I am about to get back into skyrim. I took a hyadius to play some New Vegas ... hoping skyrim dlc would be coming around.

Anyway ... I only played a bit, and was curious what is the reasonable number of skills one should/could focus on. I generally like magic and swords, possible 1h and enchanting along with what complements?

also, what is the number of perks one can expect to have without power leveling - I like to 'just play' but do not want to just throw points into things willy nilly. Thanks

Well max level is 81 that should give you 80 perks right?
I'd start by focusing on the skills you use the most.
Also you don't need all the perks, if you use swords don't bother focusing on axes and maces as well.

thanks for tr thoughts. I'm not a noob or anything, I played oblivion and have played some into skyrim ... I'm curious what complements swords and enchanting. I'm thinking destruction, but I heard its nerfed

Destruction doesn't really pay off in the way it should, however if you focus on enchanting and drink some fortify enchanting potions you can enchant your armor and make destruction spells cheap or even free to cast, then it's worth getting, if not I wouldn't bother. That's my opinion at least.

ah ok, that would be interesting then. If the cost is removed and I focus on one element it shouldn't cost me too much in terms of perks.

Sorry I don't get you here... Swords, axes and maces are all part of one-handed skill! Big sword, big axes etc. are part of 2-handed.
It's not like in Oblivion.

I used one-handed weapons (almost all perks) and now to try to reach Level 77 or maybe more, I use a 2-handed blade. My level in that skill is 97 with no perk at all.

I think smithing and alchemy are essential. You'll realize later why.

well Id just hate specializing in all the 'maintenance' skills. I still haven't gotten a straight answer note 'how many skills can you focus in' without spreading yourself too thin.

When I started, I realized that my armour was too cheap. So I started smithing to improve it and then to create my own armour and weapons. Because if in Oblivion you can find nice gears and strong weapons, here you must destroy enchanted items and put this enchantment on pieces of armour, weapons, rings and necklaces. It's how it should be. But if you prefer to use any kind of armours that you find without improving them, the same for weapons, do as you wish. But later it will be hard as hell to stay alive. Restoration is good if you don't want to wear lots of restore health potions of a weight of 0.5 each.

I think you should go ahead a bit more without using your perks (you can use them later, no problems, they won't disappear) and see what suits you more to your character. Play and see how it goes..

sounds like a plan. also good to know smithing is important, I may have let it fall by the wayside

I find it's best to focus on one to two combat skills (no more than two) and than get one to two supporting skill sets that comliment and enhance your abilities with your combat skill sets, and than just pick up an armour.

I'd say focus on about 4-5 skills where most of your perks go
Plan your character on the basis of about 50 perks
Its a long slow grind getting levels after 50 so you want to have the basics of the build by then IMO
What level are you playing at? Unless at master you can safely ignore the craft skills if you don't want them. Only exception is Steel Smithing and Arcane Blacksmith which are needed for any enchanted gear you want to improve

One my characters, I pick two perks and pour points into those above all else if I have the chance. Usually combat-oriented ones, like on my current character (assassin) I put emphasis on Sneak and One-Handed. If those weren't options, I went into secondary things like Light Armor, Smithing, Illusion, and Enchanting. On my orc berserker, I focused on Two-Handed and Heavy Armor, and threw points in Smithing and Block as needed.

so it's looking like 4-5 skills (50ish) perks. Thanks, that's essentially what I wanted to know just to have a rough plan going in. I appreciate the help ... I'll likely play on normal, so I don't think it'll be a struggle or anything just don't wanna spread my guys skills too thin.

On my warrior character, I stay focused on 3 or 4 skills at the beginning. One-handed, heavy-armor, block, archery. And just a bit of smithing to get me superior steel armor as soon as possible. You only need level 22 to get superior steel armor upgrade. Meanwhile, I slowly collect and save materials I need for enchanting and smithing, but not work on them yet.

In my normal combat, I use one-handed, heavy-armor, archery, sneak, restoration, alteration and illusion.

Around Level 20 I will start working on my crafting skills. Smithing and Enchanting. And continue to explore dungeons and do quests meanwhile. I usually find maxing out enchanting is quicker, easier and more profitable. So, enchanting gets maxed out then smithing. I max out enchanting by the time I hit level 30 or 35.

Things are most challenging for me battle-wise between level 15 and 30, but as soon as high level enchanting and smithing begins to kick in, things become much easier.

essentially what I want to accomplish equipment wise is an enchanted katana with frost and light armor with something. I'm really not too picky about my equipment wants

Swords with frost damage are dime a dozen but if it must be a katana and it must be frost you'll have to pick up enchanting yourself

that was the plan ... I'm trying to achieve a bleach-like sword

perks are nice but not essential for you to develope a skill.

I usually place at least one perk in all the skills that i normally use.

that one perk makes magic cheaper in magika or adds weapon damage.

i try to restrict myself to 3 or so perks per skill.

archery for example 1 adds damage, 2 lets me zoom and the third slows time.

hmm ... seems like it would be easy to badly distribute perks, I'll probably hold off for a few levels before plugging any in

I focus on about 8 skills on my main build, but I do feel as though it is a tad spread thin.

4-5 sounds preferred.

which skills do you find invaluable?

Been thinking about your question and it's difficult to answer within your parameters because different playing styles consume skill points at different rates.

For instance, let's look at something a lot of people get: One-Handed.

Getting all 5 Armsman perks at the base of the tree is definitely worthwhile if you're using any one-handed weapon. So are Fighting Stance and Savage Strike, since pretty much everybody likes extra damage on a standing critical hit. Usually I also get Critical Charge, although (maybe it's lack of dexterity) usually my characters come to a halt when they swing a weapon.

From that point onward the value of other perks is debatable. Paralyzing Strike is a perk I skip because alchemy provides paralysis with better control over the effect. Armsman, Bladesman, and Bone Breaker are also perks I skip because they consume a lot of perk points without giving a whole lot of extra damage. Dual Flurry and Dual Savagery are a waste if you use a shield, but I happen to like dual wielding.

So that's 8 perk points for a basic run up the One-Handed tree, 11 perk points for a dual wielder.

The real difference depends on what else you do. If you use a shield that sends you up an entirely different skill tree, and if you also do archery that sends you up a third skill tree. A lot of players also like to develop their offense through the backstabbing bonuses with Sneak perks, which takes 4 perks to get to the x15 bonus.

You could spend about 30 perk points on combat offense plus shield skills. Or you could stop at 11 points while being just about equally effective, using a follower for air cover and supplementing that with shouts and an occasional daedra. An Altmer can conjure a flame atronach without any perks in conjuration or any level bonuses in magicka.

These observations are useful if your interest is in having a character who can hold their ground in a fight while freeing up as many points as possible for exploring other skills. But personal tastes and talents differ greatly among players: a lot of people love archery, which I have zero talent for. It delights me to wander meadows picking flowers and catching butterflies to gather alchemy ingredients, which can substitute for most of the skills on the Stealth tree...but other players find this intensely boring.

So maybe the best approach is to make a prioritized list of the skills that appeal to you, then research which perks on those trees you're most likely to need. Work up the essential skill trees first and then save the B list for when you hit around level 35 or so.

Super sound advice! thanks, I think this will help get me started. I figured the thing I may run in to would be having too many combat skills - ill just have to limit myself.

Also note that u can 'skip' perks within a tree arm. Like enchanting...u don't have to take both middle perks to get to dual enchant.