The Elder Scrolls V: Hearthfire

The Elder Scrolls V: Hearthfire
Publication Information
Developer	Bethesda Softworks
Publisher	Bethesda Softworks
Release date	Xbox 360: - Sep. 4th, 2012 Windows - TBA PlayStation 3 - TBA
Modes	Single Player
Platform	PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Game Information
Setting	Skyrim
Time Period	4E 201

The Elder Scrolls V: Hearthfire is the second official add-on for the fifth installment in the Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim.

Released for the Xbox 360 on September 4th, 2012. Hearthfire focuses around purchasing land and designing, building and maintaining a home. The option to hire stewards, and a personal bard is also available.

In addition, an adoption mechanic has been introduced that allows the Dragonborn to adopt children and raise them in the newly built home.

Alternatively, any homes that are already owned by the Dragonborn, e.g. Breezehome, can be offered to have bed chambers added onto them with expansions that can be purchased from the Steward of the Jarl of the respective city they are in. A note will be delivered by a courier explaining the offer of the new bedrooms.

The letter given to you by a random courier entitled "Consider Adoption" initiates the miscellaneous quest "Speak with Costance Michel about Adoption" upon reading it from your inventory.

Official summary

Create a living home
With this official add-on to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, you can purchase land and build your own home from the ground up - from a simple one-room cottage to a sprawling compound complete with an armory, alchemy laboratory, stable, garden, and more. Use all-new tools like the drafting table and carpenter's workbench to transform quarried stone, clay, and sawn logs into structures and furnishings. Even transform your house into a home by adopting children.

Building a home

File:Hearthfireconstruction3.PNG

The early stages of construction in the marshes of Hjaalmarch.

The first step to building a home is to purchase one of three plots of land available and obtain a title deed. Locations for building a house include:

• Windstad Manor located near the salt marshes of Hjaalmarch.
• Lakeview Manor located in the forests of Falkreath.
• Heljarchen Hall located in the snowy tundras of The Pale.

Multiple plots can be purchased, and a house can be built on each. With the five pre-built purchasable houses already present in Skyrim, players can now own property in every hold except Winterhold. Faction housing is available in Winterhold to members of the College.

After a plot has been purchased, the Drafting Table and Carpenter's Workbench can then be used to transform raw materials such as ingots, glass, straw, quarried stone, clay, and sawn logs into components of the house, such as Locks, Nails, Iron Fittings and Hinges.

For a complete list of the material requirements of all expansions and all furnishings:

Hearthfire Homes - Material Requirements

Stage 1: Purchase

To buy a plot, either visit the Jarl's steward in Falkreath, Morthal, Dawnstar or wait for a Courier to deliver a letter that guides you there. After a plot has been purchased visit the site where a Drafting Table and Carpenter's Workbench can be found. In between them there is also a chest full of building materials to help start your new home.

Stage 2: Foundations

Activating the Drafting Table will allow the first basic layout to begin construction. Choosing a Small House Layout will mark a rectangular plot on the land where the house will be built.

Next, move over to the Carpenter's Workbench where the foundations and supports must be laid. The required materials include Quarried Stone, Clay and Sawn Logs. Stone and clay can typically be mined from nearby sources; the logs can only be obtained from a Saw Mill. Millers sell logs in bulk (20 logs for 200 gold), but players can also use the Saw Mill to cut their own lumber for free if they ask the miller's permission.

Stewards can also have building materials delivered, saving the player the trouble of acquiring them personally.

Stage 3: Expansion

Once the Small House layout is complete, the option to add a large main hall is available:

Main Hall

The main hall consists of a cellar, a large dining hall, a smaller back room, and two bedroom upstairs. Several housing additions with specific purposes are also available on the west, north and east sides of the house. Each wing has three distinct options, but only one can be chosen for each wing.

West Wing

The west Wing may consist of either:

• Enchanter's Tower includes an Arcane Enchanter, several display cases and a mannequin. It also leads to a canopy on the roof.
• Bedrooms to create more living space. Includes a master bed and two children's beds, several display cases and an outdoor balcony.
• Greenhouse for growing food and alchemical ingredients. Includes satchels and chests.

North Wing

The available options for the north wing are:

• Trophy Room for flaunting difficult or memorable conquests.
• Storage Room for storing collections of items.
• Alchemy Laboratory for creating potions and poisons. It is in the form of a tower with a small room on the first and second floor, it has a small rooftop perch.

East Wing

The east wing choices are:

• Library with bookshelves for the collector
• Armory for displaying and storing weapons and armor.
• Kitchen with a cooking spit, stove, and cupboards.

Entry Hall

After the Main Hall has been built, the initial Small House can be remodeled into an Entry Hall. This gives the option to add additional furnishings.

Exterior

The area surrounding the house may also be developed to include a vegetable patch, a fish hatchery, mills, an apiary (beehive), a complete set of smithing equipment, and a stable for cows and horses.

