The ability to craft a capped set of Elven, Scaled, Glass, and Dragonscale would only take 16 total perk points: 5 in Smithing, 3 in Light Armor (1/5 Agile Defender, Custom Fit, Matching Set) and 8 in Enchanting.

Elven Gilded isn't a separate set; it's simply a stronger version of the Elven chest piece. http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Elven_Gilded_Armor has 7 more base armor rating than http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Elven_Armor_(Armor_Piece).

I strongly recommend Elven because its ultra lightweight saves you perk points elsewhere and gives you more flexibility with your Standing Stone choice. If you limit yourself to Elven, you can cut the above 16 perks down to 13.

I got it at level 14 or so. The enchantments are the same on it regardless of which level you are when you get it, right?


Even better.


Thank you very much! That helps me understand what's going on more.


Well, it looks decent too, so I may well just take your advice. Thank you very much.

Would it be a dreadful imposition to ask how you might optimally lay out the enchants on an Orc (or I suppose, any race without a racial resist passive)? I could probably work it out myself, but it's (at least) 20% more awesome if Domilasa does it

I have the Agent of Mara and the Lord Stone, so 40% MR there.
If you then get 1 MR enchant that comes out to 63%.
So from there you can either get another MR enchant or perk 2 points in the Alteration MR perks. I feel that hitting the MR cap first is most important before you work on the elementals.

So with shield and Alteration perks:
Shield: MR + Fire
One Handed: Fiery Soul Trap + Optional
Ring: Frost + Fort One Hand
Neck: Disease? + Fort One Hand
Helm: Option
Chest: Option + Poison
Hands: Fort One Hand + Option
Boots: Fort One Hand + Shock

No shield? put that extra MR and Fire on your ring/neck

Don't want to use the Alteration perks? Put another MR in there somewhere.

Unrelated note, but not sure if everyone has figured this out, but if you put 2/2 into increased elemental damage from the Destruction tree, have the Element perked in the enchantment tree, and drink a Fortify Destruction potion, your elemental damage weapons will do an additional 141!!!!!!!!!!! elemental damage.
And, if you have your Fortify Destruction enchantments on, it consumes NO CHARGE on the weapon. It's kind of ridiculous.

You can use Domilasa's setup, but you'll have to make up 1 Frost Resistance enchant due to the Nord racial. If you're using a Shield, that's quite easy. If not, you have some choices to make:

You'll need Lord Stone, Agent of Mara, and 3/3 Magic Resistance in Alteration to get your MR up to 70% before enchants.
Then, assuming you're not using a Shield, you have 6 slots for Fire, Frost, Shock, and Magic Resistance. You can either live with 70% MR and max your elemental resistances, or you can max MR (in which case you should drop 1 point in Alteration) with an enchant and be slightly weaker to one element of your choosing.

I spoke with my roommate (we share a character). We're both okay with going for "perfect gilded elven" armor for the rest of our character's life.

Let me see if I finally have this right (finally):

We're a level 46 Bosmer. We use a bow and sneak.

I have 45 perks to spend. I will need to spend:

0 in alchemy.

2 in Smithing
- 1 in Steel
- 1 in Elven

3 in Light Armor
- 1 in Agile Defender
- 1 in Custom Fit
- 1 in Matching Set

8 points in Enchanting.
- 5 in Enchanter
- 1 in Insightful Enchanter
- 1 in Corpus Enchanter
- 1 in Extra Effect


Total: 13 points. This will result in Gilded Elven Armor that hits the armor cap, with each piece carrying two enchantments on it. Is this correct?

Now, what about the shield? Do I need anything special to maximize the shield? Do I have to have the shield or is this armor going to put me at the cap without a shield if I so desire?

Not so much, no...
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Leveled_Items#Nightingale_Blade

Why does God punish me so?

Thank you.

Correct. If you're interested in capping Elemental Resistance as well (which should come after Magic Resistance, btw), you may want to consider skipping Corpus Enchanter and picking up Fire, Frost, and Storm Enchanter on your way to Extra Effect. Those perks will make capping ER much easier.


The above perk template gets you to the armor cap without a Shield. Thus, much of the benefit of using one is wasted. If you're interested in increasing your mitigation further, I'd suggest an Elven Battleaxe for melee with 1/5 Shield Wall in Blocking and one Fortify Block enchant. That way, you can block physical attacks for an additonal 85% mitigation (which decreases total incoming damage down to ~2%).

Why an elven battleaxe instead of a skyforge steel one? They have the same damage and you save a perk or is elven better because it's considered higher quality for blocking effectiveness?

I was just trying to keep it simple with all Elven. No perks are saved because he's already taking Elven for armor.

