Is it viable to have a character with no armor who doesn't use alteration flesh spells either? Has anyone done it?

First of all, I'm playing on adept. Second of all, if your reply is something like this, "Adept is so [censored] easy, I never use armor even on legendary. In fact I set my armor rating to negative 300 and my health to 5 just so I can have a slight challenge on legendary", please refrain from replying to this thread.

I'm interested in a character who uses daggers, destruction, restoration, maybe enchanting. I want to do some sneak attacks but not spend the whole time in sneak. Maybe start off with a sneak attack then run and gain some distance to use destruction. These are some strategies I'm thinking of using- Restoration protection circles to keep undead away, dual-wielding daggers for fastest possible attacks, absorb health weapons, enchantments of either fortify health or health regen, maybe quiet casting to get a head start on ranged destruction attacks. Banish, fear, and turn undead enchantments on daggers to keep enemies away, Dual-cast cloak spells for greater range, Lots of running and not casting flesh spells will save time and magicka.

I think the most dangerous enemies for this character will be archers, especially the high level draugr with the ebony bows.

Do you guys think it will work?

Wow, Adept is so [censored] easy, I never use armor even on Legendary. In fact I set my armor rating to negative 300 and my health to 5 just so I can have a slight challenge on legendary.

The class you're thinking of is referred to as a "glass cannon", I'm sure if you search that up you should find all the inspiration you need

It seems unlikely, but I really can't be sure. I would be very interested to find out.

I want this character to be more like a "glass scalpel" or "glass tweezers". I will search for those.

Why so weak?

From time to time I play 2-Hand warriors who wear only street clothes. I do this in all these games. I think it's a really fun way to play.When playing this kind of character the first few levels will usually be a bit tricky. When I do this, I put all my points into health to compensate for the lack of AR. By about level 10 or so, I begin to feel like my character is getting stronger and more hardy. I find this to be is a satisfying feeling.

Not weak, Surgical.

Hm. I imagine so. Have you ever tried it with just one?

It might be a fun build. It will force me to rely on enchanting as a main form of offense and defense, not just a luxury for overpoweredness.

Just one what?

Ah. I misread. I thought you meant that you dual wielded weapons.

Sorry.

I do the same thing. I misread posts all the time.

I play a mystic archer that I would definitely call a glass cannon. She wears mage robes or furs mostly, resulting in a very poor AR. She does get a small boost of 50 from the Lord stone, but that is mostly for the magic resistance - of which she has plenty. Because of her magic resistance, she can take on dragons or mages from a distance pretty well. Her nightmare is melee fighters up close. She won't touch a melee weapon - so it is her bound bow backed up by magic that keeps her alive. She checks ahead of her all the time (detect life/dead) and summons help routinely. She does not use magic armor spells though. We play on the default difficulty level and she does quite well. Archers can be a bit of a challenge as well, but summoning a distraction using cover/movement works pretty well.

I'm wondering about staggering enemies with daggers. Do power attacks with daggers ever stagger an enemy? Also, I read somewhere that Valdr's lucky dagger always staggers the enemy with a critical hit. Do the critical hits from the bladesman perks also stagger the enemy? Does anyone know?

My Bound Sword Dual Wielder that wears the Necromancers Amulet is viable even at Expert, but is prone to not surviving Mages that are making strategic withdrawals. Archers are dealt with by Summons, or getting close and blenderizing with Power Attacks.

My Mages will begin to use Keening later in the Game, because the USKP makes the Weapon very useful for a PC User.

Bloodthorn is a nice Dagger for an aspiring Enchanter.

Ah, but the million dollar question is... Are you guys playing Dead is dead?

Dude..please.....

I never play DiD. If I did, I wouldn't let Buffy outside the walls of a city and we wouldn't enjoy that very much. That said, however, we play at default difficulty and she has been killed exactly three times in 736 hours of play. Even that is becoming less frequent as we continue to learn how to survive. Based on my experience, I do indeed maintain that no AR is doable for a DiD character. I imagine Buffy would do even better if she was willing to even touch a melee weapon or staff (which she won't).

BTW, Buffy also lives in Oblivion, and she has nearly 4000 hours of play there. Her experience there has been about the same. In fact she hasn't been killed at all there in the last 2500 hours or so of play.

The thing is that having a "glass"character is generally all about increasing the challenge of the game. My issue with that is, where's the challenge if you can just keep on reloading the character after they are killed until you manage to wear down your opponents or figure out a more effective means of combat? Especially if you're on high difficulty settings where you do very little comparative damage. You can fight a bit,, back off and save, fight a bit, and back off and save until your victory is a foregone conclusion no matter how many times your character is killed. There's very little challenge to it, just a lot of plodding on through eh? Give me a high-pressure water hose, and i can level a mountain given time.

This isn't supposed to be that kind of character. I'd like to use enchanting fear effects as well as staggering from destruction impact and critical hits to take on enemies one at a time.

I'm not planning on doing a lot of dying.

No. I never play dead-is-dead. My interest in playing roleplaying games is in roleplaying. And telling myself stories. I'm not interested in "difficulty." I get enough nerve-wracking, adrenaline-induced combat to satisfy me playing the game the regular way.

I want to tell a character's story. That's why I'm here. When I feel that character's story is finished I retire that character, not before.

I've played a sneaky archer who wore clothes several times. Conjuration & enhancements (fortify sneak & archery) helped. I use a lot of potions; don't be ashamed to use poison on your weapons, the Forsworn & Falmer do it all the time. I put a lot of points into sneak, archery, alchemy, & enchanting.

I think that almost any kind of character can take on most of the opponents one at a time. Unfortunately, it seems the opponents don't always agree. I decided to fight the dragon over by Kynesgrove, near the giant camp there yesterday. So, the dragon was flying around and I was concentrating on shooting arrows at him, when I starte losing health rapidly... I discovered that I was fighting 3 wolves, a bear, a witch, and a giant was headed my way at a run. I looked back up just in time to get hit by the dragon's breath weapon... No, I didn't die, Yes it was a near thing, yes I do play dead is dead, but my character is not weak with an AR of 83 more or less.

The thing is that sort of thing happens a lot, from my experience. Heck, I've had two characters die before getting into the keep in Helgen with Hedvar (or Rayloff)...

How is that possible?

Alduin is your enemy. You can die from rocks landing on you or from being burned by dragonfire. Your hands are tied, & you can't heal yourself.