ES5: Skyrim - 'Hearthfire' DLC

[WytchDokta]

The second DLC for ES5: Skyrim is to be released on September 4th - ON XBOX LIVE. See, this is why I have an Xbox, we get Skyrim DLC first. The PC and PS3 versions of the DLC will probably be released like six months down the line, if the release of Dawnguard was anything to go by. You mad?

For 400 Microsoft Points you'll be able to design, build and customise your own home.

Players can purchase a plot of land, then turn raw materials into a cosy new abode. Various rooms, such as a kitchen or library will be available.

These will have uses too - a greenhouse, enchanter's tower or alchemy lab can be used to grow and craft items.

Furniture, display cases and trophies can be added to make things a little more homely.

And there's even room for a garden, fish hatchery and bee hives outside.

Source: EuroGamer's Article on Hearthfire - http://www.eurogamer...e-adopt-a-child

Hearthfire trailer:

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[Operative]

The Sims: Skyrim? I may like it!

[WytchDokta]

Skyrim is practically The Sims on steroids anyway. That or E's.

(You can already purchase predefined houses and furnish them in Skyrim, but Hearthfire allows you to build your own house how you want, where you want.)

[squad_e]

I've already purchased a crib in whiterun and in solitude (few days ago)... tis all about bandit/coven raids n looting n ting..

Again an expansion that really isnt me :S ..

The whole concept looks sweet though, at least you could move things about like sims or theme hospital n what not.. Having your own bard looks cool though

[Parabellum]

This looks great! I can't wait to try it, although admittedly, I haven't played Skyrim much since I started playing SWTOR.

[WytchDokta]

As I've had this DLC for a few days now, do you guys want me to spoil everything by doing a quick write up (you know it's gonna be like six months down the lines before you get it on PC) on it? Also bear in mind that the DLC is initially somewhat confusing in that it is not clear on how you are supposed to obtain land to build on. I have found three vendors of land so far - in The Pale, Falkreath and Hjaalmarch Holds.

[squad_e]

Well, i got paid this week, soooo im confused between buying a 12" subwoofer for my car or this, think im gonna purchase this, as the weathers getting cooler

Does this DLC also come with patch improvements?..

[WytchDokta]

Well there's new mining material veins in game with the DLC - quarried stone and clay. Merchants now sell straw, glass and goat horns. Usimg lumber mills is now beneficial as each log chopped gives you 10 sawn logs (you can buy sawn logs in batches of 20 and have them delivered to your plot of land). So there's all your building materials. You can smelt iron into iron fittings, locks etc now too. And then of course there's the whole adoption thing. Now if they'd only make DLC that added Khajiit, Argonian, Orc and Elven (all types) children. Having your adopted (human) child refer to your Argonian master safecracker as 'pa' seems slightly odd to me.

The plot of land I got is the one just down from Loreus farm, Hjelarchen or summat it's called. Coincidentally, this plot of land sits between two Giants locations. Just had a bandit raid on my land just now but they failed.

[WytchDokta]

Gears of War style execution kills in slo-mo FTW!

So there's this sleeping enemy, and I creep up with my crossbow. I steal his ###### by pickpocketing him without him even noticing. Then I shoot him in the face at point blank range with the crossbow and get a slo-mo kill cam. High stealth builds have so much more fun.

For the plots of land in the DLC you might need to do some tasks for certain Jarls first for them to give you option to purchase land. Even then, they might not offer the plot of land for sale, you might instead have to ask their steward about that. This is certainly the case with Falkreath.

Edited September 8, 2012 by WytchDokta

[WytchDokta]

It would seem the new Quarry Stone veins and Clay Deposits are infinite, which is good seeing that you need 50 Quarried Stone alone to build a cellar. o_O

The plot of land available in Falkreath Hold (situated next to Pinewatch) seems to be a more secure location, don't quote me on that though as I haven't moved in yet, I'm still building parts of my house.Compare this to the plot of land available in The Pale(?) (either that or Hjaalmarch, it's the hold with Dawnstar in it), which is situated adjacent to two Gaints lairs.

Building and furnishing your house is a good way to grind the Smithing skill pretty quick. So much for nerfing the Smithing in patch v1.5.

