I just bought the game and it is the first time I have played any of the elder scrolls games and I am a bit stuck on how to play it.
The game looks amazing and I really like the setting and the story seems interesting from what I have seen so far but I am having trouble getting to grips with the gameplay and this is resulting in me getting annoyed and turning the game off.

I am sure this will sound silly to anyone who is a pro at these type of games but here is a description of my problems.

I managed to play through the first part of the game and then I arrived at whiterun. I managed to figure out how to craft and upgrade weapons pretty easily from a woman that gave me instructions from some quests and also picked up a few quests which point me to various locations on the world map but then this is where the trouble starts.
I try to attempt some of the quests and each time the same thing happens.... I reach the area and notice that it is usually some kind of town or camp filled with hostile enemies and I begin to attack the first person there and one of 2 things happens, I sometimes kill the first person and then a second or even third person will just come along and kill me. If that dose not happen then the other option is that the first person I encounter simply kills me.
This is as far as I can get in the game.

I am sure I must be doing something wrong and I really have no idea if I should be using spells, weapons, potions or what. I have a fire spell on one of my hands and I burn people with that but they take a long time to die (and can only manage to kill 1 person and then I die because my mana is gone) and have tried using a dagger which I can not kill anybody with at all and some kind of axe that I can kill someone with but then I just die if I face more than 1 enemy.


I have no idea what sort of weapons I should use or the benefits and disadvantages of each, the same applies to clothing and armor.
I am also interested to know that when I enter areas I can pick up all kinds of stuff from people/houses etc - should I be picking up everything to sell it or should I just ignore all this stuff or what? My inventory fills quite fast and then I walk slow but I have no idea at all what items I should be looking out for.

Does anybody have some really beginner friendly advice for me?
Thanks!

I would recommend turning down the difficulty slider until you get the hang of playing. Once you've gotten a little more comfortable with whatever playstyle you choose, you can turn it back up to suite your taste.

If you've picked up so much stuff that you can no longer run, walk to a store and sell the stuff. Use the coin to buy a weapon. Then go exploring. Enjoy yourself. Find out what weapon or spell works for you. Save often.
And welcome to the forums!

Generally speaking, it's easiest to use a fighter playstyle if you're new to these type of games, using a 1-handed weapon, a shield and heavy armor (starts with iron, and as you level up you find better armor.) When you level up, focus on health and stamina.

Or, you can use light (leather) armor and a bow, and a melee weapon as necessary. If you sneak everywhere it will reward you in time, and you can sneak better in light armor than you can in heavy armor. (Or, go with no armor and use magic, but that can be tricky in this game.)

Ignore most magic, but experiment with it to find out what works and what doesn't. Healing spells from the Restoration school are essential and allow you to heal up faster when you're hurt, but make sure to carry potions that 'restore health' for emergencies.

Learning about smithing and crafting is good for warrior types, but don't go overboard early on. The key to this game is to level up your weapon skill and your armor skill. Eventually, crafting/smithing will allow you to make very powerful stuff, and you can enchant them later on to add more damage--don't worry about Enchanting until you're at a higher level.

Otherwise, play along, talk to people in towns and help them as you wish. Do as many quests in Whiterun (and Riverwood) as possible, because they tend to keep you close to home. (There are some that may be too difficult for you to handle early on--I'm thinking of the old lady in Whiterun.)

I would watch some videos on youtube to get the idea of combat. Also make sure you have something in each hand (unless you are using a bow/2-handed weapon). Some people don't realize they can dual-weild. You could go with flames in one hand and axe in the other, flames in both, weapon in both, or whatever you want.

You're mostly melee, right? As you leveled up, have you been putting most or all of your points into health at early levels? This is a must for melee types.

I would say the opposite from what eggrock said: I would advise learning magic and ignore the melee combat. It depends on your play style, of course.

Remember that just because you receive a quest doesn't mean you must do it right then... or at all, for that matter. Bethesda's games are not about questing. They are about exploration of a world and becoming your character (i.e., role playing).

The reason you have trouble is because you haven't sufficiently trained yourself.

Talk to everyone, especially in Riverwood and Whiterun because they are the first people who are intended to meet, assuming you follow the advice you are given by the NPCs at the beginning. Some of them will instruct you on how to do basic stuff, including Alchemy and Enchanting.

Again, Beth's games are not about the game telling you to do something and then you do it. Their games are about you doing what you want to do in order to create your character's story. Imagine yourself as your character and behave accordingly.

You did not by chance level up a few times while Crafting? That can cause the enemies to level up but your combat/defense skills did not go up with them.

Also, combat is not going to work toe to toe, use some tactics and move back and forth. Learn to watch the enemies, they telegraph their attacks. Also, load up on healing potions and hot key them. And, hire or get a follower, they can help in the battles.

