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well i love playing my rpg final fantasys and all of that but this is one i can say quite long and hard

well i having trouble chooseing my char because i love dark elf because there like evil by the looks but i dont like that dark elves slave people also i love argonian for thier looks and i want to help other slaves but i find that they carnt wear helms or boots which is other problem any sugestions ?
i also find that argonians arnt that good at being a warrior at start i would be assasin but how and are they any good?

lol

Each race has its pro's and cons try experimenting with each race untill you find 1 you like, remember you can always start a new game.

I found that it is important to know what skills need to be at in order to start using them as effective. For example Longsword 40 is effective but marksman 40 doesn't hit enough so you would want to use it. You don't want to make strong enemies mad by wiffing arrows at them you want to hit them hard and fast.

For an assassin you need sneak fairly high (i think to get it useful). Mine is 32 and its still pointless. Ring of Aversion (short invis cheap casting cost) is better to sneak on people to stab them. Make one if you can't find the merchant who sells it.

You want some kind of weapon to hit them with and you want the weapon skill to be high. Also you want armor skill because they will hit you back eventually.
Alchemy is all around awesome for healing and effects.

My character is a Bosmer Ranger/thief

Longblade
Alchemy
Illusion (Major so it starts high) not used as much as the other magic
Restoration (ditto)
Alteration (ditto)

Light Armor
Heavy Armor (if I manage to find some daedric or obsidian)
Sneak (not too useful yet need training)
Marksman (misses too often need to train up)
Athletics (because I hate slow motion)

He also uses Mysticism for Mark/telekinesis and Enchant for toys. Block Acrobat are also nice.

I think this char would also make a good assassin but thats not how I roleplay him. My guy hates killing people just because they are a political enemy.

I posted my guy as an example but the thing I learned and that you might want to know is how to choose a race, style (combat, magic, stealth), and designate major or minor. These three things determine if the skill is going to start with 15 and need heavy training or if its going to start usable. Example: longblade starts as major with a combat style BECAUSE bosmer gets no bonus and I don't want to be wiffing against mud crabs. I prolly should have started sneak and marksman as majors but I thought the bosmer bonus would make them good enough.

Claudius wrote:I found that it is important to know what skills need to be at in order to start using them as effective. For example Longsword 40 is effective but marksman 40 doesn't hit enough so you would want to use it. You don't want to make strong enemies mad by wiffing arrows at them you want to hit them hard and fast.

For an assassin you need sneak fairly high (i think to get it useful). Mine is 32 and its still pointless. Ring of Aversion (short invis cheap casting cost) is better to sneak on people to stab them. Make one if you can't find the merchant who sells it.

You want some kind of weapon to hit them with and you want the weapon skill to be high. Also you want armor skill because they will hit you back eventually.
Alchemy is all around awesome for healing and effects.

My character is a Bosmer Ranger/thief

Longblade
Alchemy
Illusion (Major so it starts high) not used as much as the other magic
Restoration (ditto)
Alteration (ditto)

Light Armor
Heavy Armor (if I manage to find some daedric or obsidian)
Sneak (not too useful yet need training)
Marksman (misses too often need to train up)
Athletics (because I hate slow motion)

He also uses Mysticism for Mark/telekinesis and Enchant for toys. Block Acrobat are also nice.

I think this char would also make a good assassin but thats not how I roleplay him. My guy hates killing people just because they are a political enemy.

I posted my guy as an example but the thing I learned and that you might want to know is how to choose a race, style (combat, magic, stealth), and designate major or minor. These three things determine if the skill is going to start with 15 and need heavy training or if its going to start usable. Example: longblade starts as major with a combat style BECAUSE bosmer gets no bonus and I don't want to be wiffing against mud crabs. I prolly should have started sneak and marksman as majors but I thought the bosmer bonus would make them good enough.

One question I can't avoid asking; Why is a Ranger/Thief wearing heavy armour? Secondly, why are you surprised when sneaking is ineffective whilst wearing heavy, clanking armour?

