Requiem - I'm going to die...

[gnewna]

So, I've decided to play with Requiem installed. I gave it a bit of a go the other day and liked it (though I had to... is the term 'nerf'?... the difficulty just to get out of Helgen alive - think I found a point that was more on the challenging than 'this is impossible, imma rage quit' side) but I'd planned a playthrough that didn't seem like a very good one for trying Requiem properly (aka the character wasn't the sort to take followers and boy am I going to need followers...) so I uninstalled and went back to SkyRe. Well, a combination of really kinda wanting to give Requiem a proper go and kinda having gone off the idea of playing a stealth character at the moment have led to restartitis kicking in, and I'm going to try it out.

I'm thinking I want to play a mage, although I suspect I'll need a weapon for backup (and also, you know, because there are no starting spells in Requiem, or at least not for a Breton - unfortunately my monitor is too tiny to display all the racial info, I'm not sure if it tells you if you get starting spells, but I think Altmer might?) Finally complete the College, you know, if I don't rage quit long before that point... Maybe even give the Main Quest a proper bash, although, well, both of these questlines start out with, uh, draugr. Which I believe are likely to massacre me at low levels. Anyone know what sort of point they start being feasible opponents, with a firey spell in hand? And a tank or mage follower? Or both...

Basically, any top tips?

[gnewna]

I figure Hamsterbytes might enjoy these:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=256724340
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=256859112
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=256859201
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=256859332
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=256859513
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=256859620
(http://steamcommunity.com/id/gnewna/screenshots/)

Rest of the trip to Kynesgrove was pretty quiet, OH EXCEPT THERE WAS A TROLL. And did I mention TROLLS HAVE INCREDIBLY FAST HEALTH REGEN? ALSO THEY JUST DO NOT WANT TO DIE I GUESS.

Just about managed to get it dead, but mainly thanks to levelling up mid-fight. *cheat face*

[Hamsterbytes , bits and nibbles]

Sounds like fun Gnewna

[gnewna]

Okay, lockpicking is infuriating in Requiem. After levelling up on that troll, I chose the first perk in lockpicking which means you can at least attempt the easier locks (up to Adept, I think, although it's a bit vague, but it's letting me at least try to pick Adept locks, so I presume so) and I rather hoped would mean I would stand some chance of successfully picking one. First chest I came across (far as I can tell, ALL enemy chests I've found, at least ones outdoors, seem to be locked) was Adept, and impossible to pick.

I actually installed Lockpick Pro to check it wasn't just me misjudging where I was putting the pick, and it wasn't. I was putting it in the exact correct location, turned almost to the end and at the last second got stuck, so I quickly released it, turned it a fraction left, same story, turned it two fractions right (i.e. the very minimum I could turn it, times two), and it broke. The 'sweet spot' is DRASTICALLY reduced and I honestly don't see how anyone could actually successfully pick a lock - and bear in mind this was an Adept lock, so not the very easiest, but not the most difficult, either.

Given my opinion of vanilla lockpicking is "I hate this ridiculous minigame, this has NOTHING to do with character skill or even really MY skill, it's just how long I'm prepared to sit here twiddling with this stupid interface", I am not too pleased about this. Essentially, as far as I can tell, it comes down to my mouse not being quite as sensitive as it should be (or slightly too sensitive, I'm not sure which. I can't move the pick in tiny enough increments) so I'm inclined to either use ANOTHER cheat mod (Perkless Lockpicking) on top of LP or just console Rozenn's skill up to 100 and give her the other lockpicking perks because IMO this is just broken. I'm not keen to do it, and I'm not planning to cheat on anything else (although I've installed SkyTweak so if I feel the one perk per level thing is too restrictive I can give myself an extra one now and then, speaking of which, I did just that, mainly to test how it works, and so now Rozenn has one perk in Light Armour. I won't be abusing it, though, just if it feels unbalanced, bearing in mind I'm not using a particularly tanky follower, which I suspect you're supposed to.) Well, aside from tweaking the damage.

TL;DR version, lockpicking in Skyrim sucks, in Requiem it also blows.

[gnewna]

Right, did a bit more testing, and it looks as though you need the second level lockpicking perk (which requires FIFTY lockpick skill) to pick Adept locks. I suppose that's realistic, but I have no idea how you're supposed to get to level 50, although now I think about it maybe if pretty much all enemies' treasure chests have now got some form of lock, maybe it levels at a reasonable rate once you've got that first perk, and you just have to look sadly at the fancier locks. I did console my lockpickng skill up in a fit of pique, but I think I'm going to reload to before I did so and try to put up with the stupid rotten mean system and see how it goes.

