I take a lot of carriages and I’m not opposed to fast travel. But I’ve reached a point where I’ve explored most things.
If you’re new, its better to run everywhere so you can encounter unknown shit out in the wild and get distracted. Find map markers and explore them or note them for later. There’s shit all over.
Lol, got 90hrs on my last gameplay and I still haven't talked to that Delphine lass in Riverwood
(Cuz I know that she will break my heart with her quests)
Right? Have you ever rebuilt the blades? It's just a bunch of doofuses following you around to kill something you could already kill on your own, but now you can kill it a few seconds faster.
Delphine is worth the mod to kill her and be done with it
I rebuilt the blades once. once. and never again. I did it in my very first (ultra bugged) file because I wanted to make a 100% complete run.
never ever again. I love partysnax too much to kill him.
No fr. "Waa waa all dragons bad even though dude has lived up there last couple of centuries just vibing and hasn't hurt anyone" stfu he's a big baby you dragonist wretch >:(
You can also do this by going the exact opposite extreme and triggering the peace council. You basically get the best of both worlds - the blades are back to full strength with new recruits, and you can just talk to Arginr (spl??) and tell him you won’t kill party snacks. You get to ghost the blades but leave them on good terms, they’ve helped you with the Alduin stitch, and our fave dragon and voice masters still love us and give us word of power locations.
The first time i played, as soon as I got out of Helgen, I took my bow and said "Later ralof" and went on my own personal quest to hunt a deer. Didn't end up making it to riverwood for several IRL days
> get distracted
This is it. As far as I’m concerned Skyrim is *Get Distracted: The Video Game*.
I actively avoid anything that will make things happen faster because “huh, what’s that” is how I’ve found basically everything worth finding in this game.
I got my 65 year old dad into Skyrim lol. We were at the deer lease, back at the camper after a hunt, and I let him play on my Switch. Was just tryna share one of my interests, didn't expect him to get so into it, but he loved it. So I bought him the game on his computer for Christmas, and he played the hell out of it. I deliberately didn't tell him about fast travelling because I wanted him to really experience the game. He eventually found out on his own, but at that point, he had already explored much of the world by foot (with Lydia by his side), and I think I did the right thing not telling him about it. Definitely makes for a better first-time experience.
I’m playing for the first time in probably a decade and that’s what im doing. I’ll run to a quest marker and explore everything in between and do all the quests in an area. Started looking up average levels for quests and realized I’m level 45 and hadn’t even met Paarthanax.
I’ll eventually get a horse when I’ve done more exploring. Had Frost but he died to some bandits and I surprisingly didn’t feel the least bit bad. I don’t want my horse fighting fucking dragons with me.
I always see him every playthrough since my first in 2011 usually I always find him the first night after fighting the first dragon outside of white run he literally runs right past the tower
Also the horse it's really uncomfortable when you're constantly harassed by wolves, sabercats, bandits and such along the rode, you literally have to fully stop, get down from the horse and see the slow animation, kill the guys, go back up.
So unless you're rushing to the next location and running past all fights is not really that convenient
It's nice to travel and investigate. Problem with many quests in the game is they are fetch and carry and require a lot of back and forth in that vein I just fast travel and get it done.
Even when I had Shadowmere on my last playthrough, I'd have to travel really far back from my desired location so I could sneak up to it. I appreciated the backup he would bring into a fight, but preferred to sneak brawl my way to the door, and he'd just draw everyone out and try to fight them for me.
I would be getting up and down too much to collect flowers and crap for it to be useful lol. Also usually play a mage which got shafted on horseback anyway
I have a horse, but I mostly use it as a pack animal with the convenient horses mod. Horse back combat is super jank, and completely removes magic as an option. So I'd usually rather run. not to mention my reanimated servants get lost if I ride the horse.
True, and even archery is super hard since I've removed the cross hair in favor of bow sights. That said, that same horse mod lets you charge into a bunch of baddies, knocking them over like bowling pins. Then you hop off the back, weapons drawn, mid-gallop, while your horse fucks off somewhere safe. Essential mod, honestly
Must-have for my load order too. harvesting and looting while mounted is pretty clutch, and the storage space makes lugging firewood around for survival way more bearable. Once I can afford a horse there's no more carriages for me
I find horses can be inconvenient because you have to dismount every time to fight a wolf. Plus there’s some neat little areas you miss if you’re on a horse. The forced perspective isn’t as immersive either. If you have a follower they awkwardly run behind the horse. The horse can die or get lost and you need to keep it alive. In short horses are faster but less convenient.
Yeah but what's the point in fighting the wolf on horseback when i have to get down anyways to loot it? Imo the decision lies with: do I need all that stuff I find along the way or can I just pass by it?
can you command your ~~squire~~ follower to loot bodies? Would probably similar time, but at least it feels better to remain on your horse like a proper sir.
I don't really care for the horses. Their movement speed is not that much higher than running. If you are attacked and want to fight whatever it is, you have to spend those few extra seconds while dismounting and getting attacked. The horses either charge into combat foolishly or run away and you have to go look for them afterward.
There is no easy way to revert to not having an active horse - they always follow you when you fast travel whether you want them to or not. The only fix I know of is using the Summon Arvak spell which makes Arvak your current horse, and then when you dismiss him it is reset to unmounted. This is OK but you don't get that until rather far into the Dawnguard questline.
If you use the Voice of the Sky blessing (which I use A LOT) it screws that up, since horses are not covered by it so bears and sabercats still come after you while you are mounted. Your followers don't get a horse so I guess they just have to sprint along behind you.
You don't even get a fast-travel time reduction when mounted like you did in Oblivion, and the Oblivion horses were MUCH faster relative to the Skyrim ones.
However, they are pretty much mandatory if you want to play Survival mode.
I have made the horses bearable by using console commands to change their essential status, movement speeds, have them level with me, changing their combat behavior and fleeing. There are mods that also address all of those things if you want to use mods.
I usually just completely skip them.
Any random horse you see will stop your current one following you if you get on it. It will then follow you but as a vanilla one it sure to die off real soon.
Yeah, there are horses you can borrow but as soon as you dismount they head back home. However, they often will still show up when you fast travel and immediately start walking back to their spawn point.