Skyforged Steel and Nord Hero weapons do the same damage as Elven, but weigh slightly less. So if you like the look of those weapons better, by all means use them.

Female Nord
Elven Armor, Elven Warhammer
Lord Stone, Agent of Mara, Two Alteration perks
Necklace; Resist Frost, Resist Fire
Ring; Resist Shock, Resist Magic
Helm; Waterbreathing
Chest; Fortify Light Armor, Resist Poison
Gloves; Fortify Block, Fortify Two Handed
Shoes; Resist Shock, Resist Fire

DR; 80%
Block; 85%
MR; 82%
Frost; 85%
Fire; 85%
Shock; 85%
Poison; 42%

Approximate TtBAt0; 9

20 perks; http://skyrimcalculator.com/#24358


--Am I missing something, or is the helmet slot missing an enchantment there?

You can use otar for helm and save some slots for more Fortify Two-Handed.

Only if you're using Heavy Armor. Otherwise, you'll lose the Custom Fit/ Matching Set bonuses.

On a related note, why are Dragon Priest masks Heavy Armor? Pure Mages can't use them because of the Mage Armor perk in Alteration, and Light Armor wearers can't use them because it breaks their set bonuses. Hopefully that can be fixed by a mod soon.

True, didn't see her using light armor.

Some masks are light but as far as I know most are heavy. I guess it is a way of balancing the two since heavy armor's final perk is a dud.

[quote name='Whisk3yjack' timestamp='1323973364' post='19794840']
Correct. If you're interested in capping Elemental Resistance as well (which should come after Magic Resistance, btw), you may want to consider skipping Corpus Enchanter and picking up Fire, Frost, and Storm Enchanter on your way to Extra Effect. Those perks will make capping ER much easier.


First, thank you all for your work. This has been one of the most interesting threads on Skyrim, with more twists and turns than a dragon's tail.

Two things I still don't have clear in my mind.

1. Am I correct in assuming that the Block perk Elemental Protection does not work when you block with a weapon (which is what you'd assume from the description)?

2. Does Magic Resistance block everything that Elemental Resistance blocks? In other words, if I have Magic Resistance at the cap, the only reason for Elemental Resistance is to block the 15% damage above the 85% cap?

IIRC, both Deflect Arrows and Elemental Protection apply to Two Handers; it's just extremely hard to Block projectiles with a weapon, as the blocking surface is so small. Practically speaking, those perks shouldn't be taken unless you're using a Shield.


Yes. Capping MR at 85% is top priority. Only once that has been achieved should one consider going for further mitigation through ER.

To be honest, I didn't notice block running and the block running auto knockdown working with a 2 handed weapon either, when I tried them. That might make this 2 hand build a little less attractive, all told...

Just tested the Block Runner perk in game to confirm with a steel greatsword. Without Block Runner, running (not sprinting) and then holding down block will slow your character to a leisurely walk. With the perk, running (not sprinting) and holding down block will cause zero slowdown. Also, if you are moving forward in a sneak with the Block Runner perk with a drawn 2H weapon, holding down block will increase your movement rate to a run without breaking sneak. (Bug)

Summary: Block Runner actually works as advertised, with a secret ninja bonus!
-Loth

Edit: You do not need to be already running for the perk to work, you suffer no slowdown whatsoever from blocking, and erupt into run speed immediately. It is a good perk.

Hrm. Did you notice the shield charge skill working with a 2 hander? I could have swore I tried it while perked out, but it's looking like I somehow fluked and failed to execute the block run properly (or had a brainfart and didn't perk appropiately)...

I will test it now and report back in a few minutes, but we've had numerous reports of that perk being bugged all to hell and game-breaking. It will probably be flagged as "not a good idea" in the perk list.

BRB
-Loth

So nice to have a seven nation army of playtesters to run game theory while I'm at work!

This is a snippet of my "summing up" of what we know about weapon blocking in the beginning of this thread. Notice that Shield Charge is not on the list!



You did not brainfart, kind sir... after testing in-game just now, I can confirm Shield Charge does not work with 2handers.
-Loth

Edit: Which makes sense, as the word "Shield" is in the name of the perk haha... but it's good to test in-game anyway, as names and descriptions in this game can be misleading.

Psh, your snippets were sidetracked last night during the discussion about running around with the unarmored two hand wielder who has a thing for charging archers...

On the bright side, I just finished my finals, so I'm going to take the weekend and work on my wolf armor paladin!

...assuming the first quest of the companion's line doesn't scar me too terribly...so far, my experience with that quest is that it is really rough, no matter what level you are...

No fear, my shield brother... no fear.
-Loth