Companions: just brawled a man in town and literally they told you to retrieve a legendary weapon fragment. Dark brotherhood: confident enough to kidnap you, not knowing what you can or will do. College of winterhold: makes you archmage even if the only spell you ever cast is 1 lesser ward while drinking a bunch of magicka potions. Thieves guild: actually got good storyline and made you guildmaster and 1 of the nightingales. Dawnguard: the only faction that didn't make you a leader, not even a title, just a regular member, even tho you're the one going outside doing all the fieldwork while they defend a fort that only get attacked once.
College of Winterhold: makes you archmage even if you have never cast a single spell in your life Thieves Guild: hires a literal thug that belongs in a mafia Dawnguard: recruits the secondary protagonist of some chick's story
Bards College : Recruits someone who never sings a song or plays an instrument just because they wanted some poem found and were too scared to do it themselves Volkihar Clan : Yeah, you know from the start you're going to end up as a chief of that one too because doing anything to the Sun is the stupidest idea you ever heard Companions : You barely arrived and not only you already know the big secret, they give you a place in their elite circle just like that Dawnguard : Apparently can't be asked to clean spider webs Vigilant or Stendarr : Their throats are calling for your sword at every encounter
@@donutlovingwerewolf8837 the dawngaurd gives you the good ol Oblivion treatment. You may be the protagonist, but the hero do the story is Martin. You're just the guy who helps him on his journey.
I honestly LOVE the Theives Guild. Firstly it's a Bethesda game, and like any Bethesda game, I have an unwriten rule that I always somehow follow, to put my grubby hands on everything and anything that isn't nailed down and especially Skyrim has an abundance of those, so the guild is an absolutely must to at least join, because it's the only reliable way to sell all your expensive stolen stuff. Secondly, the quests. I don't know they just fell like the most unique ones, alongside rhe dark brotherhood, but with the brotherhood they still mostly narrow down to killing a certain NPC allbeit in an interesting way, but with the guild you are actively discouraged from actually killing anyone. You really feel like a heister, casing a job, figuring out the way to tackle it, making preparations and then finally going in and out with a sack full of golden rings and sweetroles. It just feels awesome to do and there is an abundace of cool quests with them. Also the progression. I really feel like it's the best faction when it comes to the feeling of actually achieving something. You start out mild and gradually make you way to cooler and harder jobs with bigger cuts. Also making progress gives you many different advantages, you get new fences in different cities to drop stolen goods to, you gain different unique items, most of the time actually stealing those yourself, it really feels like you re making your way up. Also you should really try playing though their quests as a full on mage, it's really fun and unusual. Also, the guild just feels like there is a very good reason to interact with them untill the very end of the game because there is always stuff to sell and they're the best guys for that.
I think everyone has a soft spot for the first faction they joined. For me, it was the Thieves Guild. I ran straight to Riften to join them and didn't even touch the main quest.
This bug my little brain for nights, why they have Thieves Guild but also DarkBrotherhood? They are the same. One steal the other kill. What so much different?
I’d say most of the factions feel incomplete or lazy writing, I think dawnguard is the best out of all. I’m not saying that those factions are bad, just that they could’ve been a lot better.
I think it had to do with crammed writing schedule for a big part of it. Trying to cram too much and they really wanted their 11/11/11 release date. Personally on the super special date: who the hell cares?!
I think the whole game feels lazy and incomplete in comparison to oblivion. The factions in oblivion and the quests in general were just so much more interesting.
@@rokker2169 agreed. My favourite overall game in the series. Although there were things better about Morrowind, but I just edge oblivion over morrowind as my favourite game. Skyrim doesn’t even come close in my opinion
I'd argue the thieves guild and dark brotherhood are pretty conclusive in the base game - out of the two the thieves guild easily has the best story and actually holds up.
Thieves Guild is also my favorite, but maybe it being the first one I played through has something to do with it. I'm indifferent about the Companions, I legit don't remember a thing from their questline. And College of WInterhold might have been the worst one for me, but by the time I played it the repeated formula of all the quest lines just wore off for me
Arnbjorn is a pretty cool member of the Dark Brotherhood. He’s a former member of the Companions, and was talented and trusted enough to make it into the inner circle. But due to his extreme killing methods, he was asked to step down and leave the Companions.
Which I wish I knew more about how he even got that far, and how his decent into the followings of Sithis was indulged. I want to know how he even got with Astrid in the first place honestly. Gabrielle is someone I'm curious about, she's so nice and she definitely serves Sithis and the Night Mother, I wonder how long she's been apart of the Brotherhood considering that Elves live a much longer like than humans do, and I wonder how old she is since Olava said she's known her a long time. My guess is that Olava is one of the characters in the game who's used magic to prolong her life the same way that Master Neloth, Savos, and Urag have. I wish there was more to the Brotherhood after the questline
The Companions are the most disappointing to me because they feel like they should be these honorable warriors but they're just Werewolves and they let you join the inner circle like immediately and areola is annoying Farkas is cool but that's about it
My thing is that these are honorable warriors who should be striving to protect the people. Instead, I'm being sent to beat up some random citizen over a dispute. It feels thuggish. Lemme be a hero, dammit! I also love the theory that the Silver Hand are a Nord purist faction that split off from the companions when the circle adopted the beast blood. Really wish that had been included.
There’s a radiant quest where you go beat the crap out of Mjoll the Lioness, so you were 100% hired by Maven Blackbriar. Honorable my entire left butt cheek.
