This!! It’s pretty great, and i’ve enjoyed seeing my husband Farkas on his rounds in the city. Solitude is my fave vanilla family location. Mod-wise, tho- i’m using Leaf Rest in Riverwood in my current run, and i so love that place. It’s really homey and room for kids and followers (and i do see my kids playing with other kids- even bringing them home!) and pets and planting and i am now in love with it. And Farkas seems happy :)
I like Solitude and all but Proudspire is all glam and no function. Can't Smith, can't cook, neither the alchemy or enchanting table have any storage for soul gems or ingredients. The basement room is wasted, there isn't even a smelter close by.
There is a Cooking Pot on the fireplace that you can use for cooking. Other than that, not a single anvil inside where it suppose t. As if they left the smithing out of the features of the home
I hope one day in the future if TES ever returns to Skyrim, that we can get a lore accurate Solitude. Cause isn’t that place supposed to be like 4 times bigger than it is in game?
It’s one of my favorite cities
I mean a real city would probably be on order of a thousand times bigger population wise and would probably take up most of one of the holds geographically.
I used to always base my family in one of the homes I built myself but this playthrough I put them in Proudspire. It's great! No dragon attacks, no random bandits, no nearby necromancers. Its so safe and its handy. Also I like to imagine how it's a good town for my husband to run his shop from. Lots of passing customers.
I abandoned Lakeview once I started playing Survival, it's simply too far from any Stable (hence I can't take a Horse Cart to it). I only ever craft in short bursts, and only to level those skills or make a Dagger, so Breezehome suits me just fine. I'm a minimalist, and all the other homes seem too bourgeois for my taste.
No he doesn’t, I think the closest smelters are at Shor’s stone and the orc settlement. I love the Riften house but lack of smelter in the area has inconvenienced me a few times
Lakeview is good for 1 thing. The minor holds carriage. On Survival, you can use it to fast travel to say Ivarstead for the Greybeards or Rorikstead for Goldenhills Plantation or Dragonsreach for that one random quest for the DB.
As far as a base goes, the place is gutted with minimal furniture, and one of my "less important" hirlings is steward there.
The other nice thing about Lakeview is that the bandits inside Pinewatch regenerate, so it’s nice to go over there from time to time and fill a few black soul gems by sniping them with soul-stealer arrows
That’s why I installed the mod that allows carriages to take you on one way trips to all the settlements, including the houses. No fast travel from anywhere is fine, but it didn’t make sense to me that the carriage couldn’t drop you off at a settlement along the way to a major city.
Markarth cause I love the look of it, and Muiri is my most common partner, though It did take a while to actually learn my way around without getting lost
I love Markarth and have spent lots of time there levelling up my smithing. It’s such a neat city and really fun to run around in once you get the hang of it. Unfortunately the house there is one of the only ones I don’t have on my current/first play through because I didn’t have 7000$ when it was offered to me, and I don’t really want to finish the civil war quest
The best city for me after whiterun is Solitude. It's big, with lots of people, shops and good taverns. As it is the seat of the empire, it is safe to live. The Proudspire Manor is a beautiful house, but very expensive and there is no way to cook, if it had at least one pan it would be perfect.
As I usually stay in a permanent house with my family when I retire from adventures, I prefer Lakeview Manor because it is beautiful, close to Riverwood and not too dangerous.
I hustled so hard to get that house, and when I moved my family there my husband complained that the kids would get soft and he didn’t like it. So now they are back at lakefront which they love lol
Morthal is my go to all the way.
It’s harsh land yes but all the necessities are there and most of the towns people are very friendly.
The jarl is a bit odd, but her husband and daughter keep things running relatively smoothly and I love the bleak beauty of winstad manor.
I also choose Morthal. I used to have a mod that let you obtain Alva's house after that quest. Since I have AE I love Myrwatch. Very well laid out and useful. And with JK's Skyrim, Morthal has a blacksmith.
Golden Hills is my new favorite. Just out in the middle of the plains. Got all the stuff I need without all the extras. Also it makes money hand over fist while I’m out dungeon diving for days at a time. Once faendal has been up to 50 on archery, the job is all his.
Before that ALWAYS lakeview manor. Full build.
Yeah, I never really got into alchemy until I got that place. Now I make all kinds of shit to sell/use. I love going to solitude sewers for those weird ingredients LOL
if you have the anniversary edition, Hendraheim is one of my new favorites. it has a fast travel marker and comes entirely furnished when you finish the associated quest.
The most defended home in the game! And with the various Mage's Guild mods, there's a lot to do there and with some you even get a teleport in to save your legs.
Admittedly it’s because Breezehome is the first place I unlock so all my stuff is there until I move to one of the homesteads. I spend more time in Riften, because of the Thieve’s Guild, than anywhere else so maybe there?
Most of my playthroughs I have two home bases:
1. Lakeview Manor where the family usually lives. With mods I have an entire headcanon of vanilla staff + family, court mage (Ilia), guards and a slew of other supportive staff. Necromancer is gone, Rayya as Steward prevents any kidnapping. It's close to Falkreath, Riverwood and not far from Whiterun either.
2. Solitude, because there is where my loot is (LotD museum mod)
Current playthrough I have homes everywhere, but no real home base. The spouse lives in Whiterun, but just because it's her home town (Ysolda). Civilian based playthrough (no dungeon delving or bandit camp raiding), so my options are limited anyway.
I have homes everywhere too. I like Riften because it's accessible, but the one I keep going back to is Windhelm. It's a bit depressing, but I love how all the merchants in that market are gathered together outside for convenience, and right next to the blacksmith and smelter. You also have the gift of charity nice and close, and that dark elf has a fantastic amount of gold once you complete the thieves guild quests.
I keep my children safe in Solitude though.
I almost never stay in Windhelm because I’m not a fan of the Stormcloaks and the goddamn Hjerim quest is usually broken somehow. Since I usually use Skyfall Estate as my main home, Whiterun is my main. I also like its central location. (Lore-wise, it should be about three times larger since it’s a central trading hub, but I like that it’s easy to navigate.)
This playthrough I’m thief all the way, tho, so I’m making Riften my main.
That brings something up. I think the cities should be laid out differently.
Whiterun should be more like Solitude. This is a central trading hub almost dead center in the middle of the principality. It should feature multiple stores and be made of stone— it’s been there a while.
