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2019-01-10, 12:55 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2006
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Auto-purge is essential to playing F3/NV.
I've been trying to watch, but honestly what it's done isn't make the game enjoyable as much as it has tedious. Oh a skeever... and it takes 5 minutes to kill it. I mean... theoretically it should be the simplest thing in the game to kill. And instead he spends 5 minutes faffing about. Honestly I prefer something like Wildcat where you either succeed or die brutally, but either way it's a fast death.
Of course I have avoided the 'nothing is any challenge' issue by building my character towards a tremendous alpha, so even things with a ton of HP go down quickly, but if I don't manage to kill them, they insta-kill me. Dragons for instance, are still incredibly dangerous, if they don't make the mistake of putting themselves where I can alpha them, and they usually don't. Makes the game still enjoyable, no matter how much damage I can send down range.I am trying out LPing. Check out my channel here: Triaxx2
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2019-01-10, 02:07 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2015
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Yes, that's how it is meant to be done without cheats/exploits. Wear Wraithguard to not automatically die from equipping Sunder, give the heart a smack, switch to Keening, and start stabbing until the heart loses its bindings to Mundus and goes who knows where.
On the other hand, if you cheat/exploit your way to several hundred Strength and Weapon Skill, and hit quickly enough you'll get the situation I described (along with instantly breaking whatever weapon you were wielding at the time). Which does not resolve the main quest, please Azura, or otherwise help Morrowind. At least, in whatever capacity of 'help' your actions could be considered, given what all happens to the province over the course of the next two games.Avatar by the lovely and talented Linklele
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2019-01-11, 11:18 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2011
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
I'm starting a new playthrough of Skyrim and I'm just wondering if anyone has any mod recommendations for someone who's only played vanilla previously.
If brute force isn't working, that just means you're not using enough of it.
When in doubt, set something on fire. If not in doubt, set something on fire anyway.
My Homebrew
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2019-01-11, 11:39 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2013
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
“Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”
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2019-01-11, 01:25 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2005
- Location
- Baator (aka Britain)
- Gender
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Campfire and Frostfall, both by Chesko, are amazing mods. As noted, YASH2 is a minimalist overhaul, which makes the start of the game much harder. Betrayal at Hrothgar apparently allows you to auto-complete the Civil War, if that's not your thing.
I watch nearly everything he releases. :)
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2019-01-11, 06:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2009
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- Middle-o'-Nowhere, Idaho
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Well, the difficult thing here is that Skyrim can be modded virtually any way you want. I find that before I assemble a modlist, it's useful to know in advance what style of experience you're looking for, as well as what kind of character you're probably going to be playing. A mage will want different mods than a thief, after all.
Regardless of the above, I think that YASH or the EnaiSiaion series of mods are good places to start. Both significantly change the game, albeit in different ways.
YASH (Yet Another Skyrim Hardcore mod) is a total overhaul of the game focused on allowing dedicated roleplayers a more immersive and difficult experience. It's perfect for when you want to play as a nobody who has to work their way to glory. For instance, you start at zero in all skills, except for a few racial skills that might manage to get as high as seven in your best skill. Your race affects your character as much as your perks--for instance, Nords have a starting magicka pool of a whopping 5 points, while Bretons and Altmer have 85 and 100 respectfully. Perks are redone, rebalanced, and rearranged. Your skill is important to which gear you can use, with high level gear imposing penalties if you don't actually know how to wear or use them well. What you find out in the world is decoupled from your player level, so when you enter a crypt, you don't know in advance whether it'll be a crypt full of deathlords or one full of the weak, bog-standard draugr. It's a total overhaul mod, so you may need to pick and choose mods which are either compatible with YASH or which will overwrite the changes it makes.
The EnaiSiaion mods are made by a mod creator of the same name. Each mod is designed to be modular, and overhaul one aspect of the game, so you can slot them in as desired. If you're not using YASH, you'll definitely want Ordinator. It's a perk overhaul designed to make skills more active and interesting, instead of passive +x% boosts. It also makes different skills more combat viable. For instance, if you specialize into smithing, you can unlock the ability to craft Dwemer autocannons, turrets which fire at your command. Alchemy has things like oil vials you can dump on the ground to make minefields and poisons that last for a greater number of hits. Enchanting allows you to mix up staves, scrolls, and spells, with different combinations giving different bonuses. Even pickpocket has options like a cursed coin that, when you slip it into somebody's pocket, makes them take much more damage. Light and Heavy Armor are differentiated by their perks into Fragile Speedster and Mighty Glacier. It's all about making it interesting and flavorful, and most of his mods are like that. I highly recommend Ordinator, Aurora, and Artificer, to start with, as these modify perks, birth-stones, and unique artifacts.
