In Which Shenner Recovers the Dragonstone

Meanwhile, in the parallel Skyrim universe where Shenner the Nord is running her own journey as Dragonborn, this session featured more experimenting with my PC playthrough. And getting Shenner through Bleak Falls Barrow!

Highlights

• Play date: 5/19/2022
• Session number in this run: 3
• Reverted the Windows-level changes I’d done to graphic settings, and confirmed I still had no shadow problem, so yay!
• Returned to modded run and resumed running Bleak Falls Barrow
• Forgot to mention in previous post that I’d leveled up to 2 and taken a Stamina bump, and the first perk in Light Armor
• Still though very satisfying to stomp right up to draugr for melee fighting! Alternated between Flames and shield on left hand
• Leveled up to 3 and took Health bump, first Armsman perk in One-handed 
• Leveled up to 4 and took Magicka bump, first perk in Archery
• Got the pickaxe partway through the dungeon and mined the iron vein there
• Made it to the boss draugr and got the word for Unrelenting Force, and the Dragonstone
• Mined the corundum vein nearby after I came out of the barrow
• Discovered Anise’s Cabin for the map, then crossed the river into Riverwood
• Noted that I am getting much more sound detail than on the Switch, which was cool
• Also noted that a passing Whiterun guard called me ‘kinsman’, lol
• Discovered I could in fact enter Gerdur and Hod’s house since I have a key
• But no extra bed to sleep on while in there, oh well; Ralof was still there and kept bitching about the imperials, LOL
• Waited until daybreak in the house, then went out and sold loot and returned claw to Lucan
• Bought a couple more spells from him, and saved

Commentary

So, two big discoveries in regards to running Skyrim on my PC laptop:

1. A trial reversion of the Windows-level settings changes I’d tried showed me that yeah, all I really needed to do was turn off the occlusion setting in my launcher, so yay! Shadows gone
2. Tried out Paul’s Nintendo Switch Pro controller and OMG I NEED ONE OF THESE FOR MY VERY OWN (so I ordered one)

Very, very pleased that the fix for getting rid of the blotchy shadows seemed to be that simple. I just hope it sticks, as I mentioned in my last post!

And just as importantly, trying Paul’s Nintendo Switch Pro controller was absolutely delightful. It felt very natural in my hands after playing on a Switch for a year. And once I figured out how to change the mapping of which button does what in Skyrim’s settings, I was even able to lay out the same configuration I have on the Switch build. So this will eliminate muscle memory confusion. Very helpful!

Meanwhile I just have to laugh because:

Me: Wow, running Bleak Falls Barrow this time is way easier than with Faanshi!

Also Me: Uh, doofus, that’s because you’re running this run in Adept Difficulty, not Master!

Me: OH YEAH!

Note: having a run in Master Difficulty parallel to this one really does drive home how much harder it is to fight things at the Master level. Case in point: running Bleak Falls Barrow as Shenner, I was able to take out the boss draugr in one go, in direct hand to hand combat. As Faanshi, it took me half a dozen tries, and then only when I retreated to the part of the cave that the draugr couldn’t reach so I could snipe him. Yowza.

Another interesting thing I noticed, which I think may be the first sign of a bug fix from the USSEP: coming back into Riverwood, I distinctly heard what seemed to be more chicken noises than I was used to hearing on the Switch. So I was all “are chickens just buggy on the Switch for some reason?” Looked it up, and according to the wiki, there was in fact a bug with chickens that kept them from clucking while idle. This bug was indeed fixed by the USSEP.

Still buggy, despite having the USSEP active: a passing Whiterun guard in Riverwood calling me ‘kinsman’. Lololol. My dude, I think you should maybe look a little closer.

Next time

Gotta go back to Whiterun and return this Dragonstone I’ve picked up! And gosh, I sure hope no dragons show up to attack the western watchtower!

Screenshots

Editing to add

• 11/22/2023: Restored missing gallery, and added play date and session number markers.
• 10/9/2024: Converted gallery to native WordPress one.