@ViciousReiven said:

Everyone knows the favorites menu, but you can also have two quick equips on d-pad left/right, to do this open the favorites menu and hold left or right on an item, a number will appear by them to indicate it's hot-keyed.

Oh my god thank you

@Hylan333: I believe you'll find that's Nirnroot.

If you what to play in 3rd person but don't like the default camera, you can zoom in and out using the left analog stick while clicking and holding the right analog stick. 360 version.

@ragnarok7038 said:

Leveling up Smithing

As far as I can tell, smithing an item gives you the same amount of skill experience, regardless of how rare the item is. This means that the fastest way to increase it is to smith large quantities of armor out of easily obtained materials. Leather Gaunltets are good; they take 2 leather strips and 1 piece of leather to make. Just collect hides early on and smith them whenever possible. After you have some extra gold, every time you come to a smithy, buy all their leather (usually 15-20 pieces) and raise you skill a few levels. Start this early enough and you can be a master of Smithing around level 20, I would imagine. (Took me a while to figure the method out, but I am 85 in smithing at level 23)

I was going to mention that. The item you're smithing doesn't matter at all to how much XP you get, so using all of your extra hides to make leather to make dozens of leather or hide armor pieces is a good way to level and make some money. You can then use your left over Leather Strips to make some Iron Daggers. Also, the Smithy in Riverwood is friendly from the get-go, and there's a nice pile of Ingots under his workbench that you can help yourself to.

My tips:

• The Dragon Heads on the map are Words of Power, head for those whenever you can, but they're usually guarded, sometimes by scary things.
• If you're having problems with carrying capacity, there are 2 "easy" ways to up it. One is a perk in the Pickpocketing tree at level 50, and the other is the Steed Stone Northwest of Solitude in the mountains. That's 100 more capacity each.
• Alchemy is a powerful friend and a good source of income. Even if you don't want to look at the very helpful guide in the Elder Scrolls wiki, taking the time after adventuring to sample ingredients and making some potions will prove very beneficial. Most of the potions you make won't be useful, but you can sell them for a really good profit, and on your end you're making your own health and magicka potions, as well as some useful things like Paralysis poisons, haggling potions, and most importantly - Potions of Cure Disease. Tip in a tip, always carry around a couple of those.
• Having a weapon with Soul Trap on it is cool, but if you go that route make sure to give your companions your Grand and probably Greater Soul Gems. You're going to capture a lot of Petty and Lesser Souls, and putting those in a Grand would be a massive waste.
• Give your companions some Health Potions. You're going to lead them to some gnarly places, and they'll use them to good effect.

@Cincaid said:

@Daiphyer said:

@Zidane_24 said:

A lady in Ivarstead wants 10 bear pelts, and a woman in Riften wants 20 each of Nirnroot, Nightshade, and Deathbell, so start building a stockpile now, especially of Nirnroot.

Oh my God, the Nirnroot quest is back? I spent hours looking for those fuckers in Oblivion.

I'm 40-ish hours in Skyrim so far. I've found 4.

There`s a woman that actually grows them on a farm, I cant remember where exactly.

Make sure to sleep on a regular basis (in game as well as in real life!). Sleeping will place "Well Rested" under your active effects, which causes skills to level up 10% faster for 8hrs.

Marriage; You can only get married once. Even if your spouse dies, you can not remarry. List of people you can marry (including same sex marriage) here: http://www.realsg.com/2011/11/guide-skyrim-marriage-how-to-and-list.html

Sadly, there are no Khajiit to marry. My cat dude just wanted some of that moon sugar, know what I'm saying?

Chain Lightning leaps to friendly targets and can kill them.

tired of fruitlessly trying to level the slowest moving skill in the game, alchemy? Go train with the alchemist sales woman in whiterun. I've trained atleast 15 levels with her.

@GetEveryone said:

I wonder if anyone can answer this:

During the Horn of... quest, where you are tasked with retrieving a horn from the depths of a dungeon for the greybeards, there is a puzzle that requires you to activate three timed gates, and shout through them before they close.

No problem, with regards to that.

What I am having trouble with, is that I told my companion (Lydia) to 'stay' beside the gate-puzzle, because she was doing my fucking tits in with her incessant standing in the way.

I was convinced it didn't matter that she never followed me through because she would magically re-appear as I left the dungeon. Alas...

This was at least a few (real-life) hours ago now, and I'm just wondering if I trek back through the dungeon if she'll still be there?

You trigger a switch when you successfully pass that test which keeps the gates open, companions can then follow you through at will.

The problem I have with companions in dungeons is them surviving fire-floors.

@bitterninja:

That is good to know. Just got that spell yesterday

You can have a dog follower in addition to regular followers, just like the Fallout games. So far I've only befriended a Stray Dog (he disappeared during the Companions quest line, unfortunately), but apparently you can find named dogs as well.

Be careful when using AOE spells and wildly spraying directed spells. If they hit your allies, sometimes they'll turn on you.

That pink-purple stuff on the floor of some dungeons is oil. Light it up with a fire spell.