I loathe the Bard's college. I'm offended just by the fact that Bethesda had the Gull to call that charade a faction. You get 0 skills, 0 perks, 0 followers. You can't play instruments and generally it's just a waste of time. Definitely the worst faction (it can barely called that) in my opinion
I wish the companions were werebears rather than werewolves. They are from Skyrim and books throughout the elder scrolls talk about the men of Skyrim turning into bears. That would have felt more uniquely Skyrim. Though I do like werewolves. I think maybe they should have made it that only nords would turn into bears rather than wolves. So if you built a nord character it would surprise you. Haha! Or just if you maxed out the size of the character in character creator. That could be funny. Making a Beorn build would be fun. Tall dude with a leveled up enchanted woodsman’s axe that doesn’t eat meat and turns into a bear. The hearth fire homestead is a lot like Beorn’s home in the hobbit.
Personally I wish they just added in a Werebear faction or at least an option to become one (as this would add a lot to the Dawnguard and especially to the Dragonborn DLCs respectively). Also I like the whole dynamic of werewolf vs werebear better then werewolf vs vampire as the later is so cliche. Anyhow just imagine what the skill tree for a Werebear would be like. I'm betting a lot of the focus would be in raw power, strength, large health and stamina pools, and probably not too much focus on speed, or howling like with Werewolves. Basically I'm thinking Werebears would naturally be more of a Tank build then anything else. Not that Werewolves can't be Tanks too with the right perks and such.
That would actually be cool, as being a werebear would make them feel more connected to their ancestry despite still being hunters of Hircine, like if Kodlak is the only WereBear alongside Farkas because they are the most experienced or wise while the rest are werewolves
@@ItsChevnotJeff exactly! It would be fantastic! I’ve also thought that a vampire spell that gives your weapons absorb health points equal to 50% of your equipped weapon’s damage would make vampire builds more interesting. Instead of having to enchant your weapons, any cool weapon could be given a vampiric drain effect for a short time. This way a vampire could be a warrior or stealth archer and wouldn’t need to rely heavily on a magic build.
Honestly, the Dawnguard are the best for me personally, BAR NONE. Not just cause of their concept and story significance in their respective DLC mind you, but because they actually feel like an organic part of the world 1.While, Gunmar and Calene are mandatory, Florentius is completely optional and he can be completely exempt from the main story of the DLC if you choose not to do his side quest 2. If you become a vampire they'll actually make remarks on it and , although they don't kill you , they tell you to get out due to sympathy 3. You'll actually see Dawnguard recruits walking around, refilling caches and even , on occasion, fighting vampires randomly out in the world 4. And this one is BY FAR the most important, YOU'RE NOT THE CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE, FINALLY!!!! Hell, The Dragonborn isn't even really the main character in the story, that title goes to Serana. The whole DLC basically revolves around her , her family drama and how it all connects to a millennias long grudge against Auriel/Akatosh Your player character is basically just the super loyal best friend/simp for the vast majority of the story And you're not just sort of given leadership of the Dawnguard either. Isran stays leader from start to finish, he just learns to genuenly trust you once the story is over. And, sure, while you can become the lord of Volkihar Keep if you side with the vampires, it feels somewhat earned as the vampires have a "might makes right" mentality either way what with them constantly backstabbing each other
that and the Vampires kind of suck compared oh wow your a weaker version of the vampires you see running around in daylight. You the dragonborn that killed Alduin and your weaker then the other vampires of that court. Compared to the Dawngaurd where you get some awsome undead killing spells and the best damn crossbow in the game.
@@tazman2253 that's just how it works unfortunately with weapons and armor being enchantable. the way they could have fixed this is by giving the vampire lord more wearable armor pieces like what harkon wears, and more. make these armor pieces enchantable with vampire lord specifically related enchantments. vampire lord is overpowered as hell in terms of design concept. but unfortunately the actual damage and health numbers can't keep up with a non transformed player Characters Stats.
@@trevorveillette8415 and hence why there is no point in playing one unless you want to weaken yourself, maybe if they gave the vampire some special spells, or you know allowed the vampire lord to walk in the daylight like seranna does without being taken down by it (yes I know shes essential but still she should be always in that weakened crawl state.) They just nerfed the vampire lord completely your even more powerful as a werewolf then as a vampire
For anyone who likes the Companions a lot, I highly recommend a mod called Enhanced Skyrim Factions - Companions Guild. It adds a lot more depth to the questline, gives you certain requirements to join, more radiant quests between the major quests of the line so you're not becoming Harbinger the same day you joined (tweak this in the settings so it's not too padded), and most importantly, it lets you spar with the other members and keeps track of your record. They're no pushovers in sparring either; Skjor especially is a BEAST.
My Companion quest line is broken. Damn Proving Honor quest messed it all up. The quest is complete, I saw the ceremony and got the free skyforge weapon. But I can’t take on any new quests because even though it is in complete section, there is the part of returning to Jorraskvr that is not and therefore the game thinks I’m still on that quest. Can’t take on any new ones. Ps4 version so no console options. This pisses me off. It’s one of the main factions in the game. It’s not like it’s a side quest. I can’t believe they never fixed this. So much is lost and unavailable to me now. Like all the great followers. I wanted Aela the Huntress.
I just found out you can kill Astrid in the shake when she kidnaps you, and trigger a quest to kill all brotherhood members instead of join. I think thats super interesting, and kind of an easter egg considering Ive owned the game 3 times, across 2 consoles, over the last 10 years, and never discovered it on my own
I was so offended that they even dared to think about kidnapping me that I killed her almost immediately. I then proceeded to go to their hideout, transform into a wolf, rip out all their hearts and eat them, then howl at the moon.
i think the thieves guild is the best main game faction. i like how you actually have to earn becoming the guildmaster. becoming the archmage/harbinger is very forced.
