Categories
Gaming

A particular assortment of necromantic details

(Last edited: 01-03-24) CTRL+F is your friend! Herein, I will try to communicate all I know about necromancy, with little snippets about Necromage because it is relevant here. This page will be updated infrequently, but will be as I become aware of things in the future. Check in when the ‘last edited’ part changes; I will try to make summaries of updates available at the end of this page too. Note: I do have mods installed, but nothing that modifies leveling mechanics of NPCs. Additionally, I do not play with Dawnguard or any DLC (other than that high-res textures thing that Bethesda released). I do believe Dawnguard modifies the leveling behavior of vampires, but I know NOTHING of that! And and and… this information is applicable to someone who plays ‘SKYRIM LE’ (Legendary Edition).I know NEXT TO NOTHING of later editions of this game!

THERE ARE LOCATIONS WHERE LEVELS ARE DECIDED FOR RADIANT NPCS WHEN YOU ENTER THE CELL THE MAP MARKER/BUILDING IS LOCATED IN!!!!!!!! BEWARE!!!!!!!! And no, I do not know how to get Silvia and Vals Veran to be the levels they’re ‘supposed’ to be (or at least, higher than their minimum radiant tiers)!!!!!!!!

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Targets I know you must kill before 40 AND ARE RADIANT (this list will specify the last level you can be when they MUST be spawned into the game. More details will be provided below):

 • PC=28: Bashnag and Drelas
 • PC=30: Master Vampires, such as Movarth Piquine and Vighar, w/o Necromage
 • PC=35: Northwatch Interrogator*
 • PC=36: Briarhearts (all that I know of)
 • PC=38: Master Vampires, such as Movarth Piquine and Vighar, w/ Necromage
 • PC=47: Ancient Vampires (Necromage not needed)†
 • PC=48+: Volkihar Vampires w/ Necromage

* While Interrogator is not a ‘permanent’ corpse, he will never level up once spawned in the game (none of them do). Sadly, this means you can never have level 36 Guards (in glass) and (the one) Mage at the same time as an enthrallable level 40 Interrogator.
† They are typically replaced by Volkihar Vampires at PC=48. I know of only one place in the base game that spawns vampires at their stated levels on UESP (and is guaranteed), and that is during The Wolf Queen Awakened. There are two that you can choose between… four, if you’re a way higher level (sorry! I haven’t figured out the specific level all four become Volkihar!)

Targets who level beyond 40 AND HAVE LEVEL MULTIPLIERS, i.e., targets who require you to stunt your level to or below 40:

 • PC=26: Erandur – has level multiplier of 1.5
 • PC=32: Thorek, Veren Duleri, and Archmage Savos Aren – have level multiplers of 1.25
 • PC=34: Ulfric Stormcloak, and General Tullius – have level multipliers of 1.2
 • PC=37: Fjola (Bandit Leader) – has level multiplier of 1.1
 • PC=40: Lu’ah Al-Skaven, Estormo, Ancano, Madanach, Borkul the Beast, Kaie, Skjor, all housecarls, Cicero, and everyone in the Dark Brotherhood. Note: Aela the Huntress, Vilkas, and Farkas resurrect for ‘hunting trips’, so they are not safe for storage! I’d read that Skjor does too, but he has never resurrected for me.

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THE RADIANT TIER LIST

BRIARHEARTS’ TIERS (7-51):

@11=7, @12=16, @20=27, @28=38, @37=51

BASHNAG’S TIERS (12-46):

@9=12, @10=19, 16=27, @22=36, @29=46

MASTER VAMPIRES’ TIERS (14-53):

@15=14, @16=23, @23=31, @31=42, @39=53

NORTHWATCH INTERROGATOR’S TIERS (14-50):

@15=14, @16=23, @23=32, @29=40, @36=50

DRELAS’ TIERS (19-46):

@15=19, @16=27, @22=36, @29=46

BUTCHER’S TIERS (1-25):

@3=1, @4=9, @8=14, @12=19, @16=25

CAPTAIN HARGAR’S TIERS (9-25):

@7=9, @8=14, @12=19, @16=25

SARTHIS IDREN’S TIERS (6-28):

@13=6, @14=10, @19=16, @25=21, @29=28
IMPORTANT: Sarthis’ level typically locks into the 1st tier! To circumvent this, save BEFORE entering Riften Warehouse, enter, load that save from the main menu. Sarthis and Orini should level up by doing this!

