Psiberzerker

Equipment: You may be wondering why I got to this so late, but really, it's secondary to Skills. Once built up, this guy can do his thing stark naked, and still make the kill. I just wish there were more than 2 quests than required you to make do with minimal equipment. For those times, Bound Sword just rocks socks. Plenty of damage with at least a 6x multiplier, and they never take your spells away. While we're on Weapons, I will point out that Daggers are not Manditory. I know, Assassin's Blade, but unless you're working up Archery (on an already perk bloated build) that's 2 perks, and comes in late in the game. Until then, an Axe, Mace, or nicely enchanted Sword may be just as better. I like the Nightengale Blade because it has the best enchantments; Drainheart Sword which is dagger light, and replenishes Stamina; Skyforge Steel (always nice), Gauldur Blackblade (comes with a nice piece of an even better amulet, save this, and the NGB for after Lvl 30, or so for maximum effect) Grimsever (With the Crit Perks) Windshear, the MoMB (Please don't hit me with that!) and LASTLY, the BoW. I'll reiterate here, you're sneaking up for a backstab here, so while the highest base damage for any dagger, plus magical damage is nice, the absorb effect is more often than not going to be wasted on a full health gauge. Also, especially with Backstabs, if he's dead, you're doing enough damage. While there's no such thing as too much, with a build stretched this broadly, you could be investing in something else. I'd generally rather have Red Eagle's Bane until I unlock Assassin's blade, and by then you may be Enchanting. For the DIYer, Enchantment will give you the most bang for your buck. Invest in soul gems, because you're going to be recharging often, and earning a lot of experience here. Go for the Elemental perks to Extra Effect, because the 2 apparel enchantments you need most are scripted, shrouded gloves, and boots. I like the Master Robes of Illusion for the trenchcoat look, and the shrouded hood is just the best looking in the game. Therefore, most of your Enchanting is going to be on Daggers. My personal favorites are Drain magicka, to recast Invisibilty after each backstab, and Dran Stamina, to Power Attacks. This way, you can split between both stats, or all three, and always have enough. My final outfit, after Dawnstar Sanctuary is the SH, MRoI, and Jester's Boots/Gloves. (I always let him live, I like him, and at that point, we can use all the manpower we can get.) and any jewelry that strikes your fancy. That;s right, no Armor. Why? By that point, it's unneeded weight, stamina drain, and I happen to think the Srouded Armor set looks dorky. If you like, there's nothing wrong with Nightengale Ninja, other than the glove enchantment, Gods know the Hood's Illusion boost is nice. The rest of that set doesn't Clash with the Jester's gloves, so I'd at least keep them. And finally, my outfit just plain looks cool. Not when invisible, I guess, but what's the fun of role playing a Magic Assassin if you can't show it off? http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/1172309635838125241/8CC4ADC60EF2C1E9DFB83AB654BB7CB393ED5047/

Races: Dunmer is a no brainer. Starts with Sneak, 1H, LA Illusion, and a healthy dose of Destruction. [5 away from Augment Flames(1)] Fire resistance never hurts, and Ancestor's Wrath is right in range for that one guy you can't quite kill in 1 shot, yet. Altmer starts with 25 Illusion, and Fury. As I pointed out, you can complete all but 2 contracts with this spell (The cook, and the guy on the boat.) Also, they start with all other skills at 15, which doesn't seem like an advantage, but levels them faster at the start to accellerate your training. The final hidden buff is they have the Maximum Reach, so you don't have to get as close, and can pull a Hitman at the Embassy. I highly recommend Bound Sword, and Mystic Binding for a Disk 1 Nuke to train up your backstabs. Highborn means not having to spend points on Magicka (Youll need it, and stamina, depend on armor over Health, and stealth to not be targeted) for a while. Redguard starts with 25 1H, and no other class specific skills. Moar Damage, nuff said. Poison resistance, and a daily power which is nice for spamming Power Attacks, or running for your life! Also fast cross county with nearly unlimited sprint for that mad minute. Kajit doesn't need Bound Sword, pretty much can't be completely disarmed, and Nighteye is the only infinitely spammable Racial Power. (I just adjust brightness/contrast, but I guess it's in character.) Also, every class specific skill, except Illusion, so Mage Stone, and you may have to grind for it. Imperial pretty much just for The Voice of the Emperor. Also lets you blend in around Solitude, purely for Role Play purposes. (I usually do that side of the Civil War in character for "Cover", though it doesn't actually have any in-game effect.) All the other races can do it, but aren't particularly suited for it. Breton, because they have an Illusion Boost, and magic resistance/spell absorbtion is always fun. Orc because they can double their striking damage again. (The only way to get 240x base damage in a backstab!) Nord, because it's Skyrim! Also, they have None of the primary skills, so should open up the most Perk points early.