SpoilerGot a favorite character among his Elder Scrolls videos?
RIP Julan. Couldn't have ended any other way, really, but still sucks to see him go.I run a Let's Play channel! Check it out!
Currently, we're playing through New Vegas as Gabriel de la Cruz, merchant and mercenary extraordinaire!
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2019-01-11, 07:15 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2005
- Location
- Baator (aka Britain)
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Idris was a long time ago now, but Arthur is a worthy replacement. I am predisposed to outrageously favour Morrowind though, so the crown would likely have to go to Fathis.
SpoilerI agree about Julan, but I'd like to have known how that ends. Maybe some time I'll have to do my own play-through with Julan, if I'm not using OpenMW, of course.Last edited by Caelestion; 2019-01-11 at 07:16 PM.
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2019-01-11, 10:35 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2009
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Ordinator is too much for my tastes. Dwemer autocannons, seriously? At that point I don't feel like it's Skyrim any more.
SPERG is another perk overhaul that also takes out the annoying compulsory perks, creates new synergies between different skills (e.g. the dual-casting perk is under Destruction, but it applies to all schools of magic), but it leaves the basic look and feel of the game intact."None of us likes to be hated, none of us likes to be shunned. A natural result of these conditions is, that we consciously or unconsciously pay more attention to tuning our opinions to our neighbor’s pitch and preserving his approval than we do to examining the opinions searchingly and seeing to it that they are right and sound." - Mark Twain
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2019-01-12, 08:07 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2006
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Got New Vegas for Christmas. I am at a stage (I think I may be getting past it with the new VATS perk) where I am killed by Legion assassins every time I try the Nipton or Novac roads. I am retroactively thankful that most game-based assassins, including the Thalmor who are clearly modeled after these guys, aren't actually up to the job description, because there's a difference between a challenge and a nigh-insurmountable speed bump. (Best challenge thus far: repairing the solar plant. That was awesome.)
Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos.
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2019-01-12, 08:11 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2006
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
So, turns out, if you know the Legion assassins are coming, they're pretty vulnerable to the grenade rifle/launcher while running a group. (If you don't have the pre-order packs, scrounge around Nipton.)
One of the best things about Bethesda games in general is being able to spice them to individual tastes. I love the Dwemer Autocannon's personally, and that you have to be quite the smith to make them is totally reasonable to me. You don't like them, and can thus pick a different perk mod that leaves them out. (Also the auto-cannon's are finicky to use, require you remain near them and only fire where your cursor is pointing. Plus the projectiles are slow as all get out, so dragons the one thing you'd want to use them against, they can't hit most of the time.)I am trying out LPing. Check out my channel here: Triaxx2
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2019-01-12, 08:47 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2008
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- Orlando, FL
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
SkyUI is a staple everyone approves on. Redoes the interface to make menus more informative and useful. I dunno how I played Skyrim as long as I did without it.
I like Amazing Follower Tweaks (AFT) and Convenient Horses; The first give you controls over how your follower should dress, fight, and act, while the second just makes using horses more... well convenient! The saddlebag for storing items and the whistle to summon them are my favorite bits of the mod.
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2019-01-12, 02:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2013
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- Germany
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
I agree but then again I simply do not pick those. One thing I am particularly disappointed with is the rework of Enchanting and Smithing while I LOVE the Alchemy rework.
Enchanting suddenly tries to make you use consumables, where smithing gives you said autocannons and make you pick for every smithing perk.
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2019-01-12, 02:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2007
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- Manchester, UK
- Gender
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Odd--I never found the Legion assassins especially dangerous; in fact, I kind of welcomed them showing up, because I knew a free load of good quality armour and weapons was about to come my way! That might be because I tend to play snipers and the assassins don't pack particularly long range weapons (some of them are even melee!) so I usually thin out their numbers before they get close enough to do any harm.