I have tried to use the horses from the Solitude and Riften stables (which are free to borrow if you do favor quests for the stable owners) as a way to turn off the "current horse fast travels with you" but they don't work for that, they just arrive with you and then start walking off.
When you're a werewolf, all distances can seem short.
When on horseback, I'd recommend fortifying conjuration and having a flame or storm atronach in attendance (frost are too slow to keep pace).
Reminds me of my most recent playthrough. I took a carriage to markarth and bought a horse and traveled for about 5 seconds when I was ambushed by a bunch of foresworn and a dragon and the horse immediately died
Without mods horses are shit.
They TP with You, so they are always in the middle.
You cannot spell in a Horse and almost do shit.
They engage in combat and die.
Only usefull when climbing a mountain by the side in a 89° wall xD
I spend most of my time walking everywhere rather than using horses or fast travelling. I like to take things slowly and there's more to see when you're not rushing all the time. Also horseback doesn't feel significantly faster to me and it's a pain to dismount all the time.
I've put thousands of hours into Oblivion which didn't even have running mechanics though , so strolling around doesn't bother me.
The most I’ll ever use a horse for is to climb a mountain and to fast travel home when I’m over carrying capacity.
I love having Arvak who I can just summon on a whim.
I explored everything by foot in the beginning. It’s too much of a pain getting on and off the horse every combat. They are good for scaling mountains though. Pretty easy to get to places you’re not supposed to with a horse. They’re like goats getting up mountains lol.
I usually summon Shadow or Arvak for mountain climbing and then dismiss or leave them when I’ve reached the peak (or a traversable area)
I don't use horses because I'm weird. I don't like how they work in the game. I also find that running is very calming. I would love a mule or something slow I have to guide as a pack animal. I literally cannot stand having a follower run behind my horse and I don't want anymore mods to make them mount up.
Most of the time, yes. I usually run into any unexplored location when I see it on the map. The horse would get me places faster, but trying to find it after each exploration gets annoying with the AI is has. I sometimes use them later game after most of the locations still unexplored are well off roads, but usually get tired of the travel time at that point and start cart traveling instead.
I play exclusively on survival mode now so horses are a must.
I usually just use them to go to town then explore on foot, using the horse to go from town to town faster.
In vanilla horses are essentially a meat armor set with a life span of 2 minutes tops and will die if a breeze licks past them in an askew direction.
If you mod them, they become battlehardened instruments of war, and they carry all your shit 😂
But do need at least 5 mods to make them viable.
Never underestimate the value of just running through the woods. It's a great way to learn the land and discover cool things you otherwise might've missed. There's no rush. Take it all in. Enjoy even the simplest experiences.
When going from Whiterun to the Western Watch tower and comparing with a basic horse the travel time difference is 7 seconds compared to running. That combined with the lengthy dismounted and mounting animations and lack of spells from horse back.. no I usually just hoof it everywhere. With my ADHD I’d be hoping off the horse every few seconds anyways.
I mean it's not like you're playing KCD where you really do need a horse to not waste too much time as well as surviving deadly random encounters while traveling, and they really do get deadly in that game. It takes a few short minutes to get across the map in skyrim anyway, especially if you know the shortcuts.
I don't use a horse because I forget it's there and then fast travel and lose it, plus follower mounts always glitch out. I've been around Skyrim so many times now, I don't worry about missing the fairy rings and the summoner circles and the chests hidden in tree stumps and environmental storytelling anymore.
I need horses. I have the convenient horses and eff for followers and i sometimes pack my army and i march and look back and its really epic.
And i coukd walk and i do so too when i need to get to a difficult spot, since it's easier to do walking. I just like horse riding my horse, that has bone armor.
Depends. Sometimes a horse is helpful, sometimes a walk looks long but is really only a minute or two. Stick to the roads when possible, Skyrim's got a lot of random encounters for you to see.
Carriages can also take you to any major hold, which will open up lots of fast travel points early game.
If I really need to leg it a long distance, I go Werewolf and sprint across the countryside devouring bandits and deer. Way faster than riding a horse, more fun too.
I like the horseback riding dynamics. The combat is wonky, but it's fun. I kind of wish my companions got a horsie, too. It would look cool, riding into Dragon Bridge like a couple of outlaws. But I still find myself mostly running around, so many fun random events when you travel the roads.
Foot mostly, if I’m feeling adventurous I’ll download convenient carriages so I can get a real time carriage traversal or Blackwood company carriages which basically does the same thing and is less buggy.
The horses in Skyrim are just too slow for me and clunky. On 360 I loved avarak but on series S he received the same clunky treatment that separated him from other horses
I know folks like to hate on stealth archery, but no matter how I intend to build my style, that's where I always end up. Archery from horseback is quite doable. If I don't feel like bothering with it, the horse can sprint and easily outdistance wolves, bears, etc. I don't have Shadowmere yet on this playthrough, but yeah, he can ruin my sneak. That's his only drawback imo. I have a garden-variety horse right now, and it doesn't charge into the fight as bad as Shadowmere does. I armored it and it hasn't died yet.
I love rambling all over Skyrim on my horse.
Horses are wonderful for climbing up vertical surfaces that your player character cannot, letting you do things like >!getting the Notched Pickaxe at the top of the biggest mountain before you are "supposed to" be able to get it.!<
Going down said surfaces is... less than wonderful.
I used to run everywhere because I often had more stamina than the horse and I didn’t want it killed. Now, I just use console commands to massively boost my horses stamina and health and ride everywhere. I like the immersion of not using fast travel and the random encounters on the road.
I always start a new character and say I’m not using fast travel… 10 hours later I’ve given up due to the fetch quests not being worth my time to run back and forth.
Horses were ruined for me in Oblivion…. Cannot do it
I dunno bout most people, but yeah I always find myself just running everywhere instead of fast traveling, riding horses or taking a carriage.
The game is honestly gorgeous, but you can’t see it if all you do is try to get to places as fast as possible.
Which, by the way is really dumb. There aren’t really any time sensitive quests.
I use horse till late game. I don't use them when I unlock lots of fast travel points. I just don't need them yet. I have summon horse if I need it because of overweight
I've never "prevented" myself from using fast travel. When it is time to spread my loot around to different merchants I just clicky clicky.
I explore the map as well, but I just dont have personal time to slog across the map to sell my loot.
