Demon Hunter Help

[Katastrophe]

I've had this build in my head for some time now... it's something I've really wanted to experiment with. As some of you know, I'm very partial to archery builds. They're very versatile for an array of function, whether it's clearing dungeons or hunting game or killing dragons. Plus, what's better than killing your opponent before they even touch you? So most of my characters turn out to be some sort of sneak archer, since that's just archery doing lots of damage in it's purest form, but this build can get pretty simple (read: boring) so I've been looking to spice it up, which prompts a series of question/answers.

What is the problem with pure Archery? Melee combat.
How do I avoid melee combat? One hit kills.
How do I do that? Sneak skill tree.

And so that's pretty much been the logic process, but I want to change that. I don't want to avoid melee combat - I want to embrace it. So naturally, you might be thinking to also run a sword and board, but then that takes away from that pure archery feel - I'm no longer just an archer... I'm now only an archer at long range, then I'm a knight. While playing through my character in The Hunted, I discovered a solution that I hadn't known existed - Guardian Circle. For those that don't know, you create a barrier around yourself that causes undead to flee and it heals you. To drop one of these and release pain in the form of arrows and bolts...? Melee problem solved. But it only works on undead, so I need other plans.

I began to explore runes and look more closely into Alchemy. It became apparent that this character would need to do a lot of preparation before leaving town and even more preparation when it came to assessing the situation. He would need to be able to drop his defensive placements and make a stand. I would no longer kill enemies from the shadows but rather I would watch them die before me, tormented by the fact that the harder they tried to kill me, the faster they died.

So where do I need help...? It's mostly finalizing details. Here is the perk tree that I've selected so far that really only contains the "bare bones" so I'm going to discuss my choices so far and include a list of things I'm questioning.

Archery - This is obvious, but you might question why I didn't take some perks, like the second 'Steady Hand' and the entire right side of the tree. I think the second 'Steady Hand' perk is a waste - really, with the first perk, you should have all the time you need to line up your shot. In addition, 3 perks for a 1-in-5 chance of a critical just doesn't feel worth it. Also, the ability to move faster with a drawn bow isn't necessary, as I'll be making stands. Also, with the ease at which arrows (and I believe bolts as well?) are crafted, I won't need to worry about my current supply. Lately, I've found myself easily running with 500+ arrows at any given time. Ammo is not an issue.

Alchemy - I only briefly mentioned this, but this is going to be my primary crafting skill. The ability to easily craft health potions in the beginning will save me a ton of money and the eventual poisons and other potions will help cover all my bases. I envision myself being able to paralyze the main bad guy in a room while I deal with his buddies before taking him one-on-one. Is Purity worth the two perk investment? I haven't really dabbled with high level Alchemy before.

Destruction - This is mostly for Fire Runes and Fire Walls. I'm going to focus primarily on Fire magic and those are the two major spells I'll be using. How useful is the Rune Master perk?

Restoration - This is here primarily for the Guardian Circle spell, but also for the array of "anti-undead" spells available with the Dawnguard DLC. Will these really be worth it, or should I perhaps invest the perks in another skill tree and focus just on the Destruction spells for that static defense?

Now, here's where things get interesting because I'm not sure where or how far to branch off from this. The obvious choice is armor, and when it comes down to it, I want to use a hood. I do not like helmets. Why do I spend hours making my character's face to hide it? Also, come on... Demon Hunters use hoods. But for the actual armor, I think Heavy Armor might be best... it'll give me more protection, especially early on. So perhaps just the five perks in Juggernaut and let it be?

Also, Illusion - should I invest in silent casting for a more stealthy set up or is that too much of a perk investment? With my Alchemy being able to give me the Frenzy and Fear effects, would Illusion just be overkill? Also, Conjuration - a summoned helper could prove quiet useful, but is that taking away from my "Here I am, face your death" approach? Also, wouldn't it seem odd that a Demon Hunter is summoning Dremora and Undead Thralls to fight for him...?

