Improving Skyrim / Recommended Mods thread (Mostly about Requiem)

[hell bovine]

[
Agreed, IEs are incredibly shit. Worse, they are actually a glorified bug/placeholder - they were basically supposed to be Xivilai but the author couldn't find suitable model. They aren't even invisible in terms of game mechanics - NPCs see them just fine.
All in all they are sufficient reason to get Requiem+.

Thanks, I've forgotten the name of the mod that finally fixes them. I wouldn't mind invisible enemies if they were really invisible; as it is if you have Serana and summons, the game looks like a deranged Benny Hill chase.

 

[Nomad_Blizz]

Yeah, so?

It's very frustrating and tedious...I'm not sure if requiem is supposed to be 'fun', but these areas are definitely not. It's a failed attempt at being dark souls.

That's interdasting. Because I've seen about equal amount of claims to the contrary, which all in all seems to indicate that they are actually well balanced but situational - as they should be.

Not sure I agree. Bows are pathetic against higher level monsters like dragon priests/dragons and any heavy armored opponent. Even enemies with regenerating health like spriggans and trolls, it's impossible to to do enough damage quickly. Yes I know, I can use fire to stop them from gaining back lost health but I don't need to if I use a sword (with lower one handed skills than archery I may add). Why does bow get away with being situational, when swords/spells are not?

All in all they are sufficient reason to get Requiem+.

I didn't know this existed. Thanks.

Just one more thing, I enjoyed a lot playing with requiem. But parts of it definitely need more work.

 

[Gord]

But parts of it definitely need more work.

I agree. Although to Requiems defense, a lot of issues people have with it (myself included) can be mitigated once you get to know more about how it's implemented in Requiem. Overall though there are definitely several questionable design choices they made.
Depending on how the mod evolves until then, I might ditch it should I ever restart Skyrim and go for some different set of mods that de-popamolize Skyrim but cause less problems due to Skyrim being Skyrim.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

[*]There are like a 100 draugrs in the Bleak Falls Barrow main chamber. This happens in other places as well like Skuldafn.

These huge groups tend to be composed of low-level members. A fireball scroll for example will destroy most (if not all) if them.

[*]Bows are pretty much useless.

Against draugr (no vitals) and heavily armored enemies (before perks). Try it against lightly armored bandits.

[*]In the final fight against Alduin, he uses a shout that summons an entire skeleton army that shouts me to death in seconds and halves my health at the same time. Oh, and you're also blinded for a few seconds after the shout.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[*]When exploring the Soul Cairn, there are 'invisible entites' that one shots you into oblivion. Real immersion breaker imo.

Yeah, it's shit. One of those "modders gonna mod" things. Legend says the original author wanted these to be Xivilai who cast invisibility before attacking, but he couldn't find good models so he just left them permanently "invisible" (not the spell effect, just without a character model) and gave them a new name. Use Aura Whisper, followers (being AI, they can see the entities just fine) or Requiem Plus patch.

 

[Lhynn]

anyone seen this? Think im going to install it when i feel like playing skyrim again

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/59849/?

 

[Clockwork Knight]

This is Merely my Opinion..

I dislike this mod.

For me, it ruins everything I thought Skyrim was.

I want to be a Hero - The Dragonborn.

Early game I'm OOM against 3 wolves.
I found an Assassin on the way to windhelm, which required me to be healed upwards of 10 times from my follower, and level up from myself, and a bunch of damage from the follower just to beat.

I can't stroll into a bandit camp and kick butt, because one guy takes up all my mana.

I'm supposedly a hero yet am in fear of everything around me. I would die everywhere if it wasn't for my follower.
Is one bandit meant to take all my mana and then some to beat? What about the other 6 munching on my face?

If I wanted this type of game I'd play Dark Souls - It makes sense in that series, as you're the invader in an alien'hostile world. Here we're the hero, a legendary one at that. I don't feel so heroic.

Not saying I want the game easy. A challenge is nice, but this is silly. Without my follower I'm not sure how I would proceed.

It's skyrim - go anywhere, do what you like sandbox. Not, you can't go here coz you're under-leveled. Can't storm this cave coz these nameless bandits are more powerful than the dragonborn.

I know some people love this type of thing. But for me, it's kinda anathema to what the Elder Scrolls is.

I want to be a(n) hero.

