I do like the idea of scrolls, no magicka cost, etc....
I just always forget that I have them!

When I did remember to use them once or twice, different scrolls seemed to have different "charge" times, which confused me about when to "let go."

Now that I'm getting the Shalidor scrolls, I'd like to be effective with them, as well as the nice destruction & paralyze ones I have.

Do you use them?
If so, how, and when?

I never use them, they are too expensive. They are just loot to me.

I think it depends on your destruction level on the charge time. I used mass paralysis on a quest and it was around a 6 second charge. But that could also be based on my level (20s I think) and it being a master level spell(?). Like the other post, they're just loot as I'm a spell sword and can use most of the spells anyway. I tried giving them to followers, but have never seen them use them. At .5lb each, I just leave them at home. I can see them being valuable if your strictly a warrior type.

Well i have to say that i have used scrolls probably only once ....in my 185 hrs game.....i dont really use them...

I've never used one scroll in my game, except for the flamecloak scroll quest at the college. I have every scroll I've ever found stashed at home in a drawer, must be a pretty pennies worth by now.
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I never use them. I sell them all.

Have never used them. Always forget about them until I get back to Breezehome, and then I just dump them all in my nightstand.

I don't use them either mainly because of the oddball charge times the OP referred to. It makes them worse than useless. While I'm waiting for one of the things to charge I've usually been hit 3 or 4 times and have to use a bunch of Restore Health potions just to keep from being killed. This still occurs with my level 62 character.

In all my hours of playing the only scroll I've even been able to use with any kind of effectiveness was Bane of the Undead on the Boy Who Cried Wolf quest. That's happened once in about 500 hours worth of playing.

To my mind a scroll is supposed to be a one time freebee that allows you to do something above your level if you're non-magic user. Even you're higher levelled it should be a way to effectively augment what you already do well. But they don't. They just kind of svck.

I tried to use the mass-paralysis scroll and OMG by the time the casting animation finishes, the enemies were dead already (my companion took care of them LOL) Yea, so now I just sell them. Scrolls are more a bother than anything...

Yep. I don't play a mage-type and my original D&D indoctrination makes it difficult for me to use magic on melee types so I don't use them either. it feels like a cheat to me for non-mage types to use magic.

scrolls are very useful when you are roleplaying a character. its no different then cooking, to most cooking is useless, 5 hp for a slamon steak? how the hell does that save me from dying in a fight? but its there to add to your role playing.

a great way to use spells in actual combat is to calm your target then hit them with your spell. i will argue that illusion is the most powerful casting school in theg game, aoe that gives you time to do what you need to stealth, walk by your enemies casuallly, play a non combat character see how powerful illusion is when you combine it with fury and pick pocket. any way i digresses. the point is that scroll are not ment to be a casting substitute, it there to keep you from goin oom in the middle of a fight. you just need to set it up right.

Boy I can relate to that. A warrior cast fireball? I don't think so unless they are some elven dual-class.

I have also had an issue with the cast time. The one of two times I did try some just to see what the did I never did get the spell off. I did play a mage through the mages guild and got that flamecloak scrolls to work (what a rush that was).

Yeah, it's hard for me to get past it. They introduced multi-classes into D&D, but they were severely level-capped and difficult to level up so it's still pretty weird to me...and, yes, I've played many RPGs since the original D&D. It's still weird for me to see mages with any kind of sword.

Cooking is so far from useless, it's not even funny. Vegetable Soup and Elsewyr Fondue are two of the most useful things in the game.

It's a shame really. In Morrowind you had some really powerful and useful scrolls, but they've been largely gutted in Oblivion and Skyrim.

I don't use scrolls either, mostly because it never seems to be the 'right' time to do so given their one-off nature. I considered making a mod that lets me craft them, but the problem is that I'd already need to know the spell to do so and a fair number of scrolls are for spells you're never going to buy unless playing a mage already.

Then again, I've never been a fan of one-use items in general, as they promote not using them so that you have them when you finally do get in a tight spot. Unfortunately, it never actually works out that way, because any situation a properly-built character gets into that would otherwise require use of rare consumables has already been prepared against, so you either don't need the item or are in so far over your head that it won't save you.

All of that said, I have actually used a scroll 3 times so far; all three were on low-level characters fighting the end boss in Bleak Falls Barrow while being rather under-geared for the fight, and they actually needed the help (I don't use companions).

Don't think I ever used one in Oblivion, and I'm yet to use one in Skyrim as well.

Partially, I think, because I'm not a huge magic user. But also because even if I was, I'd rather just learn a spell.

Scrolls like any other spell. You equip them and hold your attack button till the animation for charging it in your hand is done and let go at the target. A scroll can only be used once though.

I used Scroll of Courage on my Ranger character a couple times during the civil war quests, for RP purposes. The casting time was really long!

My necromage has a pretty specific build- fire (destruction) and reanimation (conjuration) are her only means of offense. While in Ilinata's Deep, I ended up using three Conjure Storm Atronach scrolls to tank for me vs the boss necromages. I was really grateful I had those scrolls.

My Stormcloak soldier character has no use for magic in any form, so I sell the scrolls I get as rewards, and don't bother to pick them up as loot.

I was wondering about this too, because I found the charge and cast time to be ridiculously long when I tried using them. I stopped using them shortly thereafter and pretty much just sell them.

They do however make some pretty cool looking home decorations; there are a couple different meshes for the scrolls, some cooler looking than others.




Edit: I sometimes can find a conjure scroll useful if I cast it into a room full of enemies before they see me. That's about it.

I tried once, a Fireball scroll on the trail to High Hrothgar against the Frost Troll. The way that troll jinks and dodges around, he ate my character and companion up by the time the animation let go. After 3 or 4 reloads, I decided scrolls aren't for me. Have stacks of them on 4 characters and I find them more trouble than they're worth to use quickly and effectively.

Thanks for all the input. I guess it's always a question of which options you prefer, in order to get the job done.

I'd still like to learn how to use them well....it's the way I'm playing the game with this current character: I don't have her locked into one pure archetype.
Instead, since first discovering she is dragonborn, her journey has been about learning new things, and then using those new things, all along the way as she discovers what Skyrim has to offer. Started in the College at Winterhold, but also using all types and combos of cloth and armor (except heavy), crafting, weaponry, and battle style. Scrolls just seem to be an option she shouldn't dismiss without finding the best way to use them.

You mean you don't enchant your weapons, Buckom? But, but, but some enemies are easier slaughtered with enchanted weapons! You got to leave D & D behind and play SKYRIM! FUS RO DAH!!!! hahahahahaha =p

I find the use of scrolls to be highly situational. If I'm surrounded by undead, and I have a follower to keep them busy for several seconds, the undead bane scroll (or whatever it's called) can be helpful. As someone else has stated, a powerful summon scroll (relative to your level) can be useful for a surprise attack on enemies. Sanguine Rose is much more useful for this purpose, though you probably won't have it at very low level. All told, I think i used three or four scrolls in one character's playthrough to 50th level.

Actually, I don't - I don't like the charge thing. I will enchant the hell out of my armor and jewelry though. I even enchant the Tavern Clothes that my chick wears around when traveling.
I used the hell out of magical weapons in D&D (several creatures could only be 'hit' by +1 or greater weapons ), but I can't do the casting or casting-like thing on melee types. I just don't trust the College of Winterhold after they made half of the town sink into the ocean.