Skyrim dungeons and dragons detailed in latest OXM
The Skyrim exclusives are running their course, and you know what that means: infosplosion. Come on through and devour the details of locations, dragon shouts, and delightful miscellany.
The latest issue of OXM has been torn apart on the Bethesda forums for every detail it can yield.
Environment
Several new locations were detailed, including Windhelm, the largest city and base of the Imperial Guard on the route to Morrowind. The Bard's College in the north of Solitude, a bustling city with a cultural event involving the burning of effigies, while Bleak Falls Barrows is an ancient Nordic dungeon.
The previously confirmed 120 dunegons were expanded upon, and it is reported that "no two areas will be alike". Eight dunegon designers crafted each one by hand, as opposed to Oblivion's single designer and reliance on procedurally generated landscapes. Some dunegons contain one-of-a-kind puzzles.
Mechanics
In addition to previously detailed perks such as the axe-wielder's ability to cause bleeding and the maceman to ignore armour, a stealth perk was detailed which lowers the sound of your footsteps, while the return of the telekinesis skill was confirmed. Additionally, agility will no longer require constant leaping to level up.
Dragon Shouts were given a little more elucidation, highlighting Unrelenting Force as an example; it pushes away anything directly in front of the player.
Shouts have individual cool-down periods, and are largely learned by discovering phrases written on the walls of Nordic dungeons. Shouts can be evolved and powered up by learning new phrasing.
Enemy and creature AI has been tweaked in line with NPC behaviour improvements. Wolves were given as an example; they will stay inside their den, venturing out to hunt a few times each day. If they make a kill, they stay with it, guarding it from the player if he or she approaches, or following and attacking if the player ventures into their territory.
If all that's not enough, Gamereactor has got its hands on six high-res Skyrim screens, three of which are quite new. Check them out through the link or see our previous Skyrim info dumps.