The Elder Scrolls: The XVII Princes of Oblivion

[Rater202]

Maven would be more tolerable if the game acknowledged that, if you become the Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild and either joined or destroyed the Dark brotherhood that you basically own her ass.

Her power comes in part from her ties to the Thieves Guild and in part because she has a contact with the Brotherhood... Though the Thieves Guild.

She can't have you assassinated if you're in the Brotherhood or have destroyed the Brotherhood, and by the time you're the Guildmaster the Guild basically controls every hold but Riften without Maven. The Guild doesn't need her, but she still needs it.

The only thing she can do if you piss her off is whistleblow... And you know all about her criminal operations and can take her down with you.

Or just kill her if she pisses you off. You already killed the Emporer, she's nothing in comparison.

[veti]

I think they're marked essential because they're quest givers.

Yes, but it's more than that. There's a whole special... thing about being a jarl or potential jarl, which has all kinds of triggers and conditions attached. (Presumably because all the jarl dialogue is recorded for only those two unique voices per hold.)

Removing one is a much bigger deal than deleting a regular "essential" NPC. I don't even know of any mod that's done it.

[Vinyadan]

In the end, I enabled magicka regeneration in my Morrowind playthrough. I did it when I realised that my longswords had increased 30 points while Destruction had increased just 5.

As it turns out, combat doesn't really change -- Morrowind fights never were particularly long, and, with 100% casting and hitting success, they are over very quickly, so magicka regeneration doesn't have any negative effect: you don't find yourself wasting your time waiting for it to recharge, like I did in Oblivion. Instead, it's a big improvement when travelling the wilderness. For example, if I use levitation, I don't have to stop right after to recharge. I will have low magicka right after casting, but it will recharge autonomously, so spells will be an option, if I later meet a nix hound or some other enemy. It feels much more organic and makes magic far more usable.

To sum it up, right now I am playing with 100% hit chance, 100% casting chance, the ability to cast without assuming a casting position, magic skill training dependent on magicka consumed instead of spells cast, spells mostly cost twice as much as normal but you recover up to 50% of the cost as your skill approaches 100, and you get a hefty bonus multiplier to total magicka based on the sum of your magical skills (ATM I think I am around a 100% bonus).

I don't think many people buy Elder Scrolls games for their combat (compare: Dark Messiah of M&M), but this setup removes much of what made combat detrimental to an otherwise amazing game like Morrowind (especially now that it's almost 20 years old).

[Misery Esquire]

In the end, I enabled magicka regeneration in my Morrowind playthrough. I did it when I realised that my longswords had increased 30 points while Destruction had increased just 5.

Black White Black Black Black
Black White White Black White

HP & Mana regen on XBox - I'm almost certain there's other cheats, but those are the two I remember and that drove my first high-level playthrough. You can still get killed by going into a challenge past what you're levelled for, or falling, but random death is far more limited.

[Vinyadan]

Black White Black Black Black
Black White White Black White

HP & Mana regen on XBox - I'm almost certain there's other cheats, but those are the two I remember and that drove my first high-level playthrough. You can still get killed by going into a challenge past what you're levelled for, or falling, but random death is far more limited.

I didn't know the Xbox buttons were colour coded, I spent a while wondering what that meant

I forgot to mention, since enchanting is rebalanced, I had an item made with +7 fatigue regen/second. It was costly, but totally worth it. It's not enough to recover if you swing wildly during combat, but you can run and jump around without fear. No surprise Oblivion went a similar way by default (and, to tell the truth, Morrowind did so, too, as a reward: Azura's ring is game-changing because of its fatigue regeneration powers).

