I need a better build for my load order....

[InDarkestNight]

I'm trying the relic hunter challenge for Legacy of the Dragonborn. Seemingly everything has gone wrong attempting this.

 

One of my problems is my build. I needed to go two-handed for that stupid falskaar item. I also decided to take this opportunity to make myself as op as possible. For this, I needed to go light armor. Also, I found in my previous attempt with heavy armor I simply didn't have enough storage space. Obviously, two-handed + light armor is only for idiots who like dying excessively. My armor is nill, everything hits me way too damned hard. I keep dying all the freaking time. I'm getting sick of attempting the same fights over and over.

 

Just now, I was going through nchuendzel. I ran into a dwarven keeper or something from SiC that I BARELY managed to beat. Later in the next section, I ran into these TWO dwarven spectres, one of whom had Fus Ro Dah, which I was NOT expecting (I did do a full playthrough with SiC once). I ended up just getting blasted across the room every time I stood up. They even managed to throw me into a trap like 50 feet away. Also didn't help that one of them could take off of half my hp with his stupid sword. I've always been short on potions, because I have to chug everything I have seemingly every fight just to get out alive. Unsurprisingly, I died. To add insult to injury, my last save before this was apparently the one I made right before I attempted the dwarven keeper. So no I've lost half my progress in this stupid dungeon, and I have to attempt that stupid keeper again even though I barely did it the first time.

 

I just need a different build. I can't handle anything. Everything hits me like a truck and it just keeps getting worse the more I level up. Clearly something needs to change, and perhaps I need to remove High Level Enemies. It shouldn't be affecting me yet at level 14, who knows at this point?

 

My build was breton, skills are two-handed, light armor, block, sneak, and archery. My two-handed has outpaced everything for some reason. Its 58, and everything else is in the mid 20s. I had to BUY training for light armor just so I could put a perk in it! Clearly this isn't working out. I need an alternate strategy. I was thinking conjuration would be good for getting some of the pressure off of me. Of course, I'd have to invest into magicka for that, which means I would have to invest less in stamina, which means I'd have less carry weight! Fml. Oh, and I've been running around with Vladimir or w/e his name is. The housecarl from Morthal. I've been thinking that I need to swap him out for someone who actually wears armor and uses a shield. He's hardly any more durable than I am.

 

I don't know what to do here. This stupid load order is forcing me to play something that is clearly impractical. If you want to play two-hander, you HAVE to go heavy armor just so don't get one-shot left and right. However, I need light armor for extra carry weight. I need stamina for carry weight too, so no magic (at least, not yet).

 

I really need to just quit this game for months and start again. I am NOT fighting that keeper with a garbage character one more time. I need to start all over from square 1 and make a character that's actually decent. I don't see how that's possible with what all these mods are forcing upon me. On second thought, maybe alteration would be a good idea to give me some extra armor. Just one of those spells would probably double my armor rating honestly. Of course, I'd have to invest in magicka for that too. A stinking frost atronach costs 214 magicka. How can I ever cast that without going 50/50 into health and magicka? Oakflesh alone costs 103, meaning I probably wouldn't be able to cast it at level 1, and then stoneflesh costs 194 magicka! Unless I get stupid lucky and find some light armor piece with fortify magicka on it, I don't see how I could make that work. I also feel like I need an absorb health enchant on my weapon. That would go a long way in keeping me alive.

 

I don't know, I'm in a catch-22 situation and I don't know what to do. Of course, I also don't know why I'm bothering to type this. I rarely get a response on this board. Why do I even bother posting anything? I would honestly be SHOCKED if anyone replied to this getting a response is so rare. Everything about this stupid game is so utterly beyond stupid.

[IsharaMeradin]

Grab yourself one of the many bag of holding variants and off load as much as you can to allow yourself to wear heavy armor. Make use of scrolls when you can. No need to worry about the magicka cost with those.

 

Skyrim is not a game to be concerned about following a specific build. Be willing to mix it up. Cause in the end as long as you survive, who cares how you managed to do it.

[InDarkestNight]

I do have a backpack, and a follower. That said, I'm trying to get as op as possible, and light armor is better for that than heavy.

