Skyrim ‘Survival Mode’ DLC detailed; Free for limited time

Bethesda plans on bringing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to yet another platform this November, the Nintendo Switch, but before that, Bethesda will be bringing a new mode to the game. Skyrim is being treated with a 'Survival Mode' (as well as a Creation Club, despite the backlash), and it won't be free.

Well, it will be free for exactly one week once it launches on PC, Xbox One, and PS4, but beyond that, it will be another paid feature, just like the rest of the Creation Club.

Like Fallout 4's Survival Mode, this mode will bring new gameplay features that will make survival a more difficult endeavor for players. Unlike Fallout 4's free Survival Mode update, Skyrim's Survival Mode will only be free for one week, according to Bethesda.

If you download Skyrim's Survival Mode during that free week, it's yours forever as a free DLC. If you miss out on that week, you will have to pay for the DLC.

In Survival Mode, Fast Travel will be disabled and players will be fighting off hunger, fatigue, climate, and more. You will have to eat food to restore your stamina and which type of food you eat will give you different benefits (or work against you).

" If you eat enough, you will receive the Well Fed bonus. Cooked food restores more hunger than uncooked food. If you eat raw meat, you may contract Food Poisoning, which can prevent you from receiving health benefits from food until the effect wears off. Hot soups can now be cooked by using fire salts, which restore your cold and also grant a bonus to your warmth rating."

When it comes to fatigue, players will need to sleep to restore their magicka in Survival Mode.

"As you become more fatigued, the effectiveness of potions will begin to decline, and your ability to recover magicka and stamina will begin to suffer. You will need to periodically sleep in a bed in order to restore your fatigue. In Survival, the Well Rested bonus is no longer granted automatically after sleeping. If you sleep outside, you will not be able to get a restful night's sleep, waking up Drained at best. If you sleep in a bed indoors, you will receive the Well Rested bonus."

Cold and warmth will also be a deciding factor in Survival Mode.

"Cold decreases your total available health, represented as a dark region inside the health bar. As you become colder, your movement speed and ability to pick locks and pick pockets will begin to suffer. If you reach the highest level of Cold, your health will be reduced to zero and you will die from exposure to the elements."

Warmth can be provided from armor, soups, and campfires.

There are a slew of other features in Survival Mode too.

• You won't regenerate health over time. Only food, restorative spells, and potions will replenish health.
• Leveling up requires sleeping in a bed.
• Carry weight has been reduced. Being encumbered will drain stamina and previously weightless items now have weight.
• Creatures and foods can give players diseases – some of which can progress into worse diseases and bring on afflictions:
  • Weakened: You are less effective at using melee weapons and blocking damage with your shield.
  • Addled: All enchantments and spells cast are less effective.
  • Frostbitten: You are less effective at picking locks, picking pockets, and doing damage with a bow.

• Shrines will not cure diseases for free, they require gold now (unless it's in a player's house).