Archery vs. Destruction

[jsmith100290]

I'm planning a melee based character (probably orc). I need a way to deal with dragons who are flying around. So what is better at lower levels for long range combat, Archery or Destruction. Mind you, if I take either, I don't plan on going far with it, since I only planned on using it to weaken dragons and maybe take down skittish animals (deer and moose) for their pelts. I don't plan on using ranged attacks that much, my tactic is wading in and bashing in skulls with a mace.

 

[jsmith100290]

Also, I don't use allies. They get in my way.

 

[Icy Seeker]

I would suggest Archery. Destruction spells cost a lot if your not a mage.

 

[Ebony Knight]

Also archery scales. Destruction does not.

 

[dragonborn---]

Archery, you can find tons of arrows..
Good luck

 

[Finalchrono]

I believe it's a consensus. Archery will do better for you than destruction.

 

[Happygolucky267]

Archery, it means you wont have to bother leveling magika much whenever you level up so your health and stamina will be better for it.

 

[Skyrim73]

For a Warrior/Beserker Orc I would certainly choose Archery. It will be much easier to level Archery as a Warrior/Beserker (Warrior Stone) and it is easier to find better bows and arrows than stronger spells early on.

 

[Albions_Angel]

Dont underestimate destruction. Archery on dragons is hard. My first character was a battle mage. Primary weapon was a skyforge steel sword or "Dawnbreaker". Offhand was light dragon shield or destruction magic, usually firebolt or ice spear but blizzard was damn effective too. With the right perks, I was OP as hell. Fireballs would regen magika faster than they used it. I was a dark elf though so dragons, particularly fire ones, were a sinch anyway. Strong to fire you see. Battlemages are easily the most op class, but can be boring as hell. Thats why my new char is a rogue class.

Dragons will land if their is space to do so and swords destroy them really easily. Worst comes to worst, ignore both archery and destruction and just take cover till they land, hit them hard and they will be so badly wounded they wont go into their next flight animation but skip straight to the crash-landed state. Trust me, they arnt an issue.

 

[Skyrim73]

I personally am a Battle Mage/Warrior. I use destruction as my ranged offense. I talk about this on the Character Builds thread. It would just be easier early on to use bows as a Warrior/ Beserker character. If you were going to pick one for the long run and were willing to do some extra work, then go destruction all the way. The 100% cost reduction armor and expert spells (especially with Impact) is hard to top. A quick tip for leveling up Destruction is to wait to do the Stormcloak/Imperial questline until you have the Destruction custom reduction armor. Then go defeat the hundreds of foes with your spells to gain massive XP.

 

[ShadowGambit]

Archery scales but at low level does less damage than Destruction.

At high level or/and High difficulty, then archery damage output is higher, mostly if you crafted your own bow with enchantment and enchanted equipments.

Archery though, doesn't do AE damage though.

 

[Skyrim73]

It also doesn't stagger foes 100% of the time when dual casting. In addition, a character can fire more spells in than arrows in a certain duration of time. However, each spell does not do as much damage as a high level bow/crossbow.

 

[grand master dragonborn]

It depends if you can get the spell firebolt it takes about 20 shots to take down a dragon but if you cant stick to archery.

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[Squirrel_killer-]

Since you don't plan on using ranged attacks for anything more than dragons I suggest either rushing the Main Quest until you get Dragonrend which forces the dragon to land, or Archery with the following Perks: Skyrim Perk Calculator - Plan the perks for your Skyrim character before spending them!. If you want to switch to Battle Mage then go Destruction. However Archery fits better with what you want, and with the perks I suggested it is has enough damage to be a worth while secondary weapon, and the Steady Hand perk makes aiming and leading a breeze. If you want to devote more points to Archer while still only using it as a dragon hunter I suggest this: Skyrim Perk Calculator - Plan the perks for your Skyrim character before spending them!


For those who it says I quoted you:

Spoiler: Addressing people other than the OP.

For a Warrior/Beserker Orc I would certainly choose Archery. It will be much easier to level Archery as a Warrior/Beserker (Warrior Stone) and it is easier to find better bows and arrows than stronger spells early on.

The Warrior Stone does not affect Archery. Archery instead falls under the Thief stone where it is treated as a stealth skill just as it was in earlier TES games.

It also doesn't stagger foes 100% of the time when dual casting. In addition, a character can fire more spells in than arrows in a certain duration of time. However, each spell does not do as much damage as a high level bow/crossbow.

While a valid point I do believe he is only worried about fighting flying dragons so the stagger is unneeded in this case.

Dont underestimate destruction. Archery on dragons is hard. My first character was a battle mage. Primary weapon was a skyforge steel sword or "Dawnbreaker". Offhand was light dragon shield or destruction magic, usually firebolt or ice spear but blizzard was damn effective too. With the right perks, I was OP as hell. Fireballs would regen magika faster than they used it. I was a dark elf though so dragons, particularly fire ones, were a sinch anyway. Strong to fire you see. Battlemages are easily the most op class, but can be boring as hell. Thats why my new char is a rogue class.

Dragons will land if their is space to do so and swords destroy them really easily. Worst comes to worst, ignore both archery and destruction and just take cover till they land, hit them hard and they will be so badly wounded they wont go into their next flight animation but skip straight to the crash-landed state. Trust me, they arnt an issue.

I must argue that there is a well known build that is by far much more OP than a Battle Mage: Arcane Archer.

 

[mtillman8152]

archery

 

[Doomy]

If you are only after dragons, consider just getting a few staffs, especially lightening. Followers are really accurate with them to

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