Hi,

since patch 1.5 came out i really wanted to make an archer. Since i enjoy my Vigilant of Stendarr char so much wanted to go down a similar road but this time not a lawful good kind of character but more morally suspect type who fights undead/vampires/necromancers etc. with their own tools. His motivations are not good intentions but merely that he's the only one who is able to and not afraid to do it and he gets paid a lot of money for it.

This is the build i've come up with:

http://skyrimcalculator.com/#108558

Basically he sets up dual cast rune traps and sneak attacks foes with his bound bow+weakness to magic poisons. He also uses illusion (quiet casting, muffle, clairvoyance).
If i get him to high levels i will also use enchanting and smithing to optimize his gear.

I thought breton would be a good race lorewise because of their prowess in conjuration.

Questions:

- That's my first character with archery am i missing out on some really usefull perks? Is critical shot worth it?

- Do i actually need stamina because i remember shooting a bow doesn't cost stamina....?

- Does bound bow damage scale well with higher levels? Can i apply poisons to bound bow? I remember reading somewhere that the damage is pretty good. Would be cool to be able to permanantly use it.

- Can i increase the rune damage through poisons? Like hitting an enemy with weakness to poison+magic+lightning + lightning rune?

- Regarding magicka if i stealth cast spells like muffle, runes, bound bow do i get out of combat magicka regeneration if enemies don't have decteced me? How much magicka should i get to be able comfortly to cast muffle, rune and bound bow withoutt having to wait to long in between (with the appropriate perks)?

- I play on PS3 so i don't have access to mods but i want a good looking armor for this char. Thieves Guild Leader Armor would have the perfect look but joining the thieves guild just doesn't feel right with this character. Is there any other similar looking armor with acceptable stats/proctection or can i get thieves guild armor without joining somehow?
The solution i came up with would be ebony armor with a black hood...but i'm not to sure how i looks on a slimmer human male (if someone could post a picture it would be highly appreciated;).

- Will my sneak endgame be sufficient if i use heavy armor + conditioning + muffle + 5/5 stealth?

sneak + bound bow = one-shot every creature until you pass out from boredom

Seriously, bound bow is ridiculously strong. You can get it very early and without perks it's equivalent to a daedric bow with daedric arrows. With the perk it's just insane.

Tough to play a van helsing with no crossbows, but if you want to be an undead slayer maybe you should consider using silver weapons (with flame enchant) and restoration (for the turn undead spells). Maybe add a flame cloak and fire runes and wall of flames for variety.

Shame there are no silver arrows in the game.

Thanks for your answer. My character is just inspired by Van Helsing i don't want an exact copy .
Hm well that the bound bow is so strong is actually good news. I could restrict myself on using normal/found bows on lower levels (so runes actually make sense) and reward myself with bound bow on higher levels when it's not as overpowered anymore.

I'm also considering playing without sneak and only poisons+runes and using the ranger perk....so many options .

Spell sword. Uses only fire spells and a silver sword. One day he will get dawnbreaker ( I recently made this sort of build)