These are NOT "roleplaying" guides, these are simply "power-levelling guides." If you want to ignore any perks/skills ect, by all means do it. Or follow my soon coming "Roleplaying Builds Guide." This guide will feature some roleplaying aspects of these builds including what factions/guilds you should choose and other useful tips. For now, we're just dealing with how to effectively 'power-level' your character.

The character build guides that I will make include:

~Mage Classes~
*Battlemage/Spell-Sword
*Mage

~Assassin Classes~
*Pure Assassin
*Nightblade/Illusion Assassin

~Warrior Classes~
*Sword & Shield

~Future Role-playing Builds~
*Thief
*Hunter/Survivalist
*Alchemist
*Blacksmith/Miner
*Chef/Cook


What I include in build guides (exact structure):

1) Combat- What to do in combat.

2) Health, Mana & Stamina- How to restore & level.

3) Aid In Combat- How to get assistance in combat situations.

4) Protection, Enchanting & Smithing buffs- How to protect yourself efficiently as well as choosing perks, standing stones, smithing, alchemy & enchanting to make weapons & armor
more effective & powerful.

Mandatory Perks for ALL BUILDS!!

*Enchanting-
?Enchanter 5/5
?Corpus Enchanter
?Extra Effect

*Smithing-
?All "Heavy Armor" perks (right side of tree)

*Alchemy-
?Alchemist 5/5
?Physician
?Benefactor


#NOTE#
? You do NOT "need" perks for: Heavy Armor/Shields unless you want to use or get a specific skill. Just enchant & smith the armor so it has AWESOME durability.

?I did not include races as they only make a significant difference to the beginning of the game.

Link to original article source:

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/articles/227379/title/character-introduction-summary

~Battlemage Build~

#Combat:
?Use a one-handed weapon (Sword/Axe/Mace) and a DEFENSIVE spell in the other for mid-range combat. (Use frost against warriors & shock/lightning against mages.) This is because the weapon deals enough "offensive" damage, while the "defensive" spell weakens enemies, giving you time to attack. When the enemy is affected by the spell you just cast, run up and smash them up with your weapon. When you're out of stamina, just switch back to your magic. Repeat this until your foe is defeated. If you do have plenty of stamina, just do a power attack if they're too close and then use a spell while they're stunned.

#Health, Stamina & Mana:
?If you want to heal yourself, equip a healing spell in one hand and use it to restore your health & stamina as well as increasing mana regen If you have the correct perks (respite & recovery in the Restoration tree.) For this build, you need plenty of health, mana & stamina to be an effective Battlemage. Try to spread all of these evenly throughout your levelling up process. (Unless you either want to use magic or melee more than the other. Then you can put more points into Health/Stamina or Magicka than the other.)

#Aid In Combat:
?If you want extra help in combat, you can either summon an Atronach (Flame/Frost/Storm) or a Daedra Lord to distract & help deal damage to your foes while you take them out with your mace, sword or axe. If you have the master spell (Summon *Atronach* Thrall,) you can have a permanent companion to aid you in further combat.
##TAKE NOTE## If your Thrall dies, you must cast the spell again to re-summon it.

#Protection, Enchantment & Smithing buffs:
(You MUST get the perks listed for these skills before doing the following:)
*Conjuration-
?Mystic Binding
?Dual Cast

*Destruction
?Augmented Frost/Shock/Flame
?Dual Cast
?Impact

*Restoration
?Respite
?Regeneration
?Recovery
?Avoid Death

*One-handed-
? Armsman 5/5
?Fighting Stance
?Hack 'n' Slash (Axe) Bladesman (Sword) or Bone-Breaker (Mace)
?Savage Strike
?Critical Charge
?Paralyzing Strike
#NOTE# You can also get "Heavy Armor" perks if you want. If you can't get all of these perks, it does not matter, they're only guide-lines.



Mandatory Perks:
*Enchanting-
?Enchanter 5/5
?Corpus Enchanter
?Extra Effect

*Smithing-
?All "Heavy Armor" perks (right side of tree)
?Arcane Enchanter

*Alchemy-
?Alchemist 5/5
?Physician
?Benefactor

For protection, it is highly recommended to wear "Heavy Armor" in this build as it provides much better protection than "Light Armor." Magic is as equally effective with heavy armor than it is with light. It does NOT matter which armor type you choose as long as you have powerful enchantments on them such as: Fortify Magicka, Fortify Magicka Regen, Fortify Heavy/Light Armor or Fortify *whatever spell.* For the best possible protection & magic fortification is to get high Smithing & Enchanting. You can always use Alchemy if you want to, but Smithing & Enchanting are the most important to make this build effective. You MUST get the perk (EXTRA EFFECT!) You can place TWO of the same or different enchantment on ONE ITEM! If it's weapons, armor or jewellery it doesn't matter!

