Most Useful Shout...

[dragonfett]

Since we have a thread about the most useful Daedric item, I decided to make one for the most useful shout. Not every shout is listed because there were more shouts than space for options, and that was with combining Fire and Frost breath into one option because I feel that they are two sides of the same coin.

I personally feel that the best three shouts are Unrelenting Force, Slow Time, and Ice Form.

Unrelenting Force because when all the words are learned, unlocked, and used, there are very few enemies that can resist getting hit with a shout that can send you flying (in fact, I think that the only enemies that DON'T go flying are dragons, but I have never used it on them so I honestly don't know).

Ice Form because while there are enemies that are resistant to the frost effects, all enemies that I know of are still encased in ice until either they are hit or it thaws.

And finally Slow Time because it's useful to be able to slow down time to have more time to react .

Edit: You can choose three options.

[philfredobob]

Become Ethereal is the best, useful both in battle and for getting off tall mountains and structures.

the rest i thought were mostly average. the most annoying thing is that most Dragon Shouts don't work on Dragons.

[Masked Pillow]

Animal Allegiance is my favourite. Turning a herd of mammoths on the giant that is trying to crush you is hugely useful.

[dzio]

I picked Aura Whisper, Slow Time and Unrelenting Force. Those three are a fantastic combination for a sneaky character - the first one ensures I don't run straight into something while sneaking, the second is great when I need to lay down some precision shots with a bow or quickly switch from bow to melee, and the last one is a great way to get the enemy away from me and give me a moment to prepare for the next round.

My assassin also uses Throw Voice a lot, to get the target into position or draw it away from me, but the same can be accomplished by firing arrows from a dark corner, so I didn't pick that one. And I use Marked for Death a lot, especially when fighting fast heavy hitters without high magic resistance, like bears and trolls.

The most useless one (other than Clear Skies of course) has to be Elemental Fury. It only works on unenchanted melee weapons and who is really using those beyond level 15? That's even worse than Disarm/Dismay, which don't work on anything above level 30...

[Masked Pillow]

Though Clear Skies is not useful in combat, it can be nice if you want to clear a snowstorm from the College of Winterhold if you want to appreciate the view. This also applies tot he Throat of the World.

[FredTheGreat]

I chose aura whisperer because I like to know how many possible enemies I have to face when entering a dungeon.

Second one I chose was ice form because when there are a lot of enemies on me it lets me deal with some of them later cause of the freezing.

And the last one I chose was fire breath just for the straight up damage.

Become Ethereal would have been my fourth choice because I can just jump down from mountains with it (to lazy to walk down).

[CBR JGWRR]

Clear skies or become ethereal, depending on whether I'm using frostfall or not.

[Just_Mad]

I, being a player that enjoys stealth and thievery, chose other, as Throw Voice was absent. Nothing quite distracts the shopkeeper like a voice saying 'Hey, Skeever-Butt!' Plus, when used with Unrelenting Force, you can lead enemies to cliff tops, and then enroll them in the Skyrim Flight Program. Though in no way my favourite, Become Ethereal probably is the most 'useful', as it has a number of purposes, including fall damage negation, health regeneration, and pain mitigation. So, basically, BE for the nation... (Isn't rhyming fun!)

[Mauin]

The only Shout I actually use is Dragonrend, even though my Dragons have a habit of resisting it (hit them with Dragonrend, they land for three or four seconds, then take off again even though Dragonrend is still affecting them). In other words, I use it, but I don't use it as often as I used to. It's not uncommon for me to have a character who has Shouted less than 100 times in over 100 hours of gameplay.

To be honest, I don't find Shouts all that useful. I have them, I unlock them, and then I just don't use them. Unless the occasion just happens to call for a little something special. Then I'll Shout. One situation I can think of, off the top of my head, is when...

Spoiler:

I use the Marked for Death Shout to kill Ulfric Stormcloak at the end of the Civil War.

I love doing that.

Apparently my Dovahkiin's are all mostly silent. *shrug*

[Mr.Argonian]

Marked for Death is one the best IMO, it lets me take down dragons so much quicker, nearly doubling damage done. Become Etheral and Unrelenting Force are also quite useful.

[Evileer]

I picked Unrelenting Force, since it's a useful way of thinning out/pushing back a crowd of enemies in one go. I also voted for Whirlwind Sprint, since I've used that to reach several difficult to access areas, plus it's a useful way of getting through booby-trapped tunnels and the like. A good one for dungeon crawling in my experience!

[mewmew34]

Didn't see we could pick more than one until it was too late. XD I checked Fire Breath, but I also like Become Ethereal. Ethereal is great for getting past soul gem traps or those pressure plates that shoot fire when you step on them. Fire Breath I use almost exclusively during fights. Pretty much everything is susceptible to being set on fire, except for things already on fire like Flame Atronachs. Not really sure on a third. The one from Dragonborn is nice, that gives you that "armor" when you use it. I don't remember the name of it off hand, but with two and three words of the shout you get a ghostly helper when you're knocked to half health. Extra fighters is always nice.

[Pancake]

Become Ethereal is useful on every occasions for every possible build. Stalling the fight when confined in tight corners surrounded by draugr is very helpful while preparing for a counterattack.

