The Hero of Kvatch vs The Dovahkhiin - Who Would Win?

The Hero of Kvatch vs The Dovahkhiin – Who Would Win?

Tamriel is a land plagued in war and conflict. This great land has birthed many heroes across the eras but two of the most identifiable are the hero of Kvatch, the playable character from the Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion and the Dovahkhiin, the playable character from the Elder Scrolls V Skyrim. In a fight to the death in a neutral arena and no outside assistance you who win in a fight to the death? Let’s find out.

 

Firstly I should mention this is based on gameplay and not lore. Judging lore is extremely difficult as we can’t actually see it. The power of dragon shouts for example is described as powerful enough to shout down cities in the lore surrounding Talos but they are far more modest in game.

 

Firstly I should mention this is based on gameplay and not lore. Judging lore is extremely difficult as we can’t actually see it. The power of dragon shouts for example is described as powerful enough to shout down cities in the lore surrounding Talos but they are far more modest in game. It also seems fitting for them to fight it out in the Imperial City’s arena. So onto the battle.

 

A good place to start seems to be weapons and armour. According to the internet the best unique weapon in Oblivion in the sword Umbra while the best in Skyrim in the sword Chillrend. As for non-unique weapons the strongest the hero of Kvatch has access to are Deadric weapons. The Dovakhiin also has access to Deadric weapons, however he can also obtain Dragonbone Weapons which have a higher damage output. Therefore strictly on weapons power the Dragonborn has more powerful damage output from un-enchanted weapons. The Dragonborn can also improve his weaponary though smithing. Both combatants can enchant their weaponry too, however the Dragonborn also has the advantage here as thanks to the enchanting skill tree he can create stronger enchantments. He can also place two enchantments on one weapons.

 

Armour is a similar story. Both have Deadric as their strongest armour here however the Dragonborn can improve the armour further through smithing as well as create better enchantments through the enchanting skill tree. This also implies to Jewellery which can be enchanted futher, however it should be noted the Hero of Kvatch can wear two rings while the Dragonborn can only wear one.

 

The key factor with the enchantments however is due the restoration potion loop the Dragonborn can raise their enchanting skill to essentially infinite. If you don’t know about this loop then advise looking it up but you can keep boosting the level of your fortify enchanting levels. You can then enchant fortify alchemy gear and keep repeating until you have potions to the level you want. Then simply create fortify enchanting and smithing potions and boom, you can create weapons far more powerful than what the game intended. You can create potions that fortify your enchanting by millions of percent making the Dragonborn capable of creating weapons as well as gear far beyond what the Hero of Kvatch can. On equipment the Dragonborn is the obvious winner.

 

The Dragonborn has a far more varied set of skills in the form of the perks from skill trees. While the Hero of Kvatch can move faster and jump around more with Athletics and Acrobatics and the Dragonborn does not have a hand to hand skill tree, there are some notable perks in Skyrim that make certain styles far more powerful. A good example is the impact perk in destruction magic. While not technically a skill, shouts are available to the Dragonborn and while they are as I mentioned earlier quite modest in comparison to the lore and shouts are mainly used for our own amusements (Using unrelenting force to throw Lydia off the Throat of the World for example) some still are useful for combat. Unrelenting force is always good, Dragon Aspect is a good addition and many others could be used such as become ethereal and slow time. Additionally the Dragonborn has more powers such as benefits from black books.

 

It may sound like I’m saying the Dragonborn completely outclasses the Dragonborn. This is far from the case. The thing that stands out for me in favour of the hero of Kvatch is the spell creation mechanic. The Dragonborn’s spells do not compare to what the hero of Kvatch can create in the spell creation centre. Advantage to the hero of Kvatch.

 

So far we’ve determined the Dragonborn can hit people with stuff better and get hit with stuff better while the hero of Kvatch can shoot pretty lights at people more effectively. The last thing to talk about is how the combat mechanics themselves factor in. Due to the change in combat the hero of Kvatch has another advantage. This is partly due to the wielding system in Skyrim, while I really liked it as a gameplay mechanic it does prevent the dragonborn from wielding a weapon, shield and spell, while the hero of Kvatch can due to magic being selected similarly to powers in Skyrim. Therefore the hero can wield a sword, shield and spell or a two handed weapon and a spell. Archery is pretty similar however due to Skyrim attempting to be more realistic and streamlined the Dragonborn swings a weapon more slowly and moves more slowly, especially factoring in the athletics perk the Hero of Kvatch is faster. It would therefore be easier to move around the arena giving the hero of Kvatch another plus over the Dragonborn.

