So, Skyrim's out 11/11/11

[Roland]

Cave bears are my new nemesis.

If you're a Bosmer, just use your Charm Animal power. Either you can run around with him at your side to fight off Bandits, or you can simply wander off and let him eventually return home. Or, you can put a handful of arrows into his chest before he turns on your for being a bad companion. You may still die, but at least you'll have a better chance.

I'm level 30 now. My bow alone does 52 damage, and I carry a quiver of Iron Arrows (8 damage) - although I have Steel, Dwarven, and Elven Arrows as well (I refuse to use the Ancient Nordic Arrows - collector's pieces for me). 60 damage - tripled for a Sneak Attack - means I 3-hit (sneak attack) Giants. If I'm far enough away I can get off 3 sneak attacks before they get close enough to uncover me - which means they're dead before they knew what killed them. I have no magical items (although I did find my first Glass armor last night - a helmet with 40% faster magicka regen), and have only improved my weapons and armor to Flawless (no perks in Smithing yet, despite it being at 92). Needless to say, for me life is about sneaking around and one-shotting anything I come across. I love scouring my way through dungeons, picking off my enemies one at a time. I love running about the wilds hunting deer and foxes. I love everything about being a Thief archer.

I'll say I'm almost a tiny bit disappointed to see Alchemy is as broken as ever (I have over 21k Gold right now), but I do so love Poisons (despite never using them - I never have an enemy that makes it worthwhile! Even Dragons, which are all Frost Dragons now, are more a test of patience than damage). With a couple of well-crafted potions I can make the rounds between each major city, cleaning out every single Alchemy ingredient from the shops, and still turn a profit between 500 and 1000 gold per shop. It's... a little obscene, really. I'm actually taking a break from Alchemy just to get back to actually playing the game, because it was getting a little boring doing the equivalent of Griswold runs (which I also have done, mostly in search of new armors and weapons that get unlocked). I'm almost tempted to avoid Enchanting altogether, simply because so far I've had no need. That, and I've been trying to play this character as an archetypical Thief (although I'm mixed on how I feel Alchemy fits into Thievery, and my high Smithing has kinda blown that out of the water a bit anyway). Still, I'm loving the game. I love exploring, and I can't wait until I hit 50 (or maybe 40) before I start actually delving into dungeons.

Last night was quite the trip. I entered Riften finally, and wound my way into the Ratway in search of the Thieves Guild. I found them, but couldn't join (found the person I needed to talk to when I hit the market after I left the sewers), so I kept on exploring. It's amusing to me to come across vandals, vagabonds, and whatever other names they came up with for unsavory poor people - wielding Dwarven or Elven Bows and carrying 100+ gold on them. Tickled my fancy, and netted me a nice profit. Definitely going to have to get some Speechcraft perks, if only so that I can sell all my wares at one place (instead of having to travel to multiple places because they run out of gold before I sell off all my goodies). Still torn on whether or not I want to join the Thieves Guild or the Dark Brotherhood, despite starting the chain for both. I typically play "Chaotic Good" characters, and that was my goal for this one as it suits my personality, but I'm almost wondering if I it would be worthwhile to fully explore all the shadowed elements of Thievery, or if I'd be better served starting someone new to do that. We'll see.

I suppose I'll have to return to Markarth one of these days, as well. Apparently there's yet another Daedra there that - wait for it - eventually grants you the power to eat your defeated foes. What a world they've crafted. Never ceases to amaze me. At any rate, hope to get a great deal of playing done this long weekend - hope to hit level 40 at least, and get at least 80 in Archery and Sneaking. I'm eager to continue fleshing out the world - I just need to keep myself from getting too bogged down in the minutia. Oh, and I have yet to pick a wife (or even find an Amulet of Mara), but so far Aela the Huntress has been the one to most pique my eye. Something to be said for a strong, fiery redhead.