I also have taken a liking to Soul Tear ,for its raw damage. And lately I've been using Drain Vitality too.

[Yaije]

I have to say, as far as damage dealing goes, unrelenting force is almost always useful in the base game and official DLCs. (assuming you don't mind not always being able to retrieve the body)

It's basically the only one I ever really used regularly due to it's relatively low cooldown and really... draugr bowling is too much fun.

[urthdigger]

My favorite shouts are the 300-delay ones (Storm Call, Call Dragon, Summon Durnevhiir) simply for the thrill of such power, but it's rare to actually use them due to them being outdoors only, and a bit of a waste when you rarely find anything worthy or a large array of foes outdoors.

As far as most useful? I'd have to say Dragonrend, Unrelenting Force, and Aura Whisper, all for reasons already mentioned.

[TheOogyBoogyMan]

I seriously can't wrap my head around why so few are talking about Ice Form. All the others are just aesthetic by comparison, imo. I can not count the number of times I've been overwhelmed in a cave and forced to walk backwards to line up all my enemies and freeze the lot of them while I recover my health and hack them one at a time.

[The SheoDovah]

Unrelenting Force is the most useful shout due to it sending people flying and can save your life if you are one hit away from death. It has a short cool down time(If i recall correctly) and is powerful. That and there is nothing better then to send an entire group of Draugr Deathlords flying backwards. And it's useful against dragons if you just use Fus due to it staggering it. Oh and giants are easy to defeat with this. I think i've had several moments during one or two Dovahkiin characters that actually unlocked all 3 words where they unleashed it against a horde of draugr whilst being outnumbered and low on health.

Stormcall, because i'm a bit of a crap shot with an arrow due to controller issues and i've disabled the crosshair, it makes the fight easier. Have yet to see if it is effective against the level 40 and above dragons.

Become Etheral. It's useful for when you just cba to walk down a mountain. Want to jump off without dying? Then use this. Tis useful for navigating traps as it could stop you from dying. And can save you a bit of health in battle. Shame that we can't use it and fight but i understand why as that would be a bit overpowered. *ignores overpowered enchantments*

[GoatLiver]

Become Ethereal is the best

QFT

One of the few shouts that is equally useful at endgame levels as it is at the start of the game.

[CBR JGWRR]

Shame that we can't use it and fight but i understand why as that would be a bit overpowered. *ignores overpowered enchantments*

That's because you don't physically exist while ethereal, so you can't attack an opponent...

[kgnmike88]

i choose unrelenting force because it can give you the space when you really need it. and its also fun when near a big drop.

slow time is also useful when you have multiple enemies

i also enjoy storm call its just amusing to watch people get smited while i just sit back and watch

[Finn Wolfshorn]

The shouts I mostly use in combat (which is when I most often use shouts to begin with) are Unrelenting Force, Marked For Death and Drain Life, so my vote goes to these three. Dragonrend was also very useful in the vanilla game, but with Deadly Dragons set to Less Flying and Dragon Combat Overhaul my dragons land so often it has become superfluous. Soul Tear is absolutely great for a dark necromancer character. Become Ethereal is nice to get past all kinds of traps. I've never used Slow Time very much, but seen it put to good use in Gopher's Let's Play videos and been thinking I should use it more, except I tend to forget about it (as indeed I tend to forget about most shouts I don't use regularly; I mean, e.g. Elemental Fury sounds pretty cool, but I don't think I've ever actually used it *makes a note to give it a try ASAP*).

[rpbraley868]

Unrelenting Force for obvious reasons already stated.
Clear skies cause you can use it for a stagger against most enemies when you are outside and it recharges very quickly.


Finally, Slow Time. I used that shout exclusively end game. With that shout i could usually take out a Revered Dragon, and bring another one to about half health with my bow before the shout ended (sometimes kill both outright).

[philfredobob]

one of the good things about Become Ethereal is that it's one of the shouts where more words just makes it go for longer and has no effect on how strong the shout it. so in the middle of combat when you are about to die, you can just tap ''z'' or whatever other button you use to shout and you don't need to hold it down and you can escape death. and then since you only just tapped it, your shout will regenerate quickly.

[BetaB17]

This makes me sad>_> whirlwind sprint shouldn't be rated as an "other" >_<
I swear, that is the only shout I regularly use. It's great for traveling on foot or climbing dangerous mountains>_> plus it instantly can close most gaps for a melee fight. If you know how to use it, it's great for defense and offense>_< and it's charge isn't that bad depending on the distance needed.

That aside, obviously dragonrend gets my 2nd spot, due to it's only use. The follow up comes to a tie>_> in the vanilla I have to go with Aura's Whisper. In a dungeon, it's always nice to know were everyone is.. in terms of dlc, I must go with Dragon Aspect simply for it's benefits.

I feel an honorable mention must be given to Ethereal.. I never used it in battle and was only great for surviving fall damage.. <3

[Da_BossMaN69]

I'm surprised Storm Call isn't higher on the list, granted it's limited to outdoor use (you'll never fight a dragon indoors though) but it's easily the single strongest shout in the game including DLC's. I have wiped out entire Forsworn Camps, obliterated Dragons, Giant Herds, and more using only that shout alone.

And in combination with Dragon Aspect you're character is nigh unstoppable.