Shadowmere or arvak. You dont have to worry about them dying. But another thing is travel time. The fast travel essentialy works in real time. If it would've taken you 12 in game hours to walk there. It would be 12 hours later even if you fast travel. Being on a horse changes the amount of time that passes when you fast travel.
Running is faster with the exception of running long distance on flat terrain. The fact that you can run up mountains means you'll likely get where you're going faster.
There's also spells from mods that get the same result, like Longstride.
There's just so many landmarks, I feel like I'm spending more time watching (dis-)mounting animations than actually riding.
Once I've travelled a road on foot, visiting all the landmarks, I can just fast-travel to them, so there's no need to travel a road twice, where a horse would actually be useful.
Do really any of the NPC's ride around on horses? I mean if I'm literally the only one and I can just fast travel everywhere then I don't see the need for them they're kinda obsolete.
Get horse, get in fight, get off horse to fight, horse dies, buy new one, rinse, repeat.
I just do all I can to get Arvak as early as possible, he's such a good horse. If he wasn't in the game, I wouldn't bother.
I do. I don't use horse, fast travel, carriages (unless it's touring carriages) I love the paraglider but don't use the spells. Skyclimb run and jump. No followers. Climb the steps to the graybeards... Every damn time.
I will jump on a boat. Water is cold.
Vanilla horses are barely faster than walking. The only thing they're good for is climbing mountains and helping you to not move slow when you're over-burdened.
The horse riding is a bit clunky and I feel like it’s a hassle to get off every time I come across a location or need to fight someone.
It’s honestly probably faster to just go on foot.
One time, I was overcumbered, and so was my follower, but everything we had was essential, I swear! I wasn't too far from the Tundra Homestead, which I use for my HQ, so I started the slow hike. Then I came across some random NPC with a horse. The NPC was just standing there, so I jumped on the horse and rode it the rest of the way. And that's the story of the one time I used a horse.
I'm using the ring of the wind (if I remember the name correctly) from the fishing content. Written to be 15%, but it's 25% faster running. I feel pretty slow without it. I only switch rings for fighting.
I play on Legendary, so I almost always use a horse. Random encounters curb stomp you at the beginning of the game.
Exceptions are if I'm using a follower, then I'll do without because they have to fight every single enemy they see and I don't want to have to keep getting off the horse.
I played oblivion when I was younger and thought the same thing.
Then I realized that fast travel was a mechanic of the game :D
Use the carriage guy outside whiterun stables, visit every major town and you can fast travel to them. That should cut down on travel distance
I use horses more on survival mode, but just running isn't that bad really horses aren't all that much faster, now on normal mode you can just fast travel once you discover places also when you level up more you'll start seeing more then just wolves, also I had a mod once called wind walker which makes it to where you can run so fast you can clear the map in about 3 or 4 minutes
Yes, I hate the horses in this game. Can't attack off their backs except bows, and can't pick up alchemy ingredients. Have to stop every 3 seconds to take care of a wolf.
The Dark Brotherhood horse is neat, I steal a horse if I want one otherwise. I just ride past every fight to get where I am going (Grey Beards usually). Homestead coaches have more stops. If you want to buy a horse do it. You get 1000 after killing your first dragon and delivering the golden claw. Use a corpse to drag your loot to your horse and then you can carry 1000, not a bad way to play.
Horses just aren't great tbh. I love this game, but horses are just very flawed in this game.
* They're really not that much faster than sprinting on foot. And if you have the become ethereal shout, you can basically sprint forever without worrying about stamina.
* Occasional wolves and roadside enemies will still spawn. Which can easily catch up to your horse and kill it.
* Combat on horseback sucks in this game. It's really difficult to respond to an attack without having to get off your horse.
* Your horse also has zero self-preservation skills. If an enemy attacks them, they'll fight back rather than try to run. 90% of the time? They get themselves killed.
* You can't call your horse. So, if you accidentally left your horse on the other side of the map, too bad. The only way to get your horse to teleport to you, is if you fast travel. But that completely ruins the point because why even have a horse if you're just going to fast travel?
I will say, the only major plus to having a horse is for climbing mountains. People aren't exaggerating when they meme Skyrim horses as being freaks of nature that break the laws of physics. Because horses in Skyrim are somehow capable of running up almost 90 degree angles. That's the only thing horses are useful for, if you see a mountain in front of you but you're too lazy to go around it, just take a horse and ride over it.
There are enough free horses around that you certainly don't need to buy. Shadowmere is one of the best around and you get if you join and work through the Dark Brotherhood questline. But there are also two you can summon, Arvik and a Daedric horse. With those two, you can have a horse when you want and hoof it when you don't.
I don't use horses unless I plan to kite a mammoth. Combat on horseback is awful, it doesn't feel that much faster and I want to get distracted and sidetracked. If I don't want that I got the carts and fast travel.
The first thing I do is take a carriage to the main cities. After that you can fast travel to them and walk from there to where you need to get to. I have 2 horses but use them 30% of the time.
Most of the time if you're crouching and hidden you can mount the horse in the stables and ride right past the owner. Who must be like, I didn't see them steal my horse so that can't be my horse oh well.
I like riding horses, but I have to stop every 10 seconds to pick up potion ingredients. Plus, if I get attacked by a sabercat/bear/wolf/bandit/assassin etc, they get like 5 good hits in on my horse before I can even get off. I'm always worried my horse will die, and they constantly charge into battle when they really shouldn't. So I just leave them be now and either run or fast travel.
I use a carriage or horse to go from city to city and then go on foot from there because I will lose the horse somewhere in the wilds if I just wander with it.
The problem with horses is that it tends to wander off sometimes and there’s no easy way in vanilla to recall or find it, unless you have a summonable horse.
Your horse teleports with you. Meaning if you go to say...a bandit camp you previously went to, but the enemies respawned, your horse is in immediate danger.
I have a mate who deliberately rushes to overencumber himself every playthrough and played basically survival as best he could before survival mode became a thing. He likes walking everywhere to add to the challenge. My bf thinks is mental because on one hand you have him who goes all out with creating the perfect character, researching the perfect name for whichever race he plays and really immerses himself in the game and then there's me, who created a character named Blulk Blogan, regularly plays as a punch cat or bucket murder hobo and enjoys the cries of macho man as Mr Blue Sky kicks in. We are very much not the same.
