Spoiler What is the Deal with this "Mysterious Traveller"

[Elfboy87]

I have been reading online that the "Mysterious Traveler" which comes with "Dawnguard" goes around and silently kills NPCs. Is this true? And please back up your answers with documented facts.

I've read posts claiming that NPCs will just wind up dead in their homes because of this traveler. Yet I've read other posts by people saying that the traveler never does that.

If the Mysterious Traveler does really go around and kill NPCs silently in their homes then please post legit sources proving that.

If the Mysterious Traveler does NOT kill NPCs silently in their homes then please post legit sources proving that.

 

[Urzek]

This is kinda old, but here's a reliable and legit source:

"At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead"

-Exodus 12:29-30

 

[Elfboy87]

AHhahaa... I don't think that source is related to Skyrim.

I meant a source proving or disproving whether or not the Traveler kills NPCs, in their homes, leaving random dead NPCs around.

 

[Elfboy87]

This right here:

Dawnguard Vampire Attacks = Game Killer? - The Nexus Forums

One person mentions the Traveler stealth killing NPCs. Then someone else says that is a "myth". Which one is the real deal? Either a Mysterious Traveler does kill off random NPCs or they don't.

(Post #1) "For those who don't know, Dawnguard introduces the chance, apparently a very high chance, of random vampire attacks in towns and cities. These attacks will cause 'Mysterious Travellers' to spawn inside towns and villages, when you are fairly near them, and these vampires will stealthily kill NPCs, and from what others are saying, these NPCs can be anyone, crucial or not, shopkeepers can die, quest givers can die, it apparently doesn't matter.

What's more, is that these attacks are scripted so that, one the vampire has entered a house, the game automatically kills an inhabitant inside it. The player does not even need to be inside the village in the case of those villages with walls, such as Falkreath, he/she only needs to be near it, picking flowers or whatever they're doing, for these Mysterious Travellers to spawn and start killing off NPCs."

and

(Post #5) "Vampire attacks on towns are less frequent then Dragon attacks on towns, and are some incredibly easy fights that ANY half-decently equipped character can stop with a flick on his hand.

This "VAMPIRES ARE KILLING EVERYONE, THE GAME IS UNPLAYABLE" thing some like to throw around is 100% pure myth caused by the exaggerative nature of some people."

With two people saying two different things and no solid source(s) there is no way of telling which one is true.

Mysterious travelers may in fact be able to kill non-essential NPCs or they may be able to kill ANY NPC regardless of the "Essential" flag which stops players from killing them.

OR Mysterious Travelers never enter houses silently and by doing so kill the NPC(s) inside.

 

[Elfboy87]

Well this is the best thing I found so far:

Mysterious Traveler question (Dawnguard spoilers, maybe) - GameSpot.com


"More or less. People who have actually watched him have reported him just wandering around and never entering a building. Try forcing a spawn and see for yourself.

Plus, in order to program him to enter an unloaded interior cell, run a "check" to see if any killable actors were present, and automatically kill them would require an excessive amount of scripting on Beth's part. They'd be going out of their way to program something that works differently than everything else in the game... that would annoy lots of people."

and

"He does not show up in random cities to kill people when you aren't around because he can't. Those cells aren't even loaded into your Xbox's memory. Some people had vampire raids that somehow got out of control, freaked out, and in a fit of posting somehow the rumor got started that the Mysterious Traveler was in ur game, killin ur d00dz... when in actuality he's just there to "surprise" the player."

Unless other sources can be found which prove or disprove that this Mysterious Traveler enters buildings and kills the NPCs inside.

 

[Fallout07]

I'm not sure if this is related but I started playing Skyrim earlier to finish off Dawnguard and a courier randomly gave me a letter saying that Faendel (the elf npc in Riverwood i think?) was dead and willed me some of his stuff. I Haven't been to Riverwood recently and I don't see how he could of died randomly, perhaps its this?

 

[Elfboy87]

I'm not sure if this is related but I started playing Skyrim earlier to finish off Dawnguard and a courier randomly gave me a letter saying that Faendel (the elf npc in Riverwood i think?) was dead and willed me some of his stuff. I Haven't been to Riverwood recently and I don't see how he could of died randomly, perhaps its this?