 

So who would win? The strange thing none of the above actually matters. With the right selection of armour and jewellery it is possible for one of these combatants to have a combination of 101% reflect damage, 115% magic resistance and 100% resistance to poison, disease and paralysis. The combatant is … the hero of Kvatch who because of this is the winner here. The Dovahkhiin could use the loop to inflict enough damage with an attack to kill 50 of the hero of Kvatch stood in a line, it doesn’t matter. The 101% reflect damage and 115% magic resistance fully protects the hero of Kvatch. The weapon used is irrelevant, an iron dagger could be used. Sure it would take ages but eventually the hero of Kvatch would win. The only way I can think the Dragonborn could possibly win is using Mehrunes Razor, the Deadric artefact of Mehrunes Dagon. It has a small chance to insta kill any enemy it attacks, however it is unlikely to happen and we’ve already discussed that the hero of Kvatch can move around quickly and should be able to avoid being attacked enough times for the insta kill to take effect. The winner is the Hero of Kvatch.

 

What should happen in the Elder Scrolls 6?

What should happen in the Elder Scrolls 6?

 

It’s been five whole years since Skyrim. There have been many ups and downs in video game land during that time but soon you would expect it to be time for the huge up in in the form of a new Elder Scrolls game. What should The Elder Scrolls 6 be like? This is my spin on the topic.

 

First point of discussion would be where the game takes place? Many people want to return to Morrowind, many want to go somewhere new and I’m part of that second group. More to the point I’d like to see the game take place in both Valenwood and Elsweyr. Looking at this realistically Skyrim is a similar size to the combined Valenwood and Elsweyr meaning it should be do able for Bethesda. On top of this the two provinces would supply a lot of new and interesting environments to explore. Valenwood is primarily forest land. This would be a good environment and the lush wildlife could supply a plethora of new wildlife and plant life. I would also like to see the Wood Elf civilisation in the treetops. Elsweyr meanwhile being home to the beast race of Khajit consists mainly of jungle and desert, however being home to a race of feline people there could also be a large plethora of strange and never seen before features. Similar to Morrowind your first visit to Elsweyr could be a completely new experience unlike anything you had seen before. On top of this having to provinces would supply a hug variety in landscapes and civilisations. It would also be interesting to see a smaller amount of human characters as well as seeing how they survive and fit in in these lands that are in no way catered to them.

 

I liked the skills in Skyrim however I think a few more should be added for the next game. I would like to see acrobatics return but I would like to see it incorporate dodging and movement skills. This way a nimble archer or assassin could manoeuvre around a battle quickly and precisely rather than just getting smacked in the face by a big burly orc with a Warhammer. This would add more diversity in different character builds, a warrior with heavy armour and a two handed weapon would not be as agile as a thief with light armour. I also would like unarmed combat to become its own skill once again to make it a more viable playstyle.

 

Of all Skyrim’s existing skills I think speech needs the most change. It would be great to see speech have a bigger impact with other characters with more options for persuasion and intimidate. Rather than just affect the prices in shops it would be good to see your speech skill have a greater impact on your relationships with npc’s without having to do the boring conversation mini game from Oblivion.

 

The other skills that I think should be changed slightly are the magic skills. I really liked Skyim’s magic system, particularly the dual wielding system, I would just like to see an increase in the number of different types of spells. More types of destruction, more conjurable creatures, really all the magic skill tree could do with an increase in types of spells. The conjuration tree for example has a small number of summoned creatures and while Dragonborn was a good addition with ash creatures even more should be added for the next game. Perhaps you could learn unique conjuration spells from different areas to reflect the landscape and inhabitants. I would also like to see spell crafting see a return to really personalize your arsenal of magic. Skyrim had a very good magic system, I feel the next game just needs to add more spells rather than change the system.

