[blockquote][b][url=/profile/JohnLeBlanc]John LeBlanc[/url] said:[/b]

Hey gang, is there anything that can be done to improve damage from a pick axe?  Any idea what the maximum damage might be for one?  Just trying to ascertain viability for that weapon...

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I'm pretty sure Pickaxes are governed by one-handed. They might or might not be upgradeable with smithing. With the unofficial patches they can definitely be improved with smithing and are governed by one-handed.

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Overseer]Warlord[/url] said:[/b] Does anyone know a way to increase the damage of the... The Breath of Nchardak I think its called?[/blockquote] Breath of Nchuak :P

Nchardak is where you go fetch a Black Book with Neloth. I think only weaknes to magic would improve it.

Both of your questions would be better asked in Tips & Tricks btw.

For a pick axe...do these classify as swords or axes for purposes of One Handed perks?  (ie should I take Hack & Slash or Bonebreaker?)

It's classified as a war axe, so presumably Hack and Slash will work, but you should probably test that first.

Oh my lord! I popped in a couple weeks back and saw the activity on the group was pretty dead and old, and I grew all disheartened! I've been in the middle of some crisis level shit at home as far as finances and my computer and such go, but I'm back! Alive! WELL! With CHEESE!

And I've got my game all modded out to be pretty and shit, to emulate that Enhanced Edition feel. So, I'm ready to post. I have three solid ideas I'll be posting in the near future, the first of which may not stand out as exactly unique, but let's just say this: Ysmir, Ysgramor, and the mantle of Konahrik. Oh, axe that. Or don't. Eh, you'll be axing something...most things. 

I'm glad I figured out all of you lovely people are here, at the new site (which looks wonderful by the way). I had a couple of thoughts to run by you all, for whoever is feeling thoughtful and generous with them. 

So, dragonbone armor. Thoughts? Feelings? Let me know here. It's relevant.

Also, axes. Thoughts? Feelings? Again, do tell. The big kind, mind you.

Finally...bows vs. crossbows, for non sneak characters. I haven't obtained my first crossbow to test how it'll work on this particular character, but I'm curious if there's any benefit aside from the obvious (exploding bolts, bitches) to using crossbows over, say, Auriel's Bow or Zephyr (with their ridiculous shooting speeds.) Thoughts, feelings, etc; give me some thought matter, folks. Much appreciated.

Ah, it's good to be back. Anyone who has any build they want looked at, new, old, concept or solid, I need reading material, and I want to get involved once more. Otherwise, I'll just be perusing inbetween play sessions. 

Much love to all of you,

Umbra (Garkus, name change imminent)

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Umbra1]Garkus (Umbra)[/url] said:[/b]

So, dragonbone armor. Thoughts? Feelings? Let me know here. It's relevant.

[/blockquote]

Awesome, but takes a while to get to and is REALLY heavy, so the Conditioning Perk or Steed Stone will go a long way. Suggest enchanting for maximum swag.

[blockquote]

Also, axes. Thoughts? Feelings? Again, do tell. The big kind, mind you.

[/blockquote]

Also awesome, and I lament there are so few unique battleaxes. Bleed Damage isn't as much as I would like it to be, though I remember reading that Orc 1-H axes had higher bleed damage and am curious as to whether that would match with 2-H. I would absolutely enchant that Dragonbone Armor with Fortify Two Handed. Axes are awesome, but they're slow. Making those hits count is important.

[blockquote]

Finally...bows vs. crossbows, for non sneak characters. I haven't obtained my first crossbow to test how it'll work on this particular character, but I'm curious if there's any benefit aside from the obvious (exploding bolts, bitches) to using crossbows over, say, Auriel's Bow or Zephyr (with their ridiculous shooting speeds.) 

[/blockquote]

Crossbows have a lot of power in the early game, when you can nearly one-hit-kill things with them. The enhanced crossbows are also outstanding for staggering enemies when the Power Shot perk is taken (Maybe a 60-something % chance to stagger enemies rather than 75% because the two perks are calculated separately as I recall). As the game goes on, however, the main problem becomes the crossbow bolts, which don't have the punch of readily available normal endgame arrows. The exploding/freezing/shock bolts are also very expensive to craft. The redraw for a crossbow can also be a pain, but you can get around it by unequipping and reequipping it, or carrying two of them and swapping between them. Crossbows also seem to make more noise than a standard bow, which make them a bit less useful for up-close stealth archery, and their arc seems a bit more shallow when firing.

Normal bows have a faster rate of fire and a more even damage progression over the course of the game. Zephyr is a very powerful bow, but it also chews through your stock of arrows very quickly.

