Stones of Barenziah

The Stones of Barenziah are a collection of 24 stones scattered around Skyrim, separately the set is useless other then their base value of 200 gold, but upon completion of the entire set makes them very valuable. When finding the first stone a miscellaneous quest will activate. Below is the location of all stones. (They do not need to be collected in any order)

• 1) Ansilvund Burial Chambers (Southeast of Windhelm) - On table in back room of burial chambers.
• 2) Stony Creek Cave (Southeast of Windhelm) - Take a right off the main corridor, on a table in the bandits wizard's cavern.
• 3) House of Clan Shatter-Shield (Windhelm) - Upstairs, first bedroom on the left.
• 4) Palace of the Kings (Windhelm) - Upstairs, first door on the left in Wuunferth the Unliving's quarters.
• 5) Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary (West of Falkreath)- Astrid's room.
• 6) Pinewatch Bandit's Sanctuary (Northeast of Falkreath) - Once inside the sanctuary there is a room with 1 bandit and several empty Draugr sacrophagi, to the right is a room with a tresure chest. The stone is located directly across the chest on a shelf.
• 7) Sunderstone Gorge (Falkreath) - On the altar in front of the word wall.
• 8) Dainty Sload (Northeast of Solitude) - On a table in the first mate's quarters.
• 9) Reeking Cave (North of Solitude)- Beside the dead conjurer. (This was originally in the Thalmor Embassy before the 1.4 patch)
• 10) Blue Palace (Solitude) - On a table in Jarl Elisif's quarters.
• 11) Proudspire Manor (Solitude) - In master bedroom. (Must own house)
• 12) Dead Crone Rock (Southwest of Markarth)- On an altar in front of Word Wall
• 13) Treasury House (Markarth) - Master bedroom.
• 14) Understone Keep Dwemer Museum (Markarth) - Once inside the stone is on the other side of a locked gate to the left.
• 15) Black Briar Lodge (Riften) - Master bedroom
• 16) Mistveil Keep (Riften) - Jarls Chambers
• 17) Dragonsreach (Whiterun) - Jarls Chambers.
• 18) Rannveig's Fast (South of Morthal) - Table to the right in front of exit.
• 19) Fellglow Keep (Northeast of Whiterun) - On a counter in the workshop.
• 20) Jorrvaskr Living Quarters (Whiterun) - Kodlak Whitemane's bedroom.
• 21) Hall of the Dead (Whiterun) - Inside Whiterun Catacombs, upon entrance take the first left, then right, down the ramp, immediate left, inside a crypt.
• 22) College of Winterhold (Winterhold) - Arch-Mage's Quarters.
• 23) Hob's Fall Cave (Between Winterhold & Dawnstar)- After crossing the bridge, take a path to the left, the stone is near an alchemy lab.
• 24) Yngvild (Winterhold) - Throne room

Dragon Masks

You can collect 8 different Dragon Masks from Dragon Priests throughout fixed locations in Skyrim. Each mask has a unique color and varies in material. Each mask is named after their masters and have their own unique effects. Below is a list of each dragon mask, their location, and their bonus.