It's a good idea to make a set of gear (armor, ring, amulet) with the enchantment that improves your smithing quality. Equip this whenever you're upgrading items at the table/grindstone.

Always charge your weapons, you deal a lot more damage if they are enchanted and fully recharded.

I have a question, I hope someone can answer.

I'm level 15 right now and have been checking my perks because right now I only see like 10 perks assigned and I have to wonder, do you start getting perk points at level 5 or is this some HUGE error in the game? I'm dying to know the answer, might as well go back and count, maybe I was just too sleepy to count properly.

Turn off every phone you own

@Ravenlight said:

That pink-purple stuff on the floor of some dungeons is oil. Light it up with a fire spell.

Also, there are often oil lamps conveniently placed right above the oil. Shoot them with an arrow and watch the spectacle. :)

Fuck. I remember a site that had information for just this situation for tons of games. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the site. Does anybody else, though? I remember it looking kinda like Wikipedia, so it could be a wiki itself.

@oblique_ said:

@ViciousReiven said:

Everyone knows the favorites menu, but you can also have two quick equips on d-pad left/right, to do this open the favorites menu and hold left or right on an item, a number will appear by them to indicate it's hot-keyed.

Oh my god thank you

I've played Skyrim for twenty hours and I didn't know this. I feel like an idiot.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but you get a good "house" to just store your stuff and sleep in at the beginning of the Dark Brotherhood quest line. Or at least I have been storing my stuff here, hope it is still there when I return later.

Get the spell courage and cast it on your horse for until you get to a point where you an unlock "Quiet Casting" for the Illusion skill tree. It makes it extremely easy, along with the spell "Muffle", to be a ninja mage. I use a mix of Conjuration and Destruction for combat, so having a silenced Bound Bow or Sword makes me super awesome, along with the fact that most mages robes don't hinder stealth compared to armor.

@Deusx said:

I'm level 15 right now and have been checking my perks because right now I only see like 10 perks assigned and I have to wonder, do you start getting perk points at level 5 or is this some HUGE error in the game? I'm dying to know the answer, might as well go back and count, maybe I was just too sleepy to count properly.

I'm pretty sure you get your first perk at level 2, so you should have 14. Be sure you check if you added more than one to certain perks, like weapon damage. I was counting mine and coming up one short, but then I remembered I have 2 levels of the first Archery perk.

@ViciousReiven said:

Everyone knows the favorites menu, but you can also have two quick equips on d-pad left/right, to do this open the favorites menu and hold left or right on an item, a number will appear by them to indicate it's hot-keyed.

I LOVE YOU.

@Hylan333 said:

i noticed something in Ivanslar (the town before you climb the mountian to see the greybeards). while standing near the river near the inn i can hear some sort of singing, as if there was some secret, it gets louder when im more in the river. has anyone else noticed the singing anywhere?

That sound is Nirnroot. It emits a chorus-like tone when you're nearby.

your horse can go where you cant - up and down hills.

According to popular believe, your horse cannot die. However, this is UNTRUE.

@Zidane_24:Wow thanks a ton this is good to note didn't know Nirnroot returned.

For quick and easy gold, chop some wood in Whiterun at the house beside Breezehome (by the main entrance) and sell it down the street in The Bannered Mare as firewood.

ward spells take a few seconds to charge up - if you start casting just as the spell hits you get staggered.

@Video_Game_King: I believe you mean http://beforeiplay.com/

Not sure it's being updated very often though.

@Dunchad:

Yea, that's it. That's also the problem with sites like that (I have How Long to Beat in mind, too): they're good in theory, but the userbase doesn't work hard enough to make it as useful as it could be.

@GreatNorthern said:

Two questions (new to the series, but LOVING this game):

1. Is there a way to manage what gear/weapons your companion is actually using/wearing?

2. Is there a way to dual-wield a 1H weapon and magic? (Think Bioshock 2)

For Question 1: I'm pretty sure they will auto equip the best items you give them. I had a lady I was using as a mule, and I noticed she started changing what she was fighting with and the armor she wore.

I haven't read everything so it may already have been posted, but if your playing with a 360 controller (or PS3) hold in the right stick then move the left stick to change the camera distance in third person.

There is an archer shooting targets in the thieves guild. He has unlimited steel arrows which he fires at a target on the wall. Simply run over and pick them up. I've gained hundreds of free steel arrows this way.

@poisonmonkey said:

@Rave: Yeah, the zoom function is useful for the Golden Claw quest in Riverwood.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Where you have to match the symbols on the claw with the ones on the door

So that's where the answer was at, I just randomly guessed until I got that one...

@GiveUpNed said:

There is an archer shooting targets in the thieves guild. He has unlimited steel arrows which he fires at a target on the wall. Simply run over and pick them up. I've gained hundreds of free steel arrows this way.

Same applies to an imperial solider practicing in solitude, except I think there's two of them so the yield might be faster. Either way, this has saved me a good bit of coin, and lets me fire all willy-nilly.

