Id say bow aint best for your play style then...

u should put ur shield on the bow and shoot it

with ur shield

Getting ready to run a DnD Ranger type character through skyrim. Taking perks in Light Armor, Block, One Hand, Archery, Smithing, Alchemy and Sneak. Seven skills. Maxing just those skills will bring you to level 49 (used the console to verify). So you will probably be level 50ish once you max them. There are PLENTY of perks to go around. Just choice wisely.

Do not focus on getting all of the perks in a tree. Just go for the good ones. For instance if you are going sword and board you need at MOST 7 one hand perks. ArmsmanX5, Fighting Stance and Bladesman. The rest blow - bad. If you are using both Archery and Alchemy you do not need Bullseye(paralysis poisons > Bullseye). For Sneak - I plan to the extra dmg perks. But that is it. For alchemy just take the alchmist. You can even dip into Enchanting, 2-3 enchanting perks will make your life a lot easier. It is all about bang for your buck when you start taking a lot of skills.

Dude this is EXACTLY what I'm planning!

A question about Alchemy tho, since I originally was planning on taking Bullseye... How long would a paralysis poison last on a bow?

Interesting about the 1 handed though. I'm thinking 5 armsman, fighting stance, and savage strike (just for fun).
And then just not specializing in any particular weapon, so I can feel free to use any 1 hander I come across along the way.

Block is a hard one tho... because EVERY perk seems good!

I use my bow at distance and then one handed and sheild up close. Works a treat for me and not had a problem with perks. I still got 3 points to spend but nothing of great interest for me to spend my points.

I have yet to roll a warrior in an Elder Scrolls game without sword, board & bow.

Archery is perhaps lame without sneak, but you don't need sneak perks really, beyond maybe the first one and maybe muffled movement if you're not going to use an enchant or illusion for it.

It is totally feasible. I use one handed, restoration, conjuration, alteration, destruction, heavy armour plus enchanting and smithing to a lesser extent. Thats eight skills, you have four. I find it hard to balance, but I find no greater satisfaction to be able to tank out damage while killing things by throwing carrots at them.

I have all of the damage-affecting perks Sneak allows. I have all of the damage-affecting perks that skill 70 in Archery allows. I use an ebony bow. Numerous things do not go down with one shot, even when I am sneaking.

I have only one perk left guaranteed to give me extra damage with every shot (Overdraw for 80%). I find it doubtful that Archery plus Sneak alone, even with all the perks, has you killing everything with one shot (at Adept difficulty or higher).

If it turns out that I find myself killing everything with one shot when my Archery nears 100 and I have all of its perks, I will reevaluate the Sneak-Archery combination, and possibly switch to a weaker bow.

The OP knows they can power bash with a bow, right?

Swapping between Shield and Bow could get pretty frustrating pretty fast. You can actually apply blocking perks to the Bow itself, allowing you to butt and Swipe if the enemy gets too close. But I agree that Sneak is pretty vital to an archer. The extra damage it provides is awesome.

On the one hand skills I meant to say armsman, fighting stance and savage strike (like you posted). Bladesman stinks - all of the weapon specilization perks stink. Paralysis poisons beat bullseye because they are available right away. And they work when you want them to - not some random chance. You want to paralyize the Bandit Chief, not the bandit chump. Other fun poisons for archers is frenzy/fear - for groups of enemies and slow.

I agree about block - all the perks are good. However, the elemental protection side is better for shields. Bashing is better for weapons. Believe it or not but bashing with a weapon does a lot more damage then bashing with a shield. Which is odd.

Switching between bow and sword & shield is not fustrating at all. Hot key bow and hot key sword. The game seems to remember what was in your offhand when you switch to a bow, so all you need to do is hit your weapon hotkey and it equips both your weapon and shield.. After the fight hit hotkey for the bow. Easy.

yep it works, i'm playing like that rigth now, i use a Khajit for the stealth bonus easier to sneak not investing to much on sneak perks allso i don't need to be all that sneakier cuse if they detect me i will just smack slash them to pieces