 

Finally I would like smithing to be more than making the same things over and over again. I would like to see you be able to make customizations to your armour in smithing for each race or just to your taste. This could be something like choosing what shape to form your sword in when you make an iron sword at the start of the game (From a basic sword to a katana to a scimitar) or simply changing the groves on a pair of gauntlets.

 

Items and gear are of course very important in Elder Scrolls games and should be a big focus for the Elder Scrolls 6. I’ll start with armour and weapons. First a nit-pick, it bothers me than Orcish armour is better than Dwarvern armour so I would like to see that change. With that out of the way I don’t just want to see more types or armour but rather unique armours from the different provinces and for different races. Armours should look different when worn by each race and it would be fun to be able to make small customizations to your armour, whether that be when you make it or just add some small trinkets.

 

For more weapons I’d like weapons to cater to hand to hand characters such as knuckle braces as well as throwing weapons such throwing knives or shurikens. However the biggest change I would like to see is a change in staves. While I would like you to be able to create your own with a far bigger variety of effects than the Dragonborn staff maker provides I also want them to be wielded differently depending on the character preference. If you were playing as an older wiser mage it could act like a walking stick and not used in battle as you fire you powerful magic through your hands. However staff could also be wielded like a bow staff, for some agile combat to protect yourself when your enemies get close to you. Spheres could also be added and used to a similar effect, except they’re thrown instead of being used to cast a spell.

 

Some smaller things could also be tweaked to good effect. A wider range of jewellery to choose from and craft would be appreciated as would an added importance to food and eating. Maybe a hunger and survival mechanic could be implemented into higher difficulties. However the biggest change needs to be to unique items as in they should actually be unique. Some are such as Deadric artefacts but how often do you do a quest for a unique item and it’s just a normal item you could find yourself with an average enchantment. All unique items should be unique and thus worth finding. Powerful items such as Deadric artefacts should not only look unique but be unique to other items and actually worth using and not outclassed by a random thing you craft and enchant yourself. Make them powerful but hard to obtain, that way it’s worth the effort.

 

I’d like to see bigger cities where appropriate in the Elder Scrolls 6. Oblivion did cities very well, it had big cities when it needed and smaller towns when they were more appropriate. In Skyrim outside of Solitude I found some cities to be way too small. Whindhelm and Whiterun in particular seemed more like towns than grnad cities and while there obviously should be smaller towns, large settlements should actually feel large and full of people and activity, like the Imperial city did.

 

Having a follower was great in Skyrim and for the next game I’d like to see followers have more personality. Serena and Teldryn Sero were a good start but for the next game I’d like to see full conversations with followers and to develop a real relationship with the person you’re trekking the land with. They could have set ideals such as religion but traits you could change such as morality and racist prejudice through talking with them and travelling with them. A lot of games do this well such as Mass Effect and it’d be great to really care about your follower. Ideally it would get to a point where you would do something you wouldn’t normally do because your follower wanted you to, it could be like you genuinely care. Perhaps if you disagree with a follower too much or do things they don’t like they could get annoyed or even leave you while if you earn their respect and do good things for them they could really care for you. This could lead into marriage which was extremely shallow in Skyrim. In the next game you could have to earn that trust from your character and actually form a connection in the game rather than finding just them a sword then slapping on a necklace. Hopefully this would make interactions with npc’s more interesting and be more like talking to a real person as appose to most of them just spouting random trivia at you.

 

Elder Scrolls games always have great quests and to expand I’d like more guilds to join. However you shouldn’t just to be able to join them all, there could be multiple warrior type guilds that rival each other and each have unique quest lines that impact the other guilds opinions of you. The same could apply to other guilds and they could appear in different places, for example a grand magic college in a large city but a cult of necromancers would be hidden away. A pack of werewolves would live away from society while a guild full of honourable warriors would be welcomed in the cities. It would be cool to see rivalling factions such as different bloodlines of vampires or fighting warrior factions, for the thieves’ guild to have a larger reach and influence and to not have the entire Dark Brotherhood die at the end of the quest line. I’ve only scratched the surface with guilds here but an increased number where your actions impact the others would be a perfect evolution of what we have in Skyrim.

