough, there is no way a game tester didn't bring this to their attention but I guess it was just not that important for the devs

oh and yes on xbox, so far, I have been able to drop spells but can only hot-key 2 of them

» Fri Dec 16, 2011 10:48 pm

All you have to do is hot-key a spell in your left hand and then, with the spell equipped, tap the hot key again and the spell will go away and you will have an empty hand... now you can block. Or you could hot key a shield.

J

Curious have you tried what you suggested? Because it does not work. If you tap the same hotkey again it will simply put the spell in the right hand as well. The spell does not go away. Unless you are on a console and this works differently. I can assure the PC version does cooperate. Yeah I know I can use a shield and move it on off...its not the worst solution, just a little lame to tell you the truth. And it makes it take that much longer to cast a spell...I was wanting to make a dashing spell sword who mixes magic and swordplay. But seeing as I can't block with spells in the off hand and there is no way to just drop the spell...its going to make it svck a lot.

Equipping a shield and unequiping is just not a really good thing either. But better than navigating the favorites menu.

» Fri Dec 16, 2011 10:55 pm

If it's any help, maybe search skyrim nexus. There're at least 2 or 3 'macro' programs which allow you to use a single key press to activate process which simulates multiple key presses. For instance, you could set it so that pressing a hotkey once would automatically perform the shield process that Susurruss suggested. I hope that makes sense, though I know it isn't the most clear explanation. There're better explanations in the descriptions of the programs on skyrim nexus.

» Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:58 pm

Ahh. I think they sell those.

really? I didn't know that. Is it for the Xbox?

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:28 am

If it's any help, maybe search skyrim nexus. There're at least 2 or 3 'macro' programs which allow you to use a single key press to activate process which simulates multiple key presses. For instance, you could set it so that pressing a hotkey once would automatically perform the shield process that Susurruss suggested. I hope that makes sense, though I know it isn't the most clear explanation. There're better explanations in the descriptions of the programs on skyrim nexus.

Thanks I understand the concept. Something that would macro a shield being equipped and unequipped. Yeah that looks like the best solution at this moment, although I think it is still not satisfactory for me to continue to try and play my bard/spell-sword. I hope this gets a little recognition and a modder fixes it. I don't hold much hope that Bethesda will fix it.

» Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:37 pm

it's the same reason dual wielding weapons can't block - there needs to be some trade-off for beefing up your offensive capacity. I mean I know you feel like your guy should be the most badass dude around and just have double the offense (with a weapon and a destructo, or what have you) with no penalty to your defense ability, but that would totally skew any semblance of Off/Def balance

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:54 am

really? I didn't know that. Is it for the Xbox?

Xbox 360 Pad EX 2 with Turbo - Black

@amazon.com, it only has two extra buttons but it's really cheap.Sorry no link. Mobi version on iPhone.

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:16 am

Unequipping spells works just fine for me. I'm not sure what to tell you.

See if you are using the "favorites menu" as your argument here, then you know you are avoiding the issue he is having and wasting time. Using the favorites menu to unequip a spell means pulling up a menu and pausing the game for every single time he wants to block. Despite his rambling anger, his point is valid, there is no unequip that doesn't involve breaking the action and poking around a menu. Having to do that for every combat engagement in a game like this would get old... FAST.

OP- I had the same idea (unequip spell and block- use single blade for combat) currently it is just too much a hassle.

I think a simple band-aid would be to be able to hotkey in a "blank" slot. I want to equip emptyness, I would spend a hotkey for that and move on, mods can take care of macros.

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:53 am

I have no doubt that a mod will at least fix the hotkey system once the CK comes out. The current system is something which annoys people who play all sorts of characters. I mainly play mages now, and I'd love to be able to hotkey sets of spells (as opposed to individual spells). Still not quite as good a solution for spellswords as somehow allowing blocking with two hands equipped, but another step forward.

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 12:49 am

I play on console, but I just pull the left trigger again to unequip spells from my left hand.

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 1:39 am

I play on console, but I just pull the left trigger again to unequip spells from my left hand.

This is a really big oversight on the part of Bethesda then. Kinda really really bad, the PC UI has been an absolute disaster. Must be nice I guess to have that functionality.

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:26 am

it's the same reason dual wielding weapons can't block - there needs to be some trade-off for beefing up your offensive capacity. I mean I know you feel like your guy should be the most badass dude around and just have double the offense (with a weapon and a destructo, or what have you) with no penalty to your defense ability, but that would totally skew any semblance of Off/Def balance

Tbh, the offense you get is nowhere near dualwielding weapons, not enough to warrant not beeing able to block anyway imo.
Frankly what i do is if they get in melee range is either equipt another sword,just de-equipt whatever spell i was using or just hotkey a shield but i'm not made out of hotkeys and have a crapload of spells

.
Hoping for a mod that will let you block aslong as you have a weapon out, or atleast a mod that adds a modifier key that you can press along whith whatever you have hotkeyd to unequipt it instead of making you dual wield it.

This is a really big oversight on the part of Bethesda then. Kinda really really bad, the PC UI has been an absolute disaster. Must be nice I guess to have that functionality.

