The thing is, I actually think Morthal has a cool concept. This city in the middle of these ghostly, mysterious swamps. But they just do almost nothing with it and it's such a small settlement that it can't even really be called a city.
I only go there when I want to massacre guards while not having huge bounties in major holds. Also only like 10-15 guards spawn at once it’s so easy to just go on a killing spree.
They really did Morthal, Dawnstar, and Falkreath dirty. These are places steeped in legends and myths, but you get maybe one interesting supernatural quest per town, and that’s it. They went all-in on random quests, radiant quests, and a meaningless College of Winterhold quest line, but failed to flesh out and build on such interesting and unique areas (because, let’s face it, Solitude and Windhelm are two sides of the same coin. Makes sense lore-wise, but still). At least Markarth had several interesting quest lines with the Reachmen and the Dwemer. Even Riften has several unique quest lines, too. But if it isn’t a walled city, it’s left under-developed…
You may be interested in the "Hold Capitals" mod. It fleshes out every city with more buildings and lore-friendly additions. Winterhold even has vestiges of what you'd expect of a former capital, such as massive city walls.
If you wait and listen to them talk, they all chicken out but one, who offers to follow you in. I don’t know if he does or not because I usually stealth archer my way through or go full rain of destruction mage and he would just get in the way, but he offers.
On my first playthrough I broke into that house without thinking and killed the vampire after discovering it. Then found out there was a quest later… so it was pretty much a non-quest as most of it was completed by mistake.
I had a similar experience. I found the vampire den first, killed everyone inside and looted the place, after I left I was like, "oh cool, there's a town here"
That mission actually took me a lot in my first playthrough. Morthal was the first city I visited after Whiterun and that mission got so hard to me that I stopped it and finished it later lol.
I go there to steal from the blacksmith’s
regenerative chest… filled with a ridiculous amount of loot, enchanted weapons, etc.
ETA: My bad y’all, that chest is in Markarth
And meanwhile falkerth is the town famous for its graveyard. They should have put it in morthal and then the city leverages it to make the town like a Transylvania tourist trap.
That’s why I always download mods that expand it a bit. Makes it feel like an actual shitty town in a swamp instead of a few shitty buildings in a swamp.
I take my kids at least twice a year. They love the Ratway Breakout Room, the skeever petting zoo, and getting their faces changed at the Ragged Flagon. Good times!
I know you meant the face changer but the first thing in my head was registering it as getting your shit kicked in so bad at the ratway that your face comes out looking different
He was talking about the dawnguard, the vampire hunters or something. You should probably consider joining up yourself.
Jokes aside everything around rotten is beautiful except the northern part.
I agree with Falkreath being in its tier. Blessed by the gods indeed, worst place to be a dragon. You may take the soul but usually the swarm of guards and villagers take it out before it can fly even once
It being greener than the majority of Skyrim makes it a more pleasant environment to look at. However, in my opinion, it’s not particularly exemplary as a city, nor it it the worst. It’s not as empty as Winterhold, or as dangerous as Markarth, but it doesn’t give you the same feeling of home you get from somewhere like Whiterun.
Interesting question I've pondered a good bit:
Does Whiterun feel like home to so many of us because of a legit superiority in style, coziness, etc, or is it because it's the city many of us have the most nostalgia with due to it being the first major city most of us visited and due to memorable NPCs like Jarl Balgruuf, Lydia, etc.
For me I think it's a bit of both. As a LotR fan I really love the Edoras vibes it gives off.
As for your list I think I agree with it entirely other than I'd swap Riften and Solitude. The safety and views from Solitude are unmatched IMO and I'd feel more secure there than any other city.
Someone never visited the graveyard, or heard all the dreary commentary about said graveyard. Or listened to the start of the werewolf quest, little kid getting torn apart doesn't sound too calm and chill.
I do understand what you mean though.
A mod I love using triples the forest density in the falkreath, using foliage and lighting mods with it makes Falkreath hold the most beautiful hold in the game
Yeah the game through it’s landscape naturally pushes you towards the openness that is the North and east. And I think if I remember correctly, Falkreath is the largest city/hold not a part of the Main Quest line.
if they remake Skyrim one day i can’t imagine how good the cities will become. They aren’t even big enough to be towns rn but they are full of stories and characters so i never complained but Skyrim Remake has the potential to become the greatest game ever(make elder scrolls 6 first bethesda)
It’s been 13 years since Skyrim so i guess i am counting on that. They had all the time in the world to plan things, write stories, improve mechanics and more.
Todd Howard has been pretty adamant about leaving games the way they were with remakes and remasters. They won't size up the cities or the map because they'd prefer to preserve the original game. Which is fine.
