Psiberzerker
Author
So, you've done it all, have you? Exploited all the best glitches, crafted the perfect gear, built the perfect 80 perk build, and kilt everthing worth killin. Congratulations, now what? Oh, you haven't? Sorry, this is probably not the right guide for you, yet. Not to worry, you can still get started with step 1:
Learn to play the game.
If this is your first build, or you are still working on the main quest, then why are you reading this? Bookmark it, load up the game, and go get some experience! Not character XP, but real experience, personal experience, exploring this wide realm of adventure. If you start off looking up all the exploits, without figuring anything out for yourself, you're cheating, yourself. Sure, you'll get a powerful character, but without the Player Skills, it's kind of like a 4yo with a Pagani Zonda. Even if you can reach the pedals, what are you going to do, where are you going to go? Come back to this, it'll be here.
That out of the way, lets move on to the ones who are ready for this. No, not you in the glowing Daedric armor of free Destruction. I bet you never had to worry about trivial mundane concerns like squishiness, or casting costs, huh? Go with that kid back to Helgen, and this time, don't touch the Console, nor Ogma Infinidim. Try playing a real Mage, in robes, with so little health because you spent it all on Magicka you actually have to run away instead of starting off with Stunmer. And you, yeah the Nightingale Ninja, with Ancient Shrouded Gloves, and Daedric daggers of Eldritch Evil.
There's lots of ways to play, and that's {sigh} Okay. Nothing wrong with being a Munchkin, but this is not for you. If you play on Master, but can't survive Novice without Crafting first, and 80 perks this won't help. Now, to the bat-build!
Race
If this were another build guide, expect to see "Breton, move on." Maybe Orc. Possibly Kajit, if they're clever. I'm sorry, but there's 10 races, and countless builds. More than enough for everbody to have their own unique snowflake. Bethesda went to a lot of trouble giving us lots of choices, so you might as well take advantage of it, or one of the three that someone else decided is "perfect." That's fine, for them, but ask yourself, "What's perfect for me?" This guide is about how you figure that out.
Each race has 35 free skill points, spread out between a primary, and 5 secondary skills. Now, this means you can start out with an advantage, a significant one if they're all trees you're going to use, but no perks. Here's the thing, if you start of with a skill at 15, then level it to 25, you will open up 2 perk points. If that's a weapon skill, these will increase your damage 40%. However, the higher your Character level, the tougher enemies you will run into.
This is the essence of level efficiency. If all of your skills make you more effective, without leveling your character to the point that the enemies are proportionate, you have an advantage over the NPS. This can actually make you more powerful relative to the enemies you face than a level 81 compared to their's. The trick is making every point count. Also, you get 1 stat point per level, which you can spend on Health, Stamina, or Magicka. A level 81 can have 900 Health, for instance, while a level 20 is limited to at most 290. (If you spend it all on Health.)
Another common answer is that skill bonuses are not important. True, if you go straight to level 81, and gear that overshadows your character. Unfortunately, it's a little more complex than that. Here's the tool: Skyrim Perk Calculator - Plan the perks for your Skyrim character before spending them! I bet you've seen it before, but this is the Level 1 nonbuild. Look around a sec, and kindly let me point a few things out.
Skills
Archery: This is pretty much the prototype for the circular "Tree." You want a better example, move down to Block real quick. "So?" Well, the important parts are 1) It goes around an meets at the top, so there's to ways to reach the ultimate perk. I will point out that just because it's on top, doesn't automatically mean you need it. Take Bullseye, for example, it has a chance to Paralyze, great, right? Not necessarily, I'll assume you've played long enough to have seen other archers hiding behind a rock, popping up for pot-shots, and shot back, eh? Now you shoot him, and he falls down. Is he dead, or just paralyzed? How can you tell? It's random, isn't there some kind of indicator? Do you want to try to figure this out in the middle of combat? Every time you shoot someone, and they fall over?
That's the next lesson, think about each Perk before you pick it, and Save before every level. This means you can try it out, decide if it's really worth the investment, and if not, fix it immediately. Especially with the later ones, levels take forever to earn when you approach the end, and you're not likely to see another one for a while. I'll try to warn you first, if there's concerns like this. Others in Archery to look out for are: Steady Hand (It's a Crutch, which prevents you learning how to shoot) Critical Shot (not all that significant) and Hunter's Discipline (Ask yourself, "Have I ever run out of arrows?")
Fortunately, the worst of these, the two in the center are optional. You can skip them, and spend the points on something that actually makes you a more effective archer. The others are what I call Gateway Perks, they aren't that great, but open up another that may be wort all three. (If you put 1 point in Crit, and Discipline, you can get Ranger for the same cost as 3xCrit.) One thing very nice about this tree is it's efficient. There's a maximum of 17 points to be spent here, but 5 of them i warned you off of, and really, you can just do 1 side up to Quick Shot, and be a damned good archer for less than 10.
Block: Skip over Heavy Armor a sec, so we can continue with the theme. If you look to the center, you'll see another optional Slow Time effect. I'm not going to lie to you, this is awesome. Not only does it tell you they're power attacking, but it gives you the time to react. What could possibly go wrong? Well, first of all, it can glitch, but the big thing is it throws your timing off. Even if it don't stick likeat, you will find yourself shifting in, and out of slowmo, and this will retard you developing reflexes of your own. Also, you have to be blocking when they power attzck, which means either you have to know it's coming (and therefore could just counter it) or stand there blocking until the Power Attack. Unfortunately, you can't attack while blocking, nor cast a spell. You can walk, not run (until you get the Block runner perk0 and bash, that's it. Holding up your shield waiting to spring your trap won't win you any fights.