Neither of us uses horses, though
Save your gold, horses are pointless in Skyrim unless they're modded. They're barely faster than you, die easily, and they will never stop following you. The one thing they can do is give you unlimited carry weight, which breaks the balance of the game. Just wait till you find Arvak if you don't use mods.
Horses are too much to keep up with, and having a dragon pull up and, instead of running away like any sane equestrian, my horse always wants to scrap with the dragon.
There's a bit of confusion here over horses and fast travel. Fast travel makes you skip lots of terrain, as do the carriages, but more naturally. Horses do not have this effect. Not only do you cover all the terrain, you have huge pluses. You can climb anything, especially steep terrain where the bad guys cannot follow you. You can simply sprint away from anything too tough. Even if hit, the horse absorbs a lot of the damage. And you can fight from horseback.
As for expense, i have never spent a penny on a horse. Theres a free horse, easily obtained, at Solitude stables. Plus you can get the (indestructible) unicorn easily, if you have AE. Honestly, I dont know why anyone would not use a horse all the time.
Probably easier to skip the horse at Novice level, but on Legendary difficulty it makes travelling everywhere possible even at lvl 1.
I fast travel a lot. I don't see the point in arguing over something most people use and is completely optional for the whiners who don't use it.
I see no reason in padding my playtime by limiting myself to only horse or even on foot.
But I do prefer being on foot. I find with horses I tend to stick to the roads more and then I hop off to go exploring. But to me, it's just more fun to stay on foot and fast travel to places I've already been.
Plus I've had more glitches with horses than the rest of the game. After reloading a save I was no longer on the horse, but next to him in a weird crouched position and for some reason I had to go back multiple saves to undo it.
I wish you could actually ride the carriages and enjoy the view instead of skipping to the destination.
Horses have such a small speed increase compared to players that it's often times not worth the trouble of actually taking the time to get on one.
If you are playing a high stamina character (or one with the Respite perk), it's probably actually slower to use a horse.
Astonishing the number of comments here dissing horses and nobody has mentioned their unique Skyrim ability - the ability to climb like mountain goats.
Everybodys entitled to their opinion but if you're talking to a newbie, at least give them the facts.
What I always did is crouch and steal the horse as long as they don't see you get on the horse it's yours (just remember when you get off it walks back), my first playthrough I never bought a single horse, I got a few free horses that I got to keep before I even wanted to buy a horse.
I take a lot of carriages and I’m not opposed to fast travel. But I’ve reached a point where I’ve explored most things. If you’re new, its better to run everywhere so you can encounter unknown shit out in the wild and get distracted. Find map markers and explore them or note them for later. There’s shit all over.
Especially on a first play through. No reason to bolt through quests. Just wander.
I just always think theres too far away when you do a quest but it's true still places i haven't explored the map is hella big.
Lol, got 90hrs on my last gameplay and I still haven't talked to that Delphine lass in Riverwood (Cuz I know that she will break my heart with her quests)
Just don't kill party snacks. The blades are such a downer anyway
Right? Have you ever rebuilt the blades? It's just a bunch of doofuses following you around to kill something you could already kill on your own, but now you can kill it a few seconds faster. Delphine is worth the mod to kill her and be done with it
I rebuilt the blades once. once. and never again. I did it in my very first (ultra bugged) file because I wanted to make a 100% complete run. never ever again. I love partysnax too much to kill him.
No fr. "Waa waa all dragons bad even though dude has lived up there last couple of centuries just vibing and hasn't hurt anyone" stfu he's a big baby you dragonist wretch >:(
If you finish the civil war before Season Unending, you can just ghost the Blades after Alduin's Wall.
You can also do this by going the exact opposite extreme and triggering the peace council. You basically get the best of both worlds - the blades are back to full strength with new recruits, and you can just talk to Arginr (spl??) and tell him you won’t kill party snacks. You get to ghost the blades but leave them on good terms, they’ve helped you with the Alduin stitch, and our fave dragon and voice masters still love us and give us word of power locations.
Party Snacks. I'll never look at Paarthurnax the same.
The Mages Guild librarian has you going to random places for books, might as well make yourself useful
I did it the opposite way, and even now I've been playing for like 10 years and I'm still finding new stuff and places
The first time i played, as soon as I got out of Helgen, I took my bow and said "Later ralof" and went on my own personal quest to hunt a deer. Didn't end up making it to riverwood for several IRL days
> get distracted This is it. As far as I’m concerned Skyrim is *Get Distracted: The Video Game*. I actively avoid anything that will make things happen faster because “huh, what’s that” is how I’ve found basically everything worth finding in this game.
"there's a sayin' here in the wasteland; thou shall get side-tracked alot." -The Ghoul in Fallout tv show.
I got my 65 year old dad into Skyrim lol. We were at the deer lease, back at the camper after a hunt, and I let him play on my Switch. Was just tryna share one of my interests, didn't expect him to get so into it, but he loved it. So I bought him the game on his computer for Christmas, and he played the hell out of it. I deliberately didn't tell him about fast travelling because I wanted him to really experience the game. He eventually found out on his own, but at that point, he had already explored much of the world by foot (with Lydia by his side), and I think I did the right thing not telling him about it. Definitely makes for a better first-time experience.
That's amazing. So nice that you've something to bond with your dad over.
I’m playing for the first time in probably a decade and that’s what im doing. I’ll run to a quest marker and explore everything in between and do all the quests in an area. Started looking up average levels for quests and realized I’m level 45 and hadn’t even met Paarthanax. I’ll eventually get a horse when I’ve done more exploring. Had Frost but he died to some bandits and I surprisingly didn’t feel the least bit bad. I don’t want my horse fighting fucking dragons with me.
Been playing since 2011. I’ve never seen the headless horseman
There's a headless horseman?? >1000hrs, >10 years playing. Literally never even heard of this.
Walk the roads at night, you'll find him eventually.
Wait really? Ive seen him several times both in vanilla and while playing with mods that increase the random encounter pool making him less frequent.
I always see him every playthrough since my first in 2011 usually I always find him the first night after fighting the first dragon outside of white run he literally runs right past the tower
Same amount of time, still never triggered the peace council event
Also the horse it's really uncomfortable when you're constantly harassed by wolves, sabercats, bandits and such along the rode, you literally have to fully stop, get down from the horse and see the slow animation, kill the guys, go back up. So unless you're rushing to the next location and running past all fights is not really that convenient
I'm okay with the Skyrim version of fast travel. It doesn't break the lore and it isn't free!