That could be it. If you were in the vicinity of Riverwood then the "Cell" that Riverwood is in would have been loaded in the Xbox 360's memory. Meaning you could be in close proximity to it but not actually in. Perhaps a vampire attacked and was defeated, but not before Faendel fell.

Or it could've been a Mysterious Traveller who assassinated Faendel while you were in the vicinity of Riverwood. The game doesn't do anything with a city when you are not in the "Cell" where the city is. The game saves processing power by focusing on working with one "Cell" at a time.

Regarding Essential NPCs. The ones who kneel over when any other NPC or monster "kills" them or when a player tries to kill them. If the Essential NPCs can be in fact be killed by these Mysterious Travelers, who are in fact vampires, then a player character who is a Vampire Lord is able to kill Essential NPCs.

A Vampire Lord is greater than a Mysterious Traveler. Which means that if they can Essential NPCs (as in dead dead, no kneeling over) then so can Vampire Lord Player characters. And for balance Werewolf Player characters are now able to kill Essential NPCs. If Mysterious Travelers can know kill for good Essential NPCs.

 

[Elfboy87]

I mean think about it. How could it be that before Dawnguard NOTHING could kill Essential NPCs. I am thinking Xbox360 here so no mods. No matter what Essential NPCs could not and simply would not die.

Along comes these Mysterious Travelers. If those Travelers, who are less in power when compared to Dragons (Blood, Frost), are able to kill Essential NPCs than that means Dragons can kill Essential NPCs. And since it is possible for your character to defeat Mysterious Travelers then that means you can now kill Essential NPCs.

If Mysterious Travelers are able to kill Essential NPCs when you the player cannot and when Dragons cannot then that means that Mysterious Travelers are now the strongest monster in the game. Even though it is shown that they are not since they can be killed by the player.

If MT's are able to kill Essential NPCs then that means that they have a power that is greater than anything the player has and anything that the Dragons have. Yet when they are in combat they don't use this Great Power to save themselves.

So either MT's cannot kill Essential NPCs or they can. And if they can, then they only use this Great Power (greater than anything the player or the Dragons have) to kill Essential NPCs but not the player.

If MT's can in fact kill Essential NPCs then that would mean that MT's are game breakers because they can do something which not even the player and the Dragons can do. It means that they have this Great Power which is only used convientley in certain cases. A Great Power which the MTs only use to take out Essential NPCs. Even though the armed guards, the Dragonborn player, and any Blood or Frost Dragons that they, the MTs, encounter are much bigger threats. And while the MTs use this Great Power to annihilate Essential NPCs they don't use it to take out bigger threats to their, the MTs, existence. Bigger threats such as the armed guards, the Dragonborn player, and Blood and Frost Dragons.

 

[Seanu Reaves]

sounds scarier than The Ebony Warrior...

 

[Elfboy87]

sounds scarier than The Ebony Warrior...

I was saying IF Mysterious Traveler's could kill Essential NPCs. and I don't really believe that they have a Great Power. I was saying that to point out that if they did, they would use it on the Player and Dragons and Guards. Not in very convient and select cases where it just so happened that they killed less threatening Essential NPCs. Instead of the much stronger Dragonborn player. And Guards. and actual Dragons.

MT's are not that strong. And IF they are able to kill Essential NPCs then it is a straight up game breaking mechanic. And if that Master Vampire (NOT the Traveler) killed Gerdur before the player spoke to her than there would be no one to talk to in Riverwood about joining the Stormcloaks.

You could still join but there would be no option to speak with her. In Helgen depending on what door you go through you escape with either the Imperial or the Stormcloak. One or the other asks to you to speak with Gerdur in town.

 

[Neriad13]

I've never seen a Mysterious Traveler enter a house in my life. And I've run into a dozen or more of them over the course of my Dawnguard adventures. Here's how a typical encounter runs:

I'll enter a city or leave a building and see one quietly hanging out in the shadows at the nearest typical vampire spawning point. He'll take a bit of a stroll through town, not bothering anyone. He'll only become hostile, to me and other NPCs, if I get too close or stare at him for too long.