[Kareeah_Indaga]

I got the itch to play ESO again recently, returning impressions are as follows:

• There's a stickerbook for gear sets now - it lets you recreate anything you've found before. No more hoarding every possibly-useful gear set on the off chance it will be wanted later!
• Endeavors were added while I was out; basically a system to buy the Crown Crate contents with in-game activities. I gather it's a Microsoft thing. If true, I just regained a tiny, tiny glimmer of hope that Elder Scrolls 6 will not be a total cash grab.
• I tried out Antiquities during the ESO+ free trial; it reminds me of Pokemon Platinum's Underground. Bit repetitive though - Platinum had a variety of shapes and sizes to its treasure, maybe I didn't dig around enough but in ESO every item in a tier seems to be the exact same size and shape as every other item. Also minor annoyance: once you get max charges for the shovel or trowel, you HAVE to expend them all at once. Damaged more loot than I cared to because of that.
• Most of the new dungeons were fun on normal.
• They finally added some content to the Witches' Festival that wasn't drops, and expanded the New Life Festival a tiny bit (added Imperial quest). It's not much, but it's at least a tiny step in the right direction.
• The inventory management mess, sadly, is not much different than when I stopped playing - I don't really see that ever changing given that they make money off ESO+.

I haven't dug into most of the quest content I missed while I was out (Greymoor, Markarth), but I have poked around Blackwood a little and it seems they're leaning a little too heavily on 'look! Here's a character you've interacted with before!' I'd read enough complaints about Companions on the forums not to expect too much from them, but with the forewarning they're not too bad.

Mostly it's just making me want a new single player game more.

[The_Jackal]

Maven would be more tolerable if the game acknowledged that, if you become the Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild and either joined or destroyed the Dark brotherhood that you basically own her ass.

Well, some modicum of respect would be okay. But let me tell you the other side of the coin is not profoundly better, where you're in World of Warcraft and every other cutscene includes an aside where all these legendary faction-leaders behave like you're the one true savior, when you're literally surrounded by hundreds of other players doing the exact same thing.

[Rater202]

Well, some modicum of respect would be okay. But let me tell you the other side of the coin is not profoundly better, where you're in World of Warcraft and every other cutscene includes an aside where all these legendary faction-leaders behave like you're the one true savior, when you're literally surrounded by hundreds of other players doing the exact same thing.

That's less a problem with writing and more a problem with the MMO medium. You just kind of have to suspend your disbelief on that one, unless you're on a private server.

[Anteros]

Well, some modicum of respect would be okay. But let me tell you the other side of the coin is not profoundly better, where you're in World of Warcraft and every other cutscene includes an aside where all these legendary faction-leaders behave like you're the one true savior, when you're literally surrounded by hundreds of other players doing the exact same thing.

I somewhat prefer that over their old method where the player would do all the heavy lifting, only to have an NPC swoop in at the end and get the credit.

[veti]

I somewhat prefer that over their old method where the player would do all the heavy lifting, only to have an NPC swoop in at the end and get the credit.

I wouldn't mind that, that sounds just like real life. Add in a sequel where the NPC begs you to come back and save their backside again, and that's basically the fantasy fulfilment.

[Spore]

I wouldn't mind that, that sounds just like real life. Add in a sequel where the NPC begs you to come back and save their backside again, and that's basically the fantasy fulfilment.

I just wished they would go "whole-hog" on the "replacable soldier of faction xyz" aspect. You can be a good soldier, one worthy of praise and rewards, but it helps the immersion in an MMO immensely more to see you're one of a group of many, instead of pretending any one player character is the chosen one. Even if another chosen one is standing right next to them.

Of course writers would have to deviate from the "hero's journey" type of storytelling a slight bit. And again, there are so many shooters out there that do "nameless soldier to war hero" quite well without making it look like a single playable dork won an entire conflict.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

What is everyone’s favorite type of Atronach? I’ve gotten to like the Iron Atronachs in ESO and I hope they’re summonable in the next single player game; they’re sturdy, powerful, and cool looking with some neat effects (ex: leaving puddles of lava around).

Flame Atronachs are probably second, since they’re ranged, generally easy to summon, and the explode-on-discorporation effect is useful.

[veti]

I'd like to have a favourite atronach, but to me they all seem interchangeably dull. I have favourite daedra (Daedroths in Morrowind, Clannfears in Oblivion), but atronachs have never (to my mind) been imbued with any kind of personality that makes one any more interesting than another.