Training: Because of all the different skills involved, this is a high level build, but you have to start somewhere. At lower levels, I focus on Sneak, Illusion, and 1 Handed. 3 skills is the most efficient IME, so you're neither waiting for perk points, nor skill levels to spend them. Notice, these are under all 3 Guardian Stones, so you might want to go with The Lover, and Well Rested to level them at the same rate. Unfortunately, that's way out in the boonies, so I generally go with The Mage to focus on Illusion. A little Sneak goes a long way, and each backstab levels both of the others at the start, anyway. Until you get Invisibility, your spell is Calm. Run straight for Farengar, and get this first. While you can just stand in the market, and pass it around, you can instead train on the job, and pick up some loot. Another good one is Fury, for the DBH. All but 2 of the contracts can be filled by pissing off the target so the guards kill them for you. This can even be done openly for a paltry 40 bounty, which is 2/5 the contract's pay, and generally the path of least resistance. If you're not running straight for the Arentino Boy, head for Fort Greymor, and train on Bandits. Backstab, calm Backstab... All 3 skills level up quicly with this simple combo. You don't even need to be undetected if you take them 1 at a time, and still get Sneak experience with each kill. Slip in the back way, and nearly everone can be taken this way, but not without some risk. Quicksave before/after ever kill. That should clear most of the inside, let the maid live, she'll be worth some money later. Any of the forts, and many camps/redoubts are good for training this way. I highly recomend the Infiltration quest, for Detect Life, and Bound Sword for free, you can swing by Treva's Watch on your way to Riften. This: http://skyrimcalculator.com/#149393 [edit] forgot Critical Charge of all things! See Tactics, and Strategy: below.[/edit] is pretty much what you're going for, don't worry if you're not quite there yet. Alteration is optional, but Apprentice is nice for the cost of DL, and Magic Resistance never hurts. Don't worry yourself too much with Quiet Casting until you start approaching 65, save the perks for 1H until then, and get Expert Illusion ASAP. I will point out that a Calmed enemy doesn't care if they hear you casting, they'll just head back over here, and... THUNK! I never put more than 1 point in Stealth. Especially enhanced with Illusion, it's pretty much a gateway perk to the rest of the tree. You might want a good Handaxe, or even Mace until Assassin's Blade opens up, because striking speed/DPS isn't critical when the target doesn't see it coming. More Damage=Moar XP, so maximize for 1HKs, and move on to the next target. You can get free Skyforge from Eorlund after Proving Honor, which comes with plenty of Shelf Draugr to sneak attack. Your mantra should be "Don't fight, Kill." You're an assassin, not a Warrior. Slowly make your way to the DBH, using encounters, and random dungeons on the way instead of carts, and fast travel. You want experience now, before you start your dangerous, yet lucrative career. Also, keep an eye out for Words you want before you have to worry about Dragons. I highly recomend putting the Main Quest on the back burner until you have the build up, and running...