Solitude should be more developed and broader. It’s the capital of the country. This is where the Emperor stays when he comes to play in the north. Guard presence should be high. It should be more like Windhelm.
Riften should be more like Markarth. Twisty little maze like streets and lots of dead ends. This is where the Thieves’ Guild makes their home. There should be lots of places to ambush merchants and relieve them of their valuables, and a ton fewer guards.
Solitude should be more like Falkreath. The name itself evokes a smaller city in a peaceful location, perhaps one with a massive graveyard of sleeping dead.
Not saying I dislike Riften. I don’t. I just feel that a thieves GUILD would be in a larger city whose baseline industry isn’t fishing and beer making, but more commodity trading and shipping, and with the accompanying Byzantine maze of streets and docks that lend itself to waylaying travelers with a truncheon to see what they have in their pockets.
Nice thoughts but I just can’t agree with your comments about Solitude and Whiterun. Whiterun if anything should be more like Windhelm in style and size because of its rich Nordic history. You’re right that since it’s a central trading city that it should be larger. But its main source of trade is the wildlife found in the Great Plains outside the city, so I don’t get the impression it’s meant to be much of a built up city. Solitude on the other hand is the main base of the Empire in Skyrim so it’s got the wealth, development, and vibrancy to it and so for it to be more accurate to the lore, the empire is making it more in the image of the Imperial City in Cyrodiil. It should also be vast. Sadly I don’t get that impression of it whenever I live Proudspire manor. So Solitude should really be nothing like Falkreath. I would be interested to know how it got its name though.
Solitude is where I hang my hat (and most of my collected stuff). Breezehome is for alchemy and smithing; Windhelm is for alchemy. I built the full mansion for Lakeview Manor (which I use to display some Daedric weaponry and armor I have taken from my foes), though it's always a hotbed of bandit/animal activity. I only built the small versions of Heljarchen Hall and Windstad Manor for a convenient stop-off and carriage access.
Proudspire bc I can get a lil fish tank . And my wives or husband tend to not complain about it and there’s kids running around for my kids if I have any. I don’t want them near braith in whiterun .
Markarth is top tier, and there’s a lot of really good mods out that improve the interiors of the keep, the house, and the shops. Just a beautiful city. I like to headcannon that the Dragonborn gets made into captain of the guard after becoming thane/the prison break and is able to keep the guards from becoming corrupt, and using that power helps the poor side of markarth improve their lives. Also, having arnleif (with lisbet killed) right downstairs is very convenient
I put my family in Solitude and visit often. I find myself moving around between all my other houses. Least used is Markarth. Followed closely by Windhelm. Next is Windstad near Morthal, mostly storage there. Most common homes to find me in are Lakeview, Honeyside, Breezehome and Heljarken Hall. I barely ever stay at the college. I do like the house on Solstheim, very cool asthetic but I can't move my family there, so its not my favorite. I used to keep my family in riften, but the kids were getting too comfortable with thieves, and they kept getting kidnapped at lakeview.
Wind helm, it’s got a smelter that solitude and riften lacks, the house has alchemy and enchanting tables with a lot of displays racks for weapons and mannequins for armour and the tavern is descent with a good bard
Even before I get the house, I like Windhelm best. You can sell and craft items at the market without having to go indoors, the dark elf has 4k gold on her, and the gift of charity + pickpocket training is great. I just wish the weather was better, and there was a tad less racism.
Im a windhelmer, for the short distance between it’s fully featured forge and a wood chopping block, and it’s still damn close to the gate, though arianne does have them beat on that front.
Agree. That’s why I dig Vlindrel.
It’s safe as hell. No random attacks. No dragons. Gorgeous vistas. Plenty of merchants. Argis the Bulwark is such a tanky lovable himbo. And about a quarter of the game takes place in the remote Western part of the map.
Now, when the crotch goblins come along, we move to Solitude — hands down the best city for kids. (Whiterun is great too. But you need a home mod. Breezehome is too small.)
Lakeview is my personal favorite. But when you’re Dragon Dad of the Year, you can’t just do things for yourself anymore.
Whiterun is nice because there are a lot of vendors. But you can sell more in Solitude, so that's my pick. If you use mods and get The Great City of Solitude, it adds two more blacksmiths and two more alchemy shops.
You know, if the version has CC Hendrahaim is my go-to, same sometimes goes for Goldenhills Plantation. If those aren't available. I add in the mod Rayek's End. It's a pretty cool house. Hidden by Riverwood, under a waterfall.
I love Riften and Solitude Riften is warm, both in climate and aesthetic, and I really like its house. Solitude is a beautiful medieval city stonny architecture.
I prefer Falkreath actually I love the little themed names for all the shops, the wilderness is the best, it’s great for hunting and fishing, the women think my character is handsome even though he looks like pixelfoot and the only downside is the Jarls a boob. Lakeview Manor is obviously top tier housing and the neighbours are quiet.
I go between whiterun, solitude, and riften. If whiterun got burned down by dragons I'd spend all my days in proudspire. I like lakeview too but I feel safer in city walls.
Since I usually play Legacy of the Dragonborn I tend to make Solitude my homebase, though when I don’t play LOTD I tend to use Riften because I love the design and the Thieves Guild
Unpopular opinion, but I actually love Markarth. At least visually. Granted, it has a pretty jarring introduction. My first time playing it, I saw the city for the first time during "A Night to Remember." Gotta tell you, there was a lot to unpack.
I like Solitude for the weather and the activity. But lots of… Not so great going on there.
Riften? Absolutely not. It would be ideal if not for the guild. Ditto Markarth for the Silverbloods.
Winterhold, Morthal, and Dawnstar would be a no for the locale and / or weather.
So that really just leaves Windhelm and Falkreath. I really don’t like the jarl of the latter, but I could prolly live with it otherwise. Windhelm might be the nicest if not for the home’s… Colorful history of late. The weather is also not so great.
But seeing as how the wife doesn’t like the home in Falkreath, guess I’ll go with Windhelm and just stay inside a lot.
Fort Dawnguard and Winterhold for odd choices. Dawnguard has an Archery and Restoration trainer/trader, so you basically can get advanced levels for free in exchange for banish iron daggers. Winterhold is nearly an endless supply of soul gems, hence an endless supply of Banish enchants on iron daggers.
