I know this has been brought up before, but not in a long while...

So if you are 100% melee combat and you're against a flying dragon who doesnt feel like coming down (asuming its random-ish) what the hell are you going to do??

Hit it with something from range so it comes down.

head for higher ground and try and jump on it. Thats what my nords gonna do, cause she so wants to ride a dragon.

Run? Run would be a good start. Find a hiding spot perhaps? If it can't get to you from the air.... it will very likely land.

That is kind of why dragons are so feared in the first place. Flight is one heck of an advantage. If dragons were simply ground based, then any army of Nords could take them out.

From what I've seen, they just randomly land sometime.
Plus I think I read that they like to walk through towns instead of fly.

My point is, you roleplay a warrior with a shield and an axe, you have no experience at using a bow, will you suddenly start shooting him with a bow (you might not have a bow) and just ignore the fact you're no archer at all?

That depends very much on the individual playing. If they are roleplaying strictly as a warrior without any experience with ranged combat then they may have a little trouble, but as others have said the next best thing would be to run for cover and force the dragon down. They may also land randomly so maybe with a bit of luck you can defeat the dragon like that.

Personally I'll be playing a Nord "asgardian warrior" type of character but will most likely invest in a little bit of ranged capabilities of some sort, basically either magic or bows, probably a little of both. My main focus will of course be on melee, and I'll likely try to stick to a certain weapon so I'm really skilled with it.

Well, there are Advantages and Disadvantages when you specialize in something.

If you role-play a character that has zero way to hit a dragon from anywhere except within 2 feet of it, then you better run.

Basically, you just created an enormous weakness for your character. Now you should find it interesting to live with it.

I've been wondering about this also. I'm thinking the first dragon you encounter can be brought down with arrows depending on your playstyle. Once you get dragon shouts I don't think it should be too much of problem.

Roleplaying it doesn't sound too far fetched that Warrior would use a Bow if he had to.

Even if you are a warrior you should have a bow , for stealth kills, for bigger enemy's to shoot them a bit until they get close to you and ofc so you can shoot at dragons i mean just cuz ur a warrior doesn't mean you shouldn't use anything besides melee weapon i mean the game will become boring if you don't try other stuff.

throw rocks, i personally found oblivion much more exciting when I tried sneaking up on enemies with daggers.. as opposed to using a bow for every situation

or climb to a higher spot and jump him? Why does no one think about this idea?

Magical dragon shouts anyone?

Because you will likely just jump through the model of the dragon, hit the ground and die. I doubt you can walk on the dragons like Kratos walks all over the Titans.

And this is why we have dragon shouts

Edit: Damn ninja'd :ph34r:

Not limit yourself to such a...not good...idea?

Seriously, your character lives in a land where there are aerial combatants, dangerous ones. Why in the heck would you NOT train in a ranged skill as a warrior? *boggles*

That's why there are Dragon Shouts

this^ thread/

Take your shirt off and shout at it. Literally.

Dragonshouts are there.

If you don't want to do that, you might want to try the tactic called hit and run, or slash when it swoops-by until it comes down so you can properly face it. Try hitting a dragon that is flying sideways with an arrow, that's quite hard.

I might be out of hand here, but I'm almost 100% certain that Warriors can use bows and arrows... Infact, Lurts - one of the most warriorish warriors in all of fiction even uses a bow and arrow.

Just get one that suits your character. Not some flashy elven long bow, just some battle bow - short bow with a heavy arrow.

+

You can jump and swing when the dragon swoops down at you.

WAIT! What happens when a dragon comes down from the sky and attacks a purely ranged character at melee range? They can't run forever...

balance is key, with emphasis on a strong skill base of course.