Hi all,

I was recently surprised to stumble onto an Expert-level spell book as part of a boss chess: Conjure Dremora Lord. My PC is around level 46 but doesn't conjure (ability is around 16 or 17). In fact, this isn't really a spell caster build, magicka is 200ish and only practices restoration along with a little alteration (transmute). It's awesome to get such a great spell without all the trouble of perking the skill, leveling up magicka etc. However, I've never seen such a powerful spell book that is so completely irrelevant to a build before. Have you guys seen this frequently or did I catch a super-rare break?

Level 46 characters will amost always find better loot in chests than a lower level character, and what a Boss Chest contains is rarely based on a characters Skills. My Mages always get Rings and Amulets to Fortify Warrior Skills, while a character that could use a Ring of Sure-Grip always gets Mage based loot.

Ok, so this was more of a super-rare coincidence than a great reward specific to the dungeon. Woo Whoo! I'll take it.

Actually, I've always been impressed by how the loot seems to 'tune' into your build. My sneaky archer-assassin finds tons of arrows, bows, light armor etc. as opposed to shields, two handed-weapons, heavy armor, magic gear etc. I mean, the other stuff is mixed in periodically, but generally, the loot suites the build. Unfortunately, the reward algorithm isn't particularly robust because I seem to find the same stuff over and over. You can only use so many Dwarves/Glass/Ebony bows of Soul Trapping. I'm still waiting/hoping for something with regenerate health...

The oddest thing is finding the one odd spellbook in a Blacksmith's inventory

I think that may be more coincidence than "planned." I play mages that never find spellbooks or only rarely magicka potions in random loot chests. I play duel wielders that find 2-handed weapons and shields as often as 1-handed weapons or daggers. I have yet to "feel like" the game is giving me useful loot based on my character's build

[EDIT]

About spellbooks in loot, I wish there were more of them. Every mage I have played ends up buying all their spells. If I do happen across a spellbook in a chest, it is one that I have been using for long, long time and well below the level I am at.

story of all of my characters sometimes i feel game does it on purpose it likes to mock me. i mostly never found items that were useful to my characters warriors will get lots of robes, staves and scrolls and mages will get lots of enchanted warrior gears.

I'm still not convinced that loot is completely random. Granted, most of it is irrelevant to a given build, but there is some attempt to tailor it. I did the lost-expedition quest under Markarth last night and, along with several useless two-handed weapons, I found an Ebony bow with drain stamina. My current build is an archer with almost the full tree perked (archery ability is at 98 or 99).

I'm still looking for that fortify health regeneration item...

You found several items one of which suits your character. That suggests completely random to me.

If you had found several items suited to your character that might suggest loot was tailored to your character.

If you found no items suited to your character that might suggest the game was mocking you.

In any case given there is a random element we'd need the results of a lot more than one dungeon to see if there was a pattern.

I once scored some Dragonbone gauntlets...

...At level 16.

The loot system is just weird.

You're right, of course. My observations are sporadic and unscientific but even so, the progression of archer-specific loot makes me think there's something at work. Unless a developer sheds light on this, we'll never put together an organized survey to definitively answer the question. The spell book really caught my eye, unlike the other relatively generic stuff.

By the way, am having all kinds of fun with the Dremora Lord. Also, since I did the Dark Brotherhood quest, I've got the Summon Spectral Assassin power so I can throw two henchmen at the baddies. I might grab Lydia and head over to Liar's Retreat to see what comes of my motley crew in that meat grinder of dungeon. Too bad there isn't a better prize in there.

You can find some super high leveled spell books in moras realm I found a master level destruction spell and my character wasn't even a mage.

I know it is not true, but I sure feel this way sometimes!

I have found some there, too, and an occasional higher level book elsewhere. If it is useful (a school I am using) though, this happens after I bought the book and have been using that spell for some time. I think I may have gotten a handful of spellbooks in loot that I was able to use maybe a handful of times amongst all my mage characters

Weird - it happened again. I can't even remember the location, but there it was: a Conjure Dremora Lord spell book. It wasn't nearly as exciting the second time and I sold it off at the next merchant.

I don't tend to buy many spells so ocasionally I find a spellbook thats useful but not vital for my character.

I also collect spellbooks for my mage's library but I'm not paying good money just for decor (although I have more money than I can use ). This is where it gets really annoying. Bella has found 4 or 5 copies of Magelight but other basic spells like Frostbite have never turned up.