Last, there's the ever important stat distribution. It seems like I'm going to need all three: Magicka to place all my necessary defenses, health to survive, and stamina for zooming in with my bow for prolonged periods. I could invest a perk in Respite so that I also recover Stamina with healing spells, but I don't think that will play a big role until I get that Guardian Circle spell towards the end.

When this is all said and done, I'm thinking of doing this character in a highly edited "Let's Play" series, something to make it more cinematic. Let me know what you think and all help is appreciated.

 

[Crooksin]

I had written a guide of sorts from my experience for another thread that was long buried so I'll copy and paste it here and maybe it will help you out as well. Some of it was written for something else but its all there.

I would recommend getting the "Skyrim Redone" mod. Alot of the vanilla perks are either useless or way overpowered like Agentoringe has said you can easily exploit smithing and enchantment for diabolical results. Imo, that only goes so far as you don't need super powered weapons if it only takes 2-3 hits of a Daedric sword to kill almost everything, what is the fun in that?

With Skyrim Redone, it increases the difficulty, changes up how the game works and adds a load of new things that will really give each character build a distinct feel. It also fixes/revamps/rehauls all perk trees and skills and greatly improved enemy AI. I find with the Vanilla game once you get to level 20-25 or so, even on Master with any build, everything is pretty easy especially if you utilize sneak and enchantment/smithing.

As for build recommendations, I always go with 1 melee skill (1h+shield, fast swing/moderate damage/don't take alot of damage) and either Destruction or Archery. Vanilla Destruction is horrible, especially at higher levels if you don't go balls deep into it (Basically pure mage) so I almost always go with Archery as it can easily cause more damage with the added bonus of sneak attack multiplier.

Using both 1h and 2h weapons, in my eyes, is a useless and unnecessary. "Jack of all trades, master of none." I love 2h, don't get me wrong, its much more satisfying to completely dominate someone with power attacks from a great sword or a great ax but 1h+shield is more versatile and more protective. Even Dual-wielding is better than 2h, you still cannot block but its all about damage per second rather than damage per swing, plus you can have an enchantment on 2 weapons at once rather than just one.

Heavy armor, imo, is much better than light armor in the sense that if you get the Steed stone (removes all ill-effects from wearing Heavy Armor) it practically is the same thing but protects a vast amount more. With that you should always invest a little bit in Enchantment and Smithing (I know I went on a rant about it being overpowered, but still XD) to create weapons/armors like no other. (In that case you should also invest in Alchemy to increase enchanting/smithing potential). One thing to note is that you should not dump all your perks into the "Juggernaut", maybe once or twice, but after that it really isn't much of an advantage and the perks can be much better spent in a Magicka tree. (That goes for all the admission perks)

Lockpick/Speechcraft/Pickpocket are all, 100 percent, completely useless and the only reason you would invest perks in either of these is to get the one that increases your carrying capacity, but even that is pretty obsolete.

For magic schools, Destruction is vital if you don't go with Archery. Illusion in vanilla is pretty bad, its only good till around level 15 and becomes pretty useless and is only there for the novelty of it. Its a shame really, I really love the concept of turning your enemies against eachother and it is very fun in the beginning. Alteration is a good skill to have with the improve armor rating spells but even that tree needs alot of work to be worth all the investment. Conjuration is a fun skill, but don't overextend yourself into all the magic schools, it takes alot of perks to master any one of them and being "just good" at any of these magic skills will not help you in the end. Restoration is a crucial skill but at the same time you should not invest for the undead spells, they are useless at later levels when you can put the perks into something much more fitting such as one handed/heavy armor/archery etc but you should get the magic resistance (I think its in the Restoration tree?)

Sneak is a horrendously overpowered skill and almost every enemy including bosses become child's play when you master it and take full advantage of sneak multipliers. Its probably the easiest skill to master as well if you're like me and sneak attack every chance you get.