The rest of the perks in this tree are good, except Disarming Bash, which doesn't prevent you from getting Shield Charge. Also, Shield Wall is optional after 1. Each increment decreases damage by 5%, and there's for of them for a grand total of 20% more. That's as much as the first point, so unless you're using a (2handed) weapon instead of a shield, and/or that's your Only protection, they just aren't worth it. Other than that, 13 points, but just 7 of them will give you a chance to block arrows, 50% protection from elemental damage, allow you run and block at the same time, and deal decent damage with stagger. Arguably the most perk efficient tree in the whole system.
1/2Handed: Pretty much identical, but I suggest you chose one, because you can't do both at the same time, both are Perk Intensive (the opposite of efficient) and having both gains you next to nothing. Go ahead, and max out Armsman/Barbarian, that's double damage for 5 points. So worth it. Fighting/Champion's Stance halves the Stamina cost of Power Attacks, and is a gateway perk. Either one alone would make them worth it. The specialty perks aren't all that great, of the 3, the bleeding damage for axes is the most noticeable, but you have to build around it. Swords are already the highest base Damage per Second (DpS) in a given tier, and Critical damage doesn't hurt, up to you whether it's worth 3 points. There's more good enchanted regular Swords than any other weapon type as well (not Greatswords, but there's a few of those too.)
Now, the tree specific perks. 2H has Sweep, with is great, if you can land it. Practice. If there's any enchantment on there, it can spread it across up to 3 enemies, and that includes the extra bleed damage from Limbsplitter, as well as poisons. On the other hands, you have Dual Flurry, and Savagery, which make dual wield extremely powerful, at the expense of Blocking. 2handed weapons can't block as well as a shield, but do more damage with a Bash, and you only have to fill the Bash side of the Block tree. You can also bash quicker than a strike, and use the stagger as an opening to strike without the possibility of being countered. The main advantage of 1H is you can use it with a Shield, Dual Wield, Spell, or switch between all 3 if you fill out all the proper trees. 2H is Bash, Strike, Power Attack, and that's about it.
Smithing: Here's the big decision, to Craft, or not to craft. The Perks are pretty self explanatory, and it's another one of those topologically circular ones. Here's the best example for Perk Efficiency, either you can invest in your character, or his gear. Smithing is useless in combat, all it does is allow you to take raw materials, and make items that you can use in combat. In return, you get to look for materials, mine, smelt, forge, and temper for this gear. if that sounds fun, go right ahead. I personally find it excruciating, but it can be very powerful with a little level investment. I will point out that it has 2 effects, Improve Weapons, and Improve Armor. It can also produce higher quality base items before you would be able to buy them (level dependent.)
There's also some idiosyncrasies. Like the Force, there's a light side, and a heavy side. You can go both ways, but that will double your perks, and you can only effectively wear 1 kind at once. (See Armor: below.) Just to complicate things further, if you chose Light, the weapons on the Heavy (and kinda Dark) side are more powerful, and require those perks to make the Epic. If that wasn't bad enough, Dwarven weapons are more powerful than Orcish, but not as powerful as Elven, the same tier on the Light side. You don't Have to take it all the way to Dragon, though (Which doesn't Have weapons, unless you buy Dawnguard, or DL Mods) which isn't as strong as Daedric, anyway. With 100 Smithing, and Advanced Armor (which doesn't have weapons either) you can Cap Steel Plate Armor, though. Oh, and that's the concise simplified version.
Arcane Enchanter doesn't Slow Time, but doesn't make it fly either. In a nutshell, if you're going to DiY all your own gear, don't get this, Smith, and Temper everything first, then Enchant it. If you're planning on improving artifacts, you'll need it. It's just 1 point, though. My suggestion is if you're using Heavy Armor, take the Dark Side. Light Armor, skip the entire tree, take on lower level enemies and use superior battle tactics.
Armor: The other great debate, the choice is Tank, or use your mobility. Tanking is passive, once you have a high enough Armor Rating you just don't take as much damage. At lower levels, you will be slowed, and take more hits, though. This is why Light Armor is mostly associated with Archers, Thieves, and Assassins, while Heavy Armor is more in line with melee sluggers. In the Melee (incidentally, a French noun, not verb, nor adjective.) the extra protection is nice, and conversely, the melee is a lot harder to avoid weighed down by a Franklin stove around your torso. In return, Heavy Armor can be perked to halve falling damage.
The Theif
Light Armor: Another reason this is the choice for non-crafters is that there's just more pre-enchanted LA than HA. Most of this is for typically LA activities, Fortify Archery, Sneak, Muffle, Backstab, 1H, Lockpicking, and Carry Weight. If you join the Thieves', or Assassins' guilds, you'll get at least 1 set, with access to more/better versions. (The Dark Brotherhood even has unarmored versions.) It also has less perks overall, becomes weightless several levels sooner, and uniquely Fortifies Stamina Regeneration with a perk. It drains less from sprinting in the first place, because that's based on the weight of all equipped items (including Weapons.) You're not just faster in combat, but running around this vast realm, which you're going to be doing a lot of anyway. In conclusion, Light Armor is just outright more efficient in all respects, except for protection.
Here's the secret about armor. If you aren't dying, it's working. Any investment made beyond what it takes to keep you alive can be better spent on something else, like dealing damage. That's the other trick, armor doesn't win fights.