BANDIT CHIEFS, GHUNZUL, & EISA BLACKTHORN’S TIERS (6-28):

@20=28 Note: Obviously not done yet!
IMPORTANT: Ghunzul’s level is locked in when you enter the CELL Cracked Tusk Keep is located in, not when you enter the building itself! ********In Ghunzul’s case, you can kill him, bring his body outside of Cracked Tusk Keep. Put an anchor in his inventory, leave for dur1 period, take anchor from him, wait dur3 period. Then, when you come back to Cracked Tusk Keep, wait an hour before entering the building. (From what I’ve investigated, this is how you get him to level up. No, the trick you can do with Sarthis to get him to level up doesn’t work with Ghunzul! Oh yea, and there are extra steps here, but you’ll have to forgive me, as I don’t have tons of patience to try everything for everything related to necromancy. I just know that this method does work. So, sorry if this is more work than really needed!)

ARONDIL’S TIERS (7-40):

@9=7, @10=14, @16=21, @22=30, @29=40

SILD THE WARLOCK’S TIERS (7=40):

@18=7, @19=14, @27=21, @36=30, @46=40
IMPORTANT: Sild’s level is locked in when you enter the CELL Rannveig’s Fast is located in, not when your enter the ruin!

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CORPSE BEHAVIOR SECTION:

Typically, the rule is, corpses are swept away once a ‘duration-one’ period (aka dur1 period) has passed. That is, one day plus to the next round hour. The periods of certain significance to a necromancer are ‘duration-three period’ – 30 days plus to the next round hour, ‘duration-two period’ – 10 days plus to the next round hour, and ‘duration-one period’ – one day plus to the next round hour. There are permanent corpses (they’ll never disappear nor need an anchor), and also, corpses that will reset/respawn dead back in the dungeon they were found in, too! I am not aware of any instances where a corpse will respawn, resurrect, or reset before a dur2 period has elasped. A number of corpses can be anchored-to-permanency. The general rule for corpses that can be anchored is, if they last a dur1 period, they’ll at least, be anchored until just short of a dur2 period. It’s fairly straightforward! The idea is to make them last longer in the game without needing as much maintenance!

Corpses that last dur3 period w/o anchor, i.e., permanent corpses:

Anska, Old Orc, Jaree-Ra, Ritual Master (and her three helpers), Sulla Trebatius, Umana, J’darr, Madanach and all his friends, includes Kaie, Duach, Odvan, Borkul the Beast; Atar (his relevant quest in Karthwasten must be halted. Otherwise is SFR, i.e., he is scripted for removal – and there is nothing you can do about it); Eisa Blackthorn (you cannot enter Frostmere Crypt, which means you cannot get all three Ice Form words); Salma (must be killed instead of Beem-Ja. If I recall correctly, she is SFR as soon as you leave Ironbind Barrow and Beem-Ja is dead); Kornalus; Telrav; Sild the Warlock; Chief Yamarz (beefy version (I don’t know about the weak version) will be permanent provided you haven’t finished The Cursed Tribe. It is possible to ‘legitimately’ progress through the quest and keep Yamarz as a permanent corpse if you either take Shagrol’s Hammer or let Yamarz confront you before he takes the hammer himself).

Corpses that last dur2 period w/o anchor:

Vighar (Dark Ancestor must be halted, i.e., cannot receive reward for this quest); Ghunzul; Rigel Strong-Arm; Bashnag

Corpses that last dur1 period w/o anchor:

Movarth Piquine (Laid to Rest must be halted, i.e., cannot receive reward from jarl lady)

Corpses that last dur3 period w/ anchor aka anchored-to-permanency:

Northwatch Interrogator, Drelas

Corpses that last dur1 period w/ anchor:

Any dremora (excluding summons)

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not named section

Drelas’ affinity (and level) is locked in when you enter his cottage, i.e., all you have to do to get the Drelas you want is save before entering.

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FOLGUNTHUR’S INVISIBLE WALL

Relevant if you want the strongest Gaulderson, Gaulder Blackblade and/or Blackbow (because if you lock one the other locks too)!