To go along with the renewed popularity of the Spellsword discussion, here's the Archetype where I find the most variety. Just to recap, the basic description is Stealth, and Magic, mostly for the purpose of killing people. With Blade in the title, there's also predictably at least some 1Handed in there too, though there's no reason not to make a Nightmace. (or "Backsmasher") Stealth comes in 2 flavors, Either Sneak, Illusion, or some combination thereof. Sneak is highly advisable, because of the Backstab Multipliers, but since we're going to be working several trees, I like to partially fill selective branches for Perk Efficiency. This also makes them Fast leveling during early training. I usually grind up Illusion first, because it's the slowest leveling, and Invisibility, one of the most useful effects is high level (Expert) just to purchace (at least 65!) As for other Magics, my least favorite for this is Destruction. It's just not all that Stealthy, but the Augment Element perks really help with weapon enchantments, and it's a nice backup for shooting your way out when everthing goes wrong. While on the subject, my least favorite Enchantment is Absorb Health (Which comes on the BoW, oddly enough) because if I'm backstabbing, chances are my red guage is full, and it's a wasted charge. It does add damage, but so does Fire, or one of the other elements, with stamina, or magicka drain that's almost free. I'd rather have Absorb Stamina, to recoup your Power Attack (Moar damnage!) or magicka to power the Invisibility to make your escape/line up the next backstab. Alteration is extremely nice for Detect Life/Undead, to give you valuable intel. Nothing breaks your stealth like being surprized by that guy walking around the corner. _flesh is all right, if you're planning on getting hit, but the idea is to never be detected, much less targeted, until it's too late. Like Destruction, Armor is pretty much a backup, for those situations where you can't avoid detection, or it all goes wrong. Same with Restoration, only moreso. Not only is healing a sign that ur doin it wrong (Do a barrel roll!) but it lacks any effects that might make it handy, besides perks like faster magicka recovery. Conjuration is mostly for Bound sword, to me. You can smuggle it in anywhere, and therefore don't have to carry it. I highly recomend Cidnha Mine, and Diplomatic Immunity (If you want to unlock Dragons) because these two demonstrate how self sufficient your character can be unequipped. In gameplay, I pretty much run it like a sneaky Spellsword, with a powerful weapon, and Invisibility in the off hand. Once you've got Sneak up to Silence, or Muffled Boots (The DBH is a no-brainer here) that should be pretty much all you need to serially backstab a room full of badguys. From their point of view, someone dies, POOF! "Where'd he go?" Someone else dies... You need Magicka recovery to do this over, and over, indefinitely, but a Magicka Absorbing blade really seems to do the trick.

Depends on the build, but I'm a big fan of Absorb effects, especially Stamina, and Health, or Magicka for Nightblades, and Spellswords. If I'm resorting to the Blade on the latter, it's usually because I'm out, and combat has gotten close, so it's a quick way to recharge, while denying the enemy. For clothing enchants, I usually go with Magicka Regen, and casting discounts, and/or fortify stats. I don't like to do the 100% off 2 schools build, because i figure Bethesda put Magicka in the game for some reason, and it makes playing a mage boringly easy, especially if it's Destruction. It's kind of nice to have Robes of somethingorother that don't look like the standard sets, though the Master Robes (male model) look trenchcoaty enough. If you clear the Imperial side of the Civil War, you can get Ulfric's clothes, which look stompy, and hold a lot of enchantment. All that being said, my current Spellsword build's WoC is an Ebony handaxe with Firey Soultrap, (+Hack&Slash perk) because that's what works for his fighting style. He's also got a stack of Drainheart Swords, to drop in dual weild, because they're light, and keep the power attacks coming. I focus on Shock Resistance, because Magicka is his stock, and trade, but that's stacked on top of Magic Resistance, and Spell Absorbtion. He's not immune, to anything, but I like knowing I can be killed, it keeps me moving, and makes me enjoy it more when i do win through. I don't have to point out how powerful Dragon preist masks are, both in Armor, and Enchantments. None of them can be reproduced by a player, Pharen's wearing Nahkriin most of the time, with Otar as a backup. That just leaves Boots, and gloves, which are Shock Resist, and Destruction respectively. I don't have Extra Effect yet, mostly from recharging experience without grinding on the Arcane Enchanter, with the Lightning Spammer, and Dragon Preist Staffs for backups. I did the Augment Element Perks early on, so the charges are depleting slower.

NP, easy question, easy answer. Cheers!

