Quote from: Ghost Whistler;500202Alchemy doesn't work because it's overcompllicated: lots of ingredients each with 4 potential (often contradictory) uses. That's why i say it's random.
For it to work you need to consistently and reliably source ingredients for the potions you want to build, eg health potions. That is a huge chore: the shops have piss all reagents (as well as potions themselves which, given how much money you end up with, are easier to buy than build otherwise), and tramping around the countryside for one spawn of nordic barnacles each time they appear is just not fun.
Far better is the way Dragon Age 2 did things.
But that's the problem Skyrim has. They over egged the pudding.
But the biggest problem the game has, beyond the superficial and highly repetitive gameplay, is the scaling. It's just ridiculous.

If you pay attention to where ingredients grow you can cut out travel times significantly by only looking in those areas, as fr the 4 effects its generally 2 beneficial and 2 negative effects for each item and you gain 1 by eating the ingredient and the rest from mixing with other stuff its not exactly rocket science but its far from random...also check the elder scrolls wiki they have a recipe list and even hints on where certain alchemy items can be found.

Alchemy is easy, find ingredients make potions learn new effects make more potions profit.  The only random is in the initial testing phase, but that can be reduced if you want by looking up potions on line.

Quote from: kryyst;500371Alchemy is easy, find ingredients make potions learn new effects make more potions profit.  The only random is in the initial testing phase, but that can be reduced if you want by looking up potions on line.

Exactly! though im guessing ghosty isnt interested in solutions just in confirmation that he's a whiney git whittering on about a game being broken or somehow badly made for reasons that are more his own fault than the game designers yet again

Yeah, I just don't get it. I find alchemy/potions too easily abuseable and, except for healing/magic/stam, nearly worthless (that is to say, I'd rather sell them than use them, almost always).

But my third character is simply not using alchemy (each iteration I play with one less abuse, this time around it's without smithing, enchanting, or alchemy).

That's key to the game: if you don't like something, you can easily just not use it.

I've never had a problem finding ingredients but then again, I tend to not Fast Travel and collect everything that I pass by. If you Fast Travel, you rarely find stuff. Also, when I'm in a Dungeon, I collect everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, at least I try. I end up having to leave Iron or Steel weapons/armor. When I get overloaded, I go through my inventory and drop the things that have the lowest value/weight and I end up keeping all the ingredients that I find. The only time I Fast Travel is after I'm done with a Dungeon and I'm at the max weight that I can run at. By the time I get back to a owned House, I have a very long list of ingredients to store. I stock pile them until I need them.

Eh, I stuck to it. It really is a fun game. Level 34 with level 75 destruction. I do a lot of fireballin.

I feel like the hardest chore is filling up soul stones. I'm level 60 enchantment, 82 blacksmith. I'm dreaming of one day having dragon scale that has the effects of my archmage robes.

Okay, 15th level now... Have nine or ten dragons kills, with one giant kill... and killed by a giant once as well, with an epic death scene being clubbed hundreds of feet into the air while running away at full speed. On that one I decided to ambush the Giant, only to have a second come running to the aid of the one that I ambushed in a WTF "Oh Noes!" BBQ moment. Didn't last long there.

Giant hunting tip #1 - Make sure the giant doesn't have any comrades nearby before you whack em.

Lost exact count on the dragons, but have killed two now at the Wizard's college in Winterhold. With all the mages around, the dragon doesn't last long there, so I have to be quick to get in the killing blow.

I travel the countryside as well, instead of fast traveling whenever possible. This allows me to find areas that have specific types of reagents used for alchemy, so that's not a problem, and many of the accessory potions have been quite useful. I especially like the haggling potion and the smithing potion.

For gear and stuff found in dungeons my trusty companion can carry quite the load. Speaking of companions, I started with Lydia, the war maiden the Yarl of Whiterun had accompany me from after I finished a quest for him. She stepped into about every trap she could in the dungeon, and was a great fighter, sometimes jumping right between me and my foes and finishing them off rather spectacularly, while I was fumbling with a weapon, potion or spell. This proved to be her undoing however. She also messed up my sneaking around, by coughing alot, often at the most inopportune times... but she could carry quite a bit of loot, and I made sure she got all the good bling I found, and she would wear it looking all cool and stuff.

We made it to the Shrine of Azura, and the Dark Elven Priestess there asked me to do a quest to find the Star of Azura, so together me and Lydia tromped off into this new dungeon, partially submerged in a lake. What was there? Undead and Necromancers...

So we get into this partially flooded hold and are attacked in this chamber by three or four skeletons and two Necromancers throwing fire and ice. I ready a shout and nock one of my best arrows, and just when I let fly, she leaps out in between me and the skeletons and necromancer taking the full force of the shout, combined with a perfect head shot with the arrow and goes down...Usually she just lays around for while mewling and whining about "I Yield" and Blah.. Blah... Blah... but not this time.

