These observations are all IMHO, of course, so take them for whatever they're worth. Wall O' Text ahead!
First, you seem to be adding to health and stamina in equal measure as you level. For a warrior, I think you will be far better off going for about a 4:1 ratio. Push your health and don't worry too much about stamina. Stamina doesn't help archery, and more health will help you survive better than an extra power attack or two with your mace. Don't put
anything into magicka unless you're planning to go with some sort of warrior-mage build. If that's your intent, then stamina should still get the short end of the stick.
Second, don't try to perk too many skill trees, and be very selective about which perks you take in each tree. It isn't practical to try to be a jack of all trades, and the nine skills you have listed are about one or two too many. Perhaps three too many, since Enchanting isn't in your list and I think you will need it down the line. Your character isn't irreparable, but you need to decide right now exactly what kind of build you're aiming for and choose the skill trees that will contribute to that build most effectively.
You are probably going to want to perk the three crafting skills at some point, though starting on most of that is best left until around level 30. There are nine must-have perk points for Alchemy, 10 for Enchanting, and two for Smithing, so I plan the rest of my builds to ensure that I will be able to add these perks when I need them without gimping my combat skills. Also allow for any additional Smithing choices you will want for aesthetic reasons (such as a taste for ebony armor), but remember that these are optional since almost any armor in the game can be improved past the armor cap. Two of my three characters never used more than three Smithing perks total, and the third didn't use more than two until over level 50. The only crafting perk you need early is Steel Smithing, which you have.
The one must-have combat skill for all characters is Archery, in my opinion. You must have a means to do damage at range. Archery is the only choice for warriors and beginning mages are too weak to do much damage at range with spells. Also, bows far outrange spells. However, I find that Eagle Eye (forget the Steady Hand branch) and Power Shot are more important than Critical Shot, in addition to building up Overdraw. Quick Shot is nice to have eventually, especially if you're using heavier bows, but not essential. Just keep improving your bows -- with the aid of smithing potions when available -- and upgrading your arrow supply as opportunity permits.
Starting with the above as a base, you need to make some choices about the rest of the build using no more than three-four additional skill trees. For most builds this will be an armor skill, an offensive skill, and a defensive skill. With care from the beginning it is possible to stretch this to two offensive skills (such as One Handed and Destruction) or two defensive skills (such as Block and Sneak), but this is harder to pull off without gimping yourself somewhere.
You've already picked the heavy-armor track over the alternatives, so you'll have to work with that as a starting point. From there you can go with either warrior or battlemage builds. For the Heavy Armor skill, you can get by just fine working on the five Juggernaut perks and Well Fitted, while keeping up with armor improvements via Smithing.
If you go the battlemage route, then perking Block is totally counterproductive. Even if you use a shield some at first, your eventual goal is to always have a spell in your offhand, at which point any perks you put into blocking are totally wasted. You've only spent two perks on Block, so a Battlemage build is still possible for you if you choose to go that way. If you want to do this, then I think your best option is to concentrate perks in one offensive line (Destruction, Conjuration, or Illusion), plus Regeneration and Recovery in Restoration, plus necessary One Handed perks (Armsman, Fighting Stance). If you prefer the mace, then Bone Breaker is nice, but shouldn't be a high priority.
If you go the warrior route, then stop perking anything in magic lines immediately and don't put any more level bonuses into magicka. Yes, you may drink healing potions like a fish at first, but it will get better. Befriend every alchemist you can so you can take free low-level healing potions from their shops, and buy every healing potion you can from both alchemy and general merchants. You are better off keeping that shield in your offhand during combat and drinking potions. Save the healing spells for after the battle. Stick with building up the Armsman perks and, secondarily, the Shield Wall perks.
Given your current distribution of perks, I would advise against putting any more points into Sneak until much later, if ever. At this point you need to get the rest of your build planned, and then see what points, if any, you will be able to spare for Sneak. Believe it or not, I have a heavy-armor, two-handed character (level 56 now) without a single point in Sneak who can practically walk up to a bandit and spit in his eye without even crouching. You can make use of stealth archery and get the double sneak-attack bonus even without perking Sneak (though that does make it easier, particularly in heavy armor).
Figure in your planning that you should have all essential perks for your build and probably some nice-to-have perks by the time you hit level 50, so you have 50 points to work with. Everything after that is gravy, in my book. As a sample, based on my own definition of "essential":
7 Archery
6 Heavy Armor
6 One Handed
6 Block
9 Alchemy
10 Enchanting
2 Smithing
This totals 46 perks for the build spread across seven skill trees, so you can see that they have to be allocated carefully. Adding more skill trees will reduce your ability to properly perk others, resulting in a collection of half-baked skills.
One another note: frankly, I see no shame in using a reduced difficulty setting, particularly for a first playthrough. Not everyone has the reflexes of a 20-year-old fighter jock, and some people take longer than others to get the hang of a game's controls and combat techniques. Reducing the difficulty until you gain confidence and your body learns the right motor skills will reduce your frustration and let you have more fun. Isn't fun why we play games?
Edited by BrettM, 12 April 2012 - 03:58 PM.
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