Warrior Guide.

[ModelV]

Right so Ive never been one for magic in this game and have always quickly given up any character using it. Stealth isnt exactly my strong suit either so I spent a lot of time playing a warrior and I have gained a lot of experience with it. So here is my guide to being a warrior:

 

 

 

Weapons: Whether you want to go Shield, dual wield, or two-handed style all options are viable. Bows arent exactly for a pure warrior and are better for stealth. Ive tried a battle archer but discovered youll very easily get your buttkicked early on. As for exactly which type of weapon its mostly a matter of taste obviously swords swing faster then axes which swing faster then maces. The specialized perks really dont net you much extra damage from what Ive seen. Also all weapon styles have a crowd control ability.

 

Duel wielding: When you have the minimum amount of braincells or just dont mind the most repetitive combat style then duel wielding is for you. You wont have any defense other then armor but youll have a tight skill set which makes the game a tad easier. In combat youll rely on power attacks for the high attack speed which makes light armor tempting. For crowd control you combine spamming a large amount of attacks with panning your camera around trying to hit as many people as you can.

 

Shields: Shields have the best defensive ability obviously and this what you want to use if you really wanna go for the tank style character build. Youll probably be putting more stuff into the block tree then one-handed. With perks you can block all kinds of attacks including magic and arrows. In combat you keep your shield up and bash whenever someone throws out a power attack then make a quick strike with your weapon. Dont use power attacks youll want to save your stamina for blocking and bashing. Remember blocking only works on attacks from the front to keep the enemies in your line of sight.You get the best crowd control with shields just by blocking and at later levels can knock whole groups on their feet.

 

Two-Handed: This is probably the most tricky weapon style. On one hand you want to keep yourself from just going crazy with swings since you basically do less damage then duel wielding. On the other hand you dont want to go turtle since blocked attack will still do a lot of damage. What you wanna do here is stay mobile and go for a more active defense with bashing and short blocks while striking at every opening you get. Since your attacks are already slow I recommend a greatsword. This style start out with pretty little in terms of crowd control but once you get sweep no one is better then you at dealing with groups of enemies. Also remember to only invest in Block perks on the right side of the tree along with quick reflexes since these are the only perks that effect two-handed blocking.

 

 

 

Armor: First off you can reach the cap with either light or heavy armor and without crazy enchanting, alchemy and smithing exploitation however the choice is a bit more then pure aesthetics.

 

Heavy Armor: Heavy Armor means you move slower and have more armor at first but these are abolished later. However reaching the armor cap takes less perks and you should only put 1 point into juggernaut for efficiency's sake and youll get less stagger and fall damage. At the very highest level youll get a 10% chance of reflecting melee damage at the attacker. This wont prevent the damage against you though so it purely increases damage and crowd control against melee fighters.

 

Light Armor: Starting out youll have less armor and will move faster but again these will go away at higher levels. To reach the cap youll need to use all the perks and have a shield or use a nice smithing potion. Lord stone can work too. Light Armor users will enjoy a 50% boost in stamina which allows you to retain better mobility and have higher damage then a Heavy armor user. Youll also actually have better defense with a 10% chance to avoid damage.

 

 

 

Blacksmithing: This skill really is a Warrior's bread and better. Whenever I play this skill is always the highest. It will mean youll do more damage and take less damage. The Perk tree is 2 branches depending on whether your using heavy or light armor. Left side is light armor and right is heavy. Dragon smithing is for both and is the top armor for light users(Daedric for heavy) and can make you a whole lotta money but money isnt that important in this game... The problem with this skill is getting the materials this wont be a problem at first since Dwarven, Iron, and steel are easy to come by but anything else will be extremely expensive and rarely stocked by vendings so you should head for the mines as soon as possible: Quickslver: Dawnstar. Moonstine: A mine right between Rorikstead and markarth. Malachite: A town south of Windhelm. Orichalcum: Cross the lake near Riverwood and find halfmoon mill there is a mine to the north west kinda far. Daedric Hearts and Ebony: I dont actually know... :unsure:

 

 

 

Alchemy: This is the skill youll use to heal yourself and later buff your damage up. Restoration shouldnt be used by warriors since you shouldnt invest in magicka and its too slow where as alchemy is instant and you dont have time to heal when up in someones face. Gather as many ingredients as possible etc etc its easy to catch on.

