Hi all, first post by the way. Also, this is my first TES game, but not my first RPG.

Mind you, I just started playing Skyrim last night, and was able to play for about 4 hours. I'm also playing on the 360.

When I was playing last night, I noticed it would become a bit tedious using potions/scrolls during combat. I do not know why this didn't dawn on me last night, but are you able to assign items to the D-pad?

I've been mostly using dual wielded daggers and bows for combat. Is there any quick way to switch between the two setups without manually going into the inventory screen?

Last question I can think of. I've been primarily placing my perks into stealth. This may be due to only being Lvl 4, but I seem to have a lot of trouble sneaking up on enemies. I was able to get a couple sneak attacks using the bow, but it was damn near impossible for me to get within dagger range. I'm crouching and trying to use the shadows, not much luck yet. Any tips or tricks on getting some good sneak attacks?

Also, feel free to share any other random knowledge you might have! What is common knowledge to you could be the next sliced bread for me. I'm noticing Bethesda assumed a lot of players have played the past games. So I've been slowly figuring things out.

you can put frequently used weapons and spells into your favorites menu. I play on PC so I'm not sure what your button to push for favorites would be but i'm sure there is one

For sneaking are you run sneaking or walk sneaking because that makes a huge difference. I can usually get close to people with my dagger, but I'm also a high level. Soooo, yeah.

D-pad is for favs, atleast for the 360.

For sneaking I usually try to stay in the shadows, take out torches if possible. Walk slowly and hug the wall. Lastly, try to kill them as far away as possible, use the bow from far away. Always save before you attempt to kill them. That is just what I do, hope these are helpful.

Sorry for just getting back. Damn work n RL stuff... Thanks for the tips! I haven't tried run-sneaking, didn't know you could..lol I'm just getting ready to head home now. So I'll have to give some of this a try.

I'll see if I can figure out how to assign my fav's to the d-pad. Would make life much easier!

On the 360 you can assign frequently used weapon compos to the left and right direction pad. So in your case for your two weapon sets:

Press up or down on your direction pad to bring up your favorites

Go to your Bow

Press and hold the direction button to the left. Do this till a number appears to the right of your bow. In this case it will be no 1. This means that pressing left on the direction pad will change to your bow

Now, select your Sword. Repeat above but keeping the right side pressed. Number 2 will now appear by your sword.

Click right at any time will now quick equip your sword. Pressing left will return to your Bow. (you will not need to go into your favorites to do this, but can do it "in real time" without pausing the game

This is exactly what I was trying to do last night! I was just doing it in the main inventory screen. I did manage to favorite all my normally used items, so that made things much easier last night. Now assigning my two fav setups to L and R will make things MUCH easier. Thanks for info! Like I said, what's common knowledge will be the next sliced bread for me..lol It also doesn't help that I've been playing a Redbox copy. I wanted to give TES a try before purchasing. As long as I'm still hooked after tonight, which I'm sure I will be, I'll be buying myself a copy

While I'm here, I'll throw a couple more questions out for everybody.

When it comes to factions, can you only choose one? I.e., I'm a thief, so I definitely want to join the Thieves' Guild. Now does this mean I can't join the Companions or any other factions? Also, does this exclude The Dark Brotherhood?

One more question concerning Lydia or any other companions. Is there any way to control how they react? Like in Fallout you could choose passive or aggressive... I noticed if I sneaked so did Lydia, but she still blew my cover a few times. Especially if I took a not so traveled route. Then she would try to run around obstacles to catch up with me

Again thanks to everyone for assisting me in my newbness!!

Low-level sneaking is very difficult to get close to enemies with. You generally need to use a combination of Muffle, sneak walking, low-weight armor, sneak-boosting enchantments, or potions in order to be effective.

You can win every battle and clear every dungeon with sneaking or hit and run tactics in Oblivion. I think Skyrim is similar. Enemies and creatures do not spawn behind you like in Boarderlands or Rage. That means if you clear a path it stays clear giving you a line of retreat. Only very occasionally doors will close behind you so you have no way out of a boss fight. If you are still underpowered Skyrim will give you the chance to go away, level up and come back another day to kick some butt Your sneak goes up with use in earshot of , anyone as long as you are not detected. I sneak through all my dungeons so my level goes up pretty fast and yours will too. In the beginning you cant get close but sneaking and sniping will get you there quite soon.

If you want some hack and bash chops you can practice on crabs. Shield up and fire off bash until your stamina is gone. When your health is gone lower your shield and run in circles while healing yourself, rinse and repeat. To up your armor lower your shield stand before the crab with your arms open and yell: 'Daddy is on the menu,.. come and get it!'. Your health will go down fast so run in circles and heal, your armor rating goes up quickly as well. Dont forget to save, often. The crab is the best because he is tough and deals out a lot of damage. When you have had enough sparring you can off him and use the shell to mix with vamp dust for a cure all potion that is otherwise expensive to buy and very essential in Skyrim where the beasts dont clean their teeth often. Sneaking = deadly stealth, crab practice = block, regeneration, armor increases with a side dish of useful ingredients.
I have Lydia at my home, she looks too good to waste, anyhow at the start when you are weak there is enough to worry about.

I am pretty sure you can join every faction and lord over it without restriction but there is a thread here about that.

Have fun!

Also of note on the 360, your speed varies using the anologue stick. So the further you push the stick, the faster you go. When you are sneaking, the slower you go, the better your sneak. Not to say that they can't still turn and see you, but you make more noise when you "run sneak" than when you go slowly. There's a perk later in the skill tree that allows you to move silently, even when the anologue stick is "full throttle".
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Sneak

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Skyrim is a good resource in general, though it's still being updated a LOT for Skyrim.

That's what I was doing last night, I was sneaking through the dungeon I ran with my bow ready. Seemed to help me level up my sneaking skill. I'll do a search for the faction thread. I plan to start with the Thieves' Guild, but didn't know how that effected other factions.

I'll have to keep my eyes open for one of these crabs. Haven't came across one yet.


I also noticed the difference between sneaking and run-sneaking.

Thanks for the info guys!