Hello all, let me start by saying that I DID NOT finish oblivion. I've played fallout 2,3, and NV. I put roughly 60hrs into oblivion and when I found my character svcked..I kinda didn't want to start over. I've read many posts regarding the skills and leveling system of skyrim but I'm still a bit confused, so I will ask a few more questions here. If any or all of this has been answered many times please don't be rude, and either post a link to a thread or point me in the right direction. I thank you in advance.

I see many people planning their build around 2 skills ie (battlemage/stealth assassin). My problem is that I want to be proficient in many weapon types. My ideal char. would be 1H, ARCHERY,MAGIC,SNEAK type of character. I'm very offensively minded when it comes to these type of games. So like a warrior/mage/thief/assassin. I love to play stealth and must have archery for the sneak criticals. But I don't care one bit about the thief aspect, I don't care to steal everything and I hate to pickpocket. So along these lines I want swords daggers axes for dual wielding when I feel like bustin some heads, But I don't care for heavy armor (over encumbered) and some of the other warrior traits. Also I love to cast magic, but I usually would only settle on say 10 or so "go to" spells for tactics and amusemant, I have no desire to master every spell in game(some actually confuse me lol). So you see where I'm going kind of a jack of all trades type of character.

The perk trees (constellations), how exactly are these laid out? Can I pick any perk I want or would I have to pick a perk of no interest because a highly desired perk is available later in that "tree"? I'm wondering because I want to be powerful at many aggresive skills, would I have to pick warrior/mage/thief perks I don't want just to become a kick ass sneak/warrior/archer/mage?

The stones. I've heard they increase skills by 30% so you should use the stone that corresponds to the skills you use the most for faster leveling. That sounds fine for a "narrow" character only interested in 1 maybe 2 fighting styles. But what about using the stone that represents the skills you are using the least so you level more evenly and nothing really falls behind? For a well rounded char, like the one I envision, that sounds the the way to go. Wrong? Possible backfire?

It's been awhile since I touched Oblivion and fallout was much more simplistic....gain xp/level up/pick perk/dump points into whatever you want/profit. Thanx to anyone who reads all of this!

I'm with you on the jack-of-all-trade style of play. I have commitment issues when it comes to character creation. From What I understand of the constellations, they branch, but are still linear (you need to take things in order, you can't jump around to only the ones you want).

The stones: I hadn't thought of that. I was thinking of them more as picking a birth sign and sticking with it. But you bring up a good point - can we concentrate on warrior and armor skills in one session, then switch stones to mage (or whatever it will be called) and concentrate on raising mage-like skills faster, then switch again to theif, etc.? I don't really see any backfire associated with it, other than the fact that who knows where the stones are placed? It could be a 30 minute walk/ride between each one, but other than taking up some time I don't see a downside. Assuming of course, that we can switch as many times as we want, as often as we want.

Edit: Spelling

I saw a video from quakecon where all three of the stones were right next to each other and you activate whatever stone you want when you feel like it. I guess we'll have to just play the game, but I hate not knowing what direction I'm going with my character. I'm not much into repeat playthroughs (flame on) so I'd rather spend 200+ hours doing everything possible, enjoying mods while building the char. I want. i like to be an offensive monster using stealth for crits, rushing in to slice some [censored] up, and then setting them all on fire. Oblivion didn't really let me do that (although i prolly f'd up my build) hence why I'm posting this thread.

Anyone else have any advice or knowledge to share?

It would be really hard to get perks for being a jack of all trades. But once you get to a high enough level perks won't matter as much. I'm having trouble fitting enough perks for a warrior with a little magic.

Well you are going to have make sacrifices in something to make your person really good at anything.

I have a build very similar to what you are aiming for. He will use all five schools of magic, but he won't perk them. He pretty much uses 16 of the 18 total skills (He never uses two-hand or heavy armor). Even with all these skills being used, his perks are mainly reserved for Archery, Swords/Daggers, and Sneak. I have reviewed all of the perks and their trees, so I have calculated the perk placements as well. I included the class description of my Telvanni Assassin for flair(The Dunmer house of Telvanni is from the third Elderscrolls game, Morrowind). Take it as an example and modify it if you wish...



Telvanni Assassin ( Health 300 / Stamina 500 / Magicka 200+ )

Race: Dunmer

Name: ???

Perk Total: [51-72]

"Because this assassin works for the Telvanni, he is very comfortable with enchanetments as well
as all 5 schools of magic. However, his true skills are martial in nature. Since most of his arcane
targets have an affinity with magic, anything but mundane arsenal is inefficient. This has led to
his mastery of urivaled swordplay, marksmanship, and stealth. He will, however, utilize
unsophisticated magic skills in order to mitigate the wrath of his adversaries, so his attention
to Magicka is never completely abandoned."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Major Skills: [51 perks]

1) One-Handed (15 Perks focusing on "Swords"/"Dual wield")
2) Archery (16 perks on everything)
3) Sneak (13 Perks on everything)
4) Light Armor (7 Perks on "Agile Defender"/"Unhindered")



Minor Skills: [0-21 perks]

5) Enchanting (0-11 Perks focusing on "Weapon Damage" and "Armor")
6) Smithing (0-10 Perks focusing on "Weapons")



Miscellaneous Skills: [No Perks]

~Block
~Speechcraft
~Lockpicking
~Pickpocketing
~Alchemy
~Illusion
~Alteration
~Destruction
~Restoration
~Conjuration