First off I want to point out that I love exploring dungeons in any RPG. In my opinion it is one of the main components that makes up a good RPG. That said I wanted to talk about something that I have been thinking about recently.

When it comes to dungeon layouts for Skyrim, it is usually a linear path. There's the entrance, a couple of long hallways that are connected through rooms and sometimes secret passageways, and the final room which most of the time has the boss of the dungeon and a boss chest. In each of the rooms has about on average between 2 to 4 enemies and a chest that randomly generates loot based on your level.

Very rarely have I come across dungeons that really make me choose which way to go. Granted there are branching paths, but they eventually lead you to a dead end.

What I propose for dungeons is to actually make them feel like, well dungeons. I remembered the first time I played Morrowind and I entered an ancestral tomb. Wow, was I creeped the [censored] out. It was pretty dark and the only source of light were the dimly lit torchs on the wall. The feeling that you really shouldn't be there is what I also liked about the ancestral tombs. Overall when it comes to atmospheric dungeons, Morrowind rules.

What I really want are dungeons that scare the [censored] out of me. Your walking down a hallway, it is dimly lit, you can't see 4 feet in front of you, and you keep hearing noises like there is something that is following you. Something close to that. Also, actual branching paths too. What they could to make it interesting is, lets say you go down the hallway to your left, enemies will be pretty easy, but if you take the hallway on the right, your going to be in for a surprise.

What I'm trying to get at is, Bethesda really needs to mix up the formula in terms of dungeon layouts and overall atmosphere, and enemy difficulty.

If any of you have anything that you would like to add, feel free to do so.

Who cares? It's a [censored] grindfest anyway, TES combat svcks. Combat is a chore I have to do in between RP-ing and exploring.

I much prefer Bethesda approach, of making them all hand-crafted with little stories scattered in them.

They could use more hand-placed loot and maybe be a bit more confusing.. but overall they're pretty sweet as they are.

I forgot to add I do like how Bethesda tries to give each dungeon a little story to make it feel like the dungeon isn't just there to be there.

Nevermind.

Lol what?

It is?
If you feel a need to grind ANYTHING in this game you're playing the wrong game.

But regarding the OP's topic.... yes, I agree. Daggerfall had dungeons that were multiple levels, had secret doors, trap doors, etc. I want that again.

You could seriously get lost in some of those dungeons. For several days.

I agree. It is a big improvement over the way the dungeons used to be. I enjoy them immensely.

Try another form of combat. A new class or something. Or stop grinding.

I agree. I don't care that they're linear or anything, but they all look exactly the same. There's rarley anything new to see in dungeons after a while.

Now that is a dungeon.

Yeah, they were extremely boring, after I realized that they all have the same general direction I stopped going into them except for quests. Also because of the fact that a large percentage of the dungeons have locked areas that are accessible only when doing the related quest...

Use a darker dungeons mod. It makes Skyrim's dungeons 1000x better. Seriously.

There are some that just make the dungeons a bit gloomier and atmospheric, and others which verge on pitch blackness without a torch. I prefer the latter.

I freakin hate that man. Especially if one of them has a Word of Power that I need and in order to get it, I have roleplay out of character. I'm looking at you Snow Veil Sanctum .

I just let that one go. The shout is pretty useless even with all 3 after a while.

I'm a TES fan (since Morrowind) and i have to say that i love the dungeons of Skyrim! There's a lot of diversity and plenty of mystery to be immersed in, so in my case i can't complain. Also remember that music plays a VERY important role in dungeons as it helps creating the necessary atmosphere, which in Skyrim's case is fantastic. Jeremy Soule FTW.

The problem is, I've never got all three words for Disarm, so I wouldn't know how good or bad it is.

Right when I said "grindfest" I was obviously misunderstood. I didn't mean grinding skills, I meant combat consist of button-mashing (thus "grinding") and overall feels crappy and is boring (except sneaking, which is debatably not even combat).

Definitely agree. The dungeons in Skyrim are very tedious and predictable. The halls of crypts and dungeons seem to be lit up as if it is a holiday or Bethesda did that to ensure the player won't bump in to a hall or get lost by accident.

You tried one handed combat with block? Start from level 1 on expert or master and use one handed and block. The combat isintense and really great. Paladin classes are awesome. You just gotta find what you really enjoy. I dont think combat is a chore at all. In fact, I look forward to it.

I thought the combat in Skyrim was way better than the combat in Oblivion.

Agreed. It just keeps improving.

Believe me, you're not missing a thing. It is great on low levels though. I wish it worked on all levels.

Yeah I've pretty much tried every form of combat in the game. Sword and board in particular was entertaining... for a short while but it felt OP (mainly because of bashing). Changing game difficulty does not make the AI more intelligent; it's still as monumentally stupid as ever. It just boosts their stats to the point where the one-shot you if they do manage to get a hit.


That it is. Anything worse or on par with Oblivion combat would be laughable.

Skyrim just has terrible dungeons, they all feel copy paste and look the same, I actually got bored of Dawnguard about a half hour in because it looked the same as Skyrim and never touched it again (got in the beta). Morrowind was the most interesting for me mostly because it was more atmospheric. Oblivion had a few atmoshpheric dungeons, and many copy paste ones also.