Personally, I tend to use Crossbows for initiating combat and occasional potshots at enemies, though I have tried a run-and-gun twin-crossbow character before, using perks and powers in order to make crafting the elemental bolts easier, and had a really great time with it (roleplayed as an agent of Elisif who acted like a silly fop in public while secretly directing the Thieves' Guild against Solitude's enemies and eliminating the High Queen's more active enemies personally). If you want to use Archery AND the Battleaxe, I'd eventually graduate to normal bows once the crossbow's power drops.

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Much love to all of you,

 [/blockquote]

Love you too, darlin'! ;o

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Umbra1]Garkus (Umbra)[/url] said:[/b]

Oh my lord! I popped in a couple weeks back and saw the activity on the group was pretty dead and old, and I grew all disheartened! I've been in the middle of some crisis level shit at home as far as finances and my computer and such go, but I'm back! Alive! WELL! With CHEESE!

And I've got my game all modded out to be pretty and shit, to emulate that Enhanced Edition feel. So, I'm ready to post. I have three solid ideas I'll be posting in the near future, the first of which may not stand out as exactly unique, but let's just say this: Ysmir, Ysgramor, and the mantle of Konahrik. Oh, axe that. Or don't. Eh, you'll be axing something...most things. 

I'm glad I figured out all of you lovely people are here, at the new site (which looks wonderful by the way). I had a couple of thoughts to run by you all, for whoever is feeling thoughtful and generous with them. 

So, dragonbone armor. Thoughts? Feelings? Let me know here. It's relevant.

Also, axes. Thoughts? Feelings? Again, do tell. The big kind, mind you.

Finally...bows vs. crossbows, for non sneak characters. I haven't obtained my first crossbow to test how it'll work on this particular character, but I'm curious if there's any benefit aside from the obvious (exploding bolts, bitches) to using crossbows over, say, Auriel's Bow or Zephyr (with their ridiculous shooting speeds.) Thoughts, feelings, etc; give me some thought matter, folks. Much appreciated.

Ah, it's good to be back. Anyone who has any build they want looked at, new, old, concept or solid, I need reading material, and I want to get involved once more. Otherwise, I'll just be perusing inbetween play sessions. 

Much love to all of you,

Umbra (Garkus, name change imminent)

[/blockquote]

I would add more but I think Mercurias covered it, and the added sass makes his comment far superior to mine. But regardless, I'd like to say that Battle Axes and Crossbows are used a lot less than Swords and Bows, so if you're going for unique then I'd recommend those two. Gameplay has never been a big focus for me, though, always the coolness to consider.

I've got my first Illusion mage build idea:

Name -          Aphrodite (she's based on the Greek goddess of lust)

Race / Sex -   Breton / Female

Appearance - Tall, blonde, curvy, gorgeous

Stone -          Lover (what else?)

Armor -         Mage robes, especially ones that make her look hot!

H / S / M -     3 / 0 / 4

Illusion -       Everything (it is her primary weapon)

Destruction - Novice, Apprentice (early on, she might need it, plus she needs to fight dragons)

Restoration - Novice, Apprentice (it might be all the Restoration she needs)

Alchemy     - Alchemist (1), Physician, Benefactor, Poisoner (she loves making poisons - she'll pretend to love you then leave you to die.)

Pickpocket  - Light Fingers, Night Thief, Poisoned (she loves reaching into the pockets of sleeping victims, and the victims like it, too!)

Sneak        - Everything (she loves sneaking, and hitting the strongest one in a group with her best Frenzy spell or even Nightingale Subterfuge!            Why fight when she can convince lusting idiots to do it for her?)

Her path through the game:

College of Winterhold (Illusion, Destruction, Restoration, Alchemy)

Thieves Guild (Pickpocket, Sneak)

Dark Brotherhood (Pickpocket, Sneak, Alchemy)

Aphrodite is a gorgeous Breton who hoped to enter Skyrim to set up a sort of alternate Thieves' Guild - one with only attractive women in it. 

Hi. I'm preparing my character for Skyrim Remastered and I need your help. I want a mix of vampire and Littlefinger (from GoT) with some varations. I have some story in my head, but since I don't know much of lore I would like some suggestions about it and skills.

I. First skills:
The most important would be illussion and probably sneak. Typical stuff: I use fury/frenzy from shadows on a group and wait till they kill each other (it never will be bored for me).
Now I need to kill the remaining guy and there's the question: how? I don't want a daggers and bows because I had recently that kind of character. (and it's getting boring. I mean it's fun to go and kill whole cave of bandits, but then I have to exit the game. It's nice when I don't want to sink into world and RP)
I'm thinking about these options:
1. using staffs (i've never used them in game), but are they powerfull enough?
2. go out of the shadows and kill the guy with dual swords (never done this too) - that would required a light armor and points into stamina I think? (but that's kinda ooc for my guy)
3. alchemy and pickpocketing - I put a poisons in his pocket and wait...? dunno how this work
4. poison rune? 
Staffs have advantage of range attacks that work on dragons, if I'll go with rest I would have to use destruction spells (next tree to spend points on).
I also like speech for RP reasons.

