Elder Scrolls Skyrim Forum Fan Site

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Welcome to Skyrim Forums! Register now to participate using the 'Sign Up' button on the right. You may now register with your Facebook or Steam account!

Search results

  1. R

    Illusion spells keep failing on tougher enemies—am I leveling it wrong?

    I'm running a pure mage build on my second playthrough (level 31, Adept difficulty) and I've hit a wall with Illusion. Fury and Mayhem spells work great on trash mobs, but the second I cast them on anything that matters—dragons, tough melee guys, bosses—they just shrug it off like I'm casting...
  2. R

    Civil War questline is weirdly unsatisfying no matter which side you pick

    I'm on my 4th playthrough and finally committing to actually finishing the Civil War instead of just ignoring it, and I'm realizing why I always bail. Both sides feel half-baked. The Stormcloaks have a point about Skyrim independence but Ulfric is kind of a tool and the whole thing reeks of...
  3. R

    Enchanting on Destruction spells—why does it feel so weak compared to Smithing?

    I'm on my second playthrough (level 34, playing on PC vanilla) and I've been trying to make an enchanted destruction mage work, but my frost spells feel like they're doing half the damage of my buddy's smithed daedric sword at the same level. I've got the perks that boost frost damage and I'm...
  4. R

    Best way to level Illusion without it feeling completely useless by level 20?

    I'm doing a new playthrough on Switch and wanted to actually commit to Illusion magic this time instead of abandoning it halfway through. Every time I try it early game, spells like Fury and Calm feel so weak that I just end up switching back to Destruction or sneaking. Is there a specific perk...
  5. R

    Unarmored mage builds—how do you survive without Mage Armor perks?

    I'm trying a pure destruction mage on my third playthrough and I keep getting shredded by melee enemies before I can cast anything. I know there's the perk that lets you stack magical protection, but I want to actually feel like a squishy wizard instead of just becoming unkillable. Are there...
  6. R

    Forbidden Legend quest design is actually genius and nobody talks about it

    I actually agree with this, but I think you're maybe giving it a bit more credit than it deserves. The quest design is solid, yeah, but a lot of players - and I mean a lot - still just wiki it or ask on forums because the clues are kind of vague? Like, the journal entries point you in the right...
  7. R

    Destruction mage that doesn't feel like you're tickling enemies by level 30?

    Yeah, that previous reply nails it. I'd just add - don't sleep on Paralysis even though it's technically Alteration. Seriously, cast that once and suddenly a dragon or a tough bandit is just... frozen. On Legendary that spell does more work than any pure damage spell will. Also, if you're not...
  8. R

    The Dark Brotherhood questline gets genuinely better the second time around

    I'm on my 4th playthrough and just finished the Dark Brotherhood stuff again, and I think I've been sleeping on how well it's structured. First time through I was just doing quests for the gold and the Daedric artifact, but this run I actually paid attention to the story beats and wow, it's way...
  9. R

    Windstad Manor's location is actually perfect if you stop thinking like a completionist

    I actually get this. My last playthrough I settled at Windstad too and yeah, once I stopped treating it like a checklist item it felt way better. The isolation does something the other two manors don't - it actually makes the place feel like yours instead of just another convenience. That said...
  10. R

    Restoration magic is genuinely useless and it's kind of hilarious

    You're not missing anything - restoration's healing scales terribly compared to the damage you're taking, especially at higher difficulties. The math genuinely doesn't work out until you're either way overleveled or stacking perks that could go literally anywhere else. That said, restoration...
  11. R

    Pure Conjurer hitting a wall around level 35—summons feel squishy now

    I'm on my second playthrough doing a full conjuration build (PS5), and everything was smooth until about level 35. My Dremora Lords still wreck stuff, but the regular Atronachs I summon for trash mobs die almost instantly to anything with magic resistance, and I'm burning through magicka way...
  12. R

    Ebony Warrior fight broke my entire build and I don't know what went wrong

    I'm level 81 on my current playthrough and decided to finally hunt down the Ebony Warrior since I've never actually fought him before. Got absolutely demolished. Like, not even close. I'm running a pretty standard two-handed heavy armor setup with decent perks in both trees, and this guy just...
  13. R

    Miraak fight is way harder than people say if you're not using Shouts

    Yeah, I think you're onto something here. The fight design is definitely built around interrupting him - whether that's with shouts, spells, or perks like Impact - and if you're just swinging a greatsword with nothing else, you're basically fighting with one hand tied behind your back. That...
  14. R

    Ancano is actually a way better villain than people give him credit for

    I get what you're saying about the constant antagonism - that does set him apart from just sitting in a tower plotting. But I'd push back a bit on the motivation angle. The Thalmor agent twist is cool in theory, but the game barely does anything with it? Like, we find out he's working for them...
  15. R

    Discerning the Transmundane is weirdly easy if you know the trick

    I think the sneaking thing is kind of a red herring though? Like yeah you can do it that way, but I don't think that's the intended route - the dungeon's built around the Dwemer constructs and the puzzle elements, so bypassing all of it with invisibility feels more like exploiting the stealth...
  16. R

    Switch performance tanking after 40+ hours—normal or am I pushing it?

    I'm about 40 hours into my Switch playthrough and the game's started stuttering like crazy, especially in Whiterun and any dungeon with lots of enemies. Frame rate dips are making combat feel sluggish. Is this just how the Switch version handles longer saves, or did I mess something up? Playing...
  17. R

    Just built my first homestead and I have no idea what I'm doing with the layout

    I finally bit the bullet and bought land for Heljarchen Hall on my current playthrough. Got it all built out - main house, storage wing, the works - and now I'm staring at it like... okay, what do I actually put where? Like, I know you can customize the rooms but I genuinely don't know if...
  18. R

    Karstaag fight is genuinely broken and I'm not sure if it's me

    I'm on my 4th playthrough and decided to finally do the Iceborne Jarl questline from Dragonborn. Got to Karstaag and I've fought him three times now and every single time something feels off. Like, he'll just freeze me solid and I can't break out, or he'll teleport away and I literally cannot...
  19. R

    Blood on the Ice breaks if you talk to Calixto before the guards arrest you

    Yeah, that's a known issue with that quest. The game expects you to let the guards handle the arrest - if you confront him directly before they show up, you break the quest state and it doesn't know what to do next. It's one of those poorly designed trigger chains where Bethesda didn't account...
  20. R

    No One Escapes Cidhna Mine actually makes sense if you side with the guards first

    yeah you're definitely not alone on this but I think you might be giving the quest a bit too much credit lol. I did it that way on my last playthrough and yeah, the dialogue flows better, but the quest design itself is still kind of a mess? like the whole thing feels like it's trying to do two...
Back
Top