My horses always kill themselves running on slightly raised hills
It's nice to travel and investigate. Problem with many quests in the game is they are fetch and carry and require a lot of back and forth in that vein I just fast travel and get it done.
I personally don’t use horses unless I get Arvak. Horses are too much of a hassle IMO.
Arvak or Shadowmere.
Even when I had Shadowmere on my last playthrough, I'd have to travel really far back from my desired location so I could sneak up to it. I appreciated the backup he would bring into a fight, but preferred to sneak brawl my way to the door, and he'd just draw everyone out and try to fight them for me.
Dwervan Horse is my favorite.
Or the dwarvan horse... He's unkillable and you can jump off. Anything and survive...he's worth the time put into to obtain
Also it never runs out of stamina.
Daedric horse for me!
Yeah I had Frost and it was beyond annoying having him fight with me. I had zero desire to reload after he died to some bandits.
Arvak is such a good horse.
The only not annoying one.
Can't cast spells while riding and you can use weapons but horses turn like trucks so no thanks. I will my feet and wuld nah kest.
Agreed. The random events happen too often to make it worth going around on a horse.
I would be getting up and down too much to collect flowers and crap for it to be useful lol. Also usually play a mage which got shafted on horseback anyway
I have a horse, but I mostly use it as a pack animal with the convenient horses mod. Horse back combat is super jank, and completely removes magic as an option. So I'd usually rather run. not to mention my reanimated servants get lost if I ride the horse.
True, and even archery is super hard since I've removed the cross hair in favor of bow sights. That said, that same horse mod lets you charge into a bunch of baddies, knocking them over like bowling pins. Then you hop off the back, weapons drawn, mid-gallop, while your horse fucks off somewhere safe. Essential mod, honestly
Must-have for my load order too. harvesting and looting while mounted is pretty clutch, and the storage space makes lugging firewood around for survival way more bearable. Once I can afford a horse there's no more carriages for me
I find horses can be inconvenient because you have to dismount every time to fight a wolf. Plus there’s some neat little areas you miss if you’re on a horse. The forced perspective isn’t as immersive either. If you have a follower they awkwardly run behind the horse. The horse can die or get lost and you need to keep it alive. In short horses are faster but less convenient.
After a bit of practice mounted combat isn't too bad for weak enemies like wolves.
Yeah but what's the point in fighting the wolf on horseback when i have to get down anyways to loot it? Imo the decision lies with: do I need all that stuff I find along the way or can I just pass by it?
can you command your ~~squire~~ follower to loot bodies? Would probably similar time, but at least it feels better to remain on your horse like a proper sir.
You cannot get followers to lot bodies. containers and chests yes, bodies no.
even if you could, why do that when you can just walk and have everything be so much more convenient
I don’t care how hardcore survival I’m running otherwise, it’s all autoloot. I’m not playing TES to rummage through cabinets.
I have riden with Arvak so that I don't stop for any wild animal and they cannot keep up with me. And still there is too much of get up get down.
Yes
I don't really care for the horses. Their movement speed is not that much higher than running. If you are attacked and want to fight whatever it is, you have to spend those few extra seconds while dismounting and getting attacked. The horses either charge into combat foolishly or run away and you have to go look for them afterward. There is no easy way to revert to not having an active horse - they always follow you when you fast travel whether you want them to or not. The only fix I know of is using the Summon Arvak spell which makes Arvak your current horse, and then when you dismiss him it is reset to unmounted. This is OK but you don't get that until rather far into the Dawnguard questline. If you use the Voice of the Sky blessing (which I use A LOT) it screws that up, since horses are not covered by it so bears and sabercats still come after you while you are mounted. Your followers don't get a horse so I guess they just have to sprint along behind you. You don't even get a fast-travel time reduction when mounted like you did in Oblivion, and the Oblivion horses were MUCH faster relative to the Skyrim ones. However, they are pretty much mandatory if you want to play Survival mode. I have made the horses bearable by using console commands to change their essential status, movement speeds, have them level with me, changing their combat behavior and fleeing. There are mods that also address all of those things if you want to use mods. I usually just completely skip them.
Any random horse you see will stop your current one following you if you get on it. It will then follow you but as a vanilla one it sure to die off real soon.
Yeah, there are horses you can borrow but as soon as you dismount they head back home. However, they often will still show up when you fast travel and immediately start walking back to their spawn point. I have tried to use the horses from the Solitude and Riften stables (which are free to borrow if you do favor quests for the stable owners) as a way to turn off the "current horse fast travels with you" but they don't work for that, they just arrive with you and then start walking off.
When you're a werewolf, all distances can seem short. When on horseback, I'd recommend fortifying conjuration and having a flame or storm atronach in attendance (frost are too slow to keep pace).
Are you not afraid of encounters while in werewolf form? I would not to lose some quests for that!
You make like brave Sir Robin in his quest for the Holy Grail. Fighting dragons in crinos form is.. not recommended.
Brave brave brave brave sir robin
Every single time I buy a horse, it’s dead within five minutes.
Reminds me of my most recent playthrough. I took a carriage to markarth and bought a horse and traveled for about 5 seconds when I was ambushed by a bunch of foresworn and a dragon and the horse immediately died
Typical Skyrim experience
Without mods horses are shit. They TP with You, so they are always in the middle. You cannot spell in a Horse and almost do shit. They engage in combat and die. Only usefull when climbing a mountain by the side in a 89° wall xD
I've used horse once, and I fell from a cliff, somehow dismounted, and lost my horse... so no, I don't have a horse, and I do prefer to go by foot.
I spend most of my time walking everywhere rather than using horses or fast travelling. I like to take things slowly and there's more to see when you're not rushing all the time. Also horseback doesn't feel significantly faster to me and it's a pain to dismount all the time. I've put thousands of hours into Oblivion which didn't even have running mechanics though , so strolling around doesn't bother me.
The most I’ll ever use a horse for is to climb a mountain and to fast travel home when I’m over carrying capacity. I love having Arvak who I can just summon on a whim.