@@Chicken-Rice Fr. When I first saw my character with that shit on, I knew I loved the guild. Even though I ended up doing semi boring tasks like forging some numbers in solitude or stealing gold from some guy’s house (and the golden glow estate was more frustrating than difficult), the twist with Karliah was so good. Getting one shot right before you think you are about to face her only to then learn the truth (Mercer was kinda easy). It’s the members that really made me care and like it. Plus there’s quite a few members you can talk to and level up skills
The Companions suck in my opinion. If I join a viking warrior faction, I don't expect to be forced to be a werewolf over half the questline. Thieves Guild is much better in my opinion.
Agreed. Boring headquarters with boring "welps" trying hard to talk badass. Disappearing items, buggy lycanthropy cure quest, trash radiant quests, members turning hostile because you accidentally hit them in beast form, boring main quest with no details about the Silver Hand, "No Honour Just Gold" policy is trash, and the list goes on...
@@antihero9443 Their radiant quests are one of the best in the game imo. They make me feel like a monster hunter/bounty hunter. I can understand why some people dislike it tho….
I like the Companions and I always join them but aside from that first change into Werewolf when you get inducted into the Circle...I never used it. Kick ass fighters and Aela is hot but I want to be a hero and dragon killer, not some creature that can accidentally go berserk and kill a bunch of innocents.
I always liked the Thieve's Guild because it kind of introduces you to a different way of play than just slaughtering Draugrs in dusty old ruins. And it is also definitely the most "actual RPG" faction of Skyrim's factions. In order to do their side missions, you need to actually be able to steal, sneak, and pickpocket instead of just being able to bash everything with an axe. And there is an actual sense of progression, you start out as just a talented prospect (unlike a certain College that starts out with you getting an email from an elusive and ancient magical organization even though you used lesser ward once). The only issue with it is that there is no option to kill them off, which I think is a necessary inclusion for a Thieve's Guild.
Thieves guild has a lot of lore and story that is not told directly with npcs, but if you go around, read notes, books, and look at every corner or their base, you will find stuff like a love story of several people and the death threats to another, the possibility of genital mutilation, the long lost hair to the noble family, the super convict, the young girl that lost her whole family then got adopted just to get raped some time later and many more
The Thieves guild is probably my favorite. I just love how you help build the whole guild back up. It feels like you being a part of the faction really had an impact. I love the little ceremony where they name you Guild Master and the master thief armor set.
I like playing as a mage, so for me the greatest disappointment was the Mage's College. Like other factions, there was so much potential missed. And an aside to Bethesda, you don't have to make the player the leader, it worked well for Dawnguard. Higher rank, yes, and maybe a long progression based on your skilltree to leader. Becoming the leader of factions was pretty cool in Oblivion, but a bit passé in Skyrim. I got bored with the Companions. Dark Brotherhood didn't interest me, and Cicero annoyed the crap out of me. Thieves guild was interesting for the quest (loved that part), but I wasn't that enamoured with stealing stuff or becoming the leader. Bards college just reeked of Missed Opportunity, it could have been sooo good, but only felt like a placeholder.
I would love if instead of becoming the faction leader, you could become the head professor of one of the magic schools and your headquarters could reflect that.
@@lucasfialho1374 Agreed, your highest magic skill should be the teacher that becomes Master Wizard or Arch-Mage and you take their old role. Then once you hit at least 75 in all schools you become Master Wizard. Then Tolfdir steps down as Arch-Mage due to age and gives it to you once you hit 100 in all Magic skills. THAT would be satisfying.
@@remixgod4496 the college doesn't even make you archmage. It's the psijic monks that say: "goodbye......ARCHMAGE" And everyone in the college is like"wtf, did I hear right" Feels so weird xD
I’ve always found the companions story and quest line boring and lacklustre. To me, it’s too short, doesn’t have a significant end point and no real unique quests, just a bunch of dungeon crawls. Kinda feels 3 identical side quests in a trench coat pretending to be a main story.
Mage's College logic is really stupid. Yeah, sure, my 2 handed, heavy armor, barbaric orc who only knows a lesser ward, healing and fast healing, and flames is definitely an arch-mage material. They could have not killed Mirabelle and made her the arch-mage and maybe give us the chance to challenge her for the title but only using whatever magic we have, if we use weapons, even if enchanted, we disqualified or some shit.
Most of the factions seem to have that problem. The companions, even though they despise magic give you quests that can be completed by a mage mostly. And the dank brotherhood and the thieves guild all have massive holes in logic. Dank brotherhood is so incompetent it's a mercy to end them.
lore wise the dark brotherhood and the imperial factions together become even more interesting seeing as traditionally throughout tamriels history the emperor has been dragonborn also tullius is criminally slept on man is a lethally effective military tactician
His voice actor (Michael Hogan) always stands out to me too for some reason. He also plays Doc Mitchell in Fallout NV and Captain/Commander Bailey from Mass Effect. Always liked his characters
Honestly the stormcloack faction is soooooooo much better. Sure ulfric is a huge idiotic racist guy. But like the imperials were going to kill you. The stormcloaks wanted to save you. It's a better faction questline as well
@@nintendoman8915 However, they won’t be able to defeat the Thalmor on their own. Also the Empire wanted you dead because they didn’t want to take any chances and risk Ulfric somehow escaping. Also Tullius has you pardoned you pretty much right after finding out you were innocent.
@@nintendoman8915 People only call Nords racist because they are european coded. Like all the Imperial captains in the legion dont call all nords barbarians and the high elves aren't actual fucking nazis.
