This may have more to do with approach than build per se, but what I'm looking for is a sort of archaeologist/Indiana Jones/scholar kind of character. Most of the fighting will be done by hired followers, but I don't want to play a total pacifist (too boring), so some combat skill is needed. I'm looking for the right "feel" here just as much as, if not more than, an "effective" build.

Race: Imperial (Voice of the Emperor, plus the lore of Imperial researchers is strong) or Breton (bonus to Speech)

Skills:
Speech - mercantile perks, obviously; need to talk one's way out of situations when that arises
...



What else?

For crafting skills, Enchanting could be seen as antithetical to the character; why destroy these items? ("This should be in a museum!") On the other hand, using & recharging staffs would be nice...
Smithing is too... lowbrow.
Alchemy would work, though. Mostly potions, I think.

Offensive skills are Destruction, Archery, 1 or 2 handed. 2-handed is out; no Conan stuff here, and one hand is probably needed for a torch or magelight.
Destruction seems not to fit.
Archery has the same problem as 2-handed.
1-handed seems the best fit. A sword is a good standard, I guess.

Defensive skills are Light/Heavy Armor, Alteration, Restoration. Heavy Armor is out.
Light Armor *could* work, but it all looks either barbaric or assassin-y or too fantastical.
Restoration has some nice utility in dungeons with undead, plus wards & healing... but healing will be done with alchemy, and I want to *need* a reason to go back to town & make more potions. Probably will avoid this.
Alteration would be nice, and it's a utility school too. Probably pick that.

Other skills are Block, Illusion, Conjuration, Sneak, Lockpick, Pickpocket.
Block might be good, but it'll be awkward if I'm using Alteration spells in the off-hand. Maybe avoid this.
Pickpocket is right out.
Lockpick makes a ton of sense - take this & perk it out for the adept-level treasure-hunter perks.
Conjuration is too sulfur & brimstone. Pass.
Sneak might be good, but followers don't sneak well anyway. Just walk slowly & try not to be surprised by bad guys.
Illusion... to take or not to take? Makes sense to use it to rally one's follower, but I don't see this character as a manipulator of the mind, really. I know it's powerful; it just doesn't seem to fit the archaeologist archetype.

So I'm looking at:
Speech
Alchemy
One-handed
Alteration
Lockpick
possibly some minor Enchanting...
and *perhaps* Illusion, if I can be convinced to take it.


tl;dr - how would you build a treasure-hunter/archaeologist?

I'll add stealth until you reach the pressure plate perk, every good treasure hunter knows how to not trigger trap's pressure plates

How do you plan on using Alchemy? Is it something you plan on focusing on? Because, depending on your use of enchanted items, you may want to focus on the skill tree instead. However, my tomb raider was much of a Jack of all Trades than yours. This one seems much more focused, and you will probably get more out of your alchemy than I have.

Why don't you ask me when you get home?

I guess I'd use Alchemy for making healing & resist potions, primarily. *Maybe* a few poisons. ("I learned this trick from an expedition to Black Marsh. Mix a little nightshade with some...") I've never focused on Alchemy, so this would be the first character who would do that.

Enchanting is another option, true. I guess it depends how I look at the stuff I'm picking up. Is it a priceless artifact that should be catalogued and filed away to ship back to Cyrodiil? Or is it something to study and learn from, even if it means destroying it?


Edit: Another thing I need to think about is quests. I know there are some I can get from reading books, and I want to buy as many houses as possible to play up the rich researcher aspect, so that will involve doing quests. Other than that, I'm thinking the Bard's College is the only "main" questline that would be really applicable here.

Which is maybe OK. The meat of the character would be going from town to town, settling in at the inn, and exploring from there. Hopefully that would be enough to keep me entertained...

The soul sequeezer and soul siphon enchanting perks would make sense. That would be about restoring and preserving enchanted artifacts rather than destroying them.

I would go for sneak anyway. If it makes sense for the character, why let whether the followers do it well affect that?

