281 replies to this topic

[Yellohead]

I love how the game feels less like Skyrim and more like Dark Souls difficulty-wise.

I died twice only on my way to the entrance to the Helgen Keep, killed by Alduin's attacks. I decided to join the Companions as soon as I gained access to Whiterun and talked with the Jarl. My hunter/ranger Nord was a lv. 2 character at the time. My first quest? Go kill some Falmer.
But while I'd be completely outmatched against a lv. 9 enemy as a lv. 2 character at the highest difficulties in the vanilla game, here I had a fair chance, as long as I did the right preparation!

Bows and arrows are a lot more deadly. And it's a good thing: i can finally go hunting, and kill bandits before they can even get a chance of hitting me; I cannot wait to get my hands on a crossbow. I'm now finishing the Companions Trial: I remember it being quite easy during my non-Requiem playthrough. But with Requiem, I died about a million times.

[caians]

So, I started a character named Beowulf (hahahaha), who is a nord ranger/warrior. I use light armor, shield, war axe and bows. I'm leveling up alchemy and blacksmith so I can survive better in dungeons while making my own health potions (gonna hunt some sabrecats...) and crafting my silver arrows and swords. I'm now at level 8. It's a pretty fun character to play with. Melee combat is hard, but after you get it right, it's rewarding. As a user of light armor, block is essential. Bashing with my shield also had me pretty cool death cams when power-attacking right after. I also love roleplaying, so I follow thoroughly a path of a righteous and honorable nord. Never commited any crimes, sided with criminals or stole. I have only the Unreleting Force shout for now, which was pretty hard to get. To finish Bleak Falls Barrow I had to use every trap in the dungeon, dosens of pots and sometimes I ran away from the draugr to get to safety. Direct combat is still hard. I also joined the Companions with a bit of hard work to duel Vilkas. Killing bandits is no easy task, but it's very cool to have to use the trap in the caves on your favor. It gives a whole new mean to the game. It isn't hack n' slash anymore, you have to prepare and use strategy. To finally be a companion I have to retrieve a staff from a locked chest in a Giant site. I was just "how the hell will I do this s***?!?!"... I have no perks in lockpicking and IF the keys are with the giants, I stand no chance against them. That's ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! You know, this is like the old RPGs. You can't complete everything in the game. I will have to find my way somehow. Anyways, what type of character do you guys play?

[Kazekage1]

Starting a new playthrough.

Name: The Unlikely Hero.
Race: Khajiit
Standing Stone: Thief
Major Skills: Archery, Sneak and Restoration
Minor Skills: Restoration, Lockpicking, Light Armour and Enchanting

Followers: None or Kharjo (Khajiit warrior) - I prefer to have Kharjo as he's also Khajiit and looks a more authentic companionship being the same race.

Will not use crafting. This Khajiit has no time to be standing around Alchemy tables or Furnaces. (plus Alchemy is weak and no need for Smithing as you shouldn't be getting hit).

Coupled with the Thief Stone I get the following bonuses;

+15% speed bonus
Reduced falling damage
Higher claw damage (for those brawls!)
Night Eye (useful with Climates of Tamriel darker nights plus it's more immersive)
+20% Archery skill rate
+20% Lockpicking
+20% Sneaking
+20 Lockpicking

There are a couple more bonuses but they are not useful for this character.

I am not using crafting because it absorbs too much time and it's tedious collecting herbs/mining and then making the potions/equipment. Also it makes looting more enjoyable as you use what you find and buy not what you make.