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2019-01-12, 04:32 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2009
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
By the sound of it this is early in the game, when the best sniper weapon you can hope to be touting is the cowboy repeater, and you haven't yet had the chance to pick up any followers. At that point I've certainly had trouble with the hit squad, especially first time when I didn't know what to expect.
Even with foreknowledge, they're a tough challenge at that stage. My best advice would be, don't skimp. This is no time to be keeping anything in reserve - hit them with everything you have, as fast as possible."None of us likes to be hated, none of us likes to be shunned. A natural result of these conditions is, that we consciously or unconsciously pay more attention to tuning our opinions to our neighbor’s pitch and preserving his approval than we do to examining the opinions searchingly and seeing to it that they are right and sound." - Mark Twain
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2019-01-12, 05:25 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2013
- Location
- Bristol, UK
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
You can pick up Veronica as soon as you can find her.
At that point I've certainly had trouble with the hit squad, especially first time when I didn't know what to expect.
Even with foreknowledge, they're a tough challenge at that stage. My best advice would be, don't skimp. This is no time to be keeping anything in reserve - hit them with everything you have, as fast as possible.The end of what Son? The story? There is no end. There's just the point where the storytellers stop talking.
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2019-01-12, 06:18 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2018
- Location
- The Moral Low Ground
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
I always found the legion really easy to deal with because they're poorly armoured and using melee weapons in a game with poor AI. Kill the one with a gun and just run away if it's really a problem.
But why're we discussing the legion here
Also, don't compare the thalmor to the legion. The Legion make sense, the Thalmor are a mixture of metaphysical buffoonery and contrivances to make them powerful.
Avoiding the oblivion gates and making the moon disappear to get the Khajiit on your side is great, but they've got to be overextending to have any influence in skyrim. Especially when hammerfell did alright and High rock/Skyrim are behind it.
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2019-01-12, 07:23 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2013
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- Germany
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
I am sure the ingame stats are somewhat exaggerated and high elves can produce qualified swordsmen but I have always wondered how they would fare on the battlefield. What we see in Skyrim are Thalmor Warriors who use onehanded, block, restoration magic and sneak as well as light armor.
Still I feel their spread is oddly...mundane. No bound weapons? No enchanted armor? I mean the magic artifacts ingame derive some meaning from the environment being rather mundane but the Thalmor of all people should have well-equipped forces.
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2019-01-12, 07:33 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2013
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Remember that the Thalmor are at least nominally restricted in what they can bring in both by logistics (theyre on the other end of the continent to their home base) and laws (theyre in what is functionally a hostile nation under invitation for a specific purpose). If they were to bring in a bunch of super assassin equipment and the Empire got wind of it, then they would take it and give it to their own people, and in the short term, the Thalmor would not be able to stop them.
“Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”
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2019-01-12, 08:06 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2006
- Gender
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Ordinator's smithing rework is actually amazing. It's not an either or choice. You pick light or heavy with the first perk, then if you invest in a second level you get the other perk. So instead of wasting a perk on Elven you can grab advanced and Orcish on the same level and then continue through the heavy tree. (Because plate requires Advanced that's otherwise in the light armor side of the tree.)
I am trying out LPing. Check out my channel here: Triaxx2
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2019-01-12, 08:19 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2018
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Yeah, exactly this. The Thalmor have to keep up appearances and at least appear normal to their enemies lest their appearance be seen as a threat right away. There are so few of them in Skyrim anyway that it would be mighty suspicious if elite troops showed up to protect what seems to just be a tiny embassy.
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2019-01-12, 09:47 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2014
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
I would also not be surprised if Skyrim is not a prestigious posting by Thalmor standards, so what we're seeing is probably a mix of people who have to be there for their long term goals (like Elenwen) and people who are too low-ranking or otherwise in disgrace to get out of going (like the average foot-soldier).
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2019-01-12, 10:05 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2018
- Location
- The Moral Low Ground
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
In an ideal world
-Nords murder thalmor
-Imperials 'surrender' or 'defect', the imperials retreat from Skyrim.
-High rock, being adjacent to two human countries of strong anti-elf persuasion also leave the empire to join theelf genocidewar against the thalmor
-Cyrodil preps an army to 'take back the human islands' and then of course uses it to wipe out thalmor.
intentional loss of troops wouldn't have been so awful.
