Improving Skyrim / Recommended Mods thread (Mostly about Requiem)

[Lancehead]

So Tigranes, how are you dealing with archers?

Actually, Archers aren't much of a problem if you go heavy and sword+board.

Yeah, damage itself shouldn't be a problem because in addition to HA and shield he's also reduced damage to 80%. But I wanted to know how easy/hard he's finding evading arrows in HA.

Going for full stealth might make followers a bit of a burden, though - they try to sneak, but they are, well, AI and don't really understand the concept of letting situation cool down once the enemy gets slightly suspicious. You'll also often prefer ones that make up for your weaknesses, so chances are that if you're an ultimate ninja, your follower may be a clattering tank.

They're awful for stealth. In fact, when I was doing the thieves' guild quest with Mercer Frey he kept triggering traps, which was surprising as I'd have expected him, the guild master, to have the perk with which you don't trigger pressure based traps. Same thing happened when I was doing the quest with Karliah and Brynjolf.

 

[DraQ]

Yeah, damage itself shouldn't be a problem because in addition to HA and shield he's also reduced damage to 80%. But I wanted to know how easy/hard he's finding evading arrows in HA.

I wonder how will my battlemage build turn out in the end. A few levels below 20 currently, HA+protective spell make me almost impervious to archers at range, then I whip out 2h in melee (no spellswording with this char). In the end I will probably either use ward to supplement my defences (currently I can't allow myself to do that because it noms mana), or go for shield + spell in ranged heavy situations.

So far the character is already shining quite a bit, capable of cautiously taking on enemy casters, tackling single vampires without the advantage of daylight and plotting revenge on Rahgot whose lair I had to flee.
Depending on how anti undead spells will work out against him, I'm considering a backup plan involving tons of silver weapons and draugr mass raised with Ritual Stone power.
Details like not getting burninated in the process remain blurry.

 

[Heresiarch]

On the Nexus there are some mods that can fix the stealth and trap problem for NPC. They basically make pressure plates ignore NPC. So no more Lydia triggering spike traps into your face while following you.

 

[Tigranes]

So Tigranes, how are you dealing with archers?

Seriously. Cover and strategic sprinting. I also find that even with Requiem you can dodge arrows if you're careful. As DraQ says, archers are generally the least of my worries - I seem to remember a Shout that lets you 'jump' quick distances too, once I get in close I can skewer them easily. It's the two-handers that give me the most trouble, because they can one-hit me with power attacks if I don't look out.

I never use followers because I find that when you start fighting with other people everything becomes cheese far too quickly, there's too many weird AI shit happening. Not to mention they're all annoying and I don't want to trawl through the mods. Sure, I'll use Conjuration, but that's more limited and that's fun. So a solo battlemage was always going to be a difficult proposition, yes. I'll play a more thiefy or magey one alongside it maybe, but for now, it's OK. It's not quite as hard as AOD and I'm having fun.

The magic of Skyrim physics: went into Halting Streams Camp north of Whiterun, where there's a Rocks Fall Everyone Dies trap at the entrance. The first enemy triggers it. The mage & 2 axe wielders at the bottom (with the huge mammoth corpse) chase me up there, my summoned Draugr somehow gets the rocks rolling again, the axe wielders immediately get crushed. I quaff a potion of Icebane, sprint to close the distance and hack the mage to pieces.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

The "sprint" shout is given to you by the greybeards after you kill the first dragon.

There are a few mods that improve follower AI for stealth (putting away the torch when sneaking, not attacking until you do, marking someone for them to backstab, etc), I find them usable now.

Oooooh. Maybe that's why I don't find archers annoying at all. They use my follower as a pincushion.

But why isn't your follower being killed in one hit bro??? Those are railguns, after all.

So Tigranes, how are you dealing with archers?

Actually, Archers aren't much of a problem if you go heavy and sword+board.

Or a robed elf, if your playstyle doesn't consist of nom-nom-nomming the arrows.

 

[set]

Followers don't die in one hit because they have inflated health pools and are often using heavier armor than you.