To me, Spell/sword is a combo in both hands. Battlemage is more a swicth between magic, and melee, like the Ranged/2H hybrid. Crusader/Paladin would be mostly Restoration, armor, and a mace, like the Vigilants of Stendarr (especially if you're RPing to rid the realm of a specific Evil, like wiping out all Draugr for Meridia. I did that once, it took forever!) Shadow/Deathknight, or anti-paladin would probably be Conjuration, or more specifically Necromancy with the usual Knight kit of Armor, Hand Weapons, and possibly a Sheild (I call this varient Necroknight.) The last one would be a Nightblade, which I play pretty much classic, except for Destruction, which is kind of anti-stealth. Even with Quiet Casting, the mushroom cloud, and people running around on fire usually clues in even the dumber AIs that they just might be under attack. It's a handy fallback for when the jig is already up, and you may need to blast your way out, though. By "Alpha Strike", do you mean the Power Attack? It's indeed powerful, and a nice way to finish off enemies you softened up, or still slowed/burning/drained by destruction magic. The transition just slows me down, and if there're multiple survivors, that can still get you killed. That tactic is pretty much what I do with a Spell/Sword, use the blade, or mace to finish off anyone who gets close, or for Critical charges on Stamina while my magicka recovers. Oh yeah, I forgot Wuld can be real useful for clearing the melee after pulling off your strike. By the time you turn around, they're usually clumped into the blast radius, or path of Ice Storm. The debuffs from Destruction, or Illusion really help the hybrid, who may be weaker in melee due to his lack of specilization. Personal preferance, again. the reason i like the Spellsword combo is that you have both out all the time, so if they're close, you hit them, if not you can Bolt them, without wasting time on transition. That, or Nightblade, which I play pretty much the same way, but with Stealth, and Mind Control, instead of out in the open with Destruction/Conjuration.

`player.setrace {Whatever} The race names are the same as in the CG menu, highelf, darkelf, woodelf instead of Alt/Dun/Bosmer, and so forth. You can also become a child of any human race, but they can't wear clothes without mods. It even allows you to become creatures, like Trolls, but it's extremely limited,

Lol, he also seems to favor an Iron Battleaxe. I've seen him use it in several Dragon fights (Winterhold seems to have dragonbait smeared all over it) on different saves.

I've done Imperial, they work fine, and the Voice of the Emperor comes in handy when you're in over your head. Your defensive skill is really a personal choice. Heavy Armor is passive, so it doesn't take time, nor magicka to cast, and is always on, so you don't find yourself unprotected when it wears off. Look at the respective trees, though, Alteration eventually gets to Magic Resistance, and Spell Absorbtion, which solid armor just doesn't do. If you stack it on a Breton, you can be very well protected from physical, and magickal damage. There's also no reason why you can't cast Ebonyflesh over your heavy armor for nigh invulnerability. An often missed option is doing without any of them, and playing a Glass Cannon, though you can't effectively use the spell/sword combo while avoiding the melee altogether. I usually wear Robes, and heavy Boots/Gloves with a Dragon Priest Mask for minimal protection, magicka assistance, and little encumbrance. With Ebony Flesh, and my usual suit, I can get up to 250 armor, which is not bad, if not completely capped. On a Breton, with the Lord Stone, and all 3 MR perks, that's also 80% magic resistance, but lighter than full hide, so your stamina doesn't go down as fast from sprinting (which you'll have to do with Breton's stubby little legs.) As for what's "Better", it's up to you. Bretons don't start with armor skills, but their natural resistance, and daily power synergise with the spellsword a little more. I usually prefer Redguard, but go with what you like. As for 2H, I find the slower running speed, striking, and having to switch to cast anything to be too much of a penalty for better damage per strike. 1 handed weapons generally do better DPS, you just have to swing them more often, but having to put it away, and get magic out is the dealbreaker for me. Sometimes you need that healing RIGHT NOW! Try it out, you may get better results.

:rolleyes: Soo, does anyone have anything new to add about Spellsword builds? I'm tapped for now, but you can always go back a couple pages to see how i play them.

The motivation is fairly obvious. "I Iz Leeter tehn U!" Some people feel powerless, and underappreciated IRL, so have to come online and badger people for "Ur Doin it Wrong" to make themselves feel superior. They're called "Stop Having Fun Guys" the opposite of Scrubs. His use of Newb, and such mark him pretty plainly. Stop Trolling, guy, it won't earn you any respect here.

Like I said, with Windows Machines, performace problems are often caused by Software, and blamed on hardware. Before spending a whole bunch of money on upgrades, or a new system, I'd adjust settings, clear out all the unneccessary junk, disable any popups, and defragment the hard disk. If you know how, you can also partition so that your game is quarentined away from the Adware, counter Adware, and Anti-counter-adware duking it out over your hard drive. Most of the crashes I experienced were ultimately caused by 1 program trying to convince me that my computer was infected. I finally had to System Restore, and defrag, then it never happened again, once I seperated it from Exploder. Also, I re-install skyrim after every update, that seems to make it a lot more stable, with fewer internal glitches. Don't worry, your save files are seperate, and backed up by steam, so you won't lose your progress. This allows the scripts to mesh better than retro-patching without a re-install.