 

This leads onto you actions having more consequence. Maybe with entire guilds or maybe just followers, this would make the world seem much more like a real living world that will continue to exist after you leave. Maybe your actions would eventually catch up with you or maybe you’d be pleasantly surprised later on when you were rewarded for that good thing you did. Either way it would be s superb addition.

 

The last thing I want to mention is the main quest line. The obvious thing is the Thalmor and this would suit the locations I have chosen ideally. We could see more into their ambitions and intentions as well as discover more about the Aldmeri Dominian as not the whole Dominian are supporters of the Thalmor’s extreme ideals. There is so much possibility with using the Thalmor as the primary antagonists with possible rebellion from Khajit and Wood Elves as well as an internal conflict amongst the high elves or conflicting ideals or different families and groups.

 

More addition to the vast numbers of books to expand the lore would be great and I’m sure we will get this but I hope they don’t reveal too much about mysterious Dwemner, Black Marsh or Elder Scrolls. It may have sounded like I bashed Skyrim a lot in this post but I really do think Skyrim is a great game and it’s a fantastic game to build on to bring us all a spectacular game. What do you think Bethesda should do with the Elder Scrolls 6? Leave a comment and of course remember the most important thing … make sure Mai’q the Liar returns.

Alduin the World Eater vs Smaug - Who Would Win

Alduin the World Eater vs Smaug - Who Would Win

 

Dragons are cool. Being an amazing idea for a bumper sticker aside this is a statement that often goes through my head. So for my next who would win I decided to take one of gaming’s most iconic dragons and pit him against one of films most iconic dragons and see who would come out on top. Let’s look at Alduin.

 

Alduin the World Eater is a dragon in the Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim. He is the leader of all dragons and the games primary antagonist. This battle I should mention will involve Alduin’s physical formfighting until he can no longer continue, not until death, anyone interested in Elder Scrolls lore will understand why. Alduin I a black dragon covered in spikes. Using some admittedly crude calculations I found out Alduin is in the region of 9 to 10 metres long at around 30 feet. This is about 5 times the length of an average man. Like all dragons in Skyrim he can fly at great speeds and he is equipped with a terrifying set of teeth. A dragons scales are also extremely tough making him very durable. It should be noted in the game he has a 50% resistance to all attacks.

 

Dragons is skyrim are immortal, they do not age. There are no dragon eggs or birth, instead they are believed to be created by the chief deity of the nine divines, Akatosh. Akatosh is basically the leader of the nine Gods of Tamriel, the continent in which Skyrim is located. Alduin calls himself the first born of Akatosh as he is the chief deity’s most acclaimed creation. The Nords of Skyrim actually see Alduin as the God of Destruction.

 

Alduin is profoundly intelligent. He is also however extremely arrogant. He believes it is his birth right to cause the apocalypse as well as lead the other dragons. Despite this multiple dragons have questioned his rule, with two dragons in particular standing out as they helped in his innevitbale defeat.

 

The World Eater possess multiple magic abilities. Interestingly a dragons magic comes from its voice. When a dragon uses what looks like a magical attack it is simply speaking in its native tongue. The voice of a dragon is the greatest power it possesses. It is likely that Alduin can use every dragon shout but I’m going to limit him to the ones he uses in the game to avoid assumption. He uses fire breath, which is pretty self-explanatory. The same can be said about his frost breath. He uses the famous unrelenting force which for those of you who don’t know will throw smaller enemies into the air and stagger larger enemies. It is like a very strong gust of wind. Finally he can use a shout called Dragon Storm Call which is basically Draco Meteor from Pokémon. It causes meteors to rain down from the sky causing immense damage to anything they hit.

 

Smaug is the Dragon from The Hobbit. I am using his film portrayal since not only do I think more people will be familiar with it but it also appears to be more powerful. Smaug is supposedly 54 metres in length, over 5 times the length of Alduin. This makes him powerful. His has huge amounts of physical strength, in fact he can easily crush stone. His scales are tough to a point where they completely impenetrable by normal weapons. He does have a soft underbelly but after sleeping on top of jewels and gold for many years they have stuck to his belly, acting as a strong protective layer. Smaug can also breathe fire as well as his entire imbued being imbued with fire. Dragon also have a hypnotic power that can work on weaker beings.