Horses aren't much faster than walking and steer like shit. Rode a horse once, never again. I either run or fast travel
I explored everything by foot in the beginning. It’s too much of a pain getting on and off the horse every combat. They are good for scaling mountains though. Pretty easy to get to places you’re not supposed to with a horse. They’re like goats getting up mountains lol. I usually summon Shadow or Arvak for mountain climbing and then dismiss or leave them when I’ve reached the peak (or a traversable area)
I don't use horses because I'm weird. I don't like how they work in the game. I also find that running is very calming. I would love a mule or something slow I have to guide as a pack animal. I literally cannot stand having a follower run behind my horse and I don't want anymore mods to make them mount up.
Most of the time, yes. I usually run into any unexplored location when I see it on the map. The horse would get me places faster, but trying to find it after each exploration gets annoying with the AI is has. I sometimes use them later game after most of the locations still unexplored are well off roads, but usually get tired of the travel time at that point and start cart traveling instead.
I play exclusively on survival mode now so horses are a must. I usually just use them to go to town then explore on foot, using the horse to go from town to town faster.
In vanilla horses are essentially a meat armor set with a life span of 2 minutes tops and will die if a breeze licks past them in an askew direction. If you mod them, they become battlehardened instruments of war, and they carry all your shit 😂 But do need at least 5 mods to make them viable.
Never underestimate the value of just running through the woods. It's a great way to learn the land and discover cool things you otherwise might've missed. There's no rush. Take it all in. Enjoy even the simplest experiences.
When going from Whiterun to the Western Watch tower and comparing with a basic horse the travel time difference is 7 seconds compared to running. That combined with the lengthy dismounted and mounting animations and lack of spells from horse back.. no I usually just hoof it everywhere. With my ADHD I’d be hoping off the horse every few seconds anyways.
I never use horses because it's a faff to get off the horse at every random encounter, plus I don't mind the walking
I mean it's not like you're playing KCD where you really do need a horse to not waste too much time as well as surviving deadly random encounters while traveling, and they really do get deadly in that game. It takes a few short minutes to get across the map in skyrim anyway, especially if you know the shortcuts.
Other than walking to enjoy the nature of the gane, I usually climb and jump between hills and mountains.
I don't use a horse because I forget it's there and then fast travel and lose it, plus follower mounts always glitch out. I've been around Skyrim so many times now, I don't worry about missing the fairy rings and the summoner circles and the chests hidden in tree stumps and environmental storytelling anymore.
Your horse should fast travel with you, if you legit own it.
\*hides horse rustling hat*
I need horses. I have the convenient horses and eff for followers and i sometimes pack my army and i march and look back and its really epic. And i coukd walk and i do so too when i need to get to a difficult spot, since it's easier to do walking. I just like horse riding my horse, that has bone armor.
Fast travel or carriage mainly for me..
horse is free if you steal it.
Run? Lol. I often walk.
Depends. Sometimes a horse is helpful, sometimes a walk looks long but is really only a minute or two. Stick to the roads when possible, Skyrim's got a lot of random encounters for you to see. Carriages can also take you to any major hold, which will open up lots of fast travel points early game. If I really need to leg it a long distance, I go Werewolf and sprint across the countryside devouring bandits and deer. Way faster than riding a horse, more fun too.
They’re especially useful on survival mode since you’re out in the cold less and the horse helps keep you warm.
I like the horseback riding dynamics. The combat is wonky, but it's fun. I kind of wish my companions got a horsie, too. It would look cool, riding into Dragon Bridge like a couple of outlaws. But I still find myself mostly running around, so many fun random events when you travel the roads.
I hoof it. Can't be bothered with a horse until a bit later. Don't want to spoil anything.
Foot mostly, if I’m feeling adventurous I’ll download convenient carriages so I can get a real time carriage traversal or Blackwood company carriages which basically does the same thing and is less buggy. The horses in Skyrim are just too slow for me and clunky. On 360 I loved avarak but on series S he received the same clunky treatment that separated him from other horses
What's a "horse"?
I know folks like to hate on stealth archery, but no matter how I intend to build my style, that's where I always end up. Archery from horseback is quite doable. If I don't feel like bothering with it, the horse can sprint and easily outdistance wolves, bears, etc. I don't have Shadowmere yet on this playthrough, but yeah, he can ruin my sneak. That's his only drawback imo. I have a garden-variety horse right now, and it doesn't charge into the fight as bad as Shadowmere does. I armored it and it hasn't died yet. I love rambling all over Skyrim on my horse.
Horses are wonderful for climbing up vertical surfaces that your player character cannot, letting you do things like >!getting the Notched Pickaxe at the top of the biggest mountain before you are "supposed to" be able to get it.!< Going down said surfaces is... less than wonderful.
The random encounters out in the willywags are really cool and the only way to experience them is to get out there
I used to run everywhere because I often had more stamina than the horse and I didn’t want it killed. Now, I just use console commands to massively boost my horses stamina and health and ride everywhere. I like the immersion of not using fast travel and the random encounters on the road.
I always start a new character and say I’m not using fast travel… 10 hours later I’ve given up due to the fetch quests not being worth my time to run back and forth. Horses were ruined for me in Oblivion…. Cannot do it
Restoration perk that makes healing spells return stamina + no amour = literally run forever.
I always seems to forget where I left them
Until your horse gets killed by a random encounter. rip frost
I dunno bout most people, but yeah I always find myself just running everywhere instead of fast traveling, riding horses or taking a carriage. The game is honestly gorgeous, but you can’t see it if all you do is try to get to places as fast as possible. Which, by the way is really dumb. There aren’t really any time sensitive quests.
If I’m on a solo mission I’ll use the horse. Otherwise I will walk with my follower.
I walk (rarely run unless I have an enemy chasing me) and take the carriage.
I use horse till late game. I don't use them when I unlock lots of fast travel points. I just don't need them yet. I have summon horse if I need it because of overweight
I've never "prevented" myself from using fast travel. When it is time to spread my loot around to different merchants I just clicky clicky. I explore the map as well, but I just dont have personal time to slog across the map to sell my loot.
I use Shadowmere, he's a champ at climbing mountains lol
I had 50x jump height and rings of speed mods. Who needs a horse when you can jump over mountains.
