Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Tips for new players

[drab_trousers]

I'm still a newbie in Skyrim but here is a tip I wished I had known. I play a hybrid mage and have light armor in all the spots but the chest where I have a robe that has magic regen +75% and some other stat. Well, I put a point into the Light Armor Custom Fit perk which gives you a bonus if you have light armor in hands, head, feet and chest. Well, robes aren't considered light armor so no bonus.

Also, my son showed me a nifty trick. Grab a bucket or cauldron and pick it up and put it on the merchants head. He will be blind and you can steal everything right in front of him without having to sneak. I don't know if you can pickpocket him without getting caught, though.

[Flu]

I don't know if you can pickpocket him without getting caught, though.

Probably not. You can get caught by sleeping people, so they will probably catch you pickpocketing even with a bucket on their head.

[GrnMtnDragon [sherpa]]

Just unwrapped, installed to my HD, and started playing this yesterday. My life outside this game is now apparently completely over.

While it's very similar to Fallout 3, one thing that I've noticed right away is that I can't carry everything I want to sell it later. That weight limit is a killer ... is leveling up your Stamina the only way to increase what you can carry?

[Aronion]

Just unwrapped, installed to my HD, and started playing this yesterday. My life outside this game is now apparently completely over.

While it's very similar to Fallout 3, one thing that I've noticed right away is that I can't carry everything I want to sell it later. That weight limit is a killer ... is leveling up your Stamina the only way to increase what you can carry?

Welcome. We used to hold meetings, but since no one can tear themselves away from the game, they have been cancelled.

You can enchant items that will help you carry more and there's blessings as well as perks to help. Don't forget about using followers and, IMHO, stay away from collecting food.

[dronad]

Just unwrapped, installed to my HD, and started playing this yesterday. My life outside this game is now apparently completely over.

While it's very similar to Fallout 3, one thing that I've noticed right away is that I can't carry everything I want to sell it later. That weight limit is a killer ... is leveling up your Stamina the only way to increase what you can carry?

You can use the Steed Stone Dragon.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Steed_Stone

[krieg87]

You can use the Steed Stone Dragon.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Steed_Stone

I'm not sure about light armor but if you're into the heavy armor there is a perk you can use where your heavy armor weighs nothing and doesn't affect your movement speed. Granted you have to be a fairly high level but if you use heavy armor a lot then it won't take long.

[GerryAtrix]

Just unwrapped, installed to my HD, and started playing this yesterday. My life outside this game is now apparently completely over.

While it's very similar to Fallout 3, one thing that I've noticed right away is that I can't carry everything I want to sell it later. That weight limit is a killer ... is leveling up your Stamina the only way to increase what you can carry?

Stamina is the main driver of weight carry, I think you get 5 weight additional carry per 10 Stamina gain. At low levels you can get lucky and find "Carry" enchanted boots in loot (I did this with my first character) but the options are limited. Joining the Theives guild can get you some help in this area as can obtaining a certain Dragon Priest mask (very very dificult at low levels). Otherwise, get a companion if you haven't already and they can carry at least 100 - 200 weight of loot (more if they aren't heavy armor types) for you. Just remember to empty them out after each dungeon crawl as much as possible.

Here's a tip: Take all the mage robes you come across, whether by killing necormancers/mages and stripping them or finding them in loot. They only weigh 1 weight usually and some can bring over 100 gold from merchants plus you can sell them to other mages (college of winterhold and other places), opening up your merchant choices beyond the town shops. Mages will also buy jewelry and redundant spell tomes. I tend to hang onto all my soul gems, but they will buy them also.

[GerryAtrix]

I'm not sure about light armor but if you're into the heavy armor there is a perk you can use where your heavy armor weighs nothing and doesn't affect your movement speed. Granted you have to be a fairly high level but if you use heavy armor a lot then it won't take long.

For you spell/sneak/archer type characters who don't use much sword/shield/block I found a way to get 50% magika resistance (as you can with the perk at Block level 50 I think) plus a significant boost to magika: The Atronach Guardian stone. The drawback is that your magika will regenerate 50% slower. This 50% magika resistance really improves your ability to take direct hits from dragon priest staffs and certain Draugrs and mages with frost and fire spells without draining your healing potion supply. As a conjuration specialist, I offset the magika regen loss by enchanting some armor with 20% magika regen and a ring with 40% regen, plus 15% reduction in Conjuration spell cost. I now have 50 points additional mana plus the 50% resistance. I can easily shrug off the ranged hits from mages while I fill them with arrows or summon my Daedra Lord thrall for the tougher battles....Daedra Lord summoning FTW by the way....it almost makes the game too easy on Expert level.

[GrnMtnDragon [sherpa]]

So what's the best character type to have? Although I should have expected a medieval fantasy structure, the multiple races sort of caught me by surprise since I was thinking more along the lines of Fallout 3. So I'm building a male Redguard warrior focusing on Two Handed weapons and heavy armor because that's what I've pretty much come across so far. With the 3 attributes though, it appears that any race can pretty much be leveled up to specialize in any class just by advancing some perks over others. Is that true or should I start playing a second thief / mage / archer character now and use my warrior to make all the mistakes before I level up the character I really care about.

[Sven XC [sherpa]]

I'm a wood elf, specializing in one-handed weaponary with shield & archery. I'm not into the whole magic side of things besides my shouting ability. As for carrying weight, it sucks, but between my boots, ring, and chest armor I can carry an additional 60 lbs of stuff, which comes in handy.