The Thieves Guild, the College of Winterhold, the Civil War ... I love this game but pretty much no faction felt polished to me except for the ones in Dawnguard. I may or may not be salty about not becoming the queen of Skyrim. Also, I guess it's a controversial opinion but I dislike the Dark Brotherhood the most, especially having played Oblivion. It feels like a lazy rewriting to me. That said 1pt for Shadowmere.
I get that, i wish there were more missions that made me feel like an assassin. The only reason I still play the Dark Brotherhood story is because of the characters. Nazir, Babette, Gabriella, all of them.
@@amortlepsg Exactly, especially at the end of the Questline. There were some pretty good missions during the story mind you, but very few to give you that assassin experience.
I must give the credit to Bethesda for giving us a chance to recruit immortal followers to this faction, and it gives you an option for some evil choices like letting Frea into their ranks. However I am not a big fan of a faction having only 2 members at the beginning, and poorly written faction story in this game. PS. The choice to kill or not to kill Paarthurnax is interesting, but really poorly executed in choices.
I would be willing to give up the entirety of the Dawnguard DLC if it meant more disc space and time devoted to creating divergent questlines and opposing factions. Imagine if you were able to join the Silver Hand or Penitus Oculatus, or help Unmid and Mjoll root out and destroy the Thieves Guild? Hell, imagine if there was a branching path in the Thieves Guild where Mercer saw you moral flexibility and skill for thievery and offered to bring you in on his con? I dunno; I would just personally rather TES go back to doing factions the way Morrowind did it, forcing players to really pick sides instead of opting for the "do everything in a single playthrough" style of writing. That'll never happen, though; Todd and Emil are both too chickenshit to risk alienating the normie demo.
it's not just "do everything" it's do everything the same way. the only choice in the game is really killing the dark brotherhood instead of joining it, but it's fucking lame. The silver hand was a major missed opportunity. they just made them generic bandits. When it could have made a much more interesting story to expose the companions as werewolves. The
@@RomrotMechanikos In my ideal Skyrim there would have been twelve factions: six for each archetypal playstyle with two opposing each other, so a Companion/Silver Hand dichotomy for warriors, Thieves Guild/Penitus Oculatus for sneaky types, and and College paired against another faction--maybe a subgroup of Thalmor or dragon cultists, something like that. Additionally I would have the Stormcloaks and Legion, and the Greybeards' and Blades, but I would flesh them out more to make them more believable as groups. I would also put skill requirements to advance in each faction, instead of just completing a piss-easy quest that any novice could do.
FudgeMuppet did a video for the Companions, mostly on several flaws and how it could’ve been better. I do like the faction but I also agree with FM on a lot of points. It’s worth a watch.
Both are not without their flaws, but I enjoyed their storylines the most. I agree with FudgeMuppet that the Companion’s questline could’ve been improved. I actually installed a mod for the Companions that requires more radiant quests to progress through the story line, to make it make a little more sense.
Here are my factions list based on thier power that player can join: - Imperial Legion, - Stormcloaks, - Thieves guild (those guys are the best flesh out faction in the entire game), - College of Winterhold (they have the monopoly of excavation ancient ruins, enchanting, every court wizard is tied up to them, they are really underrated), - Dawnguard, - Volkihar Vampires (Solitude court wizard is tied up to them), - Dark Brotherhood, - The Companions - House Telvanni, - Daedric worshipers (they are strong, but too divided by the worship of the different daedric lord), - Thirsk Mead Hall Rieklings (those guys will come and help you in a need, even when you are fighting the bosses in Skyrim) - The Greybeards, - Thirsk Mead Hall Nords - The Blades (they are really weak at the beginning, but you can post them with some immortal followers), - Forsworn (only one camp is friendly towards you). * There are some new factions that came out with the latest Skyrim edition, but they really lack the voice acting so I will exclude them from the list. PS. Your list is really interesting, and my favorite factions would be Dawnguard, and House Telvanni (master Neloth is really well written character, and his quest rewards are fantastic).
Not related. But I wish Elder Scrolls would allow players to transfer their character builds to the next Elder scrolls game. I know it sounds impossible and, in some cases, stupid.
@@badger3184 Transferring character with 100% magic absorption to the next game is really bad idea. However there are some standard classes that you can rebuild for the next game, and the previous ones too.
Sorry but Blades and Brotherhood are bottom because they have almost no members and no administration. Greybeards because they can destroy the entire Skyrim, let alone have an evil Alduin general who had the balls to betray him.
@@wanderingbufoon In case of Dark Brotherhood have strong connection with Thieves guild (third strongest faction in this game), they have killed the Empearor of Tamriel (if you have completed the main quest for them), and infinite number of Dark Brotherhood Initiates. When it comes to administration Nazir handles all things for this faction, light armor training on master level, and some easy contracts. The Blades as you can see are on the bottom of my list, but when it comes to administration Delphine runs the show, and it's hard to say what kind of connections she has outside of Skyrim. Now in case of The Greybeards they are strong, and unfortunately pacifists. This is why I have put them lower on the list. Now in game they are immortal, but they is ane interesting mention how to kill Voice master in Skorm Snow-Strider's journal.
The Stormcloak are Over the Imperials... Skyrim is the Nordic earth and some slave of the thalmor try to invade or "reconquire" loses lands ... and overall they made ourself prisoner and tried to kill the dragonborn at the beginning of every game
I made a mistake skyrim is the land land of snow elves (falmer) and then the Nords from Atmora come first to invade the Dwemer and Falmer on their own land with the help of Akatosh and the dragons
I already know who will take first two spots on this list base on levels. Miraak (max level150) would be number one, and Alduin (max level 100) would be number two.