I would see a treasure hunter as a type of swashbuckler. Someone light on their feet, preferring only 1 weapon for fighting. Dodging and weaving, in and out type of combat. Though I highly agree with the companion idea. Let your body guard do all the work while you loot and profit and you can still resort to combat if you have to

Agreed!

WRT Sneak, my reason for avoiding it is that a lot of my characters depend on it, and I don't want another skill leveling me up. More about playstyle preference than efficiency, I'll grant - but I can also conceive of a treasure hunter who wouldn't necessarily be super-sneaky.

I was thinking about the Soul Squeezer perk, too... I guess I need to think about Enchanting some more.

But almost as important: What to wear? I'm thinking just regular clothes for the most part ... possibly some light armor boots/gauntlets, depending on looks & practicality. Light armor as a whole doesn't look great for this character concept, though. Need to find a generic "adventurer" outfit...

I definitely recommend Alteration for the utility spells. Telekinesis alone is worth it for this kind of character.

Also, using the CK to create a set of loose-fitting chinos and leather jacket with a fedora helm wouldn't be out of line... would it?

I'd recommend Leather (most common) or studded imperial or something. Or perhaps mage robes? Most archeologists in TES tend to be mages/scholars.
Even then I think you are more leaning to the scout/adventurer type of thing, so magic doesn't really fit.

Perhaps you may want to do what I do with my pure warriors; have archery as a minor skill just so you have some ranged options. Unless you plan to not fight dragons, then it isn't really needed, but it'd still be useful in certain situations, like your alteration skill.

@nerevarine: Not at all... if I was any good at the CK, that is!

Royal Sentinel, I haven't looked at leather armor in awhile, so it might be worth another glance on UESP. Leather gloves & gauntlets would look fine I'm sure. Definitely no helmets, though.... and I think even hoods are out with this character. Which is OK, actually; a bareheaded character will be new for me.

I have tried the explorer/scholar build out, and it is absolute fun, especially the first few levels.

Personally, after 56 hours and lots of exploration, I got bore from it, but here is some info about my explorer dude, Leo Tarasov!!!

He is an older imperial explorer and scholar. He collects informal books, such as how to slay a troll or facts about a city. He carries a quill and paper for writing in his journals about his discoveries and what dungeon he is in has been like so far...

The area around falkreath and river wood have great explorer-like dungeons and settings. They lean more towards an explorers eye than a cold, frozen crypt up North near Dawnstar.

Alteration and one-handed should be your two most important skills. They were sorta mine anyways.

My character frowned on necromancy, so he summoned different atronachs instead to help him in tough situations. As for followers, he adventures alone, or with great personality souls such as faendal around river wood area. He would dismiss him when he traveled up north since faendal (at least in my play through) wouldn't want to travel away from the river wood area to explore a dangerous nord crypt.

As for mercs, he didn't use them. They didn't seem like followers who wanted to also learn and explor, but big bulky dudes who just alerted every skeleton. That's just my opinion though.

I would suggest wearing clothes so your stone flesh and other alteration skills can have that 3X boost. The green clothing faendal wears looks like the explorers/archer/robin hood outfit. Fur lines boots, or fur boots armor or not would be recommended. Hoods and others are optional, but he is currently wearing an alikr hood since he is up north at winterhold.

This build is very fun. Glad it has appealed to you.



Oh and about your museum idea. You can bring old artifacts such as dragur weapons and ygnol's hat to major cities and display them on a table or in a public crowd. I remember turning Alvor's basemant into a small museum displaying some artifacts from bleak falls barrows. Very fun.

For clothes I'd find a belted tunic (or maybe the Radiant Raiment Fine Clothes) with leather boots and gloves. UESP says there are hats, too, but I don't recall seeing any. I could also see wearing a dragon priest mask, especially Volsung. (edit: Actually, since you will have alteration spells for armor, you might want to skip the leather and just find regualr boots and gloves.)

Enchanting would be a minor skill, because you wouldn't want to disenchant most of the items you find, but some items, like Necromancer Robes are far from being artifacts, so you will be able to get some enchants.