After taking a break from Skyrim to play NV, I'm coming back to give it one more shot. I deleted my current character and want to start over. I'm thinking I want to make a "Ranger" type of character. Think Aragorn from LOTR. Light Armor, Bows, One Handed Sword, possibly Alchemy. I don't want to do anything magical at all.

Do you guys think this will be a fun build to play as? Want to do a lot of exploring and no fast travel. I'm pretty heavy about RP so my character's backstory is pretty set aside from race.

My questions are

1. Should I do smithing? If so should I go heavy just for deadric weapons or should I go light?
2. How good are bows without sneak bonuses? I don't want to sneak at all on this character.
3. Narrowed down the races to Imperial or Nord. Which one do you think makes most sense RP wise with this kind of playstyle?
4. Just using a single 1 handed sword and nothing else during melee, will this be too weak? Should I go two handed?

1. I don't like smithing. Not because it's not useful, but because it ruins the point of exploring dungeons for me. If you were trying to be Aragorn, I would stay away from smithing. If you still wanted to smith, I would only create leather based armors, since I just can't see Aragorn smithing metal armor.

2. They are still good without the sneak bonuses, just be ready to sprint away from some fights to gain some distance to shoot.

3. Either would be fine I think, but Nords would fit in with the colder landscape a little better.

4. With a one hander you can still block, just not too well. I just watched the first two LOTR movies last night, so I know that Aragorn carries both a sword and a dagger. You could always duel wield, one dagger and one sword, if you wanted more offensive power.

Smithing breaks the game. Avoid it at all costs.


I have normal gear, unenchanted, and it's plenty powerful on master difficulty, at level 22. I don't ever sneak either, as it's too powerful and makes the game boring.


Either fit very well, but Nord will be easier to roleplay.


I think restoration goes well with rangers. You could wield a one-handed sword and use the spell ward as a shield. But if you want an aragorn-style character, then go two-handed, as in the movies he always used his sword with both hands.

"Now men came bearing raiment of war from the king's hoard, and they arrayed Aragorn and Legolas in shining mail. Helms too they chose, and round shields: their bosses were overlaid with gold and set with gems, green and red and white."

Shields are much more "Aragorn" than dual wield. Aragorn presumably wasn't the world's greatest smith or he would've fixed Narsil himself. But personally I think it is OK to take.

That's my playstyle!
Dude you don't have questions. It works.
Also don't dual-wield dagger and sword, but carry a dagger.

No shield. Archery is good. Personally I went smithing instead of Alchemy though.
Oh lord i'm rambling.

EDIT: If you do smithing then avoid Enchanting and Alchemy, otherwise you will become overpowered, and a real ranger doesn't use daedric weapons, think steel, iron, elven, glass or such.

What do you guys think of this build? Problably won't level much past 50 so I just picked perks up until then. Threw a little speech in there as a filler. The only thing I can't really decide on now is to go 2 handed swords or 1 handed. In the calculator I put the points into 2 handed but I'm still not sure which way to go.

EDIT: oops forgot link http://skyrimcalculator.com/#39080

1-H + shield

This is pretty close to one of my characters though more a 'female' version of Aragorn. The only real difference is that I do use sneak. 'Hunters' sneak or creep up on prey. Good hunters practice being quiet and not making noise. Of course it's an entirely personal vision but I can't see my ''Aragorn' archetype NOT creeping up on something or quietly moving through a dungeon. They wouldn't just be clomping through the woods so sneak (and the bow bonues) fit fine with this sort of archetype.

For my ranger build, I only use alchemy for health, stamina and cure disease potions and don't perk it heavily. With smithing I took the steel smithing perk and the one that lets you improve enchanted weapons and armor. I only use enchanted items that I can find/buy. I like using leather and steel myself and improve them as much as my skill level will allow.

Aragorn from LOTR is not a ranger in a typical roleplaying sense. He has no connection with nature what so ever other than the fact that he's in love with an elf.

1. Think Aragorn from LOTR... answered you own question for yourself. Um... light
2. Not sure.
3. I would go wood elf and make an actual ranger. Restoration magic. Use animal friendship as race bonus.
4. A ranger should not use 2-handed. 1 1-handed should suffice.

Not true. Not if you only smith with what you mine/find or leather you tan yourself.

You took the useless steady hand (only useful if you have poor aim), but not critical shot or ranger? o_O

Also, I don't think aragorn was an alchemist. He had knowledge of plants' medicinal properties, but that makes him a herbalist, not an alchemist; he doesn't actually mix anything into potions. Also, remember that "the hands of the king are the hands of a healer.". I think you should go restoration.

actually aragorn is the original "ranger". that is where d&d and other fantasy stuff got the whole idea for a ranger.

Give me some examples of similarities then.

Legolas is much more a ranger than Aragorn.

1. If you go Smithing, try to not invest too much into it until you get into your late 20s, and I would go Light Armor.
2. Stealth helps out quite a bit on the damage department. However, if you are planning on going 1H and Archery, then you should be OK. The hard part will be splitting your perks between the two trees.
3. Of the two, I would say Nord, just because Imperials don't fit the Ranger theme, at least to me.
4. 1H will work, but 2H will have more damage and more range (didn't Aragorn use 2H?).