I get why you put the Companions first. They're an awesome faction and a great representation of Skyrim's lore and core values. Sadly I felt they could've been a little bit more integrated in the game. They feel very disconnected from all the other events in the game (not unlike the college of Winterhold) and they could've been so much more. You probably also know that there was a great deal cut from their questline as well, and fudgemuppet made an interesting theory video on who the silver hand might actually have been. Although cut content isn't necessarily a companions problem, it's a Skyrim problem in general, haha. Maybe the extended cut will see to that.
Delphine can eat a brick. Agreed. Great list overall! Amazing that this game has stayed relevant beyond similarly-aged video games. I agree with a majority of the list, but would like to add a bit about the College of Winterhold: I believe it was a video by Camelworks about the Augur of Dunlain. It's a very long video (my attention span is usually for 30< videos), but 100% worth it. It would have made their faction a lot more interesting if they had given this character more depth. I would also down-rate a majority of the factions because of the repetitive theme: our leader died, we have it scripted to make you our leader with no solid follow-up or responsibilities, just a cool title and you cannot refuse, GG. I would have demanded Bryn lead the Thieves Guild, Tolfdir for the College, Nazir for the DB, and probably Vilkas for the Companions.
Yeah, imagine when you side with the silver hand you can also choose to ally them with the vigilants of stendarr, and by the end they replace the Companions as Whiterun's new Fighter Guild, you can choose to end things peacefully too and when you get aproached by the Dawnguard they refer to you as the leader of the Silver Hand
Thieves Guild so low in the ranking? How do you get to nighingales Set and uber Chillrend without completing it?... Indeed jobs are a pain in the *** but you need to manage all that stolen goods so you need some fences. The best factions imo is something like thieves or Dark Brotherhood (Sets, Windshear), Companions are a waste of time (skyforge stuff available at the mission 1) only need is if you want play as a dog or have Aela following you. I'm NOT a milk drinker!...
My first play through in Skyrim I turned around and killed Astrid since I wasn't letting anyone boss me around. I was shocked that the game actually let me kill her. It's one of the few real choices in the game and I bet most people don't even know it's a choice until they learn that they are allowed to kill her in that dirty shack later on.
imho, most of the thieves guild quest line felt underwhelming, but finished super strong. The tone of the encounter, the nightengale lore, the balance of the rewards, and even Nocturanal's animation (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Y8Ux9b_Ukf4.html) felt unique, fitting, and more personal than most daedric encounters in skyrim (typically "hey, I'm just here for your artifact"). And unlike most factions which feel empty after their main quest is done, the Thieves Guild follows up with a half-decent faction management radiant quest line that gives you the sense of growing a criminal enterprise. Besides what Longbrow said, one other reason I appreciate the Dawguard factions is the random hostile encounters. They're your faction's sworn enemy so killing them feels more thematic and personal than generic hostiles like raiders and falmer. I wish the Blades would let you force your will as DB to pardon Paarthurnax. Recruiting mercs to the Blades and summoning them for epic fights feels like something that should happen.
personally I would put the thieves guild above the civil war purely for the progression of the pub when you complete the main quest and the odd jobs and then the cool tie in with the smithy in raven rock is real cool too
Based on a concensus of how much content there is for the thieves guild, and the most played class i can think of- I fully believe the Dragon born was a Stealth archer that became the leader of the thieves guild.
I think the Dragonborn was definitely an archer, because realistically that would be the perfect way to wrap up his skill set. It would go like: 1: Control the long distance with arrows 2: If his enemies manage to close the gap, use shouts to either hurt them, send them flying back, or reposition with slow time/whirlwind sprint. Technically, the Dragonborn could win hundreds of battles without getting a scratch by doing this.
I always choose the Stormcloaks. Nothing to do with politics, history, or any of that. I just can never get my head around the Imperials trying to kill me in the beginning, without good cause, and then supporting them in the war.
In Oblivion, most factions require you to get some experience in their field. Fighters guild, you do a lot of missions for combat and rescues. Dark Brotherhood, you have some pretty basic missions but plenty of them also become unique in the ways you can carry them out. Thieves Guild, you actually have to break into places and steal a certain amount of gold's worth in order to progress in the questline. Mages Guild and the College are roughly the same in terms of magic skill usage though. In Skyrim however, you do like two things at most before you're thrown into the narrative without any true practice with your skills. And like you said about the Civil War being an unfinished painting, I would honestly say that about the entire game. There's so much that could've been added and improved if they gave themselves another two years.
I love the thieves guild. My main build is a nightingale after all, the other factions d9nt quite live up to the lore. The only one in the companions who does is vilkas, whom I've traveled with quite extensively and I can say confidently, he's the best base game 2h warrior as I had him with me once at northwatch keep, the dude literally just body bagged them with his starting kit. Shame you can't get karliah or brynjolf as a follower, the college has ONE passable follower and it's not J'zargo as much as I love him, the dark brotherhood questline is great imo, but the followers you get are TERRIBLE FOR A STEALTH BUILD. They literally shove me while lining up a shot with a bow and caused me to miss. EVERY. TIME. Anyway loved the video. Sorry for the paragraph lol.
The Thieves Guild provides a whole game with its content honestly it has been my favorite and always seek them first since oblivion top tier the further you go the deeper it gets
My top 2 would have to be Dawnguard and Thieves Guild honestly. Dark brotherhood and companions are decent. It’s just when even thinking about their counter parts in oblivion I get so disappointed.
Thieves Guild is 100% the best, yes the story stats off slow but by the 3rd or 4th quest the stakes are higher than ever and it's great! Also Nightengale armour...
@@longbrowgaming2772 I legit didn't even notice this reply until just now (At least I don't think). I didn't even realize this was my comment at first. Maybe I will check that out one day.