• Hevnoraak - Valthume (Southwest of Rorikstead)
  Bonus: Wearer is immune to disease and poison
• Krosis - Shearpoint (West of Windhelm, Northeast of Whiterun)
  Bonus: +20% Lockpicking, Archery, & Alchemy
• Morokei - Labyrinthian (Southeast of Morthal)
  Bonus: +100% Magicka Regernation
• Nahkriin - Skuldafn (Can only be accessed during main quest)
  Bonus: +50 Magicka, -20% Restoration and Destruction Magicka cost
• Otar - Ragnvald (Northeast of Markarth)
  Bonus: Fire, Frost, & Shock resistance improved by 30%
• Rahgot - Forelhost (Southeast of Riften)
  Bonus: +70 Stamina
• Vokun - High Gate Ruins (West of Dawnstar)
  Bonus: -20% Alteration, Conjuration, & Illusion Magicka cost
• Volsung - Volskygge (West of Solitude)
  Bonus: +20 Carry Limit, 20% Better Prices, & can breathe underwater
• Wooden Mask - Labrynthian (Southeast of Morthal)
  Bonus: Gains access to Dragon Priest Shrine & hums with an unfamiliar energy
• Konahrik - Labrynthian (Southeast of Mortha, Make sure you read below about this maskl)
  Bonus: When the wearer's health is low there is a chance the mask will knock back enemies, heal the wearer, heal any nearby allies, and grant a cloak of fire for a brief moment. The healing raises restoration skill and the fire cloak raises destruction skill. Rarely the mask will summon a Dragon Priest ally to fight for you. The Dragon Priest will use magical powers and summon either a corpse or a Storm Atronach.
  Note: This mask can only be acquired after collecting all the previous masks. You must put all the masks in their respective slot on the shrine and thus the final mask Konahrik is revealed. You can retrieve the other masks from the shrine afterwards.

Werewolf vs Vampire

You can decide to be either a Werewolf or a Vampire each having it's own pros and cons, but you cannot be both at once. If you have Dawnguard DLC you are able to switch back in forth between one or the other and the DLC also adds a skill tree for both werewolf and vampire.

How to become a Werewolf:

You must complete the Companion quest The Silver Hand. You can also receive a ring from the Daedric quest Ill Met By Moonlight, by wearing the ring you can turn into a werewolf at random times.

Werewolf Pros:

• 8 unique perks from skill tree with Dawnguard DLC
• Immune to all diseases including Vampirism
• Beast Form - turns you into a werewolf and increases your health and stamina while in werewolf form
• Can knock down Giants by sprinting at them.

Werewolf Cons:

• No sleeping bonuses
• In Werewolf form you cannot use weapons
• In werewolf form you must remain in 3rd person view.
• In werewolf form you cannot access the menu,map, or items
• In werewolf form you cannot sneak
• In werewolf form you cannot start a conversation
• If you transform into a werewolf in a city people will attack you and you receive an automatic 1000 bounty for that hold
• Werewolf is so large it makes it difficult to fit down narrow passages
• After transforming from werewolf back to your race you will have to re-equip weapons

How to become a Vampire:

Become a victim of the Vampiric Drain spell used by other vampires and it will cause the spread of the disease.

How to cure Vampirism:

• Gain the blessing from any shrine SHORTLY after contracting the disease (a few days in game time)
• Use potion of cure disease
• Acquire Lycanthropy
• Ask a bartender about a rumor and they will direct you to Falion in Morthal. Starts the quest Rising Dawn

Stages of vampirism and their effects.

After approximately 24 hours without feeding a vampire progresses to the next stage. There are 4 stages each increasing and decreasing powers which will be explained below. In order to reduce the stage of vampirism you must feed. To feed find a sleeping person, press the action to talk to them, an option will pop up where you can feed and the result will be lowering you're stage of vampirism. As your infection worsens and your vampiric stages increase people will attack you on site. (If you have Dawnguard DLC you can get a perk where people won't) Below is the list of the 4 stages and what each specific skill means.