With the smithing perks, you should go up the "Heavy Armor Tree" as you can craft & improve all heavy armor types such as: Dwarven, Ebony, Daedric or Dragon Plate Armor. For further weapon/armor improvement, you can enchant rings, gauntlets & necklaces with "Fortify Smithing." You can also create a potion of "Fortify Smithing" along with the enchantment for insane improvements!

Now for enchanting your now improved, smithed gear.
You must gather at least 4 filled "Grand Soul Gems." Get a ring, necklace, helmet & a main heavy armor piece of your choice. After you've gathered all of equipment & supplies, make a "Fortify Enchanting" potion. Drink it and
start enchanting your gear with one or two fortifications of whatever school/s of magic you want to use the most. (E.g: If you mostly want to use Destruction magic, enchant your armor, helmet, necklace & ring with "Fortify Destruction" and with the perk "Extra Effect," you can add another, preferably, "magic-related" boost or defence such as "Fortify Magicka" or "Resist Magicka.")

The ending result should be those items enchanted with: "Fortify *whatever school/s of magic you choose* & Fortify Magicka" for example. You can make different pieces of armor for different schools of magic you want to use. Or you could even enchant the same equipment with *Fortify a different magic type* so you can cast two magicks with 0% mana cost! If you do use more of a variety of magic, but you like, say, Destruction the best, you could always do the "Fortify Magicka" enchantment to add a magicka boost to all of your "Destruction Equipment" making every other magic cost a lot less mana. However, your "main, chosen school/s" will be the only school/s with 0% mana cost while others will still cost some. This is why you should get the "Atronach Stone." It gives you 50+ points into your already now-large mana pool giving your other spells an even LOWER cost!

You can now enjoy being a powerful tank that sprays his foes with flames, shock or frost until they're weakened and then bashes the last breaths out of their burnt, frozen or shocked bodies!

~Mage Build~

#Combat:
?Use Destruction spells and/or staves to either freeze, burn or shock your enemies. You can either dual-cast to deal more damage, or you could have a healing spell in the one hand whilst having a defensive spell/staff in the other. This is a good idea if you don't have many health potions. (Even though you should really stock up on those. They can be a huge life-saver for several occasions!)

#Health, Stamina & Magicka:
?When your health gets low in combat, you can either use health potions and/or healing spells. As a mage with light equipment, you do not need much stamina. You only have a few things and you don't do physical combat at all. It'll be better if you put most/all of your points into health & magicka.

#Aid In Combat:
?As a Mage, you're obviously going to be a a more "fragile" archetype, especially at the beginning.) You should either get a "melee-type" follower or even a conjured familiar, atronach or even a reanimated corpse to distract enemies, saving you precious health while dealing extra damage if you attack along-side them.

#Protection, & Enchantments:
? As a mage wearing robes, which provides 0% armor-rating, Alteration can be a life-saving school to dabble or even master in! The "Oak, Stone, Iron & Ebony Flesh" spells are REALLY effective to protect yourself in combat.
#NOTE# Alteration spells can almost x2 the armor rating if you dual-cast.

You should then get into Enchanting to be able to recharge your staves, enchant your gloves, circles, boots, rings & necklaces with fortify magic enchantments so you can deal more damage with your spells and you'll be able to cast them for longer periods of time (which is really handy for ward spells) whilst possibly healing yourself and/or using an alteration spell.

#NOTE# Alchemy will also come in handy to make even more powerful enchantments to your items & equipment.

A couple of really useful standing stones are the Atronach (*+50 Magicka whilst absorbing 50% of spells*) and the Apprentice stone (*x2 mana regeneration rate)

Recommended Perks:
*Destruction-
?Dual-Casting
?Augmented (*element of choice*)
?IMPACT!
?Intense Flames

*Alteration-
?Dual-Casting
?Mage Armor (all 3)
?Magic Resistance
?Atronach

*Restoration-
?Regeneration
?Recovery
?AVOID DEATH!

#Mandatory Perks:

*Enchanting-
?Enchanter 5/5
?Corpus Enchanter
?Extra Effect
?Soul Squeezer

*Alchemy-
?Alchemist 5/5
?Physician
?Benefactor

Now that you've become a successful Mage, you can wield all of your mighty power and be feared by all of your foes as you summon undead armies with the elements of the earth crashing apon their now-dead bodies!