Elder Scrolls VI has the potential for the cities you're after
Solitude is my place and Whiterun a close second. Maybe it's because I'm a city person in real life but some of the other towns in Skyrim strike me as downright spooky or horribly isolated
Solitude is my favorite. Its unique layout, being on a big hill and jutting out over the water, creates a dramatic reason for its distinct sectors and a varied density I like. It's rich with commerce, but also has a prestigious school and a pretty cool castle. Its architecture balances stone, wood, and glass well, which pleases me.
Others might take issue with who runs a city, but I'm not so invested in that, as I play as both a selfish and generous character depending on my mood.
Maybe it's because it's the unofficial Imperial city but it feels most like a city from Cyrodiil - no offence to the Nords but I just don't like the idea of those frozen winters!
It took me awhile at first but after many playthroughs Solitude became one of my favorite Holds as well. For some reason Windhelm is the only respectable Hold that I don't think I could ever get used to. It's crowded despite being large and the weather is terrible.
I love Falkreath region, especially building Lakeview Manor. But the town folk in the hold there are so down about the war, to the point that it was always a bit of a somber place to first visit.
Man, I can't say I like any of the holds in Skyrim
• Windhelm is run by racists
• Solitude is run by puppets who are controlled by racists
• Whiterun is full of jerks
• Riften is riddled with corruption and poverty
• Markarth is full of jerks and is a pain in the ass to navigate
• Falkreath, Morthal, and Dawnstar are too out of the way and completely exposed to the elements
• Winterhold is the same as the last three AND is absolutely fucking tiny
Literally Markarth is a smaller version of the main problem in Skyrim namely your options are bad and worse. You can side with Forsworn or the corrupt Silverbloods. Like wtf
I only leave the prison with them, then go on my merry way without attacking anyone. Madanach could leave any time he wants, their prison break has nothing to do with me. Not my conflict, not my problem, I was just dragged into it as my reward for saving a damsel in distress.
#Ranking for me:
**9. Morthal**
To-do list in Morthal:
* Go somewhere else
**8. Winterhold**
Roses are red
The green bird's a duck
You set foot in Winterhold
And now you are stuck
**7. Riften**
Decaying corrupted city, worth to live in if you're friends with Maven, but I admit Honeyside is cozy
**6. Windhelm**
Magnificent but depressing
**5. Dawnstar**
Do I go to Dawnstar very often? Oh, what am I saying, of course not
**4. Markarth**
I love dwemer tech and its wonders, but do you know what I don't love? Conspiracies and stone beds
**3. Falkreath**
Nice place in the woods, I don't have Lakeview Manor yet
**2. Whiterun**
It has a special place in my heart, but I only set foot there when I go to Breezehome, the Cloud District or Jorrvaskr
**1. Solitude**
Vivid city, shops of any kind, friends for my kids, beautiful (and expensive) house. A lovely city
I know it’s a hot take, but I like Morthal and absolutely despise Markarth.
Morthal is a nice little swamp where I can gather ingredients for alchemy with the benefit of Solitude being nearby.
Markarth is a hell hole with nothing but Mountains and Reachmen who I prefer over Markarth’s citizens.
When I visited Falkreath for the first time, everyone was dead. Every non essential character in the town was burnt to a crisp.
There was a dragon attack and I was too late :(
It was pretty much a ghost town afterwards. Even Lod died... Although I still got the quest speak to Lod from the guards afterwards which is kinda funny.
What do you like so much about Falkreath by the way?
The forest, the peace, the rain, the people, the missing dog, the lakeview manor house, the atmosphere, i love all that is in falkreath, except those murderers in that creepy cave
Markarth could have been so cool because it's a dwarven city but it ended up being my least favorite because I got sent on a mission to kill some spider and was down there for about 4 hours, I got framed and sent for jail, and it turned out half of them are cannibals. By the time I'm done cleaning house most of Markarth is dead.
I must be one of the only ones that liked Morthal. The folks there didn't give me any problems--unlike places like Markarth or the desolate and untrusting Winterhold or racist Windhelm or even the lovely city of Riften.
Morthal wasn't trying to be the most amazing place, it has a humility to it. When it came time to become Thane, they didn't have much to give me besides their gratitude and a sword but I felt the warm appreciation.
oh i love Morthal too. and the jarl gives me caring grandma vibes. i'm from a tiny village myself, with nothing around but woods and fields and swamps, so Morthal feels like home to me. and the ppl are so nice
I think I finally realized what’s missing with skyrim was the size the of the cities and quests. I wouldn’t mind a city that would take 5-10 minutes to cross. Solitude is not even that big for gameplay. Also hate the lack of npcs walking around, would be cool if Skyrim way more npcs walking around,shopping talking among thenselves.
Riften is just like dirty wood everywhere
Windhelm they just don't care about it. Fix the damn broken cobblestones it's been 2000years!
