Shouting in Skyrim is just one of many new features introduced in the fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls franchise. It’s a new combat mechanic that allows you to use specific magic-oriented attacks or empower yourself without relying on Magicka reserves or any kind of stat. Shouts can be extremely useful, and sometimes using them during combat can be the deciding thing when it comes to winning or losing. As we all know, bugs can happen, especially in the games developed by Bethesda, one of the uncommon bugs is the inability to shout, and that’s why we’ve decided to put together this guide to see why exactly can’t you shout in Skyrim and how to fix it?
- Article Breakdown:
- The most common reason for not being able to shout in Skyrim is the fact that you didn’t equip the shout in the magic menu, or it’s not unlocked yet.
- You can do that by selecting the shout and clicking on it or activating it by pressing “E.”
- Sometimes, your shout cooldown might be stuck without ever reaching zero. In that case, you can use “shoutrecoverymult” command to reset it to zero.
- When none of the above is the problem, and you still find yourself unable to shout, try performing some other action like striking with your sword, waiting, or even fast traveling.
- This is sometimes known to resolve issues with shouting.
Shouts in Skyrim can turn the tide of battle in your favor
One of the perks of being the Dragonborn is the ability to use shouts. Shouts are words spoken in Dragon Language, and those words are so powerful and potent that they can grant your special buffs or grant you some elemental-based abilities. Each shout consists of three dragon words in total. You can use a shout as soon as you’ve unlocked the first word, but generally, the more words of power of a specific shout you have unlocked, the more powerful your shout will be.
One of the first shouts you will come across in the game is FUS-RO-DAH, meaning “Unrelenting force,” which enables you to push everything out of your path with your mighty voice.
The rest of the shouts you will generally find when you discover the so-called word walls in ancient Nordic ruins, atop mountains where dragon lairs are, and exploring the world in general.
Each time you want to unlock a shout, you will need a single dragon soul. Dragon souls act as a source of power for the shouts and can be acquired after you have slain dragons. Each slain dragon results in 1 dragon soul added to your character.
To summarize, before you can use shouts in Skyrim, you need to:
- Find the dragon words.
- Unlock the dragon shout in your magic menu by clicking on it or pressing “E.”
- Equip the dragon shout by clicking on it or pressing “E.”
- If you’re attempting to use the shout again and you can’t make sure that it’s not on cooldown. Some more powerful shouts can have longer cooldowns. Cooldown also depends on the number of words you have so far unlocked in a single shout. More words equal longer cooldown in general.
Why can’t you shout in Skyrim?
There are numerous reasons for being unable to shout in Skyrim, but generally, it’s mostly due to shout not being selected or bugs. We’ve covered how to use shouts under normal circ*mstances, and now it’s time to resolve the bugs.
How to fix the “infinite shout cooldown” bug
Infinite shout cooldown is among the most common bugs related to cooldowns you can come across. It happens after you’ve used a certain shout, and no matter how much time passes, the cooldown is simply not resetting. It can affect both more powerful and regular shouts. There are a few approaches to this. You can simply reload the game or fast-travel somewhere. But there’s also a console command available that lets you get rid of a shout cooldown altogether. To use it, follow these steps:
- Open the console by pressing “~.”
- Type “player.setav shoutrecoverymult 0”and press enter.
- This command should result in your cooldown meter for the shouts disappearing.
By changing the number in the command, you can make your cooldown longer (if you prefer the challenge) or shorter (if you’re simply trying to fix a bug and restart the cooldown.
How to fix the “unable to shout” bug?
Sometimes, the problem is not with the cooldown. You just can’t shout. It most often happens during combat after you’re trying to use shouts in a short time span. There are several approaches to this bug, and luckily, you don’t have to resort to cheats to fix them. To resolve the inability to shout, follow these steps:
- Try casting some other greater power. Sometimes casting some other racial power or Standing Stone power can resolve the issues with shouting in general.
- Try performing some other action, like striking with a sword, bashing with your shield, or equipping weapons. Sometimes one action can cancel out any other action. It’s a good approach, and you have nothing to lose.
- Try fast-traveling or waiting. If you are not surrounded by enemies, and you have the ability to either fast-travel or wait, I recommend that as a last resort. It doesn’t guarantee that the problem will be solved, but it’s better than reloading the previous save.
And that’s pretty much it. Before you start fixing your problems with shouting, however, always make sure that something is wrong with the mechanics. If you’re interested in more Skyrim-related guides, you can check out our guide on curing diseases.
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