My more interesting characters:

Passive Thief: Khajiit thief that has no problem stealing, but will never, ever, under any circumstances, attack a living creature. Skills: Sneak, Pickpocket, Speech. To get through dungeons he will shoot an arrow at a wall to draw the attention of any nearby enemies, and then sneak past them. Certain enemies are much more difficult to sneak past (especially in the lower levels) like skeevers. Being a thief, some people try and 'teach me a lesson' by sending some thugs after me. I lead them to a (hopefully) nearby bandit camp, where they find themselves as unwelcome guests. Initially was going to take Illusion with this character, but found that it was more fun to use arrows.

Artisan: Imperial artisan and scholar that traveled to Skyrim to ply her trades. Skills: Alchemy, Enchanting, Smithing, Speech. Started as a character that only used crafting skills to see how well the level scaling worked. Ended up being much more fun than anticipated, in fact its probably one of my more balanced characters. By creating my own gear and potions, it offsets the lack of any combat related skill perks.

Oblivion Walker: Collects all Daedric Artifacts before completing any other quests, and only uses Daedric artifacts (where applicable). Haven't collected all of the artifacts yet, but has been a very bumpy road. Sounded like an interesting concept, so I'll see how it turns out.

I've seen a youtube vid of a pacifist that used illusion, but yours sounds more fun (cat burglar!) . You could also use the Throw Voice shout, no?

Actually no, I do not kill, so I cannot loot the Dragon Shard to start the main quest. No shouts for me.

Thanks! Yeah I have a hard time playing other builds, because my first one was so good! :pinch: Although, I need to make an assassin, still... I'm probably going to steal your build. In the end it's probably going to be a waste for me... but I just can't do a master lock with out the last perk. I got s-s-s-shaky hands.

Some very cool ideas here Personally haven't touched the magic side of the game really yet. Thinking about making a stealth based caster with 2handed weapons and heavy armor just for the fact it;s so counter intuitive.

Ive had 2 which are pretty fun.

First is a shadow warrior which uses conjuration, archery, illusion and sneak. I stay in the shadows, conjur bound bow for damage output and use things like frenzy. I open with frenzy and fear until a couple of a group are dead, then raise some of the dead to fight for me and finish with bow crits. The enemy almost never finds me, even until they are all dead.

The second is a noncombat monk. Uses illusion for the courage spell, restoration for healing, alteration for defense, and smithing to outfit my warrior companion who does all my fighting for me. Currently half way through the MQ and college quests without striking a single character or beast in anger .

My Breton is almost Pure Mage. The "atypical investments" are Sneak and Archery. I use Bound Bow a lot! It's nice to thin the herd a little before going in with spells blazing... plus it traps souls for me!

Right now Bound Bow has:
Mystic Binding (base damage = 24)
Overdraw (x4 for 80% damage increase)
Deadly Aim (3x damage for sneak shot)

So.... 3x(24x1.8) = ~130
Plus usually have a bunch of poisons worth at least 40 damage...
I'm probably getting at least 170 on most of my shots.

First character was a homebody Nord who was a sneaky Bow hunter. Exploring became way too easy after a while since nobody could see me even if they were right next to me and I could take them down with 1-3 high damage bow shots. Only wide open fights (with dragons for instance) provided any danger, but with a high one-handed skill and block even dragons didn't stand a chance.

For a second character I went exactly the opposite, a conjuring knight-tank type, where I wanted to max out pain given while protecting myself as much as possible. - started with Breton for the magic resistance and pursued perks in Smithing, Enchanting, Two-handed, and heavy armor. Also had to throw some into restoration to cut down on potion use. This guy can't spell the word sneak and will fire off an atronach at enemies before sprinting in and trying to behead them with his greatsword. This character is fun because nearly every blow results in a cinematic (either beheading someone, cutting their legs out, or running the blade through their chest.) The only problem with this guy is he has to shoot weak fireballs at dragons trying to convince them to come down to fight mano-y-mano.

