...I always end up playing nearly the same way every time. I could pick a Nord, Argonian, Khajiit, or something else, but I tend to not vary their fighting styles and armor classes much. I always fall back on medium armor and one-handed weapon with a Destruction spell in the other. I've tried using bow and arrow, two-handed weapons, Conjuration, Alteration, shields...but they never work out well. So it gets kind of repetitive, but I know that if I try to stick with one of the other fighting styles, I'm going to struggle and it's going to render the game no longer fun if I die all the time.

Kind of embarrassing...

So now I wonder, if I ever was to start the game up again and make a new toon...how I could possibly make the game enjoyable and different without making it difficult.

I'm probably just rambling/venting at the moment... :/

Try an assassin, that's my go to. That and full mages. Either that or, if you can't make progress as something else at first, start with your usual and then gradually switch it up. Once you can survive start using something else and then if things go south just fall back on your regular.

I usually end up playing the very same way... it's very convenient to have a blade and ranged attack up at the same time. Outside of that though, when I do play other styles I've found it helps tremendously to work on smithing and enchanting my bows / 2-handers / shields to a higher level then I normally might. It helps keep the encounters a little shorter and reduces the chances of getting mobbed or caught in a crossfire. Archery + Conjuration summons is a particular favorite "other style" for me, but if I still find ways to get myself killed then I bring a follower along as additional bait.

Try to see your character as a "real" person. Think of a fictional character. Or even someone you know in real life. Imagine someone who is unlike yourself. When you are in the game try to behave like that person. Take only actions that person would take. In other words: roleplay.

Doing this will help prevent you from always doing the same thing every time you start a new game.

If you don't already, turning the difficulty down helps tremendously with staying alive. Magic resistance helps as well. That might open more options for you.

This probably won't be very helpful, but I find the dilemma interesting. Mainly because I'm the exact opposite; if I start a new character and find I'm playing him/her/it in a playstyle similar to another character, I quickly lose interest.

Do you roleplay your characters, Blitz? I find that a short backstory, theme, and personality can help keep my character "true" to a playstyle - and even mix up playstyles in odd ways, sometimes. The RP doesn't have to be complicated - typically my characters' themes can be summed up in one or two sentences.

I think Role Playing would help a lot. Make the Role Play simple... but at the same time... to keep from doing the exact same thing as before... make it exact...

ie "Conan"... For the most part.. light armor, 2h, archery. Those are the "obvious" skills. Add in smithing, Sneak ( He did sneak into places ). These are the only skills you Perk. Speech and Lockpicking will get used, but don't perk them, just the others. Conan was not a mage, so to stay in the RP... no magic.

On PC their armor that even look's like his and a "quest" mod that is themed that way. Pick Two followers.. that suit the Role Play. If you break down the movies, the most simplistic reasoning is revenge and treasure hunting. Treasure hunter is a good fun Rp to do. Their are mod's that add items for that kinda RP also, but even vanilla on console their are a things that a treasure hunter would look for. Your imagination is the only limit to how you play.

I would offer that the problem you describe is only a problem if you believe it to be so.

I only play one character (a stealthy no-melee mystic archer). Since bringing her to TES in 2009, she has played 4000 hours in Oblivion and 3500 hours in Skyrim. I have tried other styles / characters enough to know what I like and just really enjoy both the character and style of my mystic archer.

So if you like the sword and spell user, why not stick with that?

I can change the general styles, like magic use or single/2-handed weapons, but then the "little things" that pop in make each character "feel" pretty much the same. Everyone has to pick locks, or forgo chests and doors. Weapon users have to pick up smithing, since NO NPC smiths have the ability to upgrade weapons and armor.

The way the game was created does make "variety" a bit tougher than previous games in the series. But, who wants "redundant RPG aspects" when efficiency is so much better?

It's only a box if you make it a box.

I have two recent characters who used no weapons. One is a khajiit who uses only claws, shouts, and a staff, and the other is a redguard who uses a shield and destruction.

I have a character who uses only Conjuration (bound weapons and summoned atronachs) and wears no armor.

My current dead-is-dead competition character uses basically only Smithing, Heavy Armor, and dual 1-hand axes.

Each of these characters presents a challenge, because of the skills that are "missing," but the result is that they all play as if they were different people. Real people don't "do everything well." They have strengths and weaknesses, and the playing fun is in using your strengths to overcome your weaknesses.

Well, I find it fun, anyway.

No, they do not.

Most of my weapon users have not done any Smithing at all. They have not taken a single perk in the Smithing tree either. None of my characters (including full-time thieves) have ever taken a single perk in Lockpicking.

You only "have to" do things like this if you let someone tell you what to do. I don't let a developer tell me how to play. I make my own decisions. If I want to play a warrior who doesn't Smith, I do it. If I want to play a thief who has no Lockpicking perks, I do it.

The beauty of Bethesda's games, in my opinion, is that we are not forced to conform rigidly to a developer's rules. We are very free to make up our own rules, to play the way we want to play. This is precisely why I play Bethesda's games, and why I can rarely play games made by other developers. We are given great freedom to play as we want; why not take full advantage of it?

Either you modded (not Vanilla) or you by-pass locks, which is fine. But there is NO other way to get through a lock other than lockpicking. Weapons do not "need" to be upgraded, I agree. Why use a well sharpened blade when a rusty does the job, right?

You are correct about "doing only what you want", but that logic fails when what you want to do is not possible the way you (your character) want to do them. Want to get through locks? Lockpick skill is the only way, even for mages (unlock spells) or burly fighters (simple bashing). Want better weapons? Better pick up smithing as that is the only way to make your iron dagger better. In my eyes, forced avoidance is not a choice.

