On PC, there’s a quicksave button, but on console, you’re going to have to remember to save your game often. There’s no need to agonize over the decision at the beginning, since you can always change your mind. You’ll have time to decide which style of play suits you over the course of the game. Keep in mind, however, that there are 13 ancestral stones like these lying around Skyrim, and while you can only have one active at a time, you can change whenever you want. Whichever one you choose causes skills associated with that class to improve faster than other skills. Right near the beginning of the game, you’re given a choice between three ancestral stones: Thief, Mage, and Warrior. That’s ok! The game is supposed to be hard, and it will force you to level your character and improve your skills until you can take on the challenge before you.ĭon’t worry which ancestral stone you choose at first. A few of these even happen on the road to major story quests. The enemies don’t level according to your character in Skyrim, so often, especially in the early goings, you’ll stumble into an area that’s out of your league difficulty-wise.
The game defaults to “Adept” difficulty, which I’d say is just about right. There are references to the stories of past Elder Scrolls games, but any important plot points are laid out by other characters and by text during loading screens.ĭon’t lower the difficulty - some fights are supposed to be hard. Skyrim picks up 200 years after the events of the last game, Oblivion, and while it still takes place on the continent of Tamriel, it tells its own unconnected story. Here we go.ĭon’t worry if you haven’t played earlier Elder Scrolls games. No big plot spoilers in here, because while most of you know the story events of Skyrim, there really are people out there who haven’t yet played. – Kirkīefore you can get to all of that, you’ve got to start the game and make a bunch of decisions about how, exactly, all those hours are going to play out. We’ve updated this list in honour of that, removing some of the less helpful tips from the original post (“Play on PC with an Xbox 360 controller?”) and adding some additional pointers based on our subsequent years with the game. In fact, it was one of the very first “ before you start” tips posts we ever ran! It’s been a hell of a half-decade since then, and today Bethesda is re-releasing an updated version of Skyrim on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Editor’s note : We’re bumping these tips again because the game is out for Nintendo Switch, as well as a VR version.Įditor’s note, : This post was originally published almost five years ago on.