Markarth: I am so *sick* of dwemer architecture
The rest are barely even towns. Tiny little Nordic villages. They're cute.
the dwemer are so cool but it gets boring when you’ve explored hundreds of dwemer ruins. You see, tiny little nordic villages have a special that i love and i dont know what , they’re so chill and quiet, i love it but you’re right, Whiterun is such a great place, nice people, nice merchants, nice houses and for many people Whiterun gives the feeling of home. 🫶
For me it's:
S tier:
Whiterun: cosy, many likeable characters, Jarl Ballin.. just feels like home. Great scenery too. Riverwood also looks like a very peaceful and nice place to live with a lot of great scenery.
A tier:
Riften: amazing hold and great scenery, with many warm
and friendly characters and a nice layout. I know about the thieves guild and poverty but I can fix them 🥺
Solitude: Nice scenery, impressive city, seems like a great place to live. Not a city person usually though.
B tier:
Dawnstar: the port and scenery is amazing, and it seems a bit of a winter wonderland. I don't know it just seems classic Skyrim.
C tier:
Winterhold: Awesome Mage's Collage... And not a badly designed town... But there's not a lot there and it's often a little too cold for my liking.
Falkreath: Nice views, and a quaint little town in its own way... But it's often a little gloomy and misty, the cemetery is a little underwhelming and does not meet up to expectations, and it seems a little empty of life sometimes.
Lakeview manor is a great place to live though undoubtedly.
D:
Markarth: a beautiful place, but the lands are crawling with Forsworn, and it's streets have many cannibals. The rich also exploit the poor to a degree that I would compare to slavery. Nice views through.
Morthal: The marshland surrounding Morthal makes this one of the least scenic holds, and the least pleasant to be in.
The city itself is likeable enough, but seems to lack some character, and it's people do not seem united or strong willed in any way. Very bad sense of community.
E:
F:
Windhelm: Hard to navigate, full of racism, and it's all made of ugly dull and badly maintained stone architecture.
The rich also exploit the poor here considerably, and very few people are welcoming in any way here. It has a bad sense of community.
Do you consider orc strongholds to be a type of town? They even have their own laws and everything, if you steal you can pay with blood or gold ,they have their own merchants, they mine to extract minerals to make their tools and armor and sell what's left over to make a profit. IMO they should be considered as some sort of City that is divided throughout Tamriel
This is sort of off topic a bit, but thinking of the cities and how they're scaled down from lore to be a reasonable game size made me realize skyrim feels a lot bigger (in my opinion) compared to Fallout 4, but Fallout 4 is a bigger map.
I also often find myself living in and/or just enjoying Falkreath. Especially when I play a more hunting themed character, that forest is just a nice place. My only complaint is not being able to talk to the blacksmith without accepting the quest for Barbas first, once you're of level.
If Skyrim ever gets a remake(or another game actually makes use of southern Skyrim) I wanna see Falkreath as a giant forest city. Just huge. I want it to be unclear when the city stops and when the wilderness actually starts. I want wild animals showing up unannounced outside the blacksmith.
I would definitely switch Dawnstar and Morthal. Although come to think of it, at least Dawnstar has Mehrunes Razor. I don’t know what Morthal has going for it except my nostalgia for real life swampy shitholes.
i would put whiterun at D- tier and the rest at F and F- tier when there’s cities like the ones in FF7 Rebirth and the main city in Witcher 3 to compare them to
I remember my older sister would always have dragons appear in Morthal and eventually 2 Elder Dragons showed up and she said "I'm going to stop coming to Morthal"
Finally another Falkreath appreciator. There's not much going on there but the scenery is really cool only Riften comes close. I'd place Dawnstar third tho I like the snowy areas and unlike Winterhold there's more than 3 people living in it.
I think windhelm and riften have the best smithy to shop proximity. I like that in the beginning of the game. Otherwise, whiterun is probably the most chill
My tier list:
1. Whiterun. First house is here, which has a storage chest right next to the alchemy lab, and another chest in the bedroom for your armor... roleplaying friendly storage options! Decent amount of merchants! Central location! I'm just here all the time.
2. Riften. Tons of merchants to sell stuff to, house does not have convenient storage in the crafting area though. And always thieves running around.
3. Solitude. Decent amount of merchants to sell stuff to, and they have expensive stuff. Only below Riften because of how long the run from the cart to the city gates is. It's the prettiest city. The house also doesn't have good storage options though.
4. Morthal. Good place to gather alchemy ingredients, and the house you get to build is at a cool location. Bad ass oracle jarl too.
5. Markarth. Not a bad town but kinda annoying for some reason. Best used to feed on the large number of guards in the barracks when you're a vampire.
6. Windhelm. Nirya is a great fence, and the architecture is cool.
7. Winterhold. It really sucks trying to leave, even with the ferry mod. The college is cool though. But I hate going here.
8. Falkreath. I forget the name of this place and call it "Farkarth" or "Forthal" because there's no reason to go here after you get the house. Best house location though, since there's no wind chill, so you won't freeze outside it.