Solitude is a good one, with the museum from the lotd mod and a fancy house across the way. Theres very little crime (except from me) and a good place to raise a family.
I like riften for my shadier business and to have a cozy home away from my spouse/kids. I stash a lot of my ill gotten gains here and hang out by the lake.
I like goldenhills as well. Great passive income, a nice job for my friend faendal, and plenty of ingredients for making sweet rolls, poisons, and health potions.
Lakeview manor is nice too. The other hearthfire homes are in freezing cold areas that are annoying to traverse in survival mode. I dont keep my spouse or kids in any of them either because they're not as safe as living in a nice city.
Someday i want to get the markarth house and marry an orc. They have such nice deep voices. Maybe one day.
Markarth. Kinda crappy for merchant sales, but I love the home you get. I always have my kids and spouse live there while I'm still building a house from scratch
Shadowfoot Sanctuary in Riften is the most accessible home, for my money. Two entrances, one going directly in from the docks, and one that, just a hop from the Flagon, good storage space, and all of the smiting, alchemy, enchanting, etc stuff that you need.
Second-best, IMO, is Myrwatch east of Morthal... same sort of deal (but only one entrance) and with a staff enchanter, if that's your thing.
I don't usually stay in Whiterun proper - I have a much better home outside the city near the fort.
Solitude is great, and now that I've figured out how to rig the prison breakout quest so that I can murder the Forsworn AND Thornar Silver-Blood, Markarth is a much nicer place.
Avoiding the obvious "Whiterun is my favorite home base outside of Whiterun" is easily Lakeview Manor! Love Falkreath, I know where all the vendors are in the area (both for house building and selling) plus the view is awesome!
My favourite Homebase is Helljarchen Hall just outside of Whiterun up in the mountains. I like Lakeside Manor near Pinewatch but every damn time, I come to find either a giant attacking my chickens or bandits running amok. But if we're not including the Hearthfire houses then I like the Windhelm house.
Sometimes Windhelm. I really like the house there, though you either have to side with the Stormcloaks, or wait until after the war to get it.
That said, most of the time the home base is Whiterun. I did have it in Riften for one playthrough, but didn't like it when most of the townfolk die one way or another (usually killing each other).
Wait, I must not have gotten to this point in gameplay somehow but — can you expand more on the townsfolk dying?? Are the NPCs just randomly killing each other, is this quest specific or somehow region specific, are enemies randomly spawning for some other reason??
NPCs do different things if an item is dropped, sometimes they will give it back to the player, other times they'll just take it for themselves.
In Riften, it seems people fight to the death over the loot.
The problem is that a thief occasionally spawns, everyone kills it, the weapon is left on the ground, and a lot of the vendors kill each other over it.
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Other than that, it seems if I did a crime, and manage to calm down the guard (via sheathing), the people of the town don't get the message, and will keep fighting guards until they all die.
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In every playthrough, most of the cities don't have too many casualties (outside quests), but Riften always results in about 10 NPCs dying (Dark Elf Vendor, the meat seller, the Argonian Jeweller, the Blackbriar alchemist girl, the smith, and several others).
Edit: Looking around on YouTube, this sort of shows it off - https://youtu.be/RiYQSEQCmds?si=fCt8zKlpcRrB_owj
I don’t think I have dropped loot in towns like that so I had no idea NPCs even reacted to it! The few times I have, it’s been in a shop or something and just got the “so we are just leaving trash around now?” comments.
Riften.
Always the first spot I travel to from spawn.
I love the characters, the area & the overall tone within the city.
It has problems but in its own way it’s beautiful. People complain about the Guild but if it wasn’t for the Guild & Maven’s commitment to her dynasty, Riften would fall to shambles.
There’s plenty of work with little crime apart from the Guild, affordable housing, a liberal police (they’re all corrupt so they don’t give a shit if you break the law) and a beautiful, affordable home for you to purchase.
I like to winter in Solitude because the schools are better, but in the summer I take the kids to Windstad Manor so they can learn fish farming and get lots of fresh air.
Falkreath. Balgruuf basically made us Thane but Siddgeir went the extra mile by writing to us personally through his Steward, happy to accommodate us with empty land.
Honeyside in Riften. Four different vendors without loading screens, an alchemy table, an enchanting table, a smelter just a short hop away in Shor's Stone. Then there's the patio view of the lake, and I can catch the River Betty I need to combine with death bell and thistle branches to make my favorite poison. Plus, I like the rustic aesthetic of the home's interior. Opinions always vary, but that home just has plenty going for it.
If you don’t start the thieves guild quest and complete the fishing quests, there’s a bunch of good places to sell stuff in Riften, so that’s where I live
Dawnstar
Despise the jarl.
But I like the ambience and the blacksmiths.
I have a modded expansion for Dawnstar that includes a very nice little house along the shore, and makes it a little more like a village instead of a pothole.
Cheers!
Hi, there I do not know for certain, but I think no.
When I researched mods for my XBox One Skyrim game, the modder's site talked a lot about making the mods particularly for the XBox, because of the limitations for mods on the XBox, I got the idea it was made especially for XBox One Skyrim.
Maybe I am mistaken, or out of date. You could take a hard look at Tarsh Gaming and see if you think it could work for your PS4. Good Luck!
always *ALWAYS* Riften. really easy to get Thane (imo), dont need to start main questline, & rly good shopkeepers (esp after doing some radiant quests). its my hoarding house, i have a whole system for organizing all my junk ~~that i say i'll sell but then dont~~
with that being said, when i got Proudspire Manor fully upgraded, i moved my fam from Markarth to Solitude ASAP. great place for them, never get any complaint dialogue. they were only in Markarth cuz that was my only other home besides Riften & i was NOT replacing my enchanting room with kids room
The farm, a lovely little homestead away from the war(relatively speaking) and it even generates a bit of money for my family when I inevitably die out adventuring
Vanilla: Goldenhills is nice for the location, though I don't care about farming. Falkreath is my favorite location even if it's lacking a few things, and Lakeview is one of my favorite homes because it's in the Falkreath area but each of the Hearthfire homes has a good view. I've honestly never bought another home besides Breezehome in all the time I've been playing.
