Becoming A Master Of Skyrim - 10 Things You Need To Know

Most of us have probably suffered from Skyrim burnout somewhere over the past few months since its release.  Personally, I didn't touch the game for most of the past two months, but picked it up recently in order to explore the final frontier (of sorts): The Master difficulty setting.

I've played through the game a good amount (probably ~100 hours), and have multiple characters over level 30 that range from stealth assassins to front-line melee brawlers and pure mages, so I've got the game play pretty 'mastered' for lack of a better word.  I know how to abuse the AI into wandering aimlessly as I tear it apart, and I can keep myself relatively safe from enemies by utilizing crowd control spells (illusion) and dodging techniques.  At least, that's what I thought going into it.

Master isn't so much of a game as it is an exercise in endurance and patience.  I couldn't tell you the last time I died playing Skyrim prior to raising the difficulty.  Even when I started playing the game for the first time, it wasn't very often (save a wandering giant or poor placement in a room of enemies).  During my master play through, I died more in the first thirty minutes than I did throughout all of my other campaigns.  I went back, loaded up the save files, and checked. 

(For the record, I rushed through the intro and went straight to bleak falls barrow).

It's with these lessons learned that I provide this very general list of ten things that every player, regardless of their character's specialties, needs to know when playing on the highest difficulty Skyrim has to offer.

1 - Melee is a dance of timing.  If you misstep, you die.  Blocks need to be spot on, and dodging blows either by sprinting past an enemy, or sidestepping them, need to be clean and crisp.  As with every lesson you'll learn, painfully, while playing on the Master setting - practice makes perfect.

2 - Enemies will regularly execute you if you remain in melee range at low health -  no blocking, no dodging, no amazing armor to protect you.  If you stick around with less than 30% of your health remaining, you're asking to get killed.  I estimate enemies probably have a 25% chance to do this every swing when your health is low.  I've looked for exact numbers to no avail - if you have or can provide me with a source of that info, I'll gladly post it here.

I was dead as soon as the game registered this hit.

3 - Your current level is the most important tool you possess.  That sounds kind of odd, but enemies grow in power SIGNIFICANTLY every time your character advances a level.  Keep this in mind when selecting worthless perks and crafting.

4 - Don't even CONSIDER crafting, or any thing else that raises any skill not directly combat-oriented until level 25.  I'm sure I'll get a comment/death threat from someone who thinks that just because they can power level smithing and enchanting to 100 means they should do it.  Yeah, you'll have cool and useful gear - but no skills or perks to use it with.  As a result, your enemies (which will also get access to your new gear since you leveled up so much) will one shot you since you concentrated on crafting for 20 levels, and they concentrated on combat.

5 - Damage is king.  The ability to kill enemies quickly (quickly is a very loose term on the master setting, as everything has tremendous amounts of health) greatly outweighs your ability to sit there and take an extra hit in melee, or an extra spell from a mage.  Concentrate your first 15 or so levels exclusively on dealing damage, and/or maintaining your ability to do damage throughout a fight.

6 - Defense is greatly underpowered.  Going off what I said before, the best armor and stats in the game won't help you much against a room full of enemies, or one particular boss that shouts you to the ground and kills you before you even get control of your character again.  In all respects, enemies are meant to kill you quickly if you stand in front of them - there is little you can do about this.  Even magic resistance (while absolutely necessary) is greatly underpowered.  Around level 30, with capped out magic resist (85%) you'll still shudder at how quickly you take damage from magic based attacks.  Without magic resistance, you will instantly die from every magic based attack, regardless of your health, starting around level 25.

7 - You need to abuse the AI.  The artificial intelligence in Skyrim is pretty terrible.  Enemies will walk in odd directions to try and get to you, or stand aimlessly for no reason while you cast spells at them from afar.  When they do this, punish them.  A lot of playing on the Master difficulty is saving and loading games hoping the AI does something stupid - which it often will.  I'll be writing an article specifically about this in the near future - some of the things I show you will be pretty hilarious.

