I am level 23. Khajiit. Dual wield. Light armor. Sneak.

using DB armor. Have to constanlty swtich between the two cowls, 0 armor and +25 sneak and 20 armor +25 archery. Hate it.

I can kill many with sneak-attack but if they survive it takes forever to kill them. Often regular enemies kill me because I have so low armor. Many spells can one-shot me.

Tired of this. Want to have real fights not just do sneak-attack and hope they die instantly. If they don't I might as well reload.
Playing on expert.

Can I start doing 2h and heavy armor now, or is it better tp just start a new game?

Mostly depends on how much health you have. Even if its low, you're only level 23, there's plenty of time to build it up.

Depends on what you put Perks into. I would advise against 2H and Heavy Armor. You probably already have Perks into 1H. Get the Perks you need in Blocking, grab a Shield. Armor does little if any for survivability. You can hit the cap with Light or Heavy. Light has the advantage of Stamina Regen increase Perked as well. Sneak does not go to waste either. You can still Sneak attack and open up on targets with a 1H + Shield just fine. You should take up Smithing and Enchanting also if you want to increase damage & survivability. These offer the largest advantages.

You should not ever have to "switch gear". Enchanted gear with Fortify One-Hand is all you need. You can go toe-to-toe with anything with a Shield Bashing things. You can do this with a 2H, but this will be easier for you based on your apparent comfort level and experience with the game.

start a new game for a wholly new playstyle.

Leave your khajiit as he is.

+24 sneak shouldn't be needed honestly... just leave the archery hood on

You might consider what magic might assist your character.

Alteration can boost your armor for fights you need it in... also has great magic resistance perks

Conjuration can provide an additional source of damage and another target for enemies to attack

Illusion is the most restrictive but potentially the most thematic. If nothing else, Silent Casting is nice when sneaking.

You should be using resto spells too... unfortunately you can't quick map a offhand weapon which makes it a bit annoying.

I wouldn't perk into destro... but I would recommend leveling it high enough to unlock cloak spells. (they don't get dmg bonus from dmg perks, and they have a long duration so cost isn't as big a deal)

with silent cast you could sneak close to an enemy, dual-cast alteration armor (nothing worse than it wearing off right before getting blasted by a 2hand attack ), then move in for the stealth kill with cloak spell in offhand (I recommend Ice to slow & stam drain enemies... but you can use any of the 3 for diff enemies) Assassinate first target (or at least high damage) then activate cloak spell, cast a summon, and then equip your off-hand weapon.

I would say it depends entirely on how attached you are to your current character. If he's a sneaky type it would seem weird to me that he suddenly wields greatswords instead of a dagger, but that's up to you. It's never too later to change style.

Use conjuration or illusion spells. You can give them another target or turn them against each other.

It can be hard to change over to magic. You probably would get better results from adding Block and possibly Smithing, as carrotfeets said.

Like someone else mentioned, you're only level 23. There's still a ton of room for improvement/revision. That being said, here are some things that should be easy to accomodate with your current Kajiit in hopes you don't have to re-roll (which can be disheartening, I know)

1. Incerase archery skill. Make it another means of offense. With the right perks, archery is a formidable foe. With your sneak, it should be no problem.

2. Add magic to your arsenal. Preferrably illusion or conjuration for offense, alteration for defense (detect life and flesh spells are good). Also, illusion can be considered defensive.

3. ALCHEMY! If you're reluctant to try it, don't be. It's offense and defense-- all rolled into one. Additionally, you don't have to sacrifice multiple perks just invest in alchemy! It may seem time consuming at first but it's really not once you figure out which potions and poisons fit your playstyle. Good and creative poisons/potions can completely turn the tide of a battle to your favor.

4. If you don't have anything invested in 1h (which I hope you do), go ahead and put some sauce on it. When you accidentally miss your hidden bonus (it happens to the best of us) at least you'll deal solid damage otherwise. Dual wielding works well with this for optimal damage.

Additionally, I discourage the use of shields in a stealth character. Whats the point? You could invest perks in any of the above and get more out of a stealth character. Unless you really want the polar opposite gameplay where you're a stealth character when need be and a valiant warrior when the shadows prove insufficient. Your call

O.o

how so?