I don't think combat is broken, but there's a few things I'd like to see for my personal experience. Either in Mods, or DLC. 1) Some Way to KO. I'd probably add a perk to the Sneak, or Block Tree, so that a bash from behind, with Stealth has a chance of Paralyzing/Knocking out the target. Would be real useful for Goldenglow, where you have to get past an army of mercenaries, preferably without killing them. 2) Perks for using the Spellsword combo. Not getting into classes here, it seems a bit of a Berserk Button for some, but some synergy between Destruction, and 1 handed, like decreasing the spell charge time with a weapon in the other hand, not unlike Dual Flurry. As Destruction is the main offense for this kind of build, I'd put it there, opposite Dual Casting. (I already have this in the Classic Classes mod but it increases damage.) 3) Fix Destruction, allready. I understand it's for balance, but this is one place where I consider it broken. I shouldn't have to retard the advancement of the entire game (By building Pures) to make Destruction competetive. Another rank of Augment Elemental perks at 90 Destruction would help a lot. 4) Yeah. Spears. These were THE longarm of choice for 200,000 years of our history, from before the advent of Agriculture, and use of fire to the Musket and Pikes combo that dominated the Napoleonic Era, and the Zulus of the 19th century. Also, Javalins, so pure Warrior types can get on the hand/ranged combo like spellswords, without using Magic. Just give them weight, so you can't carry an infinite amount like Arrows, and more limited range. They should be moderated by armor, unlike Firebolt, for instance, to keep them from being OP. Come on guys, I saw a Lu Bu kata from the Game Jam a week after Skyrim was released. Do they impliment it? No, we get Vampire Lords.

I do roleplay: http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/52479/t1729743-dbh-contract-elenwen-fanfic/ Know who you're talking to, and where you are. This is a modder's forum, which means it's chock full of people who modify the Vanilla game. For Role Play? Not usually. Bethesda chose to remove classses from character generation, and yet you still come here, and start a flamewar because we're doing it wrong. (Do a barrel Roll!) STFU, I'm not impressed, and noone else here is. Read my signature. Play your way, I'll play mine. You are no better than any of us.

Why is there no Silver Mace? The Vigilants of Stendarr sure could use them. I'd probably use the Ebony model for a template if I were a modder, it's the most beautiful weapon in the game. Take the crown off the top, and maybe add a short 6 flanged spike, recolor it, but keep the metalic swirls, done.

The Thalmor have 3 instilations in Skyrim, the Headquarters in Castle Dour, Solitude, the Embassy, north of the city, and Northwatch, West of the Embassy, all the way at the far north coast. All of this about as deep into Impirial territory as you can get. Ulfric is considered a sleeper agent for the Thalmor, to continue destabilizing the region. He was tortured at length by Elenwen, who is first seen at Helgen, sitting on horseback with a small army of soldiers to stop the excecution. (Look to your left as the cart enters the city.) http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Thalmor_Dossier%3A_Ulfric_Stormcloak

My deck isn't all that special, dual core, decent graphix card, yadda^3, but it's pretty much a dedicated machine, with a connection I only use for uploading screenshots, and never accesses teh intawebz, except for Steam. The main thing is, it's my only Windows machine, so I solve Virus problems by keeping it quarentined. I'm typing this on my Linux netbook, which doesn't have to worry about Addwarez, and popups, because they're predominantly written for MS. You might want to look into cleaning it up, dumping some of the junk files, and defragging. Most windows machines run better after some house cleaning. If I had my way, I'd just Emulate on an Amiga, but I can't afford them any more since it basically became a custom only dedicated Video Toaster platform. :(

Take Screenshots for referance. I've got most of my favorite settings memorized, from so much time spent in CG. I even `showracemenu` to age them, or add scars later. Other than the shapes of specific features, I usually go to one extreme end, or the other, than dial in the proportions to make it look right. For instance, most of my females (which means most of my characters, I prefer to play girls) have the jaw width, and height all the way down, and foreward all the way up.

