How do I deal with bears?

['Tis but a scratch]

I know the tactic when fighting with Sabre Cats, Frostbite Spiders, 2H and 1H Bandits, Draugrs of all types, Dragons, etc.

But there's one animal I don't know how to deal with. And that animal is the bear. The only way I know how to kill them is simply outdamage him and deal enough damage to kill him before he kills me, or spend a lot of potions trying to stay alive. And since they appear as early as level 10, but I can't really outdamage them until I'm around level 17-20, they're really annoying to deal with.

So, any advice?

[slaimy]

use a shout to push him and deal damage to the bear thats what i would do :D

[Mephitic]

Calm and Pacify spells can help you put some distance between yourself and the bear to heal yourself enough to go back into battle or just run far enough away to avoid it. Bears wil frequently announce their proximity with a bellow, but not always.

[jancawa55]

paralyze him with staff in one hand and best sword in the other, have soul gems to recharge staff after about 4 shots.

[Potato]

fus ro dah

['Tis but a scratch]

Originally posted by Your Mother:

fus ro dah

Originally posted by slaimy:

use a shout to push him and deal damage to the bear thats what i would do :D

I do not yet have the full Unrelenting Force shout. I'm assuming it'll take another 4-8 hours of playing before I reach that point.

Originally posted by Mephitic:

Calm and Pacify spells can help you put some distance between yourself and the bear to heal yourself enough to go back into battle or just run far enough away to avoid it. Bears wil frequently announce their proximity with a bellow, but not always.

I do not use Illusion. And I really don't feel like spending time and gold on it only to be able to deal with one enemy.

Originally posted by jancawa55:

paralyze him with staff in one hand and best sword in the other, have soul gems to recharge staff after about 4 shots.

I think you overestimate my involvement in the game. Right now, I'm only level 10. Finding a Paralyze staff/spell would be very iprobable (not to mention that the spell costs a literal ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of money). And my best sword requires 40-50 swings to kill a bear.

[GrimCat]

Keep away from the bear until it goes up on it's hind legs get behind it and attack.

['Tis but a scratch]

Originally posted by jimanity:

Keep away from the bear until it goes up on it's hind legs get behind it and attack.

I don't deal enough damage for it to be a valid strategy. As I said earlier, it takes about 40-50 hits for me to kill a bear, while one attack of a bear diminishes about 1/3 of my health

[boiling pie]

what is your build?

I hate bears with a passion.

['Tis but a scratch]

Originally posted by boiling pie:

what is your build?

I hate bears with a passion.

Light Armor + One-Handed + Restoration + Alteration
I guess a Shield would've been helpful, but that's what the extra armor from Alteration is for

[alexander_dougherty]

How do you kill bears, easily.

You just kite around them, keeping your distance, always staying away from their front. And when they rear up on their back legs, back off immediately, and wait for them to go down on all fours again, then resume.

Good practice for dragons.

['Tis but a scratch]

Originally posted by Alkpaz:

You approach bears as if they were Negan.

Who is that?
Is that the character from Walking Dead?
Never watched or cared about that show
The joke went over my head

Originally posted by alexander_dougherty:

How do you kill bears, easily.

You just kite around them, keeping your distance, always staying away from their front. And when they rear up on their back legs, back off immediately, and wait for them to go down on all fours again, then resume.

Good practice for dragons.

Bears can turn 180 degrees while performing an attack at the same time, which takes like 0,4 seconds. It's really not a viable strategy. And the moment when they stand up on their back legs is a great opportunity to strike because they do pretty much nothing for a few seconds, giving you time to heal or do some damage.

[OneMuskyOx]

I don't know what you want us to say. You've been complaining about practically every viable strategy we have suggested (shout at them/block bash when they attack, wait for them to use their slow attack, fear spell, kiting, etc). ALL of these strategies work against the early game bears.

My suggestion is to just hop up on a rock and pelt the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ with arrows. Bethesda can't make pathfinding AI to save their lives and it levels up your archery (perks, anyone?). Otherwise (despite your protests about magic and spell costs) a good fear spell will keep them at bay. It takes little magicka to cast, isn't high level, and I guarantee it will work on them. Seriously, the apprentice fear spell only costs a couple hundred gold. Can't afford that? Chop some wood, chase some butterflies, rub elbows with Drevis Neloren, chat with Nazeem about the Cloud District and hope he bribes you with apples. If you're not a caster, all the better because you're not using that little blue bar in the first place. It's how I've always dealt with overleveled saber cats, spiders, and bears (oh my). Helps against most other annoying little bastards like Chaurus and some Falmer too.

And if it takes so many attacks to bring them down, just lower the damn difficulty if you are having such a nightmarish time. With some builds I tend to keep it at apprentice until I get some OP gear and then raise it to highest possible. Right now I'm doing a dual-wielding stealth character and they are absolutely balls before you get assassin's blade and other sneaky skills. the loot game is a bit weak early on for fighting classes anyways. Casters can just stroll over to the college and get a free set of robes.

If literally none of these options are working for you, it just simply boils down to the classic "get gud, skrub" strategy.

[gaqo]

I'm so bored with certain animals, like bears, that I just ride on by. But if I have to; continually paralyse with Azra's staff and slowly roast using wall of flame spell, they're cooked in a short time.

[Jorge]

Originally posted by Blue Space Communist:

I don't know what you want us to say. You've been complaining about practically every viable strategy we have suggested (shout at them/block bash when they attack, wait for them to use their slow attack, fear spell, kiting, etc). ALL of these strategies work against the early game bears.

My suggestion is to just hop up on a rock and pelt the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ with arrows. Bethesda can't make pathfinding AI to save their lives and it levels up your archery (perks, anyone?). Otherwise (despite your protests about magic and spell costs) a good fear spell will keep them at bay. It takes little magicka to cast, isn't high level, and I guarantee it will work on them. Seriously, the apprentice fear spell only costs a couple hundred gold. Can't afford that? Chop some wood, chase some butterflies, rub elbows with Drevis Neloren, chat with Nazeem about the Cloud District and hope he bribes you with apples. If you're not a caster, all the better because you're not using that little blue bar in the first place. It's how I've always dealt with overleveled saber cats, spiders, and bears (oh my). Helps against most other annoying little bastards like Chaurus and some Falmer too.

And if it takes so many attacks to bring them down, just lower the damn difficulty if you are having such a nightmarish time. With some builds I tend to keep it at apprentice until I get some OP gear and then raise it to highest possible. Right now I'm doing a dual-wielding stealth character and they are absolutely balls before you get assassin's blade and other sneaky skills. the loot game is a bit weak early on for fighting classes anyways. Casters can just stroll over to the college and get a free set of robes.

If literally none of these options are working for you, it just simply boils down to the classic "get gud, skrub" strategy.

Oh wow, I usually play on Legendary from the start along with mods that make it harder like Hypothermia 0-0
I would recommend getting a shield and ALWAYS carrying it on you in your favorites. SHields are a life-saver and are very useful. That archer on the bridge not letting you pass? Use a shield. That bear won't back off? Bash him with a shield while attacking.
Another tactic would be to use lots of restoration if you have enough magicka.
You could always just hop on a rock and cast some spells and shoot him with a bow.
Bears are usually not much of a problem as long as you travel on a horse or are very good at defending.
Shouts are always your best friend.

[вαтαк]

you need a Roman Catapult to deal with them it's nifty and made with a oak wood fininish you can destroy a bear cave with it