Forums » Elder Scrolls

• Paul

  

  • 773 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 9:03 AM EDT

  This topic was kinda suggested by something Ben said on the poll thread.

  I don't know about anyone else, but now that I've done the main quest a couple of times, I look for different ways to play Skyrim. And more often than not, I find myself ignoring the instructions to head to talk about dragons with Balgruuf - and, instead, wandering off in my own direction.

  As a result, I'm actually a bit ignorant on dragon shouts - quite a few of them I've never had in any play through. IN fact when I was making the poll, I was thinking, like, 'What the hell does that one do?'

  Then, of course, there are those who don't like dragon shouts for some reason (if so please explain why) and those who prefer not to become Dragonborn at all (and thus not 'unlocking' dragons in the first place)

  Anyone else in this situation?

• Vazgen

  

  • 1483 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 9:11 AM EDT

  Sometimes I don't bother with the main quest past Riverwood and meeting with the Jarl. Mostly on my not very heroic characters  Dragon lairs are much more interesting without dragons 

• Alpha

  

  • 35 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 9:12 AM EDT

  The only reason most of my characters don't use DS is simply because the character isn't a Dragonborn. In my heart there is only one Dragonborn and having multiple ones kinda ruins the experience for me and it shows the difference of my main guy to my other characters. There can be only one.

• Chris

  

  • 1441 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 10:11 AM EDT

  I do, if the character is not a DB, or I can't rationalize it as something else
• Henson

  

  • 490 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 10:26 AM EDT

  I love characters in which I skip the main quest. Just full on explore the wilderness as a normal hero/villain character. Don't get me wrong, I love shouts so much, but they can just be one more lump on selections on my favorites list. Sometimes I don't like playing the "chosen one" or "blessed one" in these ES games.
• SoulLess

  

  • 207 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 10:50 AM EDT

  I never ignore the main quest and so i get my hands everytime on a few shouts

  My reason for never ignoring the mainquest is: Its the characters destiny to be the dragonborn. And a destroyed world is bad for everyone. Nearly everyone.

• Game

  

  • 40 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 11:13 AM EDT

  I like fighting dragons but I never cared for the messianic main quest of Skyrim (or Oblivion for that matter). I much prefer playing as a treasure hunter or wanderer doing good deeds. That said I can see how shouts can make for more interesting builds. The only shouts that really interest me though are Unrelenting Force and Slow Time... and maybe Aura Whisper if you don't want to use Alteration magic...

  but if you don't want to use magic then why are you using magic? Its like this extra school of magic that only you are gifted with because you're the "chosen one". 

• BloodBane

  

  • 95 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 11:31 AM EDT

  I rarely ever use dragon shouts. Sometimes, my characters do not even require them. My up-coming build, The Volkihar Titan, the only shouts used are THREE (Soon to be Four). Dragon Aspect, Marked for Death, Elemental Fury, Slow Time (Soon to be added again).

  My favorite character, my Archer-Heavy Armor Tank with it's "Bane of the Body" (Longbow with Daedric Arrows, Power Shot, Force without Effort, Bullseye, Paralyze (2 seconds) + Soul Trap (2 seconds, affected by Soul Siphon), Seeker of Sorcery: Reduces enchantment consumption) This bow was so powerful, that I was dropping enemies and staggering by the galore. So I made a challenge out of it: No shouts unless absolutely essential and NO killing. The bow was only used to cause disarray and create a "Vampire Enhanced" bow. I combined this with Secret of Arcana and Soul Siphon when hunting so I can recharge the bow.

• Curse Never Dying

  

  • 485 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 11:34 AM EDT

  I quite enjoy builds that don't use shouts. I quite enjoy exploring the wilderness without being roasted alive from the sky. 

  I typically put off the main quest til my mid 20's on most builds. 

