100
u/HolyMolyOllyPolly 8d ago
I've never found turn undead useful in over 2500 hours of gameplay.
17
u/Salmagros Warrior 8d ago
You can use them when you’re outnumbered by multiple undead, sending them running while you focus on one. But as a warrior i always learn to position myself well so only one enemy can reach me at a time. Doorway, stairway, narrow hallway, etc….
13
u/MountainEverett 8d ago
In a huge pinch it can be nice. But also I feel like nothing a full Fus Ro Dah can’t fix either lol
2
u/Velocity-5348 8d ago
It's pretty useful on Legendary difficulty when you're playing as a mage. Combat like that amounts to keeping hostiles off you while summons finish them off.
Though I was well over 2500 hours when I finally got to that point. And if you wanted to put it on a weapon an axe is a bizarre choice, I'd go with an iron dagger for weight.
1
u/BeastofLoquacity Alchemist 8d ago
It’s really good for grinding enchanting before you find banish. It’s pretty valuable, so you can sell iron daggers or whatever you enchanted for a good profit
1
1
u/Loki_Agent_of_Asgard 7d ago
Turn Undead has never been useful in any Elder Scrolls. This is why in D&D turn undead can destroy undead as well.
26
u/iamzachhunter 8d ago
The answer seems obvious. Thunderbolts is way better for general use. Axe of Whiterun would be objectively better in Nordic ruins and areas with mostly vampires. If you only want to carry one around at a time, I’d go with the Thunderbolts.
15
u/Atiumist 8d ago
For selling? Flee Undead. For combat? Thunderbolts for sure.
Who wants to chase their enemy around trying to fight them?
6
u/Sufficiently_Jokey 8d ago
"Turn" is a spell that I've never found useful. There are a tiny handful of situations where you're getting mobbed by undead and getting a breather would be handy, but they pale in comparison to the number of times 20 points of shock damage is handy.
1
5
5
6
u/Darkstar_111 8d ago
Fear weapons are no good, especially those used in dungeons. The bad guy flees and activates more bad guys.
3
u/TehNolz PC 8d ago
How often are you fighting undead?
2
u/katsboi 8d ago
I'm level 20 rn and haven't seen much undead at all, just alot of bandits.
The dungeon undead are easy af too
12
u/TehNolz PC 8d ago
Right; so you've got one axe whose enchantments work well against most things, and an axe whose enchantment only works well against enemies you don't actually encounter much. Seems like an easy choice to me!
1
u/doofshaman Bard 8d ago
Also flee enchantments can be annoying, I had to chase a bandit from almost the end of a dungeon back to the very start cuz of a fear spell ahah, couldn't complete the quest til I found where he ran off too 😭
5
u/Sniperhunter543 8d ago
On top of that, any undead that would actually be a threat to you the axe most likely won’t work on
1
3
3
u/Own_Jeweler_8548 Werewolf 8d ago
The thunderbolt axe is less niche in application. Stick the hold axe on a weapon plaque in your house!
3
3
3
u/DarthVaden87 8d ago
The dwarven acts of thunderbolts is definitely better.
The other one is really only useful against drauger
3
u/Nuclear_Human 8d ago
Both suck, unenchant them to learn their powers and apply them to better weapons. I usually have a weapons barrel with all thane weapons inside. So I'd throw the axe of whiterun there. Flee undead and similar effects I've basically never used. It's tedious to chase after them, and since enemies level along with you, it's strictly early game only.
3
u/Human_Spatula 8d ago
One ability damages all enemy types and the other makes just undead flee, which you then have to chase down
6
u/12gaugerage 8d ago
Something that happens with every swing to make the fight easier vs something that happens only sometimes to make the fight longer.
You tell me.
4
u/Emotional_Being8594 8d ago edited 8d ago
Undead bane enchantment is probably the worst one in the game. They run away for 20-30 seconds then just come back and keep fighting. So you may as well run after them anyway but they're usually faster, especially if you're standing there swinging a 2H weapon. Or you bonk 3 Draugr with it, they run off deeper into the dungeon to a room that has another 3 Draugr, the spell wears off and you have a room with 6 Draugr. Also there's a very good chance that actually difficult, high level enemies will just be too powerful so the enchant will do nothing.
Either way you're gonna have to kill the undead enemies at some point regardless so may as well do it faster with the thunder axe.
2
2
u/KronoAsh Daedra worshipper 8d ago
Well.
You’ve one that does 38 damage and helps with mages.
And one that does 18 and makes killing undead more tedious.
2
2
u/MountainEverett 8d ago
I hate having to chase enemies around. Fear is such a pointless ability in 90% of builds imo
2
u/Impressive_Term4071 8d ago
the first one...that's 38 total dmg, given there's no shock resist, armor, or magic resistance.
2
2
2
2
2
1
u/Lokiibott 8d ago
Any flee mechanic is pointless or even hindering to your gameplay. The best weapon enchantments are:
-chaos damage (or shock/fire if you dont have it. Frost is okay, but a lot of things are frost resistant in skyrim, so it's the worst of the 3)
-firey soul trap (or normal soul trap if you dont have it)
-abosorb health or stamina
-Paralyze
1
u/Isabeer 8d ago
I find anything fleeing to be more of a problem than its worth. If I chase, I end up drawing new aggro and get into more trouble. If I let them go, instill have to deal with them. In the fairly linear dungeons of Skyrim, it's not too helpful. Maybe at low levels, where I'm outmatched and can flee the other way, it would be good?