8 - Use the Illusion spells, and use them often.  You can turn entire rooms of enemies against each other, or send them fleeing while you have time to recover.  This one school of magic might be the only one worth noting, except for #9.

9 - Conjuration.  With the difficulty raised, non-player characters (NPC's) got a huge health boost.  That includes your summoned creatures and raised dead as well.  Conjuring minions not only buys you valuable time in combat - but unlike on other difficulties, these creatures will actually do a decent amount of damage and potentially take a few enemies with them.  Conjuration goes hand in hand with #7 and #8; abusing the AI, and Illusion spells.  The AI will often focus on your summons first - make them pay for it.

10 - The character you're planning to make might not be one that's viable on the Master setting.  I use the word viable as kind of a misnomer here; every character can be 'viable', but some are so horrendously underpowered that they just don't fit well on the highest difficulty without reloading every combat scenario dozens (if not hundreds) of times waiting to get lucky and down an enemy.  Take stock in what you learn as you go, and consider your lessons learned when making a new character master Skyrim with.

The End Game

I wonder if I'm the only one who suffers from the syndrome I'm about to describe; follow me here:

I generally tend to enjoy games up until maximum level (or skill cap, whichever applies), and I then get bored rather quickly.  I've never been a big raider - and honestly, the PVP achievements/gear to acquire in most games can be done rather quickly with little effort (or risk) involved.  Afterward, I struggle to find something new to do.

I recently started playing Everquest (EQ) again.  As I was leveling, I was (as I always am) focused on the next level, where I'll get it, if there's someplace better, and is this group good enough or should I drop and solo for awhile?  Once I didn't have another level to look forward to, I hit a wall again, just like I described above.  Then I remembered about the alternate advancement (AA) system EQ has in place, which is available to every character at level 51, and which I had neglected up until that point.

The AA system lets you divert experience away from your character level and into a pool, which will eventually reach 100% and give you one AA 'point' and then reset to zero - allowing you to do it again and get more points.  The points can be spent on a myriad of things from damage mitigation to mana regeneration, enhanced critical strike chance, or a number of abilities that can be used at your discretion once purchased. 

This guy has way too much time on his hands.

The limits are nearly endless - most hardcore players will have between 3500 and 4500 AA points.  Some guilds require an entry barrier - or a certain amount of AA's you need before you can join them.  But regardless of how you earn them, or what you do with them once earned, it's something I don't think I've run across in many other games.

I wonder why EQ (and EQ2) were the only games to implement something like this in a mainstream way?  Full Disclosure:  I've played just about every 'major' MMORPG release in the past 12 years, and I'm sure I've run across alternate advancement systems before - but I honestly can't remember any being as paramount as the one in EQ.  Or honestly - really any at all that offered this much character customization and building after the level cap was reached.

Am I crazy?  Maybe I'm the only one who suffers from the staleness of end game raiding.  But honestly - why can't I have a way of bettering my character other then fighting for a spot on a raid and hoping something I can actually use something that drops from a boss that we kill after hours of preparation?

Maybe this is a solid reason why Everquest is still around.  Developers, take note. 

Tribes: Ascend - The Scrambler

(NOTE: The Scrambler no longer exists as a standalone class!  It was merged with the Raider class in a February patch.  The equipment below can still be purchased and played with as described)

One of my favorite things about Tribes Ascend is the class system - and how every player can use the experience system to create a custom class that really compliments their unique play style.

So many guides already out there go over the basics.  One of the things I'll stand avidly against on this website is spoon feeding players decisions on how to play their characters.  I merely aim to provide insight and forethought through my own experience in a game.  That being said - the scrambler is by far my favorite class of the 12 currently available.  Not only for its ability to avoid radar detection and destroy fixed emplacements with ease - but because of its weaponry and purchasable (through experience) skills.

