I'm thinking of playing Skyrim with different races, and I want to categorize them in a specific way based on their races.

See, the way that the game is set up, their are 10 different races (you know what they are) and 10 different styles of play:

1. Pure Warrior

2. Warrior/Mage

3. Warrior/Thief

4. Pure Mage

5. Mage/Warrior

6. Mage/Thief

7. Pure Thief

8. Thief/Warrior

9. Thief/Mage

10. Jack-of-all-Trades

I'm having trouble finding the best places to put some of the races, given their descriptions, and I wanted to get some input.

DISCLAIMER!!!: I know that Each race is capable of each style of play. Most Nords wouldn't use magic, yet Shalidor was one of the greatest mages in all of Tamriel. These suggestions should be based on the law of averages, so there is no reason to post "well, any race can be anything, really".

Here's where I am leaning right now, but I would like to get other insights.

1. Pure Warrior- Nord (Orc was a close second, but they seem more magically inclined than Nords)

2. Warrior/Mage- Orcs

3. Warrior/Thief- Redguard (Their lack of armor makes me think they are better rogues than knights, relying on fast movement and skill).

4. Pure Mage- High Elf (Breton is a really close second)

5. Mage/Warrior- Breton (But should it be High Elf? I don't know)

6. Mage Thief- Dark Elf

7. Pure Thief- Khajiit

8. Thief/Warrior- Wood Elf

9. Thief/Mage- Argonian

10. Jack-of-all-Trades- Imperial

The real thing that bugs me is knowing which makes better Pure Mages, High Elves or Bretons. If any of you think that some of these races belong in different categories, I would love to hear why.

Well, there's some cross-overs here between different styles of "pure warrior" and Mage builds. I'll give it my best shot, but coming up with ten definable niches is tricky.

To start off, I'd actually say both Nord's and Orcs sort of occupy the "pure" warrior builds, but in different ways. Nord's in the series tend to have a very anti-magical bent to them in gameplay with all of their passive resistances (Skyrim and I think Oblivion removed the shock resistance of Morrowind, and Skyrim doesn't have a Willpower attribute to help defend against magic), and their increased skill in two-handed and light armor gives them a barbarian angle. Hits hard and moves quickly, but can't let every attack connect. Orcs focus a bit more on being tank like and take greater punishment than the rest.

Between the Altmer and the Breton's, the latter (used to) have a lot better buffs in casting magic, but were quite susceptible to it as a trade off, whereas Breton's had good resistances to it and were more defensive. I'd say the rest is more or less alright, but both the Dunmer and Imperials sorta occupy the Jack of all Trades bit as far as gameplay goes.

I agree. Orcs and Nords are warriors, but Orcs have always had a little magic. Bretons and High Elves drive me crazy when thinking about which is more mage and which is more combat. I also agree that Dunmer make good JOATs, but they are definitely more mage/stealth than Imperials.