Sneak: this is the thief, all wrapped up in 1 skill. You ain't going to be doing much stealing, or backstabbing if you can't sneak. I should stress You, because as good as your character's gear, and skills are, you won't pick that pocket if you creep right up in front of the guard in broad daylight. There's several factors involved with whether you get busted, and how many points you have in Stealth is one of the Least important. 1 point here is a gateway. If you want to backstab at level 20 with Heavy Armor on, you'll need to invest more than that. This is why thieves don't generally wear heavy Armor. Once you get to 40 in this skill, 3 points here won't do you as much good as Muffled Movement, so any more than 2 is completely wasted.
Sneak Attack Multipliers more than make up for not Smithing. With Alchemy, and Enchanting in a feedback loop to Fortify Smithy you can possibly get 15 times the base damage on a dagger, for a minimum of 160 skill levels, if you're an Orc. or, you can get Sneak up to level 50, and spend 4 perk points. You could do both, that Nightingale Ninja guy earlier probably did, but I'll give you 3 guesses which is more efficient, and the last 2 don't count. The other side is mostly gateway perks for 2-3 good ones. Silent Roll is very nice, for sprinting through traps, across lighted areas, behind pacing guards, and even evading attacks if you perfect it. It can also be comboed with Critical Charge to pounce from the shadows with full multiplier, and stagger with a little Critical damage for a Cherry on Tap. Silence is Muffle, kind of makes muffled Movement even more useless on it's own, but Meh? Shadow Warrior is fun, I won't lie, but if you want to Role Play an assassin you will never lose the sense that you're in a video game once you buy that perk. Some people don't care, up to you, but I'd save first.
Lockpicking: Learn the minigame, it's not that hard. Master locks can be tough at first, but if you get this skill up above 50, they will still probably not run you out of picks without a single perk in this tree. Treasure Hunter is okay, I guess, but for 5 perks, and 70 skill levels? By the time you get there, you'll have more money than you know what to do with, and "Speacial Treasure" than you can carry, with Fortify Carry Weight if you're not even all that great a thief. Waste of a Skill Tree, you ask me.
Picking Pockets: Not really my bag, the only pocket I've ever picked is Maedsi's, and I usually fail that too. If you're a packrat, Extra pockets might be handy, Misdirection is the Only way you can get certain items, duplicates of others, including the most powerful dagger in the game, and still more way before they should be available. There's your "Special Treasure", only a hell of a lot less random, and it can be used to disarm certain enemies. Poisoned is a gimmick, put it on your dagger, and STAB THEM.
Speech: Not really interested, as a matter of fact, I intentionally avoid this skill for something that will actually do me any good. This is another Player Skill thing to complicated for this post. If you know how to play the Radiant system, you will find what you want in random loot,.. eventually. That, and i already know where all the good stuff is, as far as the scripted items. If you just pick up Gold, it doesn't take long to earn a House, and hire a Mercenary. If you're a Wizard, it might be nice to have the extra cash. Robes&Tomes get EXPENSIVE!i!
Alchemy: {Sighs} Do I have time for this? Look it up, seriously. Too many effects, recepies, and glitches to cover adiquately without doubling the size of this article. i just can't do it justice, honestly. Don't waste points on Experimenter, and just look up the effects. There's really rather little entertainment possible in discovering every single effect, and combination of all those ingredients, and even that novelty wears thin real quick. Probably my least favorite skills in the history of Mundus, it's that frustrating.
The Mage:
Now we're talking! Keep in mind, this is the most difficult (and to me, fun) way to play, especially with efficiency. The reason is Magicka, which means you can't invest in Health that level, much less Stamina. Also incredibly Perk Intensive, if you level all 18 skills to 100, you don't have enough points to master all 5 schools, and Enchanting. The only directly offensive skill, Destruction damage caps far lower than any weapon skill, and cannot be improved with Smithing, nor Enchantment. (You can fortify the Damage with Potions, for a little while, then go make more potions...)
Destruction: Ok, you can play a Mage without this, but honestly, it's even more challenging. This is where Level Efficiency is critical. Quite simply, if you level past about 30 (Depending on difficulty setting) it will be not be strong enough to be your primary offense. One way around this is to combine it with 1H for a Spellsword, which is rather effective. Keep in mind, you still can't Tank, because of low health, this school is also the most Magicka intensive, since you have to keep casting over, and over (AKA "Spamming.) This is probably the reason why the "Perfect" mage build has been dumbed down to Stunmer Impact Turret.
If you look to the far right branch, and follow it up, you'll find Impact. This staggers, and you can recharge faster than they can regain their balance, so you can stagger them again. Wrap that in Heavy Armor, Enchant 4 pieces with 25% Fortify Destruction so it costs no Magicka, spend all your levels on Health, and dumb magic down to "I hit him, is he dead? I hit him again." In other words, a Tank, with sparkles. Congratulations, you don't have to learn to play the game. Unfortunately, this is Magicka inefficient, because of Dual Casting. What this does is increase the Magicka cost to 280%, and the effect by 220%. Or, you can cast the same spell in both hands, for 200% the effect, and 200% the damage. Or 2 different spells to double the number of effects in play, or 1 spell with a sword, or with a shield, or you get the idea.
This is where we get into the Advantages of Destruction (Which can't be used with Stunmer tactics.) Like 1H, you can combo it with something else, which adds versatility. Also, it doesn't slow you down, at all. Try this, charge a spell, let's say firebolt in one hand while releasing with the other. This doubles your rate of fire (pardon the pun) so with Augment Flames, you can actually do more damage-per second than hand weapons. Don't believe me? Get Dual Flurry (2), and swing 2 swords, left, and right. Notice, your left hand swings slower than your right, so you can swap in a dagger to even it up, but that lowers you damage. Now, hold down both buttons for a Double Power Attack. Now we're talking, right? How long can you do that? Even with Fighting Stance? Ok, stamina, just like Magicka, right? Not really.