 

[hell bovine]

At close range arrows deal around 300 damage. Yes, that's the norm - unless you block using a shield. Played it, saw it, uninstalled it. Also, enemy mage spells are mostly instakills at low levels - especially fireballs.

Yes, but that is close range for a light armor wearing character. When playing a mage, long range of spells made closing on archers unnecessary to the point where I stopped bothering with the blur spell, which grants reduction from arrows. Mages I just killed with a bit sneaking and a crossbow (no archery skills) or just used zombie-mage-minions when in close quarters.
I also recall - not sure about it - that with the newer version you can modify the archery damage in the MCM.

 

[hell bovine]

Spamming a bit today, but it won't let me edit my post anymore and this mod deserves to be mentioned:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cXuWBMZfi8
(if this has been linked previously, please delete this post)

 

[Akratus]

My point is, I don't doubt that for some characters Requiem will be a 1-2 hit kill game, but it's not the 'norm' for everyone.

At close range arrows deal around 300 damage. Yes, that's the norm - unless you block using a shield. Played it, saw it, uninstalled it.

 

[Lancehead]

A question for Requiem users:

There is supposed to be an optional .esp that displays numbers in perk descriptions (and elsewhere too, I imagine), but I can't seem to find it. It isn't in the 'optional' folder.

 

[Heresiarch]

AAAARRGH STILL GETTING CTD WITHIN AN HOUR OR SO

I'm going to strip down ALL the texture packs and reinstall from the bottom to top with 1k textures instead of 2k or even 4k. I've read that if you're running on 1440p (2560*1440 in my case) then even if you have monstrous GPU and CPU and huge amounts of V/RAM it will still crash if you install a bunch of HD texture mods because Skyrim engine's memory management simply can't handle so many things. To be honest on 1440p even on vanilla textures the game still looks gorgeous but I WANT SHARPER ROCKS AND WALLS VISUALS CLOSE UP DAMMIT

 

[DraQ]

A question for Requiem users:

There is supposed to be an optional .esp that displays numbers in perk descriptions (and elsewhere too, I imagine), but I can't seem to find it. It isn't in the 'optional' folder.

I don't think it's included any more, sadly, though the mod seems to be slowly getting better in that regard.

 

[Gord]

I also recall - not sure about it - that with the newer version you can modify the archery damage in the MCM.

Unless it got updated in the last week, you can only adjust overall damage and accuracy of enemy archers (which isn't that effective unless at large range, though, where they aren't that much of a problem usually), I think.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

AAAARRGH STILL GETTING CTD WITHIN AN HOUR OR SO

I'm going to strip down ALL the texture packs and reinstall from the bottom to top with 1k textures instead of 2k or even 4k. I've read that if you're running on 1440p (2560*1440 in my case) then even if you have monstrous GPU and CPU and huge amounts of V/RAM it will still crash if you install a bunch of HD texture mods because Skyrim engine's memory management simply can't handle so many things. To be honest on 1440p even on vanilla textures the game still looks gorgeous but I WANT SHARPER ROCKS AND WALLS VISUALS CLOSE UP DAMMIT

Use Mod Organizer this time, bro. Then you can uncheck your texture packs one at a time to find the problem child...

 

[cort]

Speaking of silver weapons, where do you obtain one in Requiem? I haven't found/ bought any aside from silver arrows.

Do you have to craft them in Requiem? Seems strange that I haven't seen a single one so far.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Tried the Silver Hand outposts?

 

[DraQ]

Silver Hand has many of them and yes, you can craft them.

 

[Heresiarch]

AAAARRGH STILL GETTING CTD WITHIN AN HOUR OR SO

I'm going to strip down ALL the texture packs and reinstall from the bottom to top with 1k textures instead of 2k or even 4k. I've read that if you're running on 1440p (2560*1440 in my case) then even if you have monstrous GPU and CPU and huge amounts of V/RAM it will still crash if you install a bunch of HD texture mods because Skyrim engine's memory management simply can't handle so many things. To be honest on 1440p even on vanilla textures the game still looks gorgeous but I WANT SHARPER ROCKS AND WALLS VISUALS CLOSE UP DAMMIT

Use Mod Organizer this time, bro. Then you can uncheck your texture packs one at a time to find the problem child...