2 hours into the mage questline should have you with a decent magicka boosting amulet to hold you over until you lelve up your magicka high enough 9if still @ base levels) and would allow him to continue dual-wielding for actual combat... though the favorites and quick map system has a rather unfortunate shortcoming when it comes to equipping off-hand weapons... but I have a spellsword who pulls out a second weapon after casting his armor, cloak, and summon.

You have smithing at all? Don't need to switch to heavy if you can temper up your light set.

You are currently playing one of the easiest/strongest playstyles.


You SHOULD be 1 shotting almost anything with stealth attack. Are you sure your daggers/weapons are up to date? Do you have the sneak attack perks? The 2x damage gloves?

If you fail to 1 shot, switch to two non-daggers and go to town with the strongest attack in the game, DW power attack. Get yourself artifact weapons, the quests are easy.




Also, smithing would probably help alot. Adds tons of armor value and dmg. No need to powerlevel it to 100, 60 is more than enough even on master.

^60 just for Arcane Smithing... a MUST have IMO...

If you are non-magic user there is no point in increasing anything but health.

uhm... stamina??

Also.... fighters can almost always make use of Resto. ESPECIALLY with Regen and Respite perks.

Because those Perks he invested more or less become worthless. Hybrids are rather weak in Skyrim and require a lot more Perk investment points to be worthwhile. The single largest advantage a caster has is Impact. Unless you dual-cast, it does not work. Magicka is an extreme concern further unless you take Enchanting to make spells 0 cost. You would have been better served simply using that to Fortify your 1H damage.

His complaint is based on two things, survivability as well as a more fun way to play than Sneaking as a rogue where he in theory would one-shot everything. 1H and a Shield with Light Armor would be the best way to accomplish that without any wasted Perks. Judging by the OPs grammar and knowledge of the game, we can assume that they would not do well as a Spellsword or any Hybrid character if they cannot make an Assassin character where the game is trivialized. 1H + Shield and Light Armor would give the OP the survivability and playstyle they are looking for, without drastic changes or challenge.

woah woah WOAH now...

I never said to take destro... I said rank it up only enough so you can cast the cloak spells but to NOT spend ANY perks in it. The cloak spells are very useful to a dual-wielder... trust me. It can drain stamina and slow enemy melee fighters, it can drain mana from enemy mages, and can help make short work of undead with fire.

As you said, he complained about survivability. I recommended primarily Alteration to further boost his armor rating as well as gaining some magic resistance. Not a must... I would max the light armor first perk first for example as that is "always on"

I also recommended Resto, which, unless you're 1 hit, offers you quick recovery that won't burn through a limited supply of pots. I honestly don't understand how anyone plays the game without resto personally. 5 perks will fill the need for any melee based character. Cost reduc through Adept (for close wounds... which becomes a 150pt heal to health and stam with the next 2 perks) and Regen (+50% strength to heal spells) and Respite (heal spells refil stamina too).

Switching between dual-wielding and 1hand with offhand heal isn't that big of a change. The latter being safer for harder fights, the former being more aggressive for quicker fights.

Finally Conjuration and Illusion both have effects that could give him a LOT of versatility and suvivability in combat. Illusion is nice as it's thematic with a stealth character and will grant silent casting when perked in. However, you can't affect undead or Dwarven machines until skill lvl 100... which leaves you back where you were when facing them. Conjuration is more reliable... however less sneaky. My Assassin is leveling Conjuration now actually because of difficulties with non-illusionable enemies.... I just summon after my first kill when the combat starts.

He's better off by just simply taking smithing to keep his current playstyle and become very powerful. Cloack is pretty garbage if you play on harder difficulty settings, you barely notice its on and it screws up your stealth game.

Theres not much point into taking anything but Hp as a melee character, it only takes 1 stamina to do a power attack.

You don't need 2h and heavy armor to be a badass in a stand up fight. My Khajiit specialized in dual wield, light armor, and sneak, and he can certainly handle himself in a stand up fight. Dual wielding swords or daggers would seem to make more sense for a sneaky character than pulling out a two handed weapon. Here's my 10 point recipe for turning your character into a badass in a stand up fight:

Put 8 points into one arm skill tree (5 into armsman, two into dual flurry and one into dual savagery). Put two points into smithing (steel and arcane) so you can smith your DB armor and whatever enchanted swords/daggers you decide to use. That will increase your offense and your defense considerably.

