What I'll probably end up doing is making new spells for underwater (some just underwater, some anytime), such as buoyancy, to make you float to the top. I probably won't make it so you're able to use projectile spells (unless it's a new one I make), only touch spells. Any ideas for other spells?

Dear god, are people seriously blaming consoles for the lack of underwater combat...? PC gamers have stooped to a new illogical low.

I mean, seriously, did it never occur to any of you that the concept of swinging a massive sword/axe/whatever underwater is unreasonable?

And to think, this complaint is probably from the same people that want those absurd "realism" mods. The irony.

You know, if a thread concerns a topic you don't care about, you don't need to post, ok? Some people love to get into this stuff It's a single player game, doesn't hurt or hinder the rest of us.

Also, If you see a post with people bashing other platforms, report it, don't add to the issue.

A buoyancy spell would be nice. A spell that would let you sink faster would also be nice.

I was kidding when I mentioned it. Monster Hunter Tri has awesome underwater combat, and that's on Wii for Pete's sake. (See what I did there???)

Another factor should be what you're wearing. You should have much less resistance when you swing if you're not wearing anything on your arms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCAsXhyLofI (warning: REALLY DARN GROSS)

Can't unsee.

*GASP*
Now you've done it! You've committed a cardinal sin! You mentioned... SPEARS!!!

Don't you know? Bethesda removed them for a VERY good reason! They removed them because... because... well, I don't actually know. But I do know that they had a very good reason! So they should NEVER be placed in another Elder Scrolls game... EVER! ;-P

Ps. The same goes for crossbows and throwing weapons



Well, I'm not afraid to spill the beans! I'll tell you exactly what happened. Between the times of Oblivion and Skyrim, the Thalmor forced everyone to sign the "Blue Pact." It specifically forbids the harming of sea life while they are underwater. If you are not aware, the Thalmor formed Tamriel's first society to protect endangered species. And because they are no different than any other form of government, they have allowed politics and extreme environmentalists to take over their original agenda. Personally, though, I think the Altmer just find seafood breath offensive.

I was often fighting under water in oblivion and it is killing me that I am not able to do it in skyrim. And for the breathing thing: always used an amulet which gives me underwater breathing. And there are so much opportunities to add caves and treasures and quests under water if you can fight there.

More than anything, I'd like to know, from Beth, why underwater combat wasn't in the game to start with. Seriously, where are the dreugh? (I'm a sad panda... maybe I'll go play morrowind.)

FIre spells would be ineffecttive, frost less so, and lightning the most effective is how think it should be. How about argonians dragging people down and drowning them like crocodiles? At the moment, npcs actually cannot drown. (locked lydia in a cage)

I would actually prefer we CAN't have normal combat while in the water but there SHOULD be an alternative. You simply cannot cast a fire, shock or frost spell underwater. You cannot effectively swing a sword axe and certainly not a mace underwater. You cannot draw a bow and getting the bowstring wet would destroy the usefullness of a bow.

You CAN use Spears and Daggers somewhat effectively(I am an occasional spear fisherman/Surfer/Scuba Diver and can attest to the usefulness of both as I carry a knife all the time and a spear[not spear gun], everything else would not really work all that well) Since all we really fight in the water are Slaughterfish and the occasional Horker and glitched critter why not make a restricted system in the water. AND....we get SPEARS!!! ----

Hell maybe even add fishing to what we can do instead of grabbing them make it so you can spear them!!!

As Fi from Skyward Sword would say though. I calculate a 1% chance that this will happen.

---> Zelda Nerd<---- guilty as charged.

Also somewhat of a realism (within the bounds of fantasy) nitpicker.

As a mage who spent a great deal of time in morrowind a few hundred years ago, I miss my levitation spells.

With all due respect to all those saying we should limit combat underwater, the only limitation I can remember in past TES games is ranged spells were not able to be cast. Everything else is fair game. That's how it should be, this is a game not Man vs. Wild.

Also, as far as fire/frost/shock spells under water go... Posters have issue with making fire under water, yet posters do not have issue with making fire from nothing. =><=

Well it is not fire from nothing. It is fire derived from your magicka or your self. You are manipulating your energy into a common familiar yet terrifying form. Fire. Thus it is made from you. Magic.

Btw I am all for just putting in the regular ole smack em with anything in place of the current system. Just saying for my own tastes(and others) that a limited combat would be more fun imo. You really do not need your ultra powerful weapon in the water anyways. The Water is not exactly home to a plethora of dangerous denizens. Last I checked beth gave us three aquatic creatures(Horker, mudcrabs and Slaughterfish) plus 40-50 more depending on how glitchy a deer, wolf or rabbit can be. Also the waters are not very expansive.

Water will only slow down something significantly when there's a large range of movement. An arrow at point blank would work, and you can just as easily choke and bite people. You also seem to be unaware that all magic can currently be cast into water with no difference at all. It's only *entering water* that magically turns the player into a disabled moron.

Lol, excellent point.

Underwater combat worked well enough in Oblivion, finishers are chance based and only for last enemy, simple to disable underwater, should also be disabled for weak enemies, they are cool then you kill an briarheart but stupid then killing a wolf at level 50.

I'm not against underwater combat. I'm all for it. I just would rather have aeriel combat more, as I really don't spend most of the time underwater. Seems I'm the only one who cares for it. If I want to jump off a cliff and shoot an arrow at someone from above, that's my business! not Bethesda's.

+1 for Underwater combat
+2 for Aerial combat

Yeah the amount of times I jump off of something ready to hack something and the animation cuts out damn it! Plus having enemys underwater and not being able to stab them is not just annoying it's game breaking nonsense! Yo Beth WTF!
Please some one fix these two little boggle the mind failures.
Then we can really exsploit the wounderful underwater areas while not being killed by a fish. I'd be happy with just limited slow single hacks, like when sneaking and even just limited to daggers if the realism croud wanna pooh pooh on the fun. I'm pretty sure I could gut a fish with a dagger under water even if couldn't swing an axe...
As for magic it would be cool to have special short range underwater destruction spells, jolt, flare and shard.

Couldn't you just turn off the 'no combat in water' flag in the race menus in the CK?

Try it, then. Let us know how it works. But I suspect there's more to it than that.

my ideas for how spells could work underwatter.

Fire spells could heat the water up causing heat damage (kinda like you just boiling them)

Lightning could cone out away from the player. Water could refract it from being a stream of lighting and make it refract into several direction coning outwards from the player.

Ice could cause ice to from around targets and weigh them down, possibly even make them sink.


Also I would like to see Horkers underwater. I bet they could be a force to be reckoned with down there.

Ice is lighter than water, that's why it floats... Wouldn't make them sink, but could stop them moving (like the shout) which would be equally dangerous.

Then it could make them float to the surface, either way it would put them at a disadvantage.

Anyone working on an underwater combat mod?

We're having a kind of contest to make a compilation of new underwater mods - let me know if you might have something ready by April 30: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1365150-underwater-mod-jam/