Hybrid Playstyles

[Uskyldig]

Only been on the forums for a really short while now, but I do see popularity in the likes of Battlemages etc, and what I wanted to discuss was the pros and cons of delving into this jack of all trades sorta mentality.

Personally I prefer keeping it simple, this is because I think it can not only prove more challenging but to me it feels more solid. Even now my characters consist of a Dunmer Assassin, who lacks in arcane training & crafting and a Orc who uses simple brute strength to rid himself of foes.

So, successes and tips then? For those either having trouble or looking to give it a try.

 

[Gemini Sierra]

My first character was a "jack of most trades". I did a lot of one-handed fighting, heavy armor, shield blocking for the upclose and personal fighting and put perks into all of those skill trees. I also did a lot of archery and sneaking because that got me into places easier and closer to combat with the sneak before being noticed. I used archery also for those long range shots to clear areas before I got there like fort walls and the like. I also used a lot of destruction magic and restoration magic. Lightning is my favorite spell with dual cast and impact perks. It stops just about everything in its tracks and will either let my follower get closer or allow me to knock them down in health to get close and cut them down with my swords. I also found lightning to be very powerful tool against dragons because it would almost always stop them from breathing (shouting) fire or ice on me. I dabbled in the alchemy, enchanting, smithing areas too. Not to exploit them, but to better increase my abilities to make poisons and enchant weapons and jewelry and upgrade my weapons and armor. Lockpicking went up two but I didn't put a lot of perks in there.

So, on that character I had a lot of skill points in a lot of skills and perks that I wanted in most. It was a good character all around.

My second character, I was originally planning to make an khajiit archer/mage combo, but ended up primarily only doing archery and sneaking. Those two go together so well. I ended up focusing all my perks into those two skills for the most part. for the most part, this character only uses a bow and shouts like unrelenting force to get out of a stick situation. Then runs away and hides and sneaks back in. It has worked really well and will do a lot of damage, especially if I get the critical hit and sneak bonus' for hitting.

as for pros and cons of a jack of all trades...
pros:
- lots of skills to choose from for many situations
- a better chance to get to really high levels
cons:
- those lots of skills may not be as strong if you had focused entirely on that skill
- lots of choices in what skill to use for what situation
- can't get to the higher perks in skills because you've leveled them all the same

 

[Kuurus]

Your character sounded like mine until you got to the magic. I concentrated on my combat skills early as I didn't want to level on non-combat skill increases and be underpowered in dungeons. I got my 1H, Heavy Armor and Block up first, but I always enjoyed crawling thru dungeons on sneak and starting fights off with a little archery to gain a quick advantage before melee started. As a result, while my 1H and Heavy Armor are at 100 and Block is 95 I think, Sneak and Archery are not far behind in the mid 80s and I one shot a fairly high percentage of non-boss type foes.

I did the same with my perks focusing on the melee stuff and throwing a point in Sneak and Archery here and there when I was waiting on a few more skill points to get the next perk I wanted in one of my main three. I have only taken the 2 points in Smithing necessary to improve enchanted items, and am just now starting to take some Enchanting perks (skill is at 60 and I've put 3/5 into the first perk so far). Once I get a few more points in that tree, then I will start enchanting my own stuff. To this point, I have just been playing with found gear that I improve. I am pretty happy with the results.

The big difference is as I said in magic. I only use Restoration and basically 90% of the time I use it is just to heal up quickly after a fight if needed. I think my skill in that is around 50.

 

[MushroomGenius]

For me, personally, I'm against hybridized playstyles. It just doesn't suit me. I prefer completely specialized as, to me anyway, I get more life out of the game.

The game is different when you play a specialized role and have the willpower to stick within your own constraints. I understand that this method isn't for everyone, others like to completely dominate and decimate the game using the most powerful EVERYTHING on a single character, that's just not fun for me.

Playing as a Pure Mage, Pure Fighter, Pure Thief/Assassin, or Pure Archer changes the way you approach given situations in game, it allows for more strategy. I think you learn more about the game itself in this way, it definitely makes you appreciate the game more.

 

[M'aiqaelF]

alchemy is a very good skill for the tank type build b/c you can poison your weapons and use potions to restore health, and fortify heavy armor/1H or 2H weapons/health

 

[Jaeger]

as for pros and cons of a jack of all trades...
pros:
- lots of skills to choose from for many situations
- a better chance to get to really high levels
cons:
- those lots of skills may not be as strong if you had focused entirely on that skill
- lots of choices in what skill to use for what situation
- can't get to the higher perks in skills because you've leveled them all the same

And you're putting core attributes (health, stamina, magicka) into 3 instead of 2.