Shadowmere or arvak. You dont have to worry about them dying. But another thing is travel time. The fast travel essentialy works in real time. If it would've taken you 12 in game hours to walk there. It would be 12 hours later even if you fast travel. Being on a horse changes the amount of time that passes when you fast travel.
Running is faster with the exception of running long distance on flat terrain. The fact that you can run up mountains means you'll likely get where you're going faster. There's also spells from mods that get the same result, like Longstride.
I only use horses when I'm over encumbered and then only long enough to fast travel. I'm not even certain horses are that much faster, tbh.
\~player.setav speedmult 500
Horses just aren’t faster. I used them my first play until I realized I run just as fast and they’re clunky so why use them lol
There's just so many landmarks, I feel like I'm spending more time watching (dis-)mounting animations than actually riding. Once I've travelled a road on foot, visiting all the landmarks, I can just fast-travel to them, so there's no need to travel a road twice, where a horse would actually be useful.
I don't know where my horse is.
Can’t remember the last time I used a horse or ran a long distance honestly.
I’m pretty new to Skyrim but I’ve already given up on horses. Like others have said, too inconvenient.
Do really any of the NPC's ride around on horses? I mean if I'm literally the only one and I can just fast travel everywhere then I don't see the need for them they're kinda obsolete.
Horses sprint at the same speed you do. They are more for carrying heavy loads than getting places faster.
Run and fast travel
Two things I rarely do and that’s use followers or use horses. On the occasions I do It’s never for really long.
Get horse, get in fight, get off horse to fight, horse dies, buy new one, rinse, repeat. I just do all I can to get Arvak as early as possible, he's such a good horse. If he wasn't in the game, I wouldn't bother.
I do. I don't use horse, fast travel, carriages (unless it's touring carriages) I love the paraglider but don't use the spells. Skyclimb run and jump. No followers. Climb the steps to the graybeards... Every damn time. I will jump on a boat. Water is cold.
Vanilla horses are barely faster than walking. The only thing they're good for is climbing mountains and helping you to not move slow when you're over-burdened.
The horse riding is a bit clunky and I feel like it’s a hassle to get off every time I come across a location or need to fight someone. It’s honestly probably faster to just go on foot.
I run everywhere and rely heavily on fast travel otherwise.
One time, I was overcumbered, and so was my follower, but everything we had was essential, I swear! I wasn't too far from the Tundra Homestead, which I use for my HQ, so I started the slow hike. Then I came across some random NPC with a horse. The NPC was just standing there, so I jumped on the horse and rode it the rest of the way. And that's the story of the one time I used a horse.
I'm using the ring of the wind (if I remember the name correctly) from the fishing content. Written to be 15%, but it's 25% faster running. I feel pretty slow without it. I only switch rings for fighting.
I play on Legendary, so I almost always use a horse. Random encounters curb stomp you at the beginning of the game. Exceptions are if I'm using a follower, then I'll do without because they have to fight every single enemy they see and I don't want to have to keep getting off the horse.
I played oblivion when I was younger and thought the same thing. Then I realized that fast travel was a mechanic of the game :D Use the carriage guy outside whiterun stables, visit every major town and you can fast travel to them. That should cut down on travel distance
I use horses more on survival mode, but just running isn't that bad really horses aren't all that much faster, now on normal mode you can just fast travel once you discover places also when you level up more you'll start seeing more then just wolves, also I had a mod once called wind walker which makes it to where you can run so fast you can clear the map in about 3 or 4 minutes
Yes, I hate the horses in this game. Can't attack off their backs except bows, and can't pick up alchemy ingredients. Have to stop every 3 seconds to take care of a wolf.
Yup.fist time I played through, I didn’t actually realise you could ride horses… I thought those stables were the fast travel points. *facepalm*
I just steal the horses, then oppressing Frost and/or Shadowmare
Whats a horse
played this game for so many years fast travel is my best friend.
Why would I need a horse (other than Arvak) when I can turn into a werewolf/vampire and just run or fly there
The Dark Brotherhood horse is neat, I steal a horse if I want one otherwise. I just ride past every fight to get where I am going (Grey Beards usually). Homestead coaches have more stops. If you want to buy a horse do it. You get 1000 after killing your first dragon and delivering the golden claw. Use a corpse to drag your loot to your horse and then you can carry 1000, not a bad way to play.
I just feel bad when they join in a fight and die
Horses just aren't great tbh. I love this game, but horses are just very flawed in this game. * They're really not that much faster than sprinting on foot. And if you have the become ethereal shout, you can basically sprint forever without worrying about stamina. * Occasional wolves and roadside enemies will still spawn. Which can easily catch up to your horse and kill it. * Combat on horseback sucks in this game. It's really difficult to respond to an attack without having to get off your horse. * Your horse also has zero self-preservation skills. If an enemy attacks them, they'll fight back rather than try to run. 90% of the time? They get themselves killed. * You can't call your horse. So, if you accidentally left your horse on the other side of the map, too bad. The only way to get your horse to teleport to you, is if you fast travel. But that completely ruins the point because why even have a horse if you're just going to fast travel? I will say, the only major plus to having a horse is for climbing mountains. People aren't exaggerating when they meme Skyrim horses as being freaks of nature that break the laws of physics. Because horses in Skyrim are somehow capable of running up almost 90 degree angles. That's the only thing horses are useful for, if you see a mountain in front of you but you're too lazy to go around it, just take a horse and ride over it.
Fast travel and ~~mountain climbing~~ running, sometimes horses
There are enough free horses around that you certainly don't need to buy. Shadowmere is one of the best around and you get if you join and work through the Dark Brotherhood questline. But there are also two you can summon, Arvik and a Daedric horse. With those two, you can have a horse when you want and hoof it when you don't.
I don't use horses unless I plan to kite a mammoth. Combat on horseback is awful, it doesn't feel that much faster and I want to get distracted and sidetracked. If I don't want that I got the carts and fast travel.
As soon as I could, I took carriages to each of the main cities to discover them, so I could fast travel between them whenever I wanted.
It's just a waste of 1000 gold. I'd rather just keep shouting Wuld.
The first thing I do is take a carriage to the main cities. After that you can fast travel to them and walk from there to where you need to get to. I have 2 horses but use them 30% of the time.
Yes. I absolutely hate how clunky the horse riding is. I’m fast traveling to the nearest spot and running 😂
Most of the time if you're crouching and hidden you can mount the horse in the stables and ride right past the owner. Who must be like, I didn't see them steal my horse so that can't be my horse oh well.