~Classic Warrior~


#Combat:
?You need a weapon in one hand such as a: Sword, Axe or Mace with a shield in the other. You can either do a "shield-bash" or a "power attack" to stagger your opponent whilst making time for you to effectively slice them up. You could also use a bow for taking out enemies at a distance, then switching back to your shield & melee weapon of choice as they approach you. If you want to deal double damage, dual-wielding is a great option! It's really effective with groups of enemies (especially with the perks: "Dual Flurry" & "Dual Savagery") because you can kill more large enemy numbers quickly. However, there is no source of defence except heavy armor. It is a good idea to take note of where you want the fight to take place. Make sure you have enough room to manoeuvre around & have enough room to dodge if needed. Do not let yourself get surrounded, your shield will not be effective if you get attacked from behind. If you do get surrounded, use a shout (Unrelenting Force/Whirlwind Sprint/Cyclone) to get them and/or you away from the action to give you time to have a health & stamina potion. Let enemies come to you so you have plenty of time to prepared or combat. (This is most effective when either facing one or two enemies. If you get ambushed, it's best to flea and lure smaller numbers at a time.) Follow the opponent's attack pattern so you'll know when to use a shield bash, power attack or just a regular attack to diminish their health. You should do a shield bash when enemies are about to attack. This will stagger them allowing you time to hack 'n' slash away and when they are trying to block your attacks, you should do a power attack to break through their defences.

One of the best techniques for your own defence is to ALWAYS block before you attack. That is as in: "Let the enemy attack before you do." That way, after they attack, they will be stunned for a short period of time depending on the weapon they're using.


#Health & Stamina:
?To either restore health or stamina, you need Health & Stamina potions. HEAPS of them! You will be frequently blocking and doing power attacks as well as running and getting bashed from all directions so will need to heal yourself often. You need lots of health & stamina to be an effective warrior. Try to spread these upgrades as evenly as possible when levelling up.

#Aid In Combat: ?Followers come in VERY handy when you go out questing & adventuring. You will need a follower to: carry your equipment,
help you take down enemies & distract them giving you a fighting chance.


#Protection, Enchantments & Smithing buffs:
(You MUST get the perks listed for these skills before doing any of the following:)
*One-handed-
? Armsman 5/5
?Fighting Stance
?Hack 'n' Slash (Axe) Bladesman (Sword) or Bone-Breaker (Mace)
?Savage Strike
?Critical Charge
?Paralyzing Strike
#NOTE# You can also get the "Heavy Armor/Shield" perks if you wish. If you can't get all the perks listed ^ *above, it does not matter, they're only guide-lines.

Mandatory Perks:
*Enchanting-
?Enchanter 5/5
?Corpus Enchanter
?Extra Effect

*Smithing-
?All "Heavy Armor" perks (right side of tree)

*Alchemy-
?Alchemist 5/5
?Physician
?Benefactor

After you've got all of the "Heavy Armor" smithing perks, you can enchant other rings, gauntlets & necklaces with "Fortify Smithing. You should also create a potion of "Fortify Smithing " to improve your weapons & armor even further. After this, go to a forge (with the correct materials) to craft/improve the weapon, helmet, armor piece, gauntlets & boots that you'll be mainly using.

With your now improved gear, you have to gather at least 4 filled "Grand Soul Gems." make a "Fortify Enchanting" potion. Drink it and
start enchanting your smithed gear with "fortification, absorption & damage-boosting enchantments" such as: fortify health, fortify stamina, fortify heavy armor, fortify carry weight, fire damage, frost damage, shock damage, absorb health or absorb stamina. You can also dual enchant all of your gear so you can become even more powerful.

If you get the "Steed Stone," it will increase your carry weight by +100 allowing you to carry more & getting zero movement penalty from Heavy Armor.

Another recommended stone is the "Lord Stone" as it gives you 50 points of total damage resistance as well as 25% magic resistance.

If you're dual-wielding your weapons, it is EXTREMELY effective to enchant one with "absorb health" and the other, "absorb stamina" so you can simultaneously receive health & stamina from enemies as you hit them. With the "Extra Effect" perk, you could also add elementor damage such as frost, shock or fire as well as absorbing health & stamina. For an extra bonus, you can get the perks: "Dual Flurry" & "Dual Savagery."

By now you should be one of the most bad*ss & powerful warriors in all of Tamriel let alone Skyrim! Enjoy being able to decapitate your foes limb-by-limb, absorbing their health & stamina as your own and watch their ash piles disappear beneath your Legendary Dragon-Plated feet!

You perked every crafting skill for every build? Doesn't that turn out a bit OP, or at the very least incredibly grindy?

If every build uses all the same crafting perks as their core, then they aren't really different builds. They are just variations on one super-grindy-over-powered class that you can call artificer, or scientist or something along those lines.