@Landon said:

@GreatNorthern said:

Two questions (new to the series, but LOVING this game):

1. Is there a way to manage what gear/weapons your companion is actually using/wearing?

2. Is there a way to dual-wield a 1H weapon and magic? (Think Bioshock 2)

For Question 1: I'm pretty sure they will auto equip the best items you give them. I had a lady I was using as a mule, and I noticed she started changing what she was fighting with and the armor she wore.

And for question 2... yeah. It's kinda the new big feature of the gameplay. You can dual wield almost any combination.

Sorta semi-spoilerish (doesn't really affect any story or anything, just removes some of the exploration thrill).
 

@NickL said:

@poisonmonkey said:

@Rave: Yeah, the zoom function is useful for the Golden Claw quest in Riverwood.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Where you have to match the symbols on the claw with the ones on the door

So that's where the answer was at, I just randomly guessed until I got that one...

If you read Alvor's Journal they basically tell you the solution in that. I didn't read it until after and did the same thing. Feel kinda silly that I could have just checked the stuff for the answers, afterwards.

@Dunchad said:

@ViciousReiven: Thanks for the keybinding tips - will definitely be using the quick-equip one.

My general tip would be - read books. At least skim them. Besides good stories they can provide skill points, map markers, quests, alchemy recipes etc.

Also, grab all the cheese wheels you see. +15hp is nothing to scoff at when you're getting mauled to death by a sabertooth tiger.

Adding to this.

You can easily tell what books give skill points at a glance from their value. Anything at 50 or higher will almost always have a skill-point bonus.

there is a guy on a cart outside of town, talk to him and he will bring you to each of the 9 holds for a low price.

I haven't read everything so it may already have been posted, but if your playing with a 360 controller (or PS3) hold in the right stick then move the left stick to change the camera distance in third person.

Quick question. I was doing the quest to prove myself to the Companions and I came across a chest up on a high ledge that I couldn't access. How do you get to it?

@Barrock said:

Quick question. I was doing the quest to prove myself to the Companions and I came across a chest up on a high ledge that I couldn't access. How do you get to it?

A little more specific location might help here :-)

@Flaboere said:

@Barrock said:

Quick question. I was doing the quest to prove myself to the Companions and I came across a chest up on a high ledge that I couldn't access. How do you get to it?

A little more specific location might help here :-)

Sorry, didn't want to be too spoilery.

It's the quest where a scholar informs the group that a piece of a legendary sword lies within a tomb. You meet your buddy and head in. Mid way through there's a room with a section that looks like you could originally walk over one of two bridges. They have collapsed however. You can reach a little pouch of gold, but the chest looking object is unreachable. Pretty sure it's after your friend reveals his... inner self.

If you attack while holding your shield up you'll bash with your shield which is good for staggering enemies. Just figured this out after 15 hours.

-If you happen upon a Dwarven dungeon of some sort, the scrap metal, plate metal, struts, and solid metal can be smelted into 2, 3, 4 or 5 Dwarven Metal Ingots for smithing, though they're all pretty heavy objects. Clearing out a dungeon of them can easily net 40-50 ingots.

-You can fast travel as long as you are under the weight limit, even if you're only temporarily under it, so I usually keep strength potions and carry-upping armor on me for those times when you kill a dragon and want to get the bones/scales back home but don't want to have to play inventory survivor to make it back. You'll end up at your destination walking slow, but can make it back home to store stuff easily enough.

-A pickaxe is needed for mining, and you can happen upon valuable ore deposits in the mountains with some regularity, so it might be worth it to keep one on your while exploring. In normal iron mines you normally find pickaxes lying about. I'll also second the tip on buying iron ore for like 6 gold and transmuting it into gold ore for smithing. Easy to make jewelry to raise smithing and money.

That purple stuff you keep seeing on the ground in dungeons? That's oil. Light it on fire. Helps in a pinch. Not a mage? There's always a lantern right above it. ;)

Don't know if some benefits of horses other than speed have been explained but:

If you clear out an area with too much heavy stuff to haul back between you and your companion (like those Dwarven areas), load it all up in a chest or barrel somewhere near the entrance or exit. Get out and get your horse (fast traveling to the same location will call your horse), grab all the shit, get on your horse and fast travel wherever you wanna go. Encumbrance doesn't matter on horseback.

@oblique_ said:

@ViciousReiven said:

Everyone knows the favorites menu, but you can also have two quick equips on d-pad left/right, to do this open the favorites menu and hold left or right on an item, a number will appear by them to indicate it's hot-keyed.

Oh my god thank you

Here`s something else I found while messing with this tip:

I couldnt hotkey my usual dual-wield melee set up, but what I did was bind my bow to left on the d-pad, and if you press it again it switches back to what you had before, so I can switch between those two on the fly now. Hope someone else finds it useful.

Once you run out of a type of arrow you automatically swap to your worse set of arrows.

The damage for a bow and arrow is based on your bow + arrow, so you may want to swap to your strongest arrows when you've snuck up on someone.