Regarding Argonians, they are *a lot* of fun to play, and in my view you really don't miss out with the boots and helmets issue. First of all, it is very easy to become ridiculously overpowered in this game, so it really doesn't matter at all. Secondly, one of the best helmets in the game is, in fact, open-faced.

If you decide to go that route, I'd suggest an Argonian thief/mage type of character with skills in unarmoured and light armour.
Don't feel limited though, Argonians are pretty good in melee too, they are a well-rounded race.

The one thing I'd suggest, however, regardless of the race you pick, is to pay close attention to your birth sign. This is especially true if you plan to use a lot of magic, since several *significantly* influence the size of your magic pool.

to galraen:

about sneak and heavy armour: I only wear quality pieces of heavy armor. Now I have the sarano helm example. I think you should still be able to sneak with a helm of obsidian (my opinion). I wouldn't actually mind it if there were a game mechanic to make light armor more stealthy. I guess there is according to manual light boots are better. I have made a new ranger but I'm not sure if I'm going to keep his deal.

Marksman
Sneak
Long Blade
Athletics
Block


Heavy Armor
Light Armor
Spear
Short Blade
Alchemy

Pretty cool I can train magic up to just what I want then ditch it.

claudius

To Claudius:

I added 'Secondly, why are you surprised when sneaking is ineffective whilst wearing heavy, clanking armour?' as an afterthought, and I shouldn't have. My original thought, Rangers and Heavy armour no being compatible was a role playing predjudice, not relevant to the game mechanics.

Sneaking with less than about 60 skill is very hit and miss. Fine at 30 for training, by standing behind someone like the dude in the Excise office, but not reliable enough in normal play, unless you're a fair distance away. A decent chameleon spell makes a huge difference, but is very difficult to find. With Illusion of 35 the best chameleon spell you can make is like 10% for 10 seconds, hardly useful. There is an amulet that can be obtained fairly early in the game, the Amulet of Shadows, 80% for 60 seconds, which is very useful. I wont tell you exactly how to get it, but as a hint; one of the Imperial Legion quests at Gnisis takes you right past it, but you'll have to fight for it.

Marksman was a skill I found difficult to get the hang of for quite a while, I almost gave up on it, but it is well worth persevering with. I found longbows to better in the long run, you don't have to keep the bow drawn for that long to get max damage. The thing to remember is that you have to aim it, the game doesn't centre it for you as it does in Oblivion. Also remember that the vertical point of aim varies according to the height of the character. Practise like crazy on mud crabs, and remember to aim a little high if the target is above you, and low if it's below you. On level ground I found that the point of aim for a mud crab is usually the top of its shell. Experiment, you'll get the hang of it.

Once you've got the hang of using a bow, and your sneak skill is reasonable, you'll find that you can kill opponents before they even realise you are there. A bonemold longbow is prety good for mundane monsters, make sure you get some silver arrows for undead though.

galraen wrote: Once you've got the hang of using a bow, and your sneak skill is reasonable, you'll find that you can kill opponents before they even realise you are there. A bonemold longbow is prety good for mundane monsters, make sure you get some silver arrows for undead though.

Indeed, longbows combined with sneak are a great way to play the game since they add some fun and challenge into it, one of my favourite combinations actually.
Where arrows go, I'd actually suggest getting silver arrows period. They are probably the best "every day" arrow to use, and I generally find they are far more effective at damaging any opponents.

Pretty cool on the sneak and longbow. I haven't mastered them yet but I remade my character more as a straight ranger. He still does use heavy armor but in my view a ranger would wear a mixture of light and heavy pieces. Never in full plate by any means but if they chance across a good piece of heavy armor then it goes on. I made the guy more combat oriented and adopted a no theft code.

Skills

Sneak
Marksman
Longsword
Athletics
Block

Spear
Shortblade
Alchemy
Light Armor
Heavy Armor

So far its pretty tough. Starting with alchemy as only a minor makes the game much more challenging. Less access to healing that way. And the no theft code makes a difference to; well at least he stays out of jail haha.

claudius