• Welcome to Skyrim Forums! Register now to participate using the 'Sign Up' button on the right. You may now register with your Facebook or Steam account!

Speshol

New Member
I've had Skyrim for the past 2 week. Been playing it here and there getting into it to get the feel of things. I haven't gotten deep into it, just barely scratching the surface. I die a lot.. So lets just say I'm not the best Skyrim player there is. I'm currently a Dark Elf and another profile an Imperial. My Imperial is a head on fighter where my Dark Elf is a little "mage". I say "mage" cause he sucks... -______- As I play my Imperial I feel as if I could've started him better than I have.

I wanted to know what the forum members have to say to this. Which race is ultimately the best to choose perks and skills wise? I've seen character builds and all of that, but I want to know what people have to say.

PS: New to the forums, love Skyrim and looking to seek better Skyrim skills.
 

Perkless in Skyrim

Bad to the Dragonbone.
Race is mostly a matter of preference. Every race can eventually improve all skills to 100 so it's really a matter of what racial ability you like the most. When first starting out an orc might be better at fighting than a high elf but as you play it becomes less and less relevant.

Personally I prefer Bretons for their magic resistance. Others might like Nords for their frost resistance or Khajiit because they can use Nighteyes as much as they like and get a 4x bonus in weaponless combat. It's all about what YOU like and how you like to play.
 

Duderino

New Member
I chose Argonian because I thought the underwater breathing would matter more (it really doesn't), plus I like the idea of a sneaky assassin lizard man. If I were to do it purely for the bonus it would be Breton. Magic resistance is a huge help, also they start with the Conjure Familiar spell. Conjuration is my favorite school of magic so any head start to that is a help to me since it one of the first things I'm lvling it to 100 on any guy.
 
My first playthrough (which is still going at lvl 42) was a pure mage (at first) that used destruction a TON. After a while, though, I discovered the joys of Bound Bow, and ended up sneaking a ton as an archer with destruction magicka as a backup.

My next playthrough (which is currently a lvl 23) is an Orc that I'm making into a pure two-handed badass. It's just a totally different mindset when you play. I feel with him, I have to think things through a bit differently, as I can't just bum-rush things like I had originally thought.

No matter what you go through, just remember (like others have said) that you aren't totally limited by what race you choose. Any race can really do anything.
 

Lee

Rasta-For-I
I went with Dark Elf and have focused mainly on stealth, archery and single handed combat. My magic has been left behind a bit. It's worked really well for me. Dark Elves are 50% resistant to fire too and as many of the dragons do fire it's a bonus.

As others have said though you can get good at all skills with any character.
 

Nathalean

Professional Vampire Ninja
Well, what is "best" depends on what you are looking for. Do you want sth that is easy to play, sth that is versatile or challenging and interesting? I always try to create characters that somehow mirror myself. But I will explain this a little further down here:


If you want to go for the "easy" character, go for a Nord, Orc, Redguard or Imperial and do a simple warrior. And by simple I mean SIMPLE: No 2-handed weapons, no magic, no fancy experiments. If you invest into one-handed weapons, heavy armor and blocking combined with some shouts and a follower, most fights will be really easy.

Smithing will provide you with really strong weapons and armor that are way ahead of your actual level.
A follower like any of the housecarls is a nice addition which can carry stuff for you, tank and dish out serious damage. You could go /w Lydia like 99% of us. You can provide her /w armor and weapons that you made for yourself since smithing is really advisable for any warrior as mentioned above.

Never underestimate blocking. It can stun-lock your enemies almost 100% of the time.


For a mage go /w a Altmer, Dunmer or Breton. I think a mage offers the most versatility since you get to do basically everything you want to. You can use the elements to strike your foes, conjure Atronachs to your aid, use bound weapons, cast armor spells, use detect life/muffle/invisibility spells for sneaking and so on.

While a mage requires most thought during fights imho, I think it's also most rewarding. You don't need any equipment really. I have a now level 40 mage and he's perfectly fine with his Adept Robes/Hood. Get a Frost Atronach to tank for you and DESTROY everything in your path (jk).


For sneaky assassins I'd recommend Bosmer, Khajiit or Argonians. It requires patience and a high amount of overall awereness, but will be very fun and interesting.

Get Assassin's Blade and a generally high level of Sneak and your ready to go.


