Forums » Elder Scrolls

• Edana

  

  • 694 posts
   

  September 1, 2015 11:16 PM EDT

  Hermaeus Mora is a daedric prince you probably don't want to cross or otherwise tangle with, if you can help it. (Uhh, have you seen the way he plunges his tentacles into skulls??) Though it's undeniable that the abilities he offers can certainly be tempting for a power-seeking Dragonborn. If you've ever collected all seven of the Black Books, you'll certainly have an opinion on which powers are actually worth the cost of serving the daedric lord of floating eyeballs and tentacles and those that weren't worth the "meh" sound you made when you finally opened the blasted book.

  So, which are your all-time favorite powers or abilities? Which would you say are the ones that really made all those trips to Apocrypha worth it?

  If you're looking for a quick brush up, Ponty created an absolutely stellar guide to the Black Books and the powers contained therein. (I would also recommend adding a 'like' since it's one of the only places on the internet I've found where you can see all the Black Book abilities and benefits nicely laid out and succintly explained without clicking other links which then describe each book or power. Really! It's awesome!)

  If you're feeling creative, what are some of the powers you would have liked to of seen in one of these esoteric tomes? Is there anything you think should have been either included that wasn't, or do you think specific existing powers or abilities could have been improved in some way?

  Lay it on me, you power-hungry Dovahkiins.

  
• Legion

  

  • 700 posts
   

  September 1, 2015 11:47 PM EDT

  Nothing is worth traveling to Apocrypha for.  Screw that place.  I had to read Ponty's guide since I'm so unfamiliar with the Black Books.  Apocrypha is linear, boring, and tedious.  But!  Out of the possible perks listed, I'd take Black Market, the unlimited Dremora merchant.  It lends itself really well to RPing a character that, for whatever reason, can't or shouldn't enter cities.  It's really convenient too.  

  "O hay, I'm in buttsfucknowhere and nearly over encumbered.  *Summon!*  Tkae dis.  Gimme golds.  k bye."

  Yeah.  That's my reasoning. 

• SpookyBorn2021

  

  • 1467 posts
   

  September 1, 2015 11:56 PM EDT

  What... Apocrypha is one of the most interesting and unique places in the game. All of Skyrim is fairly linear and it at least makes it interesting (not to mention that some of them aren't as linear as others).

  Anyway.

  Dragonborn Flame is a pretty damn interesting ability and is definitely a cool bonus

  I prefer Bardic Knowledge from Untold Legends, it's more interesting then some of the others and is just ridiculous on builds that work with it. 

  The Winds of Change is mostly a boring one to be honest. Though they are all decently useful.

  All of the bonuses from Sallow Regent are equally useful and awesome. I simply pick this one based off of the character but all three can be really useful.

  I don't think I can pick one from Filament and Filigree. Secret of Strength is probably the least useful of the three, Secret of Arcana is just ridiculously useful and might be the best overall power in Skyrim (I can't think of a better one...). Secret of Protection is also ridiculously useful but isn't as useful seeming.

  The Hidden Twilight is decent all around.

• Legion

  

  • 700 posts
   

  September 2, 2015 12:02 AM EDT

  What... Apocrypha is one of the most interesting and unique places in the game. All of Skyrim is fairly linear and it at least makes it interesting (not to mention that some of them aren't as linear as others).

  Eh.  This will just end up with us agreeing to disagree.  When I say "linear", I mean the map. Each venture into Apocrypha gives you one path to follow.  And it's initially interesting, but spooky water, flying pages, and lashing tentacles gets old quick. Apocrypha is a chore for me.  

• Wadsworth

  

  • 134 posts
   

  September 2, 2015 3:46 AM EDT

  Not sure why, but I always choose the butler over the merchant. Maybe because I prefer to hoard "artifacts" (cutlery and plates) from ruins rather than selling them.

  Mora's Grasp is pretty cool, not overly useful since it only works on one target, but still looks great.

  I'd have liked to see a werewolf-esque Seeker transformation as a power, maybe only for 60 seconds and with really cheap spells to make it viable. Nothing as major as the werewolf, though.