 

 

 

 

Race: Race matter the least in Skyrim and personally I believe that you can use any play style with any race and the skill bonuses really wont matter. However some Racial abilities do go well with the warrior playstyle.

 

Argonians: Surprisingly these guys make the best warriors and yes they have no warrior skill bonuses like I said doesnt matter. My Light Armored two-handed argonian warrior works just fine without them. Hist Skin pretty much makes one invincible for 60 seconds and is very useful for leveling armor skills. Disease resistance is very useful for a warrior since being up close to enemies exposes you to a lot of nasty diseases.

 

Orcs: Its a given that these would make good warriors and the skill bonuses are nice but really mean little. The reason they dont surpass or tie with Argonians is because the defensive part of their racial doesnt work on magic, it only cuts down damage, and they have no racial defense. However they do come close behind thanks to their double damage once a day.

 

Bretons: The Magic resistance racials against dragons and those artillery lobbing mages is very useful to a warrior.

 

Dunmer: Better against the really damaging fire mages and dragons then a breton and the fire aura is useful in the beginning but doesnt scale...

 

Nords: The Frost resistance is good for those stamina draining ice wraiths and mages and the fear can help within a pinch. Just remember feared enemies can bring back reinforcements and heal up.

 

Imperials: Calming doesnt bring reinforcements :)

 

 

 

 

Attributes: 50% split health and stamina until you find yourself with truly enough stamina then put everything in health from then on. Youll know when you have enough stamina. For me using light armor and the lady stone this happened at around level 30.

 

 

 

 

Guilds: Guilds should always be joined as quickly as possible. They get you a lot of good bonuses for whatever playstyle you choose most of the time. The following are guilds you should consider joining and contain minor spoilers:

 

The Companions: Pretty obvious for a warrior. Youll gain access to some special Skyforge and Nord Hero weapons along with the ability to smith Ancient Nordic armor. Oh and you get Lycanthropy which I recommend keeping since youll be immune to disease even if you choose to never actively use the ability and its not like Vampirism gives any bonuses to a warrior. Oh and one last thing: Youll get a unique two-handed axe and a word of power for fire breath.

 

The Dark Brotherhood: Surprisingly enough, this Guild isnt for sneaky characters. Not really. The guild is for killers and a warrior can just as easily play through it. This isnt like the thieves guild where you rush in and kill everything ignoring your orders. You can either A. Mix Luna Moths and ninroot together and be invisible or B. Be a Werewolf. You dont gain many real bonuses but you do get a Word of Power.

 

The Collage of Winterhold: The only reason to join would be to get the words of power for Ice Form and Slow time. Though I think you can get slow time without it.

[Gopher]

You forgot 1H :)

[chanchan05]

Actually lycantrophy works best with warrior types since you have larger health and stamina pools. And

if you get a certain artifact, you get unlimited transformations.

Edited January 26, 2012 by chanchan05

[Matth85]

Actually lycantrophy works best with warrior types since you have larger health and stamina pools. And

And it's about useless at higher levels.

[AaronEh]

If you keep a steady supply of vegetable soup in your pockets and buff yourself with them throughout the dungeons you can invest everything into health and forgo stamina.

 

Also, on the two handed side I find the slower speed of the warhammer allows me to do a normal attack then power attack cycle that is just slightly longer than the time it takes the enemy to recover from a stagger. This, effectively keeps them incapacitated. Plus the steel warhammer from the Millenia Weapon Retexture Project - WRP looks great :).

[ModelV]

You forgot 1H :)

 

No I didnt unless you mean only using a single 1 handed weapon which only an idiot would do. Troll much?

 

 

Actually lycantrophy works best with warrior types since you have larger health and stamina pools. And

if you get a certain artifact, you get unlimited transformations.

 

 

I said get Lycanthropy. Lycanthropy also doesnt do that unless transformed and yes I know about the ring.

 

 

If you keep a steady supply of vegetable soup in your pockets and buff yourself with them throughout the dungeons you can invest everything into health and forgo stamina.

 

And not be able to carry much else then eh?

 

Use whatever weapon type you like. Its a personal choice really.