85 Spells

[Symphonic]

Do they sell Gameinformer in england?

They certainly don't in canada (epic sigh.) PS Elder Scrolls fag, right here

Did you check EBGames or Gamestop? I live in Canada, and I couldn't find it ANYWHERE. Went to EBGames to pick up LBP2 and they had a stack of Gameinformers.

[Hackattack]

You guys still have EBgames? In DC they were all bought out by Gamestop. I hated absolutely hated it, the stores just went downhill from there. I used to go to EBgames with my friends and just look at all the games and talk about them (aka having a good time ) and when we spend more than five minutes in gamestop with out buying something they ask "May i help you, are you going to finally buy a game today?" Quite rude if i had to say myself.

[Symphonic]

They're basically partner/sister stores in Canada. The mall near me has and EBGames and a Gamestop, and they basically share everything, like it's two parts of the same store. Everything you buy says "EBGames/Gamestop" on it. That being said, I feel like Ebgames is, for the most part, still the primary entity, at least in Ottawa. I only know of that one Gamestop that I mentioned. As such however, the Gamestop I've been to is nowhere near what I've read about Gamestops in the US. I get the impression that they're just a video-game specialized version of Walmart? Uniforms, terrible service, terrible employee treatment, etc? The one in the nearby mall seems like a second EBGames. Laid back, helpful staff, no uniforms. It's a nice place, but I prefer the EBgames for loyalty reasons (to the employees themselves, not the company.)

[tobascodagama]

85 spells is still too many. THERE, I SAID IT.

I'm not even trolling, either, it really is. I don't know if any of you guys play D&D, but I do, and I follow the 4e Character Optimisation boards as well. Any given class will have hundreds of powers across all the PHBs and X Power books and Dragon magazine articles. At any given level, you might have a choice of around a dozen powers. Of those dozen per level, half will be outright traps that make your build useless, and maybe two will be so awesome that every build will take one or the other.

Would you rather have 170 spells, where half of them will render your character unplayable if you take them, or 85 spells where all of them will be useful to some degree? 170 spells with the numbers fiddled about slightly, or 43 that are actually distinct from one another and useful in different situations?

Having a large number of choices only matters if you actually have a choice. "Greater Fireball" and "Lesser Fireball" are technically distinct spells, but there's no choice involved in choosing one or the other, because they do the same thing, except that one is "Greater" and the other is "Lesser". That's how magic is in Morrowind and Oblivion, and I'll be happy to see that go away.

[Fist]

well fist they already announced it. Todd Howard said himself that when you have the fire spell selected it has several different uses. He stated holding down the attack button with fire selected will use a flamethrower, tapping it will be a fire ball and combining it will use i bigger blast, draining alot of mana fast. He didnt mention how runes will work but im guessing it slides in with the fire spell too, as just another button or something.

I've looked my whole house for the Magazine but I can't find it. But I think there was an article online about it if you could tell me where it was. I believe you and your idea sounds way better then mine. But the way I read it, is the rune and flamethrower are two separate spells. Actually the way you say it makes way more sense. A lot more sense. Once I find the magazine/GameInformer article I'll edit the post.

[Vendetta]

I seriously don't care.

[jakeuh_hates_dunmer]

fist-ummm let me try and remember oh yeah! Search the game informer website on Skyrim for the building better combat article
on like the second page it explains how magic is going to work.

[Fist]

Okay I kind of understand now. But I think that you will buy the flamethrower and rune spells separately. You won't just buy the flame spell, and get the flamethrower, and bursting spell with it. You will have to be trained separately for those. Of course I'm just guessing.

[mptrj]

Indeed, I reserve my hopes that it means 85 spell effects.

It seems that Bethesda is taking a few cues from Midas Magic with the runes & flamethrower ideas. I think that's a very good sign, especially after seeing all the fun stuff that came out of New Vegas due to Obsidian listening to modders.

[Symphonic]

I've looked my whole house for the Magazine but I can't find it. But I think there was an article online about it if you could tell me where it was. I believe you and your idea sounds way better then mine. But the way I read it, is the rune and flamethrower are two separate spells. Actually the way you say it makes way more sense. A lot more sense. Once I find the magazine/GameInformer article I'll edit the post.