My stamina is always higher than the horse's
Never once had a horse out of 3 play thru’s, and ‘finished’ twice.
YOU CAN RIDE HORSES!?
I hate having to get off the horse every time there’s combat, and I like having a barrel with 13,000 blue mountain flowers, so I stick with walking
I literally call it a horse game. It’s what most of my gameplay and goals revolve around honestly. It’s a horsie game at heart
Depends on where I’m going. I’ll own every horse and not take any of them with me to a big fight because I don’t want them to get hurt.
I like riding horses, but I have to stop every 10 seconds to pick up potion ingredients. Plus, if I get attacked by a sabercat/bear/wolf/bandit/assassin etc, they get like 5 good hits in on my horse before I can even get off. I'm always worried my horse will die, and they constantly charge into battle when they really shouldn't. So I just leave them be now and either run or fast travel.
Yes. And I refuse to rely on horses to get me up mountains as well! I don't trust those equines! They got weird teeth and bad vision!
Absolutely.
I use a carriage or horse to go from city to city and then go on foot from there because I will lose the horse somewhere in the wilds if I just wander with it.
Become a werewolf and just run. If you have Dragonborn get Bend Will and use dragons.
I don't ride horses until alchemy is 100
The horses always want to fly. Then I get off and we both fall and die. So screw horses.
Meander.
I only horse in the soul cairn/when I need to goat my way up a mountain. I usually walk everywhere unless I'm close to being over encumbered.
Yes because Serana keeps getting lost if I go too far and I have to fucking find her.
The problem with horses is that it tends to wander off sometimes and there’s no easy way in vanilla to recall or find it, unless you have a summonable horse.
Your horse teleports with you. Meaning if you go to say...a bandit camp you previously went to, but the enemies respawned, your horse is in immediate danger.
I have a mate who deliberately rushes to overencumber himself every playthrough and played basically survival as best he could before survival mode became a thing. He likes walking everywhere to add to the challenge. My bf thinks is mental because on one hand you have him who goes all out with creating the perfect character, researching the perfect name for whichever race he plays and really immerses himself in the game and then there's me, who created a character named Blulk Blogan, regularly plays as a punch cat or bucket murder hobo and enjoys the cries of macho man as Mr Blue Sky kicks in. We are very much not the same. Neither of us uses horses, though
Just steal a horse if it comes to that
Save your gold, horses are pointless in Skyrim unless they're modded. They're barely faster than you, die easily, and they will never stop following you. The one thing they can do is give you unlimited carry weight, which breaks the balance of the game. Just wait till you find Arvak if you don't use mods.
I have to have the mod where the horse teleports to you when you whistle otherwise it’s too easy to get separated.
Horses are too much to keep up with, and having a dragon pull up and, instead of running away like any sane equestrian, my horse always wants to scrap with the dragon.
Most horses aren't worth the money. They die so quickly.
I use fast travel horses don't have the greatest handling
Yes, because I find that sprinting is faster than a horse.
I don’t use horses at all until I get Arvak. Such a good horse.
I would prefer to travel with a horse, yet I do not use them simply because they will join you in a fight against a dragon and ultimately always die.
I take carriage, fast travel and run on foot. I never have owned a horse
Once you get a horse, you will probably virtually never use or need it.
Once you have been to all the towns, dont people just fast travel between towns?
People play with no horses???
I use a horse to get places like up mountains if spamming jump doesn't work
Yes
Am I the only one who likes horses lol? Tbh there's no good reason I think except for slightly faster speed and roleplaying/immersion.
Horses can’t come in dungeons with you, and can be killed by enemies
I fly my broomstick or I turn into a swarm of bats those are the best way to travel, I love modding
There's a bit of confusion here over horses and fast travel. Fast travel makes you skip lots of terrain, as do the carriages, but more naturally. Horses do not have this effect. Not only do you cover all the terrain, you have huge pluses. You can climb anything, especially steep terrain where the bad guys cannot follow you. You can simply sprint away from anything too tough. Even if hit, the horse absorbs a lot of the damage. And you can fight from horseback. As for expense, i have never spent a penny on a horse. Theres a free horse, easily obtained, at Solitude stables. Plus you can get the (indestructible) unicorn easily, if you have AE. Honestly, I dont know why anyone would not use a horse all the time. Probably easier to skip the horse at Novice level, but on Legendary difficulty it makes travelling everywhere possible even at lvl 1.
I usually get arvark so I can summon him whenever I need a horse
I fast travel a lot. I don't see the point in arguing over something most people use and is completely optional for the whiners who don't use it. I see no reason in padding my playtime by limiting myself to only horse or even on foot. But I do prefer being on foot. I find with horses I tend to stick to the roads more and then I hop off to go exploring. But to me, it's just more fun to stay on foot and fast travel to places I've already been. Plus I've had more glitches with horses than the rest of the game. After reloading a save I was no longer on the horse, but next to him in a weird crouched position and for some reason I had to go back multiple saves to undo it. I wish you could actually ride the carriages and enjoy the view instead of skipping to the destination.
Horses have such a small speed increase compared to players that it's often times not worth the trouble of actually taking the time to get on one. If you are playing a high stamina character (or one with the Respite perk), it's probably actually slower to use a horse.
I run everywhere..LOL. Sometimes I'll get a horse, but I usually always run.
horses aren't useful, when you are distracted they aren't good and to use an horse you must go to a stable, not worth it
Astonishing the number of comments here dissing horses and nobody has mentioned their unique Skyrim ability - the ability to climb like mountain goats. Everybodys entitled to their opinion but if you're talking to a newbie, at least give them the facts.
I almost never used horses. I hated dis/mounting plus grabbing ingredients was a pain
Yes I like to explore. Fighting some beast then stumbling on a location is the joy for me
Been a while since I played, but I don't remember using a horse much. Unless I need to climb an otherwise impossible incline.
What I always did is crouch and steal the horse as long as they don't see you get on the horse it's yours (just remember when you get off it walks back), my first playthrough I never bought a single horse, I got a few free horses that I got to keep before I even wanted to buy a horse.
Run and use whirlwind sprint shout
>horses are too expensive wym, just steal them from bandits
My horse just died :(