This is the reason for why I always end up being a partly sneaky character in elder scroll games. Dungeons naturally make me want to build a sneaky character. Its the way elder scroll dungeons are, dark, full of traps and to me it just feels wierd being a warrior charging into that dungeon, bravadoing into a room of enemies.

You don't need to charge as a warrior to spot traps, you just have not to rush. In fact a great thing to do as a warrior is when you see traps, make a load of noise and draw nearby enemies into them. My First character I barely used sneak at all until I needed it for leveling up. My second character is a lot more stealthy since as a mage any strong warrior type can run him through if he isn't careful.

Once your character becomes powerful and you have Daedric Armor, a Daedric Mace, and an enchanted gold ring, you can charge in and feel like http://i.imgur.com/8F1ja.jpg.

What could be better than that?

Try walking? That way you can still go slow and not have to crouch over.

True Nords barrel headlong into the dungeon, sprinting through traps and the like, thus expending their stamina and depleting health simultaneously. That way, when they manage to get the entire population of the dungeon wailing on them at once, they're only at half strength, and it's more of a fair fight.

Even warriors are careful.

I used to run in dungeons like you...Then i took an arrow to the knee

Oh my god! Sauron is so freaking awesome. One of my favorite bad guys <3

I had a lot of fun just running around in the dungeons with my mage. If anyone gave me some lip I'd just fireball them into oblivion, it's great you should give it a try.

Of course, now I am playing a stealthy character but I', planning to go through with a sword and board warrior next - no sneaking.

my fav type of character is sneaky so thats what i usually play i am currently playing a bosmer sneak thief archer.

I have done alot of sneaking with my warrior in heavy armor using a two handed weapon too Muffle enchantments work great

I do the same. Not particularly interested in a sneaky character but always go into sneak mode when there are potentially enemies around. I feel like it gives me more time to react, plus, in the absence of head shots I like the 2x damage with a bow.

yeah, I like being stealthy too, the perk that makes you not set off traps when you step on them is also handy at times..

Two things I'm having trouble with as a stealth char however.

1. Companions (as in followers, not the faction). I've reached the point where I just don't think I can do this anymore, shepherding this clanking maniac through a dungeon, setting off every trap as he goes by (once he got caught in the same trap 6 times in a row), and attracting every enemy nearby with his mediocre sneak skills. Heck even during the thieves guild quests a few chars you end up travelling with were fairly hopeless.

2. When all else fails. Basically when something has gone horribly wrong, maybe you sneezed while sneaking and stumbled into one of those rattling bone thingies, attracting a horde of angry draugr, or maybe it's one of the fights (like most dragon fights) where stealth isn't really possible, or maybe you fell off a cliff into a giant camp. In these cases, often your only remaining option is to sit back and take bets on how your corpse will land when it hits the ground. The probelm with most stealth chars is that if you take away the stealth, you've got almost nothing left.

Ooooooooooh..See I haven't thought about it that way before!


It gets some getting used to, but once you know you can take on an enemy in a fight without needing to do a stealth attack first, you'll come to use full charge more than full sneak.

I myself am a sneaky Nord Assassin-Conjurer. For companions, I generally tell them to wait in a nearby area where they won't be detected while I go about the business of killing the enemies in a room, then picking him or her up again to carry the loot.

As for when the [censored] hits the fan and you lose the stealth, I spam Shadow Warrior to get off sneak attacks in the middle of a full-on melee fight, and I conjure 2 Dremora Lords or Storm Atronachs to even the odds.