 

Like Alduin, Smaug is highly intelligent. His sharp mind has allowed him to gain encyclopaedic knowledge of his treasure horde. Also he possesses keen sense and is always aware of what s going on around him. Like many villains though he is arrogant and greedy. He cares only for his gold and treasure and he likes to mock anyone who opposes him.

 

So how were these two dragons defeated? Maybe this can help us see who will win this bout. Smaug was hit by a black arrow on a bare patch on his soft belly. Kind of anticlimactic. Alduin ruled over men and elves and used them as slaves. The Nords of Skyrim retaliated and the dragon was begun. Dragons easily overpowered their enemy with the power of the voice until the dragon known as Paarthanax took pity on the mortal race and taught them the way of the voice. Men were still not strong enough so they created a new shout that would force a dragon to understand mortality, a terrifying concept for an immortal creature. Despite this they still could not defeat Alduin.

 

Three ledgendary heroes used the immense power of an elder scroll to defeat Alduin. Well the work defeat is an overstatement, they actually sent him forwards in time. The other dragons soon retreated and were thought to be extinct. Many years later Alduin and the dragons returned to plunge Skyrim into chaos. Only a Dragonborn, a mortal with the soul of a dragon could defeat Alduin. This is exactly what Skyrim got. A Dragonborn can absorb a dragon’s soul, killing it for good. The Dragonborn fought Alduin in Sovengarde, the Nord equivalent of heaven alongside the three legendary heroes and defeated the World Eater.

 

Comparing Smaug to Alduin is a mismatch. Smaug is bigger and more physically powerful but in every other regard Alduin clearly has the advantage. Let’s for a moment just focus and the physical form of Alduin. He is far quicker and more agile, he is easily as durable and he has not exposed weak point. Even if Smaugs scales could stand up to Alduins attacks and meteor shower, his soft underbelly certainly could not. Unrelenting force could quite easily remove the barrier of gold and treasure leaving the more sluggish Smaug wide open for attack.

 

Alduin meanwhile could easily take Smaugs fire with his 50% resistance and he is too quik for Smaug to get too close. Even if he could, the Dragon Storm Call would make it extremely difficult for Smaug to focus as he would be pounded by meteors. This would allow Alduin to think more clearly as he would be far less distracted.

 

Ofcourse you may try to argue Smaug could somehow win this. Even if somehow he could what good would it do? Smaug’s downfall is how these 2 series treat dragons. In the Hobbit dragons are powerful creatures. In the Elder Scrolls dragons are immortal beings who are specially attuned to time itself. Not only this, their souls endured physical death which is why a Dragonborn who absorbs their soul is needed to truly kill them. Considering the Dragonborn in Skyrim is the first dragonborn since Tiber Septim, the man who united Tamriel and ascended to Godhood you can see how much it requires to defeat Alduin. In fact the Dragonborn to defeat Alduin needed:

. To be dragonborn

. Help from the grey beards, a group of monks who didicate their lives to study the voice

. Help from the blades, an ancient group of warriors who assist the dragonborn

. Not 1 but three elder scrolls

.  To see an event far in the past to learn the powerful dragonrend shout

. The help of 2 dragons, including Paarthanax the dragon that taught the Norbs the power of the voice

. Finally the three legendary heroes who were in Sovengarde

Smaug was killed by one black arrow. But there’s more to it than that. Despite all that the Dragonborn never actually absorbed Alduin’s soul. Therefore Alduin is not dead. You can ask Paarthanax about this in the game and he says that Alduin may yet return to yield the apocalypse. Perhaps when the Gods deem the time to be right Alduin will return to end the world. Maybe he’ll do it by his own accord. Either way it almost seems an inevitability that Alduin will cause the apocalypse. It’s only a matter of time. Alduin is truly Godlike in his power. There’s a reason he’s called the World Eater. He will genuinely eat the world. Smaug is powerful but he was no match for the supreme might of the World Eater. The victory goes to Alduin.