I have been currently playing on master. I have a mage, dual wield+light armor, 2h + heavy, and sword and shield + heavy armor.

I'm not very creative at making classes, so if you guys could suggest a class build, it would be awesome. Also what are some fun things to do in game? I feel like I've done everything so far. Anyone know any odd things I can do?

I rather enjoy the stealthy assassin type, it's also pretty easy to one-shot enemies with a bow stealth attack. =3

Since you've done three warrior-types and a mage, try a stealth-oriented character. Some sort of thief or assassin.

Or try a mage that works differently than the one you have. If you've done a destruction mage, try a necromancer or an illusionist, or some mix of types.

My next character will likely be a halfway rip-off of Sauron and other ultimate-evil types. Smithing, one-handed weapon, or two-handed plus spell, heavy armor, and necromancy and destruction (fire) magic. I'll go for the most EEEEE-VIL looking armor and accoutrements I can find as well, and do as many Daedric quests as possible.

I'm pretty bread-and-butter: I usually just go for a basic warrior. Melee only, heavy armor, a lot of health, etc.

But I love it!

One-Handed , Archery , Restoration, Conjuration - thats what I am using

dual wield, light armor, archery, sneak, pickpocketing. somewhat balanced stam and health, although let stam have the edge a bit.

although that sounds like a rogue, it's not necessarily.

I've been playing a sneaky-mage Dagger stealth kills, but if things go bad, it's firey death time. She's fairly fragile though, since she doesn't have any mage armor or ward spells >.>

A seriously badass battlemage. I play a breton/lord stone/ alteration/ sword and board/ heavy armor/ and conjuration. He is an evil bastard who does all the daedric quests and the dark brotherhood eventually which will mean leveling sneak eventually. I also do the mage's college.

My posts tend to be long, but at least you'll have substance, so prepare yourself for some in-depth anolysis.

The funnest character I have ever had was an Imperial battlemage. Skills were Alteration, Conjuration, One Handed, Restoration and Enchanting.

I didn't invest much in Conjuration since I only wanted the bound sword (and it's a damned powerful thing--as strong as a Deadric sword), so I only had three perks in that school. I'd throw up my sword and armor spell, then switch my left hand to a healing spell for use whenever I needed it. Lacking traditional armor meant I was quite agile, and I had enough soul gems to spare thanks to my bound sword. Being an Imperial gave me no need for Illusion, since I could calm everyone in a ten mile radius once a day if I was overwhelmed (which wasn't often enough to warrant needing to use it more than once a day, anyway. Not even once a week).

By the time I was able to paralyze opponents, I was already washing the floor with their corpses. I did it a few times, but it really took the meaning out of good fights for me; I didn't even need a defensive spell if I paralyzed someone, and it costs too much to cast. I stopped using it in favor of cheaper spells and more exciting battles, and I didn't care to reduce the cost of Alteration spells when I could enchant +One Handed damage, +Resistance or +[attribute] since I needed all three. And on that note, while being a battlemage is awesome and there are many ways to do it, be wary that you'll generally always need to invest in all three attributes, so you have to be careful. Generally, just add the points to whichever you run out of the most frequently and you'll be fine.

I really recommend playing such a character; it was boatloads of fun. Eventually, I had so many perks lying around from leveling up so much that I decided to invest in Smithing, but that's when the game got boring for me. Don't use Smithing and Enchanting, I say. You'll be strong enough with just one.

Now for an in-depth anolysis if you need help figuring out a character. The skills are more than just Warrior, Mage and Thief.

In my experience, a well-rounded character should have five qualities. Ideally, this should be done using as few skills as possible to maximize perk allocation, but however many skills you use is up to you. I recommend focusing on at least four skills, and at most six.

Here are the qualities of a well-rounded character:

1. Combat Primary
This is how a character deals most of their damage. One is sufficient, but use two at most if you want to mix up it. Variety can be tactical or just for fun, but I'll get to that later.
Primary combat skills are:
-One Handed
-Two Handed
-Archery
-Destruction (and the previous three for obvious reasons)
-Possibly Conjuration. It's possible to deal 100% of your damage this way, but can be awkward.

2.Combat Secondary
This is meant to supplement your combat skill. You can improve your damage output or develop new tactics using these, such as behaving defensively. The Combat Secondary skills are:
-Block (damage reduction, counter attacks, damage avoidance, elemental resistance and even a secondary form of attack; Block is a powerful skill)
-Conjuration (summons, undead, soul traps, bound weapons)
-Illusion (control the battlefield. Another powerful skill)
-Alteration (armor, detect, paralysis, spell resistance and absorption. My personal favorite, and probably the most powerful compliment to combat skills)
-Sneak (sneak attacks, improve positioning, and mid-battle pickpockets if that's your thing)
-Smithing (for obvious reasons: permanent offensive and defensive boosts)
-Enchanting (same as above, as well as weapon enchants)
-Alchemy (poisons and skill-boosting potions can mean the difference in any battle; another crazy powerful skill)

3. Defense/Damage Reduction
Because you're going to get hit. Defensive skills are:
-Armor skills (duh. Obviously, you should choose only one)
-Block (damage reduction again, especially from spells and arrows)
-Smithing (requires an armor skill to be defensive, though, so be wary as that's two investments)
-Enchanting (+ health, +stamina, magic resistance, +damage blocked % on shields, elemental resistance; Enchanting should not be overlooked)
-Alteration (not as good for physical defense as armors, but also protects against spells in more than one way and keeps you ever mobile)
-Restoration may be worth mentioning for the ward spells. Block spells, potentially absorb them, and raise your armor rating. Also turn undead.

