Skyrim – 5 Things To Do While You Wait for Dawnguard on PS3

Skyrim

Skyrim

When Skyrim came out I bought a copy for my PS3. See, I didn’t own an Xbox at the time and my computer definitely wasn’t powerful enough to play the game. Little did I know that down the line my version was going to be completely neglected by Bethesda. After spending about 150 hours in the game, I took a break to allow some time for patches to come out and improve my experience and wait for the inevitable DLC. Now with Dawnguard released on the 360 and PC with no PS3 release date in sight I’m left wondering what I could do to take up more time in Skyrim until I can finally become a vampire lord.

#1. Get Married:


Let’s face it: life in Skyrim is tough enough trying to keep yourself alive. I didn’t want to make it harder by having to keep track of someone else! Adventuring is getting kind of lonely these days and having someone there to greet me at my house when I need to drop of my thousand cabbages sounds nice. Having a spouse is actually beneficial because they make you money, sell you items, give you gifts, and even provide a nice skill boost if you sleep in the same bed with them. And don’t forget that trophy…

#2. Craft Tons of Things

One of my favorite skills to level up in Skyrim was the smithing skill. Not only could you get to level 100 by crafting countless leather gloves for cheap but you could create the best armor and weapons in the game as long as you had the materials. When I bought a house I noticed that the armor and weapon racks were way too lonely. Solution: fill them with your crafted gear! One house can be full of ebony and daedric gear while another was stuffed with glass and elven. I wanted to do this when I first had the game but was worried about the armor racks glitching and sending my stuff to digital purgatory never to return. With the recent updates this no longer seems to be an issue.

3. Start a Library:

It pleased me to no end when I found out that not only were there going to be lore books in Skyrim but also bookshelves where you could line up all your books for the world to see. Why take the time to go to the College of Winterhold when I could just go to my house and pick up a book. For the longest time every single book and note sat in a cabinet next to my bed. Now I have all the time in the world to alphabetically organize my collection and finally read the deep and well written lore of Tamriel.

4. Become a Mage:

I was never good at spells in Oblivion and I certainly wasn’t good at any in Skyrim. While being able to dual cast spells was a great addition to the combat I mostly focused on being able to heal myself. I always wanted to see how it felt being able to shoot fire and ice out of my hands or summon creatures to attack for me. The game is full of possibilities but this is one I never took advantage of. Though I would probably have to start a new game to explore the perk tree it would also give me a chance to try out alchemy (which I only recently realized is quite helpful).

5. Kill Lydia:

No, I’m serious. It’s time to let her go. I’m tired of her mouth. I tried to be patient with her since she was my first follower. I didn’t mind when she ran straight into battle while I was trying to sneak around. After all, she was useful for dumping all your dragon bones and scales on or anything else you couldn’t carry. I let it go when she would constantly get in the way of my arrows and then die instantly, forcing me to restart at the beginning of a dungeon because I forgot to save. I was nice to her, I really was. Then I got stronger and she got weaker no matter what weapons I gave her. We grew apart. These things happen. I thought we could still be friends but she kept giving me that attitude. Now I am going to take her to the highest peak in Skyrim and FUS-RO-DAH her into Morrowind…or at least Elder Scrolls 6.

Conclusion

Hopefully these things will help pass the time until Bethesda finally decides that Dawnguard deserves a release on the PS3 (they certainly didn’t seem to mind rushing out Skyrim with all its bugs). And I will have my fingers crossed that this doesn’t happen again when another expansion is released. That or I could just wait until a “game of the year edition”.

Ben Sheene

Ben Sheene

Associate Editor & Content Guru at Gaming Illustrated
Ben is from Kentucky where he originally began playing games (an activity he still continues to this day). With a love for writing he graduated from Centre College with a BA in English. He recently moved to California to pursue whatever future endeavors were there. A passion for music, gaming, blogging, and existing keeps him up at night and crafts him into the person he is today.
Ben Sheene

@gamingillustrat

http://t.co/PSklmHbhXL (Video Games) - We publish articles on video game news, video game reviews, interviews & previews. PC, Xbox 360, PS3 & Mobile platforms.
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  • barry

    LOL

  • Phoenix

    Fus-ro-dah off a cliff? One better. Marry Lydia and then sacrifice her to Boethiah. You complete number 1 and 5 on this list and a Daedric Quest! Did this last night. LOL

  • anonamys

    Done
    Done
    Started
    Done
    Done
    Well I’m sad now, I got like nothing left :/

    • name

      I know how you feel

  • ogofkgsq

    KILL LYDIA????????????????????????????? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • Alex Kopulos

      Yes.

  • Ciam

    I was SO MAD when Lydia got herself killed fighting a giant. And even more annoyed when she died, and was holding so much awesome stuff, that I could not carry in one trip.
    Then I had Jenessa, and after dealing with keeping her butt alive through a fight with a Dragon Priest, she runs off to a snow troll and dies in like one hit.
    NOW I have a companion that I could not marry, so I decided to just make him follow me. I’m just focus on buying a house, to pass the endless torment of not having Dawnguard.

    • Tristan

      Try using Jzargo as your companion. He is the only one who will level all the way up to Level 81 with you. Once you reach level 50 or so, he is pretty badass. Give him a Daedric War Axe and some Armour enchanted with Magicka Regeneration and he is even better! Plus, who doesn’t like their own “Puss in Boots” (he is a cat and sounds like Antonio Banderas).

