This review is dedicated to the DLC I felt wasn’t worth my time or money, and I think I’m right; Hearthfire.
\nI said I was going to wait ’till the Steam Summer Sales. Well, here they are, and Hearthfire is 33% off, saving a whopping $1.65! .. In my opinion, this is what the DLC is worth (the whole $1.65).<\/p>\n
Now let’s get on with the review. To even have a chance to start building a house, you have to kiss the Jarl’s ass of either Falkreath, Morthal, or Dawnstar. These are the only ones that will work to get a plot of land. Why? They’re the only ones that don’t have a purchasable home in their city. Eventually, they will give you the option of “purchasing a house”. Though, you have to be at a certain level to get the quests. You don’t have to complete the main questline.<\/p>\n
Then, you need to speak to the Jarl’s Steward. This is what confused me. I want to own a plot of land in their hold, but their only option is to buy a house.<\/p>\n
But even at this, there’s an issue. See, there’s a courier that’s supposed to show up, and give you a letter to seek out the town you just became Thane in, and speak to the Steward and hand over $5,000 gold. Thing is, he never shows up. Fortunately, you can bypass this and just go speak to the Steward.
\nI now know why, only these three towns you’re allowed to have a house. Because they’re the only three that don’t have one when the Jarl allows you to buy a house. It makes perfect sense.<\/p>\n
So now, you pay the gold, the person tells you where to go. You go there, and see a bunch of intractable things to start planning your abode, and a chest that has supplies needed to help you get the “Small House” house plan built.
\nNow, you can either settle with the small house and also decorate it with a list of decor options, or upgrade and make a larger area called the “Main Hall” your actual house.<\/p>\n
Completing the Main Hall, this is where the customization phase kicks in. Yes, you can customize the house to your liking after this point. What I mean by this, there are three ‘Wings’ you can add to the house and make it bigger. North, West, and East.
\nThe West Wing, you can have an Armory to practice Archery and hang your old weapons and stuff like that. Or, you can have a Kitchen for Cook people. Or, you can have a Library for Mages(and people that hoard a lot of books).<\/p>\n
The North Wing, you can have an Alchemy Lab, or more Storage, or a Trophy Room to show off those kills to your kids.<\/p>\n
And lastly, the East Wing, you can have Bedrooms for your followers, lover and adopted children(and yourself), or an Enchanter’s Tower(even though you can have an Enchanting Table in the Main Hall, if you choose), or a Greenhouse.<\/p>\n
You can also redesign the small house (the first thing you built) to be shorter and be a proper Foyer(Entryway, as it’s called). But you can only do this after completing the Main Hall.
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And it doesn’t stop there. You can have a follower like Lydia, to be your Steward. What a Steward does, they are linked to the the gold void where you’ll never see your gold again, but you can basically buy supplies like logs, clay, and stone from them. It’s completely optional. As in, if you don’t wish to do the work yourself, they’ll do it for you for a fee. Other customization options are outside. You can hire a personal carriage to not only take you to all the major towns, but minor ones as well. However, once you get there, the only way to get back to your house is either Fast Travel, hire a carriage to take you to a city that’s near your house, or just walk back(or fly, if you have Dragonborn and have all three words of Bend Will). Overall, if you give this DLC a chance and get over the lack of specific customization instead of free customization, this ain’t half bad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This review is dedicated to the DLC I felt wasn’t worth my time or money, and I think I’m right; Hearthfire. I said I was going to wait ’till the Steam Summer Sales. Well, here they are, and Hearthfire is … Continue reading
\nThe only thing they won’t sell is Iron Ingots. Iron like in most build games(Terraria, Wurm Online, Minecraft, etc…), is a versatile, common mineral, and you need a lot<\/em> of it. However, there’s a mod that gives the option to buy them if you don’t wish to “play Minecraft” and go hunt for ore.
\nYou also need Corundum Ingots which are a bit rare-ish to find. Not as plentiful as Iron. And for customization, you need ingots such as Ebony, Moonstone, and Gold.<\/p>\n
\nYou can also have your own personal Smelter which is perfect for me, as I’m a Smith.<\/p>\n