 

[RK47]

Found blood to mana spell.
Practice Alteration in the inn with Atronach sign.
Too good imo.

 

[DraQ]

This is Merely my Opinion..

I dislike this mod.

For me, it ruins everything I thought Skyrim was.

I want to be a Hero - The Dragonborn.

Early game I'm OOM against 3 wolves.
I found an Assassin on the way to windhelm, which required me to be healed upwards of 10 times from my follower, and level up from myself, and a bunch of damage from the follower just to beat.

I can't stroll into a bandit camp and kick butt, because one guy takes up all my mana.

I'm supposedly a hero yet am in fear of everything around me. I would die everywhere if it wasn't for my follower.
Is one bandit meant to take all my mana and then some to beat? What about the other 6 munching on my face?

If I wanted this type of game I'd play Dark Souls - It makes sense in that series, as you're the invader in an alien'hostile world. Here we're the hero, a legendary one at that. I don't feel so heroic.

Not saying I want the game easy. A challenge is nice, but this is silly. Without my follower I'm not sure how I would proceed.

It's skyrim - go anywhere, do what you like sandbox. Not, you can't go here coz you're under-leveled. Can't storm this cave coz these nameless bandits are more powerful than the dragonborn.

I know some people love this type of thing. But for me, it's kinda anathema to what the Elder Scrolls is.

I want to be a(n) hero.

I want to be a TGM.

 

[Lhynn]

Isnt the dragonborn suposed to be almost as powerful as a daedra lord?

 

[RK47]

he's not at first.

 

[DraQ]

If a character is supposed to be Über from the beginning there is no point having levels or any other means of systemic growth.
So yeah, lvl1 character casually strolling into a camp of nasty fucks armed with swords, bows and maces who murder for living should fare pretty much as well as their (typical) player would in similar situation IRL (meaning ending up as a corpse with surprised and painful expression on what remained of its face is the expected course of action).

 

[Lhynn]

Not really, i wouldnt want to mess with a lvl 1 solar.
Problem Skyrim suffers is lack of believable opposition for the dragonborn, other than dragons. Requiem makes it so the game would make a lot more sense if the protagonist wasnt the dragonborn at all, which would make for a better game.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Dragonborn is your average TES hero except he knows dragon language. People don't expect a nooby Nerevarine to survive overwhelming odds just because Azura whispered in his dreams that he's the chosen one.

 

[Lhynn]

Is he tho? he can become the master of everything in little time, while most people work for a life time to get decent at one thing. His body count is in the thousands, etc. His growth and ability to easily overcome and improve alone is pretty outthere.

You can argue that its just gamey, and not in the actual narrative, but maybe it is deliberate, a few lines from some NPCs seem to indicate that it is.

 

[Emily]

Is he tho? he can become the master of everything in little time, while most people work for a life time to get decent at one thing. His body count is in the thousands, etc. His growth and ability to easily overcome and improve alone is pretty outthere.

You can argue that its just gamey, and not in the actual narrative, but maybe it is deliberate, a few lines from some NPCs seem to indicate that it is.

depends on how you treat time scale.
For me i always larp that 1 day=30 days in game
So in a in game time in a year he could learn a to be a decent at something, so it makes a bit of sense.
Now if you go by the vanilla time scale then yeah it pretty much makes the character a divine being.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

What's this I hear about a requiem plus though?

 

[Gord]

Isn't requiem+ basically just offering a few more menu options to fine - tune requiem a little bit?

 

[Esquilax]

So, I loaded up Requiem onto Skyrim as I was curious about a lot of folks here like DraQ raving about it... and I am unimpressed. At the core, I think that the problem seems to be that they are trying to turn a very accessible, popamole game into a hardcore one and it doesn't work very well because Bethesda's design philosophy of allowing the PC to be amazing at everything just doesn't jive with what Requiem attempts to do. I rolled a Two-Hander/Light Armor Nord warrior character (basically, a barbarian), and I'm at Level 6 right now, so basically I'm getting raped by everything.

