There are some shouts that are very easy to utilize on their own, like Soul Tear and Unrelenting Force, and others whose effects are more subtle, like Become Ethereal and Throw Voice, and require finesse to use offensively. I was hoping you would be so kind as to list your favorite tricks and methods of incorporating Shouts into gameplay, especially the lesser used ones like Battle Fury or Drain Vitality.
Throw Voice and any environmental trap work well together when stealthed, allowing you to clear entire rooms by goading enemies into stepping on a floor plate and having a spiked wall bash them into oblivion. A favorite trick of mine when playing a character with Alteration magic (and thus Ash Rune), but no Quiet Casting was to cast the spell just out of enemy detection range and then lure them into it with this shout in order to thin enemy numbers before an engagement. This would work just as well with any other Rune.
Aura Whisper is a great spell to use with Ice Storm (Adept Destruction spell), as it can shoot through walls. This allows an enterprising mage to clear a room without even entering it. Just use the shout to line up shots and fire away. While this method can also be used with Detect Life/Death (Adept/Expert Alteration spells), neither of those spells also detect automatons like Aura Whisper, making this good for Dwemer ruins.
Dismay is an underrated shout for mid-level thief characters. No charge time needed, no Magicka cost, and it can clear a room so you can loot it uninterrupted and run back to a secure hiding spot to go back into stealth. It's also nice for archers when living enemies start to get too close. Just keep an eye on the doors and snipe enemies who try and leave the room.
Bend Will is a ludicrously powerful shout. Its first word is a two-second stagger, making it a good means of interrupting enemy casters and archers briefly. Its second word turns every living enemy into your followers temporarily, making it a powerful tool for illusionists or members of the Imperial race, who can chain it with Voice of the Emperor (Racial daily power) to have an uninterrupted 120 seconds to clear enemies out one by one (Bend Will 2nd word, then Voice of the Emperor, then Bend Will again) without a single perk point in Illusion magic.
Soul Tear works on Mammoths. Using Animal Allegiance on them does more than just send them against their Giant buddies, it places Mammoths in a position where you can zap them wih Soul Tear after they've been weakened by whatever combat you sent them into, netting you a grand soul and a hairy undead elephant friend.
Cyclone will juggle a giant while you raid its camp for stuff. Just saying.
Kyne's Peace is a great way to gather leather, as well as practice sneak attacks.
Animal Allegiace with one word makes a small tremor that can knock soul gem traps off of their pedestals (via Vargyr)
By using Call Dragon and immediately waiting 2 hours with game wait system you can Bend Will Odahviing when he finally shows up (From Fevnall)
Frost Breath with Dragonborn Frost (A Dragonborn DLC passive abiliity) is a beastly combo with Mass Paralysis (Master Alteration Spell), allowing indefinite control over anything that is able to be paralyzed (From Fevnall).
Slow Time can be prepped with 1 word with Steady Hands (Archery perk), then held until it naturally turns off to double the shout's duration. You can also time Quick Reflexes (Block perk) for when it's about to end and hit 3 words Slow time for lengthy bullet time shenannigans. This Shout can also be used to make a transformation to Werewolf or Vampire Lord much quicker in combat, and is extremely potent when paired with a swift weapon like the Ebony Blade.
Animal Allegiance and Battle Fury work together to make a small army of vicious woodland critters on crack, but they require Shout recharge reduction to be used in tandem (via Valric).
Become Ethereal is a useful all-around defensive/sustain shout which makes you immune to all damage (with a few rare exceptions largely tied to plot points). enables health/magicka/stamina regeneration as if out of combat, and has some interesting uses:
- great to distract hits from a follower, as you are not invivible to foes. (via Marked for Death)
- useful for when you're about to go into werewolf form (my own test found the Unofficial Skyrim Patch would negate your werewolf transformation when Ethereal, fyi). (via Marked for Death)
- Can be used to Sprint infinitely or initiate a Power Attack without using Stamina. The only "Penalty" is that Stamina will not regenerate when being used.
- Especially useful against ranged spellcasters or archers, allowing you to line up a powerful spell, an arrow of your own, or simply clear the distance with free sprinting power for a zero-cost power attack right in an enemy's face, a powerful tool for melee builds.
- Useful for regenerating health naturally in combat. This effect is augmented by the Lady stone, Parthuunax's "Fiem" meditation, and other source of +Health Regen (e.g., enchanted gear). (via Marked for Death)
- With the amulet of talos and blessing of talos you can stay ethereal 67% of the time with the first word, 72% with the second and 75% with the last. With Dragon Aspect you can stay Ethereal indefinitely (via Marked for Death).
- Great synergy with cloak spells and master level spells (via Marked for Death)
- Bloodskal Blade's beam attack will not break Become Ethereal (or Invisibility) unless the actual weapon makes contact with an enemy. Using an Infinite Shout Exploit, or chain-casting the spell via Dragon Aspect, can effectively allow you to plink away ar enemies from range whilst invincible. The Dawnguard Rune Hammer does the same thing, letting you spam fire runes against a wall in Ethereal form while everything around you is incinerated.
- A good Dragonbreath defense, as the first word's short recharge time means the shout will likely be up in time for the next breath attack.