Should be in this article somewhere.

[Russian Fanboy]

Has anything been said about touch spells?

[MasterShadow]

Has anything been said about touch spells?

No, not at this point. But that's a pretty good question. I forgot about the touch spells, as they added an element of risk against combat oriented npcs.

[Russian Fanboy]

Has anything been said about touch spells?

No, not at this point. But that's a pretty good question. I forgot about the touch spells, as they added an element of risk against combat oriented npcs.

If they do return, I'm hoping that Bethesda will give more incentive to use touch spells aside from the lower magicka cost. Maybe they'll give them a sneak attack bonus. Touch spells seem to be more stealthy than shooting bolts of lightning, blizzards, or fireballs out of your hands... Atleast Damage/Drain/Absorb Health seem to be. I'm guessing that because both touch and ranged fire spells have the same outcome, causing your enemy to erupt into flames, it still would be hard to remain stealthy while using some spells.

[RedDeadFred]

85 spells is still too many. THERE, I SAID IT.

I'm not even trolling, either, it really is. I don't know if any of you guys play D&D, but I do, and I follow the 4e Character Optimisation boards as well. Any given class will have hundreds of powers across all the PHBs and X Power books and Dragon magazine articles. At any given level, you might have a choice of around a dozen powers. Of those dozen per level, half will be outright traps that make your build useless, and maybe two will be so awesome that every build will take one or the other.

Would you rather have 170 spells, where half of them will render your character unplayable if you take them, or 85 spells where all of them will be useful to some degree? 170 spells with the numbers fiddled about slightly, or 43 that are actually distinct from one another and useful in different situations?

Having a large number of choices only matters if you actually have a choice. "Greater Fireball" and "Lesser Fireball" are technically distinct spells, but there's no choice involved in choosing one or the other, because they do the same thing, except that one is "Greater" and the other is "Lesser". That's how magic is in Morrowind and Oblivion, and I'll be happy to see that go away.

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. Seriously, did anyone actually use all of the spells in oblivion? Even with my pure mage I just ended up making an all purpose destruction spell that I used 90% of the time and then I used a few conjuration spells along with all of the utility spells that were necessary. I probably used less than 40 different spells.

Seriously, I doubt anyone here can tell me with a straight face that they actually used a drain speechcraft spell. Unless they were testing it for the purpose of the wiki.

[Dovahkiin_0311]

85 spells is still too many. THERE, I SAID IT.

I'm not even trolling, either, it really is. I don't know if any of you guys play D&D, but I do, and I follow the 4e Character Optimisation boards as well. Any given class will have hundreds of powers across all the PHBs and X Power books and Dragon magazine articles. At any given level, you might have a choice of around a dozen powers. Of those dozen per level, half will be outright traps that make your build useless, and maybe two will be so awesome that every build will take one or the other.

Would you rather have 170 spells, where half of them will render your character unplayable if you take them, or 85 spells where all of them will be useful to some degree? 170 spells with the numbers fiddled about slightly, or 43 that are actually distinct from one another and useful in different situations?

Having a large number of choices only matters if you actually have a choice. "Greater Fireball" and "Lesser Fireball" are technically distinct spells, but there's no choice involved in choosing one or the other, because they do the same thing, except that one is "Greater" and the other is "Lesser". That's how magic is in Morrowind and Oblivion, and I'll be happy to see that go away.

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. Seriously, did anyone actually use all of the spells in oblivion? Even with my pure mage I just ended up making an all purpose destruction spell that I used 90% of the time and then I used a few conjuration spells along with all of the utility spells that were necessary. I probably used less than 40 different spells.

Seriously, I doubt anyone here can tell me with a straight face that they actually used a drain speechcraft spell. Unless they were testing it for the purpose of the wiki.

i also agree most of the spells in oblivion are useless the only one i use is the thunderbolt 110pts on strike one thats it

[Dean]

85 spells is still too many. THERE, I SAID IT.

