Any Ideas.....

MageRage · Post by **MageRage** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 4:33 pm

I'm getting Skyrim for Christmas, really, and don't know what to make for a char. I was thinking about a William Wallace char., but y'all most likely know that would go. So anybody know any good char. ideas... good ones.

Dummy · Post by **Dummy** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 4:50 pm

This is a decision you need to make on your own in the end. It depends on a lot of factors for example, what do you WANT to play
do you like warriors/thiefs or Mages
do you prefer 1h/shield or 2h or do you want to dualwield, maybe you prefer to kill your enemys from a save distance with a bow.
Would you like to powerplay or do you prefer to rollplay.
Would you like to have easy decisions or would you like something to think about.
Do you want to play something extravagant or not
the possible choices are waste.

swcarter · Post by **swcarter** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 1:58 am

There's a thread suggesting that casters don't scale well at higher levels, so maybe that's something to avoid. I'm playing a mace and shield warrior, and the game started getting pretty easy around level 30.

Whatever type of character you end up selecting, Bretons get the best racial bonus and Imperials get the worst.

SWC

Stones · Post by **Stones** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 8:03 am

You can start with whatever you like. And later on you can just change from swords to magic if that's what you want. The only thing that restricts you in any way is when you choose health, mana or stamina at each levelup.

My mistake was starting as a mage picking mana each level. And then later on trying to swing some swords. Problem was, I didn't have enough health to withstand the melee damage recieved.

Funny thing is, it works fine the other way around. If you only take health and stamina as a warrior, and later turns to magic. You can just enchant some stuff to give you a 25% manacost reduction per item. Get four of those and thanks to skyrims enhanced combat engine you get 100% manacost reduction. Yes, that means free spells. So even with only a hundred mana, you can cast whatever you want how many times you want.

For this you need 100 enchanting. And the enchant only works on one school at a time. But I felt that when I could cast as many destruction spells I want, the other schools didn't really seem that important.

Dummy · Post by **Dummy** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 10:31 am

swcarter wrote:There's a thread suggesting that casters don't scale well at higher levels, so maybe that's something to avoid. I'm playing a mace and shield warrior, and the game started getting pretty easy around level 30.

Whatever type of character you end up selecting, Bretons get the best racial bonus and Imperials get the worst.

SWC

this is definitely true, but you still can manage the game pretty will with caster,
from the power playing standpoint i would also advice 1h shield you just can not die, especially if you go for enchanting smithing along with it.

a full deadric gear upgraded with +150% from perk+potion
and 2 enchants with greater/black soulgems and +25% from potion is sick

but if you are not a powerhouse player most thinkable combinations are pretty good, and i think all are strong enough to finish the game on normal

MageRage · Post by **MageRage** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:44 pm

Some reason I was thinking about a Nord warrior, maybe a bow and possible dual welding (always wanted to dual weld two swords or a sword and a axe, can someone tell me how it works- D.W).

Dummy · Post by **Dummy** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 6:59 am

You equip a weapon to each hand, leftclick right hand right click left hand.

the major problem is that you can not block anymore, obviously you have quite a fast attackspeed that way and do quite a lot of dmg, but i prefer a 2h becuase you can still block "some" dmg and CLEAVE

MageRage · Post by **MageRage** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 12:02 pm

Well thats nice to hear, however no block? Well just gotta to wait and see I guess.

Thanks for the help y'all, anymore tips that might help?

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:13 am

As others have stated, it *really* depends on your personal play style.

That being said, I rolled one of my favourite builds, a stealthy duel wielding rogue/fighter. I really enjoy the versatility such a character has in Skyrim, I can alternate between sneak attacks with daggers and upfront battle with long swords. In addition I also use a bow, which, when used in stealth mode, metes out nasty damage even without using perks in the skill tree.

I also tried out mage and warrior builds, both were fun, but neither, for me, offered the same variety and balanced challenge of my stealth-based character.

