Build Question

[bishop212]

I just got Skyrim a few days ago and starting to build my character. I am not sure how to spread my perks.

 

Here is what I want for my experience. I want a challanging game that is also fun to play. I don't plan on finishing this game quickly and I am not sure if I will play it again second time around.

 

I am sort of playing a battle mage. I have decided that I want to carry two weapons or one weapon and magic in one hand. I like the concept of smithing.

 

I am still deciding if I should go with light armor or just robes.

Go with smithing and enchantment or alteration. I do want to have access to cool weapons which are in heavy armor (I think).

 

I will be using destruction and restoration but not sure about illusion or conjuration excpet for bound weapons.

 

I don't want to be weak or spread out too thin in the end game.

 

For those of you that have a lot of experince what are the best options and strategies?

thank you.

[Vexa]

In you case, I would say go with smithing and enchanting. I don't see the need in robes or light armor, to be honest. Just disenchant the robes with enchantments and put the enchantments you got on heavy armor if you're going for the Battle-Mage type of thing. Oh and don't worry, there are PLENTY of quests in Skyrim, you won't be finishing the game anytime soon. Plus, there are plenty of mods to keep you satisfied even if you've finished the game.

[PsxMeUP]

Focus on one-handed weapons. Two-handed sucks: too slow and not enough two-handed reward loots. Dual-wield sucks too cause gameplay isn't designed for such complex fighting, so just focus on one-handed and destruction. Focus also on enchanting, smithing and alchemy. Once you get enchanting and smithing maxed you won't care about heavy or light armor cause any armor will do the job. I never even looked at what kind of skill perks either has and I managed to finish the game multiple times. Besides destruction I've never invested time raising any other magical schools - not even restoration. Restoration sucks. You can make some really cool potions if your enchanting (not a typo) is high enough. The trick is to do as follows:

 

1) Enchant items with fortify alchemy

2) Make potions that fortify enchanting

3) Enchant better items with fortify alchemy

4) Make better potions with fortify enchanting

5) Enchant even better items with fortify alchemy

6) Wear, craft, drink, enchant, rinse and repeat...

 

In the end you can make super potions that instantly restore your health, make you invisible for like 300 seconds, poison weapons that do 300 damage, super improve weapons with fortify smithing potions, all this without pussying around with spells. I have a sword that does 500+ damage and absorbs 30 health and stamina and captures souls, and has like 200 charges. All spells suck in Skyrim, imo. Only a few destruction spells are worth using, like Chain Lightning.

 

Also, don't only play once. The game was designed to be played at least twice-over because of the evil and good alignments. It's dumb to be a carebear for half the game, doing all the noble missions, helping old grannies, saving cats from trees, then joining the thieve's and assassin's guilds and murdering people. Makes no sense. Having a strictly evil and another good character is very gratifying. Better immersion than doing both at the same time.

 

Also, I wouldn't advise doing the alchemy/enchanting exploit in the beginning. First, it will be make the game really boring for days cause there is a lot of grinding, and you should be having fun. Second, it will make you invincible, which means you won't fully experience thrills and stuff. Enjoy the game as it should be on your first playthough, going right into the main quest with a very noble character. Then start over and experiment with what I mentioned above.

Edited March 10, 2012 by PsxMeUP

[bishop212]

Thank you for your inputs.

 

I have settled down to one handed weapon with distruction on the other. I am also using light armor at the moment and getting into smithing, alcomy and enchanting. I am at level 12 and I am finding some of the fights very easy. I do have Enhanced High Level Gameplay mod, Deadly Dragons, and looking to get more hardcore mods.

 

So, two questions.

 

1. Does the game get harder as I level up?

 

 

In the end you can make super potions that instantly restore your health, make you invisible for like 300 seconds, poison weapons that do 300 damage, super improve weapons with fortify smithing potions, all this without pussying around with spells. I have a sword that does 500+ damage and absorbs 30 health and stamina and captures souls, and has like 200 charges. All spells suck in Skyrim, imo. Only a few destruction spells are worth using, like Chain Lightning.

 

 

2. Do you find that with a sword that does 500+ damage to make the game super easy?

[shadowfx78]

to answer your questions bishop212.

 

1. yes it gets harder as you level up as most enemies level up with you providing a better challenge.

2. he is probably at a decent level to have that sword. Mid 30's to 40's is a good level for a sword with that much damage.

[PsxMeUP]

I'm at level 59 actually, and the sword on its own isn't 500+, it's 245. It's when you combine my one-handed skill level and include some enchanted items that it goes over 500 (569 to be exact). Ya, combat is a bit easy but I've finished the game a few times, so that's not my focus. At this point I'm simply experimenting with mods and trying new ways of playing. That's why I say not to use the exploit at first. Focusing on Alchemy and Smithing will also quickly increase your levels and that can unbalance the game. At the beginning the game is easy, then in the middle (15-30) you can get stuck in a hard zone where mudcrabs can kill you if you didn't invest enough skill points on combat perks. Then onward the game can get too easy no matter what you do. But running around with a sword that can kill a dragon with 2 swings does have advantages. My game now revolves around doing as many bad things as I can without getting caught, i.e. keeping my bounty ratio as low as possible. Needless to say, I reload more than I ever did playing hardcore and fair. It all depends what you want out of the game. Edited March 12, 2012 by PsxMeUP

[shadowfx78]

off topic but PsxMeUP how did you get bound arrows??? Im working on a ranger/fighter character based on Aragorn from LOTR right now.

[PsxMeUP]

off topic but PsxMeUP how did you get bound arrows??? Im working on a ranger/fighter character based on Aragorn from LOTR right now.

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=3193

 

You need grand soul gems for the arrows but I think they are the strongest types of arrows around (I didn't craft dragon arrows yet even though I can - got too many mods). They are also easier to find on the ground than regular arrows cause they glow. You can craft bound weapons but for that you need the bound weapon spell tomes. I always carry a bound sword on me cause it doesn't weigh anything, and the bound bow looks bad ass.

Edited March 12, 2012 by PsxMeUP

[Brandy1123]

I've completed the game a few times. To me, once you pass level 35 there is no excitement left. I play master level exclusively and don't use any cheat mods, break mods or exploits. I don't get weapons that have more then 150 plus/minus tops. Even though the critters do level, your skills, perks and abilities far surpass what they can do to you. Adding more HP to a monster does not make the monster tougher at higher levels. It only makes the fight last somewhat longer. For a creature to level with you, its skill set needs to expand and compound as yours does, not just give it "X" ammout of health and damage base based on a level multiplier. A 20th level sorcerer does the same miniscule ammount of damage as a 60th level sorcerer when you have the magic resistance boots you acquired at 10th level.