Im also a goodie goodie .. its why i can hardly ever feel immersed playing the dark brotherhood quest line.. not to say its bad, but I’m a person where.. even in games my irl personal morals take me over.
Only good thing about Namira (the Lady of Decay) is you can finish that Daedric quest, get Eola, the cannibal girl with the weird eye, stash the ring somewhere so people don't talk about your breath all the time...and then take her to the Boethiah Daedric quest (The Prince of Plots) and you have a perfect sacrificial character to stick to the Post of Superglue and stab her in the back...actually kind of poetic justice murdering the cannibal so you can get the Ebony Mail. To Namira fans...hey, you want Decay, me and my friend Boethiah have a speed run straight into Decayville. Good luck.
Of all the guilds, I dislike the Thieves Guild the most--and it's the one I want to like the most. But: 1. It feels sort of ridiculous when a warrior in full armor with no stealth skills at all wanders into town and Brynjolf immediately says, "Ah, laddie, you look like exactly the kind of person I'm looking for!" 2. Except that it turns out he's right, because most of the thieves' guild quests require no actual thief skills whatsoever, and said fighter can just bulldoze his way through. 3. The thieves' guild is incompetent enough to let someone empty out a vault full of treasure right under their noses, carrying it right out through the central headquarters of their guild. 4. And this is the organization to which I have to pledge my undying soul, KNOWING that almost all of the thieves who did so before me have wound up as insane ghosts haunting a tomb forever. 5. And what do I get for my immortal soul? ...a suit of armor. Not a great deal. In fact, it's such a BAD deal that the Daedra offering it expresses open surprise that we would actually accept it. It all just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It's the one questline I almost never complete.
It does have some writing problems but you are right, don't complete it. Skeleton key is better than knock off illusion spells which you can only use once a day
In the Thieves guild questline, I think it would be awesome if you were given the chance to rebuild the guild, just like the Dark Brotherhood. For example, before you meet Karliah, you have to do some minor quests for the guild members, which boosts the members' disposition towards yourself. Later, you can convince these members that Mercer is a traitor, and they decide to follow you in your new Sanctuary. Finally, Mercer stands alone and cornered, and then you can either fight him directly, or trap him so that Maven puts him in jail, or you can convince him to leave Skyrim once and for all. In the end, the Thieves guild becomes a cult organization, as it should always have been. About the College, it should have shown more of Ancano, the Thalmor and the Psijic Order. For example, Ancano could have challenged Savos in a fight, which would lead to the explosion that kills Savos, so to claim the College for himself (and the Thalmor). In the meantime, the Psijic Order protects you from the explosion and teleports you to their isle. While the College thinks you are dead, the Order trains you to become the next Arch-Mage, and defeat Ancano. They teach you unique spells, they give you magical artifacts, and when you are ready you return to Skyrim. You can choose to ally with the Synod, depending on the dialog choices you made before, and you can contact once again the Augur of Dunlain, to help you fight Ancano and the Thalmor.
Well... you can rebuilt the guild. You make minor quests and unlock a special quest. The ragged flagon will have merchants. Watch a video on youtube "become thieves guild master"
@@joaopaulobrantlessa8135 true. But I was thinking about rebuilding the guild entirely. The guild would relocate outside Riften, it would be reformed as a more cult brotherhood than a crime syndicate. (this is my personal opinion, okay? I'm just pointing out that most of Skyrim questlines seem to be somehow flat and lazy-written)
Bards College - It basically includes just the burning of King Olaf, which is supposed to be a very important task and you are suddenly assigned to it even though you re the newest member College of Winterhold - Interesting concept, though as someone here said before, very unrealistic considering that you can become archmage without casting a single spell. Civil War - Can't play it without mods, extremely unrealistic considering you just free a couple of forts and then attack the other faction's major city and you basically won...not to mention that your troops respawn endlessly so it s basically impossible to lose a battle Thieves guild - Nothing to bitch about here, very well written, my 2nd favorite. Dark brotherhood - As much as I hate their philosophy, I must say it s pretty immersive, what I find it weird is that eventually even the guards will learn who you are but do nothing to stop you haha Dawnguard - My personal favorite, also you get the chance to discover the Forgotten Vale which is prob the most amazing location in the game. Also, Isran is too much of a chad to let you become the leader which just makes it funny if you ask me, because he s been like that since the beginning of the quest. Companions - It's too short, they could have added so much more, also it feels like Kodlak gains confidence in you too easily. Namira - Played it once a few years ago, don t remember much haha Volkihar - F*** vampires.
I think the companions were garbage personally but in response to your point, if you read Kodlak's journal, he explains the he had dreamt of your coming before you showed up, which is why he took to you so quickly.
I like how the civil war factions are well developed morally and ethically. You can easily see good and bad sides to both. While Tullius definitely deserves a bit more lore, I think that the fact that Ulfric has so much more focus works well in establishing that the Stormcloaks are a cult of personality first and foremost, while the Empire does not appear to be. No one is praising the ground Tullius walks on or hosting a Titus Mede fanclub, but Stormcloaks and their sympathizers really act like Ulfric has never taken a foul shit in his life, and everything he's done since his Meadhall Putsch in Solitude is treated as some sort of stigmata straight from Akatosh.
bars college/namira cult arent really a faction you play in just side quest. Companions questline is really to fast like 1 quest and you become a circle member and after that the harbringer. Civil war on both sides they start out really good but the rest just missed so mutch assets. College of winterhold had a strange but fun questline and you get a free home easily early on the side quest and rewards are also amazing. Dark brotherhood i find it personaly not that fun you just kill a bunch of guys it kinda feels empty. thieves guild got a amazing questline from start to end really good characters and cool rewards only the side quests same as the side quests of the dark brotherhood are just garbage. Dawnguard or Volkihar kinda depands what kind of person you are Emo's Gothic's and Furries (suicide bombers) probaly join volkihar and the rest goes for dawnguard. Nay the questline is simply amazing same as thieves guild begin tobend but then a lot better. BUT the best faction yes yes is being Neloth's lackey the detail!
