Made my first Khajiit in Skyrim this morning. Still in Helgen, but got my first taste of using those claws in combat - along with a sweet, savage kill animation. Love it

I know fighting bare-handed doesn't level up any skills, but do the dual-wield perks (especially dual flurry) affect it at all?

Here is the build I'm thinking about. This Khajiit is going to be a soldier of fortune, a combat-oriented mercenary / roguish type.

Main skills:

Archery
One-handed
Heavy Armor
Speech
Sneak

Archery is big; this will be my first truly dedicated Skyrim archer.

I originally wanted One-handed (dual wielding) to be my main melee capability... but those Claws seem fairly effective, especially if I'm using heavy gauntlets and that gauntlet perk. The plan would be to whittle down enemies with the bow, then switch to dual swords (or sword/dagger) - or claws - in melee. Anyone find they had a major preference for claws or dual-wielding in this manner?

The other skills are pretty non-negotiable. Heavy Armor won't help my Sneak much, but I won't be doing any blocking, and I want to be well-protected. Plus... it looks better than the "barbaric" light armor that's all over Skyrim - and it synergizes with Claws.

Speech is for my Khajiit to maintain his Han Solo mercenary coolness.

Sneak is ... well, they get a +10 in it, and it will probably be something I work up just so I can get some decent stealth shots with the bow. I definitely won't be perking it up, though - this guy is *primarily* a fighter, with some stealth ability. I'll take up to the x3 sneak attack bow perk on the right side, then maybe grab Muffle on the left.

Skyrim doesn't offer a ton of Khajiit support for RP, but I figure I can hang around the caravans, make some friends that way, do lots of bounties, and kill bandits who prey upon Khajiit merchants.

Any answers to the dual-wielding question (or other build ideas) welcome!

Heavy armor for a Khajiit? That's a really odd decision. As you said yourself it doesn't exactly encourage the growth of the Khajiit's natural abilities.

No. Those are only for one-handed weapons.

I love clawing things to death. It's quite fun. It's actually better than a lot of weapons on the lower levels, but according to the wiki at higher levels you get better damage output by using weapons, especially if you've put perk points into them.

From what I have read, dual flurry doesn't affect unarmed. You might as well test yourself though. According to UESP, the max damage you can ever get for unarmed is 68. It requires quite a bit of effort though.

True, but "natural abilities" are fairly easy to work against in Skyrim. I'm not going for a thief-y Khajiit here, as I said. And there are several Khajiit among the caravans who wear heavy armor and wield two-handed weapons.

Too bad about dual-wielding and claws not working together. I wish there was a little more support for unarmed. On the other hand, sticking to unarmed is one way to prevent leveling too quickly, I guess...

Yea but it good if he get the fist of steel perk and get good Heavy armor gauntlet I use daedric gauntlet this is good if he going to go bare-handed.

can't you get the heavy fist of steel perk but wear light?

is there a rule that says it only applies if heavy is being worn at the time?

I believe it is down to the AR of your heavy gauntlets, you could be naked except for gauntlets though.

Here's the best you can do for unarmed:

Go Khajit, and take the Fist of Steel perk. Acquire a particular set of gloves that add +% damage to unarmed (I don't know how to add spoiler tags, so you can google these if you want to know where they are). Disenchant said gloves. Max out enchanting. Create the most powerful fortify enchant potion you can. Drink one, and enchant a ring to fortify alchemy. Put on the ring, and make another fortify enchant potion. Now, you have an uber enchant potion. Drink it, and enchant your heavy armor gauntlets with the +% damage to unarmed.

Have fun.

P.S. I have no idea if the potion exploiting will actually work, as I haven't tried it, but I don't see why it won't.

yes, i've seen threads here and there about that method.

i'm wondering about a legit, great rping way of being an unarmored, clawing cat. no manipulation. legit roleplay.

In that case, just get the gloves like I said, disenchant them, and enchant heavy armor gauntlets with the fists of steel perk. Other than that you'd just to have to lower the difficulty so bare claws are viable.

Edit: I know what you mean, I HATE exploiting (power leveled smithing on my first character and hated it, never exploiting anything again)

Get yourself some Enchanting too. The Gloves of Pugilist is VERY practical, and that enchant on Daedric Gauntlets is BA.

DIdn't even think about those gloves - thanks!

I'm playing on Adept right now, and can't imagine that will change - so claws may be viable for me.

I haven't gone this route before, but I think one advantage of using claws is that your leveling will be slower. If you *only* use claws, you can restrict your leveling to your armor skill (and maybe something like archery), which would probably make you very competitive defensively.

My plan is to use claws against unarmored or lightly-armored foes - it makes more visual sense that way. I don't think I could scratch through steel plate.

Can you sneak damage with claws?

Yes, but it stays locked at 2X, since none of the perks effect it.

So do you know what max damage can be. Sneak hit with the gloves of the pugilist that have been unenchanted then enchanted onto heavy armor gloves because of the perk in heavy armor.

Bump. Does anyone know?

And if full Heavy Armor is gone for.... why not the Ebony Mail?