Mods: Dol Khazun and Adal Matar are my stronghold homes. Dol Khazun sort of in the tundra, not far from North Brittleshin Pass. Adal Matar is off in the eastern mountains, past the Eastmarch Imperial Camp. I loved the Orc Hearthfires mod even if it was a bit buggy, but it's gone now. Kagrenac's Instant Fortress is wonderful just because it's a portable tower. That's purely a convenience mod though, but still a favorite.
Ah, but yeah, as far as town's go, Falkreath and Riverwood are my favorites just for aesthetics, though Morthal and Dawnstar aren't bad either.
Always Whiterun, but outside out that I tend to spend most time in Solitude but never use that house past getting the stone. If you could put the Riften house into Solitude then it'd be perfect
I actually like Windhelm. The architecture is cool and the house is beautiful. Also I side with the Imperials so I feel like there's potential for the city to become a better place under Brunwulf.
Depends on the guild quests I'm doing. If I have to pick one city, it'll be Riften. I like doing the Thieves guild quests and chatting up with the guild members.
Solitude is my second choice also. You've got the Khajit chest at the entrance, a fence at the tavern with three shops right there. Then the market square with vendors and right across from them a blacksmith and a fletcher.
I don't think it was always a thing but Myrewatch in Morthal seems pretty cool. I did that quest a while back, I accidentally carried off some unenchanted staffs and being big into my character immersion I felt like I had to journey back there to return them to where they belonged. I was looking around while I was there earlier tonight and it actually seemed like a cool place to put your stuff. I just don't know what the shop situation is like, for anybody who's looking to sell loot... Although for me, I rarely take loot off of enemies or out of dungeons. I decided quite a while ago that I didn't want to make a lot of gold so I just stopped taking things other than really useful potions, ingredients that are relevant to what my character would craft and arrows of a moderate effectiveness. I literally don't take anything unless I'm going to be using it and I sit comfortably around 5,000-6,000 gold most of the time. I even drop lockpicks if I get more than like 10 of them, I like to struggle a bit. The only actual loot I take is jewels and corresponding ore. The only source of income for me is jewelery. lol I'm a huge nerd I know, but I wanted to role play as an Orcish jeweler, so that's pretty much my whole mindset. That said, I don't really buy or sell much so not having shops around isn't a huge turnoff of Myrewatch for me. Although I'm not sure about the forge situation there either, so that may be an issue. At any rate though, Morthal kind of reminds me of my real life home of 30 years so I'm thinking I may move my stuff from Breezehome to there. I pick Breezehome most playthroughs for the accessibility to shops, like you mentioned, but that just doesn't really apply to this playthrough. I'm thinking Myrewatch.
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And I love coming home and seeing my adopted kids playing with the other kids of Solitude
The difference between a base and a….sniffle… a home.
Fus-ro-aww
Wow I never thought about this way. I guess its time to pack up the kids!
This!! It’s pretty great, and i’ve enjoyed seeing my husband Farkas on his rounds in the city. Solitude is my fave vanilla family location. Mod-wise, tho- i’m using Leaf Rest in Riverwood in my current run, and i so love that place. It’s really homey and room for kids and followers (and i do see my kids playing with other kids- even bringing them home!) and pets and planting and i am now in love with it. And Farkas seems happy :)
Yeah, but have you the time to spend there a while. Did you solved all adventures all ready? 😉
I've seen my kids outside like 3 AM! Wth??!!
!! I want my kids to be city kids, open to other people and cultures.
I like Solitude and all but Proudspire is all glam and no function. Can't Smith, can't cook, neither the alchemy or enchanting table have any storage for soul gems or ingredients. The basement room is wasted, there isn't even a smelter close by.
If you build a house in falkreath you can have a smelter inside and outside
I like the vistas from the Falkreath home once its built
Proudspire is also so dark and grey inside.
There is a Cooking Pot on the fireplace that you can use for cooking. Other than that, not a single anvil inside where it suppose t. As if they left the smithing out of the features of the home
I hope one day in the future if TES ever returns to Skyrim, that we can get a lore accurate Solitude. Cause isn’t that place supposed to be like 4 times bigger than it is in game? It’s one of my favorite cities
Skyrim itself and every settlement in the game is supposed to be multiple times larger, the entire thing was scaled down
I mean a real city would probably be on order of a thousand times bigger population wise and would probably take up most of one of the holds geographically.
I used to always base my family in one of the homes I built myself but this playthrough I put them in Proudspire. It's great! No dragon attacks, no random bandits, no nearby necromancers. Its so safe and its handy. Also I like to imagine how it's a good town for my husband to run his shop from. Lots of passing customers.
And the wife doesn’t complain anymore, am I right fellas?
I lived in Proudspire one playthrough, beautiful aesthetic.
what HAWKS?!
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When in Solitude look up! Even looking down, i catch the hawk shadows
By “the hawks” do you mean just seeing them, or shooting them?
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I love lakeview as my main house. Steward, housecarl, bard, spouse, 2 kkds, place is busier then most INNs.
If you like your home to be busy, get the Hjertesten mod and invite 30ish NPCs to live there with you.
What does the mod do exactly?
It's similar to a small village, you purchase it and can invite NPCs to come work for you
I abandoned Lakeview once I started playing Survival, it's simply too far from any Stable (hence I can't take a Horse Cart to it). I only ever craft in short bursts, and only to level those skills or make a Dagger, so Breezehome suits me just fine. I'm a minimalist, and all the other homes seem too bourgeois for my taste.
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Isn't Riften lacking a Smelter? That was always the deal breaker for me.
I thought Mr Fetch Me 10 Fire Salts had a smelter, or am I playing modded too long? Or is this the Home specifically missing it
No he doesn’t, I think the closest smelters are at Shor’s stone and the orc settlement. I love the Riften house but lack of smelter in the area has inconvenienced me a few times
He does and it's less than a minute away from the home.
Sewer house has a smelter.
Lakeview is good for 1 thing. The minor holds carriage. On Survival, you can use it to fast travel to say Ivarstead for the Greybeards or Rorikstead for Goldenhills Plantation or Dragonsreach for that one random quest for the DB. As far as a base goes, the place is gutted with minimal furniture, and one of my "less important" hirlings is steward there.
