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In Skyrim I observed that there is really no need to go underwater. There are no important missions that require us to go underwater. Only some loot and that thieves guild mission. (That too is barely deep)

Oblivion had many quests which needed us to go underwater. (My favorite is the one where we have to kill an Argonian dark brotherhood member) But in Skyrim, Argonian power to breathe underwater is nearly useless. We can go underwater just for the sake of it. There really isn't any need to!

So do you guys thing Argonians should have a new racial power than breathe underwater? Or should Skyrim and the upcoming ES should have more underwater quests? I personally thing we should have had to dive into the cold waters of sea of ghosts. It would have kept things interesting.

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I was pretty sure Histskin was supposed to be the more useful one!

I don't think we should measure the power of racials by how the game leads us through the world. Though it would be nice to have more than a few shipwrecks and 'fishing' as a use for underwater breathing.

Argonians still have histskin which is a powerful restorative effect.

Waterbreathing is the whole reason to pick Argonian, along with the health regen greater power...

Waterbreathing is what makes the Argonian the joint best race, because really, there are 2 best races - Altmer, and Argonians. Altmer run the fastest (and far less importantly have a bonus 50 magicka) and Argonians can breath underwater, without having to use up potions or waste an enchanting slot. (2 if it's on a seperate item)

In a there can only be one situation, The argonians are relegated to second place because there is no way to increase player character speed, whereas all other racial benefits are somewhere between useless and entirely replaceable by other means.

CBR JGWRR wrote:Waterbreathing is the whole reason to pick Argonian, along with the health regen greater power...

Waterbreathing is what makes the Argonian the joint best race, because really, there are 2 best races - Altmer, and Argonians. Altmer run the fastest (and far less importantly have a bonus 50 magicka) and Argonians can breath underwater, without having to use up potions or waste an enchanting slot. (2 if it's on a seperate item)

In a there can only be one situation, The argonians are relegated to second place because there is no way to increase player character speed, whereas all other racial benefits are somewhere between useless and entirely replaceable by other means.

You pick Alter because they run the fastest? I am a Nord. I run from no one. Not even dragons Jokes apart, that's kinda my point. They can breathe underwater. Great. But they don't really need to.

Its like playing with a handicap. Imperials got imperial luck now. Even orcs are kinda handicapped even though their power is pretty powerful. Knowing that there were no underwater quests they could have changed the power for skyrim at least. Like how they changed for Imperials.

Please do vote in the Poll!!

I'm guessing altmer have what a +8% movement. Nice, but outside multiplayer settings it's hardly a valuable bonus when compared to the fact that only you the PC can access higher forms of speed such as sprinting in regular use. I haven't had any Draugr or bandits sprint after me yet so maybe it's possible?

hmm, fun fact:

Vampire lords are faster than werewolves, and werewolves aren't as fast as horses? wtf man.... my fantasy world just got figuratively flipped.


Truth be told, we don't have anywhere near as many underwater points of interest in Skyrim as compared to Morrowind, and maybe about as many as were in your path as oblivion.

edit: and they did make a change for skyrim, it's called Histskin.

I picked altmer because I wanted to do a mage, and I liked the first female preset...



The speed benefit of altmer counts more for a timesaving device, especially if you don't fast travel.

Water breathing is a racial abiliti the Argonians have developed as a result of their naturale environment in the Black Marsh.
Since Skyrim does not have the same climate and swampy nature as the Black Marsh there is not the same need for water breathing.

So I do not think there should be more focus on the water breathing skill in Skyrim.

Changing the Argonians racial skill would not give much meaning in lore just because the game takes place in Skyrim. Besides they already got two other racial skills, resistance to diseases and +6 to unarmed damage, and is the only races in Skyrim with more then two racial abilities.
I do not see why this abiliti should have more quests in the game, maybe it would be fun with a/some quest why orcs do not have a racial abiliti as the only races in the game. But that might being going of topic

Sadly, there isn't much use to most of the abilities in Skyrim, usually it can be replaced or done alternatively if you really want that. Histskin and Adrenaline Rush are the only abilities I would say are not easily replaced.

Waterbreathing is something that I must say doesn't even need to be used, in Oblivion, it was almost necessary to have waterbreathing capabilities for a couple quests/objectives.

I think some sort of camouflage ability would be cool. Is there any lore regarding this?
Maybe even some sort of attack with that tail? That could end up being really silly, though.

I'd, in general, like to see more use of water travel in quests.

I love playing as an Argonian in Arena because so many times there are water ways which are only convenient and safe if you can swim really fast! In Morrowind there were lots of cool underwater locations that one could explore where the water-breathing came super in handy as well.

Argonians are my second favorite race after Dunmer, and I'd wish they'd do anything to make them a more profoundly useful race.