When selecting Health/Magicka/Stamina this is usually how I go for mostly all my builds (depending on magicka use) 3 health/2 stamina/1 Magicka, rinse and repeat. Switch it up as necessary if you find yourself more dependent on Magicka. Take in mind that most end perks in every tree are unnecessary when you get to them and to watch out and read carefully on which perks that you will not use at all but may seem good at the time.

Like I said, I strongly recommend "Skyrim Redone", it removes all the overpowered skills, balancing things out and makes the game alot harder but much more enjoyable to play. In the end, its all up to you, Skyrim plays alot different than Oblivion ever did in the sense that as long as you don't invest too many perks you can switch up your style willy-nilly. Any build at later levels (20+) is going to be a killer no matter how you go. Good luck, I've probably created around 50 characters so far because I just can't get it right or I lose interest in them. (I am also a hood-wearer, looks more badass and I'm not fond of the look of most helmets in the game)

 

[Katastrophe]

Thanks for the advice, but I play on 360, so mods are of no use to me... which is unfortunate because I've seen so many that would make my experience muuuuuch more enjoyable. But even if I wanted to... 'acquire' a copy for PC, I don't really think it'd run very well. My machine isn't meant for gaming, unfortunately.

I'm also trying to avoid melee entirely. I'll keep a dagger (I think all characters should, just because) for dire situations but I'm building for mostly (maybe 85%?) Archery with the rest being magic for preparation. I won't do much with spells like Flames and Fireball or whatever, except to level Destruction in the beginning. Perhaps in a moment where I'm caught off guard or ambushed...

 

[Crooksin]

Thanks for the advice, but I play on 360, so mods are of no use to me... which is unfortunate because I've seen so many that would make my experience muuuuuch more enjoyable. But even if I wanted to... 'acquire' a copy for PC, I don't really think it'd run very well. My machine isn't meant for gaming, unfortunately.

I'm also trying to avoid melee entirely. I'll keep a dagger (I think all characters should, just because) for dire situations but I'm building for mostly (maybe 85%?) Archery with the rest being magic for preparation. I won't do much with spells like Flames and Fireball or whatever, except to level Destruction in the beginning. Perhaps in a moment where I'm caught off guard or ambushed...

Setting aside the melee skills in favor of 2 ranged skills is a very tricky build. I've never tried this because you have to take into account the bosses. While it is possible, you'll be relying heavily on sneak to take on stronger characters and your battles will consist of mainly getting 2 or 3 shots off while in sneak and retreating while enemy awareness resets and you are able to get a couple shots off, once again. To me, that is boring gameplay and takes forever to clear dungeons.

Not to mention that if your enemy does manage to find you AND get close, that essentially, you're fluffed. Without any melee proficiency, you're a sitting duck. That kind of build is TRICKY but not impossible. For me, I think I would get frustrated with it more than enjoy it. It doesn't have much potential to have a lot of fun gameplay because you will be struggling at the start to make it work, but once you master Sneak it all just becomes way too easy.

 

[Katastrophe]

...did you read my OP?

 

[Crooksin]

...did you read my OP?

I did but I am merely stating from my experience. I have done the pure sneak build before. I played with an Assassin type and by level 20 it was horrendously boring going around one-shotting things and if I didn't one shot them then the process of fire, wait for awareness reset, then fire again took way longer then I could handle. Not to mention if any of the bosses got close, I was auto-fluffed and had to reload saves to get it just right.

I was just giving you advice because most people that I know who have tried the pure sneak build agree that its just boring as plops. Its up to you, really, good luck with your character.

 

[Katastrophe]

I did

I say in the OP that I am not making a sneak archer build... I say that I've made them before and am bored with it, hence this build. I want to keep the primary of archery but remove the necessity of stealth. In the skill tree I provided, I have 0 points in Sneak.

Please read the entire OP if you want to provide assistance. I'm grateful for the interest but as it stands, the advice you've given me is irrelevant to the build in discussion.

 

[ShadowGambit]

Block Skill.

You use a shield but no weapon. In dire situation, with shield charge, you are running through and make your enemies fly (litterally). That allows you to buy some time and reequip your bow and shoot them.