Find a handy target, doesn't really matter what it is, and walk backwards, still dual power attacking. Uh oh. Switch back to the firebolts, and straffe left. It takes a bit of practice, but you can literally run circles around it, throwing 2-3 bolts per second until your magicka runs out. Did you keep count? Each one has a Base Damage of 25, times what, 4 with 100 Magicka, Apprentice perk, and Robes of Destruction (Or Thalmor/Mythic Dawn Robes, Armor of the Old Gods...) That was 100 damage in under 2 seconds as an Apprentice at the College of Winterhold. How long does it take your Magicka to recover?
So, at low levels, Destruction beats Weapons. And Armor, even capped out, it doesn't protect against magic, unless it's also enchanted to resist it. Not to many enemies out there have that, especially before your character reaches level 25. keep your level low. Unfortunately, Destruction is a 17 perk tree. So you need every point you can get, and as much magicka as possible too. Without efficiency, Destruction is useless (Unless you break the game.) This is why i don't do Impact, that's two perks, and Magicka i can't afford. the only way you can is to invest in 100 Enchanting, which doubles your level, and makes Destruction less effective.
Augment those Elements, and get the Novice-Expert perks to halve Magicka Cost. Use Walls, they're the only Destruction spells with a Duration besides Cloaks, and do 75 Damage for 20 Seconds (Augmented). That's 1500 damage+ being On Fire. If you can keep them in the Area of Effect. Efficient, if you can keep them there. i use a Shield to Stunlock them, You could just as easily use Impact, by switching to Dual Cast (doesn't work with Walls.) 10 perks.
Conjuration: Sorry about that, but it's not simple. This is much less complex, you got Familiars, Atronachs, Dremora, Necromancy, Bound Weapons, and Soul Trap. All of them have Durations, which last longer than it takes for your magicka to recover, so you're not generally in spamland. The Exception is Flaming Familiar, which is basically fireball, except it's guided, bites, and costs 30 Magicka. For comparison, Firebolt costs 41, and does less damage. No discussion of of Efficincy can ignore this, 25 damage for 41 magicka, or 40 damage for 30 magicka. Yeah.
The regular Summons also pull double duty as indirect defense. They decoy the enemy, and some are pretty good at Tanking. (Frost Atronachs, Dremoral lords, and well equipped Zombies.) I'll breifly point out that these factors make Conjuration much more efficient. As for perks, it's a good idea to specialize in either Necromancy, or Atronachs. I prefer the latter, because they don't require a body. If you do go Necro, get at least 1 Summoner perk so you don't have to get as close. Bound weapons are extremely powerful, especially at low levels, with at most 5 perks, and can be doubled with 5 more in the appropriate Weapon Skill. Don't bother with Oblivion Binding, it's almost never worth the investment. Soul Stealer is much better than actually Casting Soul Trap, then killing the target.
Illusion: Fear, Rage, and Calm spells are all right, but lack much actual punch. Rage is about the most offensive, because it turns your enemies against each other, but won't End a fight, unless they kill each other simultaneously. (Highly unlikely.) This is not a stand alone Combat Skill. You need something to finish them off, but Calm, and Fear can suspend, or end the fight so you can get away. Also provides Muffle, and invisibility to support stealth (along with the Quiet Casting perk.) Dual Casting just extends the level of people, and animals you can affect (everyone is affected by the Stealth Spells.) Don't waste Magicka on Claivoyance, or Courage.
Alteration: Mostly Defensive, but very good in this role. In addition to Armor Alternative spells, it can be perked for magic Resistance, and Spell Absorption (the latter will randomly eat Summons, though.) Also some utility effects, like Enemy Detection, Telekinesis, and Light. Mage Armor depends on if you wear real Armor, or not. Any spell that ends in Flesh adds Armor rating to whatever you're wearing, so you can go with Robes, Heavy Gloves, Boots, and helmet. This is nice, because if your duration times out, you aren't completely naked. A Shield Mage can even use the Mage Armor Perks if the board is the only armor he wears, and further reinforce it with Block.
Restoration: Hoo boy! Hope you recovered from the Destruction rant, because this is the other one. Make yourself comfortable, or take a break if you need to. First off, Healing. Pretty simple, spend Magicka, get Health, and Experience. Respite is nice, you can sprint almost indefinitely, and your Magicka should recover before you have to replenish your Stamina again. Regeneration is so worth it, Necromage, less so. (I know, Vampires Suck. Done, son.) Regeneration is worth grinding up to 60 for all by itself for any mage, if you can spare the levels. Unfortunately, this is a slow leveling skill, and not standalone. Don't bother with Dual Casting, and double cast instead.
Turn undead is pretty useless in most situations, and not indespensible in most of the ones it isn't. The exception is Circle Of Protection, and Guardian Circle. They have a duration, and a radius, the letter even heals you as long as you're standing inside. (They can also power Spell Absorbtion for monumental abuse. Gamebreaker.) Wards are tricky. Far too expensive, and they can stagger you if they break, but with Ward Absorb (doesn't work with the circles) can power spells by absorbing the enemy's. Also completely block Dragon Breath, and can block Shouts. Take a sec to charge up, though. Bane of the Undead leaves you vulnerable for 3 seconds, and is effective, but only in circumstances that could be handled with a faster tactic.
Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought, moving on...
Enchanting: The most time, and material efficient Craft. Disenchant an item, you have the effect. Then all you need are souls, and items to put them on. Clothing effects are permanent, weapons can be maintained with souls. Don't bother with Soul Stealer, much less Siphon. Fire Enchanter is best, Frost is nice for the slow effect, especially on a Bow. Insightful, and Corpus Enchanter is the best way to get to Extra Effect.