Right, I'm off to raid Halted Steam camp/mine and dig up all of its Iron ore veins. That'll amount to over 50 Iron ore pieces, which I can smelt into ingots then turn them into Iron fittings/nails for my house. I mean, who buys Iron ore/ingots from vendors anyway, that stuff is extremely common?

[WytchDokta]

So, there are a total of three plots of land to purchase in this DLC. They seem to located in Holds where there are no houses for sale, like Falkreath. The architecture of the houses that be built are the same in each Hold with purchasable land. Also, you don't have to expand your house by adding say an ArmoUry on the East wing etc, you can stick with the stock (VERY SMALL) single room house you built if you wish (this needs to be built before you can expand your house, then the great hall needs to be built before you add wings. There are a number of different options for expansion on each wing, but each option cancels out the next on that wing - for example: Library, Kitchen and ArmoUry are available on the East wing, but building say an ArmoUry will remove the option to build either a Library or Kitchen. I'm tailoring each house to each of my characters - so my Nord house has a Trophy Room and ArmoUry, while my Khajiit house has a Greenhouse and Alchemy Tower. Although, with my Nord build, I will be getting my achievement whoring on by buying all plots of land and building houses on them (that along with grinding the character to lvl 50, I'm currently at lvl 36 with this build). The house I built for my Nord is almost complete, and almost fully furnished, so the question is whether or not completing it will boost his Smithing skill from 94 to 100? My collection of nearly 50 each of Dragon bones and Dragon scales, has waited long enough to be turned into Dragonbone weapons and armoUr. Plus Serana (cured of vampirism and fighting for the Dawnguard with my Nord) told me she wants some Dragonbone armoUr. Just don't tell Ysolda about my affair with Serana.

[WytchDokta]

It would seem my Nord has gone from Warrior Merchant class to Property Developer class in Skyrim: Property Developer, I mean Hearthfire. Heljarchen Hall (The Pale Hold, land available from Jarl of Dawnstar) is 100% built and around 97% totally furnished (the main hall and entryway are currently the only 100% furnished rooms, the rest of the rooms only need a few odd bits and pieces added to complete them). I have a the full compliment of staff for this house: a bard, a carriage driver and a steward (ALMOST any follower can become a steward, but Hearthfire adds new Housecarls to the respective Holds for when you become a Thane - while no houses are available in those Holds, the Housecarls can become Stewards of the houses you build. Funny thing is, I've not had any Giant raids at Heljarchen Hall, yet. I had a Skeever infestation, but that was it. It's funny because of Heljarchen Hall's location adjacent to two Giant lair (one being literally just down the hill to the East). This might be because me, Serana and Odaviing went on the offensive before moving the family in, to personally assassinate each Giant and their Mammoth herd at the Giant lairs nearby, thus to ensure security of the area so it would be safe for my house staff and adopted children to roam outside.

Even by completing the furnishing process for the remainder of the rooms in this house, it will still leave my Smithing level at 98. For this reason, I decided to purchase the plot of land in Hjaalmarch Hold (this is on the coast, near Ustengrav), available from the Jarl's Steward in Morthal. I've so far built a one-room house and fish hatchery on this land.

Now, going back to the Giants raid thing: for my Khajiit I built Lakeside Manor in Falkreath (plot of land situated behind Pinewatch (yeah, thanks, I'll just loot or vegetable patch outside Pinewatch, don't mind me)). It's 100% built but only around 70% fully furnished, only been living in it a few days and already I've had both a Skeever infestation AND Giant raid - and I've only been living there for a few days (compare this to my Nord who's been living at Heljarchen Hall for the game equivalent of around two weeks, and has only a single Skeever infestation within that time. Also consider my Nord is better equipped to deal with Giants - Two-Handed stealth builds FTW). I only wanted to go shopping for more stuff for the house and there's a ######ing Giant on my doorstep smashing the place. Funny thing about that is there's no Giant lairs nearby, but there is at Heljarchen and I've had no Giant raids at Heljarchen, YET.

'Tis all good fun like.

Edited September 12, 2012 by WytchDokta