Why can ghosts be killed with regular weapons?....uh, right. : V

» Fri May 25, 2012 1:55 pm

Hi again folks,

Strange....Why can ghosts be killed by regular weapons?
I used a Steel giantsword on a ghost who did the jump-suicide onto the sword hilt! LOL.....(it was the slow motion death moves btw)

Was this a feature in Oblivion?
I don't think Morrowind allowed you to kill ghosts without magic or "undead" weaponry right?

Please comment,
Thanks

» Fri May 25, 2012 1:35 am

My best guess is that it was felt it made the game too complex so they decided to allow all weapons to be capable of hurting all opponents in Skyrim.

» Fri May 25, 2012 3:12 am

retconning for lulz? who the [censored] knows with bethesda these days.

» Fri May 25, 2012 11:05 am

In oblivion you had to either use a silver weapon or an enchanted weapon. I'm not sure why it was changed

» Fri May 25, 2012 1:37 pm

...
Was this a feature in Oblivion?
I don't think Morrowind allowed you to kill ghosts without magic or "undead" weaponry right?
...

Oblivion required Silver, Daedric or Enchanted weapons to kill ethereals - eg ghosts. And with hand-to-hand you needed Jouneyman (adept) level skill.

» Fri May 25, 2012 3:38 pm

My best guess is that it was felt it made the game too complex so they decided to allow all weapons to be capable of hurting all opponents in Skyrim.

complex? i dont see whats so complex about having a spare silver dagger around :confused:

» Fri May 25, 2012 4:38 am

Even better question: How come ghosts rarely drop ectoplasm, when every other monster always drops it's associated alchemical ingredient every time you kill one?

Trolls always drop troll fat.
Vampires always have vampire dust.
Bears always have bear claws and pelts.
Wisps always have glowdust.
etc.

Out of the 50+ ghosts I have killed, only ONE has dropped ectoplasm.

» Fri May 25, 2012 5:00 am

Call of Duty fans can't figure out "Why not my wepun killz yoo??"
I'm a huge CoD fan so I get to make this joke. Mwuahahah.

In all seriousness though, Bethesda does seem to be operating under the "less thinking is better" model. They don't want players to be in a situation where they might actually lose a fight. That's why there's scaling, superglue quest items, and many other classic "hand holding" techniques.

» Fri May 25, 2012 4:23 am

complex? i dont see whats so complex about having a spare silver dagger around :confused:

It appears that was a somewhat sarcastic remark regarding the oft mention "dumbing down"

» Fri May 25, 2012 6:39 am

My best guess is that it was felt it made the game too complex so they decided to allow all weapons to be capable of hurting all opponents in Skyrim.

This is probably the case, as frustrating as it is. :banghead:

» Fri May 25, 2012 10:43 am

Why don't ghosts drop ecto-cooler?

» Fri May 25, 2012 7:32 am

Wait, wait, wait, there are silver weapons in the game? :huh:

I haven't seen any.

» Fri May 25, 2012 1:27 am

either you already know the answer to that question, or you refuse to acknowledge that you know the answer and verbally attack anyone who claims to... :spotted owl:

» Fri May 25, 2012 11:55 am

I would guess it's like that for people who sink 0 points into magic and don't use enchanted items, special potions, or shouts etc. There's always that one person out there who gets into one of these situations, then complains about it being broken.

» Fri May 25, 2012 9:22 am

I would guess it's like that for people who sink 0 points into magic and don't use enchanted items, special potions, or shouts etc. There's always that one person out there who gets into one of these situations, then complains about it being broken.

Only silver weapons don't really need to be enchanted to work on ghosts. So one can still be 100% magic free as a ghost slayer in the former games (and ofc in Skyrim).

» Fri May 25, 2012 7:43 am

Wait, wait, wait, there are silver weapons in the game? :huh:

I haven't seen any.

The Silver Hand from the Companion's quest line carry them.

» Fri May 25, 2012 3:01 pm

Why don't ghosts drop ecto-cooler?

Because Ecto-Cooler is out of production.

» Fri May 25, 2012 3:13 am

It appears that was a somewhat sarcastic remark regarding the oft mention "dumbing down"

somewhat sarcastic, yes, i just can not comprehend some of the choices bethesda makes and i'd be greatly suprised if there ws anyway to defend some of these design choices, this aspect included

» Fri May 25, 2012 5:27 am

Oblivion required Silver, Daedric or Enchanted weapons to kill ethereals - eg ghosts. And with hand-to-hand you needed Jouneyman (adept) level skill.

imma punch a ghost

» Fri May 25, 2012 1:17 pm

somewhat sarcastic, yes, i just can not comprehend some of the choices bethesda makes and i'd be greatly suprised if there ws anyway to defend some of these design choices, this aspect included

FWIW and IMHO ghost should not be affected by "regular" weapons. So far I am very much enjoying the game, but I question things like this. So I agree with you.

» Fri May 25, 2012 1:07 am

In Bethesda's defense, though, it is annoying that only certain weapons could damage ghosts. What sense is there that daedric weapons could do it, but ebony can't? Or that silver can do it but elven can't? Or that an enchanted weapon of any type could do it, even if it had no charge?

It was sort of a silly rule. So while I do think they tend to follow a trend of ensuring the "safety" of their players, this one makes more sense than some other decisions they've made.

» Fri May 25, 2012 7:18 am

I actually forgot all about this, it was like this in Morrowind too, Ghosts couldn't be killed with regular Weapons, only Magic, Silver Weapons and Enchanted Weapons.
Well Daedric is special, it's not made of regular Materials, if I recall Daedric items were originally created by Magical means in the first place and were from another realm, so it made sense that Daedric was enough to harm spirits.

It might be inconvenient but it was such a great little feature and in theory made a lot of sense.

» Fri May 25, 2012 6:50 am

I RALLY hope that Bethesda does an overhaul on this ghost stuff.

Skyrim is feeling more and more easy and I'm playing on Master!

Is this a joke?.....If the patch doesn't address this basic stuff, the joke is on us foks.

Later

» Fri May 25, 2012 9:33 am

... What sense is there that daedric weapons could do it, but ebony can't? Or that silver can do it but elven can't? Or that an enchanted weapon of any type could do it, even if it had no charge?...

It makes sense to me. Silver is known in fiction to have supernatural properties. Silver bullets are maybe the best example. (Additionally silver was likely added to allow lower level characters and guards a chance against ethereals). Daedric is supernatural in that it is imbued with power from a Daedric Prince. Enchanted weapons are of course magical. Everything else is pretty much mundane and should not affect ethereals - IMHO.

» Fri May 25, 2012 5:19 am

Only silver weapons don't really need to be enchanted to work on ghosts. So one can still be 100% magic free as a ghost slayer in the former games (and ofc in Skyrim).

Silver weapons aren't all that powerful for one, and there aren't any silver arrows, hammers, maces, or axes AFAIK (maybe the player doesn't use a sword?). It's all situational and there is always one person there to ruin it

. Not saying I agree with normal weapons doing damage, just saying that it was probably implemented this way to prevent encounters where the player was completely helpless.

...or it was an oversight.