It does, right click whatever is in your left hand in the favorites menu

» Fri Dec 16, 2011 11:28 pm

I have no doubt that a mod will at least fix the hotkey system once the CK comes out. The current system is something which annoys people who play all sorts of characters. I mainly play mages now, and I'd love to be able to hotkey sets of spells (as opposed to individual spells). Still not quite as good a solution for spellswords as somehow allowing blocking with two hands equipped, but another step forward.

Absolutely, they should've made the favorites system capable of switching out 2 spells/weapons in combo rather than switching one at a time like that. I was thinking that's how it would be originally, didn't realize they'd make it so counter-intuitive.

I'm waiting for the CK before doing my first Spellsword and Mage playthroughs. Magic needs help and so do hotkeys. Also didn't know about that casting+attacking movement issue, but there's another reason for me to wait. It's not so bad on my Nightblade mostly because he does a lot of sneak attacking, but I've still got to trudge through the menus during fights quite a bit.

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:09 am

it's the same reason dual wielding weapons can't block - there needs to be some trade-off for beefing up your offensive capacity. I mean I know you feel like your guy should be the most badass dude around and just have double the offense (with a weapon and a destructo, or what have you) with no penalty to your defense ability, but that would totally skew any semblance of Off/Def balance

But the OP isn't asking to be able to have sword + spell and be able to block. The OP just wants to be able to drop said spell so that he/she has 1h weapon only and can then block. Seems like a reasonable idea to me.

Exactly the same as a dual wielder who wants to sheath their weapon to block 1h. But it actually works for dual wielders as hitting the hotkey for the off hand weapon puts it away. Spells....not so much. At least on PC.

And people need to stop mentioning the favorites menu as the OP specifically addresses this at the beginning.

» Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:11 pm

Simple. Put in an offensive spell and a shield and hotkey it. I know it's not what you are asking but certainly easier than doing it manually. I always carry a shield as a spellsword and use my left and right D-pad buttons accordingly, real-time. Sometimes I press it twice, but it's good enough.

If you have a PC, perhaps you can mod it.

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 5:21 am

You can drop a spell then block with an equipped one-hand weapon, you just can't do it with a hotkey. The hotkey will just assume you want to equip the spell and doesn't care which hand it assigns it to.

To drop a spell and keep your weapon ready you just have to click (or I assume use the trigger of) the hand your spell is "equipped" to, and it will clear that hand. (It will be empty)

For example on PC, say you have Flames and a sword equipped. Assuming you have Flames favorited, open the favorites menu, find Flames, and right-click to remove it from your left hand. If it's not favorited just do the same thing in the normal menus.

Then you can proceed to block and use your sword normally. Hell you could even just favorite and equip a shield instead.

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 5:19 am

Riddle me this how can anyone make a spell-sword when you are completely unable to unequip spells in the off hand?

Equip a Ward in your off hand. Problem solved. And you're now awesome.

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 11:58 am

You can drop a spell then block with an equipped one-hand weapon, you just can't do it with a hotkey. The hotkey will just assume you want to equip the spell and doesn't care which hand it assigns it to.

To drop a spell and keep your weapon ready you just have to click (or I assume use the trigger of) the hand your spell is "equipped" to, and it will clear that hand. (It will be empty)

For example on PC, say you have Flames and a sword equipped. Assuming you have Flames favorited, open the favorites menu, find Flames, and right-click to remove it from your left hand. If it's not favorited just do the same thing in the normal menus.

Then you can proceed to block and use your sword normally. Hell you could even just favorite and equip a shield instead.

The OP already knows about going thru the menus. It was addressed in the original post. He/she doesn't want to pause the game to do this. And I don't either. dual wielders can do it, but sword + spell can't because of how hotkeys work.

Equip a Ward in your off hand. Problem solved. And you're now awesome.

bcs, how does this help the OP drop the off hand spell so they can block with their 1h weapon?

» Fri Dec 16, 2011 10:35 pm

The OP already knows about going thru the menus. It was addressed in the original post. He/she doesn't want to pause the game to do this. And I don't either. dual wielders can do it, but sword + spell can't because of how hotkeys work.

I suppose for the developers it was either a choice of forcing players to use the menu to combine spells, or to force them to use the menu when unequipping spells.

The way it's designed you really can't have both, but it would be a lot better if the hotkey itself could have a hand assigned to it. 1 for flames left hand, 2 for flames right hand, etc.

Chalk it up to a symptom of the poorly designed UI.

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:03 am

bcs, how does this help the OP drop the off hand spell so they can block with their 1h weapon?

It offers an alternative. Instead of blocking with the weapon, you block with the Ward, which would be more effective and still fits in the "spellsword" playstyle.

I mean we already estabilished it cannot be done without using the dreaded shortcut list, so might as well try something else.

» Sat Dec 17, 2011 12:21 pm

bcs, how does this help the OP drop the off hand spell so they can block with their 1h weapon?

It at least would allow, with the the current PC hotkey system, the spellsword to access a defensive option with only a single key press and without pausing combat.

» Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:46 pm

It works much better with Greatswords.
If you unequip it with its hotkey it changes both hands back to the spells that were in them before (when it is sheated).
Of course that is a different kind of Spellsword because you dont cast and hit at the same time but change.
Advantage is that when you draw your weapon you can always block and almost never have to use favourites to change spells/weapons.