Best leveling stratagy?

[dewcakes]

So, in oblivion my character had my least favorite skills for the majors and minors, I hate leving up stuff like alchemy and 2-handed but wanted a to get everything to 100. I picked the skills i dont like so they leved up faster, and i didn't have to spend as much time with them. I was wondering if I should do the same for skyrim except with race choices. So should I pick a race that has all the bonouses that I dislike using? or will that leave me weaker in my favorite skills like sneak and archery in the end? I realize the obvious disadvantage at first, but im talking about when I get all my skills to 100. Any advise or other opinions on the quickest way to maxing out your skills??

[natelovesyou]

Any race is just as capable as the next in terms of skill usage by the time it's Master-level. An Orsimer can do just as much damage as an Altmer with a fire spell once Destruction is level 100, for example. Which makes sense, both said characters are masters after all by that time...

 

As far as major and minor skills, there is no such thing, at all. You start with basically a clean slate and no matter who you choose to play as, the skills won't level differently (just like in the previous example - an Orsimer will level Destruction from level 50 to 51 just as fast as an Altmer would).

 

And the quickest way to maxing out your skills? Use them. :P

[QDX2000]

There will be three standing stones (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Standing_Stone) outside the first dungeon of the game. Only one can be active at any time, and they provide 20% faster levelups for magic, stealth and combat skills respectively. So the fastest way would be concentrating on one of the skillsets at a time while having the corresponding stone active. I think starting with your favorite kind of skillset and playing through the storyline in the process of leveling it, then making dungeons harder by using the other two sets would be the way to have fun while doing this.

As for races, I think if you're aiming for the maximum level, the special abilities should be much more important that the starting skill bonuses. After all, they will actually still matter at level 75. The go-to-race for powergamers is probably Orcs, possibly High Elves if you want to be a mage.

[dewcakes]

There will be three standing stones (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Standing_Stone) outside the first dungeon of the game. Only one can be active at any time, and they provide 20% faster levelups for magic, stealth and combat skills respectively. So the fastest way would be concentrating on one of the skillsets at a time while having the corresponding stone active. I think starting with your favorite kind of skillset and playing through the storyline in the process of leveling it, then making dungeons harder by using the other two sets would be the way to have fun while doing this.

As for races, I think if you're aiming for the maximum level, the special abilities should be much more important that the starting skill bonuses. After all, they will actually still matter at level 75. The go-to-race for powergamers is probably Orcs, possibly High Elves if you want to be a mage.

 

Very Clever, that was a great answer! I still havent decided if I want to get through the main story quickly or not, (will have to see how it draws me in) but the stones leveling stratagy is exactly what I am going to do. I just feel like a tool for not thinking of it myself :ohdear:

[natelovesyou]

I think pretty much everyone's going to use the standing stones...it's a pretty obvious feature, it's shown in all the demos within minutes...

[Fatalmasterpiece]

Am pretty disapointed in Bethesda for going this route with the Stones. Instead of havin classes, or star signs (which was actually a pretty cool lore/mechanic feature) they just have an object you press to choose what you level up in faster and what special feature you get. I can't imagine it being more dumbed down or flavorless than that.

[DrKvothe]

An extra 5 or 10 points isn't going to shave off a noticeable amount of time from leveling your least favorite things to 100. Compared to your spells, potions, and dragon shouts, race abilities are also negligible. Pick a race you can stand to look at for 200-300 hours of gameplay.

 

As far as leveling to max, imho melee chars have it the easiest. You can spam magic as you walk to level those skills up, but swinging swords in the air and walking around in armor don't give you skill ups.

 

For melee chars, don't specialize too early. You might see yourself being a light armored warrior that dual wields. Maybe just put 1 point in armsman while you get some utility perks. That way when you pick up a 2h weapon early game it might actually have a chance of being better than your 1h weapons, and you could use it for a while to get some skill ups. Same with light armor; don't put points in that tree to early and you can use a mix of heavy and light.

 

Once your perks become to specialized, there's going to be a pretty big incentive to use the right kind of weapon or the right kind of armor. I don't plan on really specializing until mid game, maybe mid 20s (although 5-6 points in smithing and 8 in enchanting push that up a bit).

 

Maybe use staves you find until their charges run out, then break them to learn their enchantments, rather than breaking them without using them. That'll up your destruction skills.

 

Honestly, i'm almost worried I'll level too many skills at the same time and end up in my mid 20s before reaching too much gameplay. i might miss out on some lower level fun.

[QDX2000]

Compared to your spells, potions, and dragon shouts, race abilities are also negligible.

*cough* double damage dealt, half damage take *cough*. It'll become even more powerful with better weapons and perks, and if you can have it active simultaneously with a dragon shout, double damage and time slowing together will be rather insane. The elemental resistances (scales since the enemies will do more damage late-game) and the powers boosting your regeneration by tenfold will also never cease to be useful. Also I don't like using potions, stacking so many that you can never die feels like cheating.

[dewcakes]

So, whats better, a completely maxed out character with perks in your favorite areas, or 3 characters on 3 saved games, one with all perks to warrior, one all perks to theif, one all perk to magic. If you really want to see each class in all its glory thats 3 different characters, but I really appreciate the one god like character after 300hrs of work. IDK what to do, this thought just complicated my gaming experience.

 

too, many, commas,