In one on one melee situation, you will stunlock and stagger your opponent, giving you time to use your bow.

Bonus: you have a +50% resist with elemental damage.

 

[Madrar]

Meh, Demon Hunter's been done already.

 

[Streets]

I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but it is a character build focused on standing your ground against the enemy. Character Build: The Salamander - The Skyrim Blog Perhaps you can take some of this as inspiration or formulation for new ideas.

This build highlights the Block skill, and goes hand in hand with what ShadowGambit was saying.

If you are using Destruction for Runes and Walls, you should also use Cloak spells, when a Flame Cloak is dual cast, it gives 2.2x the range. You can also look into the Ebony Mail for a "poison cloak" for extra damage too. These things will come in handy facing non-undead melee opponents when you want to stand and shoot arrows at them as they hit you.

Without Smithing or Enchanting or a full set of armor (no helmet), you will be hard-pressed to have a decent Armor Rating. According to my calculations, wearing a Daedric Chest, Gauntlets, and Boots, with 100 Heavy Armor skill and 5/5 Juggernaut, you will get to 238 AR, which is 42% physical damage reduction. This is with no Smithing at all. If you find any Enchanted +Smithing% gear or any +Smithing% Potions (or will you make Smithing potions with Alchemy?) you can get it up higher depending on whether or not you want to do that.

I would say with your build, you're really going to want the majority to go into Health, and as much as you need into Magicka to cast all the spells you will be using. I think Stamina unfortunately should be the least used, you'll have to bow zoom quick in and out. You may get lucky and find a decent "Absorb Stamina" bow to make up for it.

I don't think you will need Illusion, since as you said, it is mostly replaced by Alchemy (except the Calm effect and AOE).

Will your character be unlocking Dragons and Shouts? If so, you can use shouts such as Ice Form, Become Ethereal, and Slow Time to great effect for a defensive standing Archer.

Personally, I think Rune Master is a wasted perk. You can only plant one Rune at a time, and you can put them far enough away from you to begin with, or even set them before enemies come, then move into position away from it.

I also don't think you need Purity for Alchemy. It removes effects, making your potions/poisons cost less. Some of them, like Orange Dartwing/Slaughterfish Egg for a Lingering Damage Health poison, also has the effect of increasing Pickpocket. I don't know how the game determines whether or not you're trying to make a poison, but perhaps it will instead choose the positive Pickpocket effect over the negative damage effect. That means you can no longer use those ingredients to make a poison that used to help you. Swamp Fungal Pod and Imp Stool makes a Paralyze Poison that also heals the target. That would be one situation when Purity is worth it, but I don't think it's worth the perk investment.

Hopefully I have given you some good things to think about here. My apologies for being so long-winded.

 

[DovahCap]

I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but it is a character build focused on standing your ground against the enemy. Character Build: The Salamander - The Skyrim Blog Perhaps you can take some of this as inspiration or formulation for new ideas.

This build highlights the Block skill, and goes hand in hand with what ShadowGambit was saying.

If you are using Destruction for Runes and Walls, you should also use Cloak spells, when a Flame Cloak is dual cast, it gives 2.2x the range. You can also look into the Ebony Mail for a "poison cloak" for extra damage too. These things will come in handy facing non-undead melee opponents when you want to stand and shoot arrows at them as they hit you.

Without Smithing or Enchanting or a full set of armor (no helmet), you will be hard-pressed to have a decent Armor Rating. According to my calculations, wearing a Daedric Chest, Gauntlets, and Boots, with 100 Heavy Armor skill and 5/5 Juggernaut, you will get to 238 AR, which is 42% physical damage reduction. This is with no Smithing at all. If you find any Enchanted +Smithing% gear or any +Smithing% Potions (or will you make Smithing potions with Alchemy?) you can get it up higher depending on whether or not you want to do that.

