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Counterpart to this thread. I've also put the names of the respective capital cities of each hold, for those like me who can never get it in their heads wtf "the pale" or "hjallfiggers" or whatever is supposed to be.

As for me, without a doubt The Reach. Markarth is neat but is the most confusing and outright ugly cities in all of Skyrim, but that's nothing compared to exploring outside the city walls. If you aren't twinked out, the forsworn will rip you to shreds, especially at higher levels.

And I can't tell you how many times I wanted to get to that unexplored black icon on the compass/map, only to travel for 10 minutes down a road until I could go up the mountain, only to be blocked almost the way there and have to backpeddle! Also I've ended up killing myself with Whirlwind Sprint more here than anywhere else -- Winterhold and its nearly invisible glacial cliffs comes in a close second.

Also, the place and its tan cliffs and sickly-looking grass and almost no trees except ones that are bare and look almost dead make it hideous, unlike the beautiful forests of Falkreath or the totally black metal landscape of Winterhold and Windhelm.

And finally, the forsworn. Did I mention the forsworn? Yeah, screw them. I abuse smithing and enchanting because I hate the forsworn. They're like bandits on steroids and crack and meth. And they hang with hagravens. I swear they have a magicka pool of 2,000 because they can rapid fire those fireballs like nobody's business. They burninate my low- and mid-level characters to crispy-fried man/mer-nuggets. Hate hagravens so much. And they're the ones responsible for forsworn briarhearts so screw them twice. Yeah, those briarhearts can survive an onslaught of a pair of summoned dremora lords. Even with the dragonflesh spell or 567+ armor they lawnmower my 800 hit points in no time flat. Screw them thrice.

I feel better now.

OblivionDuruza wrote:
Also, I don't get why people hate Falkreath, it's sort of like the new Seyda Neen It's actually my brother's favourite Hold, basically because of the architecture, which is very Riverwood.

Low visibility due to fog, high/thick foliage and hilly terrain
The City itself is depressing
The Jarl is...special

I actually like the Reach, mostly because of how divided, but open the area is. You can actually see the dragon flying overhead...between mountains. And I love killing Forsworn.

OblivionDuruza wrote:For me, Winterhold is a [&@%!] to naviagte with the constant snow and blizzards, not to mention the cliffs and what not.

Have you tried using the Clear Skies shout while out on the glaciers? Once you can see it properly, preferably at night with the aurora, it's so pretty.
That was pretty much my "Skyrim Wow Moment"- Since that's what everyone calls them.

I definitely don't like Windhelm, as a city, it's really bleak and claustrophobic. The surrounding land isn't very remarkable, either.

Totally and absolutely The Reach. Markarth is an awesome city, but The Reach can go die in a fire. Getting around there is such a pain. So many cliffs and mountains and hard to spot pathways, its a mess. Plus the forsworn just really [&@%!] me off.

I'm also going to vote against The Reach. I don't mind Markarth's architecture or the Forsworn very much, but the city is like the Imperial version of Riften with its corruption, which itself wouldn't be unbearable, but the entire hold is nearly impossible to navigate.

The Dog Whisperer wrote:I definitely don't like Windhelm, as a city, it's really bleak and claustrophobic. The surrounding land isn't very remarkable, either.

Inside the castle upstairs is so cramped and depressing with its tar-black walls, floors, and ceilings with nothing but a few torches would turn the cheeriest child into a wrist-slitter. I'm so glad there's maybe one or two quests that require you to go into that torture chamber for your emotional state.

I don't get the hate for the forsworn, at least for my melee character they make for easy xp fodder. I don't care for the rift due to its vast emptiness, although I like it more now that I just float down the river to get to Riften

Iaius Amaius Heron wrote:

The Dog Whisperer wrote:I definitely don't like Windhelm, as a city, it's really bleak and claustrophobic. The surrounding land isn't very remarkable, either.

