so most bow users just talk about using stealth n magic to go along with their archer. anybody else have marksman for main weapon but then also use melee quite a bit too?

want to create a character thats strong and uses mostly the bow with light armor, but also using shield n 1h for when they close instead of using magic. or maybe even go with heavy armor wearing guy with high str and agility to go along with marksman.

any tips or suggestions?

To me this screams Ranger (in the Aragorn sense). Handy with a bow? Obviously, living in the wild you'd have to hunt. Skilled with a blade? Well, it's not exactly safe in Cyrodiil, so having a sword to back you up is always good.

I say go for it!

My suggestion to you would be create your character as you see him/her, then let them tell you what they want to do, what they like or dislike. This, I feel, is the most natural way of playing,

Just noticed your join date. Welcome to the forums! It is my honour to give you this http://www.tesnexus.com/imageshare/images/853179-1224745281.jpg. Cherish it well!

lol thank you, yeah just joined to post this thread. about to pick up oblivion again in anticipation of skyrim and ive done the stealthy archer assassin before, and the sword wielding magic flinging brute, and also done straight up mage. dont want to use any magic this time around except for maybe alteration or something, not really sure.

i love using the bow but thought itd be fun to mix it in with heavy armored brute who wont piss his pants trying to make sure he kills his target before it reaches him. and i wasnt a big fan of the whole kiting thing so figured this might work out pretty well, just wondering if anybody else has tried something like this and if so did you stil lhave one or two magic skills? ill be using alchemy too for poisons n potions so dont need resto

and im not interested one bit in 'efficient' leveling. i pick major and minor skills i actually use. i want to play a game, not a spreadsheet

There's nothing stopping you from creating any character you can dream up. That's the beauty of The Elder Scrolls.

A sword wielding archer in light armour is brutal. I would go light armour for the mobility, but heavy armour would just make you tank more. It's up to your playstyle really. If you'd rather rain arrows before finishing off with some intense close combat, then I'd suggest light armour. If you'd rather fire a few arrows then close the gap and bash heads, I'd suggest heavy armour.

My main character Calacirya is a lot like what you described - as a Wood Elf, she's a natural Marksman, and kept honing her archery skills over the course of the game. She's also good with a longsword, for those times when sneaking and shooting from far away just take too much time and patience.

Her major skills include Block, Light Armor, Marksman and Blade, and she prefers a one-handed longsword + shield-combo for melee combat. She's built a bit like a tank, but with high Sneak and Agility. She has loads of Strength and Endurance, so melee combat is no problem for her.

A bow/melee-combo works wonderfully, imo, and I definitely say go for it! Maybe not the most efficient way to level, but to hell with that. You don't always have to be efficient. And I see you didn't really care for that either, good for you!

BTW, welcome to the forums!

yeah think this time around id rather just fire 2-3 arrows before bashin in their face if theyre not dropped by then. they come rushing at me thinkin an archer is an easy target then they get up close and realize im a brickwall who just pulled out a shield and big ol sword and is rushing in to meet their charge, then they go 'oh [censored] maybe this was a bad move'.


any suggestions on what if any magic schools i should get? no destruction or restoration. alteration for those times i gotta unlock something being that i dont use security? what else alteration good for, been so long since i played i forget most things.

was thinkin conjuration for the summons acting as extra shields and/or bait while i shoot em from far away or walk up behind em while theyre distracted and smash in their skulls. plus the good weapons n armor can conjure up.

mysticism, illusion? im not using sneak at all on this guy either so not worried about chameleon spells but if theres anything else illusion is good for....

guess summary for my character that im looking for is....

Big strong Nord warrior with a fierce thirst for combat who is willing to fire from range and let the enemy use the fatigue running to him while he prepares to make his stand against any foe foolish enough to charge him instead of running away from the arrows. A bit sinister though as well, willing to conjure up the undead and a high skill in alchemy to poison n weaken his foes to give him the edge.

Take a look at the pre made assassin class and drop security for either block or armorer and you will have this.
Blade
Acrobatics
Lightarmor
Marksmen
sneak
Alchemy
Block/Armorer

If useing a Bosmer you could have warrior as your birthsign to start out with good strength and enduance.
For a Redguard thief might be a better choice for a higher starting agility and speed.

Of course all this is just one idea for a character like you are describing.
There are alot of other ways also.
However you go enjoy your new character.