While I ready another arrow, the necromancer animates her, and she attacks me in yet another another WTF BBQ moment. For thirty seconds, all I could do is stand and stare in surprise while she's really messing me up with that superior battleaxe that I gave her. So... I get out my flaming battleaxe and put her out of her misery... and she turns into a pile of salt... frigging necromancers! I hates them!

Heartbroken, I complete the quest alone... and return the star to the Elven Priestess on the mountainside. The Daedra Azura has me do yet another quest to cleanse the Star of Azura, and I do that alone as well. Returning to the Shrine of Azura, I'm trying to figure out just how I'm going to get another companion. Azura releases the Priestess from service at that time and she volunteers to accompany me, but looks all weak and mysterious and distant. I accept figuring I'll find someone better, A War Maiden with the battle prowess that Lydia had...

Turns out the priestess is an excellent battlemage that can summon Flame Autarchs at will, and has a flame shield that will do all kinds of damage to anything that approaches her (Even me), She shoots fire bolts and ice bolts in great numbers in combat, and she doesn't jump in front of me much in combat preferring to stand it place letting our enemies take damage to close to melee range, but it gets better...

Coming down the mountain, I give her all the bling Lydia had, plus some of the new stuff I found but I can't see any of it, cause it's all wrapped up underneath those dark priestess robes... oh well.

I get into Windhelm, and go to the Inn  there, Candlehearth I think, and she shows up there with all her bling only wearing a thong! Holy Cow! A Hawt Dark Elven Priestess!

Turns out, It she wasn't doing it to show off the bling, she simply disrobes whenever we have to swim across a river...

Went to trade Skyrim in today. No shop has any copies second hand, but that didn't stop them offering me £15 for something they sell on at £35! No wonder the shops in the UK are dying on their arse. All the sales clerk wallah can do is shrug.

Game Daddy, where did you find so many weak dragons by that level? I didn't start stumbling across that many till a little later.

Random dragons are random. It's been suggested that the more you fast travel, the more random dragons you will see.

Quote from: Werekoala;500251Since you guys seem to be experienced Elder Scrolls players - I actually have the "Oblivion Game of the Year" edition for PC, and I've tried to play it a couple of times but for some reason it just dosn't grab me.

If you don't like it, don't waste lots of time playing it. I thought Oblivion was ok, but I love Skyrim. Not exactly sure why.

Quote from: danbuter;500566Random dragons are random. It's been suggested that the more you fast travel, the more random dragons you will see.

That makes sense. Over half of mine have been after fast traveling.

I think a certain amount of time has to go by between dragon spawns... The longer between spawns, the stronger the dragon. Fast traveling just speeds that up. I have noticed when I'm slow traveling I'll get a Dragon icon show up in the compass long before the dragon appears...

Plus stealth is my preferred method of overland travel, Twice I have happened on a dragon engaged in fighting other creatures... once it was attacking frost spiders (but wouldn't attack the Ice Wraiths... Boo!), and once a dragon was attacking Giants (That's where I got my Giant kill... after the Giant(s)killed the Dragon we ambushed the last remaining Giant and finished him off before he recovered from slaying the Dragon).

The Dragons I face have been strong however double damage for stealth does awesome damage, and I can get three or four arrows into em before they actually sight me... Plus If I'm fighting a dragon, I don't just stand there and duke it out with them, I find some broken terrain and move around in it so the dragon is forced to maneuver to find spots to land and attack from... This buys me more time to do damage, and having one or more companions is invaluable. I gave Lydia the best quality arrows I could find and buffed her bow for her as well...

The Dragons don't fly away anymore... They usually notice when I slam them with a few arrows for double damage and spend some time searching the terrain to find me...

I don't look forward to meeting Mannicarthos, the Undead Dragon. The one that attacked in the opening sequence.

Also I noticed there's an achievement for getting married. Has anyone got married yet in Skyrim?

It makes me sad I can't have a companion. They just die so fast and all my attacks do splash damage so they stay dead.

I actually killed a giant when I was only level 9. I found a bow of stamina damage early on, so I could shoot it full of arrows, then walk backwards for 5 minutes crapping on it with my flame spell.

Quote from: GameDaddy;500588I'll get a Dragon icon show up in the compass long before the dragon appears...

That's for dragon walls. Usually located on the top of a mountain. After you kill the first dragon, you will always find a dragon at these locations. If you don't start the main quest, you can collect the shouts from the walls without fighting a dragon. Of course, later on, you will need to find dragons to kill in order to activate all of your shouts.