Oblivion Virgin

[todd10]

Okay, so first up, I am a complete tool when it comes to anything Elder Scrolls. I have never, ever, played/touched/ or even glimpsed any of the previous games.

I saw the amount of hype Skyrim was getting, and just figured I'd jump in the deep end and buy a copy. I have to say, it's very pretty. Other than that, I'm completely lost I'm afraid!

I've played a heap of Fallout 3 and NV so I can sort of grasp the whole Skills/Perks/Level up thing. But when you throw all this Magicka business, I'm screwed.

 

So, if anyone would be kind enough, I'd really like a bit of advice on what I should concentrate on starting out. I've decided to be a Redguard (I think that's what it's called???)

What sort of skills, and perks would be helpful for someone getting their toes wet for the first time ever?

 

Please be gentle...

[jordanLoL]

Well it depends on how you would like to play the game. Obviously you want to focus on combat so you can actually compete with mobs. Smithing and enchanting are also worth investing skills and perks into. They really help your gear become useful at higher levels. if you're not going to be a pure mage, restoration should really be the only magic you focus on. Maybe some alteration as well for defense spells.

 

Since you're new to The Elder Scrolls your first character most likely won't be perfect. However, building a character seems to be much more forgiving in Skyrim than it was in the past games. Just experiment a little and see what works for you. You'll play through the game a couple of times before you'll be able to say that your character is about perfect.

Edited November 30, 2011 by jordanLoL

[volnaiskra]

The game itself is probably more forgiving than you realise. You can afford to treat it quite organically, and just do what you like, in the manner you like, and choose the perks that you like, and you'll still be able to do most of the quests, dungeons, etc. It's a very long game, so you'll probably evolve from one playstyle to another several times before you get to the end anyway.

 

So, my advice is: don't worry too much about it, especially since your'e familiar with Fallout 3. If magic is confusing to you, just be more of a warrior and/or sneaking character. Try focusing on archery, as that's quite fun, and doesn't dump in you the deep end of battles you can't win as much as a melee approach. And combine that with potions that you can make at alchemy tables (it's no more complicated than crafting in FNV).

 

You'll get some 'spells' regardless in the form of dragon shouts anyway. They're fun and easy to use.

[OnlyOneWing]

I have yet to even bother with magic. I've never been interested in mage types in rpgs... There's nothing like bashing faces in, it just feels more personal that way... :pirate:

If you are a warrior, simply chose your weapon of choice and armor of choice, as you lvl up don't even bother improving your magic...just focus on health and stamina, personally I like to keep my health at about two times as much as my stamina.

In my opinion Heavy armor is the way to go as a warrior, since you are usually going to get pummeled a bit. Instead of magical attacks just use your dragon shouts strategically.

 

Think of The Elder Scrolls games as an open world fantasy game where you get to do whatever you want... Ultimately that seems to be the goal. You have freedom to explore and play any way you want to.

I am not a dungeons and dragons type, but when I play TES games I like to develop a character at the beginning and play the game in the roll of the character... That way I don't try to do everything in one play through. I Start off with a nobel warrior, then I move on to a thief and assassin and so on.

Just have fun with it and experiment!

Edited November 30, 2011 by OnlyOneWing

[buzzbomb]

My two gold coins worth? You chose a Redgauard, so I'm going to assume you want a straight forward, combat-oriented character. Go heavy armor and two-handed. That's a combat machine. No blocking necessary, you can soak up the hits. Magic? Psha. Focus your perks. Build the tank if that's what you envision. Yes, there are variants, two weapons, sword and shield, etc. Keep it simple, first time out. Whichever combination appeals to you.

 

Myself, I like the stealthy character. I'm focused on light armor, sneak, archery, and (because I like short, one-sided melee) two handed. I sneak in and throw some arrows for 3x damage. If that doesn't kill 'em, I let 'em come to me, rise out of the crouch and finish with the big sword chop to the head. The light armor is because you can sneak better in light than heavy armor. The big two handed weapon makes short work of most any animal or man.

 

I put my level-ups into health and stamina solely. I've got the health to survive a long battle, and the stamina to hit hard and carry lots of stuff. I keep different armor types for different uses. For instance, at the moment I've got a glass helmet that is my highest light armor value. But I've got an elven helmet of archery that is a lower armor value, which I wear more. When when I'm sneaking around with my bow (which is most of the time) I've got the elven helmet on. When needed, I hit the inventory screen and swap to the glass helmet for the extra armor. I've got the same mix for all armor, ring and necklace slots.

 

It's really easy to choose, if you don't think about it. Don't think about what kind of character or perks will make you the best. Rather just play, and put your perks and such where they will benefit the way you like to play. If you play a while and decide you'd rather try something different, just start a new character with a new focus. Warrior, mage, assassin, spell sword, you name it. You can be who you want and win. Therein is one of the true beauties of The Elder Scrolls.

[natelovesyou]

I'd be cautious on what playstyle you choose if you're totally new to this. Just because you chose Redguard doesn't mean you have to be ANYTHING. The way Skyrim was made, who you choose ultimately has no real effect on who you can be, so if you wanted to be a mage or an archer or a warrior, so be it. And you'll be the best damn mage or archer or warrior if you choose to be. And, you can abandon that road at any time, and start using other skills any time though. Be warned, however, if you choose to be a melee, up-close-and-personal type of character, the game can be a lot harder. Especially against creatures such as dragons and trolls. I chose to be an archer with magic mostly since it's most enjoyable, and I die far less often than when I was playing my melee dual-wielding character.

[todd10]

Well, just had my first level up. I didn't even realise it had happened until I hit Tab to change a few things!

I went with health the first time around, and chose speech as my first perk. Not sure if it's of any use, but i always found it worthwhile in F3, so we'll see how that goes.

I noticed that enchanting is pretty low, might look at that next...

I want to build up my archery quite a bit, I'm guessing you can enchant your bows and arrows?

 

Thanks for the replies to everyone :thumbsup:

Edited November 30, 2011 by todd10

[Tweetybird]

Bows yes. Just a small warning, some people have made the mistake of focusing on their "other" skill perks first and then finding out the hard way that they really should have put that point elsewhere.

[nitevision92]

Regardless of play style, I have found that investing in Sneak is always useful, once you have gotten yourself a measure of protection from armour and health. When going up against camps/dungeons with human enemies it's better to infiltrate and attack at night, since a number of them will be sleeping. With sneak you can go right up to them and kill them in their sleep. And if anything goes wrong, you still have enough to go toe-to-toe with most of them.

[SlizenDize]

I think this thread is an excellent example to the fact that there is no perfect way to go.

 

There are indeed some ways that are trickier and some that are outright impossible (Illusion, Alteration build works fine til you meet a dragon). But generally there are three major choices. Do you want to play melee oriented, stealth oriented or magic oriented character. Mixes are viable but then it's good with a general idea of what the skills and perks does. For example conjuration and sneak might not be the best combo as your summons will attack on sight ruining your element of surprise.

 

Also every orient have a specific craft suited to it's playstyle. Melee have smithing, Stealth have alchemy and Mages have Enchanting. Same rule here though, you pick what you like the most.

A heavy armor, sneak, illusion, one hand fighting character is most viable. Heavy armor give sufficient defence for retreats, illusion magic will remove any sound made by heavy armor and to provide insibility and the ability to calm enemies who have seen you. Combine that will silent spell casting and you got a deadly combo. Sneak to sneak of course and one handed to dish out more damage on those crits. Just an example of unorthodox build.