Improving Skyrim / Recommended Mods thread (Mostly about Requiem)

[Lhynn]

An archer can hit you from far away, that is the advantage of range, that is why they sacrifice damage, accuracy and attack speed. This is how it should work, you get to snipe people safe at a distance, adding utra damage to that is a retarded notion. If people survive your arrows and get close, then you get close and unsheat your sword.

That's how the usual backpedal-while-shooting gameplay arises and it's immensely shit.

Yeah... its called slow move backwards speed, then voila, this stuff dont happen anymore!

Congratulations - you have upgraded backpedal-while-shooting to ranged-weapons-just-suck.

Ranged weapons were never meant to be an all purpose weapon, they were meant to kill far away, lightly armored enemies. in close quarters you will need a knife/sword/axe, like most archers traditionally had. That said, it isnt that bow damage is wrong, the problem is that bow damage increases, when it shouldn't, once you are trained in its use only accuracy, strength and the quality of the bow/arrow should matter. And skill should go to drawing/attacking speed.
With this youd run away, turn back, shot the arrow fast and keep running away, being able to kite your enemies effectively, heavy armored enemies should either rely on crossbows or attempt a charge against you, lightly armored opponents should be able to close the gap quite fast, and after they made it, if they have an arrow on their gut they are already at a disadvantage in the melee, probably poisoned too.
Making bow/magnums to support a single repetitive playstyle is not the answer.

 

[you know what time it is]

If you go to the mod page, there's a readme tab, I think. In it are some links to the manual and the changelog.
Is it worth reinstalling Skyrim for it? That depends on why you uninstalled it. It makes Skyrim more challenging, overhauls the system to a point where your choices how you level the char matter more, de-levels it almost completely and many parts there make more sense.
It's still Skyrim though. Same quests, same world. If you didn't like that before, I doubt you will like it now.

Found it. Cheers.

 

[Garmik]

I honestly never had that much of an issue with the archers, even when playing with a light-armored dude, sure they can be tricky, but that's Requiem overall.

And they get A LOT easier once you get your first soul (free with jurgen's horn) into Ethereal Shout.
Also, once upon a time in Requiem, bows didn't break when hit in melee, now that was annoying, now? Just ethereal, attack, done. If the bow isn't breakable, shield-bash them; not carrying a shield on a melee char? You are not playing Requiem right (even if you two-hand or dual-wield, always carry one), you have to be prepared.
And if there's more than one archer, you have to rely on the environment, be quick, and time it right while archers are reloading.
The most difficult archers are forsworn, since they have the quick-shot perk.

the problem is that bow damage increases, when it shouldn't, once you are trained in its use only accuracy, strength and the quality of the bow/arrow should matter. .

Not true, I practice archery in real life, and your technique matters A LOT in how much poundage you get out of the bow (the speed at which the arrow will fly, and with how much strength it will hit the target), because you learn to use your muscles better, and the string will draw considerably more, hitting with much more impact on target.

 

[Borelli]

The thing i love about Requiem's difficulty is that it goes both ways. Archers will straight up murder you if you don't wear heavy armor but so will you them. The easiest way to deal with archers is to be an archer yourself, with this approach however if found the most difficult archers to be draugr since they are immune to arrows.

 

[WarHamster]

As I'm contemplating of doing a modded playthrough of Skyrim (+DLC), having only played vanilla back in the day and running out of steam probably 2/3rds of the way through the MQ, I am weighing the pros and cons of the various overhaul mods for Skyrim. After reading the previous few pages of posts here, I doubt I have the patience for Requiem (but it is tempting). Instead, I'm thinking of trying a combo of SkyRe + Morrowloot (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/44212/) + Character Creation Overhaul (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/21587) + Dragon Combat Overhaul (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/39775/), plus some other non-overhaul mods (realistic needs and such). Morrowloot is there to stop level-scaling of loot and SkyRe will at least somewhat limit level-scaling of enemies. Have any of you tried this combo?

Will SkyRe actually be a major improvement? I tried it a bit yesterday (without the other mods I listed above) and at least the enemies in the tutorial dungeon and the wolves outside it didn't feel that much different from vanilla. Granted, that's just a few super-easy fights meant to teach you the game, but I was half-expecting a marked change even in them. Not so much.

 

[Gord]

I only played an by now outdated version of SkyRe for a while.
The beginning is smoother than with Requiem, it does some similar things but in a different way.
It's also more modular, so you can decide not to use a module that doesn't sound interesting to you.
Then again Requiem has MCM integration and can be tweaked a bit with it.
Together with the alternate start mod, it's relatively quick and easy to check out different characters in SkyRe, so I would recommend testing it a bit for yourself. In comparison Requiem seems more geared toward grinding a bit in Whiterun and the surrounding area until you have some better gear and/or spells.


IMHO, neither of the overhauls fundamentally change the game - although they can have a big influence on gameplay, you will still be playing Skyrim. Depending on what you were missing in vanilla, it can be worthwhile, though.

But wait for DraQ, who will tell you that it's shit because the guy is making too many arbitrary changes, or something.

