I decided it's time to stop modding and start playing... Which is really hard to do @_@ But I'm not completely sure what I want. I've got some good ideas, just not sure of the best way to execute them. I've looked at the stickied class thread, but I'm not much of an RPer and I'd rather take most of my own ideas. At first I started the game with an all-around stealthy character but then I realized that's what I ALWAYS do. I enjoy it, but I'd like to broaden my horizons and so that's why I'm considering a battlemage type. I always take my time with these games, never passing up a quest or dungeon or chest. Since I'm always intrigued by something, I figure I'm going to want a decent amount of health or a way of restoring it for any long trips I'd like to make. So either a decent restoration skill, or high endurance. I don't think I'm going to want to use destruction magic at all, instead I'll probably use some summoning and maybe illusion for some stealth and tricks. I'd like to not have to use much alchemy, since I never really ended up using it much in Oblivion and I figure a good Battlemage shouldn't need many support potions. As for weapons, I think Blunt would be cool to try out. But I'm just not completely sure how to put all of this together... Not sure how much magic I'll need, along with strength... I have no idea how useful some of these skills are. If anyone can direct me to a good guide on the various skills and setups, that would be lovely. I'm not looking to have a class set up for me, just some advice on how to not svck or make the game too easy/hard.

You might consider trying a variation on the stock Witch hunter class. As for a guide I don't know of any. You may consider looking at this to get ideas:

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/507083-character-database/

It sounds like you would enjoy a traditional RPG Cleric or Templar or the like, something like:

Medium Armor
Block
Blunt
Restoration
Mysticism

Enchant
Alchemy
Armorer
Athletics
Acrobatics

I put in athletics and acrobatics because you mentioned you aren't much of a roleplayer, and they give you a way to level steadily. This class, or similar builds, is very fun to play and is a great all around type of class, you won't be some godly person smiting all your foes, and you certainly wont be weak, you have great problem solving abilities, and mysticism also allows you to travel when you are encumbered with all your loot. You could join the temple, which i find most people seem to skip over, and its a great experience to travel all around the landscape and see places you wouldnt normally see. If you dont like the idea of Athletics or Acrobatics you could switch them out with conjuration and a second weapon skill. Conjuration helps early on with bound weapons, and later on when you can summon your own creatures to trap their souls for your enchanting. I'm playing a character similar to this right now, and I think it may be my favorite playthrough yet

Hope that helped a bit, and good luck! :goodjob:

Or you could do some type of compromise. I am playing a Ranger-Cleric type at the moment, and while this does give me stealth (appropriate for Rangers) it also allows for several schools of magic. So from memory it looks something like this:

Race: Breton (although plenty of other choices)

Majors:
Spears, blunt weapons.
Illusion.
Light armor.
Stealth (or sneak).

Minors:
Restoration, Alteration, Destruction.
Alchemy
Marksman

Specialisation was Magic, but maybe for a Ranger it could have been something else. But Magic emphasises the healing aspect of Clerics via Restoration. Similarly for the blunt weapon class for the Cleric ethos. I could have included a heavier armor type for the Cleric side, but felt a Ranger would go lighter for easier travelling.

I've found that with this number of schools of magic, their skill improvement lagged behind the two melee weapons. Marksmanship suffered because I was using offensive magic to provoke enemies. Later in the game it was rather easy to sneak up and wallop enemies. Another choice to be made could be the "Block" skill which a defensively-oriented Cleric might employ, in place of Destruction.

If you want to get away from the stealth altogether, maybe combine a Cleric with some class that is not stealth oriented. But Rangers are not really among the dagger-type stealth classes, which makes a change. I used a Glass halberd a lot.

Thanks guys, nice suggestions. I ended up going with something completely different a few days ago, and I like it so far:

Race: Orc

Attributes: Strength, Intelligence

Skills (Can't remember major or minor right now)
Axe
Spear
Restoration
Conjuration
Illusion
Mysticism
Alteration
Block
Armorer
Heavy Armor

I have BTB's balancing mod which allows for a couple more skills, which seemed pretty much perfect for me. I don't think I would change anything, seems pretty balanced to me. I use my Axe for close quarter battles which is already at like 50, then Spear for longer range although it's in the low 20s (I try to use it whenever I can) All my magic is for supporting purposes except for Conjuration which is offensive. Orc and armor skills are great for staying alive, and so I can take quite a beating before having to use Restoration or something. I've been clearly outmatched in the past by some really tough enemies, but overall I seem to taking things pretty well. Currently trying to do pilgrimages for Temple and quests for the Fighter's Guild and I'm really enjoying everything so far. Looking to join House Redoran soon... Oh, actually, right now I'm investigating this really tall tower next to Balmora Looks like it would be a cool house but the people don't seem to be friendly, or at least the gatekeeper didn't. I know I said I'm not much of an RPer, but I haven't been this into a game in a while. Really immerse.

My best rp with a character, the one I am using here, is Mollyia, she had the best RP because she was a clumsy Nord girl with prejudices to shed, I don't usually play this way and it was fun because my imaginary relationships were totally different then what I would expect with a mage or thief. BTW if you open up the class menus in the TESCS you can check off all the weird NPC classes to play. Those are a lot of fun. Be a gardener or apothecary!

I can't believe I'm already level 5 going on 6 O.o I also can't believe I have 39 armor points (including an ebony helm), 55/30/30/25 fire/frost/shock/magic resistance, an 80% chameleon amulet, and a bunch of awesome spells... It feels like yesterday I was helpless against anything other than kwama foragers and now cliff racers and the like are mere nuisances. I still get beaten up pretty badly if I encounter some higher level enemies but I still feel like I'm going faster than I should be. I think I'm going to look into some leveling mods... Anyone have any suggestions? Or should I not worry about it? IDK, it feels like I spend way too much time monitoring my skill progression. Just today I got to level 5 and I said to myself "I'm going to go back to some of those old caves before I progress any further" And then, maybe an hour or less later after finishing a single tomb it tells me I should rest again -.- I'd rather explore without having to worry about having to limit my progression. I want to get stronger, I'm just not sure about the rate.

Yes, that is the problem if you are actually using your major and minor skills a lot.

The Oblivion style of dealing with this issue would be to select skills as majors and minors that you don't actually use all that much. For instance, let's say that you want to use the axe as your primary weapon. To avoid leveling up after every tiny dungeon, the axe would need to be a misc. skill instead. Of course, this means a rough start, but if you are using bound weapons initially, you can overcome this problem quite quickly.

This is also the reason why I would never make Alchemy and Acrobatics to a major or minor skill for my own characters.


Galsiah's Character Development makes the skills level up slower in the high end. The start with a GCD character is IMHO still a bit too fast leveling, but it's better than the vanilla system for sure.