(to Joe Wilson) My new favorite Skyrim moment.

During the podcast last week, Lore Master Lou was going through the history of the Thalmor's interactions with the Empire and their ulterior motive, namely elven supremacy. As I expected when I suggested this topic a couple weeks ago, now all three of you hosts (and likely everyone listening to the podcast) was renewed in their urge to go Thalmor huntin' as a result.

You also mentioned offhand that you had just started going through the Companions questline. I just completed that this weekend, becoming Harbinger of the Companions for the first time -- it has a very touching ending (spoilers redacted) and I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it if you haven't gotten there already.

But you also said you didn't want to be a werewolf. This post is an attempt to change your mind.

----

My first playthrough of Skyrim was lackluster, to say the least -- I didn't even manage to make level 20, because I was too busy experimenting with every skill constellation, resulting in my Imperial toon being severely underpowered.

I was doing reasonably well diving into mines and killing bandits, but I ran into severe problems when I got to the Diplomatic Immunity part of the main quest, in the Thalmor Embassy. Because I was severely overmatched by the Thalmor mages on the embassy grounds, I had to resort to sneaking around and sniping each enemy via bow and arrow. Although tedious, it worked okay for the first couple of guys, but once I got out into the courtyard I was regularly getting killed by their casters. Even when I managed to kill the guys in the interrogation room, I could never figure out how to save Malborn, the dark elf who had helped me get into the place -- the Thalmor kept executing him.

And don't even ask me about the frost troll in the cavern on the way out. Rrrggh.

It took me four solid real-life days to get through that thing, and it made me despise the Thalmor in the extreme. I made it a point, when I rolled a new character, to eradicate them from Skyrim.

So I rolled my Orc. I chopped wood. I methodically roamed the province from town to town, clearing mines of bandits, pouring everything into heavy armor and one-handed, smithing and enchanting gear, and making money. I powered up. I did it right this time around.

Then I did the Companions quests, gaining more experience, and becoming a werewolf. At the time, I didn't really know what I was going to be using it for, but I knew that I eventually would. For something. It promised even more destructive power than my racial perk, Berserker Rage, because it lasted 30 seconds longer and I could feed on kills for health regen and extended time.

So, after the Companions quest line was done, I figured I'd go back to the main quest for a bit and see what was different. Next up was Diplomatic Immunity.

I chose carefully, giving Malborn all my best armor, weapons, and potions to smuggle into the embassy. I was ready.

After sneaking out of the party and donning all my smuggled gear, I walked into the embassy chambers. No sneaking this time; no pew pew pew for this Orc. Determined to make a mark, I ran right in, swords a-swingin'.

I killed both guys in the room with one hit each, and felled the caster from upstairs with a power attack and a dual-flurry strike. This was an encouraging start.

After ransacking the chambers, I made it out to the courtyard. This is where I made my Big Move, an act of sweet revenge I had been anticipating for weeks: I rolled the dice and used Beast Form.

Galloping into the courtyard like a furry Incredible Hulk, I pounced on the first Thalmor I saw, goring him to bloody ribbons in seconds. The guards and casters in the area totally flipped out, summoning atronachs and Dremora Lords in a panicked attempt to subdue this fearsome tornado of hair and teeth. I was taking heavy hits from all sides, and losing health in buckets because of my unarmored state, but I soon found that feeding on even one kill restored 30% health instantly.

I leaned down and devoured my prey in a spray of blood and gore. The onlookers almost seemed to be backing away in horror when I finished, as I performed a classic end run around an atronach blocker and hacked its conjurer into tiny little bits. I repeated this process with the remainder of the cowering Thalmor meat-bags, then made for Rulindil's quarters.

What followed can only be described as a cornucopia of carnage, a furry festival of bloody savagery, as the Wolfahkiin bounded from room to room clawing every last one of those motherbleeping Thalmor to death and gnawing furiously at their shredded remains.

It was glorious, my most enjoyable three minutes of Skyrim to date. I had so much time remaining as a werewolf, I ended up running to and fro, overturning the pots and vases and hacking at the dinner table. By the time the effect wore off and I returned to my normal Orc self, the place was a mess.

So, in conclusion: Lycanthropy. You can't go wrong.



P.S. Not only did I one-shot both interrogators, I even ambushed the guys holding Malborn, saving him without a scratch.

P.P.S. Oh, and the frost troll? Owned. No sweat.

that sounds amazing - I did that quest much more stalthily... I will have to satiate my desire to rip them all apart on my next play through!!!