No use, my VRAM is only 2Gb, and with even just the official HD pack installed (along with aMidianBorn textures, 2k body textures, Vivid Landscape textures, etc etc etc....), the VRAM usage will skyrocket to 1900Mb right from the beginning and will hang around 2000 to 2040 very soon. Then when something that demands a semi-large use of VRAM (opening up merchant/looting/magic menus, running to a populated area, going into a forest, etc.) it'll crash. It still happens far less than 3.1 Gb system ram usage crash pre ENBoost, but extremely annoying nonetheless.

To be honest I really can't complain too much as I'm using a Mac which uses a MOBILE GPU and still runs the game at 60FPS on 1440p, in fact I bet I could run it on 60FPS with ENB if I turn off SSAO...

 

[Lhynn]

If Boss isnt good enough to set load order, where can i find a good guide to do it?

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Lhynn, not to sound a broken record, but Mod Organizer let's you see what files overwrite what and easily let's you change install order so that the right files get overwritten. Failing that, you can try Wyre Bash.
http://www.gamersnexus.net/swguides/846-skyrim-troubleshooting-mods

Has a better computer than Lambchop. Complains about it not being betterer enough...

Have you tried this?
This thread gives some suggestions. One of the things mentioned was optimizer textures:

Set up Optimizer Textures (or whatever optimizer you prefer so long as it has the functionality to get the job done) to halve the size of all files that end in "_n.dds". These are normal maps and in the vast majority of cases, you'll notice no difference between 1:1 compared to 1:0.5 normals, but it will save a ton of vRAM.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/12801/?

edit: if you're using mod organizer, you'll have to run it through that, so it can see all your texture files. Otherwise it will miss anything you've added.

 

[Heresiarch]

If Boss isnt good enough to set load order, where can i find a good guide to do it?

Readmes of the mods are the most reliable sources. For instance BOSS always put my Enhanced Skyrim Factions Companions mod before a bunch of mods which the author clearly states to shall be put after them.

Regarding my tinkering on the game: I've uninstalled all the texture packs, downloaded 1k versions of everything previously installed, haven't installed any Skyrim HD texture at all, and reinstalled them with careful order. Now with no AA, no ENB, the VRAM is finally controlled below 1800Mb while visual quality is still excellent. 1k textures really doesn't look bad especially on 1440p and having ELFX + CoT on.

Tried to use ENB a bit, but unfortunately I can never get more than 50 FPS and the worst thing is most ENB presets oversaturate a ton making the game look...very...familiar...like...aah, OBLIVION!!! They basically turned my bleak winterland into a Disneyland with all the bright green and purple and blues.

I don't intend to mess with the bazillions of variables in the ini to tweak the game further instead of actually playing it.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

This guy makes graphical mods that look good and are simple esps. Might be worth a look, I personally use all of them except for his rock texture replacer since I prefer the vanilla appearance.

If Boss isnt good enough to set load order, where can i find a good guide to do it?

Not exactly what you want, but this page is useful

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/1015916-ultimate-skyrim-nexus-mod-management-guide/

I use boss, then take a look through the readmes of the bigger mods to see if they suggest a different load order that for some reason boss can't recognize. It's usually enough as long as you aren't trying to make too-similar mods work together without a compatibility patch, in which case you may have to juggle them around a bit.

 

[Tigranes]

Any tips on when you should take on spriggans, where you can easily get fire stuff, etc? Hoping for a fire enchant weapon to pop up in a store so I can use it or learn the enchantment, I do less damage than it regenerates at the moment (level 9), and I'm starting to see a few near Falkreath.

 

[Lhynn]

Thx guys, 122 mods so far, i fear the game will break even after i start a clean save.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Sprigs don't have much health so you can keep the basic flames spell in one hand just to stop their regen while you attack with the other (same with trolls). Or you could get some fireball scrolls from a mage in the meantime.

Or you could sneak up on them with a bow.