• Stage one - Resist Frost 25%, Weakness to Fire 25%, Weakness to Sun 15 points, Vampires Servant Weak Body, Vampires Sight
• Stage two - Resist Frost 50%, Weakness to Fire 50%, Weakness to Sun 30 points, Vampires Servant Strong Body, Vampires Sight, Vampiric Drain 3 points per second, Vampires Seduction Level 10 for 30 seconds
• Stage three - Resist Frost 75%, Weakness to Fire 75%, Weakness to Sun 45 points, Vampires Servant Powerful Body, Vampires Sight, Vampiric Drain 4 points a second, Vampiric Seduction Level 10 for 30 seconds
• Stage four - Resist Frost 100%, Weakness to Fire 100%, Weakness to Sun 60 points, Vampires Servant Very Powerful Body, Vampires Sight, Vampiric Drain 5 points per second, Vampires Seduction Level 10 for 30 seconds, Embrace of Shadows.
• Weakness to Sunlight - Health, Magicka, and Stamina never recover in daylight and each stat is stunned which increases the infection
• Vampires Servant - summons a dead body to fight for you for 60 seconds. Spell can only be once a day. The higher the stage the better dead body you can summon
• Vampires Sight - Improves night vision for a limited time, can be used multiple times a day and can be toggled on and off. (Unlocked at stage 1)
• Vampiric Drain - Absorb health points per second from the selected target with the cost of magicka. (Unlocked at stage 2)
• Vampires Seduction - Creates and people can cease to fight for a limited time. If you have Dawnguard you can use a perk from the skill tree to feed of these targets. (Unlocked at stage 2)
• Embrace of Shadows - You become invisible with night vision for 180 seconds. Can only be used once a day. (Unlocked at stage 4)

Becoming a Vampire Lord (Requires Dawnguard DLC)

When becoming a Vampire Lord you can transform into a vampiric beast, gain 11 unique perks from the skill tree, and 2 additional combat modes.

Along with the original four stages of vampirism they also apply to the Vampire Lord and will increase/decrease based off how frequently you feed. The Vampire Lord suffer same limitations the only major change is the resistances and weakness to frost and fire.

• Stage One - Resist Frost 20% Weakness to Fire 20%
• Stage Two - Resist Frost 30% Weakness to Fire 30%
• Stage Three - Resist Frost 40% Weakness to Fire 40%
• Stage Four - Resist Frost 50% Weakness to Fire 50%

New Combat Modes:

• Blood Magic Mode - Allows the Vampire Lord to hover above the ground and cast Blood Magic spells.
• Melee Mode - Allows Vampire Lord to fight on ground but cannot use Blood Magic Spells. The primary means of combat are claws. Can use the attack Power Attack Bite.

Hearthfire

Hearthfire is a DLC or add-on that allows you to build up to 3 manors in 3 different remote locations. You also have the option to hire stewards, carriage drivers, and a personal bard at each house. A new addition to the game is you are now allowed to adopt and raise children.


Homestead

Locations:

• Windstad Manor sits on the coast of The Sea of Ghosts (East of Solitude)
• Lakeview Manor sits on a lake in the dense forests Northeast of Falkreath
• Heljarchen Hall sits on the steep slopes of Skyrim's snowy mountains (South of Dawnstar)

To purchase a land plot you must go to that manors respectable hold's city. Upon arriving to the city you will receive a message from a courier notifying you that there is a plot of land available. You must visit the Jarl or their steward and purchase the deed.After purchasing the deed your map will be updated and you can start your construction. You must meet certain requirements to purchase that deed, I will list those and the cities to visit to purchase the deed.

Deed Requirements & Where to Purchase:

• Heljarchen Hall (Dawnstar) - Complete Waking Nightmare and the bounty quest Kill The Giant
• Lakeview Manor (Falkreath) - Complete bounty quest Kill the Bandit Leader
• Windstad Manor (Morthal) - Complete Laid to Rest

Supplies:

When you arrive at the location of your soon-to-be home there is a drafting table which is where you will create your house plans, the carpenters bench, which is used for the actual building of the house, a chest, and a work bench for creating iron supplies such as locks, hinges, iron fittings etc. There are also new materials: straw, glass, quarried stone, clay, sawn log, hinges, iron fittings, locks, nails, and goat horns that all are new items to be used to build your house. In your drafting table and carpenters bench it will list how much of what supply you need to create that part of the house. Nearby each plot of land there is a infinite deposit of stone and clay that you can mine. You can visit mills to purchase sawn logs. Some merchants will allow you to cut the logs yourself. Iron ingots will create the hinges, iron fittings, locks, and nails. Finally the glass, straw, and goat horns can be purchased from a merchant or found questing.