Learn to play the game.
If this is your first build, or you are still working on the main quest, then why are you reading this? Bookmark it, load up the game, and go get some experience! Not character XP, but real experience, personal experience, exploring this wide realm of adventure. If you start off looking up all the exploits, without figuring anything out for yourself, you're cheating, yourself. Sure, you'll get a powerful character, but without the Player Skills, it's kind of like a 4yo with a Pagani Zonda. Even if you can reach the pedals, what are you going to do, where are you going to go? Come back to this, it'll be here.
That out of the way, lets move on to the ones who are ready for this. No, not you in the glowing Daedric armor of free Destruction. I bet you never had to worry about trivial mundane concerns like squishiness, or casting costs, huh? Go with that kid back to Helgen, and this time, don't touch the Console, nor Ogma Infinidim. Try playing a real Mage, in robes, with so little health because you spent it all on Magicka you actually have to run away instead of starting off with Stunmer. And you, yeah the Nightingale Ninja, with Ancient Shrouded Gloves, and Daedric daggers of Eldritch Evil.
There's lots of ways to play, and that's {sigh} Okay. Nothing wrong with being a Munchkin, but this is not for you. If you play on Master, but can't survive Novice without Crafting first, and 80 perks this won't help. Now, to the bat-build!
Race
If this were another build guide, expect to see "Breton, move on." Maybe Orc. Possibly Kajit, if they're clever. I'm sorry, but there's 10 races, and countless builds. More than enough for everbody to have their own unique snowflake. Bethesda went to a lot of trouble giving us lots of choices, so you might as well take advantage of it, or one of the three that someone else decided is "perfect." That's fine, for them, but ask yourself, "What's perfect for me?" This guide is about how you figure that out.
Each race has 35 free skill points, spread out between a primary, and 5 secondary skills. Now, this means you can start out with an advantage, a significant one if they're all trees you're going to use, but no perks. Here's the thing, if you start of with a skill at 15, then level it to 25, you will open up 2 perk points. If that's a weapon skill, these will increase your damage 40%. However, the higher your Character level, the tougher enemies you will run into.
This is the essence of level efficiency. If all of your skills make you more effective, without leveling your character to the point that the enemies are proportionate, you have an advantage over the NPS. This can actually make you more powerful relative to the enemies you face than a level 81 compared to their's. The trick is making every point count. Also, you get 1 stat point per level, which you can spend on Health, Stamina, or Magicka. A level 81 can have 900 Health, for instance, while a level 20 is limited to at most 290. (If you spend it all on Health.)
Another common answer is that skill bonuses are not important. True, if you go straight to level 81, and gear that overshadows your character. Unfortunately, it's a little more complex than that. Here's the tool: Skyrim Perk Calculator - Plan the perks for your Skyrim character before spending them! I bet you've seen it before, but this is the Level 1 nonbuild. Look around a sec, and kindly let me point a few things out.
Skills
Archery: This is pretty much the prototype for the circular "Tree." You want a better example, move down to Block real quick. "So?" Well, the important parts are 1) It goes around an meets at the top, so there's to ways to reach the ultimate perk. I will point out that just because it's on top, doesn't automatically mean you need it. Take Bullseye, for example, it has a chance to Paralyze, great, right? Not necessarily, I'll assume you've played long enough to have seen other archers hiding behind a rock, popping up for pot-shots, and shot back, eh? Now you shoot him, and he falls down. Is he dead, or just paralyzed? How can you tell? It's random, isn't there some kind of indicator? Do you want to try to figure this out in the middle of combat? Every time you shoot someone, and they fall over?
That's the next lesson, think about each Perk before you pick it, and Save before every level. This means you can try it out, decide if it's really worth the investment, and if not, fix it immediately. Especially with the later ones, levels take forever to earn when you approach the end, and you're not likely to see another one for a while. I'll try to warn you first, if there's concerns like this. Others in Archery to look out for are: Steady Hand (It's a Crutch, which prevents you learning how to shoot) Critical Shot (not all that significant) and Hunter's Discipline (Ask yourself, "Have I ever run out of arrows?")
Fortunately, the worst of these, the two in the center are optional. You can skip them, and spend the points on something that actually makes you a more effective archer. The others are what I call Gateway Perks, they aren't that great, but open up another that may be wort all three. (If you put 1 point in Crit, and Discipline, you can get Ranger for the same cost as 3xCrit.) One thing very nice about this tree is it's efficient. There's a maximum of 17 points to be spent here, but 5 of them i warned you off of, and really, you can just do 1 side up to Quick Shot, and be a damned good archer for less than 10.
Block: Skip over Heavy Armor a sec, so we can continue with the theme. If you look to the center, you'll see another optional Slow Time effect. I'm not going to lie to you, this is awesome. Not only does it tell you they're power attacking, but it gives you the time to react. What could possibly go wrong? Well, first of all, it can glitch, but the big thing is it throws your timing off. Even if it don't stick likeat, you will find yourself shifting in, and out of slowmo, and this will retard you developing reflexes of your own. Also, you have to be blocking when they power attzck, which means either you have to know it's coming (and therefore could just counter it) or stand there blocking until the Power Attack. Unfortunately, you can't attack while blocking, nor cast a spell. You can walk, not run (until you get the Block runner perk0 and bash, that's it. Holding up your shield waiting to spring your trap won't win you any fights.