Pharen: http://skyrimcalculator.com/#143900 +Novice-Apprentice Conjuration, and Mystic Binding. My take on the Spellsword, with heavy armor to avoid getting 1HKed, and Robes for magic assistance. No smithing, his armor is a little over 100, and so is his Health, but he stays alive mostly through evasion, and killing the enemy with unstoppable offense. The usual progression of battle tactics is to Bolt Archers first, then other mages while running circles around the melee. Then, he likes to clump them together for AoE spells, like Flaming Familiar, or Ice Storm, and Critical Charge with Flame Cloak to get them Burning, and Bleeding. That's assuming a large scale battle with a mix of all 3 types of enemies, like one of the larger Foresworn Redoubts. A lightning Bolt shatters the Ward, then another saps their magicka, if not killing them outright. Usually Firebolts archers, doesn't care for Ice Spike. His Weapon of Choice is an Ebony Handaxe, unenchanted, and non-tempered, but he'll drop a Drainheart Sword in the off hand for Dual Flurry(with Elemental Fury, the power attack speed is determined by the right hand.) to recover Stamina. Also does the left hand feign, and stab power attack to stagger blockers, and instantly recover the Stamina. (The great thing about a drainheart sword is it weighs less than most daggers, and he has a stack of them.) He's also switching focus to Conjuration, so uses Bound Sword with Flaming Familiar when he has time to cast it. Spells depend on the enemy, and he juggles them a lot. Usually double casts (2, not dual cast) Lightning Bolt to hit Dragons on the wing, then hoses them down with Frost Wall once grounded, so they can't take back off. Firebolt is for Draugr (the most Magicka Efficient) which is being replaced by FF. Ice Storm is a battlefield sweeper, (He doesn't dual cast, but if you have Impact, this can chain stun Armies!) and to detonate FF as a combo. (Simulcast, shuts "The Caller" right up!) Also kites Giants, and Warlord Gathric onto a road of Frost, or Fire Runes. (You don't even have to turn around!) Considering Consoling in Spectral Arrow, if I need it. Alternates between the Lord, or Atronach Stones. Mostly the Former, now that he's summoning, and it gives him almost half again as much armor. The Magic Resistance is nice too, because he doesn't have any other source of it, yet. (May do the Agent of mara, though I hate that questline.) Really too late to work up Alteration without grinding, and he's a little tight on the Magicka, really. If he starts feeling Squishy, I might have to use it to supliment his armor. Already done the main arc, CoWH, (Wears master Robes of Destruction, and Nahkriin, instead of Archmage's, and Morokei) and Forbidden Legends. Usually travels with Jenassa (I love her, and they may get married) because she's fire resistant, and badass. Doesn't really use much in the way of Shouts, mostly Whirlwind Sprint for quick cross country, when I've already used Adrenaline Rush. Has Dragonrend, but prefers to shoot them down with Bolts, then hose them with frost when grounded. Can't cast Storm Atronach yet, but has Jyrik's lightning spammer staff, and Aeren's staff (From the shelf in his quarters) in case his gauge runs out. Also Dragon preist Staffs, he can do the whole dragon fight without hard casting anything, but runs himself dry first to conserve souls (Until he perks the Bound Sword for harvasting.) Probably about time to go see mrs. Lenith about a bauble... If it wasn't obvious, this is my present work in progress. May need to start Enchanting soon, but the first few levels are always Disenchanting, and topping off the weapons he does have until he gets some decent level effects. Has Burning Souls, and all three Absorption effects (From Labrynthian) but no perks in the tree, and only 27 skill level, so it's a waste of souls at this point to make anything. That, and Conjuration for the next 7 levels, or so.

