Are light spells useless?

[The Coal Man]

I'm not sure if my brightness is too high (i set it as suggested at start) or if there is just no reason to use these spells, but I can see fine in all the caves/ruins ive entered without torches or spells. Is that just oblivion or is my brightness too high?

[Horror Pigeon]

No, they still level your skill. Also useful if someone makes a darker dungeons mod.

[Scraps]

Eeeh, they're fine for roleplay but you're better off with nighteye when there are vision issues.

[PocketYoda]

They are if you are a Thief

[Incunabulum]

Originally posted by The Coal Man:

I'm not sure if my brightness is too high (i set it as suggested at start) or if there is just no reason to use these spells, but I can see fine in all the caves/ruins ive entered without torches or spells. Is that just oblivion or is my brightness too high?

Bethesda has always put in a mechanic and then put in other things that make that mechanic pointless because they're afraid someone will complain about the mechanic.

Darkness? No, players might need to use a light and not be able to sneak around.

Health bar? Lets allow the player to open the menu, pause time, and down as much healing junk as they want.

Radiation in FO4? Let's put radaway everywhere so they never have to deal with it.

Eating and sleeping in FO76? Let's make food so abundant that the mechanic is just an annoyance (needing to open the pipboy constantly) and never actually drives gameplay.

[Gibbo]

The Starlight spell is bugged atm. It won't work if your in first person view. As soon as you go to third person you'll see the little light appear and start hovering around you.

And yeah if you can see everything clearly then you have your brightness too high. At the start it says adjust brightness so you can barely see the symbol. Well you should do that if you to play the game as the devs intended.

[The Coal Man]

Originally posted by Gibbo:

And yeah if you can see everything clearly then you have your brightness too high. At the start it says adjust brightness so you can barely see the symbol. Well you should do that if you to play the game as the devs intended.

I did, thats why I specified that I did that in the very first sentence. But I get it, reading is hard bro. I just checked and if I go even 1 spot lower then the symbol disappears entirely. So their system sucks. Ill try it at -3 anyways and see if its any better.

As for your part on the spell being bugged, I think its just delayed (still bugged but yeah). I have definitely had it visually pop up for me inside but it was definitely not when I cast it, maybe like 5 seconds after. I spam it constantly for xp but it is far from consistent.
Edit: Yeah its really inconsistent. Tried using it outside, nothing. Tried using it while crouching, nothing. Tried waiting on it for 10 seconds, nothing. Switching to 3rd person and then back got it to work though, although the light level is pretty bad.

[Gibbo]

Originally posted by The Coal Man:

Originally posted by Gibbo:

And yeah if you can see everything clearly then you have your brightness too high. At the start it says adjust brightness so you can barely see the symbol. Well you should do that if you to play the game as the devs intended.

I did, thats why I specified that I did that in the very first sentence. But I get it, reading is hard bro.

lmao I can barely see anything in caves without light spells. You clearly set your brightness too high. So no, you didn't do what you're saying you did.

Do you know what "barely" means? In this context it means very, very dim. A bit like you.

[ebolaconundrum]

I found one area of a tower inside and Oblivion gate where I really needed one. There is a setting to make the game darker all round.

[The Coal Man]

I think it might be due to a mod if its not a standard issue, asking on that thread to see. Its one of the top 10 and says nothing beyond "a more accurate Nights/Interiors and dark areas that were way too blue and dark" but even -10 brightness is visible when I test it. So its either that or Ayleid ruins aren't meant to be dark.

[Scraps]

Originally posted by Scraps:

Eeeh, they're fine for roleplay but you're better off with nighteye when there are vision issues.

Update: I'm in the middle of questing for Shadowbanish Wine. Forgot the forts that have 'em and looking that up ruins the fun, all I rember is there's plenty. Using light spells to make sure I'm not missing the stray chest that blends too well in the background (Lord knows Nighteye's going to make that worse).

There's a use. A niche one, but a use all the same.

[FTWO]

Light Spells work fine for me, but what doesn't work for me at all is Nighteye, when I use it everything is so bright I can't see a damn thing. It looks like someone has a 1,000,000 lumen light shining directly into my face. What the hell is that all about?

[Zolvolt]

Remember when you start the game and you're supposed to make the icon not visible? Yeah thats why you don't need light spells.

[The Coal Man]

Originally posted by Zolvolt:

Remember when you start the game and you're supposed to make the icon not visible? Yeah thats why you don't need light spells.

Dang, it must be really tough to read the first sentence of a post before posting. I see a trend.

[Kanarek]

They are most useful on highest difficulty when seeing an enemy (slightly) better makes the difference between landing and avoiding a hit or getting obliterated by your enemy. That difficulty is also the first time I've ever seen real use for Detect Life spells and potions. They let you see Rumare fish better (especially when you resurface and the fish remains underwater, so you couldn't see it otherwise) and animals/NPCs in tall grass.

Plus, you can make your own Light spell to light up your enemy instead and make them more visible.

[Zolvolt]

Originally posted by The Coal Man:

Originally posted by Zolvolt:

Remember when you start the game and you're supposed to make the icon not visible? Yeah thats why you don't need light spells.

Dang, it must be really tough to read the first sentence of a post before posting. I see a trend.

Hey look, first sentence had nothing to do with the initial brightness test. wowsers Maybe reading comprehension on OP's part is the true problem here