Command spells, frenzy, calm etc. Illusion is a beast of a school. It's my Healer's main damage dealing skill and it works a charm. AoE frenzy at a group of enemies is hilariously efficient. As is commanding someone to fight for you, until there's just one wounded enemy left, just begging for an arrow through their chest.

That said, I don't know if that kind of thing would suit your Nord.

so far what im think of skills is

Blade, Heavy Armor, Block, Armorer, Marksman, Conjuration and Alchemy. get 7 major skills right? 7 minors as well?

as for two attributes: strength and agility.....str for melee and carrying ability, and agility for marksman plus helps keep balance during melee which is always good. with heavy armor and armorer and block my endurance should get up pretty well.

birthsign will probably go with thief for the luck being that i will be putting one into luck each time i lvl as well. forget all what else gotta pick other than race but think im goin nord or imperial as ive pretty much always gone dunmer or bosmer with all my other guys.

yeah dont think thatll fit my guy being he'd rather be the one who gets the fun of killin em all, instead of them killin each other

Welcome to the forums. My archer won't touch melee in favor of magic as a backup but, honestly, I think most archer players use blades as a backup. It works just fine. Start with a poisoned stealth shot, then break out your blade when baddies get close. Simple and works fine. Because you are splitting your killing between bow and blade, the rather slow leveling marksman skill will tend to level even slower - so try to kill with a bow as much as you can. A very fun way to play!

for my birthsign im split between thief and atronach. stunted magic shouldnt bother me much being ill only be using it for conjuration and ill have alchemy for pots, plus the absorption should be enough anyways for the most part.

thief is nice though for extra agility n speed that i probably wont be leveling much, and extra luck which ill be getting up every level anyways


opinions?

The Atronach is an awesome birthsign for a character who doesn't need the magicka regen, especially for a melee character. With the 50% absorption, you get a sizeable advantage against mages/spellcasters right at the beginning of the game, and it gives you a boost if you want to go for 100% spell absorption over the course of the game.

The Thief is also a good pick, because of how slowly Luck is gained. If you want to max out Luck, the Thief is a must. If you don't care to max it out, you just want it high-ish, I'd go with the Atronach. The Agility attribute gain might not be worth it, because with Marksman as a major you should be able to level Agility well.

was also thinkin of how slowly marksman levels and its only agility skill ill have and even use but yeah im just wanting luck high-ish, not too worried about it being maxed. so probably will go with the atronach.

think i got my character now

Nord
Strength Agility

Class: Brutal Drunk

Marksman
Heavy Armor
Blade
Block
Armorer
Conjuration
Alchemy

Atronach

Yeah, Marksman will level slow, causing Agility to level slowly, but it'll still level faster than without an Agility-related major skill. :shrug: It's up to personal preference, in the end, but I'd go with Atronach. Imho, it's the best class for non-mages.

For that kind of thing you should get the pre-made class, Assassin like my character Veronica Vultori she can use heavy armor too and use a sword.

Khrak, I noticed that you have picked three Endurance based Skills. You may want to try swapping Armorer or Block for Hand to Hand or using a Skill that is Willpower/Personality based. Armorer is better as a minor for a warrior because it does level quickly and can be used to build a higher Endurance at lower levels which causes you to have more health early on.

Your character looks good but I too would recommend switching one of the endurance skills. My advice would be change armorer to restoration. I'm playing a character like this at the moment and he is a lot of fun.

Heavy Armor, Block, Armorer.... you will level too fast.

Nothing wrong with that.
Besides OP did say he wants his used skills to be major skills and doesn't care about how he levels.

yeah i realized that as well as you make a good point about possibly leveling too fast, but as stated im not that worried about level efficiency. i want my major skills to be ones ill be using. only two i could possibly replace armorer with are either acrobatics or athletics. restoration is out of question for rp purposes. my guy doesnt dab into any magic, but since he has an angry and somewhat dark side, he started dippin into the dark arts of conjuration and thats it. his healing comes thru his practice as an alchemist, also the source of his poisons.

does make sense that 3 endurance skills are a bit too much though, and since i finally got game earlier but only took him to end of sewers for the save, i can now edit his skills and replace armorer with acrobatics or athletics. any suggestions on which?

Sounds like your more warrior than stealth.
For this I think Athletics is much better than Acrobatics

With Athletics you regenerate fatigue fast(usefull when swinging melee weapons)and you contribute to your overall speed.
You will need speed when faceing Conjurer's.

I prefer Acrobatics, but only because I don't fast travel. My Athletics rockets up and up, with no fast travel.

The skill perks for Acrobatics work better for the type of character you seem to be aiming for.