ES5 Skyrim - 'Dragonborn' DLC

[WytchDokta]

You didn't think that you were the only one? He was the first.

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01:06, I think I see ES4 Goblins. And this 'Solstheim' or whatever it's called, is in the country of MORROWIND right? (Judging by the achitecture and the 'Red Mountain' in the background at 00:37) Cool, my Dark Elf destructor is coming home *****es, and she don't take no prisoners.

Released December 4th. And guess what, Xbox get it first AGAIN. You mad?

More info, including new armour types and locations that will feature in this DLC found at UESP wiki: http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Dragonborn

In addition, a number of files have been added which suggest that mounted dragon combat will be added

Edited November 5, 2012 by WytchDokta

[WytchDokta]

I will, as tradition, do a report on this DLC after putting a few hours into it. That is, once I have played it. You see, with my other reports on the oher DLC's, I posted on the day of release - this time around it will be different, as I'm currently involved in Guild Wars 2 in a big way. Just today I downloaded the Dragonborn DLC for Skyrim some 6 days after release. That's steadfast dedication (to grinding for levels with my [now] lvl 50 Charr Engineer in GW2) for you.

It would seem the link for the wiki article on Dragonborn at UESP.net has changed: http://uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Dragonborn

[WytchDokta]

Okay, so about five minutes into Dragonborn now. Firstly, those of you with a low Speech skill may have trouble getting to Solstheim. Secondly, those of you with a low amount of gold may have trouble getting to Solstheim. Thirdly, those of you with a low Speech skill AND low amount of gold will definitely have trouble getting to Solstheim.

You see, the captain aboard the boat you need to take from Windhelm to get to Raven's Rock in Solstheim openly refuses to return to Solstheim for certain reasons. With 500 gold or a decent level in the Speech skill he can be bribed, persuaded or intimidated into taking his boat back to Raven's Rock with you aboard. Luckily for me, my Nord is a combat merchant build, for want of better description (that is he is heay combat oriented, but has high Speech and Smithing skills for trading purposes.)

But whatever. I just arrived in Raven Rock. I hear new voice actors, see new armours on guards (which look insane, especially the helmets) and I've already broke into some-one's house and stole their valubles (hey, I gotta make a living somehow - I have a wife, 2 adopted children, a dog, a steward and a carriage driver to cater for) and I haven't even been in Raven Rock for two minutes yet. Not only that, after the wanton burglary, a Courier approaches me with a Letter of Inheritance. Apparently some-one died (like I give a ######) and for some reason 'bequeathed unto [me] a measure in the amount of 100 gold pieces.' Is that it? Where's the rest of my money?

Edited December 10, 2012 by WytchDokta

[WytchDokta]

Okay so just cleared Bloodskal Barrow/Raven Rock Mine. Dayum that place is dark, and torches compromise stealth. Good job I previously taught myself to navigate in the dark without using torches (for my Khajiit I can use his innate Night Eye low-light vision ability, but navigating in pitch black without and visual aids is so much more fun (especially when combined with blindfiring to draw enemies out.) And because my Nord is a high level character, I came across one room with two Draugr Deathlords accompanied by a Draugr Scourge. Also found means therein to access a Plain of Oblivion, and that right there was some freaky ###### - even the environment. Still, nailed the Lurker Guardian with 3 bolts from my Crossbow (stealth attacks.) Dunno why more people don't go for stealth builds, but there we are.

Checked a few things out too - several new times of armours/weapons can be crafted at forges, there are still more new types of weapons/armours that I see in vendor lists but not yet available to craft at forges. There are also new compass icon markers as well as independent architecture, and new Dragon Priests including Miraak the First Dragonborn. And you can freely fast travel between Skyrim and Solstheim, AFTER taking the boat to Raven Rock.

[squad_e]

woah wait, i dont get this new DLC, dont you start as the dragon born in the vanilla skyrim anyway?..

you just slowly get to know your thum, more and more, by collectioing "shouts" and unlocking them when you slay a dragon and use the dragons soul you absorb, to unlock a "shout" as well??..

so whats "new" with this DLC, is it a new campaign with a different starting etc...

i think i'll rather have fun with "user" made mods

[WytchDokta]

You are a Dragonborn, not the Dragonborn. That is the difference. You are born mortal, with the soul of a Dragon. There are many of your kind, and many too are not known. Hence why in the trailer the narrator says: "You didn't think you were the only one? He was the first."

'He' in this case is Miraak, who was the first mortal to be born with the soul of a Dragon. He is a Dragon Priest, but unlike the other Dragon Priests he decided he would not serve the Dragons, he would instead continually feed off their life force granting everlasting power. Soon he will be powerful enough to re-enter the mortal plain of Tamriel from the plane of Oblivion in which he is currently entombed. Soon, he will be more powerful than the Dragons, unless he is dealt with. And of course that won't be easy, as he know many of the same Dragonshouts as the you (like 'Wuld Nah Kest' (Whirlwind Sprint))

To reiterate, Miraak is the 'First Dragonborn.' To him you are an impostor, the 'False Dragonborn' as he refers to you.

The main quest starts just outside Windhelm, and from here you can take the boat to Solstheim. It's a new country. Well, new as in in new to Skyrim. Solstheim is part of Morrowind, and those true to the game roots now that Morrowind previously featured in the Elder Scrolls series in..... Morrowind. How did you guess?

There's new pretty much everything in the DLC - and judging by the overhead map of Solstheim, it looks like the island is roughly the size of the Shivering Isles from an ES4: Oblivion DLC known as.... (the) Shivering Isles. Morrowind in Morrowind, Shivering Isles in Shivering Isles. Again, how did you guess? I mean, it's not like that's even self-explanatory or anything, hence me having to explain it.