First and foremost - to pick and play a class in Tribes Ascend, you need to understand how their weaponry works.  The best way to do this is through the training mode - in which a player can play any class they desire and have targets run blindly around the field for practice. 

The scrambler's ARX Buster shoots sticky grenades out of a three round clip at a fairly rapid pace.  While the grenades themselves explode after a second, it's important to note that they stick to anything - players, vehicles, ceilings, walls, etc.  They also do explosive damage, which hurts everything in the game unlike most ballistic weapons.

Probably the most important lesson you'll learn as a scrambler is to avoid combat in the open field.  You're a base disabler and defender, not a mid-range skirmisher.  You will have an exceptionally hard time killing enemies in an open field with either the ARX Buster or the Sparrow - the worthless pistol you carry as your secondary weapon.

There are three skills related to the ARX Buster - two of them granting +9 ammo capacity for the gun each, and the third granting a +20% damage bonus against armored targets.  While one ammo expansion and the anti-armor skill are more then sufficient, the second ammo expansion skill really helps the Scrambler spend more time destroying fixed positions and less time scavenging for ammunition to blow them up with. 

Utilizing your scrambling pack to correctly is vital.  Picking up speed and turning the pack on will enable you to slip off the radar - leaving you visible only to enemies carefully looking your way.  It will also prevent any enemy turrets from detecting you and targeting you - leaving you free to destroy them with your ARX Buster.  This is a fantastic tactic early on in a match, as enemy turrets and radar can be taken out in under a minute if you can keep yourself effectively hidden.

Picking up the "Jammer Energy" skill (the top right skill in the Scrambler skill screen) is vital, as it grants you a 25% discount on jammer energy consumption.  There are actually two of these skills for purchase, for a combined 50% less energy usage.  They're unbelievably worth it, however I suggest holding off getting the second of these skills until you pick up a few others.

Intermixed with the jamming cost reduction skills are skills that extend the jamming radius by 15% each.  While one of them is necessary in order to reach the second jamming cost reduction skill, the second one really isn't worth it as it provides a marginally useful amount to an already abundant radius of jamming for teammates, as well as decloaking for any enemy infiltrators that may be in the area. 


Scramblers have, in my opinion, the second best grenades in the game - the whiteout grenades, which are identical to flashbangs from other shooters in every single way.  Picking up the whiteout ammo skill is essential, as is picking up the whiteout radius and duration skills which extend the effective area of the grenade, and the duration one faces once subjected to it.  It's also important to note that the grenades only effect people that look at them when they explode, so tossing one and turning around is a viable tactic.  Additionally - if you're close to the grenade when it goes off, you'll get the ringing-in-your-ears sensation, regardless if you were staring at the grenade when it went off or not.

If you're wondering who has the best grenades - the answer is the Brutes.  Their fractal grenades are one of the most frustrating things currently in the game, as they can clear out a room of light and even medium armored enemies with little effort.

The skill "Energy" is also a worthwhile pickup, as it expands your capacitor by about 10%, giving you that much more time to jam enemies. 

Rounding out the tree are the health skills - one which decreases the time before your health regenerates by 25% (this is standard to every class and is very worth the investment) while the other two skills provide 50 health each - which is nice, but should be left for some of the last skills you invest in.

Finally there comes the perks - both of which are 100% useless for the scrambler, and 95% useless for every other class in the game.

For 9000 experience, you can get the 'Stealthy' perk, which reduces your detection range by enemy sensors by 50%.  Scramblers don't get detected by enemy sensors at all if they're played even half-well, and the benefit provided to other classes isn't worth it in comparison to the other perks available.

For 12000 experience, you can have the 'Squirrelly' perk, which makes enemy turrets take 20% longer when locking on to you.  Again, scramblers jam turrets, so they shouldn't get fired at at all - while again, other classes can benefit from far better perks then potential turret avoidance.