 

[Jaeger]

I'm thinking about playing a bretonian Death Knight, clad in Ebony Armor, ebony shield and ghostblade, riding shadowmere, ritual stone, conjuring dead'uns and bound bow, only getting shouts that are necromantish (ethereal, marked for death, etc), enough alteration and restoration to get magic resistance and Necromage. Vampire status.

Could be interesting.

 

[M'aiqaelF]

I'm thinking about playing a bretonian Death Knight, clad in Ebony Armor, ebony shield and ghostblade, riding shadowmere, ritual stone, conjuring dead'uns and bound bow, only getting shouts that are necromantish (ethereal, marked for death, etc), enough alteration and restoration to get magic resistance and Necromage. Vampire status.

Could be interesting.

that sounds totally badass

 

[Necromis]

You know I think the game to some extent pushes you towards being a mesh of skills. You are required to have picklock to get into chests and certain rooms. You really need some type of distance weapon be it magic or bow. So really you are always going to be something of either a mage/rogue, warrior rogue. Well, maybe rogue is actually the only one you don't have to mesh. As you can dagger/sneak/picklocks which are all rogue skills. Yes your one-hand and light armour will go up but that is not warrior persay.

 

[M'aiqaelF]

well in the d & d/classic fantasy sense the rogue is the original hybrid: a warrior-theif

 

[Jaeger]

^^

Followers can open locks. If I burn through 5 picks on a lock, I tell a follower to open it. They don't need lock picks and they can open Expert locks (any follower, doesn't have to be a Rogue follower).

 

[M'aiqaelF]

^^

Followers can open locks. If I burn through 5 picks on a lock, I tell a follower to open it. They don't need lock picks and they can open Expert locks (any follower, doesn't have to be a Rogue follower).

I always forget about that....once I have enough picks I don't mind doing it myself

 

[Necromis]

Yeah and on most of my run throughs I have been opting not to have a follower.

 

[Teritus]

Yeah and on most of my run throughs I have been opting not to have a follower.

Followers don't generally mix well if you're a sneak oriented character. Anyway, I tried my first character as a Breton battlemage and it actually worked out quite well, except that it's not very good to have a sword in one hand and a destruction spell in the other; you'll want to have a shield instead and use conjuration as a back-up.

 

[Su8tle]

I have a Heavy Mage build which is kind of hybrid. Full destruction with some Conjuration. Full heavy armour with destruction reduction and magica regen. Fire/shock resist.

 

[Professor Skalvar]

Followers don't generally mix well if you're a sneak oriented character. Anyway, I tried my first character as a Breton battlemage and it actually worked out quite well, except that it's not very good to have a sword in one hand and a destruction spell in the other; you'll want to have a shield instead and use conjuration as a back-up.

The only follower I know of that actually works with a sneak-oriented character is Cicero. He has the highest sneak level out of all the other NPCs.

 

[Teritus]

Yep, he's good but most others really aren't. Of course, in some levels you may want a follower anyway in case you get detected and it becomes hard. But I digress, I was gonna ask if anyone has tried mixing archery and magic to make a build?

 

[Professor Skalvar]

Yep, he's good but most others really aren't. Of course, in some levels you may want a follower anyway in case you get detected and it becomes hard. But I digress, I was gonna ask if anyone has tried mixing archery and magic to make a build?

This is very true. I can't count how many times I tried to stealth kill some of the Silver Hand with a bow, only to get caught thanks to Ice Brains(Farkas).

I was going to try mixing conjuration and archery together as I've heard that build mentioned quite a lot on this forum.

 

[Teritus]

This is very true. I can't count how many times I tried to stealth kill some of the Silver Hand with a bow, only to get caught thanks to Ice Brains(Farkas).

I was going to try mixing conjuration and archery together as I've heard that build mentioned quite a lot on this forum.

Yeah, I think that build will do well. Right now I'm also trying sneak and illusion which will hopefully be effective.

 

[Necromis]

actually you are gonna laugh but that is my current play thru, he is a mystic archer sneak. I use the conjured Mystic Bow, have my illusion up to have silent casting and a high sneak and decent archery and light armour skills. Though my last few dungeons I have been back stabing with my dwarven dagger. Wanna get my pickpocket up enough to steal the blade of woe off of Astrid. LOL I don't conjure anything but the bow and I do use some of the illusions spells for the frenzy and fear. I had fun the other day sitting up on a rock and frenzying Hoakers into killing each other until just one was left.