Edited December 17, 2012 by WytchDokta

[WytchDokta]

Finally managed to peel myself away from Guild Wars 2 back to the far superior Skyrim. But whatever, back to the topic at hand. So a few more quests into the DLC, and daaaaaaaayum the Draugr are getting harder and harder to kill - though this may be to do with the fact that my Nord is level 40, so near enough every other Draugr is a Deathlord. Auriel's Bow is proving to be a much better choice for dropping them fast, despite the fact the Crossbow deals much more damage. This is because Auriel's Bow is especially effective against Undead (it deals bonus damage to them, and this damage stacks with that of Sunhallowed arrows.) Thing is, I'm inclined to stick with the Crossbow because this build is damage over speed build, that is, high raw damage slow attacks (hence two-handed weapons and crossbows) instead of low damage (but high damage per second) fast attacks where multiple strikes can be landed in the same length of time as a single two-handed weapon blow.

And Bethesda, ######, fix that dang AI behavioural pattern already - you know, the one where your follower decides to run in front of you when you're engaging enemies in melee, so your follower gets hit and not the enemy. It's not even funny.

I encountered a Hulking Draugr aswell, a new type in the DLC, but saw nothing about them that even remotely resembled 'hulking.' Come to think of it, the distorted voice coming from that thing seemed to say something like "DRAUGR SMASH!!"

Edited December 17, 2012 by WytchDokta

[WytchDokta]

Loving that new Skaal armour, although it can't be tempered at all. Also loving the fact that there's a few regional British accents in this DLC, and even a few fake European sounding accents. I say fake because, well, let's the character Frea for example, you can clearly hear the inconsistency when she speaks - one minute it's a European sounding accent, the next it's voice actresses' normal accent, and that's in the same sentence.

Now, if Miraak would be so kind as to STOP STEALING MY DRAGON SOULS after I kill a Dragon, that would be appreciated.

Edited December 20, 2012 by WytchDokta

[WytchDokta]

On the last stretch now. I have tracked Miraak down and am on the way to confront him.

There is only a handful of main quest missions in this DLC, so before you start coming at me 'Oh, this DLC is overpriced' and all that, be aware that this is no Dawnguard or Hearthfire. Notice in my previous sentence I said 'handful of main quest missions'? Well, you didn't allow me to finish that sentence BEFORE you interrupted me by telling me the DLC is overpriced when it isn't.

You see, there's a boatload of side-quests too, a huge island to explore, around 5-7 new craftable sets of armour/weapons, lots of new enemy types, lots of new spells/ingredients/flowers/food, new Dragonshouts and according to the Xbox achievement list for the DLC, there's a house for sale somewhere in Raven Rock, although I haven't located it yet. Okay, just wiki'd it, the house is a quest reward, and is and already inhabited house. So yeah, this thing is much bigger than Dawnguard and Hearthfire put together.

Edited December 20, 2012 by WytchDokta

[WytchDokta]

So there we go, Miraak is dead.... at the hands of Hermaeus Mora. Oh wait, did I say spoiler alert? Shouldn't have tried to flee should he? He is very tough though, and has two Dragon bodyguards. And how did you guess, you have to fight all three at once. You can of course attempt this while riding the Serpentine Dragon 'Sahrotaar' (completely different appearance to other dragons, more snake-like appearance, hence, 'serpentine'), but at one point you will be thrown off from the back off the dragon, which can propel you to your death outside of the tower bounds - which of course happened to me. So when I went to confront Miraak again, I dismounted Sahrotaar atop the tower and got my brawl on with Miraak up close and personal. You are given free choice here, and can freely dismout Sahrotaar if you wish. BTW, there's a reason why Miraak has two dragon familiars fighting alongside him, and it's something to do with the fact that he's so hard to kill. And did I say he can use most of YOUR Dragonshouts too? I saw him use Fire Breath, Become Ethereal and Whirlwind Sprint, to name a few.

Also got the player house in Raven Rock, 'Severin Manor.' This is the ideal player home as it already comes pre-equipped with everything you need. In comparison, all other player houses in Skyrim MUST be bought first (Severin Manor is given for free as a mission reward), and then you MUST purchase additional furnishing on top of the cost of the house (but not with Severin Manor.) However, I am under the impression players won't be able to move the family in there, reason being there's no kids room with two separate beds, but there are two bedrooms with one bed each. And that place like NEEDS MORE LIGHT. Jeez, anyone would think it's a dungeon or something, it's that dark.

Hey, I just thought up something.... double your dragon, double your fun right? You follow? No? Bend Will Dragonshout (for taming Dragons, allows Dragonriding) + Call Dragon Dragonshout (Summons dragon familiar) = two dragons fighting alongside the player at the same time (and here was me thinking 1+1=5.) Daaaaaaaaaaaaayum, I so gotta try that out the next time I assault an enemy stronghold or Giant lair.

On a side note, it sounds like Ray Winstone is on the voice acting this time around too.

Edited December 20, 2012 by WytchDokta

[WytchDokta]

So it would seem that in the Dragonborn DLC, there are also certain non-humanoid creatures that can be recruited as followers, including a Dwarven Sphere and Dwarven Spider (yes you heard me correctly, these two can be recruited as PERMANENT followers during a main quest, although only one can be your follower at any given time - they use up the creature follower slot (you can have up to two followers at the same time, one humanoid and one creature.)) There are also several Riekling followers available as PERMANENT followers upon completion of a side mission. These guys are very similar to the Goblins from previous ES games (they were mistaken for Goblins by many players including myself in the trailers)

So yeah, I'm off to do a speedrun back through the certain Dwarven ruin upon my return there (already completed the main questline) to get me a Dwarven Spider follower. I mean, who needs a dog follower when you can have a Dwarven automaton follower?