These three are from position #1! I chose it because it’s close to a tree! Originally, I thought you could walk up to the water, but you really can’t!

These two are from position #2! I chose it because I wanted to find out if you could pick this deathbell, and you can; just don’t walk past it!

This is position #3! I chose it because there are dragonflies here that you can catch, though I don’t know how liberal one can be when pursuing them. All I know is, you can stand here and not worry! TIP OF THE DAY: Stay way the hell away from Folgunthur! Don’t even go to Morthal until level 36 (the level when Blackblade and Blackbow are max!) In fact, don’t leave Riverwood until you’re level 100, just in case!

RANNVEIG’S FAST’S INVISIBLE WALL

Relevant if you want the strongest Sild!

Don’t run past this rock pictured in these screenies! You’ll lock Sild if you walk farther than this point!

GEIRMUND’S HALL INVISIBLE WALL

Relevant if you’re trying to get the strongest Gaulderson, Blackbow and/or Blackblade!

If you’ve ever wondered why the Gaulder Blackbow and Blackblade were weak as heck? It’s because you crossed any of the relevant invisible boundaries I’ve shown on this page, or you’ve read the book! The key level of importance is 36 when it comes to these weapons.

TELRAV’S SPAWN BOUNDARY

Relevant if you want the strongest Telrav!

This is spot #3! It’s right outside Sarethi Farm! It’s a good idea to approach Sarethi Farm from the east or south instead of by road. You’ll see why in a second.

Spot #1! I chose it because it’s on the road to Nilheim! Walking toward Nilheim, Telrav will level lock beyond this point if you take the road. You can give this section a wide birth to get to Sarethi Farm, i.e., stay off the road!

These are screenies from position #2! I chose it because it’s on the way to Snapleg Cave. Just trying to show that you can’t get the paralysis staff without level-locking Telrav.

GHUNZUL’S SPAWN BOUNDARY

Relevant if you don’t want to go through the trouble of trying to get him to level up after he’s spawned stunted!

You’ll notice here that I am far away from Cracked Tusk Keep. You walk past this point, Ghunzul will spawn in level-locked, indeed…

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AND MORE TO COME AS I GET AROUND TO TAKING NOTES, LEARNING, AND ADDING IT… I am currently in the process of putting together an anchor list, so there’s that… I do want to post pictures of the ‘commonly crossed’ boundary lines for NPCs whose radiant tiers are set in the ‘wilderness’ and not when entered indoors, e.g., Ghunzul, Sild, Mikrul, and Sigdis, etc.

As a closing note, I do really hope it doesn’t take me long to finish up this info package. I am hoping that by writing this as I am now that it makes me want to get those pictures up pronto! Let’s all cross our fingers! But in the meantime, I’ll release it as is because that’s the responsible thing to do!


NEW ADDITIONS SUMMARY SECTION

For edit date 29-02-24 (later in the day):
 • Added pictures of Folgunthur’s and Rannveig’s invisible wall
 • Added Tip of the Day. Blackbow & Blackblade are strongest at level 36!
For edit date 01-03-24:
 • Added more pictures: Geirmund’s Hall, Cracked Tusk Keep, & Telrav/Nilheim invisible walls

Categories
Gaming

… of toon analyses!

You’ll notice, given their filenames, that some toons have been revised. Namely, Keedra (technically not given away by the filename), Farelda, Yath-Ra, and Qa’ashi have had their perk points adjusted, with the intent to either increase the replayability factor or ‘correct’ oversights. While it isn’t something I pride myself in having done, I do think it makes sense to try to make the game even more fun, not a slog.

To make Aurnace’s build ‘possible’ after restarting her four times, I did give her a bunch of gold. The idea was to chop wood for however many nights, leaving the game on overnight, so that it did turn into legit gold, but I ran into a bug during my woodcutting that is quite widespread in the Skyrim world: NPC dialogue would cut out a word or so dependent on which way your were facing or something. (That was how a fine fellow over there on the Internets explained it.) This bug is SO stressful; I hate it! Not really because there is no fix, but because you never know if the fix will one day stop working, so…Suffice to say, I did two nights of woodcutting. Man, I’m so sorry about that, guys! I want it to be legit gold so bad! If you were curious, to fix this bug, delete your Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini. You will need to re-enable ‘Data Files’ selection for mods after booting up the game the first time. This is quite painless! Just type

I want it to be legit
gold so bad!