I highly suggest developing your Ranger class in order to pick up the 'Survivalist' perk, which heals you 20% of your health and energy every time you pick up ammo.  This can greatly prolong your assault on an enemy base as it not only allows you to keep your jammer on (and keep you and your friends off the radar) but keeps you healed from the inevitable damage you'll take as frustrated enemies try to take you down.

Finishing off your perk selection should be the 'Explosive Looter' perk obtained from the Raider class.  This allows you to pick up one additional grenade or mine from ammo drops - which lets you dump your devastating whiteout grenades twice as often as you can keep racking up kills.

A close third in the perks race is the Pathfinder's 'Egocentric' perk, which reduces damage from your own weapons by 35%.  This lets a Scrambler be a little more reckless with their ARX Buster - sometimes, the only way to get an enemy off your back is to stand in their face and stick them a few times to ensure the job gets done.

Tribes: Ascend - First Impressions

A few days ago someone suggested trying out the Tribes Ascend closed beta.  I was baffled at this, as closed beta's imply that I need an invite.  As my friend quickly explained, the beta was only quasi-closed, as receiving a key and access to the game was as easy as heading over to the developer's facebook page and liking the game.

I've provided the link here for anyone who may become interested as they continue to read.

Now I'm not one to really promote First Person Shooters on the PC - mainly because my first FPS experience was Halo back on the original Xbox.  Ever since then, I've been a hardcore console supporter when it comes to both first and third person shooters.  That being said, I'm quickly becoming a convert - games like this being the reason.  (Editor's after-thought; I actually had a great time playing Quake 2 - and its subsequent expansions - WAY back in the day.) 

Tribes is a typical shooter at its core, however it combines traditional game play with aspects of MMORPG character development.  The results are rather good, as you've got a series of characters (or classes, as the game calls them) that you can play with and build on with the experience you earn in each match.  Each class has its own quirks and play style to master - various roles are available from lightly armored flag runners and stealth assassins, to the medium armored turret-constructing technicians that safeguard an area, and even all the way up to heavily armored (and armed!) Doombringer and Juggernaut.

As you can surmise from the picture above, there are currently 12 classes available as of this writing.  They all have their little niche's - but there are a few staples that each possess.  First, every class is reliant on their jump pack for moving around.  This isn't too far fetched from other games, except now you've also got skiing thrown into the mix - the term used to describe gliding frictionless across any surface.  With skiing and jump-jetting being your key means of locomotion, it becomes a pivotal skill to master and it's very easy to spot the good players just based on how they move and react to their environments.

Also shared amongst all classes is multiple weapons - every class gets two, except the technition which receives a repair gun as their secondary weapon.  It's important to note that all classes can also switch out a weapon for a repair gun at a few convenient stations located throughout their base.  Repair guns can be used to fix a number of deployable and permanent fixtures from turrets to generators.

And finally, every class gets a belt item ranging from sticky grenades to claymores, or even the deadly fractal grenade that detonates over a few seconds and floods a room with laser fire (clearing it of most hostiles).

Matchmaking between players isn't anything new or special - there's no ranking involved (yet) and players are thrown into the next available match when they queue up.  It's possible to join friend's games, however you have to wait for a spot if none is available - I will say one thing, while unoriginal, the game's queue system is fast and responsive.  I've never had to wait more than a minute for a match, or to join a friend's match.  It works well and delivers fast paced action without a lot of fuss to get yourself there.

Expanding upon the class selection are skills - the skill tree is unique to each class, however some skills are shared throughout all classes.  For instance, almost every class can buy a skill which reduces the delay in health regeneration by 25%.

As you can see from the screen on the right, there's nothing new here as far as innovation goes - you've seen skill/experience based purchase systems before.  Experience is earned by doing damage, killing enemies (and/or killing them creatively via a sticky grenade or blowing up their vehicle), or repairing/upgrading objectives during the game.