[Rynjin]

Gotta admit, that's basically my opinion in a nutshell. They're all just elementals. Boring, utilitarian. Fine to have in the game but far from interesting enough for me to have a "favorite".

I do have a LEAST favorite: Storm Atronachs. Why is it a bunch of rocks held together by electricity and not like...a living cloud with sparks coming off it or something?

[Aeson]

My favorite type of atronach is the birthsign, specifically its Morrowind incarnation.

As to the hostile/summonable atronachs, I have to agree with Rynjin and veti; I don't find atronachs to be particularly interesting - they're just elemental-themed humanoid daedra. I suppose if I had to pick one then of the summons it'd be Storm since that's the most generally useful while of the enemies it'd probably be Frost or Storm since I find Frost and Void Salts more useful than Fire Salts in Morrowind, which is the TES game I play most. I don't play TESO, so I have no opinions on atronachs introduced there.

[LibraryOgre]

My favorite type of atronach is the birthsign, specifically its Morrowind incarnation.

While I liked it in Morrowind, and the stone was fine in Skyrim, the Atronach in Oblivion wound up being BRUTAL, because while everyone else regened magic at a fairly quick rate, you did not, and potions were a lot heavier than in Morrowind.


For the summonable type? While I usually summon Storm atronachs as soon as I can, I have an enduring fondness for the Ice atronach. Tough, and with a good mix of melee and ranged.

[Vinyadan]

I always found the Morrowind fire atronaches pretty cool, and I liked the fire-skating of the ones in Skyrim.

[Spore]

Honestly, atronachs are basically just an excuse for elementals and a bit of 'demonic diversity'. But I immensely like the idea of "absorbing magic" instead of regenerating it. It is an old idea in a risky gameplay choice, but since it is single player and the choice doesnt ruin or enhance anyones fun but your owns it is very cool.

That being said, balancingwise, it is HORRIBLE. When it is not an active hindrance to your character (as in, it nets more mana than it prevents regenerating), it is either overpowered or straight up "missing" the fluff (every other vanilla Skyrim build uses Atronach since it just lets you blanket absorb 50% of magic).

[Triaxx]

I rather like the Flame Atronachs simply for their accuracy at hitting dragons.

As for Storm Atronachs? Of course they're living electrical storms. And the stones? Probably small ferrous stones that have been picked up around the storm.

Atronach sign itself isn't bad but man if it's not silly in how useful it is.

[factotum]

Let's be honest here, the best summon in Skyrim is easily the Dremora Lord. Not because of their combat effectiveness (although that *is* pretty good), but because of the stuff they say on sighting an enemy. "I honour my lord by destroying you!" being a particular favourite of mine.

[Laughing Dog]

My favorite type of Atronarch? Flesh. Mainly because they were basically a fusion-elemental-thing, but I kind of wish we get to summon them in the next elder scrolls.

[LibraryOgre]

Let's be honest here, the best summon in Skyrim is easily the Dremora Lord. Not because of their combat effectiveness (although that *is* pretty good), but because of the stuff they say on sighting an enemy. "I honour my lord by destroying you!" being a particular favourite of mine.

Oh, sure, I run around with a pair of them all the time. HOWEVER, if there's a dragon involved? Storm Atronach. Too many are immune to fire or cold, and the Storm will sap their Magicka, which saps their breath (which is, behind the scenes, powered by MP)

[Aeson]

potions were a lot heavier than in Morrowind.

Oblivion's standard potions all come in at 0.5 weight units; in Morrowind, only Exclusive potions are lighter while Standard, Cheap, and Bargain potions are all heavier (not that Cheap and especially Bargain potions are worth all that much to a spellcasting Atronach character). I'll grant that custom potions could be lighter in Morrowind even though both games nominally use the average of the ingredients weights for the potion weight, but since you can make Restore Magicka potions at 0.1 weight units in Oblivion I don't think it's that big of a deal to carry a big stack of them around.

