My current Nord character has a combat/stealth build (I call it the "Skirmisher"); alchemy, light armour, sneak, archery, block, one-handed and smithing.


What combos do you currently have? Do you have any past favourites?

I'm exactly like you, to a T. Although I spare a bit for Heavy Armor at times too. I swear, I must've called it a Skirmisher once too.

I play Final Fantasy 14 and I did play Final Fantasy 11 as well for 10 years and I love Red Mage from 11 and from 14 I main Summoner and so my character has a "pet" and I do play it like a red mage as well.

Light armored stealthy type preferring ranged attacks using poisons and paralyzing potions. I can even the odds with a quickness by hitting two opponents with some paralyzing fruit juice before I'm ever seen. My chemical creations are still rather weak, but we're getting there. Now I have a garden and can replace needed (most of them, anyway) ingredients.

I play all types, but I am Mage more than most.

I'm mostly sword and shield with healing spells.

'Ranger':

Illusion

Archery

Alchemy

Light Armour

Block

One Handed

I use illusion to turn my enemies on one another and pick them off with archery and alchemy before closing in for the kill in melee.

I like to make a few character. One for each specialisation.


My normal builds are:

Breton mage (pure magic, enchanted staff and robes)

Nord warrior (2 handed sword, heavy armor, cross bow for range).

Imperial Battlemage (1 handed, shield & enchanted light armor. Good magic)

A rogue (light armor or clothes, heavy sneak and alchemy, twin daggers & bow). Race has changed over games. My last was a Redguard.

My current build is a Sword n' Sheild Khajiit Warrior with Heavy Armour, however some of my favorites in the past have been Assassin builds, my all time favorite of these was my nord assassin who was rarely detected and could dominate most of skyrim just using one of his daggers, after all one attack did 30 times the damage of a normal attack (this is awesome with the blade of woe)

Knight-Priestess= http://i.imgur.com/YcgggV6.jpg ( Breton/ female ) 1h, Destruction, Illusion ( calm/ pacify only), Conjuration, Alteration, Restoration, Light armor (because the armor I wanted her in is light), smithing.

Scout/Rogue = http://i.imgur.com/dMqEnBL.jpg ( Nord), 1h, Archery ( crossbow), Sneak, light armor, Restoration, Conjuration ( staff's and scrolls only) smithing.

My favorite build is = 2h, light armor, archery, smithing <<~~~ only skills perked... sneak, speech used not perked.. Block, but more of a finger twitch oopsie.

I usually enjoy the Dual Wield/Archery with Sneak combo. To slow down leveling (more skills = slower levelling), I'll throw in Conjuration (for tanks), Restoration (for healing), and Destruction (as back up). To further slow my leveling, I also do all 3 crafts

Let's throw out a few of my characters and see...

Jo'Nissa - Khajiit conjurer/archer... Uses summoned helpers and bound bow. Archery/Sneak/Conjuration/Alchemy. No armor or physical weapons.

Herricka - Redguard knight... Enchanted Ebony Armor, Spellbreaker, Bolar's Oathblade/Dawnbreaker/Ghostblade. Smithing/1Hand/Block/Enchanting/Heavy Armor/Restoration.

Nokandu - Khajiit monk... Archery, Claws, Unarmored, Alchemy, Sneak. No armor, enchantments, or melee weapons.

Yellow-Boy - Argonian thief... Enchanted poisoned bow, Blade of Woe, Leather armor, very sneaky and cowardly. Sneak/Light Armor/Archery/One Hand/Pickpocket/Alchemy.

Darnina - Altmer battlemage... Destruction, Illusion, Alteration, Enchanting, Alchemy. Wears enchanted elven gauntlets and boots with robes.

Lola - Khajiit experimental character. Uses no advancing skills, therefore barely rises in level. Uses only found/bought potions, scrolls, staffs, and Khajiit claws (which are adequate at low level.)