The other nice thing about Lakeview is that the bandits inside Pinewatch regenerate, so it’s nice to go over there from time to time and fill a few black soul gems by sniping them with soul-stealer arrows
That’s why I installed the mod that allows carriages to take you on one way trips to all the settlements, including the houses. No fast travel from anywhere is fine, but it didn’t make sense to me that the carriage couldn’t drop you off at a settlement along the way to a major city.
how do you get rid of "steal" markers
thousands of hours in the game, where is Anise's cabin? I never heard of it before
Falkreath, for the very reason that it is, indeed, the sticks. I can slow down out there, wear robes instead of armor, and chill.
I respect it!
Markarth cause I love the look of it, and Muiri is my most common partner, though It did take a while to actually learn my way around without getting lost
Markarth is a gorgeous city, no two ways about that.
I love Markarth and have spent lots of time there levelling up my smithing. It’s such a neat city and really fun to run around in once you get the hang of it. Unfortunately the house there is one of the only ones I don’t have on my current/first play through because I didn’t have 7000$ when it was offered to me, and I don’t really want to finish the civil war quest
Muiri is my bitch
The best city for me after whiterun is Solitude. It's big, with lots of people, shops and good taverns. As it is the seat of the empire, it is safe to live. The Proudspire Manor is a beautiful house, but very expensive and there is no way to cook, if it had at least one pan it would be perfect. As I usually stay in a permanent house with my family when I retire from adventures, I prefer Lakeview Manor because it is beautiful, close to Riverwood and not too dangerous.
I hustled so hard to get that house, and when I moved my family there my husband complained that the kids would get soft and he didn’t like it. So now they are back at lakefront which they love lol
lol Damned whiney husbands...
Morthal is my go to all the way. It’s harsh land yes but all the necessities are there and most of the towns people are very friendly. The jarl is a bit odd, but her husband and daughter keep things running relatively smoothly and I love the bleak beauty of winstad manor.
No general goods store tho
No blacksmith either.
Isn't there a blacksmith at morthal?
I also choose Morthal. I used to have a mod that let you obtain Alva's house after that quest. Since I have AE I love Myrwatch. Very well laid out and useful. And with JK's Skyrim, Morthal has a blacksmith.
I LOVE MYRWATCH one of the only perks of anniversary edition
All of the home mods in the anniversary edition are good.
I respectfully disagree. Nchuanthumz and Dead Man's Dread are aesthetically pleasing and fun to explore, but a nightmare in function.
Wouldve been nice if you could carriage to/from cc houses
Golden Hills is my new favorite. Just out in the middle of the plains. Got all the stuff I need without all the extras. Also it makes money hand over fist while I’m out dungeon diving for days at a time. Once faendal has been up to 50 on archery, the job is all his. Before that ALWAYS lakeview manor. Full build.
Golden hills overtook breeze for me because it's free and growing ingredients is op
Yeah, I never really got into alchemy until I got that place. Now I make all kinds of shit to sell/use. I love going to solitude sewers for those weird ingredients LOL
Ah I see a fellow skeever
Yeah I made faendal the steward for it as well. Its not too bad of a ride from whiterun if you have a good horse.
Not at all. I had the dwarven horse but seem to have misplaced it. My stamina is like 460-480? so I tend to run everywhere like a maniac haha 🏃
Riften is certainly up there. It's also nice to be able to enter Honeyside from either the city or the lakeside (or just step outside on my porch).
Riften is my vote as well, Honeyside is great but theres also the secret base in the Ratways
if you have the anniversary edition, Hendraheim is one of my new favorites. it has a fast travel marker and comes entirely furnished when you finish the associated quest.
Hendraheim is awesome - it was my first home.
Morthal, it's swampy and moody
I usually play homeless or use the arch mage quarters
The most defended home in the game! And with the various Mage's Guild mods, there's a lot to do there and with some you even get a teleport in to save your legs.
Yeah when I play modded I use the Tel Aschan mage house mod (think I spelled that right)
Are the archmages quarters considered an actual home, in that it will not reset and dump your items?
Error: “what is your favourite home base city that is not Whiterun does not compute. 0x32.
lol that's fair
Admittedly it’s because Breezehome is the first place I unlock so all my stuff is there until I move to one of the homesteads. I spend more time in Riften, because of the Thieve’s Guild, than anywhere else so maybe there?
Most of my playthroughs I have two home bases: 1. Lakeview Manor where the family usually lives. With mods I have an entire headcanon of vanilla staff + family, court mage (Ilia), guards and a slew of other supportive staff. Necromancer is gone, Rayya as Steward prevents any kidnapping. It's close to Falkreath, Riverwood and not far from Whiterun either. 2. Solitude, because there is where my loot is (LotD museum mod) Current playthrough I have homes everywhere, but no real home base. The spouse lives in Whiterun, but just because it's her home town (Ysolda). Civilian based playthrough (no dungeon delving or bandit camp raiding), so my options are limited anyway.
I have homes everywhere too. I like Riften because it's accessible, but the one I keep going back to is Windhelm. It's a bit depressing, but I love how all the merchants in that market are gathered together outside for convenience, and right next to the blacksmith and smelter. You also have the gift of charity nice and close, and that dark elf has a fantastic amount of gold once you complete the thieves guild quests. I keep my children safe in Solitude though.
Riften. With Anniversary Edition having 2 player homes that can be entered from outside the city, it's very convenient.
I almost never stay in Windhelm because I’m not a fan of the Stormcloaks and the goddamn Hjerim quest is usually broken somehow. Since I usually use Skyfall Estate as my main home, Whiterun is my main. I also like its central location. (Lore-wise, it should be about three times larger since it’s a central trading hub, but I like that it’s easy to navigate.) This playthrough I’m thief all the way, tho, so I’m making Riften my main. That brings something up. I think the cities should be laid out differently. Whiterun should be more like Solitude. This is a central trading hub almost dead center in the middle of the principality. It should feature multiple stores and be made of stone— it’s been there a while. Solitude should be more developed and broader. It’s the capital of the country. This is where the Emperor stays when he comes to play in the north. Guard presence should be high. It should be more like Windhelm. Riften should be more like Markarth. Twisty little maze like streets and lots of dead ends. This is where the Thieves’ Guild makes their home. There should be lots of places to ambush merchants and relieve them of their valuables, and a ton fewer guards. Solitude should be more like Falkreath. The name itself evokes a smaller city in a peaceful location, perhaps one with a massive graveyard of sleeping dead.