[Hamsterbytes , bits and nibbles]

Good luck. You made me laugh today. Thanks. I am kinda in a mean mood and hopefully a few more laughs and I'll mellow out.

[gnewna]

I'm here to help! If only I had the technology to do a let's play ;) "ARGH WHAT'S THAT? A BEAR! WHY ISN'T ICEWIND *DOING* ANYTHING TO YOU?? FINE, I'LL CHOP YOU WITH MY BATTLEAXE! Oh. You killed me..."

[Skyrimnut]

Lol, I guess I shouldn't ask how it's going then?

I admire you, though, I'd never try Requiem. I think the experience would ultimately be extremely furstrating for me and while I like game challenges, I don't think I can handle that type of challenge.

I'm excellent at Vanilla lockpicking, I can usually get a Master lock in about 2-3 lockpicks and adept locks are usually done in one without any perks. It takes a very light touch. Lol, not sure how I'd do in Requiem, probably terribly. The key for me was little nudges and then noting the landmarks on the lock surface when it gave a little, then adjusting. It's probably a bit easier for me since I play with a controller, and I think the minigame favors a controller.

[gnewna]

Honestly, I'm complaining a lot, but I'm LOVING this mod! I couldn't play it on its default difficulty (the default damage given/taken is NUTS and I also have a couple of the smaller options switched off like the chance to be disarmed if you're too out of stamina) but then I always play on Adept in vanilla/SkyRe, so I'm not a big 'ooh, I'm playing on the toughest difficulty, hooray for me!' type ;) It's forcing me to be more strategic, even with the tweaks (like I wasted a perk on Alteration, I suspect - forgot that it's only SkyRe that lets the -flesh spells last long enough to be useful - but using SkyTweak I was able to give myself an extra one to replace it, given I'm still getting used to the mod).

I'm reasonably good at the lockpicking minigame, or at least, I was before I started using a wireless mouse - unfortunately my desk is set up so that a wired USB mouse is pretty much impossible to use and I dunno if you can still get the non-USB kind for a sensible price! I just can't get the dratted pick to move in tiny enough increments, so it just winds me up. Oh, well! Hey, how's your current 'last ever build' doing? :D

Oh, and as for an update (oh crikey, it's turning into a fanfic - I promise not to be this lengthy in future, but there is a Pivotal Moment, I guess. There's also scarecely any Requiem stuff in it, I'm afraid):

After having lunch in the Braidwood Inn, the girls set off to find the Sanctuary. Along the way, they met wolves, waved at a giant, and strayed too close to a Hag in a "cottage"* which will be all too familiar to anyone who's ever been drinking with one Sam Guevenne... Thankfully, the perk I took in Restoration was NOT wasted, and Rozenn managed to use her ward spell to get close enough to stab the Hag with the Elven dagger she took off one of the pile of bandits. Unfortunately, the blasted woman's chest was locked with an Adept lock, so... http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=257057494

Undeterred (it was probably full of mouldy old bones anyway, HUMPH) the girls pressed on, narrowly avoiding a b-b-bear attack, and picking alchemy ingredients (Vilja's promised to teach Rozenn a thing or two about the family trade, although she seems more interested in singing and telling tales), until they came to the Sanctuary. Rozenn wasn't sure what to expect, but... it probably wasn't a cave. Inside, though, was breathtaking. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=257057371 They wandered around for a bit, and then found who they were looking for, and continued with Vilja's quest (NO SPOILERS!) Rozenn left Vilja to chat with her friend, and decided to go for a walk. She ended up swimming across the river to the mill they'd passed earlier (and rather wishing they had known they could have crossed the river at that point, rather than walking up to Kynesgrove and fighting a troll...) where she chopped some wood for the mill owner, who seemed to be pretty down on her luck.