Also, if you haven't already done so, put as many points into the light armor tree as you can. I find them all to be good, except matching set, since I like to mix and match. Some folks will tell you you don't need points in light armor if you spam the alchemy/ enchanting loop to smith the armor to a high enough degree. That is certainly another option for better protection. If you want to follow that path, put points into alchemy and enchant instead of light armor.

At level 23, you definately have time to take this character in a different direction, what direction is up to you. My suggestion is just one option . . .

Agreed. Although I would argue that a melee character could get by with four perks, foregoing the Adept perk and relying on Fast Healing (apprentice spell) instead of going for the adept. True it heals less, but it is faster and more mana efficient for melee characters who don't put points into magicka. You can always use the hotkeys to quickly swith both hands from your swords to your fast heal and very quickly cast two of those spells at once.

I have played the game withou using restoration, but it definately changes the way you play the game. I have a two hander Nord, who is so anti-magic that he has never cast a single spell and never will. Its a roleplayign choice for that character and so far it hasn't been too much of a problem. I have some points into Alchemy so my healing potions are pretty good.

The reason I suggested not going your route is it is a lot of stuff you have to take into consideration, plus you are relying on an additional stat, Magicka. He can take the build he already has and change the playstyle to be toe-to-toe. The inclusion of a Shield and ability Block or Bash is a lot more straight forward than having to swap for spells. I don't find it necessary to take any Resto Perks, particularly if you use the Guardian Stone, get the Light Armor Perk, and split focus between Health and Stamina. I personally never take Health due to the fact I never get hit. Offense is my Defense. He does not want to play an Assassin any longer. A transition to a Warrior is much easier. The learning curve and difficulty playing a Mage is much higher than a Warrior.

^Yah, I'd say leveling smithing up to get arcane smithing will def yield positive results. Only 2 perk investment, and you can power level it to 60 for the perk if you need to (you should already be kinda close if you'd been using it the whole time... so PLing in retrospect isn't so bad)

I still say resto is a good add-on for the character.... dual-wield as much as you can... but some fights you just need CONSTANT health (and the constant stamina ain't to shabby either)

spamming heal in your offhand to keep your health and stam at max throughout a fight is hardly difficult.

Probably the easiest method of fighting I've used actually.

Someone mentioned cloak spells are of no use on higher difficulty, and yes... I agree. I was referring to normal difficulty which I assumed the OP is playing on. I also understand it prevents stealth killing while active. It's not something you'd want on all the time... but if you're fighting multiple targets toe-to-toe... it is certainly worth it on Normal difficulty.

Likewise Conjuration is a VERY easy magic school to mix in with his combat. All he has to do is sneak up to the first guy for his lead-in attack, then cast his summon and swap to his weapon (or heal .... or if he's up to it, swap to cloak, cast, then on to off-hand weapon/heal). All you gotta do is drop a fire atronach at the onset of each fight and it will help IMMENSELY in both damage mitigation and in overall DPS dealt by you and yours.

I pretty much agree with all of this, although I would argue that it is a stylistic choice between whether you go sword and board or dual wield. Either one can make a formidible opponent in a stand up fight, just depends on whether you want to block vs dodge to avoid attacks and whether you prefer more offence vs balance in your combat style. Some of the block perks are really powerful, but there are only three perks in the dual wield branch of the one arm tree, so going that route leaves you with a lot of perks you could spend on something else if you forego all the great block perks. A dual wielder with the Dual Savagery perk can outlay a lot of damage with a dual power attack, and the stamina regen perk in the light armor tree is invaluable for any melee fighter that uses power attacks/bashes.

^Not to mention, the OP already (presumably?) took the dual-wield perks (if not... wth you doin dual-wielding?)

I just noticed the OP also complained about spells one shotting him. It should be pointed out that no amount of armor (heavy or light) and no armor perks will help on that front. The block perk Elemental Protection and the Alteration perks magic resistance and Atronach are the only ones I know of that will help with spells. The block perk is fine if you go sword and board but not for dual wielders. The Alteration perks are great but use a lot of perks to get up in the Alteration tree. I would probably not go that route.

Others have mentioned Alchemy as a good place to drop a few points and that would give access to some fairly good resist frost/fire/shock potions, which should be enough to get through those mage battles without getting one shotted. A dual wielder who foregos block could put the extra points into alchemy. A sword and board figher would get Elemental Protection to deal with the pesky mages.