 

That said, I have thought of a few ways to fix this build. One, play orc. I chose breton because I figured the magic resist would be more useful (berserker rage only affects physical damage taken). Thinking about it, that is done. Berserker Rage is OP and since it buffs damage its far more useful than magic resist. The breton's magic resist is only really useful for getting it early and leaving an enchanting slot open in case you want to max your magic resist. Should've just gone orc. If I did so, I'd have a power I could pop to help nerf enemies that are OP. Me dealing double damage while only taking half damage from something that normally takes off half my health would make things significantly easier.

 

As for the armor thing, thinking I should've gone with the thief stone early on rather than the warrior stone. That way, my armor rating would've leveled better, and my two-handed wouldn't have outpaced everything else (at least as badly). Thinking also that maybe I should focus on just three skills. I'll level faster, sure, but my stats will be higher than normal for my level. Won't need archery anyway until I start doing dragons. Also, I found that half the thane quests require you to be level 20, and I have to complete them before I start the civil war OR season unending, to make sure I don't get locked out of items. In light of that, leveling a bit faster would be quite a convenience.

 

I also thought about wearing a heavy cuirass early on until I started getting perks that required a full set of light. That would give me a bit more armor early on, but it would cause me to level up an armor skill that I wouldn't be using in the long run.

 

So yeah, play orc and stick to warrior skills. Take thief stone to level light armor better. Maybe learn to dodge better. I used to do that when the game first came out, though that first character was a one-hander with a shield. Apparently shields make a world of difference. Its far easier to survive in light armor if you go a shield.

 

Either way, I need to take a break from this game for a while.

 

Regarding my build, I need to level most of the skills by the end (the dragonborn gallery has displays for maxing each of the crafting skills, plus 3 other skills from each group, its actually what inspired me to try and become as op as possible). I'll actually be rotating between skills as I max them out. I'll be starting with warrior skills, followed by stealth then mage. Decided that was the best order based on quests. And yes, for a relic hunter playthrough you need to pre-plan your quest order.

[xkkmEl]

I current play two-handed, alteration, light armor w/o helmet. I rely mostly on followers to distract bosses, while I slowly reduce their health with my two-handed axe keeping my stamina to finish them off with a couple of power strikes.

 

The trick with two-handed and light armor is to keep fights short. Never did manage to build up a block skill that is effective with a two-handed weapon.

 

But then, I am not using combat hardening mods in my load order.

 

And frankly, I think two-handed, alteration, cloth armor works even better than light armor. You end up attacking faster and with a better armor rating.

 

Also, if your two-handed skill increases too fast relative to your development goals, select a doom stone that doesn't reward that skill!.

[IsharaMeradin]

Never heard of having to pre-plan the quests when playing as a relic hunter. I suppose there could be an optimal order. But as the curator states, just keep doing whatever it is you are doing and bring interesting items back here from time to time. I don't think I could even consider playing the game if I had to stick with a specific order. Not without an overarching quest that would direct me to each one as it came time to do them.

[InDarkestNight]

I was thinking one of my problems was my choice of follower. Vladimir wears light armor, and has no shield. Worse yet, he's a spellsword, so he never blocks due to having a spell in hand. He wasn't any more durable than me, which I discovered every single time I tried to get all the attention on him.

 

Thinking I need a follower who actually wears heavy armor and has a shield. Vladimir is for tank characters who want some extra damage, which I am not. I've narrowed down my choices to Erik the Slayer, or one of the house carls (most likely Iona). They all wear heavy armor and use a shield, plus they all have a morality of 0 which I sorta need. I also thought about Kharjo, but he has a morality of 3. Same thing with the companions. So I guess its either Erik or Iona.

 

On a side note, I didn't like Vladimir as a character. He kept making comments that I found sexist. I was thinking of saccing him to Boethia in fact, though I wasn't high enough level to do that yet. I'll be glad to be rid of him, and have a better follower at that too. Maybe that will help me survive better, but I guess we'll see when I feel like re-starting for the fourth or fifth time now.