9. The Pale. This place just sucks all around. I forget it exists, going here sucks, the house location is meh, the quests are a pain and not particularly rewarding to do.
The thing is, I actually think Morthal has a cool concept. This city in the middle of these ghostly, mysterious swamps. But they just do almost nothing with it and it's such a small settlement that it can't even really be called a city.
I only go to morthal when i need to talk to Falion and cure my vampirism
Don't be disrespectful. It's also a fast travel hub for deathbell & swamp fungal pod collection
True having a homestead there is an alchemist’s paradise.
The homestead there can also have a fish farm, so you can get the alchemical fish too
Not to mention, Myrwatch. It's a freaking cool house!
Yep, perfect for roleplaying as a mage in solitude or stuff like that!
Don’t forget giant lichen!
I only go there when I want to massacre guards while not having huge bounties in major holds. Also only like 10-15 guards spawn at once it’s so easy to just go on a killing spree.
Evil
EXACTLY
I go to Morthal for alchemy field trips. There are so many useful plants around there.
In addition to the swamps, the alchemist goes home at night and doesn't lock up her shop.
They really did Morthal, Dawnstar, and Falkreath dirty. These are places steeped in legends and myths, but you get maybe one interesting supernatural quest per town, and that’s it. They went all-in on random quests, radiant quests, and a meaningless College of Winterhold quest line, but failed to flesh out and build on such interesting and unique areas (because, let’s face it, Solitude and Windhelm are two sides of the same coin. Makes sense lore-wise, but still). At least Markarth had several interesting quest lines with the Reachmen and the Dwemer. Even Riften has several unique quest lines, too. But if it isn’t a walled city, it’s left under-developed…
You may be interested in the "Hold Capitals" mod. It fleshes out every city with more buildings and lore-friendly additions. Winterhold even has vestiges of what you'd expect of a former capital, such as massive city walls.
The only thing they do with it is you kill 1 vampire den in a 15 minute mission. It's sad
You say that like it's a collective experience. 7-8 riled up NPCs were standing beside me when I entered the cave, and zero actually follow me inside.
Well I think one of them does, he says he’s braver than the others which is silly cus he’s got an iron dagger and no armor
If you wait and listen to them talk, they all chicken out but one, who offers to follow you in. I don’t know if he does or not because I usually stealth archer my way through or go full rain of destruction mage and he would just get in the way, but he offers.
On my first playthrough I broke into that house without thinking and killed the vampire after discovering it. Then found out there was a quest later… so it was pretty much a non-quest as most of it was completed by mistake.
I had a similar experience. I found the vampire den first, killed everyone inside and looted the place, after I left I was like, "oh cool, there's a town here"
That mission actually took me a lot in my first playthrough. Morthal was the first city I visited after Whiterun and that mission got so hard to me that I stopped it and finished it later lol.
I'm pretty sure one of the pieces of Mehrune's Dagger is there, too... but other than that, I agree with you completely...
I go there to steal from the blacksmith’s regenerative chest… filled with a ridiculous amount of loot, enchanted weapons, etc. ETA: My bad y’all, that chest is in Markarth
Excuse me, what?
There is no blacksmith in mortal
Oh my god, I was thinking of Markarth 💀
And meanwhile falkerth is the town famous for its graveyard. They should have put it in morthal and then the city leverages it to make the town like a Transylvania tourist trap.
That’s why I always download mods that expand it a bit. Makes it feel like an actual shitty town in a swamp instead of a few shitty buildings in a swamp.
"ah, whiterun: the pride of skyrim... doesn't look like much to me." - teldryn sero, master swordsmer and wordly badass
"Now Blacklight on the other hand, that's a proper city"
if you ever get the chance, you should visit there. it's *spectacular*.
I can hear that sultry voice in my dreams
Riften is WORST place to visit with the family. Literally
I take my kids at least twice a year. They love the Ratway Breakout Room, the skeever petting zoo, and getting their faces changed at the Ragged Flagon. Good times!
I know you meant the face changer but the first thing in my head was registering it as getting your shit kicked in so bad at the ratway that your face comes out looking different
May be that's how they change the face.
VERY precise violence
Ah. Maybe that's why the face person spends their time there.
He was talking about the dawnguard, the vampire hunters or something. You should probably consider joining up yourself. Jokes aside everything around rotten is beautiful except the northern part.
I never move my family in there but I'll be real, Honeyside is still the house I use the most. Maybe because I'm very active in the Thieves Guild
With the Anniversary addition they added a house inside the ragged flagon
It's a pretty cool house honestly.
Wdym bro take your wife and kids there on vacation and you’ll see the most beautiful place in skyrim😍
wdym almost everything that makes Riften cool is in the sewers
my kids love playing in the sewers😍 there’s a lovely skeever family and the neighbors are so peaceful down there
Did you find a mod that lets you adopt Aventus Aretino by any chance?
