Hey all.

So I am having some problems when I encounter groups of high level Draugrs that are all using unrelenting shout, which has been happening a fair amount in end-game dungeon crawling. Other than ducking and covering, is there a way to make oneself less susceptible to the shout? My armor is above cap (567, right?) and all that good stuff, yet I am literally sometimes just entering a room and stuck in rag-doll limbo until I am dead from arrows and strikes. I'm all for the game being hard when it's meant to, but I feel like getting tossed around without being able to defend almost automatically is something else entirely.

Anyone know of anything that helps make you less susceptible to the rag-doll effect of the shout? I wasn't sure it Paarthurnax's Fus meditation helped out with this- has anyone tested that? Or anything else?

Thanks!

The best advice I can give involves a Mq spoiler so if you're not at least halfway through you may not want to read it


Other then that staying up close and using a lot of staggering attacks or staying very far away and using a bow or magic work for me.

If you're above the armor cap, how are you getting killed in 10 seconds (about the time to get back up from UR)? They have never spammed it on me, so I can always fight back.

Maybe you have to swallow your pride and turn down the difficulty....

The Fire Breath shout is a great equalizer against a group.

There are several answers to your problem:

1) I haven't tested this one, but there is a shout that renders you invincible for a short time. It is called "Become Ethereal", and it is my favorite shout. I'm confident that it would allow you to ignore Fus Ro Dah, but I am unsure

2) This doesn't deal with the shout, but it does make your Draugr much more managable. There is a daedric sword called Dawnbreaker that is great for crowd controlling undead. Look for Meridias Shrine in the mountains west of Solitude

Two words.

Shield. Bash.

Acquire a Flame Atronach, they are cheap, can be got at low levels and require little magika. Once cast she will attack your enemies talking the attention of at least some of the Draugr from you. That will often be all you need sepecially if you have maxed armor. Have you sufficient offense, a strong bow and sword perhaps? I find the shouts don't do all that much to me and I just shout back.

Thanks so much for all the advice guys!

@Chairman- yeah, master difficulty is most of the problem, but without it the game is too easy so I'm gonna stick with it. It's more the fact that I get juggled (i.e. start to get up, then the next one hits me, and by the time I start getting up again, the process either repeats or I'm dead from all the ebony arrows hitting me).

@Everyone else- Thanks for the strategy ideas. I'll see what works best. It was mostly the part of the Main Quest in Skuldafn where there were a ton outside, because they were all circling above with the shout and arrows, and I kept finding myself getting stuck in loops of the shout and getting dropped quick (or just getting tossed by it far enough where I just slide to my death from the physics thinking I plummeted a million feet, haha).

Honestly, I think that encounter in Skuldafn is the hardest in the game, so I doubt you'll have any trouble from now on.

Is there that big of a difference between master and expert? I have a character that just did Skuldafn on Expert and it was the easiest dungeon yet, and my character is very limited in order to increase difficulty, has very low hp and doesn't do well in melee yet I could go toe to toe with those deathlords in groups, usually deathlords are very difficult for me. And don't even mention the two regular old dragons out front. The ancient dragons I'm used to can kill me with a dirty look but those standard dragons were a joke. I think I got jipped on my Skuldafn experience.

I'm not the sure on the different between expert and master, but yeah, I never really have a problem going toe to toe with deathlords other than when I was getting stuck those unrelenting force juggles. As it doesn't always effect me (sometimes my character just shrugs it off rather than getting tossed) I wasn't sure if there was some way to increase whatever it is that determines whether an UF shout tosses you or not. Figured it was stagger, but throwing a point in that heavy armor perk that reduces stagger didn't seem to help out much. Oh well, I am through that part and don't think I will have like 4 deathlord with bows shouting me over and over circling me again anytime soon. Thanks again all!

The only way to increase UF resistence is to meditate on Fus.

This is the first case of TES spamming - well that and cliffracers. But at least Draugr are restricted to dungeons (mostly). Right from the start - Bleak falls Barrow - I thought "jeez this is a lot of combat for TES". Thankfully it seems restricted to Draugr dungeons. But still, it's a little MW3 for my tastes.

my theif mage enchanter blacksmith hybrid runs around in circles stopping to blast them with flames a second and let it burn off. Works rather well. If its rooms where a lot of them spawn I just ice form a group and concentrate on any i miss, rinse and repeat. Takes some time, but I never die, which is what really matters.

my sneak archer with ligh armor never had a problem with the deathlords on expert level. they were shouting ar me but no stagger effect. harder to kill but dumb as hell, and no problem in 100% sneak mode, especially with sneak increasing clothing.
my fighter character is yet to reach the necesary level and on master 1 scourge draugr still infllicts sufficient dmg to him

If you were to post your build, what skills you use etc, would be more useful. Here are some methods that might help:

• You can meditate on the word of fus, granting you 25% less stagger. (Main story)
  
• You can get the heavy armor perk for 50% less stagger
  
• Wards block shouts, using a restoration ward (even a low level one), or the shield that gives you the ward effect against magic.
  
• Use shouts/magic to distract/stagger them before they get a chance to shout at you. They don't seem to shout when I'm close to them.
  
• Companions/conjures to distract them. The use of the illusion school can help to, for sneaking or the manipulation spells (you need level 90 illusion for the perk though).

couldn't you just turn down the difficulty just for the problem encounters? once you're done with the stunlocking deathlords you can put it back onto master?

If you are a sneaky archer they will never see you, undead have issues discovering sneak.
You can pump them full of sneak attacks, yes if they come to close it get sticky.

If you are using shield and heavy armour this is the best combo i found to figth Mages and does nasty shouters the solution abouve and

makes you preaty much invencible against bouth

dual wield a chain lightning staff and a fireball staff, fire them off continuously simultaneously - make sure you get the perk that staggers enemies - the lightning staggers them and the fire adds extra damage...works every time, unbeatable...it's a bit overpowered but sometimes necessary.

Wards protect against Unrelenting Force. As does Spellbreaker.

Ice Form, then get stuck in

yep Spellbreaker is probably the best item in the all game for does worriers that need to get up clouse and personal

Does increasing the difficulty also increase the ragdoll chance? I'm on expert instead of master, and I've only ever been knocked over once by UF from a deathlord. Usually it just makes my screen shake a bit.

I did have a 30 minute fight at the end of the first companions quest that was tough though; I'd decided to use only bow for the dungeon to level it up. No perks on an unenchanted ebony bow, and the game scaled the final room up to deathlords.

The difficulty only changes how much damage you take and how much damage you deal.