Skyrim's Mechanics

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:46 am

Can anyone please tell me (doesn't need to be extensive) how Skyrim's mechanics are handled? What are your statistics? How do you level? What are your choices? Is the system as moronic as Oblivion's? Is a Fighter/Mage // Paladin archetype possible?
I haven't got much hope about the storytelling, given Bethesda's ineptness on that level, but maybe it's an entertaining game mechanical wise.

Thanks in advance!

TAKR86 · Post by **TAKR86** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 12:07 pm

There are no classes, you just use the skills you want and they improve and after 10 skill lvl ups you lvl up. Then you choose wheter to increase Mana, Health or Stamina (used to make power attacks and determines your carry capacity, so it's much more important than the old fatigue) and then you get a perk point which you then invest in whatever skill you want (fx destruction - 50% less mana cost for novice spells etc. there are other kinds of perks than this) - but you need to increase your skill to get the best perks.
I think it's much better than the way they handled it in Oblivion and yes you can make a fighter-mage character.

What I've seen of the story so far seems fine and the complexity in terms of lore and it's implementation into the game is more like Morrowind than Oblivion, but keep in mind I've only played for ten hours and really like this kind of game.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 5:39 pm

Well, even Morrowind's story was brought pretty dull. But I won't be tripping over that.
Mechanics sound nice. I take it STR, AGI, etc were removed?
I'm leaning to the "buy" side, at the moment.

Ragin Cajun · Post by **Ragin Cajun** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:23 am

I'm actually enjoying Skyrim more than I did Morrowind or Oblivion...but that's just me. It seems more "playable" right out of the box.

I am wondering if the leveling system is still the same...I can't tell yet. I've gotten to level 10 and had to turn down the difficulty on some fights all the way to novice. Remember how you had to balance your leveling in Oblivion? Interested to see if others are thinking this is the same practice here.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 8:35 am

Scaling enemies would be a gamekiller.

Myrr Disparo · Post by **Myrr Disparo** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 11:03 am

GawainBS wrote:Scaling enemies would be a gamekiller.

That. I see no point in leveling if leveling is going to make the game harder, not easier. You might as well screw it and do a pure hack'n'slash, for what it's worth.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 11:25 am

So? Does it have level scaling?

Daynov · Post by **Daynov** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 12:32 pm

I don't have the game but I remember they said that they've leaned their lesson and the level scaling will be similar to what it was in Fallout 3. So yes, lvl scaling is definitely confirmed.

Dummy · Post by **Dummy** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 1:50 pm

i didnt like oblivion exactly because of the level scaleing.

but i they changed that

[QUOTE=http://gamerant.com/elder-scrolls-5-skyrim-leveling-fallout-tao-60364/]“Since people are asking, wanted to briefly touch on level scaling. All our games have had some amount of randomness/leveling based on player level. Skyrim‘s is similar to Fallout 3‘s, not Oblivion‘s.”[/QUOTE]

the mechanics are as stated above, so you are absolutely free in doing a fighter/mage hybrid

that is what im doing myself right now, old habits die hard (baldurs gate)
if you want any specifics, ask away

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 3:56 pm

So leveling will actually be useful. Great!

If playing a Fighter/Mage, is that mostly done by buffing yourself beforehand and fighting Sword/Shield, or do you mix spells & weapons, and wield spells in one hand and a weapon in the other?

Sayne · Post by **Sayne** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 9:45 pm

You can do either.

You can wield a weapon in each hand, a two handed weapon, a weapon and a spell or TWO spells. And with the right perk, you can dual-cast a spell for added power. I've found that pulling out a sword is effective once you've run out of Magicka... but unless you beef up your stamina you won't pull off more than one or two power attacks without running out.

I'm still getting used to it... and I'm paranoid of not leveling-up primarily Destruction because I'm horrified of the enemies quickly out-classing a fighter-mage. I'm so terrified of reliving the craptastic experience that was Vanilla Oblivion.

Sayne · Post by **Sayne** » Sat Nov 12, 2011 9:52 pm

Also, there appear to be no "Rats" in Skyrim, there are "Skeevers" which are... well... rats. But not called "rats!" And the starting dungeon is not full of them. Hooray!

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 2:30 am

Alright, I decided to try it out. Here we go!

Pekka · Post by **Pekka** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 5:14 am

Guys, I been wondering one thing. I am playing basically full mage atm, cause that's the type of play I enjoy most. But I also hate leaving locked chests behind. So question is, have they removed the unlocking spell from the Alteration tree(or any other tree for that matter)? I can't seem to find it anywheres.

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 5:52 am

I checked the available spell effects at the Wiki, and I didn't see that effect either. Almost all of the 'utility' spells seem to have been taken away.

Dummy · Post by **Dummy** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 6:23 am

Pekka wrote:I am playing basically full mage atm, cause that's the type of play I enjoy most. But I also hate leaving locked chests behind.

Thievery is the one thing i dont level, but i always managed to open all the chest "in my way", but i also must admit im primarily doing sidequests, so i didnt encounter high level locks.

Or do you just dont want to use a lock pick and are trying to find a work around roll play wise?

Sayne · Post by **Sayne** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:08 am

The lockpicking mini game is fairly easy and lockpicks are pretty easy to come by.

As per the RP aspect... well... I don't think that Bethesda gave that a whole lot of thought. Um... well... how about you need dextrous fingers to cast spells, so it makes sense you're able to finesse open a lock? :-/

Just pick the locks and wait for someone to mod an unlock spell. ;-)

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:37 am

It seems that it is no longer possible to level Restoration (or any magic?) by simply casting spells out of combat?

Pekka · Post by **Pekka** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:51 am

@Gavain - It's possible. But I think it depends on the type of spell. For example, I leveled Illusion very nicely by casting Muffle. It seems high mana-cost spells work best for leveling. On second thought, Muffle is kinda an out of combat spell, so maybe you're right. But anyways, you can find an out of combat spell for almost any school, except Destruction and level with that (eg. Alteration can be leveled with Transmute).

As for them removing Unlocking spell - meh. I guess my next character will have to be a thief of some sort. For now, I'll just try to use lockpicks to the best of my ability

GawainBS · Post by **GawainBS** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 9:47 am

Maybe it was because I was using a healing spell at full health?