 

[Lhynn]

Not true, I practice archery in real life, and your technique matters A LOT in how much poundage you get out of the bow (the speed at which the arrow will fly, and with how much strength it will hit the target), because you learn to use your muscles better, and the string will draw considerably more, hitting with much more impact on target.

Amateur, your training is not complete.
Truth is, there is a limit to the how much you can draw the string, and is certanly no where near the limit of how hard you can swing an axe, but there is no limit on how well you can do it, how fast, focused, accurately can you shoot... that is only limited by your own skill and the laws of physics.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Better Imperial Gear in Hevdir Path was added by Requiem? Always wondered why going after Imperial guy gave me far worse Imperial gear.

 

[Garmik]

Not true, I practice archery in real life, and your technique matters A LOT in how much poundage you get out of the bow (the speed at which the arrow will fly, and with how much strength it will hit the target), because you learn to use your muscles better, and the string will draw considerably more, hitting with much more impact on target.

Amateur, your training is not complete.
Truth is, there is a limit to the how much you can draw the string, and is certanly no where near the limit of how hard you can swing an axe, but there is no limit on how well you can do it, how fast, focused, accurately can you shoot... that is only limited by your own skill and the laws of physics.

When is it ever complete? There will always be room for improvement.

And what you say is true, but it still should increase damage, at least up to a point.

 

[Lancehead]

The damage bonus to bows you get from skill in Requiem is quite small. The bonus is I think 17 from skill 1 to 100. Whereas derived bonus from attributes is quite significant. For example at 420 stamina and 200 health, the damage bonus is 60.

 

[DraQ]

The thing i love about Requiem's difficulty is that it goes both ways.

That's a great thing about Requiem - it's nice and symmetrical.

The easiest way to deal with archers is to be an archer yourself, with this approach however if found the most difficult archers to be draugr since they are immune to arrows.

True, though you can always try getting an enchanted bow, arrows, or making yourself some silver ones.

 

[Akratus]

I haven't found that to be the case, that archery is best against archers. Using my regular melee abilities always worked better since those leveled with regular enemies. There aren't enough enemies that require archery for me to get good enough at it. Besides that, collecting good arrows is too much of a chore for me.

I suppose this wouldn't be the case if I did not have heavy armor as well as shields.

 

[Delterius]

As a mage, I still often prefered dagger driven melee to, at least, keep archers from firing their bows. Still on early game though.

 

[Garmik]

Besides that, collecting good arrows is too much of a chore for me.

the most difficult archers to be draugr since they are immune to arrows.

True, though you can always try getting an enchanted bow, arrows, or making yourself some silver ones.

Well, if you plan on using archery in any serious way in Requiem, some basic smithing is really good IMO, at least for silver arrows.
But shops might be enough if you don't use a bow that often (the one in whiterun + the one in solitude).

But personally, I only ever used bow on my thief, and another char that was pretty much only a bow user.
As a melee, you just have to use your shouts right, and the environment to your advantage (and taking a bit of advantage on the derpAI).

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Better Imperial Gear in Hevdir Path was added by Requiem? Always wondered why going after Imperial guy gave me far worse Imperial gear.

Because following him means you'll fight stormcloaks.

 

[DraQ]

Ranged weapons were never meant to be an all purpose weapon

As evidenced by their evolution and proliferation.

they were meant to kill far away, lightly armored enemies.

Which is *exactly* what they do in Requiem.
And what they wouldn't do if they only dealt some piddling damage.

With this youd run away, turn back, shot the arrow fast and keep running away, being able to kite your enemies effectively

Kiting - good gameplay since... 2013, I guess.

If the bow isn't breakable, shield-bash them; not carrying a shield on a melee char? You are not playing Requiem right (even if you two-hand or dual-wield, always carry one), you have to be prepared.

You can always just weapon-bash or, if you are absolutely determined to 2w or spellsword, just run into them in heavy armor to knock them off their feet or fusrodah them or something.

And if there's more than one archer, you have to rely on the environment, be quick, and time it right while archers are reloading.
The most difficult archers are forsworn, since they have the quick-shot perk.

Besides that, collecting good arrows is too much of a chore for me.

You use shit arrows against most enemies and keep good ones situational.

I suppose this wouldn't be the case if I did not have heavy armor as well as shields.

HA doesn't help with archery either.

Better Imperial Gear in Hevdir Path was added by Requiem?

Yes.

 

[Akratus]

I suppose this wouldn't be the case if I did not have heavy armor as well as shields.

HA doesn't help with archery either.

Are we playing the same requiem? Because it actually does.

 

[Garmik]

Yeah, if you are HA user, archers are pretty much just a minor annoyance; and with a shield you can block the arrows really easily.

 

[Borelli]

The thing i love about Requiem's difficulty is that it goes both ways.

That's a great thing about Requiem - it's nice and symmetrical.

The easiest way to deal with archers is to be an archer yourself, with this approach however if found the most difficult archers to be draugr since they are immune to arrows.

True, though you can always try getting an enchanted bow, arrows, or making yourself some silver ones.