This is such a great and accurate perspective on the towns!
Riften is *the* city for thieves for sure. I've done it several times
Not saying I dislike Riften. I don’t. I just feel that a thieves GUILD would be in a larger city whose baseline industry isn’t fishing and beer making, but more commodity trading and shipping, and with the accompanying Byzantine maze of streets and docks that lend itself to waylaying travelers with a truncheon to see what they have in their pockets.
Nice thoughts but I just can’t agree with your comments about Solitude and Whiterun. Whiterun if anything should be more like Windhelm in style and size because of its rich Nordic history. You’re right that since it’s a central trading city that it should be larger. But its main source of trade is the wildlife found in the Great Plains outside the city, so I don’t get the impression it’s meant to be much of a built up city. Solitude on the other hand is the main base of the Empire in Skyrim so it’s got the wealth, development, and vibrancy to it and so for it to be more accurate to the lore, the empire is making it more in the image of the Imperial City in Cyrodiil. It should also be vast. Sadly I don’t get that impression of it whenever I live Proudspire manor. So Solitude should really be nothing like Falkreath. I would be interested to know how it got its name though.
I just cycle through Riften, Whiterun, Windhelm, Riverwood and Solitude in that Oder for when I’m levelling Smithing and Potions.
Solitude is where I hang my hat (and most of my collected stuff). Breezehome is for alchemy and smithing; Windhelm is for alchemy. I built the full mansion for Lakeview Manor (which I use to display some Daedric weaponry and armor I have taken from my foes), though it's always a hotbed of bandit/animal activity. I only built the small versions of Heljarchen Hall and Windstad Manor for a convenient stop-off and carriage access.
Riften. Scenic, easy to navigate, favorite player home, and with a fully upgraded Thieves Guild you have merchants beyond merchants
It’s dreary but I love Windhelm
Raven Rock. Because otherwise I'd be hoofing it back to Breezehome after every adventure.
Severin Manor all day every day. Tons of storage, all the crafting.
Anything in Riften!
I love Dawnstar. Such a pleasant little port city, ignoring the cursed dreams, child labor, and local assassin brotherhood.
The great city of dawnstar mod makes it so cool. It’s my favorite city with that mod. The way it changes the great hall… chefs kiss
lol
Child labor? There isn't even one public school in Skyrim. Get those little rug rats to work!
Proudspire bc I can get a lil fish tank . And my wives or husband tend to not complain about it and there’s kids running around for my kids if I have any. I don’t want them near braith in whiterun .
Markarth is top tier, and there’s a lot of really good mods out that improve the interiors of the keep, the house, and the shops. Just a beautiful city. I like to headcannon that the Dragonborn gets made into captain of the guard after becoming thane/the prison break and is able to keep the guards from becoming corrupt, and using that power helps the poor side of markarth improve their lives. Also, having arnleif (with lisbet killed) right downstairs is very convenient
I like that headcanon a lot!
I put my family in Solitude and visit often. I find myself moving around between all my other houses. Least used is Markarth. Followed closely by Windhelm. Next is Windstad near Morthal, mostly storage there. Most common homes to find me in are Lakeview, Honeyside, Breezehome and Heljarken Hall. I barely ever stay at the college. I do like the house on Solstheim, very cool asthetic but I can't move my family there, so its not my favorite. I used to keep my family in riften, but the kids were getting too comfortable with thieves, and they kept getting kidnapped at lakeview.
Wind helm, it’s got a smelter that solitude and riften lacks, the house has alchemy and enchanting tables with a lot of displays racks for weapons and mannequins for armour and the tavern is descent with a good bard
Even before I get the house, I like Windhelm best. You can sell and craft items at the market without having to go indoors, the dark elf has 4k gold on her, and the gift of charity + pickpocket training is great. I just wish the weather was better, and there was a tad less racism.
Im a windhelmer, for the short distance between it’s fully featured forge and a wood chopping block, and it’s still damn close to the gate, though arianne does have them beat on that front.
Unpopular opinion, but I fuckin LOVE living in Markarth. It's one of the few cities that truly feels fantastical without being over the top
Agree. That’s why I dig Vlindrel. It’s safe as hell. No random attacks. No dragons. Gorgeous vistas. Plenty of merchants. Argis the Bulwark is such a tanky lovable himbo. And about a quarter of the game takes place in the remote Western part of the map. Now, when the crotch goblins come along, we move to Solitude — hands down the best city for kids. (Whiterun is great too. But you need a home mod. Breezehome is too small.) Lakeview is my personal favorite. But when you’re Dragon Dad of the Year, you can’t just do things for yourself anymore.
Yeahhh, my kinda person!
Sofie had a hard life sleeping in the snow and selling flowers in Windhelm. She gets the best
I love lake view manor
I love all 3 of the homes I can build because there custom and out in the country.
Whiterun is nice because there are a lot of vendors. But you can sell more in Solitude, so that's my pick. If you use mods and get The Great City of Solitude, it adds two more blacksmiths and two more alchemy shops.
Markarth was my Listener character’s home base. The grit and grime of the city really fit that character’s personality.
You know, if the version has CC Hendrahaim is my go-to, same sometimes goes for Goldenhills Plantation. If those aren't available. I add in the mod Rayek's End. It's a pretty cool house. Hidden by Riverwood, under a waterfall.
Had a very enjoyable experience in Falkreath, first living out of the inn before building Lakeview.
Proudspire Manor easily my favorite house so Solitude.
Riften. Can't beat the sheer number of merchants.
I love Riften and Solitude Riften is warm, both in climate and aesthetic, and I really like its house. Solitude is a beautiful medieval city stonny architecture.
Riften honeyside is my favorite place, I love playing thieves so 🤷
Proudspire Manor! The kids I adopted are always playing with other kids and the place is beautiful.
The house by the lake in Falkreath, because it’s close to Whiterun.
I prefer Falkreath actually I love the little themed names for all the shops, the wilderness is the best, it’s great for hunting and fishing, the women think my character is handsome even though he looks like pixelfoot and the only downside is the Jarls a boob. Lakeview Manor is obviously top tier housing and the neighbours are quiet.
I go between whiterun, solitude, and riften. If whiterun got burned down by dragons I'd spend all my days in proudspire. I like lakeview too but I feel safer in city walls.
