Forums » Elder Scrolls

Thoughts on Marriage

    • 118 posts
    March 11, 2013 1:38 PM EDT

    I've noticed a trend that almost no character builds mention marriage and frequently list using the lover stone for levelling purposes.  An integral part of my playstyle has always been rushing to get married as soon as possible (Usually either Ysolda or Jenassa), typically visiting Riften before even going to Bleak Falls Barrow in order to set it up; my preference is getting married to someone that I can use as a follower (This is where Jenassa usually comes into play) in order to keep up lover's comfort while questing.  I honestly can't imagine not using marriage and sleeping bonuses for a non-werewolf character.

    The benefits of this strategy, for those unaware, is being able to use one of the standing stones (for increased xp) in combination with lover's comfort which grants me +35% xp to skills in one of the 3 skill classes (warrior/thief/mage).  I've noticed recently that a rather large number of builds list the use of the lover stone because they use skills that span multiple classes however that can be replaced with a wife/husband follower with the added bonus of an extra +20% to your main class of skills...yet I can't remember the last character build that mentions using this combo. I've never understood the point of the lover stone since it's blessing can be completely replaced and it's use negates the use of other more useful blessings.

    Even if you don't have a spouse follower you can leave them at home and use the lover's comfort when training crafting skills (Ysolda's house is next door to the alchemist and nearby to an enchanting table and a blacksmith).  On top of this you also get the added bonus of 100 gold per day plus the advantage of having a vendor in your house (Ysolda shines here as a general goods vendor).  At the start of the game you can also get a free house if you marry someone who owns property (Ysolda once again).  Obviously this doesn't apply to people that play as werewolves, to an extent, since you don't have access to sleeping bonuses.

    With these things in mind my two questions are basically:

    1.) Do you use marriage in your builds and if so, who do you marry and why?

    2.) For those that use the lover stone to train, why do you choose it over sleeping bonuses (Even if you don't use marriage you can still get +10% in addition to one of the stones)?

  • March 11, 2013 1:44 PM EDT
    I typically only marry for RP reason. You bring up a really good point though. How exactly do you activate the lover's comfort? Do you just have to sleep in the bed while your wife is at home?
    • 88 posts
    March 11, 2013 1:47 PM EDT

    Sleep in the home the spouse is living in.

    • 952 posts
    March 11, 2013 1:47 PM EDT

    It's bugged, in proudspire manor for example your wife always goes to bed in the basement bad with only 1 place and sleeping in the master bedroom alone doesn't give you the bonus. But I like Proudspire manor quite a lot since I'm a reasonably Imperial supporter.

    • 118 posts
    March 11, 2013 1:49 PM EDT
    Pretty much. As well, if your spouse is your current follower you can sleep anywhere and get the lover's comfort. Skyrim is designed to take advantage of this quite well since almost every dungeon has a bed or a bandit sleeping bag somewhere near the entrance allowing you to sleep (only need to rest 1 hour to get bonus for 8 hours).
    • 1913 posts
    March 11, 2013 1:50 PM EDT
    I only marry for RP reasons, never cared for bonuses or having a personal trader, I always only married if it matched the character
    • 1913 posts
    August 4, 2013 8:35 PM EDT
    I believe she lives in Shor's Stone
    • 1913 posts
    August 4, 2013 8:36 PM EDT
    Also, Ysolda is a drug dealer... I am not kidding