I'm not even trolling, either, it really is. I don't know if any of you guys play D&D, but I do, and I follow the 4e Character Optimisation boards as well. Any given class will have hundreds of powers across all the PHBs and X Power books and Dragon magazine articles. At any given level, you might have a choice of around a dozen powers. Of those dozen per level, half will be outright traps that make your build useless, and maybe two will be so awesome that every build will take one or the other.

Would you rather have 170 spells, where half of them will render your character unplayable if you take them, or 85 spells where all of them will be useful to some degree? 170 spells with the numbers fiddled about slightly, or 43 that are actually distinct from one another and useful in different situations?

Having a large number of choices only matters if you actually have a choice. "Greater Fireball" and "Lesser Fireball" are technically distinct spells, but there's no choice involved in choosing one or the other, because they do the same thing, except that one is "Greater" and the other is "Lesser". That's how magic is in Morrowind and Oblivion, and I'll be happy to see that go away.

I see what you're getting at and you make a good point. But that way I won't really feel like a mage. Now I'm guessing that in Skyrim there will be a skill based magicka per second cost and not the usual skill and power based magicka cost since you can use fire spells like a flamethrower etc. But still I don't want to have just 85 spells. I want a packed spell book. And about the d&d thing you mentioned. I think that's actually good for role-playing since you can make a mistake and make yourself weaker instead of just stronger and stronger.

EDIT:

Seriously, I doubt anyone here can tell me with a straight face that they actually used a drain speechcraft spell. Unless they were testing it for the purpose of the wiki.

I used one on myself in order to train cheaper

[azuarc]

I understand all the counterarguments everyone is making, and I still think 85 spells is too few. I have a pedigree of playing various old school games, not to mention Everquest, so when I think of (for example) healing, I anticipate a heal self spell for a small amount, for a moderate amount, for a large amount, a slow steady regen, a quicker heal over time...that's 6 variations of healing right there for myself. Good thing TES is a single player game or I'd need all of those in variants I could use on party members as well!

Yes, I understand that there are a lot of useless spells in Morrowind and Oblivion, largely because they're rehashes and recycles of each other. I would much rather learn the spell effects and be allowed to create my own magnitudes and effects. Scaling spells work as a somewhat reasonable option, but what do they scale with? Will a scaling fireball spell meet my needs in the late game, and will the mana cost also be scaling such that I won't want to use it against a rat? These are the questions I'd rather not have to answer.

I certainly hope the assertions of each spell being 3- or 4-in-one will at least allay these fears.

[Sznax]

From Game Informers new online article: "the world of Skyrim features over 85 spells, many of which can be used in a variety of ways."

[legoless]

Has anything been said about touch spells?

No, not at this point. But that's a pretty good question. I forgot about the touch spells, as they added an element of risk against combat oriented npcs.

Here you go (image):

Spoiler:

[Russian Fanboy]

Has anything been said about touch spells?

No, not at this point. But that's a pretty good question. I forgot about the touch spells, as they added an element of risk against combat oriented npcs.

Here you go (image):
(I'm not authorized to post images.)

Well, it's either that or the flamethrower variant of the fire spell.

[legoless]

Well, it's either that or the flamethrower variant of the fire spell.

Actually, now I look at it maybe it is. The fire seems to be travelling some distance, and maybe it's cast with an open palm as opposed to the three-fingered fist from Oblivion.

[Fist]

From Game Informers new online article: "the world of Skyrim features over 85 spells, many of which can be used in a variety of ways."

Now I believe jakeuh_hates_dunmer, if it says that then I do believe in his "85x4" spell theory.

[Trelares]

I believe also that every spell can be used in different ways but 85 *4 maybe be to much as defensive or utility spells maybe dont have 4 different uses per spell. If you think of a heal spell it can heal you instantly or over time, i dont see 4 options for a heal spell but maybe the other 2 options for such a spell are to use its power not on the player but on a NPC.

[Fist]

Yeah, not every spell will have four different options. But most destruction spells most likely will.

[jakeuh_hates_dunmer]

yeah im just estimating