I'm interested in doing an unusual build but I would like to know if it is even viable at all and if it is worth the effort, especially since it employs certain skills that might not work well together. Is there some way I could do a 2 handed vampire warrior hybrid with a minor focus on stealth, one handed (need daggers for stealth), heavy armor and some type of magic and/or archery. Usually I don't ever mix stealth with heavy armor and much less with 2 handed since those skills don't work well together but for the sake of experimentation and variety I would like some help with this to see if I can make something viable. As for races, I don't think it really matters that much to me as what I would choose but suggestions would be helpful.

You would be spreading points VERY thin.
You would need to have a muffle enchantment on your boots to counter act the heavy armor part (or use steed stone).

It seems like you want to generally cover every bases on one character. You will be EXTREMELY weak in the beginning

Focus on one part of that build to start the game (stealth part preferably), and start to branch out around level 15

yeah seems fine to me. You may need to only choose certain perks and not try to max out the trees. I'm not sure that going 1 and 2 handed is such a good idea however. I think it would be better to just go one handed with perhaps a sword and dagger. As for heavy armor and stealth it works just fine. The ebony mail is a heavy armor designed for stealth if you need something before you get the perk that reduces weight noise. Also the illusion school can do a lot to aid you with your stealth. Illusion also is a very easy school to level.

With this build you're going to be good at a few things, but not great at any of them. I would possibly consider cutting one of your main choices out, not sure how you feel about that, but thats just my opinion.

Some things seem a bit redundant, but it could work if you only go deep into a couple skills and take only a few perks in the more minor skills.

My last character went deep into four - heavy armor, smithing, block and one-handed - and took only a couple perks in sneak and archery and only one in Restoration, so I had some broadness of abilities but managed to avoid being spread too thin or turning into a jack of all trades and master of none.

But as has been said above, going for both one-handed and two-handed seems like unnecessary duplication, but so long as you don't use a lot of perks on one-handed you might be fine. Just remember that you might well be good at two out of melee, archery, magic and stealth, but you won't be an expert in all three. If you concentrate on the melee, with two-handed and heavy armor, plus a couple different magic schools, and go light on the one-handed and sneak, you could be a fairly effective warrior-mage, I think, especially once you add on the vampire capabilities.

* You can mix Stealth and Heavy Armor easily; I'm doing it myself right now. I don't even put any perks into Sneak, but I never get detected. The trick is to use The Steed sign. This will make all worn armor weigh nothing, meaning you suffer no movement speed penalty, no stamina reduction, and no noise penalty. In addition, you get however much inventory space your armor would weigh, since it won't count toward your total encumbrance. Oh, and you get another +100 carrying capacity to boot. Probably the best sign in the game for my money...

* As for mixing One Handed and Two Handed, that seems a bit less plausible. I say just choose one and stick with it. If you want to use Two Handed, you should do so -- you'll be more than strong enough to get by without the 15x dagger perk. Just get the 6x weapon damage sneak perk, and wear Shrouded Hand Wraps or Jester's Gloves. That totals 12x damage. 12x damage with a power attack from any two handed weapon, especially factoring in perks/buffs/enchantments, should be more than enough to kill pretty much anything in your path in a single blow.

* EDIT - As Renegade Knight pointed out below, the 6x damage only applies to One Handed weapons. The max you can get with Two Handed is 3x (plus the 2x glove bonus, for a total of 6x). Compare to daggers: 15x with perk, plus 2x glove bonus, x3 strikes with a dual wield power attack = 90x damage with a single power attack... Or "just" 30x with a single dagger and a spell in your left hand. I would strongly suggest rolling with One Handed and dropping Two Handed, but if you want to try to make it work, far be it from me to stop you.

* I would recommend using Illusion for your magic skill. It's a great complement to Sneak: Muffle is VERY beneficial, especially at lower levels. Frenzy is also great for taking out groups of enemies while you hide in the shadows (until eventually all you have to do is pick off the last man standing, already weakened from fighting his peers). Calm is great for when you get caught; just cast it and get far enough away to be hidden, then sneak back in for the kill. And Invisibility is the most useful of all, for obvious reasons... I don't recommend Destruction, because it levels slowly, and it gets way underpowered in the mid- and end-game. You could look into Conjuration, but in my experience, it doesn't mix well with Sneak, because your summons don't tend to attack until you're engaged in combat, which is exactly what Sneak seeks to avoid. Restoration can be useful, but really there's no need to go out of your way to level it. Just pick up a few perks like Respite and Regeneration, and be sure to use the basic Healing spell when necessary.

* You'll probably find that you seldom use Archery with this build. The build I'm currently using is fairly similar, just using One Handed instead of Two Handed. I don't think I've used my bow more than once or twice, and I'm level 25. I find I have no trouble whatsoever sneaking up on anyone individually, and Illusion takes care of groups for me, so I really never need Archery. By now, my Archery skill is too low to be of any use even if I did want to start using it more...



