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I want to make a sort of "friendly" dabate over the birthsigns, or as we know it in Skyrim, the standing stones.

I always used the mage, and only these days I made a completely new character - that used the thief birthsign. I am still seeing how things work over different birthsigns.

So, what's the birthsign you use the most? And what's the one you think is the most useless - that makes you wonder, "why the hell is that thing over there?"

For an example: The Tower sign is the most useless, for me at least. If you are a thief, it takes all the fun away.

Also, do we have any lore information on them? Besides that book called "The Firmament".

I've always went mage or warrior. I've found the thief stone kinda useless tbh because the initial boost to stealth skill progression is pointless in the ling run. Sneak, pickpocket, etc. are all some of the easiest skills to level, I like to put more towards armor or alteration skills.

Steed, until I raise my respective armor high enough to take away the encumbrance. Then I switch to the Lord--never hurts to have more elemental protection, especially against higher-level dragons and dragon priests.

In Skyrim, after leveling, it's the Atronach 90% of the time (But with the amount of characters I've made, I spend more time with the Lover....they're insomniacs...)

In the previous two games, it was always the Lady (More health in the long run..)

Chaos the N'wah wrote:In Skyrim, after leveling, it's the Atronach 90% of the time (But with the amount of characters I've made, I spend more time with the Lover....they're insomniacs...)

SO TRUE.

I also take the Serpent, sometimes, not as much for the riotous fun of paralyzing people, but because of the lore-status of the Serpent as being outside the regular astrological scale.

I use the Warrior cuse I buy my weapons from slash and smash, the BIG orc weapon shop!

As good a reason as any!

Yeah, I usually pick my birthstone based on a mixture of benefit to character and applicability to character background.

In Morrowind for my main profile, a Dunmeri lass named Llela, I took the Lover stone because Mooncalf was absolutely perfect for my character... Plus, given her status as a young Dunmeri woman, 'Lover' seemed an appropriate moniker.

In Oblivion for my main character, a Dunmeri lass named Ll... Ahem. Same trend continues through.
I didn't care much for Lover's Kiss in Oblivion, though.

My other profile, an Imperial, I took the Lord, as that fit with the noble blood my character supposedly had.

In Skyrim, I used Serpent for a Bosmeri archer because of the randomness the birthsign implied.

On the Dunmeri lass, I took the lover. Unsurprisingly.

Oh, hell...I didn't even think of III or IV...

In IV...it was either the Thief or the Warrior..I was a perfectionist with that game, so the extra stat-boosts definitely helped, especially with the Thief.
In III...it was definitely always the Warrior.

For any magic pure magic character in Morrowind and Oblivion, it was always Mage. I couldn't cope with the weaknesses of the Apprentice and Atronach. Many of my female characters used the Lady in Oblivion, just seemed to suit. Never used the Tower, Ritual, Lord or Steed in III or IV.

Skyrim was totally different. The birthsigns changed so much when they became standing stones. Ritual became my new favourite, and every single one of my four necromancers used it. Atronach is another favourite, though it sucks that it severly limits your conjuration abilities. Lord and Lady get an occasional use, Tower is still useless. The Serpent is hella fun, but have only used it a few times. Apprentice has it's benefits, but is outclassed but Atronach. Never touched the Steed.

The Lover, Mage, Thief and Warrior are my least favourite. Sure they help you level but I always find once I reach a high enough level the game gets boring and I restart. So whenever they are active I am only advancing faster towards restarting. I'm now at the point where I will not even activate them when Ralof or Hadvar point them out to me.

In Skyrim I always pick The Warrior now, I used to start with that and then swap to The Lovers but now I just leave it as it is. In Oblivion I used The Shadow for the invisibility power. I can't remember what I used in Morrowind probably because all I can recall about it is that it is brown.

Usually whatever benefits the race of my character the best.

Honestly, the only use of the Birthsigns is cosmetic appeal and an initial bonus. But it's not hard to play the game with an inefficient character. So I pick whatever I feel like. I do tend to favour the Shadow, the Lady and the Apprentice however.

Excellent topic! I agree with Eltee, in that I always pick a birthsign befitting my character's background and personality, since it makes sense that people born under certain stars would have certain quirks (like a handsome but restless Breton being born under the Steed). It helps give me a direction, too.