Yep, there are two types of rangers in LotR, the rangers of the north and the rangers of Ithilien. They got converted in AD&D to a fighter subclass. The basic idea is that you can live out in the wilderness indefinitely and are good at fighting specific types of monsters. The "dual wield" thing comes from AD&D.

"Legolas is much more a ranger than Aragorn."

Ha ha, such are the vagaries of life. Aragorn is cited as leader of the rangers at the time the term was first invented. Legolas is a fairly typical grey elf, son of the King of Mirkwood, nothing to do with the rangers.

I'll let you know how I did my ranger.

First, he's a Nord. I feel it makes the most sense. His main specs are Archery, 1H and Sneak. I use Light Armor so I'm not weighed down or noisy. Combat entails of moving around quietly so I can line up my shot to be the most effective, then if for some reason the enemy discovers me and comes directly at me, the bow gets put away and out come dual wielding 1H swords to finish them off quickly.

Most of the time, with the sneak bonus damage to bows, they won't last beyond the first shot. I have the bow enchanted to steal souls and one sword enchanted to steal life every hit and the other to deal frost damage to health and stamina. I started off using the Illusion spell Fury for groups of mobs together to make it a bit easier, but didn't level it enough and it's no longer effective, but it worked well when I used it.

I've found this to be one of, if not THE, most favorite way to play so far if I'm not going for the pure sword and board warrior play style (that never gets old to me).

I watched all three LOTR movies very recently, and it's worth noting, btw, that Aragorn actually uses a 2H sword far more often than a one hander (even before he gets Anduril in the 3rd movie, he uses a 2Her for most combat). The only real exception to this is when he fights the Nazgul at Weathertop where he uses a sword + torch. I think a Greatsword would fit his playstyle a lot better than a sword + shield (Boromir) or dual wielding (only really done by Legolas at all in LOTR, with dual Elven longdaggers).

While it may not fit exactly, a Silver Greatsword ( http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Silver_Greatsword ) definitely looks the part of Aragorn's blade. Also, the Leather Armor in the game imo doesn't look too much like what a Ranger would wear... try get a set of Morthal Guard Armor, it is green cloth over fine chainmail and it definitely looks far more like it if only we could put capes on!

(you might be able to tell I did a similar roleplay )

I like the ideas. You guys have convinced me to atleast try sneak. I'll do it in some of the first dungeons like bleak falls and if I like it I might add it in to the build. Also thought of maybe just sneaking in dungeons and not in the actual world?

I watched all three LOTR movies very recently, and it's worth noting, btw, that Aragorn actually uses a 2H sword far more often than a one hander (even before he gets Anduril in the 3rd movie, he uses a 2Her for most combat). The only real exception to this is when he fights the Nazgul at Weathertop where he uses a sword + torch. I think a Greatsword would fit his playstyle a lot better than a sword + shield (Boromir) or dual wielding (only really done by Legolas at all in LOTR, with dual Elven longdaggers).

While it may not fit exactly, a Silver Greatsword ( http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Silver_Greatsword ) definitely looks the part of Aragorn's blade. Also, the Leather Armor in the game imo doesn't look too much like what a Ranger would wear... try get a set of Morthal Guard Armor, it is green cloth over fine chainmail and it definitely looks far more like it if only we could put capes on!

(you might be able to tell I did a similar roleplay )

EDIT: sorry for double post, poor internet connection

The sword Aragorn uses is as far as I am aware a b-stard sword. These are swords that are wielded either one or two handed, and are featured in many RPG games.

If you want to take sneak, go with one hander, obviously. That, however, leaves you a free hand for a shield or spell.

Healing spell for the win.

Drop two ranks of "Experimentor" in Alchemy. By the time you reach those ranks you'll have most ingredients known to you, making it marginally useless. Drop Steady Hands unless you absolutely have to have slow motion; which for me was never that valuable. Definitely pick up one rank of "Critical" shot for a nice 10% crit boost. Pick up "Matching Set" in Light Armor for an extra 25% armor. I find the "Ranger" perk useful for those ranged fighters be it mages or archers. Here's what it would look like - http://skyrimcalculator.com/#39168

Here's a fun mod for you if your on the PC - http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3418

I do beleive that when Frodo and co...plus Aragorn are in the "dancing pony" the "bar keep" refers to Aragorn as a "ranger" and dangerous...lol..

Fantasy and si-fi being what they are, every venue changes what "ranger" "elf" etc IS. So even comming up with examples isn't much of a help.

Because their isn't an "herbalist" catagory only Alchemy...you could say as long as you use only plant based ingredients then your an herbilist.

As for sneak...well sneak would be the closest the game has to "walking softly so as not to make noise" IF you asked someone that hunt's for their description of how they walk through the woods it would come very close to "sneak", you are NOT going to get close to a wild turkey by "just walking", Trust me I've tried... I wanna get a picture of them in my back yard!!!!

IMO