I will also not use any shouts that do not fit his character such as Ice Form, Fire Breath.. I will using the following shouts;

Aura Whisper
Become Ethereal
Unrelenting Force
Storm Call

Roleplay;

No Fast Travel - Will travel by horse or carriage.
Will pickpocket only the poor - The unlikely hero knows as a Khajiit how hard it is to live at the other end of the economic scale.
Completes one questline at a time, no overlaps
Does not kill innocents
Completes only quests where this is profit in it and it is to his advantage.
Sides with the Stormcloaks - There is no honor is executing an innocent man and this Khajiit holds a grudge.
Will complete the Companions but quickly realizes that the dark, in the shadows lifestyle is more for his taste and then ventures onto the Thieves Guild and then DB
Completes the Main Quest
Travels to Solsthiem at level 10 to explore new lands (Also to make sure you are not too OP to complete the content)
Sides with Dawnguard, not for the sake of the people but also because Vampires threaten his own life.

I also use these mods for added immersion;

Climates of Tamriel
Frostfall
Khajiit Speaks
CoverKhajiits
Wet and Cold
Footprints

Please let me know what you think. Also post your own builds!

[heckur]

In response to post #7611258.

I think it's a good build. Difficult enough to keep it interesting up till high levels. You have no defense against melee attacks, and you have no means to avoid them either once you're not sneaking anymore, except for a shout and a follower, so that will cause major troubles. This build needs to avoid detection at all costs. Luckely, you run fast The speed bonus of the Khajit, together with the one from LA, is really amazing.

You probably want some perks in smithing though (yak, crafting), unless you want to buy all (enchanted, silver and armor penetrating) arrows. Since you need a lot of them (undead, constructs) buying them will be expensive, if they are available at all. However, Smithing combines perfectly with enchanting: lets you craft battlestaffs and then convert them into magic staffs, craft your own soulgems, craft daggers and juwels to enchant them. So those perks are not wasted.

Oh, and don't pickpocket from the poor You know how hard it is to live at the other end of the economic scale.

[Kazekage1]

In response to post #7611258. #7616082 is also a reply to the same post.

Thanks for the input.

I suppose I will take on Smithing then if it helps with enchanting, I suppose all the jewellery you will make will make a pretty penny.. oh and the soul gems will be nice. I forgot about all those arrows, It's quite hard to find better arrows than Iron in the world so being able to make elven & glass arrows would be cool.

Lol I mean't don't pickpocket from the poor, spelling mistake

[caians]

In response to post #7611258. #7616082, #7618698 are all replies on the same post.

Cool character, pal. It's good to see roleplayers

You will need a lot of strategy to play as The Unlikely Hero.

Do you think it's good to have a follower at all?

[heckur]

This is a build I plan to role play when 1.6 comes out, to try the new Illusion system.

Damaske is a young Breton woman who travels around to see the world, when she is picked up and dragged to Helgen for a head removal job, just for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. By a twist of fate, she keeps her head and escapes.

This event has a deep impact on her. She realizes how fragile her live is and how helpless she was. She comes to the conclusion she has two options: let fate rule her life, like it has up to today, or take control of it. She decides to do the latter.

To never come in a situation like this again, she needs to become stronger than all that threatens her life. Not only must she be able to overcome animals, men and mer, but also entire organizations and even life itself! What irony would it be to simple die from old age while claiming to be strongest living being on the world. Loosing from yourself is not an option.

To become immortal, she gradually learns, there are multiple options. She can become a living god, like Talos, become undead, like liches and vampires, or master time and decay. Not willing to miss an opportunity, she decides to pursue them all.

One of the greatest forces in the universe is decay. It takes constant battle to stop things changing into ashes and dust. To stop it, she has to fight it at two fronts: control time and stop decay. When able to stop time, or even reverse it, she might undo the aging of her own mind and body. And by controlling entropy, she might be able to restore her mind and body to at least the state they are in now.

To become a living god, she only knows one example: Talos. He ruled an entire empire and reshaped the land. With other words, he controlled mind and matter. Damaske quickly learns that emperors are chosen from old bloodlines, leaving little chance for her to ever become empress. This leaves only one option: she needs to be able to control the emperor himself, in order to rule an empire. The best way to accomplish this feat is using Illusion. History learns that at least one other person, Jagar Tharn, managed to do so.