Sorry I haven't been responding, folks; I don't have regular internet access. However, I assure you that I'll come back to this thread every time I'm back on. You guys have a whole lot of interesting and unique builds, and since my responding will bump this thread back up, I'm really eager to see what more you and others have to contribute. This has been a whole lot of fun :foodndrink:



This, of all of them, is the build that got me the most excited. I really like all of your ideas, but I must say that you should use Speech OR Illusion; I think both would be superfluous.

This gave me a great idea for a similar build, though not entirely the same:

-Conjuration with only the weapon perks (and probably only Novice Conjuration from the cost-reduction perks, since I'm pretty sure that Bound Sword is novice)
-One Handed for obvious reasons
-Alteration as well
-Enchanting, since Alteration will be my means of armor and since my main (and probably only) weapons will be trapping a lot of souls. Will probably design a lot of useful and fun robes and jewelry.
-Restoration as a means of recovery

I realize that it's mostly a mage build, and am very excited because it's so atypical--magic will be my means of offense and defense, but not at all in the traditional manner. I won't feel like any other mage in Skyrim :celebration:

Not sure about the race. Thinking male Breton, but you fine folks are free to make suggestions.

Apologies for failing to multiquote earlier; I don't mean to intentionally bump my thread.



I've got a monk, too. The one I mentioned earlier but failed to describe xD

He's a Khajiit who finds serenity in Restoration and Alteration magic (convenient, eh?) and takes pride in using his martial prowess over weapon usage. Due to the harsh nature of the people of Skyrim and the oppression his Khajiit brethren face--at the hands of the Nords who deny his people entry into their city, the other races who are so complacent of this, and the Thalmor who invaded and conquered his home of Elsweyr--he soon found himself in the company of the Theives Guild and Dark Brotherhood. As a Khajiit monk, he has experience in the ways of stealth combat (and therefore Sneak and Pickpocket), and also spends what time he can learning the art of Enchanting as an outlet to express his appreciation for the non-combat magical arts (those being Restoration and Alteration). I find his character peaceful and intriguing, personally (I love Khajiit), and Enchanting is a great way to increase his unarmed damage without resorting to stuffing him in heavy armor (which I find inappropriate for a monk).



That's a big problem for anyone who doesn't invest in Archery, Destruction, Conjuration or use companions. What's a warrior to do?

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On a side note, I thought of another character last weekend that I would love to create: a white mage.

Female Breton would suit the style both characteristically and in terms of gameplay mechanics (what with the +25% magic resistance). I usually only create male characters since that's the six I identify with, but I feel like a female tank mage would be what suits me most in this instance. That sort of thing happen to anyone else, in terms of six?

Anyway, main skills will be Alteration and Restoration; I want to be as defensive as possible while also being "holy," sort of a bane-of-the-undead kind of character. Restoration is obvious, in that I'll be able to heal myself and anyone else generously while absolutely dominating the undead. As for Alteration, I want to use all of the defensive spells and perks for a high armor rating and a cumulative 80% magic resistance (25% Breton blood, 25% Lord Stone, 30% Alteration perks). That kind of resistance combined with magical wards should make me nigh invulnerable to magic, which I am very excited for (especially since enemy Dragon shouts count as magic). Ebonyflesh with three-times effectiveness (that means 350 armor rating when combined with the Lord Stone) won't be too shabby, either.

However, I do want some suggestions and criticisms. What, other than lots of Restoration and Alteration should I use? Dawnbreaker is a wonderful holy weapon that really suits the build, but should I invest in One Handed? I'm considering it. That also brings about Enchanting, since I have a whole 'nother hand I can use weapons in, which warrants creating another holy-like weapon. What would those enchantments be? I certainly don't want block, so don't suggest that please. And what about Conjuration? I think a bound sword and Danwbreaker make a good pair. Also, perhaps a little Smithing to make Dawnbreaker better? Please critique this! Thanks :foodndrink: