HoonDing

Two Worlds 2: Pirates of the Flying Fortress already beat Risen 2 at their own game.

Illusion levels lightning fast. Just cast Muffle over and over again. Best mage school by far, especially once you can control Centurions.

The UI is okay (Daggerfall had pretty much the same), it's just the huge fonts that need fixing.

Daggerfall > Morrowind ~ Skyrim > Arena > Oblivion.

There are at least some good to great unique weapons and armour that can be found early, if you have the guts to crawl through a challenging dungeon. I had to leave a spriggan infested dungeon early in the game, when I returned I found a unique katana. Later I picked up the Red Eagle's sword after following an unmarked quest.

Well, aside from Gauss rifle and some DLC weapons all energy weapons are useless.

I don't think you no longer get perks after level 50, what's the point of leveling otherwise. You just reportedly get levels way slower.

Giants are much stronger than dragons. My frost atronach can easily tank a non-fire breathing dragon, but gets one-hit killed by a giant's power attack.

I got attacked by a Boethiah worshipper. He dropped a book that marked the Shrine of Boethiah on my map. I suppose this has something to do with Molag Bal's quest. Also killed my first two dragons. And one dragon priest that popped up right after killing the second dragon.

The bear is tough, but the cave bear is even tougher.

I like how some Daedric quests flow from sidequests, rather than the usual "Gather random junk and find Daedric shrine in wilderness" shtick. So far I did Molag Bal, Hircine, Namira and Clavicus Vile. Namira's quest reward is surprisingly useful for my pure mage, since it gives a hearty bonus to health and stamina. Finally found some lorebooks on Dwemer as well; I have the impression they might turn out as antagonists in future games.

There have a number of power builds been posted on Bethsoft forums. With maxed alchemy, smithing and enchanting, you can have a Daedric two-handed sword do more than 3000 damage. The armour rating of Daedric armour you can get this way is 2500. Basically, it means one-shotting everything.

Arkham City and Saints Row 3 are coming out this week, but... Skyrim.

I'm only level 8 right now, so I am still figuring out what I want to excel at, but has it been said how many times you can level up? Soft cap is 50, hard cap is 70-80.

As far as power gaming goes, Two-handed + Heavy armour + Enchanting + Smithing = win. Still, I believe a mage is much easier to play. With Illusion and Restoration, plus that Destruction perk that staggers enemies, I've never been in danger of dying. A warrior might get one-shotted on occasion.

According to this article: In the Late Middle Merethic Era, the Velothi Mountains were settled by the Dwemer, who created cities beneath the mountain range. Presumably these cities followed the fate of their counterparts in Morrowind and Hammerfell and now lie deserted, but no further information on the cities exists. Velothi Mountains is on the border of Skyrim and Morrowind. Markarth (built on a Dwemer city) and other Dwemer ruins I've found are in the west of Skyrim, on the border with High ROck. The Dwemer, and all the elves, predate the Nords on Tamriel. The only known Dwemer to have settled outside Morrowind (Rourken Clan) left Morrowind in the year 416 of the First Era, so more than four centuries after Ysgramor and his 500 companions killed pretty much all Elves upon their return to Skyrim, and drove what remained underground (Falmer). Dwemer ruins should have been Falmer ruins. Active Effects screen.

The Dwemer shouldn't even be in Skyrim, IIRC. The only place outside Morrowind they were located, was Hammerfell, i.e. literally the place where Volendrung, the hammer of the Rourken clan, fell. The Dwemer presence in Skyrim makes even less sense considering the hatred of the ancient Nords for elvenkind. Then again, maybe I'll come across some new lorebook that explains everything.

Got Black Widow perk.

Boethiah went from female (Daggerfall) to male (Oblivion/Morrowind) to female again in Skyrim. I'm not sure about still using companions. I have one decked in full ebony armour, yet a Draugr Lord killed her in two hits. And they don't get back up, unlike quest NPCs.

I don't use weapons (playing as pure mage). I only dish out a Bound weapon on occasion since they can soultrap and banish summons with the right perks. I gave Molag Bal's mace to my Orc companion.

I'm level 25 and I've only really checked out Markrath. I've learnt 5 power words or whatever they're called through random exploration, I think it's time to start the main quest so I can put that crap to use. Some Orc gave me a sword to give to her daughter "somewhere out there"... for quests like this I almost wish I had quest markers enabled. Mephala? I got the Mace of Molag Bal and the Ring of Namira. I had a funny moment when I met a NPC who had I had done a misc quest for in the Daedric coven, and I could call her out on it.

Sounds like you're playing a different game than me.

Are chests in houses with dead owners safe? I had to store hundreds of books in one house.

Seems like you're visiting the wrong cities, or not looking around enough.

Anyone found the Red Eagle's sword? It's a quest you pick up from a book.