Inside the castle upstairs is so cramped and depressing with its tar-black walls, floors, and ceilings with nothing but a few torches would turn the cheeriest child into a wrist-slitter. I'm so glad there's maybe one or two quests that require you to go into that torture chamber for your emotional state.

Ha! I hang out there just for fun. The Forsworn are a pain, yeah, but it gives you that much more of a need to travel with a bodyguard, and it feels more immersive when you do so. That was the first thought that crossed my mind when I started the Forsworn quests. I really should have hired Vorstag, I thought. I don't like Windhelm, but the geysers in Eastmarch are the most beautiful part of the landscape for me. And it's funny, I would say Falkreath. I hated Falkreath the city, then I loved the hold, and now I hate the hold because it took so little time to explore every map marker and it's almost TOO easy to navigate through. It's a very simple valley. I'll give my vote to The Rift. I hate playing in a temperate climate, a fall forest. Makes me feel like I'm larping Skyrim.

Morthal, I hate it. It is very depressing, among the dark marshes, in the middle of nowhere. I don't know why but it feels like at night there is living dead roaming across the settlement or that all the citizens of this city hide their little dark secret... Seriously, just no.

The Rift, because climbing up to the plateau is always a pain in the....

I'd probably like the Reach if we had Acrobatics and the Jump spell effect. In fact, I'd probably love it- it'd be like Morrowind on crack, all kinds of mountains and valleys to climb and play around in. As it is, though, your character's pitiful hopping skills are totally unsuited for the terrain, and the entire hold is ruined. Thanks, Todd.

My least favorite hold, well I have many reasons for disliking each hold:

-Haafingar: Fair enough it looks nice from far away, but once you're there, it seems bland, 'oh, this one road leads everywhere in the Hold cool! What do you say? There is a bit of snowy fields and crags to explore, cool!', yeah that started to wear down on me for a bit.

-The Reach: Too god damn hard to navigate, but I love Markarth far too much to say anything else bad about the Hold.

-Falkreath: I explored it far too quickly, I didn't spend enough time, there, and I didn't feel as if I had too, a place that doesn't grab my attention doesn't deserve to be liked.

-Whiterun: Far too bare, the tundra is quite nice at first, and the river area is rather nice, I just get put off slightly by the fact I can see from one side of the Hold to the other side of the Hold, because there is nothing to obstruct, it's far too easy to navigate.

-Hjaalmarch: Gloomy

-The Pale: Damn blizzards ruining my fun! Plus the Stormcloak Jarl there is annoying, fair enough he is a Stromcloak, but no need to shout at retired Imperial soldiers and threaten to kill them. Although apart from them two it's hard to find anything wrong with it.

-Winterhold: In the blizzards I fall off the cliffs far too much, leading me to navigate around the massive cliffsides (they never come to an end!), and before I know it i'm in Eastmarch...

-Eastmarch: Very depressing atmosphere in the northern regions, I do like the geysers and the volcanic tundra, but that is all I like about it.

-The Rift: Damn hard to get up onto the plateau.

But altogether my least favourite hold is Falkreath, I find it pretty pointless to be there, fair enough it reminds me of when I was in Riverwood, but it doesn't help that the town is basically the same size as Riverwood, and the actual hold is far to easy to explore, and if a place is pointless to be at, why should I like it.

Wow. Cannot believe so many voted for Makarth. C'mon guys, don't you enjoy Fus Ro Dah-in' people off those ledges?

Voted for the Reach. Not much there. Falkreath is a close second for the same reason.

I agree totally with the first post on this topic re the Foresworn. And yet, the Foresworn is what keeps me heading back there. I like the fact that I need to be on my toes with them. When possible I take the high ground and use the bow to keep some distance. If you get mobbed and have the lightning chain spells coming at you, you better have a supply of healing potions.

I like to call Odahviing on the Forsworn, since I have him I pretty much love the Reach. I don't have any other reason to call him. It has the most beautiful landscape too, imho.