[Launcher]
bEnableFileSelection=1

in SkyrimPrefs.ini (after it has been recreated!) I suggest finding the ‘[Launcher]’ parameters section and writing ‘bEnable…’ under it there, unless somehow your SkyrimPrefs doesn’t have one. There have been those who suggest you make a copy of the SkyrimPrefs.ini and Skyrim.ini before you delete them or move them. To find those two files, you’ll need to locate your Skyrim folder inside ‘Documents’ on your OS data drive. It should be pretty easy to locate! Steam keeps all your game saves and such inside the ‘my games’ folder. There are other ways I’d ‘cheated’ too, but you know, I’m really not going to list them all because I don’t want to tarnish my name. My mom already thinks I am a no-good cheater as it is; I don’t need my fans thinking all I do is cheat too!

LevelNameClassRaceHomeMarried toFavourite
thrall
Corpse
counter
18DunlagBlacksmithNordHoneysideNo oneNone0
20HarikNecromancerBretonHouse of
Clan Shatter-Shield
No one41
26TajiinNecromancerKhajiitProudspireNo one17
32Opal the Dragon Slayer
NecromageNordGoldenglow EstateNo one32
34Dastan the RunnerNecromancerRedguardHelgen KeepNo one30
37WillioNecromancerBretonBreezehomeNo one15
38Aurnace RirnellNecromancerBretonNilheimNo onePoacher?
Vighar?
21
40FareldaVampiric
Necromage
DunmerVlindrel HallAngrenor
Once-
Honoured
100
40KeedraVampiric NecromageArgonianHouse of
Clan Cruel-Sea
No one34
63 (unrestricted)WezzarFailed Pacifist, TraderBosmerArchmage QuartersNo one?None0
74 (unrestricted)Yath-RaVampire ArcherArgonianHall of AttainmentShahveeNone0
78 (unrestricted)ThaindilVampire
Thief
BosmerSarethi FarmNo oneNone0
81Riddle ‘The Legend’Max Heart Vampire BrawlerKhajiitHoneysideNo oneNone0
81Qa’ashiMax Heart Vampire
Brawler
KhajiitHoneysideNo oneNone10
‘Vampiric’? ‘Vampire’?

Willio is, technically, a failed stunted build presently. I overshot my goal of 37 by some amount when it came time to collect on some briarhearts. I have a save at 26 or 24 or somewhere in there, which may be utilized one day farther down the way to make him legit. All around: a very upsetting realization! Note to self: Be more wary of leveling one-handed and sneak! Putting that aside, he is a really hard build, like Aurnace, because avoiding Speech experience means lots of woodcutting. Really, Willio wouldn’t have been so hard to ‘pull off’ if I’d just resorted to dremora summons. You know, dremora summons are fun! They are! But it is nice to pull something else out of your toolbox once in a while!

I don’t know what Dunlag is doing. He’s just kind of running around with Benor in ebony gear right now. Hopefully, one day I’ll figure out what he’s doing.

Keedra is currently squeezing out every drop of potency from her potions with the use of the hair/head bug. It’s something I am sure she’ll move away from in the future because it’s a novelty type thing; just like it was for Wezzar, the idea is to have fun. Wezzar doesn’t use that bug to his advantage anymore though. It does make you feel like a dirty cheater, and really, when you’re trying to figure out legit build capabilities, exploits like that get in the way. There is an experiment somewhere in there, where we were going to discover how potent potions and poisons were as a vampiric necromage plus that exploit. We found out! And it’s over 9000!

Qa’ashi really isn’t a necromancer… Really! Really! I am being totally straight-faced right now! I don’t know why she has bodies! No, I don’t! It just sort of happens sometimes!

Yath-Ra is a blast to play! He’s got the most stamina regen. possible, forgoing exploits. And it’s hilarious! He doesn’t even ever dig into the other 7/8 of his total stamina. I did go with the thought folks had on Predator’s Grace: It bestows 100% stamina regen. now. I had always wondered about that 1%, man! Course this was before I learned muffle has different strengths… It’s actually quite the coincidence that I thought it would be fun to give him hide gear. It just works!