Returning to collect Vilja, they decided to head back to Kynesgrove for the night, but their curiosity got the better of them when they spotted some sort of structure halfway up the nearby mountain. They snuck up it, but apparently even a perked level 5 in Sneak gets you nowhere in Requiem, and they were immediately spotted by some SLEEPING SKELETONS (Requiem apparently removes dragons from the game until you've got to that point in the Main Quest, I think normally there would be a dragon flying around the Hot Springs area right from the start, although come to think of it, that could be a Skyrim Unbound thing?). Luckily, although undead in general are apparently MUCH tougher in Requiem (e.g. you can't shoot them with normal arrows and expect much good to come of it) Skeletons are apparently still pretty much Skeletons, although one of them was an archer, so it was still kinda tough. After they'd caught their breath from the fight, Rozenn realised she could hear... chanting? She looked around, panicking a bit, then realised where it was coming from. The... weird wall with what looked like a dragon's face on it was GLOWING. Blue tendrils of light were coming out of part of the carving and as Rozenn approached, fascinated and horrified, the chanting grew louder and then it... stopped. But she felt as though she... knew more than she had before. Then she started freaking out, but trying not to let Vilja know she was http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=257120522 Apparently Vilja did NOT hear that. At that point, Rozenn ran, and she ran, and she didn't stop running (sprinting...) until she was doubled over, out of breath, convinced Vilja was probably running in the opposite direction from the crazy girl. Then she heard a familiar voice, friendly as ever. Together, they ran (but more calmly, now) the rest of the way to Kynesgrove, where they are now, safe and warm in the Braidwood Inn.

*blood-stained filth pit might be more accurate

[Hamsterbytes , bits and nibbles]

Had me giggling like a school girl.

[gnewna]

:D I need to figure out FISS, apparently, if I want to export Rozenn's journal entries to a .txt file - I kinda want to make a Tumblr (my kid will laugh at me SO HARD) as I'm having a blast playing/writing her. Also, I have had a bit of a go with some character prettification mods, nothing too OTT, but kinda enhancing the vanilla looks, mostly. (Superior Lore Friendly Hair, The Eyes of Beauty, XCE, and Race Menu OH MY GOD RACE MENU WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME HOW GOOD IT IS??) Admittedly this is nothing to do with Requiem, but Rozenn feels a bit less dowdy next to Vilja now...

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=257161762

Oh, also, Requiem makes staying in an inn more expensive - not sure if all of them have the same price, but so far it's 50 septims. Plus 5 for a refill of my iNeed waterskin. But Iddra was kind and let us take a bit of bread and cheese for tomorrow's lunch. And, okay, maybe a bottle of wine to share on the way. Hopefully we won't have to fight too many terrifying things on the walk back to Whiterun, and can enjoy a picnic by the pile of dead bandits... (Is there a picnic blanket mod??)

[Skyrimnut]

"Current" last build is doing quite well. Changed things up a bit and denied myself crafting of any type and, AND... I must wear the faction armor of the faction I'm in, so armor stats will change in the game and I'll both heavy and light armor in the gameplay. I got tired of not wearing Dawnguard or Blades armor. Usually it just sits on a mannequin. Not this time. I also have Barbas as a follower. Hehehe, he's a trip. Everybody hates him, but this is not a stealth build, so who cares? With him and Faelor from Wyrmstooth, I got me too essential doggies to follow me around.

Oh you have a ton of stuff. Did you put out a list of your mods in this thread? I'm curious to see what you're using. She's looking quite nice. I was ok with Vanilla eyes, though I do use Xenia Character enhancement and Ultimate NPC face unlocker and that ponytail mod that's rather nice here. But I'm a guy this time, so no ponytail mod.

[gnewna]

Ooh, sounds fun - I know what you mean about not wearing the Dawnguard armour, I always tell myself I'm going to, because I do actually like the look of it, but I always end up going 'look, I'm DISGUISED as a vampire...' (I really like the red vampire armour, modded to be unisex). Yay, doggies! Have you got the No More Stupid Dog mod? I'm not sure if it's on the Workshop, but it's absolutely awesome, stops everyone being MEAN about lovely wuffly doggies.