Which really, isn't a problem if the game is well-designed, but the issue is that survival in this game has far more to do with luck combined with lots of trial and error than it does with any sort of skill. Or at least, it appears to be that way after ~8 hours of gameplay. Sure, there's some strategy involved occasionally (time your swings, counterattack while your opponent is vulnerable, get to the archers first), but it's just way too easy for the AI to instakill you in a cheap way. Most of the time I die, it's from an arrow fired off so far that I can't even see the shooter, and in other times, it usually involves a bandit pulling off a killmove. There seems to be little rhyme or reason or anything that I as the player can do to anticipate or plan around my enemies. Success mostly means I've just gotten lucky. I like that areas are actually dangerous, I just don't like how the game seems to go about making them dangerous.

But perhaps I'm missing some things and there's some nuance to this mod that I haven't quite gotten just yet. So, Requiem vets; what can I do to ensure my character becomes an ass-kicker? I've been flirting with the idea of investing in Archery myself, so I can take out ranged opponents at a distance. Alternatively, I've been thinking of Sneak as well so that I can at least get close enough to strike before they can get a shot off. Any ideas?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

So, I loaded up Requiem onto Skyrim as I was curious about a lot of folks here like DraQ raving about it... and I am unimpressed. At the core, I think that the problem seems to be that they are trying to turn a very accessible, popamole game into a hardcore one and it doesn't work very well because Bethesda's design philosophy of allowing the PC to be amazing at everything just doesn't jive with what Requiem attempts to do. I rolled a Two-Hander/Light Armor Nord warrior character (basically, a barbarian), and I'm at Level 6 right now, so basically I'm getting raped by everything.

Which really, isn't a problem if the game is well-designed, but the issue is that survival in this game has far more to do with luck combined with lots of trial and error than it does with any sort of skill. Or at least, it appears to be that way after ~8 hours of gameplay. Sure, there's some strategy involved occasionally (time your swings, counterattack while your opponent is vulnerable, get to the archers first), but it's just way too easy for the AI to instakill you in a cheap way. Most of the time I die, it's from an arrow fired off so far that I can't even see the shooter, and in other times, it usually involves a bandit pulling off a killmove. There seems to be little rhyme or reason or anything that I as the player can do to anticipate or plan around my enemies. Success mostly means I've just gotten lucky. I like that areas are actually dangerous, I just don't like how the game seems to go about making them dangerous.

But perhaps I'm missing some things and there's some nuance to this mod that I haven't quite gotten just yet. So, Requiem vets; what can I do to ensure my character becomes an ass-kicker? I've been flirting with the idea of investing in Archery myself, so I can take out ranged opponents at a distance. Alternatively, I've been thinking of Sneak as well so that I can at least get close enough to strike before they can get a shot off. Any ideas?

Yeah early game Requiem is hell. You might want to consider investing a bit in Heavy Armor for archer-proofing. Other than that, from what I get, you're somewhat expected to level up stuff like Enchanting, Alchemy etc., so you get some health up, but I've managed so far with nothing but Two-Hands+ Heavy, a few good shouts and cheesing.

 

[Esquilax]

Yeah early game Requiem is hell. You might want to consider investing a bit in Heavy Armor for archer-proofing. Other than that, from what I get, you're somewhat expected to level up stuff like Enchanting, Alchemy etc., so you get some health up, but I've managed so far with nothing but Two-Hands+ Heavy, a few good shouts and cheesing.

I have no idea how the fuck I'll manage to get some shouts - I can't beat an archer, I don't see how I can tangle with a fucking dragon, y'know?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Yeah early game Requiem is hell. You might want to consider investing a bit in Heavy Armor for archer-proofing. Other than that, from what I get, you're somewhat expected to level up stuff like Enchanting, Alchemy etc., so you get some health up, but I've managed so far with nothing but Two-Hands+ Heavy, a few good shouts and cheesing.

I have no idea how the fuck I'll manage to get some shouts - I can't beat an archer, I don't see how I can tangle with a fucking dragon, y'know?

Don't fucking tangle with the dragon, lead them to giants and mammoths. Let them do the tangling for you.

 

[hell bovine]

So, I loaded up Requiem onto Skyrim as I was curious about a lot of folks here like DraQ raving about it... and I am unimpressed. At the core, I think that the problem seems to be that they are trying to turn a very accessible, popamole game into a hardcore one and it doesn't work very well because Bethesda's design philosophy of allowing the PC to be amazing at everything just doesn't jive with what Requiem attempts to do. I rolled a Two-Hander/Light Armor Nord warrior character (basically, a barbarian), and I'm at Level 6 right now, so basically I'm getting raped by everything.

