Good to see stealth has been tweaked. Sneaking up behind someone and giving them a good whack with a dagger, only to yield "ARRRGHH... I've fought mudcrabs more fearsome than you!!!" *tedious combat ensues* was pretty stupid. Hopefully they'll be combining this increased damage with the mentioned finishing moves, so you can sneak up behind an enemy and silently cut their throat...

i thought it was yeti? yetis are mentioned somewhere, i forget where though, maybe pete's twitter?

“Now when you sneak up behind guys, the dagger does something like 10x damage,” Howard says. “I don’t know if we’re going to keep that, but you feel like you should be killing the guy if you’ve gotten that close and you have a dagger.”

KEEP IT! We like it, or at least I do.

Seems like TES will be another EPIC WIN AWESOMENESS SPECTACULAR GAME TO LIVE!!!

Magic duels finally look good having dual wield spells - though it looks like you need a good alchemy skill to keep making the potions to reinforce your magicka pool - hmm - must learn absorb magicka, reflect and dispel really early on in the game

Now that I think about it, crossbows and throwing weapons would be out of place anyway. Crossbows are a bit "techy" for nordic barbarians (although I would appreciate the variety...) and throwing weapons... well, what serious warrior uses throwing stars?

Now I really want to plan out what kind of magic user I want to be.

Wow combat sounds like its improved like ten fold! Cant wait!!

Impressed by the spell system, but I'm also praying that things such as lightning damage draining magicka won't be used as an excuse to remove Damage/Drain Magicka spell effects. <_<

Not sure what to make of the new info at this point...

Particularly the focus on daggers in the bit about stealth. If the moderators will allow me to quote one paragraph-


Doesn't it occur that you should be killing the guy if you're that close and you have any kind of weapon?

The article makes archery sound limited to sniping, too, especially with the block button becoming a shield bash when held down. Can we stop arrows with a shield?

I am officially bothering to learn magic for my first ES game ever. *nods* As Terry Pratchett once put it, "sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness".

Stealth sounds good. God that "alarm" thing is welcome. Plus :


Damn bloody right.

Don't agree with the uselessness of daggers in previous games, though. Granted, I used some form of other of the Black Hands Dagger, which sort of helps, but still.

Can't say anything else, the combat *does* sounds pretty sweet. I'd like to hear that thud of arrows now.

think it through. it does the most damage DIRECTLY, but say, you're fighting a creature that spams you like hell: cast some ice to drain its fatigue and slow it down, opening opportunities for you to either unleash hell on it, or even weaken it even more.

in fact, that's one of the best magic systems that I heard about, since using your head actually benefits you (which seems logic for mages right?)

Sounds like the combat has received a serious overhaul. Definitley gonna go with sword and shield my first playthrough.

I can't wait! :celebration:

Could be altight tho. Leaves room for more effects of the 85

I like the sound of ward spells blocking like shields against magic.

Better than pegging something with 150 arrows to kill it!

Nothing mentioned on polearms, crossbows or throwing weapons. But oh well, the combat already seems way awesome.

I love how they took Bioshock's approach, I love that game only because of the plasmids.

Everything else is just awesome, rogue players will finally be able to have fun!

In Solstheim the nordic barbarians had hunting crossbows, the dwemer had them to, and since dwemer ruins have been confiremed (sort of) I was really hoping for crossbows.

None. But throwing axes and throwing spears are the first ranged weapon I think of when I think "nordic barbarian".

Gives a point to daggers. Instead of being some crazy assassin with a claymore doing some assassination its a bit more proper. Assassins use a dagger, get close and drop the guy. Plus since they seamingly fixed the stealth so theres no more "I know where you are and you will not get away unless you kill me" moments.

I usually play an archermage. Wonder if you can cast spells while welding a bow. Hope so

Storm

Oh my.. I loved the part where it said "After playing a mod that made the bow capable of one hit kills, Bethesda decided to take that approach"! AHHHHHHHHH

And they made arrows more scarce, finally! You could always have like 500 arrows on you, which didn't make any sense at all! One thing I think they should do, for the sake of immersion, realism, and balance, is make a quiver a seperate item from arrows (thus making it encumber your player), make it so that certain quivers can hold X amount of arrows (something like 10-20, for lower levels), and then higher level quivers can hold between 25-40ish. No more magical quivers that could somehow hold 200+ arrows, and yet only show 5 on your back...

Also, for the assassin information, they say they don't know if they will keep the 10X damage for a stealth attack with a dagger. Well, I think they should, and they should also have some amazing finishing moves with them as well. I don't want to sneak up on someone, slash them with a dagger, and then see them weakly fall over. I want the game to show that I stabbed/slit their throat or chest. And to balance this, they should make it so that you have to be a HIGH level in sneak in order to sneak up unnoticed on anything but low-level enemies. They need to put more emphasis on noise while sneaking, as a metal-clad warrior should almost NEVER be able to sneak up on someone! Make armor, boots/shoes, greaves, etc. all factor in to your ability to sneak, and then make sure that your sneak skill plays a HUGE roll in your success.

Reward those who invest in a certain play style, and punish those who try to do it all at level 1!!!!!!

The idea of a sorcerer finally seems viable. I can't wait. It looks very realistic to dedicate oneself completely to magic and have the attendant power without needing a puny dagger. Also, I like how they credited a mod for the ranged attacks. I hope we get info on weapons later, I don't think that they will reveal it till later, at least thats what I hope. The clamor for ranged weapons seems too large to ignore.

Damn, now I have no clue what type of character to start with first.... but thats a good thing! :intergalactic:

With the game still far away, it seems like Bethesda has a few more milestones to go before combat is official. However, as of right now, it seems like they're in the right direction. For blade junkies like me, the sword/stealth information sounds amazing. Having to actually plan your attacks and practice your swordplay is a brilliant step in the right direction for Skyrim's combat...and the stealth kill animations? I like. :hubbahubba:

Smart decision for the, by the way, to limit arrows. As in actual medieval warfare, archers usually kept their distance. Whenever an enemy actually got close (the archers usually made sure they didn't), they'd get out a dagger or sword to finish them off.