4. Healing
So that when you do get hit, you don't die. Obviously, the healing skills are:
-Restoration
-Alchemy
While Enchanting can provide bonuses to health regeneration and Speech can lower prices on potions if you don't want to invest in either above skill, they're both inferior options.

5. Non Combat
Because, let's face it: Skyrim isn't as full of Deadra as Cyrodiil. Helpful non-combat skills are:
-Alteration (light, telekinesis, detect, transmute, equilibrium...if you can find good uses for those things)
-Lockpicking (though I wouldn't put perks in that)
-Pickpocket (potentially a great skill if you invest in it. Free wealth and equipment and other supplies)
-Sneak (can avoid combat entirely, steal things)
-Illusion (compliments Sneak)
-Speech (while most people get by without investment in it, Speech can be a useful tool. Especially helpful if you're trying to improve your game by spending extra perks on a non-combat skill [you won't have to travel the breadth of the land to sell junk and speech checks become a lot easier])

In retrospect, I should have chosen Speech for my battlemage instead of Smithing. Would have kept the game fun and would be very useful.

As I was saying earlier on the note of having two primary combat skills, it can be more than just fun. If you're using Two Handed, for instance, you might want a ranged skill (I won't say you'll NEED a ranged skill, as you can use shouts), so Archery and Destruction come in handy. If you're using Block and One Handed, I recommend getting the dual wield perks anyway: in times where superior offense is necessary, you can easily switch up your fighting style (and at the cost of only three perks). Also keeps things interesting. Finally, Destruction can compliment One Handed pretty good, as well. You can have a ranged spell in one hand a weapon in the other to keep yourself varied without having to worry about the time it takes to switch weapons (because the animations take time, even though switching is always done during paused time). You can also deal elemental damage that way if you're not into Enchanting, and most importantly, Destruction can be used defensively. Most enemies won't cross Wall of [X] spells, so throw one down, cast a rune on it and put on a cloak for several hundred points of defensive damage. It's also helpful to deal damage both ways, since you can resort to your weapon when you run out of magic and your magic when you run out of stamina (if your battles last that long). Note that Destruction and One Handed potentially have as great a damage output as dual wielding one handed weapons.

As you can see, my battlemage used a skill from almost each subset. Should have had Speech instead of Smithing (how many people can say that?), but I digress.

I hope I helped (and I hope my post was bearable!).

I was gonna go on this giant spiel about my favorite builds, and then...

Well, you single-handedly closed the thread. If the OP reads your comment, he's good.

Damnit man...

Hehe.... right?

I come here to read a couple sentences, not a book.

D E R A I L E D

Well, thanks xD I'm glad you liked it.

Also, I'm no hater, but I love your signature. I need a gamepad to play on PC; K&M annoy the hell out of me.



I don't see how this was derailed by my post.

Besides which, if you're not fond of reading, I've got two pieces of advice for you:

1. Don't play RPGs
2. And especially do not visit the official forums for RPGs. People tend to anolyze game mechanics and all that.

Edited my original post.

Oh no, the reading was fine.

You're good man.

Just feel robbed, no comment is going to add anything more than what you posted.

Kudos, take your +75 enchanted hood of forum pwnsauce and be proud.

We were trying to pay you a compliment, through admittedly narcissistic means.

My favorite build in this game is a Shadow Knight style build - One Handed (Dual Wield focus), Heavy Armor, Conjuration, Enchanting, Illusion, Alteration, Restoration, Smithing

Have loads of fun with it.

I'm playing a Wood Elf Vampire Noble style character continuing from my character in oblivion. I use Archery, dual daggers, illusion and its fun so try that

Oh! Forgot to post something. Just a small bit:

If you want, it can be interesting to use Heavy Armor and the light side of the Smithing tree. This gives you access to well-built plate armor (as opposed to the lackluster improvement it would get if you focused on the right side of the tree), lighter weight weapons (which means you can carry more of them[!] and fire faster if you're using bows), and the Dragon Armor perk can be reached earlier.

I know there's a lot of complaints that Deadric armor provides better protection and weapons, but Dragon armor is actually far superior. Not only does it render the same protection as Deadric armor (both pass the armor cap easy), but it weighs less. Even if you have the Steed stone or Conditioning, that means that you can carry more stuff when you're not wearing your Dragon armor (or more than one set, if you have different enchanted sets for different scenarios). It's also easier to make and therefore a good source of income, and lightweight weapons deal fine enough damage on their own while giving superior variety to heavy weapons.

One last note:

The armor cap can be reached, ideally, one of two ways: By having only ONE rank in the "armor protects X% better" perk (Juggernaut and Agile Defender) and using Smithing, OR having all five ranks in the perk and not using Smithing. The second method costs only four extra perks as opposed to Smithing's 5-7 perks, so it's perfectly viable.