I noticed most people are either Mages, Warriors, and some even Thiefs. My two roomates are also playing and ones a Theif and ones a Mage. Since you don't choose a predetermined class like Oblivion and instead let your playing style determine what you are, I stayed true to that without deciding before hand what I wanted to be.

I didn't have a preference for mage v warrior v thief. I chose an Altmer for my race, but for the looks, not perks.

As i played the game, I leveled up and gained perks according to my battle needs (some for entertainment ) rather than trying fit a certain class. I'm now lvl 35 and very proficient in sneaking, dual-weilding weapons, light-armor, archery, conjuration, and about average in destruction, restoration, and enchanting. I'm bad at pickpocketing, alchemy, illusion, alteration, etc. I'm ok at speech and smithing.

I think this style of gameplay is much more rewarding and enjoyable because it reveals your own personal tendencies and battle habbits and also makes for a more well rounded experience rather than trying to fit a mold.



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My current character is something of a hodgepodge: crafts weapons and armor, enchants and makes potions, engages in a fair bit of thieving and likes to sneak and snipe, uses a fair bit of magic to buff before combat, but wears heavy armor and uses a shield and enchanted mace in combat. Her tactics are really pretty evenly divided between crafting/thieving/magic/fighting. She has perks in Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Speech, Alchemy, Smithing, Enchantment, and one in Illusion. No combat perks, no other magic perks, and no sneaking. Her perks suit her for a position as an arms manufacturer for the underworld.

I think there is a preconception among class specialists that generalists ('adventurers') are somehow boring or less fun to play, but to be honest, I've never had a more interesting character or one with so much back-story. I'm glad that someone else's classes aren't interfering with my character's progression.

My character is sort of a mix of all three classes but mostly focused on being a mage. My highest skills are destruction, conjuration and illusion but one-handed, speech, marksman, alchemy and sneak are all higher than the other magic schools.

My wood elf has ffocused on archery, sneak, conjuration and illusion. I find it a very fun playstyle.

I am trying my best to stick with one main type. I am straight warrior no magic or stealth stuff. It is waaay to easy to be a mixed build in this game so i want to discipline myself and have a different toon for each major type instead of the cliche battle mage that you tend to see in Skyrim.

It's hard for me not to use stealth, but I am hoping to avoid it (and archery) when I try the pure mage path again.

First attempt wasn't so successful. :spotted owl:

That said, the stealth mage build is very viable. I used a lot of rune traps and of course conjured atronachs and raised zombies when I could. And I'd usually open with a stealth bow attack.