Forums » Elder Scrolls

Playstyle / tactic you find yourself pleasantly suprised by.

    • 21 posts
    December 2, 2011 1:43 PM EST

    I wanted to see if anyone else has had the experience I've had, namely, being pleasantly surprised by a tactic or playstyle in Skyrim that you never would have expected you'd like.

    Let me back up a bit.  I've only played Oblivion before, so I imagined my playstyle in Skyrim would be similar to the one I developed in Cyrodiil.  And for the most part, it largely is.  However, given some of the tweaks and changes to Skyrim's gameplay, I've found that I do some things differently, and that has led to a series of cascading effects which has impacted my overall playstyle.  (For instance:  I hated the lockpick mechanic in Oblivion, so I spent ALOT of time bulking up my Alteration ability so as to be able to open locks via spells.  But, Skyrim uses the Fallout style lockpick mini-game, which is sweet, so I barely use alteration at all).

    The big change though, for me, has been the rise of Conjuration/Summoning to a MAJOR-THING-THAT-I-DO-NOW.  It started from a small change:  Skyrim doesn't let you pay mages to recharge your enchanted weapons (I don't think).  So I had to really learn how to use Soul Trap / Soul Gems.  (In Oblivion, I completely ignored soul gems, thought they were weird, and just paid Mage Guild people to re-enchant my weapons).  It took me a while to figure out how to do it (ohhh.....you cast Soul Trap BEFORE you kill the wolf, not after!).  But once I learned how to do it, I saved alot of $ by not buying filled soul-gems for enchantments/recharges, and my weapons never get below 50% charge.  (Never!!).

    So.....since I was constantly casting Soul-Trap spells, my Conjuration skill went up.  And, after reading about the game online a bit, I came across the advice to summon a Flame Atronach here and there, just to see it.  Worked out great!  I'm pretty bad with ranged stuff, so the combination of Lydia firing arrows, and the Flame Atronach throwing fireballs meant that I could focus on being a tank.  Sweet!!  (I almost felt like I was in Mass Effect for a moment).

    (Quick aside:  Summoning was something I never did in Oblivion, despite playing a Dunmner.  Weren't Necromancers bad?  Weren't we under siege from the denizens of Oblivion?  I think I thought that summoning undead or Atronachs was kind of like black magic, and as a hero I was supposed to be FIGHTING this stuff.)

    Anyway...I found that in big fights, the first thing I'd do is summon a Flame Atronach.  I began really looking at the perk tree for Conjuration, and have ended up spending a few perks on it.  I finally found a Summon Frost Atronach book from the wizard in Markarth (near the old Dwemer ruin & the Dwemer museum).  I find myself almost always summoning the Frost Atronach now, even in small fights.  (I want to get that skill up to 80 so I can unlock the perk which makes your summoned Atronachs 50% more powerful).

    Bottom line:  This game rocks!!  From the seeming very small decision by Bethesda to not let me simply pay gold to recharge my weapons, I'm now a fighter / summoner.  Atronach's are just part of my combat playstyle now.  I always have 2 allies backing me up almost all the time (which I like).

    Anyone else have a similar experience?  Where Skyrim's gameplay tweaks have led you down a tactic / playstyle path you weren't expecting?

    • 12 posts
    December 2, 2011 2:34 PM EST

    On the hardest difficulty, being a conjurer is the only reason i could survive.

    I did the dark brotherhood questline as soon as I could, and now my gameplay revolves around 

    summoning, then let the thrall occupy the enemy, and I sneak attack with a poisoned bow from a distance.

    Unfortunately this does not work in large groups, and I am forced to run a lot.

    • 4 posts
    December 2, 2011 3:53 PM EST

    Wait until you can summon dremora lords and then 2 dremora lords...they rock...  If you're a tank you might want to get the undead perk instead, the two range atronarches seem to attack too slow for my liking... resurrect some of those annoying Master Necromancers.  Once you learn the master skill dead thrall they never time out and you can re-resurrect the same corpse.

    • 12 posts
    December 2, 2011 4:08 PM EST

    Cool! 

    Can't wait! 

    Right now I'm still Lvl 6.

    • 708 posts
    December 2, 2011 6:42 PM EST

    Stealth with a bow. In Oblivion as soon as you hit someone everyone closeby saw you and bows were pretty useless outside of sneak attacks. But now with some careful misdirection with shooting arrows at nearby walls I can take down a whole group of guys without even being seen!