Fljotsdale · Post by **Fljotsdale** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:37 pm

Like dragon wench, I prefer Rogue types; only I prefer rogue/mage rather than rogue/fighter.

Having said that, I make sure she can use a sword as well - mana does run out eventually, even if you play a High Elf.
Currently running a High Elf specialising in Destruction, Illusion and Sneak.

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 12:42 am

I've finished the game as a two-handed warrior and approaching the end-game as a mage, both Nords (as I can't, in good conscience make a non-Nord character with this storyline).

I feel that both characters are easy to play, though I feel that you get more versatility as a mage, since you have to rely on so many different skills:

Offense: Destruction
Damage Mitigation: Alteration/Restoration
Tanking: Conjuration
Sustainability: Enchantment

As in, you'll be developing a lot of these skills, but for me especially, Enchantment is mandatory on a mage, that and it gives you options to experiment with builds, which is part of the fun.

As for the warrior, he plays easy throughout the game, though mine was strictly two handed so I had to rely on my companion and my shouts for certain enemies. I felt that there wasn't that much versatility there - all I needed were my respective weapon, armor and smiting skills.

I'm curious to see how the rogue plays, as that is generally my character of choice and one I played through Morrowind and suffered with in Oblivion.

Ragin Cajun · Post by **Ragin Cajun** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 12:32 pm

As Cren said from what I've read is that enchanting is a must for a destruction mage. The goal is to

Spoiler

get your gear enchanted to have 100% mana reduction for destruction spells.

.

There is also a mod out called Balanced Magic which seems to do a good job on my game (PC version) and seems to have good reviews.

The mods should start exploding soon when they release the CK...not sure when that's going to happen though.

MageRage · Post by **MageRage** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 1:39 pm

Crenshinibon wrote:...both Nords (as I can't, in good conscience make a non-Nord character with this storyline).

Yeah you have a point... we are in Skyrim, home of the Nords.

But I'm going to try my dual welding Nord warrior out 1st. and go on from there.
It sucks how you can't block dual welding....

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 2:25 pm

Honestly, I've never really needed to block... but maybe that's because two-handers cut everything down so quickly. As a dual wielder, I'd say you should be cut people down pretty quickly. I almost view them as "weapon casters" since they're so heavily reliant (in my opinion) on power attacks.

Nonetheless, one thing I forgot to add, is that if you are looking for a "jack of all trades" character, you really want to invest in enchanting. As I said before, I'm currently playing a mage, so of course most of my focus is in magic, but I can easily be semi-effective in any other skill by breaking down enchanted equipment and re-enchanting it using my own skill level. However, it's still limited due to you not being able to heavily invest in the skill tree, where all of the bonuses lie.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:27 pm

"It sucks how you can't block dual welding.... "

I really have to agree with Crenshinibon on this subject. Not being able to block is hardly a problem.. you are cutting everything down so fast that it just doesn't matter. In fact, to be honest, dual wielding almost seems overpowered, I'm at the point where I am routinely one-shotting a lot things at Expert difficulty.

It probably helps that my character is a Breton which gives 25% magic resistance, plus I have the Atronach stone which provides 50% absorb magic damage. Still though....

The other thing to bear in mind is that the Smithing skill in this game is pretty ridiculous, you can improve weapons and and armour to the point where everything in your path instantly dies and practically nothing can hit you. Couple that with Enchanting and Alchemy.. and well.. you get the picture. Personally, I'd recommend exercising moderation when levelling these skills, but it is all about personal play style.

Dummy · Post by **Dummy** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:50 am

just out of curiosity, what is the big perk you can get out of alchemy?

Fljotsdale · Post by **Fljotsdale** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 4:01 pm

Dummy wrote:just out of curiosity, what is the big perk you can get out of alchemy?

Poisons. Healing. Protection.

Healing is especially useful cos you don't always want to drop a destruction spell or remove a weapon (esp if dual wielding spell or have a 2hand weapon) to use a healing spell. Though destruction in one hand and healing in the other is also handy, of course!