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2019-01-12, 10:14 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2013
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
“Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”
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2019-01-12, 10:30 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2018
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
With the losses from the Oblivion crisis, it's not that surprising that the Aldmeri Dominion would have, if not a number advantage, then at least a quality advantage. Many legionaires would have been lost to the Daedra, and that can't be replaced easily or quickly, especially the troops stationned in the Imperial City. The Thalmor systematically wiping out the Blades would also greatly reduce the Empire's capacity to defend itself because now they no longer have their spy network to keep them informed. They're blind and weak, and get surprise attacked. Not very good for them.
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2019-01-12, 10:44 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2014
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
The Empire still has the Penitus Oculatus though. And they have since at least the mess with Umbriel, and it seemed to be well established then.
Also by the time of Skyrim the Empire has had some time to rebuild since the Oblivion Crisis, and the aforementioned mess with Umbriel. Admittedly the Thalmor weren't hit by the latter at all and the Empire was.
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2019-01-12, 10:59 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2013
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
My bigger problem is that even with the Wood Elves and Khajiit subjugated and largely on their side, the Aldmeri Dominion should still have a fraction of the standing forces of the Empire, and outside of their home territories the imperial soldiers should have both a training and equipment advantage over the Bosmer and Khajiit. Heck, the Redguards alone are apparently able to fairly solidly hold off the Dominion advance with no overt support from the other provinces. Even taking into account that most of hammerfell sucks to march an army through, the Aldmeri forces should be outclassed by the imperial forces.
“Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”
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2019-01-13, 12:04 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2018
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
I think it was a plot point that the Legions were just barely holding together after the Oblivion crisis? It's not like the Redguards can come instantly, if the Aldmeri went through Cyrodiil fast enough, it's more than feasable for them to reach the Imperial city before reinforcements arrive. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, reinforcements from Skyrim and Hammerfell only arrived for the retaking of the Imperial City after the Dominion had captured it.
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2019-01-13, 02:48 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
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- Manchester, UK
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Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
And it's worth noting that the Aldmeri would not have even sat down to negotiate the White Gold Concordat if they were in a position to crush the Empire through military means alone, so they were clearly hurting as well--their failure to take Hammerfell was probably down to the damage their forces took during the Cyrodiil campaign.
Titus Medes II was actually pretty smart to negotiate the Concordat. The parts of the Empire still under his control were almost entirely populated by Men, whereas the Aldmer are Elves--they live longer and breed slower than men do, so will recover slower from battle losses than the Empire does. Given a few decades the Empire can overrun Summerset--Medes is playing the long game here.
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2019-01-13, 02:58 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2018
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Which is why the Aldmeri are working to destabilize the other provinces. They want to break the unity of men and keep them at each others' throats for as long as possible. Whoever catches their breath first wins the war. They don't want either Skyrim or the Empire to win the civil war, they want it to keep going for as long as possible. Because even if Skyrim secedes and drives out the legions, when war against the Dominion starts over, it's a certainty that Skyrim will ally with the Empire against the elves.
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2019-01-13, 03:04 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2009
Re: The Elder Scrolls XV: This is my Thu'um Stick
Which is to say, well after the first hit squad encounter. Possibly the second and third.
Thalmor in my game often use bound weapons, and the justiciars at least have enchanted robes. (And use Destruction and occasional Conjuration.) Admittedly it may be a mod making them do this, but if so I don't know which one.
One does not simply march into Skyrim. Starting from Summerset, it's either a long march across territory that varies between unfriendly and outright hostile, or a long voyage around hostile coasts and through the most dangerous waters in Tamriel. And that's without even mentioning the dragons. We're talking about the power that couldn't even mount a successful invasion of Hammerfell, which comparatively speaking is right on their doorstep.
The Aldmeri lost just as much of their strength in the Oblivion crisis. The Thalmor played it very smart and came out on top, but the whole Dominion is still greatly weakened from the episode. Crushing the Blades, who must have got pretty sloppy, was a great coup that positioned them to "win" the Great War, but they can't pull off anything like that again."None of us likes to be hated, none of us likes to be shunned. A natural result of these conditions is, that we consciously or unconsciously pay more attention to tuning our opinions to our neighbor’s pitch and preserving his approval than we do to examining the opinions searchingly and seeing to it that they are right and sound." - Mark Twain