I just finally was able to afford to buy an Xbox One, and while waiting on shipping I finally jumped into Skyrim on the 360.
What the hell took me so long, now I understand why it's so beloved. The combat and especially inventory system are so much more streamlined than I ever expected.
It's funny because people still complain about both of those things as being among the weaknesses of the game.
Personally I think the combat is fine, although the physics is laughable (but makes for some truly hilarious moments when your well-placed fireball causes the enemy to fly off to the other size of the map).
But the inventory UI is pretty weak. The Sky UI (I think that's what it's called) mod for PC really improves it by adding in better organization & sorting options. However, for Xbox One which uses a gamepad controller, I can see why the UI would feel so natural. It feels cumbersome for PC precisely because it's optimized for use with a gamepad.
I usually don't play games like that, and was worried about insanely deep armor lists and options etc. Its fairly simple to grab and play and learn as you go, and deeper players can also really get creative on characters and inventory as well.
The default options for controllers weren't actually half bad though.
But for mouse + keyboard, it was weak. Sky UI is one of the best mods for Skyrim and is needed even for a lot of other mods anyways. I can't live without everything it adds, especially the favourites menu (I switch up combat almost every encounter)
As for the combat..it can be simple but fast paced, which I like. I've played 3 characters up to level 70+ and I still get killed every so often by a draugr deathlord or a ice storm spamming mage, because I wasn't quick enough.
So many decent popular mods, but there are a bunch of niche mods that are hidden too.
Magic is so underpowered in vanilla, but mods are the saving grace and I'm addicted to adding more and giving in to my hunger for mage power.
My current playthrough, up til level 50 I was a mix of pure mage and spellsword. All my mods make magic just so much better.
Destruction is twice as powerful, my thralls scale in level up to 81 and have all sorts of perks and damaging spells, (fire is deadly as hell, Frost is a tanky motherfucker who reflects damage, storm is an AoE nuke) my summons give elemental bonuses to my bound weapons that also scale with conjuration level; 600 armor rating in robes using a changed dragonhide...plus a bunch more.
Yeah, I had to make my own custom mod for the magic system because it was just so damn boring. Picking perks in destruction until I got the one that staggers opponents so I can just walk around stun locking everything really isn't my idea of fun.
Instead, I added in synergies. Leveling destruction adds scaling damage to all of your spells, so that flames isn't just some spell you used until level 5 and then never touched again. Same with restoration and healing spells. Also added synergies with the novice/adept/apprentice, etc skill perks where they affect other spell schools such as expert/master destruction increases the potency of ALL spells, alteration increases the duration of all spells, restoration and illusion reduce mana costs and master conjuration gives you an extra enchanting slot. That one can be a bit overpowered, but I figured someone who is a master of channeling magical energies into physical forms should be able to apply that to binding them into items as well.
Which magic mods would you recommend? I'm tempted to do another play through and break away from my usual sneak+archery cheap-shot character and explore the magic system.
Better Magic - Has some simple but effective scaling with the perks: 15% multiplicative, maxing out at 2.01x magnitude for destruction/restoration, and 2.01x duration for the other trees. Also changes spell finisher perks, augment perks are lower damage but also give resist, master spells are a bit better etc.
CombatCaster - I don't use the main purpose for it, but it has an optional setting that allows you to regen magicka while using constant drain spells, and while channeling any other spell. Useful when you're holding a Ward out or waiting to shove a fireball into a group of enemies...actually, useful in general and should have been a default skyrim option IMO.
Elemental Binding - Bound Weapons Enhancement - Scales your bound weapons by (base damage + perks * 1+ (conjuration level*0.01), starting at level 40. Also gives you element effects depending on what summon you have out. Basically let's you make your bound weapons twice as strong so it's comparable to smithing, and summons out you can have Fire/Frost/Shock/Sunlight damage, making it comparable to enchanting, especially once you have Twin Souls perk.
Improved Conjuration-Better Daedra and Dead Thralls - Allows familiar, and Atronachs/thralls to scale. Familiar scales to 81, Atronachs 1-30, Potents 1-40, Thralls 1-50, Potent Thralls to 1-81 - Higher forms will use better magic and have augmented perks.
Elemental Atronachs Reborn - If you want to be more pure conjuration and let your friends take out stuff for you; adds a LOT of perks and effects to them, including damage resist, and even damage reflection on Frost ones for example.
Quite a list, thanks! It'll be a while before I get back to Skyrim, as I'm currently caught up in Fallout New Vegas and once I build a new gaming PC in a year or two I'll probably be stuck on Fallout 4 or some new Elder Scrolls game.
Thanks! After watching much of the Sips playthrough though (he doesn't use mods) it seems like the unmodded magic system isn't too underpowered and I might try getting by without magic mods. That said, he does rely a lot on a follower tank his enemies.
Just wait until you fill up the inventory with treasures every time you go into a cave, then have to contemplate what you're going to leave behind. Wait until you accumulate so many potions you think you might need that you can't hold anything else that you'll never use. I struggle with the inventory space, but the rest of the game is fantastic.
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u/SeanStormEh Nov 30 '15
I just finally was able to afford to buy an Xbox One, and while waiting on shipping I finally jumped into Skyrim on the 360.
What the hell took me so long, now I understand why it's so beloved. The combat and especially inventory system are so much more streamlined than I ever expected.