1681

The wiki agrees with Jason, FWIW. Actually, no, the wiki says their level is set when they spawn for the first time.

1682

As far as I can tell companions do level, but I read somewhere there might be a bug which stops them at some point. Not very helpful I know, so I’ll just say that I can’t believe they don’t level. My Lydia can hold her own (I’m at 26 or so) which would seem impossible if she was Level 1.

EDIT: Well huh, seems I’m wrong. I can’t get my head around how she can be that low level (I got her early) and still do fine in combat.

1683

Thanks, it seems the wiki is right.

From reddit.com forum:

As many of you are aware, followers are not leveling correctly in the current version of Skyrim. Their skills are locked to the levels set when they initially join you. The likely cause seems to be a switch between the reference value and the current value in most of the followers.
However, there are a couple of things you can do until a patch that fixes things is released.
Use a dark brotherhood follower. These are the only currently confirmed followers that are scaling correctly. Also, this is the only way PS3 and Xbox players can get a follower that will level up with you. Also, Uthgerd the Broken will correctly level block and marksman (archery) but not the rest of the skills or stats (including hp). The fact that she doesn’t level up armor or health is pretty significant, so it’s still not a recommended pickup for PS3 or Xbox users. source
PC users can reset the follower which brings it up to the player’s level. To do this you have to dismiss the follower, open the console, click on him. Type “disable” and then “enable” without the quotes. This resets the follower to your stats. Xbox and PS3 players can’t do this since they have no access to the console.
Well, that’s it. But I thought it was important enough for people that didn’t know about. Especially the DB followers, which many people seem not to know about. This will greatly alleviate the problem for Xbox and PS3 users.

1684

I asked in the spoilers thread but I didn’t have any answers, so I am going to try it here:

Anyone have played both sides of the civil war? Stormcloaks or Empire, which line of quests is more interesting?

It seems it’s the only part of the game which is exclusive, if you work for A, you can’t go with B after, that’s why I am asking. And being honest, I don’t think I will play the game twice.

1685

Use a dark brotherhood follower. These are the only currently confirmed followers that are scaling correctly.

So only some types of followers level correctly!? How is such a bug even possible? Does Bethesda have a special research department for obscure bug creation?

1686

I am pages back, but I am pretty sure I know the answer: pages ago someone mentioned a bug whereby if your mouse was over your own inventory when your bought something off a shopkeeper you go it for free - or similar.

The converse is true. Put your mouse on the shopkeeper’s inventory text and try and sell something of yours and you actually end up paying that gold for the item.

Also, I gave arrows to a companion and caused a complete and immediate game crash. Ouch!

1687

Jeez, that’s a subtle one. Must check i’m not mis-selling

1688

Is anybody else finding the conversation system with WASD/E extremely annoying? It’s either broken, buggy, or extremely misleading because I am constantly repeating dialog options or picking the wrong ones. A couple times I even had to back out of the dialog tree and try again because it wouldn’t let me pick the bottom two choices.

Even the inventory screens are screwed up. It seems to employ several techniques for showing what’s highlighted, brightening and enlarging the text but sometimes they become desynchronized leading to mass confusion.

1689

The game seems to have trouble grasping the idea of a “mouse” I think. Sometimes if you use your scroll wheel, for example, it scrolls normally. Other times, it scrolls the same list every other item. Sometimes, your pointer will actually select what it’s pointing at. Other times, it acts as the enter key and no matter where it’s pointing, it selects what the game thinks is highlighted. Yeah, it’s wonky as hell.

1690

I would really love to know what is so tricky about programming in the ability to remap keys and reflect said remapping on the in-game menus and legends properly. Really. How can this possibly be an issue? Not to mention it’s a crap shoot whether those remapped keys actually function correctly under certain situations. FUUUUUUUCK.

Oh, and I’m sorry if I spoiled the fact that remapping your keys in this game leads to big fucking headaches.

1691

Sigh… so many bugs for the PS3 version it’s really putting me off from playing too deep in. Not only this one with the followers not leveling (which is ludicrous), but the internets is all afire with the PS3 slowdown bug which makes the game basically unplayable for many PS3 owners when the save game files reach a size of over 6 MB. It’s really bad, lots of posted videos of the game crawling at 5-10fps. Supposedly a patch is due next week which is supposed to fix this issue but seeing is believing.

1692

Is this bug PC only? 360 here, I got Lydia when I was level 3 or so, and I’m not level 19, and she wades in and does fine against bad guys that would crush a level 3 fighter. And she only has basic armor (banded mail, basic gauntlets, banded shield, etc.)

1693

Thanks for this.

1694

Without getting into spoilers, can you continue playing after the main quest ends? I’ve sort of been holding off progressing the story too much so I didn’t pre-maturely end the game (as was possible in FO:NV and FO3 prior to the Broken Steel expansion).

If you can keep playing, does anything in the world significantly change after the main quest is complete (use spoiler tags if necessary, please)?

1695

When the main quest ends, it’s no different to when any other quest ends. The game tells you the quest is done, and you go on your way. There is an event late in the main quest that can have a minor effect on the world, and I think it’s possible that this event won’t take place at all, depending on what you do, or don’t do in a certain other quest line.

The only reason to hold off the main quest is really that some other quests will seem silly if you’ve completed it. Doing the starting quests for the factions feels off because they treat you like a nobody adventurer, even in places where you’re well known as a great hero.

You should definitely play the main quest at least until you get shouts. What I did was do some of the early main quest, then joined my faction and completed the main faction quest, then mostly focused on the main quest, but did local side content as I went. The main quest directs you to visit most of the cities at some point. Stopping at inns and asking about rumours will get you quests to do while you’re in town.

1696

Yes, you can continue. And the as for the world changing?

World changing

Not really, actually

1697

This may sound dumb, but what IS the main quest?
Not really spoilers, but just to be safe

I’ve done the greybeards to get my shouts, and went with someone and killed a dragon with someone who said the dragons are coming back (I assume that is it?) and also decided which side to join in the war (or is that it?)

1698

Its the quest chain you get at the Greybeards that is the main quest.

1699

Ah, did some looking, forgot that this quest tied to the other one I mentioned.

1700

Yes, there’s even optional follow-up stuff that directly relates to the main quest.

I’ve sort of been holding off progressing the story too much so I didn’t pre-maturely end the game (as was possible in FO:NV and FO3 prior to the Broken Steel expansion).

If you can keep playing, does anything in the world significantly change after the main quest is complete (use spoiler tags if necessary, please)?
The game doesn’t end in any way similar to FO:3, you’re free to keep playing. As for how the world significantly changes, you’ll have to play the main quest to find that out.