Furnishings

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A trophy room with several taxidermied creatures.

The Interior Workbench can be used to furnish each room with a large variety of craftable objects. These include:

• Mannequins
• Divine Shrines
• Alchemy Lab
• Arcane Enchanter
• Weapon Racks
• Display Cases
• All smithing stations
• Taxidermied or mounted creatures
• Most regular furnishings found in homes

Servants

Several types of servant can be hired to perform different tasks around the house:

• A Steward can be hired to buy raw materials for building the home and equip it with furnishings. Followers can be turned into a steward. Any housecarl from the various holds can be hired as the Steward. Stewards can be used to purchase Bards, carriage drivers, cows, chickens, and horses.
• A carriage driver to provide transportation.
• A personal bard.

Family life

Once the house is complete, the option to move in with a spouse or adopt a child is available. Additional options will be present for any adopted children, such as giving gifts, playing games or instructing them to do their chores. The option to allow them to keep pets is also included.Children will ask to keep a dog if you show him or her the dog, setting the dog's home to yours.

Occasionally the home may become subject to skeever infestations, giant attacks, marauding kidnappers,Wolves, Draugr or armed bandits that must be dealt with.

Characters

Children

• Lucia - Child found begging near the Gildergreen in Whiterun.
• Blaise - Child found working as a stable boy at Katla's Farm.
• Sofie - Child found selling flowers in Windhelm.
• Alesan - Child found working for the miners in Dawnstar.

Housecarls

• Rayya - Housecarl upon becoming Thane of Falkreath.
• Gregor - Housecarl upon becoming Thane of The Pale.
• Valdimar - Housecarl upon becoming Thane of Hjaalmarch.

Bards

• Llewellyn the Nightingale - The Bard who can be hired for Lakeview Manor.
• Oriella - The Bard who can be hired for Heljarchen Hall.
• Sonir - The Bard who can be hired at Windstad Manor

Coachmen

• Markus - Carriage driver hired for Heljarchen Hall.
• Engar - Carriage driver hired for Windstad Manor.
• Gunjar - Carriage driver hired for Lakeview Manor.

Template:Sect-stub

Items

Main article: Items (Hearthfire)

Achievements

Main article: Achievements (Hearthfire)

There are 5 possible achievements, totaling 50 gamerpoints.

Notes

• Template:360 Please note that the current version of The Elder Scrolls V: Hearthfire does not allow you to change or remove expansions to the Main Hall once they have been built. Make sure you save your progress before each expansion incase you change your mind.

Bugs

• Template:360 Upon downloading Hearthfire, none of the children in game will be wearing clothes. This includes children eligible for adoption. There is currently no known fix.
• Template:360 The display cases in houses do not seem to work, as they won't accept any weapons placed in them.
• Template:360 In certain houses, weapons placed on weapon racks may not show up on the rack and be unobtainable. This can be fixed by loading a previous save.
• Template:360 Purchasing furnishings from your steward will sometimes say "You can't afford that", even though you have enough. There is no known fix nor a reason to fix it, because it only happens after you already purchased it.
• Template:360 Sometimes when you enter your house with all three wings, the stairs and second floor will not show up. This can be easily fixed by leaving the house and re-entering.
• Template:360 On a rare occasion, when you make an expansion to your house and complete it, when you enter your house the door will be there but it will exit to skyrim.
• Template:360 If you buy the child bedroom in Hjerim, there will be two changes to the furniture. The items in the wardobe next to the entrance to the alchemy/enchanting lab will be replaced by a cupboard in the child's room. The cupboard next to the chest in the player's room will disappear with all the items in it. it is advisable to clear these containers or saving before buying the decoration.
• Sometimes, when a bandit says a family member has been kidnapped and gives you a ransom note, the family member is not at that location. Check your home, they may still be there.
• Sometimes when inside your house the game freezes. There is currently no known fix
• Template:360 Sometimes when using the Carpenter's workbench in your home it may revert to a menu of items you've already built in the room, essentially wasting your supplies. To correct this exit the menu and re-enter it, it should correct the problem.



Gallery

Early construction 2.

Early construction.

Working at the Drafting Table.

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The Enchanter's Tower.

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An example of a finished home.

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Construction: Stage 1.

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Construction: Stage 2.

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Construction: Stage 3.

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Construction: Stage 4.

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The menu while using a Drafting Table.

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Working at the drafting table.

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The menu to create locks.

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Nails are one of the many components used to create the home.

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House blueprints 1.

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House blueprints 2.

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House blueprints 3.

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Cooking at a furnace.

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A greenhouse with several plants.

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Customized room with an Arcane Enchanter.

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Customized room with added mannequins.

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Divine Shrines can be added to the home.

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A trophy room.

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Stewards may be hired to buy materials.

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Stewards can fit a house with furnishings.

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Stewards can also provide transportation options.

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The adoption mechanic.

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Additional options for children.

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The Hearthfire logo.