Finally, regardless of which class you select, you can use two global perks as well.  These perks are unlocked by playing more classes and progressing down their skill tree.  However, once unlocked, they can be used with any class, regardless.  They're significantly more costly then skills, at 9,000 and 12,000 respectively (in the example above) however some of them can really provide excellent benefits to suit your role and play style, and there is a multitude to select from.

Thankfully you aren't locked into one class for an entire match.  You can change your class at any time either between deaths or via a refit station in your base or deployed in the field.  This allows a great deal of flexibility for teams as members can switch roles effortlessly to fill gaps as the match progresses.

Rounding out the game play is the credit system - you accumulate credits the same way you accumulate experience, however your team can also earn global credits for all its members by doing things like capturing or returning a flag.  Credits are used on a per-match basis (they don't carry over to the next match, so leaving them unspent is like turning away extra experience).  You can spend them to upgrade turrets, sensors, or the base generator, or to summon a vehicle, call in an airstrike, or even call in a refit station mid-field allowing you and your teammates the options to refill their ammunition away from the base.  A very cool way to add some depth to the game play and break the routine of just shooting other people to get experience. 

The overall picture is a fun game that you can easily find yourself jumping in for a few matches every day and then walking away for a few hours, only to come back and play a few more matches with a different class.  You get that sense of accomplishment from the experience system, and that sense of a goal to strive for in unlocking new classes and features to play with.

The game model is free to play, however for anyone who sees themselves playing this somewhat casually I highly suggest investing the minimum one-time purchase of $10 into the game.  Not only will this allow you to unlock a class of choice without the need to play dozens of matches, but it will grant your account permanent VIP status, which slightly increases the experience and tokens gained with each match.  Tokens are used to unlock new classes, and you'd need to play about 30 matches per class to unlock a new one with the VIP status.

Thankfully the free to play model really doesn't push itself into the realm of pay to win.  While accounts with the VIP status, and those that just pay to acquire the game currency (gold) will have a slight advantage in accessing multiple classes earlier, the rate at which you acquire experience is directly attributed to you performance in game.  People who excel at the game will gain experience quickly, and those that do not will still struggle to unlock new perks, skills and classes.  While its true the VIP status of an account will give you about a 60% bonus in experience gain, it's still marginal enough to provide access to newer things faster without giving a player an enormous advantage over the competition.

Regardless, veteran players will eventually unlock everything they want, and once that's done - experience and currency become completely irrelevant.  Even now, I'm about 50 total matches into the game and I've pretty much got my two favorite classes skilled up and decked out as much as I'd like them to be.  From here on out, they won't get much better via skills, they'll only benefit from my experience.

I highly suggest anyone with a FPS desire to give Tribes: Ascend a try.  It's a great find as far as a free to play game goes - and you can have countless matches of fun at your disposal all without ever spending a dime.

If you're interested in learning more - you can check out their website here.

Skyrim - The Pure Mage

Playing a pure mage in Skyrim can be a fun, rewarding experience.  It can also be absolutely nerve wracking and frustrating - especially if you turn up the difficulty in the game at all.

I've found that playing Pure Mages on the master difficulty can be one of the most challenging experiences video games currently have to offer.  But if you try to take the build I am about to propose and play it on the master difficulty, you need to do so with a warning:  one mistake, and you die.  Playing a glass cannon on the master setting is a commitment to understanding - not just understanding that you'll be saving and loading often, but an understanding of your environment, all your spells, how to use them, and when not to use them.

Not everyone will choose to go the path less traveled and undertake Skyrim on its hardest difficulty - this build will work for everyone, novice and master alike - and should provide you with a base understanding of magical perks as well as the spells they allow you to use more efficiently.

One important note is that unlike Oblivion, Skyrim doesn't let you customize spells.  You can click here to view a list of all the perks in the game, and then from there click on any school of magic to get a full spell list with descriptions.


I used the term build loosely, as I'm not a fan of spoon-feeding people a direct way to play their characters.  Instead I'll explain a few notes, and let you take the perks you feel best augment your playstyle.