Which really, isn't a problem if the game is well-designed, but the issue is that survival in this game has far more to do with luck combined with lots of trial and error than it does with any sort of skill. Or at least, it appears to be that way after ~8 hours of gameplay. Sure, there's some strategy involved occasionally (time your swings, counterattack while your opponent is vulnerable, get to the archers first), but it's just way too easy for the AI to instakill you in a cheap way. Most of the time I die, it's from an arrow fired off so far that I can't even see the shooter, and in other times, it usually involves a bandit pulling off a killmove. There seems to be little rhyme or reason or anything that I as the player can do to anticipate or plan around my enemies. Success mostly means I've just gotten lucky. I like that areas are actually dangerous, I just don't like how the game seems to go about making them dangerous.

But perhaps I'm missing some things and there's some nuance to this mod that I haven't quite gotten just yet. So, Requiem vets; what can I do to ensure my character becomes an ass-kicker? I've been flirting with the idea of investing in Archery myself, so I can take out ranged opponents at a distance. Alternatively, I've been thinking of Sneak as well so that I can at least get close enough to strike before they can get a shot off. Any ideas?

I think it's more because character archetypes aren't very balanced in Requiem. Light armor & sword I'd rate the toughest, mage being the easiest (and reaching ridiculous amounts of power in case of some magic schools), because Skyrim doesn't do melee well in general. The number of times I've got a kill move triggered, while the enemy moved out of the way...
But at the same time Requiem allows for some not-so-very typical, but fun characters. My favorite would probably a Bosmer alteration & archery witch, snacking on her fallen enemies to prepare for battle. :D

 

[Gord]

But perhaps I'm missing some things and there's some nuance to this mod that I haven't quite gotten just yet. So, Requiem vets; what can I do to ensure my character becomes an ass-kicker? I've been flirting with the idea of investing in Archery myself, so I can take out ranged opponents at a distance. Alternatively, I've been thinking of Sneak as well so that I can at least get close enough to strike before they can get a shot off. Any ideas?

Pick your fights carefully early on. At Low level in requiem everything can kill you. Even bunnies probably would if they didn't flee.
Avoid attacking multiple enemies at once. Avoid damage, either by blocking or by evading. Even heavy tincans can be 1hit killed easily by some stronger enemies. Especially mages are dangerous.
As for dragons, aside from cheesing them as has been described earlier, I guess they are high level content in requiem (with melee builds at least). My level 20 tincan sword'n'board build has no chance at all.
Which is one of the cases where requiem and skyrim simply don't go together well, due to diametrically opposite design philosophies. It works most of the time,but breaks down e.g. when quests are involved.

 

[DraQ]

At the core, I think that the problem seems to be that they are trying to turn a very accessible, popamole game into a hardcore one and it doesn't work very well because Bethesda's design philosophy of allowing the PC to be amazing at everything just doesn't jive with what Requiem attempts to do.

That's only a problem with (some) questlines.

I rolled a Two-Hander/Light Armor Nord warrior character (basically, a barbarian), and I'm at Level 6 right now, so basically I'm getting raped by everything.

Which really, isn't a problem if the game is well-designed, but the issue is that survival in this game has far more to do with luck combined with lots of trial and error than it does with any sort of skill. Or at least, it appears to be that way after ~8 hours of gameplay.

Gitting gud isn't merely a function of patience. You need to actually git gud.

Light armor basically provides insufficient protection. The upsides are that you can hit hard, hit fast and move quickly. The downside is that you have to keep moving - The light armor isn't for tanking, even if you're building a barb and religiously pumping HPs. The bottom line is that light armour allows you to avoid getting hit while still making some difference in case you do get hit. Which means that if you do get hit regularly you're doing it wrong.
The skill comes from learning from your trial-and-error. Luck is only involved in surviving something dumb and (rarely) in Beth's superb code glitching or gracing you with killmove the moment the enemy *starts* to swing (even if you could easily avoid it). If there is no enemy killmove or glitched controls involved, then the problem is you. Even with enemy killmove involved the problem is usually still you because more often than not it means you got cocky and did something you wouldn't afford to if you were fighting an actual human.

Most of the time I die, it's from an arrow fired off so far that I can't even see the shooter.

Then it means the arrow took its sweet time reaching you so you could have been somewhere else already.

There seems to be little rhyme or reason or anything that I as the player can do to anticipate or plan around my enemies.