I would say with your build, you're really going to want the majority to go into Health, and as much as you need into Magicka to cast all the spells you will be using. I think Stamina unfortunately should be the least used, you'll have to bow zoom quick in and out. You may get lucky and find a decent "Absorb Stamina" bow to make up for it.

I don't think you will need Illusion, since as you said, it is mostly replaced by Alchemy (except the Calm effect and AOE).

Will your character be unlocking Dragons and Shouts? If so, you can use shouts such as Ice Form, Become Ethereal, and Slow Time to great effect for a defensive standing Archer.

Personally, I think Rune Master is a wasted perk. You can only plant one Rune at a time, and you can put them far enough away from you to begin with, or even set them before enemies come, then move into position away from it.

I also don't think you need Purity for Alchemy. It removes effects, making your potions/poisons cost less. Some of them, like Orange Dartwing/Slaughterfish Egg for a Lingering Damage Health poison, also has the effect of increasing Pickpocket. I don't know how the game determines whether or not you're trying to make a poison, but perhaps it will instead choose the positive Pickpocket effect over the negative damage effect. That means you can no longer use those ingredients to make a poison that used to help you. Swamp Fungal Pod and Imp Stool makes a Paralyze Poison that also heals the target. That would be one situation when Purity is worth it, but I don't think it's worth the perk investment.

Hopefully I have given you some good things to think about here. My apologies for being so long-winded.

Daaaamn. Salamander is nice.

 

[AS88]

I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but it is a character build focused on standing your ground against the enemy. Character Build: The Salamander - The Skyrim Blog Perhaps you can take some of this as inspiration or formulation for new ideas.

That build looks amazing, definitely trying that.

 

[Katastrophe]

/snip

Thanks for the great post, man! The Salamander is a build that I looked at, but mostly because I saw it was new. It seems like it mostly just makes you the tank instead of your companion. Skyrim Blog actually has a Demon Hunter build, found here which was the basis for my concept. I'm actually surprised that no one pointed it out. However, there's a few differences between the skill tree provided in that build and what I've come up with.

Skill Tree according to TSB vs My Skill Tree

Both skill trees are set at level 54 and they are pretty similar, but mine has some noticeable differences: the complete lack of perks in the right half of the Archery skill tree, and the lack of Alteration. Instead, I've invested in the "Intense Flames" perk which will cause those damaged by fire spells to flee if they have low health, and 8 perks in the Enchanting tree to go straight up to Extra Effect. So I mean, all I've done is lose a 30% absorption from incoming spells (Atronach perk) and gained the ability to enchant my own gear, which I could just enchant a piece of equipment with "Resist Magic". The Intense Flames perk is mostly to go along with my primary Fire defenses. If something gets close and the fire makes it weak enough, it'll just turn and leave allowing me ample time to shoot it some more.

I haven't really focused too much on equipment (aside from hoods and bows) or enchantments, but I will mention now that I'll be using the enhanced Dwarven Crossbow, most likely with exploding bolts (of fire, but I might carry the other types for the occasional odd enemy weakness). The Crossbow combined with the Power Shot perk will result in a 100% chance to stagger the target, so in 1v1 fights there is little chance I should get touched.

And yes, I will be using Shouts.

Streets, based on your input, I've changed some things. I removed Rune Master and I don't think I'll go any further into Alchemy. I also decided that the enchantment perks will be very useful. Towards the end, I might invest further in smithing as well to the higher levels of heavy armor. I went up to Dwarven solely for the Crossbow.

 

[Pileggi]

I'm currently using a similar build, using archery as means for combat and not stealth. It's very fun indeed, I recommend using a crossbow instead of a normal bow as I found that in the heat of combat I'm usually very impatient for waiting for my bow to be fully drawn and often ended up firing half-arsed shots. Having a crossbow means reloading is automatic so combat will feel much more fluid.

 

[Katastrophe]

I'm currently using a similar build, using archery as means for combat and not stealth. It's very fun indeed, I recommend using a crossbow instead of a normal bow as I found that in the heat of combat I'm usually very impatient for waiting for my bow to be fully drawn and often ended up firing half-arsed shots. Having a crossbow means reloading is automatic so combat will feel much more fluid.

