The Great Cheese Heist

[Perkless in Skyrim]

Of all the things you can do in Skyrim, cooking seems to be the most pointless. Almost all the recipes you can create are upstaged by a decent healing potion and cooking doesn't even improve your skills. So unless you're a die-hard roleplayer what's the point?

Well, there is ONE recipe worth making: Elsweyr Fondue. You get a spiffy 100 point boost to your Magicka and a 25% faster Magicka regeneration for 720 seconds. That's a fairly long time in Skyrim. Even non mages have to admit there are times when it would be nice to try out a new higher level spell that you aren't quite good enough to cast yet without assistance.

Ah, but Eider cheese wheels are a vital part of the recipe and fairly hard to come by. You can pick the odd one up at an inn or shop but it seems Moon Sugar is actually easier to get in quantity from traveling caravans and the occasional Skooma dealer out on the roads.

Well my friends, there is a large collection of cheese wheels ripe for the taking! The East Empire Warehouse just south of Solitude just received a shipment. Getting in and dealing with the guards is a fairly simple process and the rewards are great. I haven't counted but it looks like there are easily 2 DOZEN Eider cheese wheels in there, probably more. What do you say? Anyone up for a cheese heist?

How much cooking do YOU do? Anyone else like to take advantage of the cheesy goodness Elsweyr Fondue offers?

 

[M'aiqaelF]

wow....i've never even tried cooking in skyrim

 

[The Barefoot Nord]

I think I made a soup once, but saw no benefit in it so never did it again. This cheesy situation however sounds like a good one to try!

 

[Kuurus]

I made a few of the beef stew and vegetable stew. They regen 1 to 2 health/stamina per second for 12 minutes. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I had the ingredients anyway and figured they were better than the other silly items to eat that healed maybe 10 health and that was it. I reasoned that 60 to 120 pts of regen every minute would be at least of SOME benefit in a long fight perhaps.

I have never actually remembered to consume it before combat though, lol.

 

[Jeff the DragonBorn]

When my character was younger I cooked often as it helped in battle to start gulping down foodstuffs. But now as he is maturing and leveled up in alchemy I don't spend as much time doing it.

HOWEVER there are times when there is an abundance of cooking materials and you are low on potions so cooking comes in handy. Think those times you are clearing out a castle or keep and you know there are enemies upstairs and here you are in a fully stocked kitchen - dog meat and all - so why not stop and make some stew or fry that salmon fillet?

 

[Oren74]

I leave that...wait for it...waaaaait for it...for the wife

 

[The Barefoot Nord]

I leave that...wait for it...waaaaait for it...for the wife

I would be on the lookout for an arrow in the knee there sir.

 

[Perkless in Skyrim]

I made a few of the beef stew and vegetable stew. They regen 1 to 2 health/stamina per second for 12 minutes. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I had the ingredients anyway and figured they were better than the other silly items to eat that healed maybe 10 health and that was it. I reasoned that 60 to 120 pts of regen every minute would be at least of SOME benefit in a long fight perhaps.

I have never actually remembered to consume it before combat though, lol.

I made vegetable soup at first but I never noticed any difference in my health. And I would also forget to eat it.

When my character was younger I cooked often as it helped in battle to start gulping down foodstuffs. But now as he is maturing and leveled up in alchemy I don't spend as much time doing it.

HOWEVER there are times when there is an abundance of cooking materials and you are low on potions so cooking comes in handy. Think those times you are clearing out a castle or keep and you know there are enemies upstairs and here you are in a fully stocked kitchen - dog meat and all - so why not stop and make some stew or fry that salmon fillet?

I have rarely been in a situation where I was running low on potions to the point where cooking seemed like a good idea. the weight/health increase ratio just never seemed worth it. I would have to carry enough food to feed an army to make it through one tough battle. And there's never a cooking pot or spit around when you need it. Salt piles are better off in my alchemical creations than wasted on something that might get me 10 health. Even a minor potion of healing only weighs half a pound but nets me 25 health.

Ahhh, but fondue ... I always carry 2-4 with me. My character still hasn't leveled yet and that boost comes in handy.

 

[BarbRoyle123]

I did try the cooking feature for a while after I got my first house in Whiterun, but I agree it's upstaged by what potions can do. The only time food has come in handy was in the middle of a boss fight when I ran out of potions and needed a tiny boost, not that it really made a whole lot of differenc. But that was ages back, I've got tons of potions and don't have a use for cooking anymore.