When playing with my light armor archer i found at the archery shop in Whiterun - The Drunken Huntsman i believe,an ebony bow of fire for sale. I didn't have the money since i spent it all on skooma and whores training.

But personally, I only ever used bow on my thief, and another char that was pretty much only a bow user.

I tried that but was disappointed at small sneak attack range at low lvls and lesser dmg multiplier than knife in the back. If you go sneak i guess you sneak all the way, still for non-undead only robe wearing mages archery is the best. Like two glass cannons shooting at each other.

 

[DraQ]

I suppose this wouldn't be the case if I did not have heavy armor as well as shields.

HA doesn't help with archery either.

Are we playing the same requiem? Because it actually does.

*Your* archery, not enemy's.

HA impairs that.

 

[Lhynn]

DraQ
Dont be a smart ass, we are talking bout bows. Plus ranged weapon evolution and proliferation stems from the fact that you get to not-be-where-the-psycho-with-the-knife-is...

You are not holding a sniper in your hands, you are holding a curved stick that shoots straight sticks with a pointy end, it should reflect on gameplay, it should not, under any circumstance, be deadlier than a 300 pound hammer just "because of balance". That is weak, that is ugly. If you want to make the bow better, then you give it precision attacks, feet, legs, hands, arms, heart, throat, head, eyes, you give it different effects depending on location, and then the best archers will actually use that to their advantage and it will be good.

 

[Dreaad]

There is a limit to how realism you want in a game. Often it is better to make better gameplay at the cost of realism. Kiting enemy archers who do shit damage is infinitely frustrating in almost every game, it would b e even worse in a game like skyrim where the ai arrows are easy to dodge/take cover from. At the moment they work like they are meant to, by themselves they aren't a big deal, when paired with melee combatants they can become very a very nasty support enemy requiring the use of your brain = .

Mindlessly chasing bowmen around = and is already present in vanilla skyrim.

 

[DeepOcean]

DraQ
Dont be a smart ass, we are talking bout bows. Plus ranged weapon evolution and proliferation stems from the fact that you get to not-be-where-the-psycho-with-the-knife-is...

You are not holding a sniper in your hands, you are holding a curved stick that shoots straight sticks with a pointy end, it should reflect on gameplay, it should not, under any circumstance, be deadlier than a 300 pound hammer just "because of balance". That is weak, that is ugly. If you want to make the bow better, then you give it precision attacks, feet, legs, hands, arms, heart, throat, head, eyes, you give it different effects depending on location, and then the best archers will actually use that to their advantage and it will be good.

Is it possible to add locational damage to Skyrim? The original surely doesn't have it. People here in the Codex have this discussion about realism/abstracted gameplay all the time in the end what really matters is if make sense on the context of the game with it's limitations. Making the arrows deadly is a way to balance the game. Things like location damage and hit and run tactics and more complex stuff sound cool but the AI of Skyrim can't do it, you have an advantage and they don't when the general objective of Requiem is to up the difficulty and remove popamole. Let's say bows are, at best, situational weapons and you are supposedly only able to hit 1 or 2 times before an enemy closing in, in that example you gave, then those hits must hit really hard or bows are useless, if your window of opportunity to use ranged weapons is tiny, the damage they do must be big to compensate, not lower.

About the damage, heavy armor protect you more than enough from arrows as it should and on light armor, arrows hit like a truck as it should. About the precision of the archers, again, something to balance the gameplay, if there was a reallistic accuracy, archers would only really be able to shoot you at close range, where you can just murder them anyway, that is what happens in vanilla Skyrim. Bows were made to hit someone in huge masses of men/shoot individuals at close range while on a horse/ambushes, things that don't happen in the game or are very limited, to argue for a realistic use for them is the same to make them almost useless on the context of Skyrim. If you were talking about a game where ambushes, decent horseback fighting, complex AI, bigger scale fights were implemented... okay... on the context of Skyrim, you are talking about a lone man that slaugther whole camps of enemies that only know to charge at him or stay in one place shooting. If it makes sense or not that bows are sniper weapons, that is not applicable.

 

[hell bovine]

Since they call it Septims now, it might of course be minted from alloys that contain more than pure gold...
But the large sums of money you find and need are indeed the reason I disabled gold-weight. I have a max. carry-weight of 90 units (probably pounds?), one coin weights 0.01 - even with the perk from the speech tree, interesting stuff will still cost several hundreds to thousands of coins usually. My equipment, potions and some alchemy ingredients already make up a lot of the weight allowance. 10-20 weight units of coins on top of that seem exaggerated and that isn't even enough coins to buy a horse.
Of course, until I can afford a horse or a house, I could just leave the coins in one of the barrels in Whiterun - very realistic/plausible...

I didn't even notice they are called septims... I have disabled gold weight as well, since it was just annoying in the long run - I use zombies as pack mules, so weight limit isn't problematic, but in order to access their inventory I have to 'drop' them, and then raise again afterwards. Undead piggybanks make life easier.

 

[Borelli]

I use a single barrel in Whiterun for storing everything so i don't have a problem with gold weight. You don't need those 5k in your pocket if you are just going to a next bandit cave.