LortTheAngryMort
New Member
I've noticed a LOT of people have been having problems lately, myself included, with instances of protracted "stutter" that seem to be mysteriously associated with the installation of Dawnguard and/or Dragonborn. Not being satisfied with having to watch the game pause every 3 seconds or 10 feet (depending on what I'm doing) and losing otherwise easily-won battles, I decided I'd look into what may be causing this. The good news is that this problem, while game-breaking, is ultimately temporary. Here is what I have observed causes it, by significance:
1. ENCHANTED ARMORS, TRINKETS, AND WEAPONS
I noticed the stutter completely subsided after unequipping a Nordic Warhammer that had a Paralysis enchantment on it. Other enchanted weapons seemed to exacerbate the stutter as well, armor I'm not so sure. This should be the first thing you check before you go and empty all of your Hearthfire homes / owned estates of valuables, since you'll tend to want to give them away for free just to be rid of the bug. My save file (compared to my level 81 who has 544+ hours at this time) was 12 mb, at 270ish hours, right under 2,000 saves. The above-mentioned level 81 save weighed in around 21 mb, and is still playable (not taking into account the ridiculous load time I have to wait through). My guess is there is something (especially on Solstheim, seriously wtf is that crap) going on with the shader effect on the enchanted weapon that is slaughtering the game's ability to render correctly...I notice I always see TONS of texture pop when I'm having this problem, even parts of world geometry don't render when they're supposed to.
2. TONS UPON TONS OF ENCHANTED ITEMS OF THE SAME TYPE IN THE PLAYER'S INVENTORY
If you have 30 Copper and Onyx Circlets with Waterbreathing enchantments applied (for example) in your inventory, you may experience this glitch. Of course the solution would be to simply get rid of them permanently by selling them, and for good measure, wait a few days for the relevant vendor's inventory to recycle.
3. TONS OF FAV'D WEAPONS, ARMOR, CONSUMABLES, POTIONS, YOUR WIFE'S UNDIES, ET CETERA
You're going to want to clear that clutter up a bit anyways. I've had various success with this method.
4. >9000 ACTIVE QUESTS
Go turn in some Thieves Guild quests, all those miscellaneous quests that are still being tracked by the game.
5. ACTIVE EFFECTS
Try drinking a variety of fortify potions, paralysis, damage health, whatever. Unequip enchanted armor and trinkets and see if those were culprits. I noticed very suspiciously that this last time it happened was right after returning from Apocrypha for the first time, wherein I took the Lover's Insight perk.
6. WEATHER, CLIMATE EVENTS, AND MAGIC
Volumetric rendering effects like fog, sandstorms, and snow can impact the bug for better or worse at times. Try using Clear Skies or Storm Call and see if that helps at all.
7. EXTERIOR CELL DISCOVERY
In some places, this glitch seems to be more prevalent just because you're exploring cells that are being put on the local map.
8. I HAVE 9999999999999 IRON GAUNTLETS, EBONY DAGGERS, ARTICLES OF CLOTHING STOLEN FROM MURDERED BEGGARS, OR ENOUGH CABBAGE TO BUILD A SMALL ISLAND
The game (almost regrettably so) keeps a tight record of all the items you put in containers YOU own. I'm not so sure this contributes too terribly much to the glitch, but since I don't really know for sure how that data is called by the engine I can't say for sure. Still, you are ultimately cutting down on your save file size, though probably not as much as some would think!
9. SUCK IT UP, AND KEEP PLAYING
The worst option of the bunch. It does ultimately subside over time, but is incredibly discouraging. The first time I encountered this bug on my first character, I ended up loafing through about 3 hours of glitchy gameplay before it suddenly stopped for good. Whether it was because the above items were ticked off or the game finally decided to play fair, I cannot say for sure.
In conclusion, the most reliable fix was #1 for me, these are just other items to consider that may contribute to this glitch. I'd love it if more people shared ideas. I post very seldom on this board, granted, but when I have I always did it for the purpose of trying to be helpful.
1. ENCHANTED ARMORS, TRINKETS, AND WEAPONS
I noticed the stutter completely subsided after unequipping a Nordic Warhammer that had a Paralysis enchantment on it. Other enchanted weapons seemed to exacerbate the stutter as well, armor I'm not so sure. This should be the first thing you check before you go and empty all of your Hearthfire homes / owned estates of valuables, since you'll tend to want to give them away for free just to be rid of the bug. My save file (compared to my level 81 who has 544+ hours at this time) was 12 mb, at 270ish hours, right under 2,000 saves. The above-mentioned level 81 save weighed in around 21 mb, and is still playable (not taking into account the ridiculous load time I have to wait through). My guess is there is something (especially on Solstheim, seriously wtf is that crap) going on with the shader effect on the enchanted weapon that is slaughtering the game's ability to render correctly...I notice I always see TONS of texture pop when I'm having this problem, even parts of world geometry don't render when they're supposed to.
2. TONS UPON TONS OF ENCHANTED ITEMS OF THE SAME TYPE IN THE PLAYER'S INVENTORY
If you have 30 Copper and Onyx Circlets with Waterbreathing enchantments applied (for example) in your inventory, you may experience this glitch. Of course the solution would be to simply get rid of them permanently by selling them, and for good measure, wait a few days for the relevant vendor's inventory to recycle.
3. TONS OF FAV'D WEAPONS, ARMOR, CONSUMABLES, POTIONS, YOUR WIFE'S UNDIES, ET CETERA
You're going to want to clear that clutter up a bit anyways. I've had various success with this method.
4. >9000 ACTIVE QUESTS
Go turn in some Thieves Guild quests, all those miscellaneous quests that are still being tracked by the game.
5. ACTIVE EFFECTS
Try drinking a variety of fortify potions, paralysis, damage health, whatever. Unequip enchanted armor and trinkets and see if those were culprits. I noticed very suspiciously that this last time it happened was right after returning from Apocrypha for the first time, wherein I took the Lover's Insight perk.
6. WEATHER, CLIMATE EVENTS, AND MAGIC
Volumetric rendering effects like fog, sandstorms, and snow can impact the bug for better or worse at times. Try using Clear Skies or Storm Call and see if that helps at all.
7. EXTERIOR CELL DISCOVERY
In some places, this glitch seems to be more prevalent just because you're exploring cells that are being put on the local map.
8. I HAVE 9999999999999 IRON GAUNTLETS, EBONY DAGGERS, ARTICLES OF CLOTHING STOLEN FROM MURDERED BEGGARS, OR ENOUGH CABBAGE TO BUILD A SMALL ISLAND
The game (almost regrettably so) keeps a tight record of all the items you put in containers YOU own. I'm not so sure this contributes too terribly much to the glitch, but since I don't really know for sure how that data is called by the engine I can't say for sure. Still, you are ultimately cutting down on your save file size, though probably not as much as some would think!
9. SUCK IT UP, AND KEEP PLAYING
The worst option of the bunch. It does ultimately subside over time, but is incredibly discouraging. The first time I encountered this bug on my first character, I ended up loafing through about 3 hours of glitchy gameplay before it suddenly stopped for good. Whether it was because the above items were ticked off or the game finally decided to play fair, I cannot say for sure.
In conclusion, the most reliable fix was #1 for me, these are just other items to consider that may contribute to this glitch. I'd love it if more people shared ideas. I post very seldom on this board, granted, but when I have I always did it for the purpose of trying to be helpful.
