I haven't completed the main quest yet, despite playing with around half a dozen characters. The problem was, none of them seemed right as Dragonborn.

So I'd like to make a Nord warrior to run through the Main Quest. He'd probably also join the Companions early on. He would see himself as a true descendant (in spirit) of Ysgramor and his 500 Companions, and would be fiercely protective of Nordic traditions. He would want to hone his physical prowess as well as mastering the Voice, like the Nord heroes of old.

So, I'm wondering what gear and skills would make the most sense for a true son of Skyrim.

Two-handed, one-handed, or both? Nords get a boost to both skills (plus block). I think Ysgramor used a battleaxe himself, so that seems like it would fit.

Light armor or heavy? Nords get a boost to Light armor, but I think in previous games they also (or instead) got a boost in Heavy... and I want to wear armor that *looks* the part as well.

Other skills I should work on? Smithing is an obvious choice... just need to decide which path I'd take there (light or heavy side).

Any other RP considerations?

Thoughts welcome!

I imagine a true Nord Hero would use a 2h weapon and heavy armor up to Steel plate,

You could go with the scale armor for light or the wolf armor from the guy in Whiterun for heavy stuff. The very rare ancient nord armor set is also heavy armor.

Two-handed or dual wield an axe and a sword.

I would say 1-H axe, shield (there is one you might want), also 2-H axe (there is one you might want), heavy armor (there is some you might make), archery, smithing (unfortunately improving is bugged atm for the two above items), speech.

Choose your weapon depending on the situation.

Some of the ancient nord heroes (like the ones in... umm.. is it spoiling if i say sovngarde?) wear ancient nord. Some with steel plate.

Steel Plate Armor (originally to be called "nord plate armor") and a two-handed Nord Hero Greatsword, which you can only craft at the Skyforge.

Ancient Nord armor is usually hard to come by, but you can get a full set in Forelhorst, a ruin south of Riften. It's a bit of a trek to get there, and I'm not certain how tough the enemies are at a lower level (I only did the ruin at a medium-ish level -- then essentially lost the save and had to go back quite a bit -- and then a very high level), but you'll only have to kill one guy, and he's in the entry of the ruin, to get it.

And to be clear, I do NOT mean the guy OUTSIDE the ruin. Though he is wearing Stormcloak officer armor...

Draugr carry plenty of ancient Nord weaponry, but I think only one-handed axes and swords, bows, and two-handed swords. No battle axes.

Nothing but a leather skullcap and a giant two-handed battleaxe. Also avoid witches like the plague.

Nords get a bonus for 2H, so I'm guessing Beth thinks 2H is the way to go. If wasn't for the stupid perk system I'd suggest Light and Heavy: Heavy for helm and possibly main armour, and light for the rest. Sadly the current perk system pretty much prevents that. How Viking do you want it? They would wear the equivalent of Heavy helm and light all the rest, but 1H (usually axe) and shield.

There's plenty of draugr with battleaxes. No hammers though.

They do have two-handed axes. It's the maces and hammers they don't have.

This is the way i did my Nord on the hardest difficulty: Block and 1h Axe till i felt that i was safe enuff to just block with my weapon. Then 2 1 handed Axes till i felt that i was safe enuff to tank alot of damage from my Heavy Armor. Then 2h battle axe.

True Dovahkiin: http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/299/5/3/dovahkiin_by_dremoravalkynaz-d4e2l8q.png

Equipment: Iron Boots, Studded Armor, Iron Gauntlets, Iron Helmet, Banded Iron Shield, Steel Sword

I would wear or steel plate armour with a horned helm,
Or a wolf armour (special skyforge armor).
As weapons I should use a not to fancy war axe and a also not to fancy looking shield.

heavy armor with two handed weapon of your choice. I"d do the companion quest so you can unlock the nord hero armor. Also steel plate on the advanced armor perk looks pretty cool. I wouldn't use the upper heavy armor until dragon plate, dragon plate looks like something the dragon born would ware

Thanks for all the replies.

I agree with most that axes are probably the way to go. I did indeed contemplate going both 1-handed and 2-handed with axes. If I grab a shield, though, I'll feel the need to perk out block... and if I also dual-wield I'll want those perks too. Might be a bit too perk intensive?

Definitely some dragon armor eventually... but I'm still not 100% decided on heavy or light. Interestingly, Nords got *heavy* armor boosts in both Oblivion and Morrowind. I've never made a heavy armor character yet, so I'm a bit concerned about maneuverability, but my last light armor Nord 2-handed warrior felt a bit too vulnerable against certain enemies.

Loin Cloth +2, Axe of Glistening Pectorals, and a penalty to Wisdom and Intelligence of -10 each should do the trick

Pfft, everyone knows a true nord hero wears all black pointy evil armor from Hot Topic. It's the most popular so I'm right lol

A head full of nord nonsense and a heavy reluctance of wearing a coat in inclement weather.

Sword and axe are equally viable.

Heavy Armor's better than light, despite Nordic aptitude. Stupid armor system in TES V.

I think you would be OK. Just pick the most effective perks across 1-H, 2-H and Block. Unless you really want dragon armor for the look, you don't need to perk out the smithing tree so much. You can make do in fact with just steel and arcane if you ask me. The hunting bow is my favorite bow when improved, due to having such high DPS with the fast draw rate it has, and it uses the steel perk. Likewise certain steel swords are very good. For nord hero armor, to fully improve it you need the daedric perk, but whether that will be necessary to reach the armor cap depends on stuff like what armor perks you take. There is a low-weight kind of steel armor you can buy from Eorlund.

I think it is worth going to a perk calculator and taking a look at it all. You could use a shield, dual wield, or go two handed depending on what the situation was. Six skills (all the Warrior skills) is not that many to split perks between. You don't need all the armor perks by any means. I also don't think you need the left hand side of block if you want to remain vulnerable to keep the game fun. (Just buy elemental resist necklaces.) You don't need Hunter's Discipline or Ranger. Could be a fun build.

E.g. I think this would hit the block cap, the armor cap, and do loads of damage. You don't actually need to get the "remove weight" perk also but I put it in.
http://www.ign.com/builds/the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim?d=000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000010000100001111100040001111150111000050110000215111123

Good points Mujokan - thanks!

I think I'll dip very slightly into Archery, just to draw foes to me (esp. dragons). Same with Smithing perks (I may go up to Dragonbone armor on the right hand side, but we'll see...)

Awesome. Looking forward to playing my werewolf Dragonborn weaponmaster Nord hero!

He would likely use battleaxes, idealy of draugr or skyforge style(at legendary they get over 90(93 IIRC) damage i you have barbarian 5/5).
As for armor the in-game bonus is a little decieving. They have for a long time(Morrowind if not earlier) had a natural aptitude for heavy armor, and culturally both are acceptable. In heavy I believe he would use regular steel, steel plate, iron, wolf or ancient nord armor. In light he would most likrly use leather, hide, fur, studded or scale armor.

You could also go for dragonarmor, but personally I prefer not to use it.

Ancient Nord hero armor maybe, and Ancient Nord weaponry? XD