The thing about the elder scrolls games is you have to figure out how you, yourself play. Experiment. I was the same way in Morrowind. Never made it very far, and then Oblivion, never made it very far, and now Skyrim.... I am very far and now sitting at 160+ hours. Just play the game really. Also if you cant kill something it is probably because you are not a high enough level. I usually play as a warrior in any rpg but the way I play in Skyrim is more rogueish, i sneak around everywhere, in dungeons I have never been in, when walking to other towns, mainly because the eye will appear when something is around and your not caught by surprise, if I see something in the distance I try to pick them off and slowly my archery increased. There are millions of things you can do in the game in your own way so dont just follow quests, talk to people, explore, just figure things out and you will eventually become strong enough to one hit kill things. For a begginer to this franchise I recommend these steps.

1. Use a one hand weapon and shield combo. The added defence will help you out allot in sticky situations.
2. Choose a Nord class. In the situations you described the nords natural ability Battle Cry will send the opponent closest to you running and you can pick one off at a time.
3. Sneak everywhere. The cross-hair will become a straight line and wills lowly open into an eye when something begins to detect you thus making you more aware of your surroundings.
4. Save your cash and sell everything your not going to use. At first crafting, alchemy and all that seem cool, but if you are just going to horde it all the time then sell it. The extra gold you will get spend on health potions and stamina potions.
5. MAKE USE OF THE FAVOURITES! This is huge. I never did and got my but kicked all the time. So I started favouriting everything I felt I would need. Not only does hitting the "Q" key pause the game, but it allows you to change weapons, spells, and use potions without trying to remember where you hot keyed it or the hassle of going through your inventory.
6. Do NOT fast travel. Yes it can for some be very tedious to walk/run everywhere, but this is how you get drawn into new locations and into conflicts that boost your characters skills. Even in you have a full inventory, drop something and run to sell it, then go back for more stuff and sell it.

Anyways, try these out at first, they are pretty much the steps I followed and once you get a hang of the system bump up the difficulty and go. A challenge makes the game even more fun once you know how to play.

Everyone plays this game differently, you need to find your desired playstyle.

Firstly I would turn your difficulty down in the options menu to make it easier and when you get hang of the game just turn it back up again, there is no penalty for doing this.

Just experiment with different weapon combinations until you find ones that suit you. If you keep dieing then when you level up, choose to upgrade you health and invest in a healing spell... saved me so many times

Good luck!

Don't forget you can pause the game and use healing potions at any time, or try a weapon or flame spell in one hand, a healing spell in the other. Sell all your unwanted stuff and buy healing potions if you aren't finding enough in loot. And Myrrh is right, no shame in playing on novice until you have found your feet. Also, remember you can stagger enemies with a power attack, getting one more hit in when you get the timing.

You don't have to kill everything in sight. Avoid a bandit or two.

Maybe with summons, but going pure magic can be trouble with multiple enemies, and you need to be very careful with your build. *shrug* I went with it and was fine, but did use a little 1H and light armor at the beginning.

Best and simplest advice really. I'd played TES games before but on this I started of trying a little bit of everything until I settled on something that felt right for me. It was just after the point in the game you are now when I decided to stick to one playstyle. But yeah turn the difficulty down until you get the hang of it, then you'll be chopping down Draugr like they're made of paper.

Quit peddling your religion.

Thanks for the great advice so far, keep it coming
I will check back again when I finish work tomorrow and get chance to give the game another go.

I honestly do not remember what difficulty I chose so I guess that it the first thing to check!

Eggrock makes great points... I would add that at early levels there are going to be certain forts/caves/whatever that you will really struggle with as the enemies will be higher level than you... perhaps hone your combat skills a bit in some easier areas against skeevers and wolves and level up your one-handed or two handed skill a bit. I died a lot level 1 to 10 in this game just because I would stumble into places with enemies that would drill me. an example is the fort just west of Whiterun (forget it's name, but it ussually is full of bandits). I went there early on, and kept getting my [censored] handed to me by the bandit chief. after 5 tries I just decided I was not meant to beat her. went back a level 15, and it was a different story.

certainly when you are outnumbered, trying to use magic early on in your character to win a battle will be tough. the magic gets better to use mid to late game (meaning once you get to the higher character levels) as you are able to improve your mana level and mana regeneration rate, and use better spells. once you can get Fireball or something of the ilk they get a bit more effective. so focus on the basics of a one handed weapon and a shield early for combat. dabble with the magic when you are one-on-one, or against weaker enemies, like a skeever or wolf or something to help raise your skill in that magic (destruction being one of the more popular).