• Veloth the Prophet

  

  • 641 posts
   

  September 2, 2015 9:20 AM EDT

  You mean like a Vampire Lord style form?

• Edana

  

  • 694 posts
   

  September 2, 2015 12:54 PM EDT

  Black Market is pretty handy, not gonna lie there. I'll be scrolling through a trunk or something and see old armors, weaponry, etc and just want to clear it out. I'll pick out anything of that stripe, summon, blammo. Clean trunk + gold. It's so much more convenient than, oh I don't know, going to any merchant anywhere.

  The only this with Black Market is I feel like the dremora should also be a fence. Maybe that makes it too powerful, but... c'mon! What moral objections would a dremora really have??

• Edana

  

  • 694 posts
   

  September 2, 2015 1:00 PM EDT

  I like the idea of an added transformation! Especially if it's a really quick one. But just in the interest of mixing it up a bit, I might be tempted to pick lurker there over seeker though, because if you're a conjurer, you can pick up the tome summon seeker. I think that would give it just a little more variety if nothing else.

• MarkedForDeath

  

  • 4 posts
   

  September 2, 2015 1:02 PM EDT

  Secret of arcana <33333333

  Freaking love that thing. Usually, you can't really dual-cast spam incinerate unless you're a scumbag and zero-cost destruction, but it feels fair to be able to do it once a day and completely destroy everything.

  Seeker of [thing] are also very solid because they give a 10% boost to 6 skills.

  Dremora merchant is a favourite of mine too because it's an ''easy way'' of obtaining daedric and you can lower carry weight on the go. Way better than secret servant IMO.

• Edana

  

  • 694 posts
   

  September 2, 2015 1:13 PM EDT

  Re: Winds of Change, I really like the fact that Lover's Insight stacks with Agent of Dibella and Allure bonuses. I feel like that would be pretty sweet if you were building a character who's RP was a total sexpot (thinking could be fitting for something along the lines of upcoming Caretaker and/or lusty argonian maid, etc). 

  I'll be honest, I've never given Bardic Knowledge a go, but I think I may have to try it out now.

• Mr.

  

  • 763 posts
   

  September 2, 2015 6:04 PM EDT

   I never got all the Black Books, since all my characters that did get to Apocrypha weren't exactly knowledge or power hungry, or if they were, they were cautious ones. I'll have to work on that...

   Anyway, of the ones that I did get, the "Untold Legends" one is my favourite. There's something about having a "dark servant from hell" that is just priceless.

• Wadsworth

  

  • 134 posts
   

  September 3, 2015 2:57 AM EDT

  Yeah, exactly like that but much shorter so it's not as powerful as the main two.

• Wadsworth

  

  • 134 posts
   

  September 3, 2015 2:59 AM EDT

  Maybe Lurker and Seeker transformations, then the third could be a power to summon a horde of mudcrabs for 60 seconds - that would be an incredibly difficult choice for me...

• DxTr

  

  • 56 posts
   

  September 3, 2015 7:13 AM EDT

  Bardic Knowledge is awesome! Ive used it on my build, so I really appreciate the free stamina regen and the visuals. Secret of Protection and Mora's Boon practically works like a free once/day racial power, so I appreciate them as well. DB Frost/Flame is pretty useful as well, but I havent touched DB Force. I dont exactly understand (or am dubious of) how it actually works.
  
  Both dremora merchant and butler never really appealed to me, but that may be because I dont loot stuff I dont really need, except when one has an enchantment I can use. Just picking up gold I see or from enemies Ive killed is more than enough, even on a non-thief character. Yes, even that 8 septims on bandits or 1-2 septims from wolves or any animal that was stupid enough to think that it was food. :-D
• Veloth the Prophet

  

  • 641 posts
   

  September 3, 2015 10:18 AM EDT

  If it turns out that Seeker of Might buffs unarmed combat then it will be my favorite but I'm not sure if it does.

• Edana

  

  • 694 posts
   

  September 3, 2015 11:46 AM EDT

  Mudcrab horde, hands down.