Honestly it wouldn't hurt to add more underwater segments, not for argonians but the others who would panic. Effectively raising excitement but only as a obstacle rather than bent on killing you. Histskin is by far one of the universally helpful powers, but i do find it unfair that altmer get a 50bonus, i say all races should get even bonuses, just some more focused rather than split. Argonians did however get weakend by lose of poison resist and mild disease resist, makes it fair in terms. I play as an argonian and i can say histskin is petfect for survival, fact that i rarely die>_> by battle at least

BetaB17 wrote: but i do find it unfair that altmer get a 50bonus,

They used to get a bonus 100-250 magicka back in Oblivion... (ok, and a 25% elemental damage weakness)

I agree with the camouflage idea. Since most people play argonians as thief/assassins they should bring back the chameleon concept from oblivion.

If the player stops moving while in sneak mode he would get like 50 to 80% transparency. This would be great for thieving or assassinations. Its lore friendly too. They look like chameleon don't they?

It can also be introduced as a replacer for histskin. Maybe invisibility for a short period. That would be great for sneaking too.

Histskin is very powerful. But i always thought it was wasted on argonians. As an assassin i would avoid head on battle as much as i could. That way i won't lose much health so there is really no need to regenerate vast amounts of health in a short time.

But never in lore did they mention invisable argonians. They used the thick swamps as natural camo. Maybe they can excell at illusion, but not a power. Also histskin is very friendly to sneaky types. What do u focus the least on, health? And ur pretty weak normaly for heavy battle. Histskin fits that gap and is lore friendly. Yea mages tend to lack a solid defense and are dependent, but many can unleash an all out attack. Stealth players focus more on a quick kill than a full attack. Dragons be ur worst fear

Water breathing should stay, but there should be opportunities to use it. Quests involving diving down under the Sea of Ghosts to find a lost artifact, or studying the underwater wildlife. Or even just actual treasure underwater, just waiting for someone or find them. Because right now there is hardly anything underwater.

BetaB17 wrote:But never in lore did they mention invisable argonians. They used the thick swamps as natural camo. Maybe they can excell at illusion, but not a power. Also histskin is very friendly to sneaky types. What do u focus the least on, health? And ur pretty weak normaly for heavy battle. Histskin fits that gap and is lore friendly. Yea mages tend to lack a solid defense and are dependent, but many can unleash an all out attack. Stealth players focus more on a quick kill than a full attack. Dragons be ur worst fear

Yes there are/were. They were called Shadowscales. For that reason, Argonians should not have any type of camo power.

Hrolf Alfblod wrote:

BetaB17 wrote:But never in lore did they mention invisable argonians. They used the thick swamps as natural camo. Maybe they can excell at illusion, but not a power. Also histskin is very friendly to sneaky types. What do u focus the least on, health? And ur pretty weak normaly for heavy battle. Histskin fits that gap and is lore friendly. Yea mages tend to lack a solid defense and are dependent, but many can unleash an all out attack. Stealth players focus more on a quick kill than a full attack. Dragons be ur worst fear

Yes there are/were. They were called Shadowscales. For that reason, Argonians should not have any type of camo power.

I don't remember reading about the Shadowscales, but that sounds interesting. If they are all believed to have been killed off, perhaps that's a new story right there. Rise of the Shadowscales. Or something along those lines. I don't know why that would preclude a regular Argonian from some sort of camo ability, though. Or at least a natural, inborn trait?

i never pick a race for the power, they dont need to be balanced or equivalent to each other (or useful in game imo), race is one of the biggest rp choices in TES

but it would be nice to see more underwater - perhaps a daedric realm or expanse of blackreach only accessible through water

two shadowscales were members of the dark bro'hood in Oblivion

And the last one in skyrim's.

Stan Hansen wrote:

Hrolf Alfblod wrote:

BetaB17 wrote:But never in lore did they mention invisable argonians/

Yes there are/were. They were called Shadowscales. For that reason, Argonians should not have any type of camo power.

I don't remember reading about the Shadowscales, but that sounds interesting. If they are all believed to have been killed off, perhaps that's a new story right there. Rise of the Shadowscales. Or something along those lines. I don't know why that would preclude a regular Argonian from some sort of camo ability, though. Or at least a natural, inborn trait?

The Argonian has to have been born under the Shadow starsign to be a Shadowscale. They were featured in Oblivion, and Veezara mentions them in Skyrim.

They should regain their poison resistance. After all, they come from the most poisonous province in Tamriel.

Count me in for more underwater based stuff. Also, underwater combat, anyone? I know it's a bit out there as far as mobility and what not, but shouldn't magic still work underwater?

Stan Hansen wrote:Also, underwater combat, anyone?

Second on that. I really do wish for more epic underwater battles like those with the Dreugh in Morrowind.

Well fire would fizzle out into steam, lightning will electrucute everything in the water, includiong yourself, and ice would most likely melt. Maybe the flesh spells, conjuration would be the same as destruction. Restoration could possibly work as well. So only defensive spells would work, if any.