This is a before/after shot of what a companion can look like if you equip him or her with style. An AI friend or two can make the game much for fun.
The game Skyrim is a Role Playing Game (RPG) made by Bethesda Game Studios. It is available for XBOX 360, PS3 and PC. But I recommend playing it on a very fast and powerful computer…preferably with a good video card.
One problem that many of my friends are having with Skyrim is that they are starting the game and then dropping it. They are saying things like, “I just got bored” or, “I couldn’t get exactly into it.”
This problem has to do with the specific genre of game Skyrim actually is. Most RPG’s that have come out in the last few years are Role Playing experiences which guide the player along a series of quests and a core storyline. Similar to First Person Rail Shooters which guide the player along a pre-destined path, most RPG’s are quite linear either in the quest/storylines and the progression through the maps and/or dungeons.
Skyrim is a different type of game which stays true to its Elder Scrolls roots. It is a Completely Immersive RPG Experience. It should not be attempted to be played in a, “Let’s bang these quests out” type of manner. Skyrim is a type of game where you simply put yourself in the shoes of the character you create, and experience the beautiful and vast world which Bethesda so painstakingly created.
All gaming philosophical standpoints aside, there are some quick tips which can greatly enhance someone’s Skyrim experience which can help make it so you don’t put the game down after just a few hours or quests.
First, “Power Leveling” in Skyrim doesn’t necessarily benefit your character in any tremendous way. Power Leveling is a technique where players of RPG’s tend to want their characters to be either extremely powerful or to have acquired all the best skills and items.
Yet Skyrim is a single player game. There are no other human-controlled players to compete with. Your character in no way needs to be the maximum level of 80+ in order to finish the game. And you will probably have a much more fun time playing the RPG if you focus on playing the game in a relaxed fashion with lots of breaks to real-life…instead of trying to make some sort of cookie-cutter overpowered character.
In fact, the enemies in Skyrim always level with you. So if you try to power level your way to getting some special perk or ability, your opponents will get much stronger. The combination of skills and perks that you choose will directly affect your success in battle. And there is absolutely no reason to abuse some sort of in-game glitch to level up your “Blocking” or “Light Armor” skills. If you go through the game at a lower level, you will find the enemies very manageable. And if you encounter especially dangerous bosses or monsters, you can do one of two things in order to continue having fun in Skyrim.
First, you can always leave an area and come back to the monster or problem later. Certain enemies may be simply too strong for your current item and skill set up. So leaving the area and doing some other tasks can help you train and become stronger to face the monster or boss.
Secondly, you can simply change the difficulty setting by pressing “escape” and then navigating to the “gameplay” tab. From there you can change the difficulty on the fly in case there’s a boss you don’t want to come back to later. This comes in real handy in the beginning of the game when you may not have very good items or if you’re still getting used to combat and find yourself in a sticky situation where you need to fight a boss to complete a quest. A good rule of thumb is that if you lower the difficulty to the easiest setting temporarily, you basically do double damage versus enemies.
Stamina, Stamina, Stamina:
As you level in the game, you will be presented with a choice. You can either boost your Magic, Health or Stamina stats. In the beginning of the game, it is extremely important to boost your stamina and health first. This is because your stamina will directly add 5 pounds of carry weight capacity to your character.
Since the game of Skyrim has so many encounters, many items drop in dungeons. Lots of these items such as swords and armor have tremendous resale value to vendors in different cities and towns withing Skyrim. And since you can use money to purchase ingredients and components for crafting, smithing, and enchantment…cash on hand is always a good thing. So level up your stamina ability and you will have plenty of carrying capacity in combination with your ally or companion buddy to loot a dungeon quite thoroughly. This brings us to our next section on allies…
The ambiance of Skyrim is greatly enhanced by having cool allies
Friends and family are what make life fun:
In Skyrim, you will encounter many characters which need your help with something. If you help them out and complete their specific side-quests, they may be willing to become your ally. But you can only have one humanoid ally at a time, so don’t be discouraged if someone refuses to join you. It probably means you have a companion with you already. The game designers probably didn’t want you rolling around towns with small armies of NPC’s like in Syndicate or other games.
On the plus side, you can enlist the help of a horse and a dog as well. So that means you can have 3 Non Player Character (NPC) helpers in total.
If you have a humanoid ally, you can equip that person with weapons and armor that are appropriate to that NPC’s specific character attributes and abilities.
For example, in one of the beginning towns, I met up with an ally named, “Sven” who joined me after I helped him get a girlfriend. (Sounds just like real-life, I know) At first I thought Sven was going to be a complete butterball in combat because he was a bard in the local tavern and his songs weren’t particularly memorable. But I thought he was friendly and that he might make a good meat shield in combat. What turned out actually blew my mind…
Similarly to the character I created, Sven focused on Two-Handed Weapons and Heavy Armor. That means he was able to equip any weapons and armor that I could use. On top of that, he was highly proficient in using a bow and arrow, which my character does not use. So this makes fighting dragons very interesting because Sven can weaken the dragon at range when I run out of magic.
Having a humanoid ally is great if you craft items because you can seriously decide what your ally will look like with all the gear. If your ally is capable of wearing heavy armor like Dwarven Armor, you will have this huge, tank-looking hero following you around. It is seriously awesome.
As mentioned earlier, your ally can carry over 200-300 pounds worth of items. So this comes in handy in dungeons when you’re picking up a lot of armor which you’d like to sell back in town.