There are some shouts that are very easy to utilize on their own, like Soul Tear and Unrelenting Force, and others whose effects are more subtle, like Become Ethereal and Throw Voice, and require finesse to use offensively. I was hoping you would be so kind as to list your favorite tricks and methods of incorporating Shouts into gameplay, especially the lesser used ones like Battle Fury or Drain Vitality.
Throw Voice and any environmental trap work well together when stealthed, allowing you to clear entire rooms by goading enemies into stepping on a floor plate and having a spiked wall bash them into oblivion. A favorite trick of mine when playing a character with Alteration magic (and thus Ash Rune), but no Quiet Casting was to cast the spell just out of enemy detection range and then lure them into it with this shout in order to thin enemy numbers before an engagement. This would work just as well with any other Rune.
Aura Whisper is a great spell to use with Ice Storm (Adept Destruction spell), as it can shoot through walls. This allows an enterprising mage to clear a room without even entering it. Just use the shout to line up shots and fire away. While this method can also be used with Detect Life/Death (Adept/Expert Alteration spells), neither of those spells also detect automatons like Aura Whisper, making this good for Dwemer ruins.
Dismay is an underrated shout for mid-level thief characters. No charge time needed, no Magicka cost, and it can clear a room so you can loot it uninterrupted and run back to a secure hiding spot to go back into stealth. It's also nice for archers when living enemies start to get too close. Just keep an eye on the doors and snipe enemies who try and leave the room.
Bend Will is a ludicrously powerful shout. Its first word is a two-second stagger, making it a good means of interrupting enemy casters and archers briefly. Its second word turns every living enemy into your followers temporarily, making it a powerful tool for illusionists or members of the Imperial race, who can chain it with Voice of the Emperor (Racial daily power) to have an uninterrupted 120 seconds to clear enemies out one by one (Bend Will 2nd word, then Voice of the Emperor, then Bend Will again) without a single perk point in Illusion magic.
Soul Tear works on Mammoths. Using Animal Allegiance on them does more than just send them against their Giant buddies, it places Mammoths in a position where you can zap them wih Soul Tear after they've been weakened by whatever combat you sent them into, netting you a grand soul and a hairy undead elephant friend.
Cyclone will juggle a giant while you raid its camp for stuff. Just saying.
Kyne's Peace is a great way to gather leather, as well as practice sneak attacks.
Animal Allegiace with one word makes a small tremor that can knock soul gem traps off of their pedestals (via Vargyr)
By using Call Dragon and immediately waiting 2 hours with game wait system you can Bend Will Odahviing when he finally shows up (From Fevnall)
Frost Breath with Dragonborn Frost (A Dragonborn DLC passive abiliity) is a beastly combo with Mass Paralysis (Master Alteration Spell), allowing indefinite control over anything that is able to be paralyzed (From Fevnall).
Slow Time can be prepped with 1 word with Steady Hands (Archery perk), then held until it naturally turns off to double the shout's duration. You can also time Quick Reflexes (Block perk) for when it's about to end and hit 3 words Slow time for lengthy bullet time shenannigans. This Shout can also be used to make a transformation to Werewolf or Vampire Lord much quicker in combat, and is extremely potent when paired with a swift weapon like the Ebony Blade.
Animal Allegiance and Battle Fury work together to make a small army of vicious woodland critters on crack, but they require Shout recharge reduction to be used in tandem (via Valric).
Become Ethereal is a useful all-around defensive/sustain shout which makes you immune to all damage (with a few rare exceptions largely tied to plot points). enables health/magicka/stamina regeneration as if out of combat, and has some interesting uses:
- great to distract hits from a follower, as you are not invivible to foes. (via Marked for Death)
- useful for when you're about to go into werewolf form (my own test found the Unofficial Skyrim Patch would negate your werewolf transformation when Ethereal, fyi). (via Marked for Death)
- Can be used to Sprint infinitely or initiate a Power Attack without using Stamina. The only "Penalty" is that Stamina will not regenerate when being used.
- Especially useful against ranged spellcasters or archers, allowing you to line up a powerful spell, an arrow of your own, or simply clear the distance with free sprinting power for a zero-cost power attack right in an enemy's face, a powerful tool for melee builds.
- Useful for regenerating health naturally in combat. This effect is augmented by the Lady stone, Parthuunax's "Fiem" meditation, and other source of +Health Regen (e.g., enchanted gear). (via Marked for Death)
- With the amulet of talos and blessing of talos you can stay ethereal 67% of the time with the first word, 72% with the second and 75% with the last. With Dragon Aspect you can stay Ethereal indefinitely (via Marked for Death).
- Great synergy with cloak spells and master level spells (via Marked for Death)
- Bloodskal Blade's beam attack will not break Become Ethereal (or Invisibility) unless the actual weapon makes contact with an enemy. Using an Infinite Shout Exploit, or chain-casting the spell via Dragon Aspect, can effectively allow you to plink away ar enemies from range whilst invincible. The Dawnguard Rune Hammer does the same thing, letting you spam fire runes against a wall in Ethereal form while everything around you is incinerated.
- A good Dragonbreath defense, as the first word's short recharge time means the shout will likely be up in time for the next breath attack.
