Hey guys,

First of all, happy holidays!

It's been about a year since I dropped Skyrim, waiting for the inevitable avalanche of excellent mods to be released in order to enhance the experience.

This time around I decided to make 3 different characters: A Cleric/Paladin, a Ranger and a Battlemage, starting with the Paladin.

With regards to my build I've got a general idea what to take, One-Handed (Mace), Block, Heavy Armor, Alteration, Restoration and some Smithing/Enchanting. I've decided where my allegiances lie beforehand, and have chosen an Imperial as a race.

-&--#62; Should I get the Dawnguard expansion right away? It seems like they are the perfect Paladin faction.
-&--#62; Any other tips on how to build my Paladin? Specific things I definitely should do?

Mod-wise, I've gone with some less intrusive changes (lighting, foliage, birds, etc), immersive changes (ihud, better objectives, etc).

-&--#62; Are there any mods that would seem perfect for a Paladin? I haven't installed any Armor/Weapon mods yet, I might be looking into them.

I've also chosen to live another life and start shipwrecked. Not the best of choices perhaps, but I found it to be the most intriguing.

Thanks

Howdy do and Happy Holidays.

I'm thinking of waiting for Dawnguard to do my Paladin character.

One reason is the Restoration attack spells again the creatures of darkness. (rather than the Skyrim versions that just makes undead run away)

Another is the crossbow - nifty against those pesky flying lizards, too

Mod wise, I can recommend http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/19733 which has some nice kit - including a specific set of Paladin Armor + shield.

There are some Paladin abilities that comes with Dawnguard, so it will be helpful. Damage Undead spells in the Restoration School, roughly the equivilant of Firebolt, Fireball and Flamecloak. You also get some anti-vampire weapons(war axe or warhammer).

On my Paladin-ish characters I usually focus on Magica and Health, to prevent myself from spreading myself too thin stat-wise. Not over 150 stamina; with a warhammer and without the perk that makes you heal stamina in addition to I find this to be enough. 200 to 250 magica seems to be a good amount(depending on how much you intend to use it).

As for weapons, Dawnbreaker is the perfect weapon for fighting the undead. You may want to get the Arcane Smithing perk though so you can improve it or otherwise it may not be affective later on.

Dawnguard has amazing additions to the Paladin class.


Honestly Paladins and Necromancers truly benefit the most from Dawnguard.