In my opinion, the bigger problem with using potions to offset Stunted Magicka in Oblivion is that the magic system was designed with fairly fast passive magicka regeneration in mind and, probably as a result, the available potions are generally pretty weak until you have a reasonably high Alchemy skill and decent apparatus. Even a Strong Potion of Sorcery is only worth 100 points of magicka - maybe ten or twelve casts of relatively low-end spells, and less than half a first-level Atronach character's maximum magicka in Oblivion - and Strong Potions of Sorcery are pretty rare at low levels, if you can find them at all. The more readily available standard potions and the custom potions you can make with low-end equipment and low Alchemy skill are even worse, probably only being good for a few spells.

As to the birthsign itself, the Oblivion incarnation is a pretty solid defensive birthsign for a noncaster or an infrequent caster and may even be acceptable for a primary caster once you can make strong Restore Magicka potions, it's just a very rough start for a primary caster since 150 magicka isn't actually that much and spellcasting enemies are a bit sparse at low level.

[Triaxx]

If my knowledge isn't failing me, you wanted to stack the birthsign, the standing stone, and... the Ring of Khajiit? together to get you to a persistant 100% magicka absorb. And if you were REALLY cheeky, there was a way to give yourself a mana battery spell that recharged you more than you spent, but I don't recall the details there.

[Aeson]

If my knowledge isn't failing me, you wanted to stack the birthsign, the standing stone, and... the Ring of Khajiit? together to get you to a persistant 100% magicka absorb. And if you were REALLY cheeky, there was a way to give yourself a mana battery spell that recharged you more than you spent, but I don't recall the details there.

I'm pretty sure that the Doomstones give you Greater Powers, not passive abilities or Lesser Powers, so if you're using the Atronach Stone to reach 100% Spell Absorption you can only do so for a limited time each day, and the Ring of Khajiit is stealth-focused. Persistent 100% spell absorption wants some combination of Ring of Sorcery (25%), a high-level version of the Spelldrinker Amulet (up to 26%), Magebane / Cursed Magebane gauntlets (20% / 24%), Sigil Stone custom enchanted item (up to 15%), and maybe one or two other things.

I believe the trick you're thinking of involved telekinesis spells but only works with high-level mysticism because you expend the skill-modified cost of the spell and absorb the base cost of the spell; it also couldn't fully restore your magicka since casting cost was subtracted after the base cost was absorbed or something like that. Additionally, absorbing your own telekinesis spells prevents you from using telekinesis as telekinesis.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Let's be honest here, the best summon in Skyrim is easily the Dremora Lord. Not because of their combat effectiveness (although that *is* pretty good), but because of the stuff they say on sighting an enemy. "I honour my lord by destroying you!" being a particular favourite of mine.

I have never run around with Dremora. Sounds like I need to roll up a conjurer for my next playthrough!

[Triaxx]

Ah right that's the trick. I recall rerolling Sigil stones a lot. But the trick I was remembering was punching scamps so they'd turn on you.

[Vinyadan]

I have never run around with Dremora. Sounds like I need to roll up a conjurer for my next playthrough!

Obligatory link: I Was Summoned By a Mortal, by Kynval Zzedenkathik.

[veti]

I'd forgotten the Atronach birthsign. That was one of my favourites in Morrowind. The cheapest and low-risk way I figured out to recharge mana was to punch a scrib.

[Vinyadan]

I'd forgotten the Atronach birthsign. That was one of my favourites in Morrowind. The cheapest and low-risk way I figured out to recharge mana was to punch a scrib.

I remember playing around with it, summoning an ancestor ghost when low on magicka. But stunted magicka always felt off to me, maybe because what I wanted was a good spellcaster, instead of someone well-protected against spells, and a High Elf worked much better in that regard. On the other hand, I still find it strange that only High Elves got that much magicka without huge tradeoffs, especially without real-time regeneration. Looking back, I'd probably give every other race twice the normal magicka.