The first line of your last paragraph I heartily disagree with. My mind can only overlook so much before no amount of "roleplaying" goes solely in my head, instead of in the game, which is where it belongs. My Nord despises magic, yet starts out with 2 spells in EVERY vanilla game. I can NOT headcannon that. Some can, and I envy their ability. Bethesda places LOTS of restrictions in their designs that I can not easily "bypass."

Let's not meta-game too much, OK?

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings, guys! I know it doesn't make a whole lot of sense; I probably just wanted to get it off my chest.

I see many suggestions to "roleplay" characters, and I see that this is very popular in the Elder Scrolls games (evidenced by all of the DiD and "character story" threads). Sadly, I find that I cannot RP to that same extent in video games. But, ironically, I love to create original stories (one of my dreams is to write a novel-length story, which I still haven't had the time/motivation/energy for). I even sometimes make characters in RPGs (Elder Scrolls, Fallout 4, Guild Wars 2, Mass Effect, etc.) based off of my own original characters - make them look like how I envision my OCs, and name them after them. But I rarely go beyond that level of roleplaying because I do realize that it's just a game. The character simply becomes an avatar, a physical representation to make it more "fun" and to give me a starting point on how to make my character look. So it ends up being pretty superficial in the end.

I also find that certain playstyles (weapons, spells, armor types, etc.) are extremely hard for me to master. Never in any video game have I used "support" magic/etc. - I almost always am offensive, except in maybe a game like Final Fantasy X where I will pull in Yuna when I want to cast NulBlaze or something like that. But that kind of stuff, to me, is supplemental. In Elder Scrolls especially, I can't seem to make myself use a character who uses Conjuration and Alteration because it just makes it more complicated. I also svck at aiming with a bow in the game, so therefore I don't use bows.

Maybe I'm just not good at playing Skyrim? I have beaten the game twice, but those really were fully offensive characters (except for a character I based off of LotR's Boromir, and he had a 1h sword + shield).

As one of the folks who suggested roleplay, I have to say that I don't RP in any deep sense. While I admire folks who write out detailed stories for their characters' backgrounds and in-game actions, I just don't have it in me to do anywhere near enough writing to be post-worthy. Still, a little can go a long way. As an example, here's a quick blurb I've belched out on the forums before; my apologies to anyone who can't help but roll their eyes at the repetition...

- An Imperial mage-in-training who is loyal to the Empire, but whose family are deadly political rivals of Tullius' own. She was part of a fact-finding entourage that was scattered and mostly killed during Tullius' ambush, and she's not certain if her capture and sentencing to the block was strictly coincidental...

This character was my first "pure" mage in Skyrim, after having played two others who fit my preferred playstyle better (one an archer, the other a thief). I ended up going Destruction and Alteration with her, mostly because, like you, I wasn't sure how I could make Conjuration (or Illusion or Restoration or etc.) work. I never really developed the character further RP- or story-wise, but this "base line" informed her decisions and kept her on track for becoming an accomplished mage.

The character ended up being my "breakout" (or maybe "gateway") character with regards to trying different playstyles - had a lot more fun than I'd expected, and learned some mechanics I might not have discovered otherwise. Nevertheless, I'd regard her story as being pretty superficial.

I'm the same way. I kinda-sorta roleplay in video games, but the software always limits that for me. My character's usually have a "concept" that I try my best to stick with. I can't get into being evil, so mine are all helpful souls.

Really, there is no "right way" or "best way" to play any single player game. It's your game to enjoy however you want to

Blitzgirl... Roll Playing can be as simple as the "conan" concept I mentioned or as complicated as you choose it to be. Their is no right or wrong, just the way you want to play.


I had a breton that was only a "conjuration " mage... conjure familiar then weapon of choice... bow or 2h for her. Light armor with minimal smithing. .perks in armor, 2h, bow and conjuration 2 perks in smithing...steel and arcane.


It was a pretty fun play through. .. she used a regular bow til I got the bound bow and steel battle axe til she got the bound Battleaxe.


Bad at archery.... stand on a rock and practice on mud crabs... I can now hit 95% of my targets with no HUD. Just takes practice.

A good option for changing how you play is to limit your character to a single skill school. For example, you can only perk in the Stealth tree, or only in the Magic tree. This impacts your crafting and offensive/defensive capabilities significantly so you end up playing differently.

I've used this approach at least once for each school and it was a real eye-opener each time. However, some skills will improve that are not in the school you've chosen, such as Speech. It's ok, I wanted to buy and sell stuff naturally but I never perked the Speech tree except for the time I was playing a pure Stealth character.

Good luck!

This is not the way I look at Bethesda's games. As Pseron says, "You don't 'beat' an Elder Scrolls game. You live it."

The Elder Scrolls games (and, to a lesser extent, Fallout 3) are virtual playgrounds for me. They let me inhabit an many different personalities for an hour or two a day. I don't worry about combat. To me, combat is the least interesting thing about roleplaying games. If I'm struggling with combat I simply turn down the difficulty and move on. Combat is mainly something I endure in order to get back to my roleplaying.

OP...Blitzgirl


Try this maybe........don't play a char. Create a "personality" instead. Defined only by their personal nature, not their skill set or some made up background story!


This provides a completely different experience.....its still RP, but if you get stuck, you can use the personality of a friend as the model....or yourself.....or (here we go) your other self....alter ego! Like Adella


It also means that no matter what skill handicaps you saddle them with.....they will be the same type of PERSON.......(which is also very handy if you do competitions that keep changing the skill sets......see......Adella is ALWAYS Adella no matter what she has to work with.)


Or not...as you wish, but don't discard the notion lightly.


However you play, enjoy your day