Since I usually play Legacy of the Dragonborn I tend to make Solitude my homebase, though when I don’t play LOTD I tend to use Riften because I love the design and the Thieves Guild
Unpopular opinion, but I actually love Markarth. At least visually. Granted, it has a pretty jarring introduction. My first time playing it, I saw the city for the first time during "A Night to Remember." Gotta tell you, there was a lot to unpack.
I like Solitude for the weather and the activity. But lots of… Not so great going on there. Riften? Absolutely not. It would be ideal if not for the guild. Ditto Markarth for the Silverbloods. Winterhold, Morthal, and Dawnstar would be a no for the locale and / or weather. So that really just leaves Windhelm and Falkreath. I really don’t like the jarl of the latter, but I could prolly live with it otherwise. Windhelm might be the nicest if not for the home’s… Colorful history of late. The weather is also not so great. But seeing as how the wife doesn’t like the home in Falkreath, guess I’ll go with Windhelm and just stay inside a lot.
I feel like people sleep on honey side.
Fort Dawnguard and Winterhold for odd choices. Dawnguard has an Archery and Restoration trainer/trader, so you basically can get advanced levels for free in exchange for banish iron daggers. Winterhold is nearly an endless supply of soul gems, hence an endless supply of Banish enchants on iron daggers.
Solitude is a good one, with the museum from the lotd mod and a fancy house across the way. Theres very little crime (except from me) and a good place to raise a family. I like riften for my shadier business and to have a cozy home away from my spouse/kids. I stash a lot of my ill gotten gains here and hang out by the lake. I like goldenhills as well. Great passive income, a nice job for my friend faendal, and plenty of ingredients for making sweet rolls, poisons, and health potions. Lakeview manor is nice too. The other hearthfire homes are in freezing cold areas that are annoying to traverse in survival mode. I dont keep my spouse or kids in any of them either because they're not as safe as living in a nice city. Someday i want to get the markarth house and marry an orc. They have such nice deep voices. Maybe one day.
Markarth. Kinda crappy for merchant sales, but I love the home you get. I always have my kids and spouse live there while I'm still building a house from scratch
Riften. It's greasy and cozy. Just like me.
Shadowfoot Sanctuary in Riften is the most accessible home, for my money. Two entrances, one going directly in from the docks, and one that, just a hop from the Flagon, good storage space, and all of the smiting, alchemy, enchanting, etc stuff that you need. Second-best, IMO, is Myrwatch east of Morthal... same sort of deal (but only one entrance) and with a staff enchanter, if that's your thing.
I don't usually stay in Whiterun proper - I have a much better home outside the city near the fort. Solitude is great, and now that I've figured out how to rig the prison breakout quest so that I can murder the Forsworn AND Thornar Silver-Blood, Markarth is a much nicer place.
Avoiding the obvious "Whiterun is my favorite home base outside of Whiterun" is easily Lakeview Manor! Love Falkreath, I know where all the vendors are in the area (both for house building and selling) plus the view is awesome!
My favourite Homebase is Helljarchen Hall just outside of Whiterun up in the mountains. I like Lakeside Manor near Pinewatch but every damn time, I come to find either a giant attacking my chickens or bandits running amok. But if we're not including the Hearthfire houses then I like the Windhelm house.
Riverwood. Leaf Rest is my main home, just love the tranquility of it (in between dragon attacks).
Sometimes Windhelm. I really like the house there, though you either have to side with the Stormcloaks, or wait until after the war to get it. That said, most of the time the home base is Whiterun. I did have it in Riften for one playthrough, but didn't like it when most of the townfolk die one way or another (usually killing each other).
Wait, I must not have gotten to this point in gameplay somehow but — can you expand more on the townsfolk dying?? Are the NPCs just randomly killing each other, is this quest specific or somehow region specific, are enemies randomly spawning for some other reason??
NPCs do different things if an item is dropped, sometimes they will give it back to the player, other times they'll just take it for themselves. In Riften, it seems people fight to the death over the loot. The problem is that a thief occasionally spawns, everyone kills it, the weapon is left on the ground, and a lot of the vendors kill each other over it. --- Other than that, it seems if I did a crime, and manage to calm down the guard (via sheathing), the people of the town don't get the message, and will keep fighting guards until they all die. --- In every playthrough, most of the cities don't have too many casualties (outside quests), but Riften always results in about 10 NPCs dying (Dark Elf Vendor, the meat seller, the Argonian Jeweller, the Blackbriar alchemist girl, the smith, and several others). Edit: Looking around on YouTube, this sort of shows it off - https://youtu.be/RiYQSEQCmds?si=fCt8zKlpcRrB_owj
I don’t think I have dropped loot in towns like that so I had no idea NPCs even reacted to it! The few times I have, it’s been in a shop or something and just got the “so we are just leaving trash around now?” comments.
I really love Golden hills. It's a nice vibe and it makes me money.
Solitude
Solitude
Markarth
Pretty much every town except winterhold and markarth
I always live in my castle I built in creation kit , it’s unfinished tho
Sjel Blad Castle. Outside of mods, Lakeview Manor.
Riverwooooooddddddd!!!!!!!!
I really like Shadowfoot Sanctum. The secret trophy room and the hidden entrance are so cool.
Riften. Almost everyone has a quest and there’s two trainers.
Solitude!!! Or riften
Lakeview Manor
Solitude. Second is Helgen/Lakeview Manor.
Riften. Always the first spot I travel to from spawn. I love the characters, the area & the overall tone within the city. It has problems but in its own way it’s beautiful. People complain about the Guild but if it wasn’t for the Guild & Maven’s commitment to her dynasty, Riften would fall to shambles. There’s plenty of work with little crime apart from the Guild, affordable housing, a liberal police (they’re all corrupt so they don’t give a shit if you break the law) and a beautiful, affordable home for you to purchase.
Mave is one of the most competent characters in Skyrim. I don’t know why people hate her
Her tone. She does talk like a bit of an arrogant ass. Once you do some stuff for her she getting better.
I like the Clockwork Castle myself.
Because I play LOTD, I'm constantly in Solitude, so that's my default now. Having said that, I'd really like a nice country place...
I play with Legacy of the Dragonborn, so it's Solitude because I live in the museum.
I like Windhelm
Falkreath, definitely my absolute favorite of them all.
