Surviving dead-is-dead: a paladin's approach (by an immersio : V - Skyrim

» Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:59 pm

I made it up to 21 on expert with my stealthy archer/conjurer. Died because a calm spell got resisted, turned out all I needed was one more illusion skill level to get the boost to the level of people calm can effect and then I would've been fine. I also probably would've been fine had I been wearing armor, but I was using robes until I got my enchanting up to put regen on armor. But I'm not going to restart again since I've restarted like 10 times and this is the first character that's working out for me so far play-style wise.

Playing a mage is challenging with these rules but not impossible. The biggest challenge is finding the right mix of hit points and mana, you cannot succeed as a glass cannon on perma death simply because traps will kill you in one shot. So, you need to build up your hit points in the beginning.

Traps aren't an issue if you're using sneak and being careful IMO.

If you get the light foot perk, even less so, but I personally don't go that far in the tree.

» Sat Dec 10, 2011 1:53 am

We all play as we want.
Im not doing the dead for dead one, but I am playing with no secondary skills and im relying on pickup or quest gear.

Im having a blast and the game is often very hard.

Game developers dont realize that people want a challenge. It not a small amount that want this but the general gamers. Its a small amount that want it easy, opposed to what game developers believe today.

Skyrim allows you to play is very hard ot easy.

I say one thing. I was also on Master with my first character and thought it was redicilous.
But adept and expert will kick you to the moon when you stop completelh to use anything but the health pots you find, and no smithing, no enchanting.

People saying the game is easy on Master are using enchant or enchanted gear.
Stealth in muffled boots....ofc its not that hard. Try being a stealth character without it. Im playing one now and I can tell you, although Im only at 65 stealth. Enemies detect me so bloody easy.
I like it.

» Sat Dec 10, 2011 3:58 am

Yes, DiD is very viable in this game as long as you are careful enough.

This is my 4th character, the first three (a thief, a warrior and a mage) didn't make it past level 9. Actually the first died at level 5. But the more I play the more I understand the game and its mechanics so I can plan ahead.

Also I always try to RP my character to the fullest and this has brought me to some very curious situations. My current char, as I said, is a paladin and so he's outright good. It broke my heart when I had to flee from two frost trolls that ended up killing two peasants because I suddenly was too affraid of dying. It was a true conflict in my head: To try and help those peasants and risk losing my "life" or run away? I ran away and feel ashamed for this.

I've restarted my D-i-D character four times as well (although the patch may force a fifth), however she's never actually died. The other iterations were attempts at various early builds, as I'm doing something a bit complex in that department, and they just didn't pan out. I also RP to a goodly extent, and in fact my build is (usually) dictated by my RP.

We all play as we want.
Im not doing the dead for dead one, but I am playing with no secondary skills and im relying on pickup or quest gear.

Im having a blast and the game is often very hard.

Game developers dont realize that people want a challenge. It not a small amount that want this but the general gamers. Its a small amount that want it easy, opposed to what game developers believe today.

Skyrim allows you to play is very hard ot easy.

I say one thing. I was also on Master with my first character and thought it was redicilous.
But adept and expert will kick you to the moon when you stop completelh to use anything but the health pots you find, and no smithing, no enchanting.

People saying the game is easy on Master are using enchant or enchanted gear.
Stealth in muffled boots....ofc its not that hard. Try being a stealth character without it. Im playing one now and I can tell you, although Im only at 65 stealth. Enemies detect me so bloody easy.
I like it.

Yeah, Stealth early on is a right pain if you're not using insane gear, although that doesn't bother me all that much as otherwise it could make things too easy. I only play on Adept, although I could do so on Expert or Master; the slider has never been very useful in TES games, and I generally despise the '+/- damage/hp' model anyway as it just doesn't work.

» Sat Dec 10, 2011 1:02 am

You think enchantments and smithing alone ruin the game? Without exploits like creating outfits that boost your enchantments and alchemy and then stacking stats?

» Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:15 am

How will you distribute your points? If you go restoration you'll need a considerable magicka pool, which will eat into your health, and you'll also need plenty of stamina.

» Sat Dec 10, 2011 3:36 am

I always appreciate people who can do this. I inevitably do something stupid by mistake after playing for a long time and die. hardcoe has never worked out well for me.

Good luck!

» Sat Dec 10, 2011 6:58 am

You think enchantments and smithing alone ruin the game? Without exploits like creating outfits that boost your enchantments and alchemy and then stacking stats?

Actually, no, I don't think smithing and enchanting are inherently wrong if used sensibly.

More house rules on the subject:
- no making repeat mundane gear (hundreds of iron daggers enchanted with petty soul gems till you can make Daedric Armor of Uberness)
- no buying rare materials (you wanna make dwemer armor? fine. But first find dwemer scrap metals to melt for some ingots. Run of the mill smiths should have no access to that stuff.)
- no recursive enhancements (i.e. no "I alchemize enchanting potions to make +smithing enchantments FTW." etc.)

I prefer not to craft because the thrill of discovery of good gear a better reward that way. Late game I may develop some crafting skills improve my armor, if I make it that far.

» Sat Dec 10, 2011 5:52 am

How will you distribute your points? If you go restoration you'll need a considerable magicka pool, which will eat into your health, and you'll also need plenty of stamina.

Actually, I plan to use Restoration only as a secondary skill - it progresses slowly anyway. With the right Perks a modest 100+ mana pool can mean 2-3 heals, 75 points each. It is a significant help, without having to drain your potion supplies every battle.

For thrash mobs you don't need any of this really. For harder fights, I play defensively, i.e. Shield up for blocking + heal spell on right hand while I cast a few times; then back in to the fray sword drawn. If the fight is easy enough that you can afford to have your shield down, it's a nonissue anyway.