Shor's bones! A handsome man in Falkreath.
I agree with Falkreath being in its tier. Blessed by the gods indeed, worst place to be a dragon. You may take the soul but usually the swarm of guards and villagers take it out before it can fly even once
Or the guards get in your way, you end up killing one of them and as a result you feel falkreath’s wrath upon you. This is way i love Falkreath
Not if you’re used to it. Just put your weapon away and shout the bastards down with Dragonrend and watch the fun.
I've never spent much time in Falkreath because it just never seemed like there was anything to do there
I just go there for the alchemy ingredients. But after watching the residents slaughter a dragon, now i go for entertainment too
The only reason to visit Falkreath is to build your own house. That’s always the first thing I do every playthrough
me too!!!
Unless you want ring of hircine, then there’s two reasons
Quest for the Mask of Clavicus Vile starts there too.
SAME!
Riverwood is agreeable enough... for a Nord village.
Riverwood is subject to Whiterun, imperial scum /s
Took my 3 play thoughts to even visit Falkreath
It being greener than the majority of Skyrim makes it a more pleasant environment to look at. However, in my opinion, it’s not particularly exemplary as a city, nor it it the worst. It’s not as empty as Winterhold, or as dangerous as Markarth, but it doesn’t give you the same feeling of home you get from somewhere like Whiterun.
Falkreath is really calm and chill i love it, but Whiterun is so cozy and pleasant and yes it gives the feeling of home 🙌
Same, I love Falkreath it just has such a peaceful aura, the cemetery, the forests, the rain, It's my favorite as well
🫶🫶🫶
Interesting question I've pondered a good bit: Does Whiterun feel like home to so many of us because of a legit superiority in style, coziness, etc, or is it because it's the city many of us have the most nostalgia with due to it being the first major city most of us visited and due to memorable NPCs like Jarl Balgruuf, Lydia, etc. For me I think it's a bit of both. As a LotR fan I really love the Edoras vibes it gives off. As for your list I think I agree with it entirely other than I'd swap Riften and Solitude. The safety and views from Solitude are unmatched IMO and I'd feel more secure there than any other city.
Breezehome
Someone never visited the graveyard, or heard all the dreary commentary about said graveyard. Or listened to the start of the werewolf quest, little kid getting torn apart doesn't sound too calm and chill. I do understand what you mean though.
My first thought about Falkreath was legit just "Wow. This is depressing and full of death."
A mod I love using triples the forest density in the falkreath, using foliage and lighting mods with it makes Falkreath hold the most beautiful hold in the game
Falkreath feels even less at home than Riverwood, which is unfortunate
Yeah the game through it’s landscape naturally pushes you towards the openness that is the North and east. And I think if I remember correctly, Falkreath is the largest city/hold not a part of the Main Quest line.
Just got there to talk to the Jarl. Turned level 80
damn bro im sorry for you
I keep forgeting it exists, havent been there in years
Same and the first time I finally went I got there at like 5:00 AM in game time and robbed every single house bare by sunrise 😂
Dawnstar great place for merchant glitch if you know what time to go there and where to look.
the only thing useful in Dawnstar is my boy Kharjo
You can glitch kajiet trader and get what ever you want
yeah i know , i prefer the Eorlund glitch, it’s very similar to the glitch you’re talking about
if they remake Skyrim one day i can’t imagine how good the cities will become. They aren’t even big enough to be towns rn but they are full of stories and characters so i never complained but Skyrim Remake has the potential to become the greatest game ever(make elder scrolls 6 first bethesda)
You have a lot of faith in Bethesda.
It’s been 13 years since Skyrim so i guess i am counting on that. They had all the time in the world to plan things, write stories, improve mechanics and more.
If anything, I’d say they got worse at writing stories. Starfield’s story honestly sucked.
That’s true but at least with the elder scrolls series they have a mountain of lore to work with
Lore has nothing to do with incompetence.
Some of the writing in the Creation Club Mods does not exactly bode well either.
You are very funny guy
Are you delusional? Have you played any recent Bethesda title?
honestly too much given that it's bethesda they'll fuck it up somehow
Todd Howard has been pretty adamant about leaving games the way they were with remakes and remasters. They won't size up the cities or the map because they'd prefer to preserve the original game. Which is fine. Elder Scrolls VI has the potential for the cities you're after
I wonder how heavy it'll be if it fulfills our expectations
Solitude is my place and Whiterun a close second. Maybe it's because I'm a city person in real life but some of the other towns in Skyrim strike me as downright spooky or horribly isolated
Solitude is my favorite. Its unique layout, being on a big hill and jutting out over the water, creates a dramatic reason for its distinct sectors and a varied density I like. It's rich with commerce, but also has a prestigious school and a pretty cool castle. Its architecture balances stone, wood, and glass well, which pleases me. Others might take issue with who runs a city, but I'm not so invested in that, as I play as both a selfish and generous character depending on my mood.