If you ever get blocked in a doorway by your ally or dog here’s a quick tip. Either dash toward your ally by pressing the “Sprint” button on your keyboard, or start to “Sneak” around the door. By sprinting or sneaking, your dog and humanoid ally will either get pushed away or else they will simply move out the way. This quick tip can save you several minutes of frustration.
If you choose “Smithing” as one of your skill paths, you will have the potential to craft the best weapons and armor of your choice for you and you ally. The next section discusses multiplier effects of the crafting skills and how these seemingly superfluous skills can make your character powerful beyond belief…without requiring you to power-level and get bored.
Craft your way to victory:
Regardless of whether or not your character uses a bow and arrow, mage robes, a two-handed greatsword or punches people to death with heavy gauntlets…your character can benefit from the 3 branches of crafting.
The three branches of crafting are: Smithing, Enchanting, and Alchemy.
Smithing allows your character to create weapons and armor…but it also allows you to upgrade weapons and armor. That means there are two primary steps to smithing: First build the item, then either sharpen the sword on a grind-stone or else upgrade the armor on a workbench.
Your smithing skill level and “perks” determine what kind of weapons and armor you can build. But your current “level” of smithing skill directly correlates to bonus damage or bonus armor rating which is added to your upgraded weapons and armor after you hone them. Since this skill is augmented by drinking Alchemy potions known as “Potion of Fortify Smithing” and also by Gauntlets, Chest Armor, Rings and Necklaces that are enchanted with the bonus called “Fortify Smithing” you can make extremely powerful weapons and armor if you mentally plan your crafting techniques. What is most important is the moment when you use the grindstone and/or workbench. That’s when you need to throw on your smithing armor and drink your fortify smithing potion. I need to give my landlord credit here because he really opened my eyes to this conjunction of skills and equipment. And I’ve had tons of fun trying to come up with uber gear for me and Sven to use in combat.
Seriously, there is nothing more satisfying then seeing your ally use your crafted equipment to finish off a dangerous enemy or boss when you’re weakened and blocking to save your life. It adds a level of depth and satisfaction to the game which is unmatched for a single player experience. I haven’t had this kind of fun since I played Fallout 1 and 2.
“But what if my character and my ally is a mage? I don’t feel like doing all that smithing stuff!”
That’s totally OK! If your character is a pure magic-user, you’ll probably choose to wear robes and clothing…which cannot be upgraded at the grindstone and/or workbench. But even though you won’t be putting points into the smithing skill tree, you definitely won’t want to miss out on the alchemy and enchanting skill trees.
A mage is able to enchant his or her robes with magical properties. Similarly to how the Two-Handed warrior would want to enchant her sword with a “Shock” enchantment to damage enemies on impact. A mage and enchant his robes or fine clothing with the “Fortify Magika” enhancement. This can give your character additional mana reserves for casting spells. Many other enchantments work in the game which greatly benefit mages. It is rumored that a mage with powerful “Fortify Enchantment” alchemy potions and a maximum skill level in enchanting can actually create robes and jewelry which can completely nullify the magic costs of casting a specific branch of magic spells. So if you a re a Destruction mage, it is rumored that you’ll be able to enchant clothing which can make it so you can cast dangerous lightning spells indefinitely…without draining your mana reserves. Can you see why the crafting branches of skills are important yet?
Damage Multipliers for the win:
One thing you’ll notice early on when you make your first few level advancements is that most skills have a perk in the beginning which enhances the effectiveness of that specific skill tree. Once you figure out what your primary method for defeating enemies, it is important to max this skill.
Let’s say you use a sword and a shield. Then you would probably want to max your one-handed bonus damage skill and also your blocking effectiveness skill. The bonus damage multiplier added by the one-handed perk is combined with whatever your effectiveness is in honing weapons in the Smithing skill tree. So if you are and excellent smith and add a lot of bonus damage to your crafted weapons, your sword will also reap the benefits of your one-handed sword bonus damage skill.
The same thinking goes for your magic abilities. If you are a destruction spell user, there are several perks that can enhance the damage-dealing capabilities of your magical attacks.
Yet don’t forgot that the skill trees of enchantment and alchemy both have similar effectiveness multipliers. And since all characters can directly benefit from these skill trees there is no reason not to make the best potions and gear enchantments around.
If you love to read, you’ll love Skyrim:
On a final note, the books in Skyrim are extensive and some of them are very short. They can be just a few pages long, but they can add an extra point toward one of your skill trees. But in-game bonuses aren’t the only reason to read the books in Skyrim. They are both entertaining and thought provoking. Some of the histories may seem dry, especially if you don’t like to read histories. But other books on the mythology or fables in the game are excellently written and can go on for volumes.
One particular book series that I’ve read several volumes of is, “The Real Barenziah” series of books. I’m not a huge fan of romantic literature, but the story of Barenziah was simply superb. It dealt with intrigue, love and even moral issues all in a few volumes. The series added context to several of the quests I’ve been on and it overall adds to the ambiance of the game.
If you aren’t a person who likes to read, the books aren’t completely necessary. But if you are an avid reader, this game has enough books to add many extra hours to your gaming experience.
The book on tips for bartering has even helped me negotiate prices in real life. It discusses things which helped me get a good deal on an environmentally friendly laundry hamper at Macy’s the other day. Who knew?
-Tyler