[Grace Francis]

Agronak is currently in the hills around Riverwood, distributing Imperial Justice and Hunting Necromancers

EDIT: Agronak has a new RP rule. If possible, I will Berserker rage and murder anyone who calls me Orc filth...

[Felix Walde]

I only play dead-is-dead. The experience is significantly richer when you have to pay attention every moment rather lollying around knowing that you'lll just reload if something goes wrong.

As a play style: I do not abuse the system or power-level; I roleplay the character with their imagined background.

120 hours and ten characters later, here are my thoughts on how to survive the game all the way to the end, I hope:

(TL;DR: heavy armor; block; focus on few skills)


*** You must limit the damage you receive: i.e. either crowd control or stealth or tanking.

Crowd control would imply *conjuration* or *illusion* (*alteration*/paralysis is available much later; you may not make it that far). I prefer to be self-reliant and crowd control is not reliable for me: if a far away enemy (Draugr Deathlord with a bow) can one-shot you, a far away enemy WILL eventually one-shot you because you won't notice it in time. Stealth isn't my style. I leave the commentary to the experts. However, I find that there will be cases when stealth will fail and you will have to tank a Draugr Death Overlord with a Greataxe hacking at you. *gulp*

This leaves (for my play style) tanking: I find *block* a necessity for tanking. Most of my deaths are when I fail to kill things fast enough that they are still hammering at me while I'm out of stamina, mana, and potions - and fail to run away. *Block* + *Heavy Armor* reduces the rate you receive damage significantly, *block* additionally lets you avoid power hits and reduces elemental damage via perks.


*** Controlling level scaling by focused character development.

In short, if you become a level 20 master of speech, pickpocket, and alchemy you will be dead!

Choosing Heavy Armor & Block naturally suggests *One Handed* as the primary offence and one secondary attack skill: archery or destruction (or conjuration, but not my style). Alternatively you can have *one handed* as a secondary to destruction/archery.

I prefer not to level sneak: it would make sense for a dedicated character with an archer/assassin build, but it dilutes the sword-n-board build I discuss here.


*** Survival

Either you are killing them fast enough before they kill you or you must increase your longevity. *Alchemy* or *Restoration* are natural candidates. Assuming you are not using crowd control or stealth, you will take damage.

In my opinion, *restoration* is useful ONLY for a heavy armor + block warrior. Otherwise, you are taking damage too fast (die in 1-3 hits) for healing to be relevant. I use restoration dual cast to step back and full heal (+stamina, using respite perk) and go back to the fray: that essentially let's you have a second chance to continue fighting the same mob. If I cannot take them down that way I must run away as I am over my head.

Alchemy is a personal choice of all-or-nothing. Your mileage will depend on how much you invest (and it increases your level, making mobs tougher).



*** In summary, here is my "paladin" build for attempting a dead-is-dead run:

Block, Heavy Armor, One Handed, Restoration, Destruction.

Past lvl 20, I may add Enchanting and/or Smithing, but I do not abuse the crafting system. (If I craft I only use found materials: the dinky smith in town shouldn't be able to stock dwemer ore and whatnot.)

(Minor details: 1. I will keep Lydia for role-play reasons and made her essential - I don't think it is possible to keep her alive otherwise. 2. I will play at Adept difficulty: died in Expert too many times, Adept is hard enough for dead-is-dead unless you are powergaming. 3. I use one mod only that scales Destruction damage ~1% per skill. I find this a reasonable compromise that should have been in the vanilla already.)

[CHARLODDE]

I merged a new topic into this existing one. Sorry for any confusion.

[Jeffrey Lawson]

What do ya'll think a smith should do to practice his art in a not 10000 iron daggers sort of way?

[Aaron Clark]

I am really enjoying Dead-Is-Dead. For the first time, my companion feels useful. Saved me with a Master Vampire in a cave, a little while ago.

[Epul Kedah]

Level 10, Agronak gro-Garrus was slain in Dustman's Cairn by a member of the Silver Hand with a Silver Greatsword. I really liked this character.

2/13/12, Requiscat in Pace, fratello

[marina]

I challenge everyone to try to play DiD with the tougher traps mod!