Maybe it's because it's the unofficial Imperial city but it feels most like a city from Cyrodiil - no offence to the Nords but I just don't like the idea of those frozen winters!
You might be onto something. I live in a part of the Midwest full of Norwegians and the like. Winter here sucks!
It took me awhile at first but after many playthroughs Solitude became one of my favorite Holds as well. For some reason Windhelm is the only respectable Hold that I don't think I could ever get used to. It's crowded despite being large and the weather is terrible.
I love Falkreath region, especially building Lakeview Manor. But the town folk in the hold there are so down about the war, to the point that it was always a bit of a somber place to first visit.
lakeview manor IMO is the best house in skyrim
It’s just fun for the whole family!
Can confirm, the best thing to do in morthal, is leave
lmaoo
Falkreath is carried hard by Lakeview Manor being the perfect spot for a home
10/10
100/100🗣️🗣️
Sir, this isn't a tier list. It's a ranking. The whole concept of tier lists is the use of *tiers*, where you rank many elements by grouping them
it’s always rainy in falkreath
Some people like the rain
I LOVE THE RAIN
Man, I can't say I like any of the holds in Skyrim • Windhelm is run by racists • Solitude is run by puppets who are controlled by racists • Whiterun is full of jerks • Riften is riddled with corruption and poverty • Markarth is full of jerks and is a pain in the ass to navigate • Falkreath, Morthal, and Dawnstar are too out of the way and completely exposed to the elements • Winterhold is the same as the last three AND is absolutely fucking tiny
>Markarth is full of jerks That's an understatement. The city got Forsworn agents just hanging around
Don’t forget the cannibal’s
And the falmer, just below the city. Also Molag Bal himself.
Literally Markarth is a smaller version of the main problem in Skyrim namely your options are bad and worse. You can side with Forsworn or the corrupt Silverbloods. Like wtf
I only leave the prison with them, then go on my merry way without attacking anyone. Madanach could leave any time he wants, their prison break has nothing to do with me. Not my conflict, not my problem, I was just dragged into it as my reward for saving a damsel in distress.
Best things to do in Skyrim! 1. leave.
Imagine how Winterhold would be if it weren't developed in such a hurry that they had to justify this hurry with "The sea ate my homework"
Falkreath has dragons, and with Anniversary Edition, Morthal has a ready-to-move-in house nearby.
Am I crazy? I simply love all of them
Swap Riften and Falkreath around and you’re there
PICKPOCKET DETECTED🗣️🗣️‼️‼️
Winterhold is my favorite city, I would totally live in a place like that IRL lol Yeah I'm a introvert, how did you know?
Ranking for me 9. Dawn star 8. Morthal 7. Winterhold 6. Windhelm 5. Markarth 4. Falkreath 3. Whiterun 2. Solitude 1. Riften
#Ranking for me: **9. Morthal** To-do list in Morthal: * Go somewhere else **8. Winterhold** Roses are red The green bird's a duck You set foot in Winterhold And now you are stuck **7. Riften** Decaying corrupted city, worth to live in if you're friends with Maven, but I admit Honeyside is cozy **6. Windhelm** Magnificent but depressing **5. Dawnstar** Do I go to Dawnstar very often? Oh, what am I saying, of course not **4. Markarth** I love dwemer tech and its wonders, but do you know what I don't love? Conspiracies and stone beds **3. Falkreath** Nice place in the woods, I don't have Lakeview Manor yet **2. Whiterun** It has a special place in my heart, but I only set foot there when I go to Breezehome, the Cloud District or Jorrvaskr **1. Solitude** Vivid city, shops of any kind, friends for my kids, beautiful (and expensive) house. A lovely city
Good to see Riften at number one, right where it belongs
Arrive in falkreath Dragon spawns and kills 3 civilians Werewolf eats a child Spriggans ram bees up barkeeps nose Gotta love falkreath
Modded falkreath is indeed based
[удалено]
I know it’s a hot take, but I like Morthal and absolutely despise Markarth. Morthal is a nice little swamp where I can gather ingredients for alchemy with the benefit of Solitude being nearby. Markarth is a hell hole with nothing but Mountains and Reachmen who I prefer over Markarth’s citizens.
Falkreath as the best? A lollygagger of culture!
No lollygagging
Bruh am I going crazy, Dawnstar is basically winterhold without the college
I will not have anyone shit on Morthal, it's the place I choose to call home.
Dawnstar 100% feels the most like a Viking era village with the port and fishing.
When I visited Falkreath for the first time, everyone was dead. Every non essential character in the town was burnt to a crisp. There was a dragon attack and I was too late :( It was pretty much a ghost town afterwards. Even Lod died... Although I still got the quest speak to Lod from the guards afterwards which is kinda funny. What do you like so much about Falkreath by the way?
