Ze Blade!

I'll consider this an "equipment topic finisher."

It'll shortly be about the swords. As I mentioned about armor, it'll only be Heavy and Light, without a medium option.

But people also ask whether we'll see short swords, medium sized swords and long swords. The answer is the exact same: No.
There'll be one-handed swords and two-handed swords. Expect the one-handed to be shorter than the two-handed. That it is, folksies.

By god, let the lord almighty smite me if there is anything left out now. Of course I mean Alduin, not God.

Pad my shoulders

This'll be very short and work as a finisher for my armor articles, which the last couple of articles have been about.

There a couple of fine gentlemen on the internet whom believes that there are an additional piece of armor to equip, other than what I've already mentioned here (Body armor, Boots, Gloves, Helmet.) That piece of equipment is shoulder pads.

The reason for this is that they've no doubt spotted the shoulder pad, covering the left shoulder of our friendly neighbourhood Dovahkiin.

It is, however, wrong. This isn't World of Warcraft, where we can all enjoy the luxury of fourteen hundred equipment slots. The shoulder pad is part of the Body Armor (the combined greaves and cuirass.)

Now I think I've covered all armor-related questions, so hopefully I'll be able to move on with new articles... And solving my rubrics cube.

The Viking Helmet

Believe you me, I am a huge fan when it comes to helmets with horns. They are intimidating and they look brutally awesome. Wicked cool. It looks fresh. Will Smith wouldn't be the prince of Bel-Air without one. I'm totally sure that he does have one!

Anyway, when I was a kid, growing up, as kids do, I went to elementary school. Of course, since I am Danish, we had to learn a bit about our history and heritage. Hint: Vikings. In the books there were illustrations of big, brawly men, wearing helmets with horns.

Also the latest games that had been focusing on Norse culture, as Skyrim does and as World of Warcraft did, have illustrated people wearing horned helmets.

Notice the two pictures in this article. The Draugr overlord and the Dovahkiin, both wearing them. See?

A lot of people have also come to learn about Norse culture and the fact that there is a little spot on the map called Denmark, which isn't just the capital of Sweden.

I think it is great that it'll be part of the game. It makes players feel epic. Just a little notion --> Vikings didn't wear horned helmets, just regular ol' leather helmets.

That is all, Thank you.
-McBraas

Armor is the new Black

So I've written about armor and weapons in a previous article.

A quick summary on the armor:
We have 4 pieces of armor. Helmet, Boots, Gloves and then the now combined Cuirass/Greaves, which we'll just call "Body Armor."

Allow me to briefly expand upon the whole armor thing.

The devs have promised us more varied armor. This means that we won't have a definite look attuned to our level and neither will the mobs. (Like all the Marauders in Oblivion wearing Glass Armor in the end.)

Now here is where I answer a question: Will there be medium armor again?
As much as I love playing classic D&D 3.5 I am not to sorry to reply: No, there won't.
There will be Heavy and Light Armor only.

Of course there is nothing wrong with heavy armor, for the big brutal Warrior. That is just cool! The light armor for the swift, sneaky assassin is the pinnacle of awesomeness.

Why the medium armor? No reason!
I say that we will survive with the other two, don't you!

Wake up in the morning, I brush my hair. Getting dressed to meet my friends, but what EQUIPMENT should I wear?

Anyone familiar with the term "combined equipment?" If not, a short example is in its place.
Back in Morrowind, each piece of equipment was equipped individually. This means that as opposed to having "a pair of boots" or "a pair of gloves" as in Oblivion, you had just "Two gloves" or "two boots." This also means that you could equip, say a leather boot and a metal boot at the same time, which means that you could look pretty damn stupid.

Still, the freedom was nice. Not that freedom is for everybody. Luckily those people aren't welcome here.

In Oblivion, we had these options:

• Helmet
• Cuirass
• Greaves
• Gloves (pair)
• Boots (pair)

Very nice, very nice. A step down for some, a step up for others. Definitely not a big step for mankind, Neil Armstrong.

What weapons did we have in the last game, then? Well, we had One- as well as two-handed Sword, Maces and Axes. Then we had daggers, to stab the naughty stable keepers when they asked for an unreasonable sum of gold for their crappy horses. Also there were staves, for the kinky magician and a bow with arrows, to be awesome with.

I'm sure a lot of ya'll want to know what will be available in Skyrim. At least there has been people asking around on forums, so I guess that that is good enough!

First, the non-weapons!

Skyrim will feature non-individual piece of equipment, just like Oblivion did. Sorry folks! I know that a lot of you have read the "The Elder Trolls: Source" (as I call it) and had come to believe that it would be like Morrowind, but sadly for you: no.

It actually takes the over-all thing a step further. The Cuirass and the Greaves have actually been combined. There are two main reasons for this: First of all, it looks more awesome and epic that way! (The devs mentioned that in the nordic styles of armor, the cuirass would often cover the Greaves, which made them unnecessary.) Second of all, it renders faster (simple language: loads faster,) meaning that there can be more NPC's on-screen on the same time.

Now, now, don't feel bad. Nor good, actually.  Indifference is awesome. Anyway! I bet a lot of you are concerned that it'll mean less variation. Fret not! The devs have promised many more variations of armor styles, so we won't all look like each other. Unless we want to.

Evidently, there won't be cloaks / capes, so to all of you people out there, still keeping your hopes up, or haven't learned anything at all from watching The Incredibles, you'll have to wait for the mod.

The weapons then!

The weapons are the exact same as in Oblivion. No more no less. Apart from the magic feeling a lot more like an actual weapon and not cheap street-peddlers entertainment, there are no real new additions.

Maces, Axes, Swords (still in both one-handed and two-handed,) daggers, staves and Bows.

But there is something else you can fight with: A torch! Many time sin Oblivion, I came upon a troll whilst carrying a torch and thought: "BURN, BITCH, BURN! IN A RESPECTIVE MANNER; WHILS'T WE BOTH RETAIN OUR SELF-RESPECT AND SENSE OF GENTLEMAN PRIDE!!"

Unfortunately, I couldn't use it back then! But I can now!!

There are also different bows. Some take longer to string than others, but needless to say, they also do more damage. Whether we will actually be able to fight with our staves remains to be seen. From footage experience, I'd say that they work like in Oblivion as well.

So that is it folks. No spears, no crossbows and no guns.