[Claire]

The more I read the epitaphs, the better I feel about reaching level 10. It seems about average.

[sas]

The more I read the epitaphs, the better I feel about reaching level 10. It seems about average.

I'm sorry for your loss.
On a side note: You can just edit your last post if none are posted after you.

[Barbequtie]

The musings of Brigid the Black...

It's been a week and a half since I escaped Helgen with that Ralof fellow and still my rage will not abate.
Curse the Legion! To Oblivion with the empire! Who do they think they are?? Hauling off anyone they please to the chopping block. No reasoning with them. No proof of any misdeeds necessary. All Nords are guilty. Period.

Argh! I was a fool! Ignorant of everything outside my own little hamlet. Whiling away my days in my aunt's shop. I will NEVER be taken unaware again. Never bound and carted off because I have naught but a basket of flowers with which to defend myself.
Indeed, Brigid the Helpless was killed, nay, murdered at Helgen. Good riddance to her, I say.
Empire, meet your nemesis, Brigid the Black. Shield maiden. Blood letter. Purger of foul men

"...coming?"

Huh? What's that?

"Brigid!"

Ah... It's Faendal. We've become fair friends since I revealed the dog, Sven's treachery to Camilla. I was never particularly found of elves, but this one's alright. Honest. Trustworthy. And he's taught me quite a bit about the bow.
'Nuff that I'm fairly confident I could pick off a man or two at 20 paces before they'd have time to close with me. A useful skill, I must admit, considering where there's one Legionnaire there's likely, well, a legion.

But if there are foes to be felled then I'd prefer a sturdy shield strapped to my arm and an axe in hand. And after a few days of sparring with Faendal and fending off some wolves in the wood, despite aching muscles from the sudden activity it seems my body recalls with relative ease the patterns and rhythms of my father's early training. Perhaps not so helpless afterall...

"I said I'm heading out. Are you coming? Thought you wanted a few more pelts..."

Ah yes. Our daily hunt. This may be the last one for some time. I promised the folks over at the trader I'd try to track down some stolen heirloom for them. Gonna require a trek up that damned snowy mountain...
Another pelt or two and I can complete my set of fur armor. I think I will appreciate its warmth up there...

"Aye, I'm coming! Let's go!".....

[phillip crookes]

(snip)

I'm really liking Brigid! I don't like the Stormcloaks or Nords in general, but I'm enjoying reading this.

[koumba]

Going to be making a new char soon, a pure mage i have in mind, never did a mage in Skyrim yet, the only thing that scares me is this char will be my first DID playthrough, and i am running master difficulty 24/7 along with a TON of mods a few to name is.

Deadly Dragons - with maxed out settings.
Wars in Skyrim - with maxed out settings and hardest setting on Dark mode

those two are the only ones that come to mind at the moment that changes things a ton to make me scared of a DID playthrough.

thoughts lol?

[WTW]

You'll probably die pretty quick. Mages are frail, and not that strong.

[Janine Rose]

Going to be making a new char soon, a pure mage i have in mind, never did a mage in Skyrim yet, the only thing that scares me is this char will be my first DID playthrough, and i am running master difficulty 24/7 along with a TON of mods a few to name is.

Deadly Dragons - with maxed out settings.
Wars in Skyrim - with maxed out settings and hardest setting on Dark mode

those two are the only ones that come to mind at the moment that changes things a ton to make me scared of a DID playthrough.

thoughts lol?

You are adding to the fire, that is no doubt. Take it slow and use your buddies. Conjuration and Illusion are very powerful. Good luck. And we look forward to hearing about your char.

You'll probably die pretty quick. Mages are frail, and not that strong.

I beg to differ. That depends on the strategy. My first character was pure mage and retired at level 48. She never fell in combat. I would also never discourage anyone from being anything. This thread is pro support, unlike the other trash and bash threads in this forum. You need to look at the mage skills a little closer.

[Julie Serebrekoff]

I beg to differ. That depends on the strategy. My first character was pure mage and retired at level 48. She never fell in combat. I would also never discourage anyone from being anything. This thread is pro support, unlike the other trash and bash threads in this forum. You need to look at the mage skills a little closer.