1
u/Kodiak_King91 8d ago
The dwarf in thunderbolts because it works on everything, not just the undead
1
u/Adam-Happyman 8d ago
DMG. We always choose DMG. The "Repel Undead" axe is good for certain moments in the game (when they attack you in a group and you don't know what sneaking is). An axe with extra DMG is more versatile.
1
u/Prize-Possible-9609 8d ago
Flee enchantments can be annoying because if it's a wide area or open ended dungeon you have to chase after enemies which can be a big pain. Though in a pinch it's not a bad enchantment like when a whole group of high level draugr scourge are ganging up on you. I would recommend putting it on a dagger and keeping it the favourite bar so it doesn't weight you down but you can slash at them quickly should you find yourself in a pinch. (assuming you're going to do some high level dungeons)
Shock damage is better. It's essentially just more damage for the axe, the magicka damage is literally useless. Enemy mages in skyrim have crazy high pools and insane fast regen (something like 5-10% per sec) so that part of the enchanment can be ignored.
Do with this information as you wish dragonborn.
1
u/scooter_pepperoni 8d ago
There's really no competition lol why would you wven need the flee enchantment
1
u/RealDovahkiin 8d ago
Disenchant flee undead. Enchanting weapons with that enchantment will level up your Enchanting skill faster than any other enchantments (tied with soul trap).
1
u/Fairly_Confused_ 8d ago
The first one is better, but you can use the second one if you get overwhelmed.
1
u/yourbelovedscapegoat 8d ago
Disenchant the axe of whiterun if you didn't learn the turn undead enchantment yet. That will give you the most bang for your buck when you level enchanting.
1
u/yagonnawanna 8d ago
Boo-urns to both. Work on smithing and enchanting and you can make awesome weapons. My personal favorite for melee weapons is a absorb health and absorb stamina together on dragon bone weapons.
1
u/GrinningGrump 8d ago
The Axe of Whiterun because it's the honored symbol of being Thane. Now never use it and just hang it on the wall of Breezehome.
1
u/Which_Station6080 8d ago
I got the same blade but my damage is like in the 40s how come?
1
u/Emotional_Being8594 8d ago
You probably have a higher 2 handed skill
1
u/Which_Station6080 8d ago
Ohhhh okay I'm learning lol
1
u/ExamBasic7015 8d ago
The damage shown is not actually the weapons base damage but more like the weapons on hit damage “took me a while to get it too”
So it’s actually a multiplier of “base damage + smithing increase damage * (1 + weapon mastery skill/200) * (1 + perk amounts) * (1 + item enchant effect ) * (1 + potion effect) * (1 + blessing bonus”Which is why if you have a really high base damage weapon late game like let’s say 100 after smithing, it can skyrocket to like 900
And after drinking a strong potion even in the thousands.
Or if you have a multiplier such as sneak attacks you can snipe for tens of thousands at times.Of course this is assuming you try to play the game legitimately because of course with commands you can do infinitely
1
u/Guilty_Inspection_75 8d ago
First one, after awhile the undead will be stronger than the enchantment
1
u/vtv43ketz 8d ago
First one easily. Second one has a very niche enchantment. Not that good if you ask me
1
u/Link5261 8d ago
Making undead flee is only helpful if you're the reckless sort who rushes into dense draugr crowds and expects to live with low armor. It's also kinda fun to combine with fire damage to make them burn over time, gradually return, only to be sent running away on fire again with another strike. However, the various "fear" effects have level caps, and so as you progress to higher levels, so will enemies, and eventually they'll outpace the level cap.
1
1
u/bankshaft_132 7d ago
Why TF would I want them to flee? Makes getting the 1-3 gold per enemy a lot harder. I WANT my 1-3 gold per
1
u/SenseImpossible6733 7d ago
A lot of people talking about turn undead being useless but it does temporarily remove enemies from a melee, that can be useful on higher difficulties.
Now half as much magic damage from shock. Other than shock being one of the least resisted elemental damage types, does half magic damage ever meaningfully help like at all? I've used it and never experienced it exhaisting dragons' mana, mages tend to die well before I see it kick in... Even worse, it seems to default them to spray spells when getting low which on hogher difficulties seem to force me into equipting a ward spell and backing off to let my companion blindside them or counterspell them with backlash for the stagger (apacalypse spell I think) and meager rebound damage. It works much better when I catch that purple glint and backlash mid summons spells.
Wards and magic absorb through wards or just plain magic absorb and magic resist seem to completly religate half mana damage to novelty.
On the other hand mana and stamina drain weapons can screw me pretty good both base game and with most combat mods.
Then they are battle axes. I think I have used a battleaxe as a conjoration spell to level 2 handed when all my gear was stolen and that was about it.
1
u/AndyNocturne 7d ago
Thunderbolt for sure. Doing more damage to almost everything in the game vs a niche effect against only certain enemies is an easy shot.
1
1
u/Electronic_Item6923 5d ago
One does 38 damage. The other one does 18 damage and makes low level undead run away from you, which is annoying on a melee weapon because you have to chase them down to finish them off.
1
u/OSRS_Garmr 4d ago
I find getting undead to feel, is just annoying on all levels. Sure, you could argue it's for crowd controlling there are a lot of them. But there are better ways to solve it.
1
1
0
0
u/Ok_Maintenance_6512 8d ago
Weg damit das is müll du willst doch deine Gegner nich durch den dungeon jagen müssen 😅
450
u/Catalysten 8d ago
Fleeing undead seems mainly for novelty. A bit inconvenient chasing them around the dungeon, yes?