And my last tip, before I write a book here, is save your perk points that you get when you level for a while, as much as you want to just start spending them as you get them try to hold off. I say this because if you have never played the game before, it's going to take you a while to figure out what your style of play is. As you can tell, there are many different ways you can go as far as the type of combat, magic, and weapons you use. while you may think it is fun to dabble in all of them, you will end up hurting yourself if you spread your perk points accross the board. what you will find after you get to level 10 to 15 is you will have settled into a certain style of play. with my main character for instance, I am a warrior/mage type who focuses on using war axes (one-handed weapons) ussually dual weilded, with destruction magic, and some archery. I wear heavy armor, and like to smith my own gear and enchant it. so these are the skill trees that I want to invest most of my skill perks in. while I do sneak and pick locks, and do all the other stuff in the game, the things I do the MOST are what I want to augment with perk points. definitely specialize in a weapon type and stick with it, so you are making the most of the skill points you invest. Likewise choose either heavy or light armor to focus on. ussually warrior types use heavy, and sneaky thief, rogue, archer types use light. and also note that while there are some cool perks at the top of the skill tree, maxing out that first level perk is often the most benefitial (take maxing out the one handed skill so that your weapons do 100% more damage for instance).. So again, save the perk points early, and really try to have a road map for where you are going to spend your 50 or so that you will get in the game. i believe you can go as high as 81 perk points or something, if you sink probably 500 hours into a character, but having a plan for 40-50 of them will help you a lot later in your character.

I could go on forever.. but I'm sure you will get many other helpful tips from others... just keep at it, and once you are in the level 10-15 range, you'll start clicking.

No, it just depends on your play style. You do not have to be any more careful with a mage than with melee if that is your preferred play style. Trust me, as I speak from experience and do not do well playing melee characters. Also, as far as multiple enemies goes, any problem for a mage will be far worse for a melee fighter. Mages can hit more than one enemy, but melee fighters cannot.

Again, though, it depends on the OP's style.

Go to the UESP and read more about the mechanics and how the games works. Then come back and smite it. The first time I played Daggerfall I almost got overwhelmed once I figured out all of the stuff there was to do. And since this game is a lot less complex than Daggerfall, Morrowind, or even Oblivion, you should be good.

Easiest playstyle I've found is using sneak, lt armor, conjuration, and one-handed. Sneak as close as you can without being detected. Summon something while out of sight behind something, then back or run back until you are no longer detected. Repeat until most of your opponents are dead then finish off whats left with a bow. The sword and light armor is backup if something gets close. Sneak everywhere. Use your bow to hunt wildlife. Fury spells are good also if you have a group. While sneaking cast fury at one and let then fight each other. Finish off the survivor with a summons or bow.

You should decide what type character you want.

Magic, melee, or a thief/assassin type character.

If you want a magic user, get armor/clothes that increase your magicka/mana. Mainly uses staffs - but it will be a while I think before you see those.
If you want an assassin/thief, light armor preferred, sneak, bow main weapon, 1H or 2H as backup.
If you want melee, warrior of some type, sword and board and/or 2H.

Now, they'll all use some magic at one time or another, and there are also playstyles that mix some of these. Like a battlemage who may be in light or heavy armor, needs mana, and also sword and board or 2H.

Early on, I don't put points in sneaking, speech, etc. I let those skills level as I play. I.e., sneaking most of the time everywhere levels it just nicely. On my assassin, I put perks in archery, and a few in enchanting so I can put enchants on weapons/armor. Keep watching bows you find, if they do more damage than the one you're using, swap them out. Same for arrows - arrows have different damage levels.

On my warrior, I sneak, but don't put points in that skill, or speech, etc. I use perks in heavy armor; 2H; smithing, and enchanting.

Spread your perks around a little - and don't powerlevel smithing, enchanting, and alchemy - if you do, your character will level, and so will enemies, but your combat capability doesn't level, and theirs does. So you they'll be more powerful than you.

One other thing about sneaking. Increasing the sneaking skill only works if there's somebody/something that can see you. NPCS, animals, etc. If you empty half a dungeon and sneak back to town to sell stuff, sneaking through the empty part of the dungeon doesn't do anything to level that skill.

Hope this helps a little.

Good luck.

Well put....
I was like this when I got to Balmora in Morrowind the first time. I had no idea what to do or where to go. Just awe struck by the scope of the map.

just run away and stay away from those camps of enemies

honestly this is one of the most refreshing posts here. many people pick it up the first time and come here to rage how its not what they expected.

1. Turn the difficulty all the way down. There is no in-game penalty for this and when it gets too easy you can just turn it back up.

2. I guess you might be attacking the wrong people. If you are arriving in towns and people are just attacking you that is wierdness. Maybe you mean dungeons, caves or fortresses? If you feel overwhelmed by a lot of attackers you could try playing stealthy and picking them off with arrows one at a time.


Beauty of the game is you can pick pretty much whatever you like.


I use a 10x rule early in the game, if the items value isn't 10x its weight I don't bother to pick it up. Later on you will have a ton of money and can bump that up to like 20x or so...

If you get over-encumbered (can't run) then drop heavy items that have low value.

welcom to TES, hope you're able to have some fun with it.

The TAB key is your friend.