My first Character was too, a pure mage. I found that Conjuration, Illusion, and Restoration are the only schools that can stand alone. Everything else is just too gimped. That said, Battlemages are very fun and viable.

EDIT:
In other news, I'm starting my next DiD character. An Argonian Ranger named Talen. He doesn't plan to join any major factions, came north for the game, and prefers an existence in the wild to city life. I plan to get a dog follower, for the first time and see how that works out. Talen will be an experiment in wandering Skyrim. I'm excited to see how he works out!

Skills:
Light Armor(Fur), Sneak, Archery, One Handed, and Alchemy

[TIhIsmc L Griot]

Level 2, Talen Died. [censored] Saber Cat, the Hunter became the hunted.

[sunny lovett]

What do ya'll think a smith should do to practice his art in a not 10000 iron daggers sort of way?

With Swamp-Strider I did it as follows: each time I unlock a new type of equipment, I must craft as much of it as materials allow during each smithing session. As he's all the way up the Heavy side to Dragon, he now has free rein to use any such materials he wishes. I plan to carry that forward to future characters as well, and potentially move to only using the best materials available; the catch with doing so is that it's hard to come by enough Ebony and Malachite unless you know where to mine it, since vendor stocks tend to be low.

I noticed you're going to be doing a wanderer-type character this time around; I have one of those planned myself, who will also be a vampire, however he will not start out as a wanderer. Rather, he will get infected while doing a certain quest, and gradually go insane and withdraw from society (he'll eventually be a permanent Stage 4). He won't do any quests, except those that get auto-added to your journal; the one he'll get infected during is one of those, so won't violate the RP.

[Carlos Rojas]

this sounds like a fun playstyle

[Abel Vazquez]

I'm really liking Brigid! I don't like the Stormcloaks or Nords in general, but I'm enjoying reading this.

Thanks SPAH. Yeah, this'll be my first time trying a storm cloak sympathizer. I usually stick with the empire, despite their mistake at Helgen, or stay out of the civil war altogether. Don't really like the storm cloaks either. Guess itll be a test of my rping...

[Lawrence Armijo]

The continued musings of Brigid the Black...

Damn! But it's cold up here. All those days in the lab and shop. Not used to this.
Guess ol' Pappa had it right. Marching Bjorn and me out everyday to gather wood for the hearth and meat for our meals...
We thought him a cruel taskmaster, getting some sadistic pleasure watching us toil more like slaves than his own children. Standing there, arms crossed, just watching as we struggled to fell some scrawny little tree. Naught but an admonition that each arrow missing its target is a missed meal. Or sitting against a tree, eyes closed, dozing as we loaded the sled with our pitiful haul and dragged it all the way home.
Other children played all day.

It was hard in the beginning. We talked about running away. But with time it got easier. Or, rather, we got stronger. Stealthier. Our aim improved.
I remember the day I brought down a deer with just one shot. It was exhilarating. I glanced back at Pappa and I caught the briefest glimpse of a smile before he straightened his expression and tried to resume his facade. Too late. I saw through it now. Saw the twinkle in his eye that said, 'these are my children and I am proud'. Saw the wisdom in all that he had us doing. Not tormenting. Teaching.

Pride. He was proud of us. And somehow that realization made me proud as well.

Then my aunt got involved. Convinced him the shop was a better place for a young lady.
I heard the argument. I was sure nothing would come of it. 'Theyre my children, not yours'. He sounded so fierce. Then she dragged up the memory of my mother. He let out a long sigh and I could imagine him sitting there, slumped over, beaten.
The argument was over. The next day I didn't go hunting but rather to work in my aunt's shop.

Not that what she has taught me is without use. I can brew a fair repertoire of healing potions, cures for many an ailment and a few poisons to boot.
But right now, I sure wish I'd kept on those daily treks with Pappa.

"... up ahead..."

What's he saying? By the Nine, look at 'im. Standing nigh waste deep in snow wearing nothing but the leather armor I gave him when I finished my fur set.
Standing there no different than as if he were in some warm pub with a flagon in hand. That's conditioning. That's a man who's been out here everyday. Like Pappa always was. Atleast until...