Opal is my darling toon. She kept the cursed ring of Hircine, so that Ra’kheran wouldn’t despawn. And it was some insane process to get him out of Bloated Man’s Grotto. I don’t know what I did, but it is on my bucket list to try and put together a how-to… how to do it. Her and Harik each have a glaring error, if you want to call it that, in their perk trees. I’d provided to you the perk trees; see if you can spot them without knowing their playstyles!

Dastan is really on the back burner of back burners because he somehow got Madanach and friends’ AIs to break. And of course, I’d tried to uncover what it was that caused that with Harik (because he has them too), to no avail. And I tried everything I could think of! Well, the only things I have left to try is, cause Thonar to go home somehow (because he’s currently bugged out… just standing there). My guess is, Dastan got him to go home, and that broke their AIs. Something like that. Long story short, he lost ages of progress! And I mean ages! And you know, under these circumstances, the only right thing to do is do it all over agin! I am just so thankful he still has all his good gear!

My vampire thief, Thaindil, is pretty awesome despite not being able to really take advantage of pickpocketing enchantments and potions. But that’s okay… He was fun to bring to fruition!

Tajiin, Farelda, and Riddle seem to be the last three guys here that I haven’t talked about. Well, Farelda takes advantage of the restoration loop exploit to make custom smithing potions. I’ve been on the fence trying to figure out if that’s what she’s going to be doing forever. There is a mix of sunk cost fallacy involved plus basically being content with leaving her for the archives. I know I took the time to play around with her perk points a bit. I guess I could put that up on the screen. Here:

So, as you can see, I fiddled with her destruction tree, her alteration tree, and her enchanting tree. I rather came to a realization after having rearranged things that the way I want to play her hasn’t changed, and by that token, she’s still particularly annoying. It has to do with the spell absorption plus circle of protection exploit when undead yourself. It is very possible to break the spell absorption effect, e.g., when giants strike the ground with their club, dragon swoops when they’re close enough (I seem to recall), dragon AOE attacks—basically anything that causes the screen to shake. It can be restored with a friendly fire storm atronach AOE attack, mind you, but it is pretty inconvenient… and deadly when you’re magicka is constantly depleted and you can be killed in like one hit from anything… haha! It’s called an exploit by many; however, to a stunted build, it’s opportunity, and the skill ceiling is much higher than any other playstyle I can think of in Skyrim.

Tajiin is just a guy hanging out… no… I guess there’s a little bit more to him than that! He killed Cicero. Please don’t be shocked! Mirnayne killed him too… She’s one of four level ones I have though, so does that really count?

And finally, Riddle! Riddle likes the brawl and beat people up with his FISTS!!!!!!!! Not sure if there’s anything else worth mentioning for him. Yea, Qa’ashi is his daughter, but she likes to mix things up a bit more than her father!

And there you have it! A brief look into 14ish of my 20 characters (excluding Vulk because he’s a failed waste of space). Make sure lo treat your dead with care, folks. You never know if some necromancer will come along and give them new life!

Categories
Gaming

A smattering of Hyperion // Borderlands (2009)

b4 AR520.W Punishing Cobra lvl58 Hyperion
b5 AR520.W Deathly Cobra lvl58 Hyperion
b5 AR500.W Punishing Pounder lvl58 Hyperion
b4 AR500.W Punishing Pounder lvl58 Hyperion
bo3 TCH320.W Lightning Destroyer lvl58 Hyperion
bo5 AR520.W Deathly Destroyer lvl58 Hyperion
b4 ZPR43.W Angry Brute lvl58 Hyperion
bo3 ZX43.W Lightning Death lvl58 Hyperion
b4 TMP8.W Double Torment lvl58 Hyperion
b3 TMP8.W Lightning Machine Pistol lvl58 Hyperion
b4 HRD5.W Double Raptor lvl58 Hyperion
bo3 TK5.W Lightning Needler lvl58 Hyperion
b4 HX 540.W Double Stinger lvl58 Hyperion
b4 HX 540.W Red Stinger lvl58 Hyperion
bo3 TEK330.W Fulgurating Bitch lvl58 Hyperion
bo3 TEK330.W Fulgurating Stinger lvl58 Hyperion
dg RWL770.W Spread Rocket Launcher lvl58 Hyperion
Categories
Gaming

Gurzgo The Greatest Arch Necromage | Dead Thrall Guide No. 0001: Broken Oar Grotto pt. 0001

This is a big ol’ copy-paste from my Facebook group (that no one is a member of because I am super popular). Be sure to join! *whisper* There’s actually no point in joining it because I plan to bring everything there here! Hurray!!!!!!!!