II. Story
My guy would be from some aristocratic family but he was like 15th to get to the throne/real power. He was never a warrior in a warrior world. Too weak and sicklish, he fled into illussion magic to survive and gain some power. But it was never enough, he wasn't enough strong to take over. He was fascinated about vampires, they have everything what he wanted - power and immortality. So he wandered to the caves and old forts, sneaking through hordes of banidts and undead, looking for his dream. And he finally found it, but he was quickly discovered by his family. They wanted to kill him and he had to run away... that's how he ended up in Skyrim. 

So, nothing special. But now I don't know what race choose. What race, except Nords, is warrior-oriented? Or maybe I'll make him a Nord, and he just would avoid some city of skyrim where his family live?

III. Quest
What quest should I do? I'm thinking about Dawnguard quest on vampire side and one of the guilds path (I always choose one guild for my character). Guilds I thinking about College (becoming an archmage is something) Main quest seems to be off character.
Which quest give some sort of power, authority?  
And what quest should I do before Dawnguard, since it give troubles if you are under 20 lvl.

IV. Love
I kinda feel like this guy should be little obssesed about his love (women or men, i don't care, actually it would be interesting to make him gay, maybe in his family it was a dishonored). It would be nice if that person could be follower, I could RP that some quest are her/his and my guy is helping (even if he don't agree). Ideas?
I'm using AFT mod so I think that I would change this person into vampire one day. Or I make some a drama, and she/he'll refuse and my guy kill her/him. (nah, I like happy ends in love stories)

HEEEEEEEEELP.

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/skye9o]skye_9o[/url] said:[/b]

Hi. I'm preparing my character for Skyrim Remastered and I need your help. I want a mix of vampire and Littlefinger (from GoT) with some varations. I have some story in my head, but since I don't know much of lore I would like some suggestions about it and skills.

I. First skills:
The most important would be illussion and probably sneak. Typical stuff: I use fury/frenzy from shadows on a group and wait till they kill each other (it never will be bored for me).
Now I need to kill the remaining guy and there's the question: how? I don't want a daggers and bows because I had recently that kind of character. (and it's getting boring. I mean it's fun to go and kill whole cave of bandits, but then I have to exit the game. It's nice when I don't want to sink into world and RP)
I'm thinking about these options:
1. using staffs (i've never used them in game), but are they powerfull enough?
2. go out of the shadows and kill the guy with dual swords (never done this too) - that would required a light armor and points into stamina I think? (but that's kinda ooc for my guy)
3. alchemy and pickpocketing - I put a poisons in his pocket and wait...? dunno how this work
4. poison rune? 
Staffs have advantage of range attacks that work on dragons, if I'll go with rest I would have to use destruction spells (next tree to spend points on).
I also like speech for RP reasons.

II. Story
My guy would be from some aristocratic family but he was like 15th to get to the throne/real power. He was never a warrior in a warrior world. Too weak and sicklish, he fled into illussion magic to survive and gain some power. But it was never enough, he wasn't enough strong to take over. He was fascinated about vampires, they have everything what he wanted - power and immortality. So he wandered to the caves and old forts, sneaking through hordes of banidts and undead, looking for his dream. And he finally found it, but he was quickly discovered by his family. They wanted to kill him and he had to run away... that's how he ended up in Skyrim. 

So, nothing special. But now I don't know what race choose. What race, except Nords, is warrior-oriented? Or maybe I'll make him a Nord, and he just would avoid some city of skyrim where his family live?

III. Quest
What quest should I do? I'm thinking about Dawnguard quest on vampire side and one of the guilds path (I always choose one guild for my character). Guilds I thinking about College (becoming an archmage is something) Main quest seems to be off character.
Which quest give some sort of power, authority?  
And what quest should I do before Dawnguard, since it give troubles if you are under 20 lvl.

IV. Love
I kinda feel like this guy should be little obssesed about his love (women or men, i don't care, actually it would be interesting to make him gay, maybe in his family it was a dishonored). It would be nice if that person could be follower, I could RP that some quest are her/his and my guy is helping (even if he don't agree). Ideas?
I'm using AFT mod so I think that I would change this person into vampire one day. Or I make some a drama, and she/he'll refuse and my guy kill her/him. (nah, I like happy ends in love stories)

HEEEEEEEEELP.

[/blockquote] Try a sneaky spellsword. You have an illusion spell in one hand and a sword in the other. Wait for groups to kill each other then hack and slash the remaining. Staffs are ok but you're going to have a hard time only buying training. Alchemy and pickpocketing are easy. Let's say you slip a paralysis poison into a dude's pockets. He'll be paralysed. I think Imperial fits the race you want. I find them to be excellent illusionists and spellswords.