"...the tower. We must be getting close..."

Aye... Should've spoke up. Told my aunt to shove off and went back to hunting with Pappa. 'Course then it may have been me, not Bjorn, who didn't come back that day.
Saber cats. Two of 'em. Pappa fended off one. But the other...
Pappa was never quite right after that. Took to drinking, never left the house then just up and wandered off one day...

"...two outside by the fire..."

A tower? Right. Camilla mentioned that. Means we're on the right track. Two by the fire? How many inside?

"Alright Faen. Cover me with your bow. I'm going in like my father taught me..."

Bash n hack. This ones for you Pappa.

"Let's go."

[Jodie Bardgett]

Came way too close to losing Skjold the Bastard today. Draugr Deathlord blew my weapons right out of my hands, when the other one blasted me across the room with FRD. Vorstag bought the farm though, may he r.i.p.

[Kate Murrell]

Still getting Swamp-Strider geared up, as I'm tweaking a couple of my overhaul mods as I go, but he's almost ready to start serious exploration. I did manage to gain full access to the Orc Strongholds, although clearing the ruin I got sent to was a bit rough; a 2H character on Master without a rather high armor rating gets seriously mauled by anyone wielding a 2H weapon of their own until eligible for certain Block perks, so I spent a fair amount of time kiting and healing. It was worth it, though, since that gives me a steady supply of free Orichalcum and Ebony to use in leveling Smithing.

Speaking of which, I'm trying to stick to only using the best materials I know how to work; the Orichalcum has a built-in RP-based exemption, though, as it's a 'primary' material until I start amassing Dragon parts (at which point I'll phase it out). I'm also making the most complex item(s) possible (including upgrading) in order to simulate learning how to best use a given material, since it feels really silly getting to Master level by making exclusively Steel Cuirasses.

[Bek Rideout]

I think I'm going to give a dead is dead run a try. I'm hoping that this type of playthrough will help me start liking and get immersed in skyrim, since I bought the game on release day, I have only played about 20 hours. Which is pitiful.

My character is going to be a female nord, whose main skills are archery, onehanded, light armor, and sneak. I also plan to use smithing, alchemy, and destruction.
Hopefully she will live a long life, lol.

[Taylah Illies]

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=10131 for those vamps playing DiD.

[sarah taylor]

More musings of Brigid the Black.

Oh... That. Felt. Good. What a difference a few days of training can make. Not to mention the right gear.
Escaping Helgen with those ill-kept scavenged blades and bit of leather armor, swinging wildly, running, panicky.
Clumsy.

But this (axe)... I crafted it. The weight, the balance. Perfect. It's mine. Clearing this tower, I felt like I was dancing.
I've heard tell of a dance from the Alik'r desert region that involves whirling a pair of curved swords around in intricate patterns.
Wonder if it could be adapted to axes... The Whirling Axe Dance. Heh... Whirling. Axes.

"... There's a path heading off this way!"

Hag raven's teets! He's already wading back into the snow? How about taking a seat by the fire and drying out a bit first?

"Hold up, Faen! Let's gather anything of value here and stash it in this sack. We'll pick it up on our way back."

And let's linger by the fire a little longer. Oh, look at that. A bottle of mead...

Hmm... These bandits weren't so hard. Untrained. Ill equipped. I'm sure they were real brutes when faced with unarmed travelers. Or shop keepers.
But no more. Nothing but maggot fodder, eh, tough guy?

Like to test my mettle against some of those imperials now...
Maybe after we check out this barrow I'll head back down to Helgen. By now the legion may have moved back in and cleaned up.
Find a patrol in the woods and see what they've got...

The thought of my axe biting into legionnaire flesh... Now that gets my blood boiling. Keep thinking about that when I'm out there trudging through the snow.

"Alright Faen, let's get moving."

"Huh? Thought we were gonna round up all the-"

"Forget it. It'll be here when we get back. Let's hit this barrow and see if we can find yer girlfriend's heirloom. That oughta get you in her good graces."

"Alright then..."

Can't see much in this snow but the barrow should be just a bit farther along...

Whirling axes. Cleaving skulls. Legionnaires...
Dance girl, dance.