What I hate is the Pale (Dawnstar) and Winterhold. Seriously, nothing tries my willpower more than getting a quest that requires to travel between those two. So far I managed to avoid fast travel, but really, fast traveling up to High Hrothgar is less tempting than there. It just feels empty and still full with enemies, a vast emptiness, but it has deep pits where you'll fall to your death. It's a maze that doesn't look like a maze and I HATE mazes with a passion.

NLN wrote:
What I hate is the Pale (Dawnstar) and Winterhold. Seriously, nothing tries my willpower more than getting a quest that requires to travel between those two. So far I managed to avoid fast travel, but really, fast traveling up to High Hrothgar is less tempting than there. It just feels empty and still full with enemies, a vast emptiness, but it has deep pits where you'll fall to your death. It's a maze that doesn't look like a maze and I HATE mazes with a passion.

Oh, come on. The Pale/ Winterhold run is the BEST interhold journey of all! If you're really having trouble, my personal favorite way to get between the two cities is to simply hug the coast/ swim all the way from Dawnstar to right near the College bridge. There's a small, easy to miss path winding up the mountain right near the shore that leads up below the bridge and straight into town; otherwise, you'll have to take the long war, going inland, scaling the mountain to the south, and- assuming you make it past the Ice Wraiths, Bandits, and Trolls- taking the south-western pass into Winterhold.

Morthal. I like everywhere else. Every hold is unique, even morthal, but morthal is boring. It's just flat swampland. Dull colours. Dull scenery. Dull town. I mean, ffs, the town doesn't even have a general trader.

Haafinger by far.....

there is nothing unique about the terrain at all

DorostheConqueror wrote:

NLN wrote:
What I hate is the Pale (Dawnstar) and Winterhold. Seriously, nothing tries my willpower more than getting a quest that requires to travel between those two. So far I managed to avoid fast travel, but really, fast traveling up to High Hrothgar is less tempting than there. It just feels empty and still full with enemies, a vast emptiness, but it has deep pits where you'll fall to your death. It's a maze that doesn't look like a maze and I HATE mazes with a passion.

Oh, come on. The Pale/ Winterhold run is the BEST interhold journey of all! If you're really having trouble, my personal favorite way to get between the two cities is to simply hug the coast/ swim all the way from Dawnstar to right near the College bridge. There's a small, easy to miss path winding up the mountain right near the shore that leads up below the bridge and straight into town; otherwise, you'll have to take the long war, going inland, scaling the mountain to the south, and- assuming you make it past the Ice Wraiths, Bandits, and Trolls- taking the south-western pass into Winterhold.

Oh, forgot to mention that I don't swim either, unless I absolutely must, at least not where I can see the ice. RP, it's killing me :'D

Once they (or a modder) implement the frost damage from water, I might start swimming using magical resistances.

OblivionDuruza wrote:This is a toughie, I've got to saw. For me, Winterhold is a [&@%!] to naviagte with the constant snow and blizzards, not to mention the cliffs and what not. Eastmarch is similar, although only up north. But both these holds are also full of the staunchest Stormcloaks supporters, and the most hate for Dunmer, so that fact, coupled with the horrible climates and geography, make them rather unpleasant to visit.

Also, I don't get why people hate Falkreath, it's sort of like the new Seyda Neen It's actually my brother's favourite Hold, basically because of the architecture, which is very Riverwood.

Clear Skies is your friend.

I don't like Winterhold. Way too snowy, and those stupid cliffs are insane. Every other hold is pretty nice, although The Pale and Eastmarch are also much too snowy for my tastes.

Morthal is the most boring hold in the game, unfortunately. At least the other places have something more going on.
It would be like if Falkreath didn't have more beneath it's surface than it seemed, but of course there is a lot more going on around Falkreath than it appears on the surface.

As much as I love the architecture of Markarth, I HATE walking around the Reach.