-First and foremost, destruction will always be your fallback.  You quite simply can not count on the AI in the game (either via a fury spell, or a conjured minion) to act as you intend it to.  Therefor it's important to not only invest time into your destruction tree, but to consider completely ignoring conjuration as a primary source of damage until it nears level 100 and you receive some of the higher level summons in the game.

*THIS DOES NOT MEAN DO NOT BUILD CONJURATION SKILL AS YOU PROGRESS IN CHARACTER LEVELS.  It means don't count on it as a way for things to die.  Don't blow perks in it until you've rounded out your character, and understand that conjuring weapons mid-fight is the best way to raise the skill, not by summoning minions and hoping they get a few hits off before they die.

I highly suggest building down the fire tree first, and ignoring ice and lightning until your character reaches level 40+, and even then, use them understanding that you could just kill things faster with fire then draining their stamina, or magicka with ice or lightning (respectively).   Completely ignore the intense flames, disintegrate, and deep freeze perks simply because by the time an enemy is already low on health, you can just finish them off with another spell, which you'd have to use anyway to get the effects mentioned in those perks. 

-Utilize the Illusion skill tree extensively as both a time saving device and a primary source of damage (in most situations)  The fury line of spells that makes enemies attack each other can let you clear a room of enemies almost effortlessly.  This, coupled with silent casting and muffle lets you do it while hidden and without risking detection. 

I highly suggest avoiding use of the calm line of spells EXCEPT for situations when you need to rush through an area, and/or pacify an enemy in order to recover.  Pacifying enemies to skip over parts always comes back and bites you in the ass one way or another - especially if you're not the sneaky type.

-Alteration has some incredible perks available to you, from magic resistance to magic absorption.  While just about everything in the alteration tree can be valuable, its important to note that buffing yourself with armor before a fight isn't always possible.  Invest in things like the Mage Armor, Magic Resistance, and the Atronach perks.

NOTE:  If your mage will wear heavy armor instead of clothes, you can somewhat ignore the spells that increase your armor, and you can completely ignore the mage armor perk.

*HOWEVER note that your skill raises significantly based on its use.  If you take the novice alteration perk, and cast oakflesh on yourself once combat begins, you'll get quick skill gains throughout the game.

-Conjuration is great, and really shines late game, but it's little more then a minimal source of additional damage until the skill is at level 75 or so.  Conjuring a weapon mid-combat is the best way to level up the skill quickly.  After that, go for the twin souls perk, and summon your favorite companions of choice when conjuration finally finishes the long trek to level 100.

-Enchantment is something that should be completely ignored, perk wise, until your character is level 35+.  You'll weaken your character significantly by spending perks in enchanting and receiving almost no benefit for doing so.  Once level 35 rolls around, you'll pretty much have your adventuring perks selected and can spend your next few character levels getting enchanting perks and double-enchanting your equipment that you've collected up until that point.

-The restoration tree really is sort of a waste.  While you can throw a few perks during your characters middle levels (10-30) in the magicka casting reduction perks - you'll pretty much always be able to heal yourself to full with the restoration spell every character starts the game with, even without Novice Restoration.  I can't keep droning on about how useless wards are - but aside from being staggered if they break (and they will break often) you can simply sidestep almost every ranged attack in the game.  Don't waste the magicka instead of just strafing to the left.

Combat with a pure mage really comes down to one, obvious, question:

1 - Can I kill everything in this room before it kills me?  (If there are a lot of mages, or a lot of ranged damage, the answer is probably no. If this is the case, fury a few enemies or use your conjured minions as a distraction and then finish off the stragglers).

Rinse, repeat.  It takes some practice, but as I've mentioned - playing through the game as a pure mage is a rewarding experience.  It requires not only cunning and patience but a little creativity in order to be successful.

As always, feel free to leave your feedback below!