Skyrim: Dawnguard

[Breegullbeak]

Surprised there hasn't been a thread about it yet. It's not out for PC yet, but it did have a Beta on PC and 360 apparently so I thought someone would at least have mentioned that.

I'll summarize the DLC and my opinions on it in four words: Not worth 20 dollars. From one end of the rainbow to the other is my reasoning.

The best features the DLC offers is the things that should have been in from the start which include craft-able arrows, Dragon Bone Weapons, and improved Werewolfs that can now open doors as well as level up with there own perk tree. While the game gives you the option to become a werewolf again, it only poped up for me once so now I'm stuck with out the best part of the DLC until they fix that, but the worst problems are with the actual quest line.

To avoid plot spoilers I'll refer to this character as broken quest related character. Broken quest related character attacks you on site every time he sees you which means that when you need to finish part of one of the quests where he can't be kneeling, you are out of luck unless you put 2 perks into Illusion to get overcharge and then cast Pacify during which time you must rush through the dialogue with him before he prepares to attack again.

The Soul Carin is a mess. Everything looks the same and the only map you have is the indoor one, so I found myself wandering around constantly trying to find things. I still missed some things in there and now the only way to go back is if I become a Vampire Lord for the 3rd time. The enemies are new, but they are all just repaints of Skeletons, Dragur, and Giants. They did throw in a character from the previous two games for fan service, but good luck finding him near one of the dozens of black buildings.

Before moving on to the next flawed area I'll cover Vampire Lords since I already brought them up. They are only powerful during the night which is from 9:00pm to 5:00am and on top of that are weakened by a quest related partner due to a glitch that is with you for at least 75% of the quest line.

Now for the Forgotten Vale which also is limited to the indoor map. It's large and has numerous teleporters and large numbers of Falmer and a few with new Falmer Heavy Armour as well as Frost Giants. Each of the five Frost Giants carry a giant gem thing that when placed on a teleporter you'll only find through epic mountain climbing will take you to treasure rooms.

The new quest "Lost to the Ages" gives you the option of 3 rewards at the end, but the one would only be chosen by a mage, and the other would only be chosen by someone who misread it's description.

I played down the Dawnguard's side of the quest and got to use the Crossbow and it's a nice edition if you are an archer, but for everyone else it's not much more powerful then your average bow.

Now on to the Dragons. If you don't meet the new Revered Dragon during your time playing you did something wrong. They replace nearly every dragon attack in the game. You'll be lucky to even find a Legendary Dragon. Very few have even seen one yet.

Overall I'd say it's a 6/10. Certainly not worth it's price tag. Maybe $15 tops but it's to lacking in worth while content that actually functions to be worth it's full price. The best parts are the simple things that should have already been in, or are already in mods on the PC.

So for those who have played it what were you thoughts, and if your still waiting are you still excited for it even though it's overpriced and broken?

[ksimp23]

I've only played a tiny portion of it so far, up to where to you have to take that vampire chick back to her house. Doesn't seem that amazing so far though. Shivering Isles and add ons for Fallout 3 were all great, so you think Bethesda would know how to do it right by now.

[Snagprophet]

I'm sure it's just Bethesda thinking they can rip everyone off because Bioware is.

[Zy0n7]

Prolly the next dlc's will be progressively better like in Fallout 3. Imma pbay it anyway when it comes out for pc lol $20.

[The Colonel]

I myself disagree that all Fallout 3 DLC's were great. Mothership Zeta was a piece of shit.

Anyway, my birthday is in August, so I myself will just get it with New Vegas if I can.

[killarobot]

There is more info on dawnguard in this wiki:
Skyrim: Dawnguard