The last option to explore is to become undead. Liches don’t attract her very much, seeing the change in appearance it brings, but becoming a vampire seems very feasible and attractive. After having met the court wizard of Solitude, she has proof that it allows her to keep her dashing looks for ages.

These thoughts now determine her life. She will not use weapons and Destruction magic to combat here enemies. Those ways only lead to the increase of entropy, something she tries to counter. For the same reason, she will not summon creatures or raise undead. Besides, summoning a slave to destroy your enemies is like saying: do this for me, because I am unable to. It is a display of weakness. Instead, she will master the school of Alteration to control time and matter, and absorb the life force of her greatest enemies in order to become stronger and combat entropy. She needs to be able to rip the very souls from the remaining carcasses, to enable her to use them to change to properties of matter itself: she’ll need to become a master in Enchanting. In order to restore her own body and mind, she’ll need to master the school of Restoration. Perhaps, it will allow her heal that terrible disease called aging. And finally, in order to rule an empire, she’ll need to become a master in Illusion. This will also allow her to use the power of her opponents for her own purposes.

In order to accomplish these goals, Damaske joins the College of Winterhold. At the same time, still holding a terrible grudge against the Thalmor, who she holds responsible for the fact she almost lost her life at Helgen, she starts removing them from the surface of the world. When they no longer wield power in Tamriel, she believes, the civil war in Skyrim probably will come to an end. If this fails, she will join the Imperials to re-unite Skyrim to her future empire.

Dragons threaten the world and must be dealt with too. And by re-uniting Skyrim and removing the dragon threat, Damaske gets an excellent chance to become a living god: surely such feats will be rewarded by the Divine! While combatting the dragons, she encounters an ancient form of magic. Some aspects of this magic are also useful to her: giving her more means to control time, alter the very matter of her body or teleport her for short distances.

She eventually hears of an organization that combats vampires. What better place to study them and perhaps even joining them than the center of power of the vampire’s greatest enemy? She decides to infiltrate the Dawnguard to see if she can learn more about vampires.

And then there are the Dragon priests. These powerful liches have managed to overcome death itself. They must be studied. If she cannot control them, then at least she will use their life force to strengthen her own. And maybe, just maybe, will the attributes the Dragon Priest carry give her some insight in how to become a lich herself. A clue she finds at Labyrinthian hints at this.

Will she succeed? Time will learn.

[Kazekage1]

In response to post #7611258. #7616082, #7618698, #7623394 are all replies on the same post.

I was thinking about either Kharjo or J'zargo.

This character seems like the type of person that would like a companion by his side. I haven't played either Dragonborn or Dawnguard yet so want a full playthrough through all the content in the game. I haven't played all the Main Quest either.

[Kazekage1]

In response to post #7624702.

I must say..... that was a fantastic read!! .... soo good in fact that I want to try this character.

You have very good writing skills and a great imagination. I love the emphasis on the trauma of near-death caused and her reaction to overcome it by overcoming death, very unique. Most character builds start off with the mindset that they are already powerful beings but this never makes sense as they start off soo feeble in Helgen. Your character justifies the reason why your weak and has a strong motive to become stronger.

Bravo!

How do you plan of fighting using only Restoration, Alteration and Illusion? Will you be only using Absorb (which sounds cool btw)? I see you are not using Destruction or Conjuration, which makes sense. I never liked using conjuration as your minion does the work on your behalf, your just clicking the button to activate the auto-kills.

[heckur]

In response to post #7624702. #7627600 is also a reply to the same post.

Thank you for the compliments

The plan is to use Illusion (Fury) to thin the pack and make it a one on one fight and indeed use the Alteration absorb spells to do damage. It will be hard, until Alteration reaches level 50. I suspect to see a lot of dead mudcrabs in the near future At level 50 you get an absorb spell that takes 25 health/sec for 3 seconds. From that point on, it should be managable.

Also I'm not sure if and when Illusion in v1.6 will work on undead and constructs. So perhaps I will use the Turn Undead spell as well. I still have to reach the higer level Alteration spells, but they only get better!