Spellblade

I like to control resources. For example use bound weapons to save weight of weapons and magic charges. The weight (which is a resource) saved can be used for looting, magic daggers, or magic staffs which are other resources used in 'burst' (non trash) situations. Use bound weapons on trashish enemies and also collect their souls which becomes another resource. Use restoration AND alchemy. Restoration as a renewable resource (regenerating mana) and potions for 'burst' healing, stamina, and magic.

Conjuration: bound weapons and summons

Restoration: healing (including stamina with perk)

Alteration: enhance armor thus need less/no smithing or light armor skill

Enchanting: later at high levels

One handed

Smithing (minimal investment later at high levels in conjunction with smithing outfit and potions)

Sneak and speech and pick pocket (small investment) for resources

Light Armor

Alchemy

It's always the veritable stealth archer, followed by a truly min-maxed demigod character for the second playthrough

Trying out a new melee/magic build a friend turned me on to. It's called The Atronach.

1h (dual wield)

Alteration

Enchanting

And as much magic absorption as possible. All perks into those 3 categories, flesh spells for armor. This is her, outside of her home in The Pale: http://i.imgur.com/DR5yfzC.png

I like mages, but I also like armor and weapons so my characters tend to be 'battlemages'. Sword and spell. I've never really liked stealth characters in Bethesda games, as enemy AI doesn't handle it well at all and NPC reactions to things like sniping are too immersion breaking.

This latest build is a opportunist build which uses the offense available in the particular situation as opposed to any 1 style.


First I try to stealth kill then when caught I pull out the 2H sword when attacked at range I use a bow and for crowd's like bandit/mage hideouts I use scrolls.


I always thought that scrolls were useless until I combined them with 125% Fortify Illusion potions which brings the scroll to level 25.

First time through Skyrim it was the Nord with War Ax + Shield; Stealth; Alchemist with a little enchanting

This time it's the Dunmer with Stealth/Archer/Destruction Mage with a war ax as backup and some enchanting.

No game I've played has handled ranged stealth play well.

Last character I played was a ShadowThief/Assassin...

1 Hand dual wield

Light armor

Illusion

Alteration

bows

pickpocket

smithing (light side)

Enchanting

since I hit lvl 94, had the perks...Mostly was illusion, one handed backstabs...high sneak, muffled, invisiblity...ghost up with a smithed dagger and cut their throats...hide, rinse and repeat...

I have since started a Shadow Mage...

Most all the magic schools, with stealth and some light armor thrown in..

I wish there were smiths and enchanters in Skyrim, so you could purchase your items, instead of having to have your character do it, if you want custom gear...sore lack in my opinion that Beth, didn't offer enchanting services for a fee...would have been a good use for all the extra gold later in game.

I always end up with a two handed spellsword type of character. My usual combat opening sequence is a nicely placed sneak attack from a bow-->a flesh spell to push my heavy or light armor protection a little higher--> one adept or expert level summon--->and a sprint attack by me with a huge hammer/axe/sword, berserker style.

Love this build.

Don't the flesh spells work only for unarrmored defense (robes/clothes)? Or do you use a mod that changes this? Or am I losing my mind... again

They work. There is a perk in the Alteration tree that doubles the strength of the spells if the caster isn't wearing armor.

Casting a ''flesh'' spell like oakflesh while wearing armor it will simple add another 40 points to your total armor rating until the spell wears off. Then there is the 'Mage armor' perk that can make flesh spells way stronger if you are completely unarmored and this is probably why you are confused.

"I am capable of manipulating matter and energy on a subatomic level by speaking. A mere flick of my finger is sufficient to alter the gravitational pull of the planet. I shelve physics texts under 'Fiction' in the library, I consider the laws of thermodynamics loose guidelines at best. In short, I am grasping the reins of the universe's carriage, and every morning I wake up, look to the heavens, and shout, 'Giddy up, boy!' You may never grasp the complexities of what I do, but at least have the common courtesy to feign something other than slack-jawed oblivion in my presence. I, sir, am a wizard, and I break more natural laws before breakfast than of which you are even aware."

Das Order of der Schtick!