The rest of the perks in this tree are good, except Disarming Bash, which doesn't prevent you from getting Shield Charge. Also, Shield Wall is optional after 1. Each increment decreases damage by 5%, and there's for of them for a grand total of 20% more. That's as much as the first point, so unless you're using a (2handed) weapon instead of a shield, and/or that's your Only protection, they just aren't worth it. Other than that, 13 points, but just 7 of them will give you a chance to block arrows, 50% protection from elemental damage, allow you run and block at the same time, and deal decent damage with stagger. Arguably the most perk efficient tree in the whole system.
1/2Handed: Pretty much identical, but I suggest you chose one, because you can't do both at the same time, both are Perk Intensive (the opposite of efficient) and having both gains you next to nothing. Go ahead, and max out Armsman/Barbarian, that's double damage for 5 points. So worth it. Fighting/Champion's Stance halves the Stamina cost of Power Attacks, and is a gateway perk. Either one alone would make them worth it. The specialty perks aren't all that great, of the 3, the bleeding damage for axes is the most noticeable, but you have to build around it. Swords are already the highest base Damage per Second (DpS) in a given tier, and Critical damage doesn't hurt, up to you whether it's worth 3 points. There's more good enchanted regular Swords than any other weapon type as well (not Greatswords, but there's a few of those too.)
Now, the tree specific perks. 2H has Sweep, with is great, if you can land it. Practice. If there's any enchantment on there, it can spread it across up to 3 enemies, and that includes the extra bleed damage from Limbsplitter, as well as poisons. On the other hands, you have Dual Flurry, and Savagery, which make dual wield extremely powerful, at the expense of Blocking. 2handed weapons can't block as well as a shield, but do more damage with a Bash, and you only have to fill the Bash side of the Block tree. You can also bash quicker than a strike, and use the stagger as an opening to strike without the possibility of being countered. The main advantage of 1H is you can use it with a Shield, Dual Wield, Spell, or switch between all 3 if you fill out all the proper trees. 2H is Bash, Strike, Power Attack, and that's about it.
Smithing: Here's the big decision, to Craft, or not to craft. The Perks are pretty self explanatory, and it's another one of those topologically circular ones. Here's the best example for Perk Efficiency, either you can invest in your character, or his gear. Smithing is useless in combat, all it does is allow you to take raw materials, and make items that you can use in combat. In return, you get to look for materials, mine, smelt, forge, and temper for this gear. if that sounds fun, go right ahead. I personally find it excruciating, but it can be very powerful with a little level investment. I will point out that it has 2 effects, Improve Weapons, and Improve Armor. It can also produce higher quality base items before you would be able to buy them (level dependent.)
There's also some idiosyncrasies. Like the Force, there's a light side, and a heavy side. You can go both ways, but that will double your perks, and you can only effectively wear 1 kind at once. (See Armor: below.) Just to complicate things further, if you chose Light, the weapons on the Heavy (and kinda Dark) side are more powerful, and require those perks to make the Epic. If that wasn't bad enough, Dwarven weapons are more powerful than Orcish, but not as powerful as Elven, the same tier on the Light side. You don't Have to take it all the way to Dragon, though (Which doesn't Have weapons, unless you buy Dawnguard, or DL Mods) which isn't as strong as Daedric, anyway. With 100 Smithing, and Advanced Armor (which doesn't have weapons either) you can Cap Steel Plate Armor, though. Oh, and that's the concise simplified version.
Arcane Enchanter doesn't Slow Time, but doesn't make it fly either. In a nutshell, if you're going to DiY all your own gear, don't get this, Smith, and Temper everything first, then Enchant it. If you're planning on improving artifacts, you'll need it. It's just 1 point, though. My suggestion is if you're using Heavy Armor, take the Dark Side. Light Armor, skip the entire tree, take on lower level enemies and use superior battle tactics.
Armor: The other great debate, the choice is Tank, or use your mobility. Tanking is passive, once you have a high enough Armor Rating you just don't take as much damage. At lower levels, you will be slowed, and take more hits, though. This is why Light Armor is mostly associated with Archers, Thieves, and Assassins, while Heavy Armor is more in line with melee sluggers. In the Melee (incidentally, a French noun, not verb, nor adjective.) the extra protection is nice, and conversely, the melee is a lot harder to avoid weighed down by a Franklin stove around your torso. In return, Heavy Armor can be perked to halve falling damage.
The Theif
Light Armor: Another reason this is the choice for non-crafters is that there's just more pre-enchanted LA than HA. Most of this is for typically LA activities, Fortify Archery, Sneak, Muffle, Backstab, 1H, Lockpicking, and Carry Weight. If you join the Thieves', or Assassins' guilds, you'll get at least 1 set, with access to more/better versions. (The Dark Brotherhood even has unarmored versions.) It also has less perks overall, becomes weightless several levels sooner, and uniquely Fortifies Stamina Regeneration with a perk. It drains less from sprinting in the first place, because that's based on the weight of all equipped items (including Weapons.) You're not just faster in combat, but running around this vast realm, which you're going to be doing a lot of anyway. In conclusion, Light Armor is just outright more efficient in all respects, except for protection.
Here's the secret about armor. If you aren't dying, it's working. Any investment made beyond what it takes to keep you alive can be better spent on something else, like dealing damage. That's the other trick, armor doesn't win fights.
Sneak: this is the thief, all wrapped up in 1 skill. You ain't going to be doing much stealing, or backstabbing if you can't sneak. I should stress You, because as good as your character's gear, and skills are, you won't pick that pocket if you creep right up in front of the guard in broad daylight. There's several factors involved with whether you get busted, and how many points you have in Stealth is one of the Least important. 1 point here is a gateway. If you want to backstab at level 20 with Heavy Armor on, you'll need to invest more than that. This is why thieves don't generally wear heavy Armor. Once you get to 40 in this skill, 3 points here won't do you as much good as Muffled Movement, so any more than 2 is completely wasted.