I've actually yet to use the crossbow myself, though I've almost always used regular bows. Anything else to know, as far as the actual mechanics? How different is the necessity to lead your shot vertically? I know with bows, especially lower level bows, arrows lose altitude very rapidly, in my experience.

 

[Pileggi]

I found using a bow in the heat of combat to be very difficult, simply because the bow is always in your periphery unlike the crossbow which remains horizontal when standing up.

I also believe that the bolt travels a little faster than the average arrow which means you wont have to compensate nearly as much on moving targets. Flight trajectory is also a little smoother than a bow, it seems to be more in line with the cross hair, especially at short and medium distances. At longer distances I found the bolt tends to deviate a little to left or right but it doesn't really lose much altitude.

Crossbows also have a higher stagger chance than a normal bow making them even more useful in a combat situation.

All in all, the crossbow seems to be better suited for combat than a normal bow. With exploding firebolts, it feels more like a shotgun than a crossbow too!

 

[Streets]

If you are going with full Enchanting and some Smithing, you might not need all 5/5 in Juggernaut. Once your Enchanting becomes 80 and you take the first 6 of your Enchanting perks, with any sort of Enchanting Potion taken, you can make four pieces of Smithing gear with +25% each.

You can then find a 50% Smithing potion in the wild or in Alchemy shops (depending on level), or make a much more powerful one with your Alchemy skills. This is kind of min/maxing the game and I don't know if you want to do that, but it can save you a few perks out of Juggernaut to be placed elsewhere. Just be careful, because with Alchemy and Enchanting you can basically do anything easily.

I agree with not taking the right side of the Archery tree, and ditching Alteration for Enchanting. If you're having trouble with magic users you can enchant your own gear like you said, or take the Lord/Atronach stone and/or get the Agent of Mara blessing. Since you're doing Restoration as a primary, you should also look into the quest at Frostflow Lighthouse, it's an amazing quest with a good reward.

Have you decided which race you are playing? Or which stone you will use? What is your Glad to hear you'll be using Shouts, I think they will add a wonderful dynamic to your standing combat giving you many more options.

EDIT: Actually, let me calculate a possible armor rating outcome for you. Based on taking the Arcane Smithing perk, I assume you have a Smithing skill of 60 for this, and will be wearing (Chest, Gauntlets, and Boots) 3 pieces of Heavy Armor (no helmet). Since you're going to Dwarven, we can use that armor type, and I'll also do unperked Daedric.

If you have used Enchanting Potions combined with making your own Alchemy/Smithing gear and Smithing potions, you can get ridiculous numbers here. I'm going to go on the low side and say you have 4 pieces of 25% Smithing, and a 50% Smithing potion, for a total 150% boost. This could go much higher, I believe to a total of 246% under ideal conditions.

Smithing skill 60, Heavy armor skill 60, 150% Alchemy/Enchanting boost, 3/5 Juggernaut:
Dwarven AR - 303 Perked
Daedric AR - 269 Unperked

Smithing skill 100, Heavy armor skill 60, 150% Alchemy/Enchanting boost, 3/5 Juggernaut:
Dwarven AR - 428 Perked
Daedric AR - 329 Unperked

Remember, these numbers can go a lot higher than this. As you can see, depending on how much you want to invest to crafting skills, you can afford to save a few points in Juggernaut. If the convenience of less crafting is better or if you don't want a min/max playstyle, feel free to go 5/5 to make it more immersive.

Sigh. Sorry I spent so much time talking about damn crafting and not so much about your build. Clearly I get carried away sometimes.

