think people should post difficulty level. doesnt really count on easy...
It's not about that. It's where you feel comfortable in the challenge. Difficulty has no effect on traps. Or you falling off a cliff. It's not about how far you can get. It's not even about finishing a quest line. Namely the MQ.
It's about how it forces you to pay attention, make decisions, plan a strategy, build a character and how it makes you feel when those moments get close.
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Ok, guys and gals. The OP has been updated.
*Note* : Don't feel like you just need to check in, when your char dies. The purpose of this thread is give something fresh to the boards. Something other than the constant bickering and complaining, that has flooded this forum. People ENJOY reading about your adventures. I know I do. So, don't think you are cluttering things up or that you need to be a renowned author to post an update.Sonoura hasn't done many quests. Her total completed are 11. She hasn't even reported to the Jar dude, after the first Dragon, to advance the MQ. She has another purpose. She is approached by people all the time, asking, "Can you help with this"..."Can you do that"..."My child is missing". Sonoura just looks at them and rubs her fingers together, playing the world's smallest violin. She doesn't care about their petty needs or a missing smart mouthed brat. (If they were that interested in finding them, they look into some of the posts across this forum.)
It was slow starting out, but she has advanced rather quickly. I guess ole Todd knew what he was talking about, huh? (Imagine that)
She only has two shouts, but has 3 Dragon Souls on stand by. So far, all but one, have been encountered in and around towns. Two have been at Riverwood. The second one was interesting. Sonoura is on her way out of town, the ground shakes and she hears it call out. Oh hell, here we go again. She turns around, calls up Little Miss Hot Pants and ducks under the porch, of the Inn. Hot Pants starts firing away. The guards are launching arrows and the town folk are running like bugs, when you turn the light on. The Blacksmith was hunkered down beside the store. So much for the brave and burly Nord. The Dragon lit on the roof, plucked him from the ground and shook him like a dogs chew toy. It didn't take long and the Dragon was down. Sonoura gets a Dragon Soul and Riverwood gets a lasting monument, in the middle of the street. Less one Guard, one Blacksmith AND the Blacksmith's wife. I guess the Dragon was playing with a strategy as well.
Sonoura is continuing through the Mage quests, but needed some cash for a few new and exciting spells. She had a hint about a Bandit camp that needed to be taken down. She heads out in the general direction and comes across, a structure built into the side of a mountain. ( Boy that narrowed it for ya. Didn't it?) She called Cryo Bob and he made short work of the three that were posted outside the door. We head in.
The first room was rather large, I realized it was a Dwermer ruin. The first I've encountered and the fourth dungeon/cave I've been in. Ok, lets get some help started. She summons Hot Pants and HP starts firing away at the corner. What the hell? Three shots later a Bandit cries out in a last breath, from a BED ROLL. She smoked the poor sap in his sleep. Sonoura never saw him.
There have been traps in other dungeons. Playing Oblivion, for 4years, gets you use to looking for them but this could be interesting. The first was obvious. Flames shooting out the wall. Sonoura stands there, trying to get the timing down. Then she thinks,"Screw this." She summoned Cryo Bob right in front of the flames.
SONOURA - "Thanks Bob. You frozen piece of ..."
She came up on a locked gate. Well end of the line, but there were bandits on the other side. Sonoura shot a summoned spell through the bars. Damn! looks like Bobby can take on 5 bandits at once. Good to know. She turns around and continues through the passages very very slowly, scanning the ground like a soldier knifing for land mines. Two hrs, and 20 feet later, she calls up Bob to scout ahead for triggers. One by one the rest of the bandits fall. We made it to the main guy. He tried to start a convo, but it was that time of month and the Busty Breton was in no mood for chatty-chatty. More like, poundy-poundy from a giant Ice Cube. As Bob starts playing "Wkack-A-Mole" with the boss, Sonoura is being chased by another thug. He hits her with a big ass hammer.
SONOURA - "You don't get do you? I'm having A MOMENT OVER HERE!"
She slaps him with a shot of fear and he turns tail and runs. When the spell wore off...well, lets just say, Cryo Bob needed a new play thingy. When it was over, I had no update flash on the screen. Hmmm, we raided the wrong the Bandit hideout. After looking around, this place looks fun. Lets go. I tried to talk her out of it but she is so hard to deal with on weeks like this. Ok we'll test the waters.
The traps were all easy to spot. Some were obvious, like the flames at the start. The trick was how to get by them. I wont go into detail, but rest assure, there are ways around them or to turn them off. I spent 45 min looking for a way to turn one off. I had all but given up and found it by accident. It was something that was not obvious and would have never thought of it. It was like in the movies, where the idiot leans on something and a bookcase opens up.
We march on. Rounding a corner, this little mechanical thing starts coming at us. Bob works on him, as Sonoura backs up slowly. Then...BAM!!! WTF was that!!? 30% health gone. Sonoura turns around, and is face to face with a Sphere. There is so much noise going on, she never herd him come up behind her. She starts calling for Bob! The Sphere has her pinned in a corner, with no where to go. Her HPs are dropping fast. Bob spawns behind the Sphere, and starts pounding on him, but the Sphere is focused on her. Sonoura starts slamming pots like no tomorrow. She can't move! This thing is a beast! Bob is doing little damage. I am about to have a heart attack. I jump out of my chair and start screaming at the TV. We have only three potions left. One of which is magicka. Finally, she is able to get around him, but that's not much help. Spheres are fast, BTW. I guess he hit her with two crit shots in a row. Because her health dropped from 100 down to about 10. Here goes the last two pots. It's all on Restoration now and that little 10 HP per sec is NOT going to do it. She Gets out of the winding passage and sprints across the room. In a last ditch effort, she turns around and drops a fresh Bob in front of the speedy Sphere. Bob is like a road block, but the damn sphere runs around him and stays on, the sixy little ass, of Sonoura.
Every time she drops a new Bob. It expands the gap of the chase. Sonoura heads back into the hallway and drops a Bob at the door. That done it. Even then it took two Bobs to bring the thing down, after all that previous pounding. I told Sonoura that maybe we need to save the rest of this one for later. Wrong!
SONOURA - "I wonder what's around that corner." and "Oh look! What's that!"
ME - "Ok...just a peek. But the first sign of trouble and we head back. We are not supposed to be here!"
SONOURA - "Sure. What ever you say."
Three hrs later, we come to a puzzle. A choice of 4 switches had to be made. Wrong choice could mean instant death. There are usually always a clue, somewhere about these puzzles. I spent the next hr, going over every inch of this room...nothing. I needed some buffing pots and spells. I could have easily attempted trial and error, but that is not the DID way.
I turned around a started back. Sonoura wanted to look one more time. Sooo, we turned around. I'll be damned. There it was. It was very subtle, and I kind of had my doubts, but it had to be the one. If it is, then good job on the Devs part. That would be sneaky-sneaky tricky-tricky. I couldn't help myself. I had to try. 50 hrs and 22 levels, comes down to the press of one button. I took a deep breath...My hands were shacking so bad. I could barely hold on to the controller.
Sonoura reaches down and...
To be continued...
» Tue May 15, 2012 4:23 am 
