I don't know what style of battles you all favor -- I know there are plenty of choices. But I've come to the conclusion that if you're not re-animating the dead to do your fighting for you, you're doing it wrong.

Sprinting with a torch FTW!

I just exit out of the mage college in Winterhold when suddenly a dragon attack me. I just hid behind one of the wall and cast firebolt on him til he was dead. I don't think any of mages or students ever help me fight the dragon. What a bunch of sissies.

So apparently no one will miss instruction manuals.

I just started last night, I'm level 7 today. Note: If you see an animal out in the wild, make sure it's actually a wild animal. Nobles don't like when you shoot their horses. Nor did my follower, whom I had just gotten. Whoops.

I am 60 hours in and at level 48. I have managed to level up nicely and am at a stage now where pretty much nothing stands in my way beyond a few hits. Still got many, many things to do, but generally addicted to this game. The lag on the PS3 at this point with my save file being around 13mb is getting nasty at times and forcing me to reset. Hope an update will address this issue. Great game though.

I have spent most of my time also with one handed and magic. I have them almost maxed out to 100 and its fantastic fun to see bodies go flying when hit with a powerful weapon or a lightening bolt.

On a down note, at one stage i lost Lydia in a battle and it kinda bummed me out. Tried not using companions much as i prefer to go into battle alone.

My Lydia was killed by a Blood Dragon last night. Kind of bummed me out because I used her as a pack mule. Thought about just loading a different save but...meh.

There are companions aplenty in this game, so losing one isn't a big deal. Lydia's been sitting alone in my house in Whiterun for 80+ hours of game time, patiently waiting for my various other followers to die. Not gonna happen, lady!

Yeah, if my companion dies in a big battle (like a Dragon) I don't bother reloading. Plenty of fish in the sea!

since I have given up on magic for the most part...(I only use it for far away targets and the amazing flame cloak spell)...I started using a shield...Blocking is a lot better than I thought it would be...very powerful. I have the stone that gives me 25% reduced magic dmg...a ring that does the same...and if I block with a shield I get 50% less dmg to fire/ice/ect....It seems to me that I am not taking ANY dmg to elemental spells or fire breath at all now when I block...

I'm about to start this game and need to decide what class to play.
how is playing a mage in this game?
is it underpowered? overpowered?
what is the best race for a mage?

Protip: Horses are considered domesticated animals.

I had a bow, I was excited to try it out.
He should have ducked!

I'm playing as a mage/warrior Imperial. Mace in one hand, flames in the other. So far. I like some of the specials for other races better, but it seemed Imperials were somewhat balanced. Although I'm using the mace because it captures souls, but apparently that's only good for enchanting stuff? Which i have not done much if at all, if I find another weapon that does some other magic bonus I might use it instead.

5 grand takes a long time to get, I'm tired of carrying around all this stuff.

One comment - the landscape is beautiful, but people are not.

So I'm level 19, 30 hours in and haven't encountered any dragons and no companions either. Normal? This game is incredible.

I don't think that's normal unless your just doing a bunch of side quests.

have you done any main quests at all? I think I have absorbed about 40 dragon souls now....though I am near 80 hours...

I'm avoiding the main story so far (about 30 hours in) and I've yet to see a companion, obviously, but I've killed about 10 dragons so far. I may have thought a quest was a side when it was a main to get the dragon-ball rolling (Claw).

You should at least play the main quest till you get to the greybeards. They give you a shout that

Interesting note about companions. I started the quest for the rueful axe and the talking dog that accompanies you on it sticks with you. I stopped that quest and the dog is still with me! Best part is he's immortal. While Lydia may have kicked the bucket to a dragon, the pup can take a licking and keep on ticking. He even took down a frost troll all by himself!

Anyone interested in the now OOP and now expensive hard cover guide this seller has some and I bought one.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...00_i00_details

Edit: Now sold out.

Wow, I am glad I preordered that. I have gotten into the habit of buying the hardcover guides, they look nicer, and have a much higher resale value if I choose to do that.

Nice, I may have to do that one!

Thing is, they'll most likely re-release an updated version of it will all the DLC in it too.

Well, to be honest there are already two versions of the guide out now and one is leaps and bounds more collectible than the other. The odds of an extended version being a collectible is not likely so I see this hardcover version holding its value.

One tip for those that might not know, you can set 2 weapons or spells for quick access on your dpad by selecting it in the quick menu, and holding left or right on the dpad. Its handy to be able to quickly pull out a healing spell when your in quick trouble.