Sneak Attack Multipliers more than make up for not Smithing. With Alchemy, and Enchanting in a feedback loop to Fortify Smithy you can possibly get 15 times the base damage on a dagger, for a minimum of 160 skill levels, if you're an Orc. or, you can get Sneak up to level 50, and spend 4 perk points. You could do both, that Nightingale Ninja guy earlier probably did, but I'll give you 3 guesses which is more efficient, and the last 2 don't count. The other side is mostly gateway perks for 2-3 good ones. Silent Roll is very nice, for sprinting through traps, across lighted areas, behind pacing guards, and even evading attacks if you perfect it. It can also be comboed with Critical Charge to pounce from the shadows with full multiplier, and stagger with a little Critical damage for a Cherry on Tap. Silence is Muffle, kind of makes muffled Movement even more useless on it's own, but Meh? Shadow Warrior is fun, I won't lie, but if you want to Role Play an assassin you will never lose the sense that you're in a video game once you buy that perk. Some people don't care, up to you, but I'd save first.
Lockpicking: Learn the minigame, it's not that hard. Master locks can be tough at first, but if you get this skill up above 50, they will still probably not run you out of picks without a single perk in this tree. Treasure Hunter is okay, I guess, but for 5 perks, and 70 skill levels? By the time you get there, you'll have more money than you know what to do with, and "Speacial Treasure" than you can carry, with Fortify Carry Weight if you're not even all that great a thief. Waste of a Skill Tree, you ask me.
Picking Pockets: Not really my bag, the only pocket I've ever picked is Maedsi's, and I usually fail that too. If you're a packrat, Extra pockets might be handy, Misdirection is the Only way you can get certain items, duplicates of others, including the most powerful dagger in the game, and still more way before they should be available. There's your "Special Treasure", only a hell of a lot less random, and it can be used to disarm certain enemies. Poisoned is a gimmick, put it on your dagger, and STAB THEM.
Speech: Not really interested, as a matter of fact, I intentionally avoid this skill for something that will actually do me any good. This is another Player Skill thing to complicated for this post. If you know how to play the Radiant system, you will find what you want in random loot,.. eventually. That, and i already know where all the good stuff is, as far as the scripted items. If you just pick up Gold, it doesn't take long to earn a House, and hire a Mercenary. If you're a Wizard, it might be nice to have the extra cash. Robes&Tomes get EXPENSIVE!i!
Alchemy: {Sighs} Do I have time for this? Look it up, seriously. Too many effects, recepies, and glitches to cover adiquately without doubling the size of this article. i just can't do it justice, honestly. Don't waste points on Experimenter, and just look up the effects. There's really rather little entertainment possible in discovering every single effect, and combination of all those ingredients, and even that novelty wears thin real quick. Probably my least favorite skills in the history of Mundus, it's that frustrating.
The Mage:
Now we're talking! Keep in mind, this is the most difficult (and to me, fun) way to play, especially with efficiency. The reason is Magicka, which means you can't invest in Health that level, much less Stamina. Also incredibly Perk Intensive, if you level all 18 skills to 100, you don't have enough points to master all 5 schools, and Enchanting. The only directly offensive skill, Destruction damage caps far lower than any weapon skill, and cannot be improved with Smithing, nor Enchantment. (You can fortify the Damage with Potions, for a little while, then go make more potions...)
Destruction: Ok, you can play a Mage without this, but honestly, it's even more challenging. This is where Level Efficiency is critical. Quite simply, if you level past about 30 (Depending on difficulty setting) it will be not be strong enough to be your primary offense. One way around this is to combine it with 1H for a Spellsword, which is rather effective. Keep in mind, you still can't Tank, because of low health, this school is also the most Magicka intensive, since you have to keep casting over, and over (AKA "Spamming.) This is probably the reason why the "Perfect" mage build has been dumbed down to Stunmer Impact Turret.
If you look to the far right branch, and follow it up, you'll find Impact. This staggers, and you can recharge faster than they can regain their balance, so you can stagger them again. Wrap that in Heavy Armor, Enchant 4 pieces with 25% Fortify Destruction so it costs no Magicka, spend all your levels on Health, and dumb magic down to "I hit him, is he dead? I hit him again." In other words, a Tank, with sparkles. Congratulations, you don't have to learn to play the game. Unfortunately, this is Magicka inefficient, because of Dual Casting. What this does is increase the Magicka cost to 280%, and the effect by 220%. Or, you can cast the same spell in both hands, for 200% the effect, and 200% the damage. Or 2 different spells to double the number of effects in play, or 1 spell with a sword, or with a shield, or you get the idea.
This is where we get into the Advantages of Destruction (Which can't be used with Stunmer tactics.) Like 1H, you can combo it with something else, which adds versatility. Also, it doesn't slow you down, at all. Try this, charge a spell, let's say firebolt in one hand while releasing with the other. This doubles your rate of fire (pardon the pun) so with Augment Flames, you can actually do more damage-per second than hand weapons. Don't believe me? Get Dual Flurry (2), and swing 2 swords, left, and right. Notice, your left hand swings slower than your right, so you can swap in a dagger to even it up, but that lowers you damage. Now, hold down both buttons for a Double Power Attack. Now we're talking, right? How long can you do that? Even with Fighting Stance? Ok, stamina, just like Magicka, right? Not really.