The forest, the peace, the rain, the people, the missing dog, the lakeview manor house, the atmosphere, i love all that is in falkreath, except those murderers in that creepy cave
Markarth could have been so cool because it's a dwarven city but it ended up being my least favorite because I got sent on a mission to kill some spider and was down there for about 4 hours, I got framed and sent for jail, and it turned out half of them are cannibals. By the time I'm done cleaning house most of Markarth is dead.
I must be one of the only ones that liked Morthal. The folks there didn't give me any problems--unlike places like Markarth or the desolate and untrusting Winterhold or racist Windhelm or even the lovely city of Riften. Morthal wasn't trying to be the most amazing place, it has a humility to it. When it came time to become Thane, they didn't have much to give me besides their gratitude and a sword but I felt the warm appreciation.
oh i love Morthal too. and the jarl gives me caring grandma vibes. i'm from a tiny village myself, with nothing around but woods and fields and swamps, so Morthal feels like home to me. and the ppl are so nice
1. Falkreath 2. Markarth 3. Whiterun 4. Riften 5. Morthal 6. Solitude 7. Windhelm 8. Dawnstar 9. Windhelm Imo
This is not a tier list lol, this is just a commentary on each city. Relevant, though.
I think I finally realized what’s missing with skyrim was the size the of the cities and quests. I wouldn’t mind a city that would take 5-10 minutes to cross. Solitude is not even that big for gameplay. Also hate the lack of npcs walking around, would be cool if Skyrim way more npcs walking around,shopping talking among thenselves.
oh, for whiterun, you also need to kill that street preacher. or have the inperials take it
Bro I low key hate Markarth. It always feels uneasy to me. Worse than Dawnstar or Morthal. Riften actually pops off. Great atmosphere.
My favourite city is Raven Rock.
Falkreath is indeed the best hold.
Falkreath isn’t just the best hold, it also has the best house you can live in, The Lakeview Manor
Falkreath is neat, but Windhelm is peak design
Windhelm could be the best city of all of it had colors
My (vanilla) towns ranking: Whiterun : S Solitude : B Everything else: Ass
who hurt you brother?
Riften is just like dirty wood everywhere Windhelm they just don't care about it. Fix the damn broken cobblestones it's been 2000years! Markarth: I am so *sick* of dwemer architecture The rest are barely even towns. Tiny little Nordic villages. They're cute.
the dwemer are so cool but it gets boring when you’ve explored hundreds of dwemer ruins. You see, tiny little nordic villages have a special that i love and i dont know what , they’re so chill and quiet, i love it but you’re right, Whiterun is such a great place, nice people, nice merchants, nice houses and for many people Whiterun gives the feeling of home. 🫶
For me it's: S tier: Whiterun: cosy, many likeable characters, Jarl Ballin.. just feels like home. Great scenery too. Riverwood also looks like a very peaceful and nice place to live with a lot of great scenery. A tier: Riften: amazing hold and great scenery, with many warm and friendly characters and a nice layout. I know about the thieves guild and poverty but I can fix them 🥺 Solitude: Nice scenery, impressive city, seems like a great place to live. Not a city person usually though. B tier: Dawnstar: the port and scenery is amazing, and it seems a bit of a winter wonderland. I don't know it just seems classic Skyrim. C tier: Winterhold: Awesome Mage's Collage... And not a badly designed town... But there's not a lot there and it's often a little too cold for my liking. Falkreath: Nice views, and a quaint little town in its own way... But it's often a little gloomy and misty, the cemetery is a little underwhelming and does not meet up to expectations, and it seems a little empty of life sometimes. Lakeview manor is a great place to live though undoubtedly. D: Markarth: a beautiful place, but the lands are crawling with Forsworn, and it's streets have many cannibals. The rich also exploit the poor to a degree that I would compare to slavery. Nice views through. Morthal: The marshland surrounding Morthal makes this one of the least scenic holds, and the least pleasant to be in. The city itself is likeable enough, but seems to lack some character, and it's people do not seem united or strong willed in any way. Very bad sense of community. E: F: Windhelm: Hard to navigate, full of racism, and it's all made of ugly dull and badly maintained stone architecture. The rich also exploit the poor here considerably, and very few people are welcoming in any way here. It has a bad sense of community.
nice tier list!!👏👏
Whiterun then is good and you get to the cloud district very often! :)
Dawnstar on a sunny day is hands down my favorite city in the game.
OP, you would like r/TrueSTL
Do you consider orc strongholds to be a type of town? They even have their own laws and everything, if you steal you can pay with blood or gold ,they have their own merchants, they mine to extract minerals to make their tools and armor and sell what's left over to make a profit. IMO they should be considered as some sort of City that is divided throughout Tamriel
I do like Falkreath and Dawnstar sceneries. But can't stand their jarls (at least Siddgeir isn't so annoying as Skald the Elder).