So AI not being (easily) predictable is now bad?

But perhaps I'm missing some things and there's some nuance to this mod that I haven't quite gotten just yet. So, Requiem vets; what can I do to ensure my character becomes an ass-kicker?

First thing first - keep moving. You are just a dude - even if strong, fast and resilient dude - with some fur or leather on. You can't afford to be stuck full of sharp sticks tipped with metal. You can't afford being repeatedly hacked and slashed.
When charging archers try not move in straight lines and try to exploit anything to break their line of fire - terrain, architecture, even their own allies.
Also, sprinting is your friend, especially in light armor. Sprinting into your typical archer or wizard with a heavily muscled guy (especially when wearing heavy armor, but if you're strong enogh light will work too) will knock them off balance and onto the ground. An enemy who's trying to get up is an enemy that isn't shooting you, switching to melee, blocking or running away to shoot you moments later. If you can't knock them down run up to them and break their bow with normal attack. Try to get them to shoot and miss first so that you won't get an arrow tangled in your intestines point blank.

Second, practice in melee. Low level Draugr (but try to postpone BFB, maybe try doing companions) are ideal practice dummies, they are slow, meaning it's easy to learn how the melee works with them, and they are tanky meaning no fluke victories.
They are also dumb and reckless so you won't get to learn fighting blocking and bashing enemy from them, but you will learn basics - when to block, when to dodge and when to interrupt by bashing. If you can melee two draugr at once you're probably pretty good.

Bandits are harder but more versatile practice targets. They are much faster, more proactive and more concentrated on their own survival. They will block and interrupt. Learn to not get flanked - even a tincan can get 1hk'd by an unblocked powerattack with as much as lousy iron hammer or battleaxe. Your own powerattacks are good for breaking through blocks, but the blocking party can interrupt them with bash. Use length of your weapon to your advantage. With 2h you can hit them before they can hit you, bashes also only work up close - a shield or pommel has limited reach.

Learn to sidestep - see a guy running at you swinging a mace or hammer for overhead strike? Don't block, even don't interrupt, move aside. Then turn around quickly and split their ass.

Get a follower, possibly one complementing your own tactics. For example a 1h+shield+plate tank will have good staying power and will also provide good flanking protection and allow pincering single attackers and exploiting openings (enemy strikes, your fellow blocks while you cut the attacker down).

Lastly, pick your battles and improvise when in over your head. Sometimes it's a good idea to turn your tail and flee.
Sometimes you can use something that isn't really part of your skillset well enough in the context to turn the tides of battle.

I've been flirting with the idea of investing in Archery myself, so I can take out ranged opponents at a distance. Alternatively, I've been thinking of Sneak as well so that I can at least get close enough to strike before they can get a shot off. Any ideas?

Try them first.
For example if you have space to spare try carrying around a cheap ranged weapon and some ammo. Even unperked it should be helpful to pick off an occasional PITA archer or shoot a wizard about to cast a protective spell or some nuke. You can use it to deliver a poison too.
Sneaking won't help much without perks, but it will allow you to come closer before you're detected - unless you need speed or combat stance right now, it's always a valid option.

 

[Garmik]

Yeah early game Requiem is hell. You might want to consider investing a bit in Heavy Armor for archer-proofing. Other than that, from what I get, you're somewhat expected to level up stuff like Enchanting, Alchemy etc., so you get some health up, but I've managed so far with nothing but Two-Hands+ Heavy, a few good shouts and cheesing.

I have no idea how the fuck I'll manage to get some shouts - I can't beat an archer, I don't see how I can tangle with a fucking dragon, y'know?

You can get one soul without fighting a Dragon, which on melee characters like yours I like to spend in the Ethereal shout. You can get that soul by going back to where the horn of Jurgen Windcaller was, after giving it to the greybeards. Getting that Ethereal Shout helps A LOT with melee characters.

Also, disable killmoves (I think I used a mod for that) since it's just retarded, you won't even see that slow fucker with a 2 handed hammer starting to swing that the cinematic would start to play.

Sometimes you can use something that isn't really part of your skillset well enough in the context to turn the tides of battle.

This is really important, I always say this about Requiem. You have to be prepared, even if you specialize in two-handed, see if you can carry a shield and a one-handed, and some ranged weapon, to thin down the herd before getting up-close, at least early-game.