• Breaker

  

  • 41 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 11:55 AM EDT

  My newest character has not started dragons spawning, and probably won't. Shouts are cool, but I've gotta say, not having a dragon fight every fifteen minutes is really nice. Plus, the character is a no-magic (with one exception) one, so I'm not missing shouts at all.
  
  Would I do this for all my characters? No. Even for other characters that don't really need shouts, I usually go through the main quest until I get Whirlwind Sprint, just so I have it and dragons are unlocked, then pretend it never happened.
  
  Am I glad I did it with this character though? Definitely. Would I do it on other/future characters? Maybe. It all depends on the character.
• Porchdrinker

  

  • 4 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 12:41 PM EDT

  Great topic. Virtually all of my playthroughs avoid unlocking dragons entirely. I have only started the main quest on two characters, and have logged over 1000 hours on dragon-free playthroughs. This is one of the reasons I haven't really gotten into character building or using any of the top builds.
  
  Suggestion: Has there been any thought to creating a "no shouts" tag for character builds? Looking through the CB archives, there is a category for shouts-driven builds, but I don't see one for no-shouts. I think that would be incredibly useful for those of us who avoid the main quest for roleplaying purposes.
• The Master Wolf

  

  • 23 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 12:48 PM EDT

  Sometimes I just don't feel like doing Bleak Falls Barrow so I just find a Roleplay reason of why he wouldn't do it and go my merry way ! And not playing the dragonborn is fine as you don't have to save the world you are more "Free" :)
• LokaCola

  

  • 21 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 1:09 PM EDT

  I've had a few playthroughs where I didn't use shouts at all, normally I like using them but in those cases I decided to not do the Main Quest or any Dragonborn related stuff for the sake of variety.

• Sithis83

  

  • 68 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 1:23 PM EDT

  I've actually been toying around with a build that doesn't use any form of magic. The idea is the character believes they are descended from Dwemer and true to Dwemer lore they despise all forms of magic and worshiping of gods whether it be Aedra or Daedra. I spend most of my time delving Dwemer Ruins and doing all I can to keep Skyrim in turmoil, which means not helping Nords in any way.

• Revenge

  

  • 8 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 1:46 PM EDT

  I generally treat shouts like magic schools. If I'm a conjurer, I'll grab soul tear, if I'm frosty I'll take frost breath and ice from. I love become ethereal always though.
  
  I have one all shout build with no cool down, but I don't like menu-heavy characters so I've got fire breath and unrelenting force hotkeyed.
  
  I have one magic-less character, and one shield mage with no shouts.
• Leon

  

  • 131 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 1:54 PM EDT

  Due to my restartitis i never get that far.

• Paul England

  

  • 20 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 5:03 PM EDT

  Oh, lots of times.  I avoid shouts particularly with thief/rogue characters.  

  Shouts kind of bother me as a game mechanic.  Because they're not tied to any skill, shouts feel detached from my character in a way.  They don't help me advance a skill, and don't require any particular stats or attributes on my part.  Because of that, they can feel a bit like cheating.  

  I'm well aware that's a strange thing to say - and I'm not sure I even agree with it entirely.  But from my perspective, playing games like Oblivion and Morrowind, pretty much everything you did in those games was tied to a skill and your character's development.  (Big exception: in Oblivion, Sigil Stone enchanting felt the same, since there was no character skill involved.)  But Skyrim comes along, and the big focus of the game is on a system that is entirely divorced from your character's stats.  I guess on the pro side, shouts *are* linked to your character's *experiences*, which is nice.  But still, they feel like an added-on feature, and I wish there was a Shout skill tree to integrate these abilities with your character.

  Anyway, I *do* use shouts quite frequently.  Generally, I will do the Riverwood/Bleak Falls/Whiterun thing.  I like having dragons around, and I like having shouts available for a lot of my characters.  It's pretty rare that I go any farther in the MQ, though, since Delphine grates on me, I hate the Thalmor Embassy part, the council at High Hrothgar with the civil war leaders is silly.... there's just a lot of gritting my teeth before I get to the "good" stuff, like Skuldafn and Sovngarde.  

