invertedpanda

Unarmed killmoves exist and are AWESOME. Some great stuff, plus some wrestling-themed stuff. My favorite is where your character grab's the baddy's head and slams 3 punches right in their face. It's especially good from first person, and I crack up every time :)

Rogue.

I started playing Skyrim again shortly after Dawnguard was announced, and decided to come up with some new build ideas. I've done some crazy ones... Including one build that has no attack skill and relies on poison & pickpocket (and staves, for undead) in combat (this one is fun and challenging). My latest favorite build is an arcane archer that uses bound bow only (and using a mod that boosts damage based on conjuration for bound weapons). Without silent casting it's hard to be truly stealthy, but as long as I cast bound bow early enough and dual-cast it I'm fine. What builds are you playing with in anticipation of the new DLC?

All I want is one illusion spell - something that will make a single target fight for you (rather than just Fury/Frenzy and attack anything). A "command" spell if you will. That single spell would make an illusionist MUCH more viable.

I've seen general vendors and the people at the college of winterhold sell them.

Honestly, I just ended up using the Unarmed 1/2 heavy armor skill damage mod. Worked out pretty well.

For those who want to get right to the stats, here's where you'll want to be at level 31. Now, on to the general build and playstyle. I played a poisonmancer build once, utilizing daggers as my primary method of attack, but.. well.. In the later levels it was just way too powerful, which gets boring :) So, here's something similar with a twist: No direct combat skills. That's right - no bow, 1 handed, 2 handed, or destruction magic. Your offense will be predominantly reverse-pickpocketing poisons and frenzy spells. If you go with Khajit as a race, you can at least have some claw attacks early on that'll help you get through Helgen. At the beginning, I just hung around Whiterun (WITHOUT talking to the Jarl), leveling my skills (muffle for illusion, sneaking around, pickpocketing people, and making lots of potions for profit). I brought my health to 200 first, and then upped magicka, putting some in health every so often. You'll want to get your hands on some staves for combat (there is one particular staff you can get in Dawnstar that works wonders; I'll leave it to you to figure it out :)), as you can't always pickpocket or frenzy/calm everybody. Once you've got your staff (or staves), then you can continue on with the main quest if you so desire. There are a few things you can do to boost the viability (and fun) of this character. One, become a vampire. It works exceptionally well with this build. Two, do the Dark Brotherhood (it'll give you something fun to do as well as some nice bonuses). Getting involved with the thieves guild is a smart idea, too, if only just for a fence. The College of Winterhold is important as you'll want to be able to buy your Illusion spells there (plus do some decent, but challenging quests). Anyway, once you hit 30, I'd recommend focusing primarily on Illusion and Alchemy, maxing Illusion ASAP. Illusion is only useful if it's high. I tried to keep it above all my other skills through my entire progression. Enchanting would be 3rd on the list, mostly for + to alchemy gear. You also don't need to worry too much about perks outside of the ones that have a direct benefit to skill after level 30. It's all gravy, so get what you want after you max Illusion and your +% to skill perks (double effect is the only one I'd recommend 100% for any character with enchanting). With this build, you can almost entirely avoid combat (aside from dragons). No need for a companion, either; they'll just mess with your stealth.

I finally played a vampire character recently (a poison master/illusionist with no direct combat skills - fun build!), and while it's cool, I'd love to see a faction/guild allowing me to embrace the vampire lifestyle more fully. The Dark Brotherhood is fun (and has some of the best quests/characters in game), but not really vampire-centric. Why not create a vampire guild, with vampire-related quests? Find new recruits, defeat vampire hunters, maybe silence a politician that is attempting to destroy/expose vampiric connections within the Empire, combat rival guilds. Another interesting quest idea would be related to some sort of disease affecting only vampires, and your job is to hunt down the source and help find a cure. You wouldn't join the vampire guild as a non-vampire; the quest would be initiated by you becoming one.