Furnishings:

Inside each house there is a work bench in each room and wing where you can add basic furnishings such as armor mannequins, shrines, alchemy lab, arcane enchanter, weapon racks, display cases, smithing stations, and other common furnishings you would have in a house You can add 3 wings to each house, each wing having 3 different type of rooms as listed below:

North Wing:

• Trophy Room - Display room for various creatures
• Storage Room - Large room for storage
• Alchemy Labatory - Tower dedicated to Alchemy

East Wing:

• Library - Dedicated area to store books
• Armory - Room to display armors and weapons
• Kitchen - Dedicated to cooking and baking goods

North Wing:

• Enchanters Tower - Tower dedicated to Enchanting
• Bedrooms - Extra bedrooms ideal if you plan on adopting children
• Greenhouse - Dedicated area to growing plants to create food or ingredients

Remember you can only have ONE of these rooms per wing. Although having 3 houses you will be able to have them all if you choose.

Exterior Addons

The exterior of your house can also have the add-ons listed below:

• Animal Pen - Can be used to keep a cow and up to 3 chickens. Also comes with a tanning rack.
• Apiary (Only available for Lakeview Manor) - A beehive enslosure that can be used to breed bees and make honeycomb.
• Armorer Workbench - Used to improve armor and shields
• Fish Hatchery (Only available for Windstad Manor) - A breeding enclousure for most of the fish species found throughout Skyrim.
• Garden - A smaller version of the greenhouse used for growing plants and fungi.
• Grindstone - Used to improve weapons.
• Grain Mill (Only available for Heljarchen Hall) - Used to produce sacks of flour from wheat.
• Smelter - Used to change ores into ingots.
• Stable - For your horse.

Children

So you've decided to be a proud parent but may be unsure where to find your little ones:

• Lucia - Gildergreen in Whiterun
• Sofie - Whiterun selling flowers
• Blaise - Katla's farm near Solitude
• Alesan - Dawnstar working for miners

Tips & Tricks

Miscellaneous tips and tricks that I have found or have heard from friends! If you have any additional tips or tricks that I may have left out please pm me and I will try to get it added!

• In your inventory favorite items so you can access them quickly without having to open menu
• Get lovers stone ASAP. Learning all skills 15% faster can help leveling at beginning
• Get a house ASAP to store your belongings.
• Donating gold to beggars adds a temporary blessing
• For pc players: f5=quicksave f9=reloads last save
• You can fast travel on a horse when over encumbered
• Horses can climb steep mountains.
• Put a bucket over a shop keepers head and you can steal all their items without them noticing
• If stamina completely runs out there will be a delay before it starts regenerating
• Take a torch with you - loot is often hid in the darkness
• If you give your follower a torch they will automatically equip it when it's dark
• Followers can carry infinite weight if you tell them to pick something up.
• Followers will equip items you give them and use healing potions
• If you're over encumbered, store your items in a skeleton and cary a lootable bone
• You can get an attack dog from Markarth
• Equipping a pick axe will let you mine faster
• When increasing stamina your weight capacity increases by 5
• When purchasing skills you can pickpocket the gold back
• Arrows are weightless
• Pickpocket someone is shooting arrows at dummy, take their arrows, replace the arrows with the type of arrow you want more of, now the character shoots that new type of arrow and you can sit back and collect infinite arrows from target
• If you save skill books you can read them later to level you up when it becomes much harder
• Always sell before buying, shop keepers have a certain cap on gold
• You can save your level ups until you get to a tight spot, opening up the "level up" screen will replenish all health/stamina/magicka
• You can destroy the Dark Brotherhood instead of joining them
• If Shadowmere is killed, the horse will re-spawn 2 weeks (game time) later at the place of the death
• You cannot respec your perks so choose wisely
• If you're caught committing a crime killing all the witnesses will remove your bounty
• When in werewolf beast form you have no weight capacity
• Mammoths and Giants can't walk on rocky terrain or walk in ponds and water that requires swimming
• Dragons stop flying if you use Ice spells on them

This post was edited by Sgull on Jan 30 2013 11:37am