So yeah, basically I suggest using Sneak, Two Handed, Illusion, and Heavy Armor as your main skills. All complement each other fairly naturally by way of your play style. Supplement with Restoration as needed, but don't go out of your way to grind it or anything. Forget about One Handed, and don't use Archery unless you really have to. (As others have said, it starts spreading around the points too thin, and besides, as I said before, you'll find it's unnecessary.) Pick up The Steed sign early on. Consider throwing in some Smithing to take full advantage of the Heavy Armor (not necessary, but could be useful . . . maybe hold off until level 30+) and you should be set.

don't think the x6 works with two handed weapons, only one handed ones.

Ah, I just checked the wiki and you are correct. Hm, I'd probably go with One Handed then... But you could probably make it work if you really want to, OP. But compare 4x Sneak damage with a 2H weapon to 30x damage with a 1H dagger (and throw in the fact that you can equip two daggers at once, and the dual dagger attack actually hits three times) and it's pretty clear where the advantage lies.

Yeah I suspected that it would be difficult, well then I think I'll just use sneaking for the purpose of being a vampire, I think it would be a waste to put any perks into that. I suspected this build would be difficult, its very unusual. Thanks for the responses though, I think I'll cut some skills. I'll stick to two handed and heavy armor as my main skills. I would also be interested in block (if it is useful), enchanting and smithing. Am I still focusing too much on too many skills or is this fine?

I managed to max four skills by level 45, so the number of skills isn't too much, but I don't think block will be all that useful with two-handed, although I could be wrong. How many of the Block perks apply only to shields and how many of them apply to blocking with weapons? Block with a shield is pure awesome, however. One-handed, Block, Heavy Armor and Smithing are a great combination, and serious power in Enchanting could fit well with them. I'd say if you want to stick with two-handed, consider not investing perks in Block.

Block isn't really worthwhile unless you plan on [a] using a shield, and [b] engaging in direct combat frequently. If you sneak attack everyone you can, and use calm/frenzy whenever possible, you'll almost never need to engage anyone face-on, so Block is pretty much useless. And if you're going with Two Handed, you'll never be using shields to boot. As for Smithing and Enchanting, they are useful at high levels, but dangerous at low levels. If you level them much in the early game, it may cause your character's combat skills to be a bit under-leveled compared to the enemies you face. I would suggest avoiding those skills for the most part until around level 40 or so.

But Block with a shield - ah, that's a beautiful thing. Pure awesome isn't hyperbole. It adds a certain rhythm to the game, and I have to admit I really, really enjoyed playing with the one-handed/block combo.

I agree with d4rk ones statement you don't need block if you use sneak effectively. Also sneak can be one of the most useful tool especially against tougher opponents. Combine it with illusion and you can vanish as quickly as you appear.

Well I do want to fight people directly, I only want sneak because if I wanted a vampire warrior so I don't want any trouble with feeding or townspeople noticing me when my guy reaches stage four. If block isn't useful then I'll put the points somewhere else then. I guess I will level smithing and and enchanting slowly in order to avoid any trouble with that. As for magic I'll stick to illusion and I'll put 3 perks into restoration to get necromage. As for races, I know its not really important but any recommendations on which I should choose in order to start well?

So the skills I would put perks into are 2 handed, heavy armor, illusion, enchanting, smithing and maybe a few points into sneak. Is that sufficient or is it too much?

I had no problem with leveling Smithing - my combat skills kept pace the whole game - but then I wasn't adding Enchanting into the mix, admittedly.

Block is crazy useful with a shield, but many of the perks only apply to shields, so I imagine it's rather less useful for two-handers.

Illusion does sound like a useful magic school for a vampire.

I'd say your perks are pretty good; like I say, I maxed four skills by level 45, so working with five major skills probably wouldn't be too much. A minor in Sneak couldn't add too much work, I think.

Honestly, it sounds like you have a play style in mind already, and if that's the case, your skills will level naturally based on that play style. If we tell you what skills to use, they likely won't conform to that play style, meaning you'll either have to adapt to fit our suggestions, or grind those skills in addition to playing the way you really want to. Neither of those sound like ideal ways of enjoying the game. If I were you, I'd just make your character and start playing the way you truly want to, since it seems to me you have a pretty good idea of what that is. If you end up feeling underpowered, come back around level 15-20 and we can discuss making adjustments to your play style, or at least finding ways to complement it better. Chances are you'll be fine though. I would just suggest making your character, playing your build the way you actually want to play it, and perking those skills you use most.

Very good point.

If your going to be a vampire you have to get the necromage perk. It gives 25% stronger spells against undead which includes yourself since you are undead.

agree