I played a poison master build a month or two ago, getting it up to level 46 or so. It was a LOT of fun to play, but I also relied on my 1h skill (daggers) quite often vs. baddies such as undead, dragons, etc. Once I get done playing my boxer character, I'm thinking of playing a poison/pickpocket build again, but this time, without any direct offensive skills. Right now I'm looking at focusing on pickpocket, sneak, alchemy, enchanting, and to help me deal with unavoidable combat, Illusion. I could also, potentially, go the route of conjuration instead of illusion, but I'm thinking utilizing staves would make that even easier. I'd avoid the main quest until I maxed out the illusion tree, mostly just having fun doing the dark brotherhood/thieves guild quests (the Dark Brotherhood being my absolute favorite questline in game).

Nope, no HD texture pack here.

This just started within the last few hours; I played earlier this afternoon, and it was fine. Now it crashes when checking for mod updates; it also has the wrong # of mods to check, I see. It crashes right when checking the first mod.

I'm doing the same thing with my new character (doing it as a 2h/heavy/conjuration with no stealth :P), and figured I'd let him live this time. He's seriously one of the best characters in the game.

Most undead minions you raise have a hard-as-hell time of actually DOING anything that it's almost useless. I decided to create a new build recently (2 handed + conjuration, focusing on undead). While playing said build, it became apparent that, for the most part, undead minions are useless unless you're REALLY selective about what you raise. Many undead minions will hang back a mile away, or try to go another path to catch up with you (a path that isn't even open). I had one recently (a fellow necromancer) that would ONLY cast ward spells. It wasn't until we got to the end of the dungeon (and he finally caught up) that he pulled out a dagger and tried to use it. Falmer are horrible minions. They always hang back, and rarely attack in any timely fashion. The AI for necromancy summons is just plain awful. I sure hope when I get my Thrall spell that they retain some useful AI.

Nexus Mods can be held accountable in many cases for what a user uploads; they don't want to be the target of lawsuits. If time and money grew on trees, sure, every site under the sun could afford to litigate, but sadly, neither have been fruitful for many places. Look at the Megaupload case, for instance.

NOTE: SPOILERS! I'm doing the Stormcloak faction quests, and attempting to get the Jagged Crown. I had already "discovered" Korvanjund, but didn't go in. I did fast travel there once beforehand since it was close to another quest location, and Ralof was there already (before I had accepted the quest to go retrieve it). Anyway, I later accepted the quest, and go back there.. and it's just the general and Ralof there. No other stormcloak soldiers. No imperials. Just some bandits. We go inside, and the way is blocked off. Lovely. Anybody find any resolutions for this? I haven't seen any yet, myself.

There are mods that remove the effect and/or lessen it. I'm using one myself. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=2321

Dragons aren't affected by Wabbajack.

I've got 2 fairly unique builds I've played. Here's one: The Poison Master http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/538136-the-poison-master-build-how-i-played-1-30/page__p__4380581__hl__%2Bpoison+%2Bmaster__fromsearch__1#entry4380581 Another would be my Littermage: http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/553198-the-littermage-telekinesis-build/page__gopid__4495600#entry4495600

That's why I'm using a mod to increase the damage. Ideally, I'd love to see a mod that adjusts the damage based on alteration skill & weight (and, in the case of weapons, the current damage). With this mod in it's current form, you can kill people with cabbage just as easily as an iron ingot... which is hilarious, of course, but not very fair.