EDITⅠ̅Ⅴ̅: As it turns out, this guide is still relevant too, because Bethesda neglected to fix this bug in AE (‘Anniversary Edition’) and SE (‘Special Edition’)!

*by ‘anyone else’, it is meant ‘any NPCs that are spawned in or native to Broken Oar Grotto’. There is another separate way to retrieve thralls that were brought inside the place.

This part is intended for ‘Oldrim’ aka original Skyrim. Broken Oar Grotto may very well have been patched in later releases.

① Things you will need:
Fear, Unrelenting Force, some way to deal damage at a distance (there is killing involved, go figure)

② Optional:
Calm, some way to paralyse the target

• Now… kite the individual you wish to take from Broken Oar Grotto over to the entrance. You will then want to coordinate it so that your soon-to-be dead is fleeing to the entrance by using Fear. I recommend using Calm when you need a break to replenish magicka. Prior to this you will want their health to be low enough to kill easily as well.

• Make a save around this point; saves you some trouble!

• There are two cowering ‘positions’ at the entrance you will take note of. They must run to the right-hand one as it is far closer to the raised ground at the mouth of Broken Oar Grotto. This raised ground is the target when using Unrelenting Force. And, at this point, by encroaching on him, he will attempt to run past you, and this is when you must use Unrelenting Force to throw him up atop the hill. (Remember to look a little down and a little to the right of his person. This is so that the force will direct him up and slightly to the left.) The body MUST land head first out the grotto and MUST land stable and still. If the body begins to slide down or is feet first, his person will reanimate undead inside the disconnected area. You do not want this. You want his person to reanimate undead atop the hill in the accessible-to-the-rest-of-Skyrim area. This will take a lot of trial and error. I guarantee it! The body also cannot be moved by using Ice Spike or any other means of ‘artificial’ placement. Any post-mortem adjustments are a waste of time. Initial position of death HAS to be quite precise, really. It is possible to blow them too far, too! Expect to waste a lot of time!

• Make another save after you kill them (and know you have to glitch them into a moonwalk…).

• Causing a moonwalk on purpose:
⒜ Cause an enemy to fall over by any number of techniques; for example, Paralyze, Deep Freeze, Unrelenting Force. These will all succeed to this end.
⒝ Kill enemy when they begin to get back up.
⒞ Enthrall
⒟ Do not reload. Saving and then reloading ‘resets’ the status of the body so this glitch will not happen.

REMEMBER: They have to die in exactly the right way. Expect to do this a lot! We’re talking perfection here!

• There is a Slaughterfish spawn just outside Broken Oar too. You will need to kill it before any of this. Sorry! I just remembered it! Quickness may not be essential because you are causing the reanimated thrall to moonwalk, but nevertheless, you WILL want to leave Broken Oar Grotto before you see the animation (because that may be required; just in case, am I right? Feel free to go bonkers testing this out!). Also, don’t worry about how the target moves after being hit by the Dead Thrall spell! ‘It only matters where they died’.

• After enthralling (and exiting almost instantaneously), I found success by Fast-Travelling to Windhelm. I then entered Candlehearth Hall, and then reloaded the auto-save. I exited Windhelm via main gate. It is here that I saw Captain Hargar running towards me (he was my first success). You may find some other ‘Fast-Travel combination’ that works better. I do believe a minimum distance/time spent in fast-travel is required for this to work. It is, after all, kind of similar to GR’ing….

I wish you nothing but the best of luck retrieving characters from Broken Oar Grotto! It is possible!

Original method discovered ~Jan. 16th, 2015. Tested and proven on both Xbox 360 and PC (at a much later time).

I, also, kind of lied: I have made some alterations to the text from the Facebook group guide post. Some changes, I felt, were necessary.

And now on to the next Skyrim guide thing that’ll not yet be released!

PS: If all this sounds crazy, it’s because it is, and it took a super long time to get one achievement; and then an equal amount of super-long time to figure out what it was that was working to begin with.