Your cheese heist does sound promising though. I may have to drop by that warehouse for a sneaky peek

 

[NayrbNot]

I have only been playing a week but so far cooking has been VERY helpful indeed! In battles I will consume 1 venison stew and 1 beef stew to start and that will allow my character to regen stamina faster. It may not be immediate relief but it DOES help. The items that only give you 5-10 points of health and other such items are worthless as far as I can tell. I do like the idea of Elsweyr Fondue however, just do not have any moonsugar to use in the recipe, but I have LOADS of Eider cheese

Keigh lvl 21 Nord Warrior/Archer/Thief/Battlemage

 

[Kalin of High Rock]

We've really gotten this far into this with no one quoting Sheogorath? Seriously?

 

[pinkempyreal]

I use food for role playing purposes only. I mean come on....
"Hello there ancient dragon. Would you kindly wait for me to eat a bowl of soup before you try and bite my head off? Kthanks. *slurp*
I have, however, been lucky (or not) to face a dragon almost immediately after my Dragonborn finished her lunch. So the "benefits" of my soup weren't entirely wasted.

 

[DovahCap]

We've really gotten this far into this with no one quoting Sheogorath? Seriously?

Cheese... for EVERYONE!

I'm doing the fish stick, it's a delicate state of mind.

Unfortunately for you, Pelagius suffered night terrors from a young age.

Fear the power of Lager Breadlord!

 

[Neriad13]

Well, being a hardcore roleplayer, I cook all the time. Gotta eat to stay strong! But it's extremely rare for me to cook any type of soup or stew, as I don't tend to carry around loads of vegetables all the time. Mostly I just toss whatever roast I have over the fire and call it a day. As for benefits from food to be used in combat...I'd feel that it ruins immersion.

But a cheese heist sounds brilliant!

 

[Morgan]

I'd cook more except for most recipes call for salt pile, and I never have any because I offload all my alchemy ingredients in bulk very frequently.

For shield users though, the 1 stamina per second recipes (venison stew, beef stew, and vegetable soup) are easily the most useful things in the game. I've dumped gold rings and enchanted gear to make room for leeks and tomatoes (they seem to be the hardest to find). (I also laugh like a nine year old when I "Take a leek.") They enable you to shield-bash pretty much indefinitely. I make it a goal to clear Valtheim tower solely by knocking everyone off the bridge or platforms. It sounds like a glitch, but no more so than Impact, and leveling block without it is beyond tedious.

I save all the eidar cheese wheels I get, but I never find any moon sugar except when clearing that skooma dealer in Riften. Luckily I tend not to play mages, so it's not a big deal. I do try to keep a tureen of it around though.

 

[DarK StaR]

wow i barley even knew there was cooking XD

 

[Morgan]

wow i barley even knew there was cooking XD

I don't know if that was on purpose, but it's funny either way!

 

[ReaperHemingway]

We've really gotten this far into this with no one quoting Sheogorath? Seriously?

That's actually what I thought this thread was about when I read the title.

His quest was easily one of my favourites in Oblivion. Stinky cheese, plague of rats, animals falling from the sky, what could be better?

 

[DovahCap]

This thread reminds me of my glorious book raid on the Arcaneum. No skillbook/quest book was safe from my wrath.

 

[Perkless in Skyrim]

*casts NECROPOST*

It seems I have underestimated cooking. Specifically, and especially, those food items such as Venison Stew and Beef Stew which give a boost to your health and stamina regeneration.

My character is something of a hunter (huntress, actually) and likes to make Venison Stew rather than be wasteful and leave it behind on the deer carcass.

Well.

One fine day I was walking along the road by the hot springs towards Windhelm. I was following a courier and Talsgar the Wanderer and picking up some wolf pelts for no effort of my own. My current tactic, when not letting someone else do all the work, is to cast Fury on a deer or elk so if my arrow doesn't kill it immediately I don't lose my quarry as it races away. I happened to attempt this on a wolf with a mammoth not too far away.

I'm sure you see where this is going.

I hear the stomping of huge feet and immediately assume the mammoth is coming for ME. In my confusion, I didn't realize it was actually attacking the wolf. Since it was literally almost on top of me, I reacted by taking a panic swing at it with my warhammer.

Did I mention I'm playing a level 1 character? Suicide move if there ever was one. In a very short amount of time I'm down to a sliver of health.

Realizing I'm about to become a pancake, I look through my inventory and have maybe 3 potions of minor stamina and NO potions of healing because genius here was trying to milk the potion vendor for every Septim I could get and forgot to make more.

Then I desperately check the food section, and lo and behold! Beef Stew and Venison Stew are there. I gobble several of each and start praying to the Divines as I sprint away from the mammoth. And sprint. And SPRINT. And sprint almost all the way to Windhelm before my stamina bar was gone. I paused and it refilled rapidly.

So, folks, here's a great non-magical way to get incredible stamina and possibly health regeneration as well. Apparently food, unlike potion effects, will stack. If I'm wrong, please correct me.

I don't know how effective this would be for someone who has been leveling and increasing their stamina, but I do know that I'm never turning my nose up at cooking again.