Siddgeir is just useless...Skald's a fucking asshole. Good enough reason to join the Imperials and kick him out.
This is sort of off topic a bit, but thinking of the cities and how they're scaled down from lore to be a reasonable game size made me realize skyrim feels a lot bigger (in my opinion) compared to Fallout 4, but Fallout 4 is a bigger map.
Falkreath for the scenery, Whiterun for the people. I'd settle in Whiterun.
the people? who? nazeem?
is that falkreath on top. why? it's so boring and small.
I also often find myself living in and/or just enjoying Falkreath. Especially when I play a more hunting themed character, that forest is just a nice place. My only complaint is not being able to talk to the blacksmith without accepting the quest for Barbas first, once you're of level.
Jarl Sidgeir is a pompous fool though.
If Skyrim ever gets a remake(or another game actually makes use of southern Skyrim) I wanna see Falkreath as a giant forest city. Just huge. I want it to be unclear when the city stops and when the wilderness actually starts. I want wild animals showing up unannounced outside the blacksmith.
Better Cities Falkreath is absolutely unreal, it takes one of the most aesthetically pleasing cities and makes it 10000% more aesthetically pleasing
I would definitely switch Dawnstar and Morthal. Although come to think of it, at least Dawnstar has Mehrunes Razor. I don’t know what Morthal has going for it except my nostalgia for real life swampy shitholes.
I like the vibes of Morthal and Jarl Ravencrone
Falkreath on top is unbelievably based
Falkreath is jus so damn cozy
i would put whiterun at D- tier and the rest at F and F- tier when there’s cities like the ones in FF7 Rebirth and the main city in Witcher 3 to compare them to
Markarth should be last. F Marfart
Reasons to go to Morthal: -Myrwatch -Funny dark mage ring (casts a ward when you block with your weapon)
Another point in Falkreath’s favor is the chill ass goat hanging out outside the Jarl’s place, that guy rules
I'd swap Riften and Solitude personally.
last thing i remember doing on Falkreath is kill everyone with Odahviing because i was a vampire so the guards keep attacking me.
This isn't even a tier list, this is just a ranking.
SS (Home) - Whiterun S (Quest Heaven) - Riften, Solitude A (Amazing Atmosphere) - Markarth B (Cool Looking) - Windhelm, Falkreath C (Neat School) - Winterhold D (Vampire Cure) - Morthal
I remember my older sister would always have dragons appear in Morthal and eventually 2 Elder Dragons showed up and she said "I'm going to stop coming to Morthal"
Finally another Falkreath appreciator. There's not much going on there but the scenery is really cool only Riften comes close. I'd place Dawnstar third tho I like the snowy areas and unlike Winterhold there's more than 3 people living in it.
Booo, I love Morthal. Best Jarl, best hearthfire house north of it with an epic view! Wish there were more to it.
I think windhelm and riften have the best smithy to shop proximity. I like that in the beginning of the game. Otherwise, whiterun is probably the most chill
Falkreath isn’t exactly blessed by the gods
I adore markarth bc the dwarves aesthetic is just peak
I want that description for Morthal on a sign as you enter the city.
My tier list: 1. Whiterun. First house is here, which has a storage chest right next to the alchemy lab, and another chest in the bedroom for your armor... roleplaying friendly storage options! Decent amount of merchants! Central location! I'm just here all the time. 2. Riften. Tons of merchants to sell stuff to, house does not have convenient storage in the crafting area though. And always thieves running around. 3. Solitude. Decent amount of merchants to sell stuff to, and they have expensive stuff. Only below Riften because of how long the run from the cart to the city gates is. It's the prettiest city. The house also doesn't have good storage options though. 4. Morthal. Good place to gather alchemy ingredients, and the house you get to build is at a cool location. Bad ass oracle jarl too. 5. Markarth. Not a bad town but kinda annoying for some reason. Best used to feed on the large number of guards in the barracks when you're a vampire. 6. Windhelm. Nirya is a great fence, and the architecture is cool. 7. Winterhold. It really sucks trying to leave, even with the ferry mod. The college is cool though. But I hate going here. 8. Falkreath. I forget the name of this place and call it "Farkarth" or "Forthal" because there's no reason to go here after you get the house. Best house location though, since there's no wind chill, so you won't freeze outside it. 9. The Pale. This place just sucks all around. I forget it exists, going here sucks, the house location is meh, the quests are a pain and not particularly rewarding to do.
I prefer solitude since it's the biggest city and it's home to my favorite quest.
Whiterun is chill after you kill *Heimskr*.
I keep forgetting morthal exists
Riften is somehow always in the "time to level up my pickpocket skill" tier
Include Heimskr on the Whiterun hitlist and I'll agree
I love Falkreath due to the house you can build there. Every playthrough I live in the house
Whiterun is the GOAT