Is this a good strategy?

I am currently level 20, and I have 17 perks to add. I was going to save enough to put all into one or two skill trees, play the character for a bit, and see if that's the route I'd like to take. If I don't like it, I can simply reload and reassign the points elsewhere. Is this a viable strategy? Is it cheating? How many perks should I bank up before I try it? On one hand, having more perks to throw in is going to more accurately determine the path that I want. On the other hand, if I wait until too high of a level, too much of the game will be completed for me to really get any good use out of the skills anyway.

Lesson learned - you can level up normally without adding perks and the gameplay is still just fine. I'm currently playing on expert, and I'm not finding it any more difficult than playing with perks added. Unless, the game accounts for this along with the other skills and such that one has.

I often save perks to put into a "new" skill.. when I get to higher lvl's, that way it is more viable. You could look at it RP wise, would putting the perks into your melee skill make any sense now? Or would putting it in something that is not used as often make more sense at that point? For instance, I almost never put perks into Speech, but with the right ones, it can be very interesting.

Personally I would put points into my weakest skills to make them stronger... soon higher lvl enemies will be popping out of the stonework.. and you may find that you need a wee bit of a pick up in armor or sword skill or something.

Well in a RP sense, it would make more sense to add them as you earn them. I suppose that's how real skills develop. My proposal is not realistic at all, and may in fact be considered cheating by some. On my last play through, I wasted perks on things that I never needed and regretted it. I could have taken those points and put them in a more focused area instead of having them all over the place. I still enjoyed the game, so maybe at the end of the day it really doesn't matter. Like I said, one doesn't need to use any perks to play the game, I suppose it just makes it a bit tougher.

I think your idea is good though. Having higher skills in all areas will generate much stronger enemies. My guy is by no means invincible, but I don't struggle that much. I'm too scared to go legendary. Lol

I play on Expert or Adept most.. sometimes Master, Legendary only During the DiD competition, when it's required. I have mod's that make my characters life hard enough. ( Legendary is hard all on it's own...lol without some of the creatures, that Immersive creatures adds...or Deadly dragons)

I generally add perks as I go... so with this build; 2h, light, archery, smithing, ...Smithing is going to get my 1st perk... because with it I can create better armor & weapons than without or temper what a lvl 2 character is going to find. The 2nd perk will be in Archery... why? because it's used less ( for me) and tends to be weaker. 3rd will be Armor, because by the time I get that 3rd perk, my 2h is probably 30 to 45 and what is getting the lvl ups. I will save that 4th perk... probably for archery, maybe for armor ( training will get it to lvl).

So once my character is where I want them, I generally have a perk or 3 or 4 to spare, sometimes I will look at what has lvl'd up through use and put a point or 3 their... block is one I choose a lot also.

using perks is an art form in its self and the only way to learn is by trial & error

there are a thousand theory of how to use your perks depending if you are RP or making a particular build or competing in a DiD with skill tree restrictions.............and the thing is EVERY ONE is correct

you have to come to peace with your own game........if you are on a learning curve then anything you do or use is a tool & not a cheat..............if it becomes a habit later, continuous reloading all the time then you may have strayed past the learning curve and taught your self some bad tricks.

uses a pen & paper...............TIP plan 10 levels ahead..............so if you are level 20 start allocating the perks as if you where level 30 (yes you will be 10 perks short so just pretend you have them)...............this will help you plan your allocation of perks and stop you from wasting the in skill you don't or will never use...............plus it will give you a very clear image early on of how your charterer will be at cretin levels before you even get to them, at any point in the game this one knows exactly how developed she will be regardless of the level she is at.

Areial (hello big hug) has a good point...............identity with your strengths...............if you can pick master locks easy with out perks (save the perks).........do you need the 10% from the barter tree............or would a 50% protection from all poison be more us-full from the alchemy skill tree.

when allocating perks take into consideration witch Enchantments on armors, Standing Stones & Blessings you will be using.............a lot of them give you the affect and you will only be wasting perks

Sah... < hug's back>...

Perfect point... and why I don't always perk my 2h.. because I don't always need to, a good enough weapon and armor and my characters don't need most of the perks ( in 2h) and can generally live without them. Now IF for some reason I am not using smithing with a 2h, say a spellsword that uses enchanting instead, I may put a point or two in 2h... I will also probably be using Alteration ...so those perks are needed elsewhere.

It's a good strategy to keep some perks to spare, but 17? If I make a character that is not very focused like a hybrid I find it best to stay away from the fluff perks that are not critical to survival, that means the basic perks like Armsman or Barbarian only if I wield a weapon and then when the character reaches 30+ I got the essentials so that I can start to pick the nice to have perks.