Hi all,

I was wondering if there are any warrior's out there that use Archery/Magika solely as an opening shot while exploring/dungeon diving?

Through various games (bit of Morrowind, awesome but got too miffed by Cliffracers, ha. Oblivion, Fallout 3 and NV) I've discovered that I naturally gravitate towards the role of Hunter. Careful scouting + preparation = arrow in enemies' necks (oh what joy that time I actually put one cleanly through a bandit's eye. Luck of the engine but awesome none-the-less).

A few days ago I got a bit bored and thought I'd give shield&axe a try. Dropped my bow, chugged some pots (I was in no way trianed for this style of combat), did my best Conan the barbarian impression and busted a bandit's door (if only you could break doors in, somewhat a la Alpha Protocol!)....Oh my...it was...wow...It completely turned my gaming world on its head. Where I would've normally infiltrated, looked for a suitable perch and poison my arrows prior to unleashing a veritable shower of steely death, I was now confronted with a group of VERY angry *criminal scum* shouting about all the things they'd do to my corpse...

And whatddayaknow, I flipped. I totally lost it. All of a sudden I just started seeing red. I charged right in. Power-attacked the first one, hacking him nearly in half with my battleaxe (bit of poetic license I know, but that's how it felt at the time!). Got hit by a 1-hander power attack which staggered me quite badly. Rather than making me think twice of what I was doing, it only made me angrier so I roared back at them (my interpretation of drinking stam pots...) and got back in there. Boy, how I got back in there!

After a while I found myself in the middle of a room full of blood and gore. Just blinking, wondering what the hell had just happened. I realised I'd just heard the Call of the Warrior!

So, role-playing aside (got a bit carried away there), I'm really liking this new in-your-face style but I can't help feel that I'm missing the chance to inflict some damage before the chop-chop-chopping begins. According to my plans, I won't have enough perk points to go after I've taken the ones I need for combat and the ones I want for flavor, so with that in mind, is destruction magic or archery a no-go without perks?

I'm not optimising mind, and will not go above Adept (aside: I just discovered how awesome, imo, robes+heavy boots, gauntlets and shield look. Wont go back to torso armor. Also, no helmet, quite happy with my avatar's face) So I just need to know if Destruction (lightning for range) and/or Archery will be enough for a first opening shot. By this I mean, will I be able to sort of take out one opponent out of a fight before I close in? I dont expect to take a levelled enemy out in one shot but something to make it feel like I have an edge since I'm the one initiating combat.

I'm partial to magic (play almost exclusively 3rd person now that I'm going warrior and having the quiver glued to my back bugs me something fierce. Modders please switch it to the waist, Mount&Blade Khan-style! Will love you loooong time!) but I'm worried about all I've read about destruction not scaling. Will I only be able to scratch a foe with a lightning bolt? Summons sort of defeat the purpose of what I'm trying to do. I don't mind going down to Apprentice or even Novice but I believe that drastically reduces the amount of damage enemies can deal. Right?

So, help a new brorrior out if you can and share your tales of berserking fury if you 'ave 'em!

Cheers!

PS. Gods be praised I dodged 1.2 (Past Beth/gamebryo experiences-induced paranoia FTW!) so elemental resistances still working.

Most of my warriors I stick to using shouts as opening salvo. Fire shout, the enemy freezing shout or full powered Unrelenting Force.

If on a PC you may want to consider the console to remove some perks and add some warrior perks. Agree will the shouts.

Charge in like a madman, swords swinging. When things get a little hairy Unrelenting Force them back and commence hacking.

Master mode complete.

Either a shout (multiple enemies) or a sprinted power attack (single). Either gives you the best upper hand, than some measly arrow.

I generally sneak all dungeons until I come upon a mob. Even in heavy armor, you can usually get close enough to see them before they see you. I always shoot an arrow at one (sometimes one-shot killing them if they are a wimpy - unenchanted glass bow, maybe one perk spent in archery) and then save the shout for the group that charges at me. As they are incapacitated in some way by the shout, I proceed to finely puree them with dual war axes. Usually. If it's something a little saltier, like a Death Lord or something, I may have to bust out a shield

Not sure how far you have leveled sneak but I found past about skill 50 even without sneak perks they usually don't find you especially once you start shooting arrows past them into solid objects and then they go there to investigate the sound.(which if they didn't fall for it repeatedly in the same fight I would consider a trait of a good AI) I go into melee mainly to avoid the boredom/lack of challenge of the stealth bow shot route.

Thanks for your replies!

So you reckon the only alternative are shouts? I was hoping to delay the MQ a bit (my previous char went straight at it but dragons turned into a bit of a chore after a while. Killed a bunch of people too, depopulating towns that were not that lively to begin with).

Re sneaking: Good idea but my observation is that it will level up the world way too much. I'm not using the potion-enchant-smith cycle (and am only smithing what I need. Upgrading as available, with a little boost from equipping my companion when I need that one level to be able to smith something better. Mostly elven armor for Anneke. Yum and still have got a few levels out of healing pots, 3%ers here and there and selling what I loot. It's not critical but I've run across more than a few 2hander bandits and mages that can wipe the floor with my intestines.

My reading is that destruction magic won't do much for me at higher levels but I'll wait and see if the CK is out by then. Modders be praised!

So anyways, do regale us with your tales of hack&slash badassery!