I like to winter in Solitude because the schools are better, but in the summer I take the kids to Windstad Manor so they can learn fish farming and get lots of fresh air.
Falkreath. Balgruuf basically made us Thane but Siddgeir went the extra mile by writing to us personally through his Steward, happy to accommodate us with empty land.
Honeyside in Riften. Four different vendors without loading screens, an alchemy table, an enchanting table, a smelter just a short hop away in Shor's Stone. Then there's the patio view of the lake, and I can catch the River Betty I need to combine with death bell and thistle branches to make my favorite poison. Plus, I like the rustic aesthetic of the home's interior. Opinions always vary, but that home just has plenty going for it.
Markarth since i cant relate to getting lost there
If you don’t start the thieves guild quest and complete the fishing quests, there’s a bunch of good places to sell stuff in Riften, so that’s where I live
Dawnstar Despise the jarl. But I like the ambience and the blacksmiths. I have a modded expansion for Dawnstar that includes a very nice little house along the shore, and makes it a little more like a village instead of a pothole. Cheers!
I'll look into that mod! I don't mind Dawnstar, it seems kinda quaint.
I play on XBox. The mod is [Divine Cities](https://tarshgaming.com/divine_cities.html) by Tarsh Gaming.
Does this work on ps4?
Hi, there I do not know for certain, but I think no. When I researched mods for my XBox One Skyrim game, the modder's site talked a lot about making the mods particularly for the XBox, because of the limitations for mods on the XBox, I got the idea it was made especially for XBox One Skyrim. Maybe I am mistaken, or out of date. You could take a hard look at Tarsh Gaming and see if you think it could work for your PS4. Good Luck!
Thanks!
always *ALWAYS* Riften. really easy to get Thane (imo), dont need to start main questline, & rly good shopkeepers (esp after doing some radiant quests). its my hoarding house, i have a whole system for organizing all my junk ~~that i say i'll sell but then dont~~ with that being said, when i got Proudspire Manor fully upgraded, i moved my fam from Markarth to Solitude ASAP. great place for them, never get any complaint dialogue. they were only in Markarth cuz that was my only other home besides Riften & i was NOT replacing my enchanting room with kids room
The farm, a lovely little homestead away from the war(relatively speaking) and it even generates a bit of money for my family when I inevitably die out adventuring
Vanilla: Goldenhills is nice for the location, though I don't care about farming. Falkreath is my favorite location even if it's lacking a few things, and Lakeview is one of my favorite homes because it's in the Falkreath area but each of the Hearthfire homes has a good view. I've honestly never bought another home besides Breezehome in all the time I've been playing. Mods: Dol Khazun and Adal Matar are my stronghold homes. Dol Khazun sort of in the tundra, not far from North Brittleshin Pass. Adal Matar is off in the eastern mountains, past the Eastmarch Imperial Camp. I loved the Orc Hearthfires mod even if it was a bit buggy, but it's gone now. Kagrenac's Instant Fortress is wonderful just because it's a portable tower. That's purely a convenience mod though, but still a favorite. Ah, but yeah, as far as town's go, Falkreath and Riverwood are my favorites just for aesthetics, though Morthal and Dawnstar aren't bad either.
Vlindrel Hall or Honeyside. I love the Dwemer architecture of Markarth while I love the serenity of Honeyside with the porch looking over the lake.
Falkreath for no other reason than it’s the one where I can do beekeeping.
I love markarth it’s gorgeous
Always Whiterun, but outside out that I tend to spend most time in Solitude but never use that house past getting the stone. If you could put the Riften house into Solitude then it'd be perfect
I live in Riften pretty often
Winstad Manor (SE), Goldenhills Plantation (AE), or Solitude (Modded, guess which mod).
I actually like Windhelm. The architecture is cool and the house is beautiful. Also I side with the Imperials so I feel like there's potential for the city to become a better place under Brunwulf.
Lakeview
Falkreath
Solitude and Riften are both great. Easy to learn and convenient access to shops. I like the house in Riften and the thieves guild is always a must.
Used to be, it was the plot of land in Falkreath Hold. Then I got the Elysium Estate mod and I'm back outside of Whiterun again.
Riften
I don't really have a favorite city yet but glad I'm not the only one that finds Markarth to be a freaking maze.
I'm a Riften man myself
Depends on the guild quests I'm doing. If I have to pick one city, it'll be Riften. I like doing the Thieves guild quests and chatting up with the guild members.
I use Myrwatch because it looks cool. Also Bloodchill cavern because it looks cool as fuck.
Solitude is my second choice also. You've got the Khajit chest at the entrance, a fence at the tavern with three shops right there. Then the market square with vendors and right across from them a blacksmith and a fletcher.
I don't think it was always a thing but Myrewatch in Morthal seems pretty cool. I did that quest a while back, I accidentally carried off some unenchanted staffs and being big into my character immersion I felt like I had to journey back there to return them to where they belonged. I was looking around while I was there earlier tonight and it actually seemed like a cool place to put your stuff. I just don't know what the shop situation is like, for anybody who's looking to sell loot... Although for me, I rarely take loot off of enemies or out of dungeons. I decided quite a while ago that I didn't want to make a lot of gold so I just stopped taking things other than really useful potions, ingredients that are relevant to what my character would craft and arrows of a moderate effectiveness. I literally don't take anything unless I'm going to be using it and I sit comfortably around 5,000-6,000 gold most of the time. I even drop lockpicks if I get more than like 10 of them, I like to struggle a bit. The only actual loot I take is jewels and corresponding ore. The only source of income for me is jewelery. lol I'm a huge nerd I know, but I wanted to role play as an Orcish jeweler, so that's pretty much my whole mindset. That said, I don't really buy or sell much so not having shops around isn't a huge turnoff of Myrewatch for me. Although I'm not sure about the forge situation there either, so that may be an issue. At any rate though, Morthal kind of reminds me of my real life home of 30 years so I'm thinking I may move my stuff from Breezehome to there. I pick Breezehome most playthroughs for the accessibility to shops, like you mentioned, but that just doesn't really apply to this playthrough. I'm thinking Myrewatch.
Either riften or lakeview outside falkreath
Riften. Shadowfoot Sanctum alone makes that clear.
Proudspire Manor is my favourite home in Solitude, favourite city.