There's a mod called Open Civil War that readds most of the cut content and turns some of it into a turn based game in regards to the Civil War. I agree though, so much was cut and its frustrating.
In my *PERSONAL* opinion, I’ve found the Companions quest line very boring and- It just felt too repetitive at times. Going into a cave, killing a bunch of enemies and retrieving an item.
I like playing as a mage, so for me the greatest disappointment was the Mage's College. Like other factions, there was so much potential missed. And an aside to Bethesda, you don't have to make the player the leader, it worked well for Dawnguard. Higher rank, yes, and maybe a long progression based on your skilltree to leader. Becoming the leader of factions was pretty cool in Oblivion, but a bit passé in Skyrim. I got bored with the Companions. Dark Brotherhood didn't interest me, and Cicero annoyed the crap out of me. Thieves guild was interesting for the quest (loved that part), but I wasn't that enamoured with stealing stuff or becoming the leader. Bards college just reeked of Missed Opportunity, it could have been sooo good, but only felt like a placeholder.
even though kurt was a junkie, nirvana's still my favorite band and thus the thieves guild is in my opinion the best faction, ofc the sewer they live in is still horrendous
I like headcanoning that Shadowmere's a shadow mare & that you can hook her up with Frost, the Palomino with a pedigree to have a cool line of horses that are 1/2 finely bred 1/2 *demon* Edit: Frost's papers say he's a dude & Shadowmere is referred to with contrasting pronouns by different NPCs
I don't like the fact that you can't marry any of the sexy Thief's Guild studs! I've also never finished the Companions storyline because of the major bugs curing the brothers. And am I the only person who has killed Astrid when she kidnaps me on every saved game?!
Thieves Guild is by far my favorite due to the fact that after the main stuff is done with the Guild you can continue to build it up and eventually make it a thriving underground lair.
My imperial who joined the penitus oculotus after the civil war wiped out the brotherhood and then the thieves guild. Used a lot of mods for the role play. It was sick.
Atleast the dawngaurd have a reason for not having so many fleshedout characters and its mainly due too them being basicaly a new faction or a reformed faction built from the ground up.
I get around the moral dilemma of playing as an evil character but still being able to play the morally evil guilds by playing as a evil character with a redemption arc who becomes a hero. Like my backstory to be I was a mercenary hunting down a certain horse theif from Rorikstead when I got caught in the ambush. As an evil character early game I can join the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild and complete those storylines. Then around the time of starting the Main Quest and finding out I'm the Dovakin start having a more neutral role, joining the Companions who I feel is a morally neutral Guild. Yes you do some good acts of heroism but you become a Werewolf even if just temporary and might have to beat up some morally good characters. Then by end game I complete the Main Quest saving the World. Join either the Stormcloaks or Imperials to end the War and bring peace and join the Dawngaurd to slay Vampires becoming a hero and redeeming my evil past.
Coven of namira, bards college, college of winterhold, thieves guild, civil war( stormcloaks and imperials), vulkihar clan, dawnguard, dark brotherhood, companions, the blades, the grey beards, and the tribal orcs.
My ranking of the factions that actually matter: 6. Companions The Companions are just really boring. Yeah they're werewolves but they never actually transform in combat outside of Farkas or Vilkas saving you, I can't even remember which one did it. I like the narrative of you and Aela going on a secret Silver Hand purge, but that faction isn't fleshed out at all. I like the theory that they're a splinter group that stays true to Ysgramor's beliefs but that's never actually stated in game. My favourite part of the whole story actually comes after it's already over when Farkas and Vilkas decide to cure their lycanthropy and leave Aela as the last werewolf in the Companions. The majority of the story is just really bland with bland characters to accompany it. I do love that when you beat it you can choose any member as a follower. I did the Companions first and assumed this would be standard, I went through the Dark Brotherhood looking forward to brining all the likeable characters with me, and you know how that turned out... 5. Civil War Factions Has a great start with the Jagged Crown quest and the battle for Whiterun but then devolves into attacking towers over and over again. Don't get me wrong I like fighting but I could just go to a bandit camp to do that. I do like how you actually rise through the ranks with promotions and the final capital siege battle is great. 4. College of Winterhold Definitely the coolest location. The story and quests are bland for the most part. The only parts that stand out to me are going to the Midden and the Labyrinthian one, which is arguably the best quest in the entire game. I also really liked the first quest where you have a Hogwarts style magic lesson, I would have preferred more of that and less errand running. 3. Dawnguard/Volkihar Vampires Best questline out of the factions, definitely feels like it got special treatment since it was dlc. Serana is a great character, Harkan is a fun comically evil villain, every other faction member besides the guy with Pa's axe feels samey, and even that guy becomes a generic member after you walk up with him. Oh yeah the big guy and dwarvern nerd you recruit are cool, I completely forgot about them and had to edit this part in. I was really disappointed when I played the other faction and realised it's exactly the same past the first quest. 2. Thieves Guild Amazing storyline, radiant quests that actually lead to something, loveable characters like Brynjolf, Delvin, Vex, Sapphire and that guy you find naked in the Thalmor Embassy 1. Dark Brotherhood Best storyline by far (minus the Thieves Guild's which is pretty close), best side quests by far, has the most iconic characters by far.
