Outside of a few short practice runs, I've not yet dove into the world of Skyrim. I plan to, but have been waiting for the inevitable GOTY Edition. Problem is, as a PS3 player, my long wait will be even longer than that of others or the DLC may never come at all. Either way, I will play the game in it's entirety at some point, whether that be on PS3 or on 360/PC due to Bethesda's incompetent PS3 coding team.

While I'm waiting, I've been trying to design my Skyrim character build so I'll know what to unlock in advance as I progress through the game. I know many people who play Skyrim stick to one of the three major character classes (Mage, Thief or Warrior), but I'd like to try something a bit different. What I'm trying to do is a bit of an oxymoron in that I want to be a Assassin/Warrior hybrid, leaning a little toward the Assassin side of the spectrum. I've studied Skyrim's perks and leveling system extensively and have finally come up with a build that I think will fit my desired play style perfectly. What I'd like to ask is for any thoughts or opinions on this build from experienced Skyrim players to see what wise decisions I've made and what areas I can improve on. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Attributes:

- 160 Magicka
- 320 Health
- 320 Stamina

Based on my play style, I feel this 20%, 40%, 40% split for my attributes will be the best decision, but this is obviously not set in stone yet. Any suggestions are welcome.


Perks:

Alchemy (7 total)

- Alchemist (5/5)
- Physician
- Benefactor

The Invested perks will help me get the most out of weapon and armour enchantments.


Archery (10 total)

- Overdraw (5/5)
- Eagle Eye
- Steady Hand (2/2)
- Power Shot
- Quick Shot

I Contemplated going for the Ranger perk but the prerequisites on the right side don't seem worth it.


Blocking (10 total)

- Shield Wall (5/5)
- Quick Reflexes
- Power Bash
- Deflect Arrows
- Elemental Protection
- Block Runner

Left side was by far the most beneficial, the main perks desired being Elemental Protection and Block Runner.


Conjuration (5 total)

- Novice Conjuration
- Apprentice Conjuration
- Adept Conjuration
- Conjuration Dual Casting
- Mystic Binding

I really like the idea of Bound Weapons and these perks should allow me to get the most out of them. The costliest Bound Weapon is the Bound Bow, which is an Adept level spell and why I've not invested any higher than that. The Conjuration Dual Casting and Mystic Binding perks are self explanatory.


Enchanting (8 total)

- Enchanter (5/5)
- Insightful Enchanter
- Corpus Enchanter
- Extra Effect


These perks are pretty much self explanatory.


Illusion (4 total)

- Novice Illusion
- Animage
- Kindred Mage
- Quiet Casting

I invested in the Illusion tree solely for the Quiet Casting perk. I really like the idea of being able to conjure a bound bow without a chance of being detected.


Light Armor (8 total)

- Agile Defender (5/5)
- Custom Fit
- Unhindered
- Wind Walker

While I'll be trying out many different armours throughout my time in Skyrim (both light and heavy), the main armour I'll likely be using from the time I get it until the end will be the Nightingale Armor. Not only does it perfectly fit my character design, it looks pretty damn awesome. Also, from what I can tell, many Perks in the Heavy Armor tree are useless, while the Light Armor tree has no truly worthless perks. I've also heard that it's pointless to invest in the Heavy Armor tree because it's very easy to get heavy armours up to the maximum level of protection (80% damage resistance, from what I understand), provided you have the right Alchemy/Enchanting perks.


One-Handed (10 total)

- Armsman (5/5)
- Bladesman (3/3)
- Fighting Stance
- Savage Strike

Because I like the idea of carrying a sword and shield, the One-Handed tree is what I chose to invest in. I'm aware that the Bladesman perk is probably the least effective of the three weapon specific perks, but because I enjoy using (and for the most part will be using) a sword over axes and maces, that's why I invested in it.