• Legion

  

  • 700 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 7:16 PM EDT

  I rarely use shouts because I'm rarely a Dragonborn. Hell, I rarely activate dragons.
• SpookyBorn2021

  

  • 1467 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 8:32 PM EDT

  I'm a little unsure about how not to be Dragonborn. I am always Dragonborn.

  No more jokes, I nearly always use Shouts because every character can have at least one that is useful for it, even if it is just Slow Time/Become Ethereal or Whilrind Sprint which are useful for nearly any character. 

• Sithis83

  

  • 68 posts
   

  May 25, 2015 8:45 PM EDT

  I agree that no matter the build there is always at least one shout that is useful, but in some instances it just makes sense not to use them. Mostly it'd be for a build whose rp would prevent them from doing the main quest. Or for rpg purist that are used to playing without special powers. Personaly I think they should be entirely optional and you should be able to do the main quest without having to use them. That's why I usually always end up learning at least Unrelenting Force, Whirlwind Sprint, Clear Skies, Dragon Rend, and Summon Dragon as they are required by the main quest. Also other than required parts of the main quest I don't use them.
• Solias

  

  • 10 posts
   

  May 26, 2015 1:31 PM EDT

  For me it's more of a matter of the shouts not really doing much.  Nearly all of them can be replaced by magic.  I collect them but I rarely use any of them.  I use shouts to progress from through quests (Unrelenting Force/Clear Skies/Whirlwind Sprint) and then I use UF and WS rarely - only when I remember that I have them or I have a need for them - there are several places where WS make getting loot possible for example.  I have never collected them all, nor have I used them extensively.

• Paul England

  

  • 20 posts
   

  May 26, 2015 6:32 PM EDT

  I agree that there is a ton shouts can do that spells can't... and that's one of my problems with shouts.  Since shouts represent an 'overlay' of powers on top of your character, regardless of build, IMO it would be nice if those powers were able to be accomplished by magic as well, even if in a slightly different form.  

  It's silly that the only "mind control" effects are from shouts (or one-off racial powers).  Why isn't there an Illusion spell that replicates the effect of Bend Will's second word, or Animal Allegiance?  

  I could go on, but we're potty training the kids and they just peed on the floor.  Priorities, man....

• Chris H.

  

  • 168 posts
   

  May 26, 2015 8:00 PM EDT

  I almost always use dragon shouts. Mostly because there aren't spells that can do the same thing as the shouts I'm using. 

  But there are those non-magical, more ordinary characters that are a blast to play, and even rp, they never become dragonborn, unless being dragonborn is required for a quest or something. They still don't use shouts, but its still bad since they're refered to as dovahkiin and dragons are much tougher to fight without magic or shouts. It's especially a problem with the Civil war questline, which is otherwise great for normal characters, but Balgruuf just refuses to answer whose side he's on while the one dragon is around. 

  There should be an option in the Civil war, Balgruuf doesn't want to have anything to do with Ulfric's axe until you deal with the dragons, I should just be able to take the axe back to Ulfric and tell him Balgruuf won't help the Stormcloaks!

• HEIDTMARE

  

  • 9 posts
   

  May 26, 2015 9:03 PM EDT

  I tend to forget I even have shouts...

  It's the same with powers. I think the shout/power button is the least used one on my ps3 controller.

• Idesto

  

  • 394 posts
   

  May 27, 2015 6:55 AM EDT

  I have 2 characters (the first 1 crashed 'til I reinstalled) who mainly walk through the world doing random quests & who are claustrophobic. The scenery is stunning, full of variety with different weather & day/night cycles, you get lots of random encounters, & good quests. 

  I find it relaxing, great to start the day with as I'm waking up with a coffee, & easy to dip in & out of. 

  Of course no Bleak Falls means no Dragonborn progression & no shouts.

  And no dragons to interupt my morning coffee!