Elbereth: http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/1172309635819755520/A5D8A97D7227C6C8B0F6013FD72ED1AA522D9F1D/ Dreadfall: Armored, http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/559814891153086787/5EE79F05B061C26152669BC21DD5E3B610ABA4EC/ Favorite outfit: http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/559814891160918045/699ED70AD8BA9895A39E563ABC7951023D1D6675/ BAMFO: http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/558689485667239605/83CBF8F7118B20255B89112187B5837A5316E220/ and Pharen, the Redguard Spellsword: http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/559819354451647216/9491F879136AD287AB1C332D98CB6B5FFF54E971/ http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/559819354429047383/67F1FDCCE523B1158B0046329C728C64B4C469C8/

I would have liked to have seen something done with the Thalmor, or the Forsworn, but they decided vampires were underpowered. And they're so hot lately! Yeah, vampires suck, and they've been done to death. The original legend were burned by the Shadow of a cross, or church, stone dead when the sun was over the horizon, and couldn't cross natural flowing water without packing the earth of their homeland around them. Each iteration of the modern myth takes away weaknesses, and gives them more powers to compensate, the only one that doesn't have some "Daywalker clause" is Buffy the Fikken vampire Slayer for Stoker's sake.. Werewolves, can turn into a werewolf. Just not as sexy. I guess Bethesda's just goin with the flow. Yeah, I'll play it, but I'm already dissapointed.

Nice points, DI97, but check the dates. This is a 6 month old thread, (I should know, I'm the one who resurected it. Sorry.) and I doubt the OP is still checking it. If nothing else, this build is long done. Just saying, it's mostly moved over to general advice for Any spellsword build instead of that particular one. I agree with most of it, Lightning is a Hit-scan, so you don't have to lead targets. There's also maybe 3 BGs out there that's resistant to it, as opposed to Fire, or Frost. As for Perks, you're probably going to find yourself using Destruction for most of your damage dealing, unless you're going more for a Nightblade for Backstab. Also, there's a variety of destruction spells with various effects for different situations. I like to Zot dragons, for the aforementioned hit-scan effect, but use mostly Fire for burning, and Ice Storm as a sweeper, because it travels in a line, which you can kite the enemy into, especially if there's bottlenecks. It also travels right through walls, and other obsticals, so that archer that keeps ducking behind a rock? Tell him to chill. The hand weapon will be a lot more personal, so there's where you can specialize, or chose not to. I tend toward handaxes, because the Hack&Slash perk stacks well with Burnin DOT. Leave them burning, and bleeding, and you don't have to hit them as many times. With Critical charge, you can start them burning, strike on your way through the fray, and let them die while you set up for another pass. (If you like, you can even stack on Frostbite Venom for more DOT, and Stamina drain.) I don't use Disintegrate, especially with Necromancy. You can't raise an Ash Pile, and while it's cool, it doesn't really help your game play. If any of the further enhancements, I go for Deep freeze, because I'd rather the enemy be paralized, than made to flee out of range. Even that can backfire, if you mistake those fallen for dead, and advance past them, they can get a free shot at your unprotected rear. None of them are game changing, so I'd respectfully suggest saving those perk points unless you got some burning a hole in your pocket. And again, I'd add Redguard to the race list. Starting with 25 1H means you can concentrate the crucial first few levels to Destruction, yet still have plenty of power for your sidearm. It puts you within 5 of All the second teir perks, which should be pretty easy to get even while Firebolting most of the Draugr training partners. (All builds have to start somewhere.) While it's been Nerfed quite a bit Adrenaline Rush is extremely handy when everthing goes south, to escape, or drop a weapon in the spell hand for dual weild, and sweep the melee real quick. As for the self imposed limitations, try not starting off with Crafting, and having Berserker Rage as a safety net. I go unarmored, mostly so I don't have to worry about stamina, but it also makes for incentive to not linger in the melee.

Did you augment any elements in the Destruction tree? These perks also affect weapon enchantments, for instance Absorb Health is under Augment Flames, Stamina Frost, and Magicka Lightning. This is the main reason why I often get Destruction up to level 60, so I can use these perks with other skills. Just like Armor, and damage, these effects are calculated automatically in your inventory. Also, Fortify Skill enchantments on Apparel are tied to the Restoration school, which is why Fortify Restoration is so OP.

Exactly. My point is you don't Have to play a class. It may get you all bubbly with excitement, but quite a lot of players would rather grind up to 100, and not roleplay. Honestly, anyone who spends that much time at the forge I can't call a Noob. Play your way, fine, but don't ridicule people for playing their's. Just because you like to stick with the 3rd era classes that are no longer in the game, that doesn't make you any more elite, creative, nor cool than the guys who go for power over role playing. Had it occured to you that there might be some people out there who don't Want to role play, or are they just idiots who don't see the truth in the game design as clearly as you? Get over yourself, and join us in the 4th era.