Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to what will probably be the last post of the Adventures series, as it was supposed to be a series of “first impression” posts for the three Skyrim expansions.
In my last update on my Skyrim save, we witnessed the death of the Skaal shaman at the hands of Hermaeus Mora to fulfill his deal to get the Skaal’s hidden knowledge in return for the power to kill Miraak. And then, of course, we left Solstheim to find a dragon soul to unlock the last word of Bend Will with, we faffed arounded for a bit, and now we are back to finish the job!
Well, now I can finally say that Miraak is dead, and I’m the last known person of Dragonblood to be walking amongst man and mer!
It was a pain to get through Apocrypha. I had to go it alone without Serana at my side, which was fair enough, I guess. Defeating Miraak is something I alone was responsible for, and it was my battle to fight. I realise I have become complacent, having an Essential companion always at my side. I have nice Ebony armour that is fitting for a man of my power, but I never enchant or temper my stuff, and in a higher-level place like Apocrypha, my desire to supplement my abilities with the abilities of another, as opposed to increasing my own powers, lead to my struggle.
And, I want to point out that before I went back to Solstheim to meet the miners at the barrow before going to Apocrypha, I dumped 50lbs of surplus potions and other gear at Proudspire Manor, which I finally purchased in Solitude. For all the trouble I was going through, I have decided that 30+ health potions and 10-15 stamina and magicka potions are now considered standard gear to carry into the field, because I need them a lot.
I suppose the thing to do, since this is an impressions post, is to detail how I feel about the conclusion of the quest. I won’t touch on anything else but the last quest for Dragonborn, as I spoke about most everything else in my Adventures #2 post.
Apocrypha is cool. It is, for the most part, what I thought Hermaeus Mora’s realm would look like, although I am disappointed that there isn’t a large set of shelves and a dedicated library to enter that has forbidden knowledge. It’s all static books lining the walls and looking cool.
The black water and the tentacles were annoying after a while, though. Seekers and Lurkers hit really hard, and I’m going to work on my Enchanting skill to improve my hit power and add offensive enchantments. Wanting to stick to a generic Sword and Shield legionnaire, I’m at a disadvantage to two-handed weapons and the slower but harder hitting maces and axes, and it’s felt at times.
It took me four tries to capture Sahrotaar. I had one job. Hit him with Bend Will and not let him hit and kill me. I always found a way to miss. Riding the dragon was cool for the quick flight to Miraak, but I am disappointed as a whole about it. Dragon riding is disappointing, as there’s so little to do though, and I think that to reach Miraak is the only time I’ll use Bend Will and command a dragon.
Miraak’s fight was cool, though obnoxious by the fourth time, dealing with all the dragon deaths to regenerate his health before his attempted flight. It was bad ass to see Miraak impaled by his Daedric lord, though after all the stress he’s given me, I wish I had the opportunity to give the killing blow myself.
I got back 11 souls on his death, and I invested half of them to complete the few words I’ve unlocked across gameplay (I’ve done very little actual dragon hunting so far in my save), and I got his cool gear, which I will leave in Proudspire Manor’s chest until I unlock that house that has all the stuff on Raven Rock. That will be my Dragonborn Mementos area.
Now that Miraak is dead and the world is saved, my current plan, now that I’ve swapped gear and stuff in Solitude at the house, is to travel back to Solstheim with my housecarl, who I took so she wouldn’t get stir crazy in that house while Serana was with me all the time, and when we are there, we will explore some more, talk to people, do some quests, and thoroughly explore Solstheim one last time before departing to the mainland to work on my houses: Proudspire Manor, which will be my primary residence, and the buildable house just to the east of Solitude that has only the small house on it.
I have no plans to make a follow-up post about Hearthfire. It’s house building. I did the Falkreath house on another save, and I know for a fact that there’s nothing to speak about, unless I made a journal about being retired and stuff in family life or something, which would be quite boring, I reckon.
Anyway, this concludes the Adventures series and though Damon’s tale doesn’t end here, you shall hear no further of it, as soon I’ll be back to making first contact with the Blade in Riverwood and working forward the main quest and side factions we all know and love.
TTFN, guys, I shall return some day when I have something else to blog about that is TES related.