I just hit level 15 with my new build, a mage that uses telekinesis as the primary offensive attack. I should note that I installed the Telekinesis mod available right here on Skyrim Nexus :) It increases the damage from thrown objects through telekinesis. That's pretty much essential to make this build even viable. Anyway, on to the necessary stats. This build, in the early levels, focuses on Illusion, Alteration, and Conjuration. I chose to get my Illusion to 50 first, and then Alteration. My conjuration is currently 40. The goal is to have the following perks when level 30 is hit: http://skyrimcalculator.com/#80322 I got to where I am currently mostly by power-leveling skills, as early on you're about as dangerous as a rabbit (a rabbit that has been frenzied). I've done some of the mage college quests, though, as well as some of the main quest. Here's some tips for playing this build: Your summoned minion(s) will act as fodder while your magicka regens. You'll want to get as much reduction to alteration as possible. This build will probably be easier with enchanting, but I haven't gone down that road yet. Assuming I do, I'll probably have a build that looks something like this at it's peak: http://skyrimcalculator.com/#80326 You'll want to keep a variety of objects to throw on your person. I'm currently using iron daggers, as they're pretty light, and are cool to throw :) Larger objects are a little more difficult, as the environment can get in the way. Here's how combat tends to go: First, I summon a minion. Then, I go into my inventory, and drop a bunch of daggers at my feet. I then proceed to telekinesis them up and at my foe. You'll need to be quick about it early on, and focus mostly on human size or larger targets. I let my minions handle the tiny ones. If you're fighting a group of baddies, using illusion spells such as frenzy or calm work well to make your job a little easier, and in many cases can eliminate the need for a summoned minion. One reason I focused so much on Illusion was because I plan on doing the Dark Brotherhood quests. I may even put a little into sneak. Some issues with this build: You'll have a hard time with magicka management early on. You've got to get spell cost reduction for alteration; as much as possible. Having a staff of chain lightning or something will help. I'm also betting that later on, throwing things will be less than useful. Meh. We'll see, I've never done this sort of build before, and maybe a better mod will come out once the CK is out. Combat goes much slower with this build. Still, it's also a lot of fun to pick up a plate from a bandits table and throw it at his head. I also learned that you can't pick up weapons an enemy drops UNTIL you loot it out of his inventory, typically. Very frustrating. Basically, telekinesis will only work with stuff you can pick up. No using the random bones lying around that fly up and kill YOU when you walk over them. Just the skulls.

I came out of a mine (Gloombreaker, I think) atop a mountain to watch a bear fall from the sky. I was like, "Ok, whatever" and went about my business. I realized I forgot to do something, so I loaded my autosave from the mine, and this time... I see a mammoth flying ACROSS the sky. No dragons (as I haven't done the whiterun quest). Just bears and mammoths flying. Yeah, that's weird.

On my previous build, I had assassinated a certain cat-like merchant. After giving him the proper insult ("I'm going to beat you like a common house cat!" - my favorite line in the entire game, even if there ARE no house cats in game), I proceeded to end his life. Then, I had decided.. "You know what? Chinese food sounds good right about now." So, I drug the corpse into his fellow merchant's fire. First, they proclaimed "Quit that!", but after a while, I guess they got used to it. I come back a day later to do some trading, and as I walk away from the camp with some gold in tow one cat gets up and says something to the effect of, "Oh my, what happened!" (Hey, they were the ones who were supposed to pull it out of the fire once it was done cooking, not my fault) Some other good moments of post-assassination dialog come from killing someone near a small kid's general AI path. Kids say the darndest things (and then ask me to play tag - Skyrim truly is a harsh mistress)!

Previous Build: Poison Master (level 45) Focuses on Alchemy, Pickpocket, Stealth, 1h (daggers), Speech, Enchanting Alchemy, pickpocket, stealth, and enchanting are maxed (1h is almost maxed, speech is at 86). 1 hit kills most opponents in stealth, wears no armor, and is a tank due to a large amount of health (stamina doesn't get pumped much at all, and magicka is useless on this build). Current Build: The Lone Ranger (level 13) Focuses on archery, heavy armor, stealth, enchanting, smithing, and alchemy Build avoids major towns and roams the countryside. Nothing super special with this character build aside from the choice of going with heavy armor (I plan on sticking with Ebony). Limited fast travel.

I think the hardest part about this so far is regarding alchemy. I can't just hit up any vendor and buy alchemy supplies. The only town I let myself hit as far as that goes is Dawnstar, given it isn't walled in, but I do feel guilty going there. Smithing isn't as huge of a deal, as there is a limited amount of materials used in smithing (and much of which is easily accumulated away from vendors). I've been making quite a bit more gold going this route, too; I end up hitting more dungeons and forts now than I did before going from quest to quest to quest. I'm just not spending it since I rarely hit any town :)

With my last character I decided to wait on getting my arrow to the knee with Mercer and let him sit and wait at Snowveil Sanctum. After a while I noticed the doors to the vault were just plain open, with no clear reason why.