I will say that I've always been partial to the Lord, though. I find it a very nice sign. In Morrowind I used that and the Tower quite often...although the Tower is a bit silly, but hey! I do what I want!

Mage. Plain and simple with no drawbacks like atronach or apprentice. Ah the life of an Altmer wizard…

Hissien wrote:Mage. Plain and simple with no drawbacks like atronach or apprentice. Ah the life of an Altmer wizard…

Or in my case, "Ah the life of a Breton wizard..."

I always thought the mage was better, at least for me, as I was always a pure mage. I don't really know how to play characters with mixed "tactis". I'm tryin to find out, but I think I may be switching my thief choice to something else.

I really like how this topic is going! Great choices, and I really like to know how people think about making their characters. The birthsign is such a great part of it.

Early game - warrior or mage, playstyle dependant. Then lord stone for defensive bonuses.

In Oblivion, the Apprentice birthsign always held an appeal to my dichotomous nature: Greater Power, at the cost of Greater Risk.

There is such a thing as a Free Lunch— but what you usually get is a single breadroll. You want something more, you pay a price. That is what places the Apprentice over the Mage.

There is, also, the slightly inconsequential fact that physically dodging a spell is nearly as effective as 100% spell resistance.

Just sayin'.

In Morrowind: my Nord Nerevarine, Finn Wolfshorn, was born under the Ritual (never made much use of Blessed Words or Touch, but Mara's Gift saved my life any number of times) and my Argonian thief under the Tower (Beggar's Nose ftw, + obvious benefit in a game where you could simply fail to pick a novice level lock); my Dunmer battlemage must have been an Atronach, and I don't remember what sign the Breton was (and have no way of finding out, ten years and three computers later).

In Oblivion: meh, I've no idea. My memories of Oblivion are mostly hazy because I only played it on weekends on my then-girlfriend-now-wife's computer, my own not being up to it. Most likely Ritual and Atronach again.

In Skyrim: more or less what CBR said, i.e. for starters the appropriate Guardian stone, later switch to the Lord for resistance; from level 50-ish onwards I tend to switch to the Lover so that reaching the next level doesn't take till Judgment Day, especially on Werewolf characters who get no sleep bonus. My thief/assassin/vampire also had the Shadow for a while, and has the Ritual blessing stored in her Aetherial crown these days.

Mage. all the way. I love being a wizard. "Magic is a true power..."

^^ Agreed. My mage uses the Lord stone for extra protection. I don't think so fondly of the Atronach or Apprentice stones either...too much risk involved for a bit extra power. She's already weakly proned to magickal attacks anyway.

And if you want to have some real fun, the necromancer stone is the way to go. My assassin uses that one and its always a good time.

Multiclassing is the best.

I like the Lady. The Warrior isn't a worthwhile birthsign in Morrowind. The Lady is better, the 25 endurance is great.

My CoC is my Nerevarine so I pick the Lady again even though the Warrior is better in that game.

Dohvakiin2012 wrote:^^ Agreed. My mage uses the Lord stone for extra protection. I don't think so fondly of the Atronach or Apprentice stones either...too much risk involved for a bit extra power. She's already weakly proned to magickal attacks anyway.

And if you want to have some real fun, the necromancer stone is the way to go. My assassin uses that one and its always a good time.

^^This! Especially if you have an Altmer mage - the mage birthsign makes all the difference.

EDIT: I did a very ugly lore mistake

Oblivion, I chose Atronach. Liked the concept, liked the challenge. Only did one character.

In Skyrim, I tend to use the Guardian Stones until I find one that feels more relevant. So far, two of my characters have settled on Atronach and Shadow. For the others, I'm leaning towards Lady, Serpent, either Apprentice or Ritual, and one undecided.

I've been using warrior because thats what I'm geared more towards plus I haven't found any of the others really but I read what the lady stone does and it sounds pretty good

Thief Sign was the best in Oblivion for me. Come on, +10 to luck is great on it's own. Everything else is icing on the cake.
In Skyrim, I usually go with Steed.

In oblivion, I am always The Apprentice, because along with a bretons magic resistance, it is worth it. Always mage in skyrim.