 

[Katastrophe]

/snip again

No no no, I think your bits on the crafting are great. I've watched pms00's videos on YouTube (if you haven't looked at them, I highly recommend doing so) and so I know the gist of what's good, what's wasteful and what's broken. I'm not intending to break the game as he does where you sort of... bounce back and forth between enchanting and alchemy half a dozen times to get an extra +5% Smithing on your gloves. However, a single round of an alchemy potion, to make an enchanting potion, to make smithing gear sounds okay to me. And with the armor rating cap (526? I think?) it's important to know that I don't necessarily need to have maxed out everything to get the best rating. It's why I'm also intending to play this very... cosmetically. Rather than go with Daedric, I might go with Ebony, for example... simply because it looks better, although I will be trying to metagame it to hit that 526 cap, regardless.

So you're just backing up the lack of necessity in 5/5 Juggernaut, and that's good. That's a few perks I could put elsewhere, and I'm perfectly okay with that. And thanks for the quest suggestion. I don't think I've come across that one before so I'm sure I'll enjoy going through it.

As far as what race or stone...

Race I feel is really just "early game difficulty and racial"... so let me just focus on like "Race by abilities".

Altmer... could be useful but I'm mostly just going to be using magic before a fight and that's it, so not really feeling that one.
Argonian... could be more useful, as health regen is a theme. As well, water breathing and the natural poison resistance are never bad things. Argonians are also one of my favorite races (don't ask me why, I don't know) except for the awful tail... it just ruins so many good armors for me (coughNightingalecough).
Bosmer... while the initial Archery bonus would be nice, I feel their racial is damn near useless.
Breton... I've heard that statistically, Breton's are the best race because their racial is so strong. In addition to my lack of the Atronach perk, the racial could prove useful.
Dunmer... The destruction bonus would be nice, and the racial fits perfectly with my theme. However, I feel like the racial would eventually become redundant.
Imperial... Not as useless as the Bosmer but... it's close. Oh, and more money... because gold is so hard to come by in Skyrim. Even in my plays where I make weight restrictions and restrictions on what I can carry, I could still buy half of Skyrim by level 10.
Khajiit... Not all that useful unless you're focusing on stealth. The melee bonus would be useless.
Nord... see Imperial.
Orsimer... does this work for ranged attacks? The damage resistance would be nice, at least. But I kind of dislike the Orc's appearance. Something about that underbite...
Redguard... Eh, I rarely ever use this racial even though Redguards might just be by most made race these days.

Looking at the stones, Atronach and Lord stone stand out the most to me as useful. Might have to get that Aetherial Crown...

 

[Katastrophe]

Just a little update, considering I've started work on this build and the play through.

I ended up going with a Nord for both the frost resistance (this is what most mages seem to cast on me, anyways) as well as the racial, Battle Cry. I think in those situations where I get overwhelmed, it'll be helpful in allowing me to reestablish my foothold. As far as Stones go, I'm still using Thief at the moment, just to speed up Archery.

I'm also roleplaying through this play through, as I typically do. Eating, sleeping, trying to minimize my out of game knowledge affecting my choices... the basic gist is that he was captured and imprisoned for a very long time for killing an Imperial Commander that had contracted Sanguinare Vampiris. He was finally brought to Solitude for trial, where his actions were deemed excusable under the given circumstances. So that's pretty much how I began - in Solitude, with nothing but gold and a health potion from Helgen.

I immediately found Alchemy to me a great money maker and even though I'm at level 13, I'm at the point where I have no true 'want' for money. However, this initial push with Alchemy has made it slightly warped in the sense that my combat skills are fairly low compared, so some fights get difficult but surprisingly not most. I started off mostly doing sneak and archery without investing perks into sneak. Again, this is only further warping my "true ability" so now I'm starting to cut out the sneaking. In the early stages though, that 2x damage is always nice.

It's a strange but enjoyable spot I've found myself in... poison darts are the first thing to use, and then when they close in, I switch to dual casting flames, following by healing myself. However, I've just started the College questline in order to expand upon that part of my build to get it where it needs to be. I've got the crossbow and the heavy armor, but I lack the prepared defenses. All in all, it's so far enjoyable on both playing and roleplaying. With so many Necromancers about, it's very easy to justify doing certain quests and raids.

 

[AS88]

Pretty sure archery comes under the warrior stone?