Find a handy target, doesn't really matter what it is, and walk backwards, still dual power attacking. Uh oh. Switch back to the firebolts, and straffe left. It takes a bit of practice, but you can literally run circles around it, throwing 2-3 bolts per second until your magicka runs out. Did you keep count? Each one has a Base Damage of 25, times what, 4 with 100 Magicka, Apprentice perk, and Robes of Destruction (Or Thalmor/Mythic Dawn Robes, Armor of the Old Gods...) That was 100 damage in under 2 seconds as an Apprentice at the College of Winterhold. How long does it take your Magicka to recover?
So, at low levels, Destruction beats Weapons. And Armor, even capped out, it doesn't protect against magic, unless it's also enchanted to resist it. Not to many enemies out there have that, especially before your character reaches level 25. keep your level low. Unfortunately, Destruction is a 17 perk tree. So you need every point you can get, and as much magicka as possible too. Without efficiency, Destruction is useless (Unless you break the game.) This is why i don't do Impact, that's two perks, and Magicka i can't afford. the only way you can is to invest in 100 Enchanting, which doubles your level, and makes Destruction less effective.
Augment those Elements, and get the Novice-Expert perks to halve Magicka Cost. Use Walls, they're the only Destruction spells with a Duration besides Cloaks, and do 75 Damage for 20 Seconds (Augmented). That's 1500 damage+ being On Fire. If you can keep them in the Area of Effect. Efficient, if you can keep them there. i use a Shield to Stunlock them, You could just as easily use Impact, by switching to Dual Cast (doesn't work with Walls.) 10 perks.
Conjuration: Sorry about that, but it's not simple. This is much less complex, you got Familiars, Atronachs, Dremora, Necromancy, Bound Weapons, and Soul Trap. All of them have Durations, which last longer than it takes for your magicka to recover, so you're not generally in spamland. The Exception is Flaming Familiar, which is basically fireball, except it's guided, bites, and costs 30 Magicka. For comparison, Firebolt costs 41, and does less damage. No discussion of of Efficincy can ignore this, 25 damage for 41 magicka, or 40 damage for 30 magicka. Yeah.
The regular Summons also pull double duty as indirect defense. They decoy the enemy, and some are pretty good at Tanking. (Frost Atronachs, Dremoral lords, and well equipped Zombies.) I'll breifly point out that these factors make Conjuration much more efficient. As for perks, it's a good idea to specialize in either Necromancy, or Atronachs. I prefer the latter, because they don't require a body. If you do go Necro, get at least 1 Summoner perk so you don't have to get as close. Bound weapons are extremely powerful, especially at low levels, with at most 5 perks, and can be doubled with 5 more in the appropriate Weapon Skill. Don't bother with Oblivion Binding, it's almost never worth the investment. Soul Stealer is much better than actually Casting Soul Trap, then killing the target.
Illusion: Fear, Rage, and Calm spells are all right, but lack much actual punch. Rage is about the most offensive, because it turns your enemies against each other, but won't End a fight, unless they kill each other simultaneously. (Highly unlikely.) This is not a stand alone Combat Skill. You need something to finish them off, but Calm, and Fear can suspend, or end the fight so you can get away. Also provides Muffle, and invisibility to support stealth (along with the Quiet Casting perk.) Dual Casting just extends the level of people, and animals you can affect (everyone is affected by the Stealth Spells.) Don't waste Magicka on Claivoyance, or Courage.
Alteration: Mostly Defensive, but very good in this role. In addition to Armor Alternative spells, it can be perked for magic Resistance, and Spell Absorption (the latter will randomly eat Summons, though.) Also some utility effects, like Enemy Detection, Telekinesis, and Light. Mage Armor depends on if you wear real Armor, or not. Any spell that ends in Flesh adds Armor rating to whatever you're wearing, so you can go with Robes, Heavy Gloves, Boots, and helmet. This is nice, because if your duration times out, you aren't completely naked. A Shield Mage can even use the Mage Armor Perks if the board is the only armor he wears, and further reinforce it with Block.
Restoration: Hoo boy! Hope you recovered from the Destruction rant, because this is the other one. Make yourself comfortable, or take a break if you need to. First off, Healing. Pretty simple, spend Magicka, get Health, and Experience. Respite is nice, you can sprint almost indefinitely, and your Magicka should recover before you have to replenish your Stamina again. Regeneration is so worth it, Necromage, less so. (I know, Vampires Suck. Done, son.) Regeneration is worth grinding up to 60 for all by itself for any mage, if you can spare the levels. Unfortunately, this is a slow leveling skill, and not standalone. Don't bother with Dual Casting, and double cast instead.
Turn undead is pretty useless in most situations, and not indespensible in most of the ones it isn't. The exception is Circle Of Protection, and Guardian Circle. They have a duration, and a radius, the letter even heals you as long as you're standing inside. (They can also power Spell Absorbtion for monumental abuse. Gamebreaker.) Wards are tricky. Far too expensive, and they can stagger you if they break, but with Ward Absorb (doesn't work with the circles) can power spells by absorbing the enemy's. Also completely block Dragon Breath, and can block Shouts. Take a sec to charge up, though. Bane of the Undead leaves you vulnerable for 3 seconds, and is effective, but only in circumstances that could be handled with a faster tactic.
Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought, moving on...
Enchanting: The most time, and material efficient Craft. Disenchant an item, you have the effect. Then all you need are souls, and items to put them on. Clothing effects are permanent, weapons can be maintained with souls. Don't bother with Soul Stealer, much less Siphon. Fire Enchanter is best, Frost is nice for the slow effect, especially on a Bow. Insightful, and Corpus Enchanter is the best way to get to Extra Effect.
) happens to be when you can pick up a maxed out Nightingale Blade. I know, I'm an Axe man, but this sticker is so sweet, it doesn't matter. Don't let this confuse you, this was the most efficient way to present several possible builds in just 2 links.