Smithing (10 total)

- Steel Smithing
- Arcane Blacksmith
- Dwarven Smithing
- Orcish Smithing
- Ebony Smithing
- Daedric Smithing
- Dragon Armor
- Elven Smithing
- Advanced Armors
- Glass Smithing

This is probably the tree where I'm most open to suggestion. However, my reasons for investing in all perks are because I love verity in my game and will want to try out all the different weapons and armour at some point throughout my journey. The main perks that I want from this tree are Daedric Smithing and Dragon Armor, simply because of how badass they look.


Sneak (8 total)

- Stealth (5/5)
- Backstab
- Deadly Aim
- Assassin's Blade

The right side of the Sneak tree is by far the most beneficial, with the left side being almost worthless. I have contemplated investing in the left side strictly for the Shadow Warrior perk, but from what I've heard, the perk, while nice, is not overly important and not worth the heavy investment of mediocre perks to unlock.

The total number of perks amounts to 80, just in case anyone is wondering.


I guess that's all I have to say. For anyone who actually takes the time to read all of this and offer any input, you have my thanks and appreciation. Looking forward to discussing this build with you!

If you don't mind my input.

On Archery

I agree. Critical shot and hunter's discipline are two wastes of perks. Hunter's discipline more so now that Dawnguard allows you to create arrows. As you've stated to be a PS3 user you can still use the Solitude Guard trick to have them practice with the arrows you need to farm them in the city. But, dude, Ranger is a must for archery. Save the game and buy the perks up to Ranger just to see. I feel as if you're an archer you need ranger. It's that damned good.

Blocking

It's fine except do not take more than one perk in Shield Wall. The reason for this is that you're taking Deflect Arrows. The game cannot tell the difference between getting struck with arrows or hit with a sword, mace, etc. As such, when you take Deflect Arrows you're automatically at the blocking damage reduction cap. This means that if you take deflect arrows any enchantment to boost blocking effectiveness also becomes useless.

Light Armor

I'd suggest not taking any perks here. You're going to have top-notch home brewed potions and enchantment ability to make gear enchanted with fortify smithing enchantments. You'll hit the armor cap through this not needing any perks in light armor. The only worthwhile perk is Unhindered; however, the steed stone grants you the same ability as unhindered without investing perks.

One-Handed

Looks good. DO NOT TAKE BLADESMEN. Critical hits in Skyrim are based on the base damage of a weapon. For example, you take a Steel Sword which I think has 13 base damage. Now, pretend you use smithing to increase the steel sword's damage to 180 per swing. When you land a critical hit the damage for the critical hit is based on the 13 damage regardless how much improved through smithing your damage is with your sword. Useless perk.

Smithing:

Depends on if you want light or heavy. Remember with alchemy and enchanting you can make gear to make max non-cheating potions. You can still hit armor cap or close to armor cap regardless. Also, through smithing at the end the damage difference between a Steel Sword or Daedric Sword will be within 20 damage. Just go with what you think looks best.

Sneak:

There's some debate whether more than one perk in Stealth is sufficient or not. Personally, I find one point in stealth and an enchantment of fortify sneak on your gear is more than enough. I can sneak in broad daylight directly in front of an NPC this way.

My character is sort of like yours, my highest skills are sneak and archery, though I've got pretty good Two-handed and Heavy-Armor levels.

My gut reaction is that you may be spreading your perks too thinly. You are planning like 50+ of your perks in advance, and you may find that as you progress through the game, some of these perks are luxuries that you can't afford, or you won't need. Smithing and magic is where I am not so sure about your plan. I guess I just don't think of magic when I think of assassins or warriors. And you seem to want to spend many perks on smithing for aesthetic purposes. Which is fine if that's what you desire from the game. But I would save that for late-game if that is the case. I find that early-game perks dictate themselves, and you'll find that you need to spend them on bread and butter things like one-handed, archery, and armor, not so much on things like alchemy.

As you play you'll find what kind of combat you rely on, and may find that you don't need to spend perks on block or conjuration or sneak. If you want to spread perks a little thin, I suggest going with just the first four perks in a tree (the ones that increase the effectiveness of the skill by percent) and leave it at that.

Ranger is TOTALLY worth it for an assassin. It is worth burning a perk or two on that side of the skill tree to get Ranger. Being able to move at full speed with a bow drawn is an incredible tool.