I haven't done my mod list, actually, here you go (I have all DLCs and Unofficial Patches, have edited a bit for clarity, removed multiple plugins from same mod etc)

RaceMenu
FISS
PracticalFemaleArmors
iHUD
EquipableMap
Better Favor Jobs
01ERA - this is the lovely EOTW Dovahkiin's Journeyman armour mod. I've also got their replacers for the College Robes and the other Mage Robes
Continuous Wood Chop
Bandoliers
BetterQuestObjectives
EMCompViljaSkyrim
Guard Dialogue Overhaul
Weapons & Armor Fixes_Remade
MIDFollowMeCloser (Move It Dammit)
Sit Anywhere
Northborn Fur Hoods
Cloaks (of Skyrim)
Acquisitive Soul Gems
BR_HoodCirclets (Lets you wear circlets under hoods, little bit cheaty, I suppose but mostly because, well, why couldn't you?)
RiverwoodHuntingCabin
Immersive Patrols - I have the Travellers, Dawnguard Bandits installed
iNeed
SkyUI
SkyTweak
AchieveThat
TakeNotes
TheEyesOfBeauty
WetandCold (and the Ashes version for Solstheim)
Requiem
pf_lighterpotions
Journal modlet - this is my little mod that lets my character have a blank journal in her inventory so that the Take Notes mod makes sense... She's also got a quill and inkwell (which will be needed for Equipable Maps, too.)

Also got the Eyes of Beauty, XCE and Superior Lore Friendly Hair which are just retextures, I guess, so they don't show up in the mod list. Guys can have ponytails, too! (Actually, no. I know of one man who looks acceptable with a ponytail. That is all.)

I'm pretty settled on this mod list, I will probably get over excited and add a few more things in, but this should be more or less it (I'll be adding Vilja in Solstheim when that becomes relevant, though). I've also got a player home mod, which I don't usually do, but it just looks so nice and cosy, and you do have to do something (but, crucially, something we may be ABLE to do in Requiem, rather than waiting until goodness knows when we can manage to become eligible to buy Breezehome) to get it, I always feel a bit meh about completely free player homes, unless they seem like somewhere that you could 'squat' (not sure if this is UK specific slang - when a home is unoccupied so people take it over, basically!) or are made available in such a way as you can tell yourself you're house sitting for someone. (I did really like that Breezehome Estate mod, though, but it's definitely too grand for Rozenn and Vilja, at least for now!)

Although, if I get as far as finishing the MQ with Rozenn, I am pretty tempted by the same author's INCREDIBLE looking Halls of Dovahndor player home, which is intended as a kind of reward for completing the MQ, and I think it would be a rather splendid end to a long playthrough, setting up home in such an awesome... palace, thingy. Oh, and I might add Categorised Favourites Menu...

[Skyrimnut]

I have a few of those in the past, but I nixed a lot of them to make a collection with 50 or less, I'm sitting at 48 now, with plans to add one more dungeon later in the game.

It's been very fun so far. I allowed for gauntlets and boots for some of the factions, especially where there is no boost from wearing a complete set of faction armor (ei. Companions), but for Dawnguard, I'll be a high enough level that I can just wear the faction armor. I only have an enchanted ring and amulet. It really makes you think about what you really need the skill boost in. So far, it's been one-handed and archery. It's a weirdo build, two-handed, one-handed, archery, heavy armor, light armor, block, and a wee bit of conjuration for bound weapons. A sort of weapons/armor expert. I will do the Mage's quest and wear partial robes, but I'll rely mostly on scrolls, which I never really used in the game. It's a fun idea for a completionist build.

But I'll tell ya, it was pretty awesome ACTUALLY wielding Wuthraad in the final Companions quest. Never did that before.

[gnewna]

Oh, I'm terrible for going around with a pocket full of scrolls that I'm TOTALLY going to use and yet never do! I'm going to try and stick with wearing either a hood for warmth with an enchanted circlet OR an enchanted hood (like the novice one) and a circlet for prettiness, not two enchanted ones, although given I'm not planning to max enchanting (have only ever done it once and it was quite grindy) and won't probably ever get dual enchants, I don't feel too bad about having one or two extra enchanted items.

I might have just accidentally added two more mods (Realistic Lighting Overhaul and Pure Waters). Whoops!

[Skyrimnut]

Publicado originalmente por gnewna:

Oh, I'm terrible for going around with a pocket full of scrolls that I'm TOTALLY going to use and yet never do!

I might have just accidentally added two more mods (Realistic Lighting Overhaul and Pure Waters). Whoops!

Then I highly recommend Wearable lanterns. Lol, it'll get quite dark now in them dungeons. It is compatible with SKUI I use W.A.T.E.R. for my water mod, it's good. My lighting mod is COTL, I turn down the brightness a bit on my monitor and it makes things a bit more spooky in dungeons without being all "I can't see ****. Oh crap, trap. BARBAS!"

Yeah, this build was about using the stuff I never use, which was mostly special armors and weapons and scrolls.