I went to trash a bandit camp a little while ago. Was down to my last healing potion, Anneke had fled combat (loved it! she moaned and at the time felt like she'd gone into shock "please, no more!) when I got charged by a Greatsword-wielding bandit chief. We go at it, but I'm losing, I manage to dodge most of his power attacks but the one that connects drops my block, I'm running out of stamina, misjudge a side-step and wham! I get staggered...I know this is it, I've got nothing else. I know the next thing I'll see are going to be my entrails hanging by the tip of his blade. I look up to stare death in the face. And sure enough death is there, in the form of the most beautiful avenging angel: Anneke. So what I felt next wasn't my guts hanging from my abdomen but the bandit's brains as they dripped over me. Plop, plop, plop.

"See Magnus? I told you maces are an archer's ...second best friend" was what she said as she helped me get back on my feet

;)

I recommend getting a bow and take 3-4 shots, or more, before going in for the kill. If you're any good you should be able to manage this. I've got a low (40ish due to dual daggers lately) one handed skill, but I take pleasure in going perkless dual swords, and it seems pretty effective. So for you, opening with some arrows gives you a good amount of damage early, once the group is up close use a choice of shout, probs fus ro dah for you to knock em down and away, then start hacking away at em I guess. Seems like a decent opener for you.

If you want to wait on shouts, consider picking up an area-effect Destruction spell. Granted, they're all way better when you perk them up to +50% damage, but even without that, there's something satisfying about starting a fight by setting a whole room on fire. Frost spells are also really useful for slowing down enemies (as you know well if you've ever been struck by a frost spell yourself), which is darn handy when you want to do some fancy footwork in melee range.

If it's a single opponent, I open up with a sprinting power attack (Skyforge Steel sword and Spellbreaker shield). If it's a group of mixed level enemies, I soften them up with Fire Breath. If it's a mob of Deathlords or something, I freeze them all with Ice Form and focus on a single opponent at a time.

I have this thing where I refuse to heal until after the battle has ended and the dust has settled. Sure, sometimes that means I die a lot but it's much more satisfying in the end. It feels great when you've cut down a group of enemies (say, bandits) in an intense fight, then it whittles down to just myself and the chief. I love it when we both step back to catch our breath and regenerate health, then the chief bashes his sword against his shield as if to say "Ok, let's do this!" :toughninja: I respond by sprinting up and power attacking, then we're locked an epic duel to the death. Getting a finishing blow in that situation is oh so satisfying.

I run around with the bow get a cheeky shot on then switch to melee/magic.

My Khajiit Warrior does use Stealth and Archery whenever the opportunity presents itself, especially in dungeons. I love poisoning an arrow with Paralysis and watching some Bandit fool topple over.

When dealing with Mages, I'll try to determine their weakness and if I can, I'll cast a Firebolt, Ice Spike, or Lightning Bolt as a Sneak attack.

When dealing with mobs, I absolutely make use of my Shouts. I haven't found many Words, but the first Shout of Fire Breath and the two words of Unrelenting Force help me manage mobs and knock out some initial health. I laughed when I scorched two weak Bandits with one Fire Breath shout, and it one-hit killed them both. Truly badass.

You mentioned Conan, and I'm thinking of making a Nord character based on Conan. He'll make no use of magic whatsoever. But my Khajiit is an Adventurer and Warrior, taking Warrior to mean "one who fights." She'll use whatever means are at her disposal to get the job done.

Perks are, well...perks. I've put most of my Perks into One Handed, with a few in Block and Light Armor. I'll explore the other Perk trees more with other characters. I'll going to play a Thief, a Mage (maybe Necromancer), and a fun Conan-inspired Nord.

I used to be just like you. I've always played Ranger or Assassin like characters in all RPG's. After starting the game with a Bosmer Ranger build and wandering around the forests for a while I decided I needed a change. After getting drunk on copious amounts of mead I made a Nord who is as muscular as possible with a epic handlebar-esque mustache and giant mohawk. It's not a berserker build for sheer damage and health but I have a good balance of defense and offense with some minor spells for healing. I love being able to charge in and annihilate my enemy in a bloodbath of gore and glorious martial display. The only downside is that I'm not using a bow at all and the spells I've used so far for ranged attacks aren't helping that much. I usually close the distance with the whirlwind sprint, extremely useful for a warrior against ranged opponents, or use the force shout if a big group is in front of me. I couldn't decide on whether I wanted to use a axe, hammer or sword but I mix it up with two handed weapons and a shield / 1H weapon combo depending on the situation. Getting drunk off mead, charging up a mountain in full Viking attire and killing a dragon with a massive sword is just awesome. The only problem I've run into was on lower levels against a large group of enemies like bandits. I would get hit by multiple arrows and spells while being surrounded. I could dish out the damage and hold my own against melee opponents but now with the amount of health and armor I no longer have that problem.

Some opponents are still a little challenging especially when they or are equal mages. and I can't get close enough to deal the damage but it's opened up a whole new game for me. I may create a new character, a Orc, and go pure berserker with two handed ./ dual wield with a emphasis on health, speed and damage output. But yeah it's a lot of fun doing a warrior / melee character since I've always played Elves or Khajit in the previous games while always leaning towards a more ranged / stealth character. Plus you are in Skyrim. You kind of have to be a Nord with a giant weapon.