  • Blahblahblah

    I was in the same boat as u.. I now have an x-box ( got it as a gift I still prefer PS3) my friend luckily let me borrow his skyrim because he only plays it on pc now..
    But before I got it I decided to learn magic and alchemy and everything I never bothered with.. It was ok, shouting lydia off a cliff was awesome. I then decided to make my character get evil and go grand theft auto on everyone by just going nuts in every town laying everyone to waste .. That was AWESOME

  • Gamergirl

    There’s thousands of pointless things you can do while you wait. Since I’ve been waiting for Dawnguard, I decided to be the infamous Robin Hood of Skyrim. Sneaking into the rich stealing their coin and giving the money to the poor unfortunate souls of Skyrim. But even those poor mongrels are greedy. Always asking for more. I started a family. I half way finished a quest where you save a little gir named Fjorta. So now she follows me around. She’s our 2nd child. Runa still my favorite. I have taken the time to try and collect every dagger I find for her. Her bed is stacked with daggers.

    Basically I have started a family of outlaws. My wife now steals armor and swords which is wonderful. When I lose her and refind her she’s always loaded with stolen elven gear or magical swords. She really is the best wife. We raid bandit camps and steal their goods. Feed couriers. Free prisoners and give them weapons. Never gets old and occasionally I’ll feast on a town as a werewolf… You won’t believe how many notes I have. I’m officially thinking the brotherhood is after me as well as the riften guards.

    Oh also. I have found a mammoth that’s pinned to a glacier with sticks! ;] which is extremely funny. So if you get bored, go find new locations. I’m right now on a mission (that I have made up) to find poor Shelly’s boat in the ocean. I found a note to her. I believe her boat never came through because it wrecked somewhere. Oh. Did I mention I’m a detective as well?!

  • David

    I joined up with Lydia for a while as my companion. But you are right, there was a point where I had to drop her. Lydia was pretty bad with getting in my way but Brenor was worse.

    I joined up with Brenor for the middle part of my adventuring. At least he could carry additional weight and was a decent fighter. But he got killed a lot by jumping in front of my arrows. Eventually, it was time for a change.

    My current companion, and wife, is Jordis. She can handle herself in a fight and doesn’t seem to get in the way as much as the other two. Her big limitation is lack of carrying capacity. But I’ve dual-enchanted a ring and a necklace with some other enchantment and Carry Weight.

    I haven’t alphabetized my book collection. But I have put some of the more choice books on shelves. I also haven’t killed Lydia. But that’s because it’s nice to come home to Winterrun and find her guarding my possessions and keeping the store running that Jordis set up. At least, that’s the only way that I can make sense of Jordis making money with the store while we are on the road adventuring.

  • Falcon D. Stormvoice

    Here’s my list.

    1. Dragon’s Dogma (more flawed than Skyrim but still a very good new IP)
    2. Rainbow Moon (hundreds of hours of roleplaying, kthx)
    3. Darksiders
    4. Game of Thrones (bad game, great story)
    5. Play Skyrim right; try roleplaying in this roleplaying game instead of making into Grand Theft Equine. Try reading the lore and enjoying the scenery. Then you’ll all understand why it was foolish to try and make it into a co-op game.

  • Alex Kopulos

    Don’t Fus-Ro-Dah Lydia to The Elder Scrolls VI, we’ll have to put up with her for another entire freaking game! Just kill her, or tell her to piss of and use someone that isn’t, as much of, a mule.

  • Shawn

    Sacrificing her is A LOT OF FUN. Watching her as she gets attach to the sacrifice pole like a metal rag doll being pull dramatically to a super magnetic.

  • NoPUNintendo

    I’ve done all of these things back in December. I discovered 296 locations, and achieved level 80. I really have nothing to do almost.

  • tom

    Lol

  • bored azz gamer

    while I have accomplished your entire to do list literally step for step… I almost knocked lydia back into white run from the top of the throat of the world. spent 10 mins trying to find her body. starting coming up with new ways to kill my campanions. my best so far is using lightning to propell my companion over the city walls of any town and then entering said town to find them perpetualling stuck in the same location.

  • Mordecai Caspian

    When I received Skyrim for the PS3 as a gift I immediately played it and enjoyed every minute of it, from escaping Helgen to joining the Nightengales. I did start to experiene some bugs and lags in the game butt I shrugged them off. I then started seeing ads on youtube and on game websites about Dawngaurd. I watched the preview and was amazed. After about 3 weeks I heard news about it being out on the 360. I was then happy to think that in 30 days I could play the DLC. 30 days passed and I looked on the store. Nothing. I thought maybe in a few days. Still nothing. Then the day came when the DLC came out for the PC. I was starting to wonder about the DLC ever arriving for the Play Station. I did some research and ended up hear. I’ve come to the conclusion that Bethesda is either neglecting the PS3 or trying to hard. I really hope that the lags will be fixed, and Dawngaurd will be out soon. I’m getting tired of raiding camps and smithing daggers.

  • MBG

    All done Im still bored

  • Astallas

    i have done everything, seen all the places n got all the trophies, im level 74 and a tank. there’s nothing i cant kill. i cant wait for dawnguard, but im worried i will just 1-hit everything as im skill lvl 100 in: smithing, enchanting heavy and light armours and one & two handed weapons. i hope not.

  • EddyTheRed

    You can also return the thieves guild to its former glory, boring but kills time. or just do what i do and play Dark Souls.