Trying to be as objective as possible , I think is how the factions should be from worst to best: 1. Bards College- come on, not even a contest. You can't even play an instrument and the quests are jokes for the most part. The only half-decent part is that the main quest does result in a permanent reocurring event in Solitude where they will read the lines you helped write which was kinda cool. Still, disappointing as hell 2. Companions and College - Cheating a bit here, yeah, but I'm grouping these together because they have more or less the same strengths and the same issues The bases are both METAL as hell. The former being a mead hall constructed out of the hull of an old warship and the latter basically being a magical fortress partially suspended by magic They also both have a great cast of characters, arguibly some of the best in the entire game But they both fall short due to their main quests which, while cool, are REALLY short and feel unfinished. It also doesn't help that , by the time you're done, it feels like nothing really changed in the long run and even tho you're the new leader, its just business as usual 3. Civil War- now I'll be honest, the actual faction quests for the civil storyline are kinda boring, with the exception of the city defense and attack missions which are rare to say the least But the fact that both factions have vastly different ideals,goals, characters and overarching impact on the world that is actually VISIBLE Earns them a slightly higher spot 4. Dark Brotherhood- This is where things do start getting better. The faction's bases are both pretty cool the cast of characters is pretty diverse and the storyline is much better paced with some genuenly memorable moments The big downfall of this faction is pretty similar to the companions and the college. Now I'll give credit , they actually made you taking over much more reasonable Where, by the end, despite the insane job you just pulled off , it all falls flat. There are no riots, no reprecussions for what you do at the end of the storyline It also doesn't help that, despite having a pretty diverse and interesting cast, less then a handfull of them are actually given the time of day to be properly explored There are no additional side quests aside from Nazir's additional contracts. Most of them barely even interact with you throughout the storyline which is a SHAME 5. Thieves Guild - I'm putting the Thieves Guild SLIGHTLY higher then the Brotherhood Now, the Brotherhood has better characters and even better quests on average But the Thieves Guild gains bonus points for actually exploring many of its characters, giving some of them their own side quests and having many of them actively interact with you throughout the storyline The storyline is also overall better paced, with a slow start, but an eventual buildup to a much bigger plot It also helps that you actually feel like you earned you stripes as the new leader, since you only officialy become the new Guild Master after you restore the Thieves Guild to its former glory, which can take dozens of hours of doing minor jobs 5. Volkihar- I'll be honest , I LOVE this faction and while that doesn't sway my opinion on them whatsoever it was refreshing to see a faction where (with the exception of Mercer and technically Astrid) most of its members were ready to start backstabbing each other and were only really kept in line cause their leader was just so much more powerfull then all of them combined Bu yeah, the Volkihar vampires share most of their quests with the Dawnguard towards the latter half of the DLC so the story is great either way, but the characters you meet range from delightfully scummy to disturbingly polite So much so, that, in not picking this faction you're frankly denying yourself a pretty substantial amount of content Their base is a massive gothic castle which looks like it was taken straight out of an old vampire movie Being a Vampire Lord from the start of the DLC is also cool as hell , as well as being give various upgrades for the transformation in the form of ancient vampiric rings you find And then there are little touches like the way you become the leader is both funny and fitting. You basically kill Harkon and then one of the other vampires comes in, sees his old boss's corpse as a sludge of blood and more or less says: " Congrats on the promotion, I'll be sure to tell everybody we're under new management" Its both funny and does a good job of portraying how ruthless vampire society is, to the point where literally the only thing they respect is power and cunning Being able to turn your spouse into a vampire actually having the option to blacken the sun and randomly bring attacked by Dawnguard patrols are also really nice touches They only thing that brings them down is their effect on the world is kinda minimal and the ending doesn't feel nearly as triumphant as the Dawnguard version 6. Dawnguard- alredy numbered my reasons in another comment, but to cut a long story short: Same great storyline as the vampires, most characters are meh, but the handfull thaz are cool REALLY stand out , their base is a fortress built into the side of a mountain , you get both huskies and war trolls as potential pets and FOR ONCE you're not the centre of the universe. You don't become the leader. Your part is acknowledged and respected, but overall you're a more organic part of the faction
I hoped companions had choice option. Dark brotherhood: join or kill them. War, choose side. Dawnguard: join vampires or vampire hunters. Wish i could join white hand or companions (not that i would ever betray wifey aela)
Talk to Delvin and Vex and they'll give you little Thieves Guild Quests. Complete 5 of these quests in each hold (not including The Rift or Raven Rock) and you get a special request and you grow the Guild stronger and you'll grow The Ratway as well.
I have to say I disagree with the dawnguard being above the volkihar clan. Don’t get me wrong I LOVED it but it always felt… unfinished? Like, you defeat this amazing vampire menace and you have cool quests at the end, too, but then you’re left with the same shitty, dusty old castle? Don’t you think that the dawnguard could have renovated? Why not a quest to ‘rebuild’ the castle? Imagine how cool a vampire siege on the castle could be if you also had shit like rock and fire traps! Honestly this video made me realise how SO MANY of the factions feel like that to me. Like, the college of winterhold is similar. How is it that the only class you ever have the option of going to is like 5 seconds long and you just cast a little lesser ward spell? They def should have leaned into the ‘college’ bit more IMO. I mean, you get a whole ass dorm already! Plus the civil war quest-line like you mentioned. Knowing they cut content for those two, it makes me wonder if they cut content for the dawnguard, as well?
Every faction gives you something unique and cool...except the Bards Guild that lets you pick up 3 instruments that give you some skill points, burn a dummy and never, ever lets you sing a song or play an instrument. That just doesn't make sense. Not even the drum? C'mon...let me beat the drum!