In conclusion the simple warrior is the easiest to play, but I can't identify with such a character and don't find it particularly interesting... In the end it comes down to any of the archetypes (warrior/thief/mage in this order) being a good choice for beginners. The more you strife away from these models, the more unique and challenging your gameplay will be.

I'd advise you to try and make the character that you find most interesting work. I have done this with my Dunmer Illusionist Assassin. He's a level 4 vampire 24/7 and only invested in stamina & magicka, which comes down to 40(!) max health (because being a lvl 4 vampire reduces your health by 60). In return it offers a really wide range of tools to use. It's really hard to play but completely OP once you've mastered it :D
 

vincent

SC2: DudeMan 346
Nathalean - I agree with pretty much everything you are saying except for the warrior being simple. It takes quite a bit of thought before you can engage an enemy. When you are in 1 on 1 combat with a creature that is comparative to your level, you really have to learn his movements in order to successfully shield bash and strike while bringing your shield back up to block. For example, a Draugr that is about to power swing will raise his shoulder higher than a normal swing. He might stun himself off your shield but you can really daze him out of the battle for a good five seconds if you shield bash in that period.

Then there are the spellcasters and dragons that never land. The hardest part is closing the distance before you run out of stamina or take too much damage anyway. I don't even suggest fighting more than 3 enemies. Blocking only takes you so far. With all those hits raining on you, you will never find an opening to strike and don't forget that attacks that hit your shield, take away about 3-5 stamina. It adds up.
 

Panthera

Don Gato
My preference is dual wield assassin. Why? It's less chaotic killing in shadow one by one. But in case I get detected I switch from knife to dual swords and go head on to do some chaos against multiple enemys.
 

OMG CHUBBON

New Member
Sneaky archer khajit speccing in lock pick/sneak/pickpocket. Sooo much fun. Lots of loot and gold plus high bonus to sneak attacks with bows.
 

kirak95197

Writer
It depends on what you want. As you level up it doesn't matter really. If you want, say, to join Thieve's Thieves Guild early on, (Level 1-5) I recommend Khajit because they start with extra lockpicking, sneaking etc. But if you want to do College of Winterhold early on, I recommend a High Elf because of the starts they get.

In the end, you can get a mage Orc or a Two-Handed High Elf, it doesn't matter except for the first few levels.
 

Nathalean

Professional Vampire Ninja
Nathalean - I agree with pretty much everything you are saying except for the warrior being simple. It takes quite a bit of thought before you can engage an enemy. When you are in 1 on 1 combat with a creature that is comparative to your level, you really have to learn his movements in order to successfully shield bash and strike while bringing your shield back up to block. For example, a Draugr that is about to power swing will raise his shoulder higher than a normal swing. He might stun himself off your shield but you can really daze him out of the battle for a good five seconds if you shield bash in that period.

Then there are the spellcasters and dragons that never land. The hardest part is closing the distance before you run out of stamina or take too much damage anyway. I don't even suggest fighting more than 3 enemies. Blocking only takes you so far. With all those hits raining on you, you will never find an opening to strike and don't forget that attacks that hit your shield, take away about 3-5 stamina. It adds up.

Well I have played TES games since Morrowind. So maybe I perceive the warrior playstyle as easier than it actually is. But shouts which you get for free during the main quest take care of most problems. You can close distance with Whirlwind Sprint, stagger ppl with Unrelenting Force / Ice Form or use Become Ethereal to reposition yourself. And don't forget that followers can come in handy, too. Aranea Lenith will conjure Atronachs and use staggering destruction magic while housecarls can take some serious beatings (for example Argis the Bulwark).

But I will give you that "simple" doesn't really mean simple. I just find battles easier in comparison. As an assassin, I have to know lighting conditions, enemy positions, general number of enemies and what they actually can see, etc. Then their is noise and stuff to be aware of while a mage has to switch numerous spells and usually shouldn't even get hit once.
 

Nathalean

Professional Vampire Ninja
My preference is dual wield assassin. Why? It's less chaotic killing in shadow one by one. But in case I get detected I switch from knife to dual swords and go head on to do some chaos against multiple enemys.

The great thing about dual wielding assassins is that a power attack with 2 daggers can do 120x damage. If you get the Assassin's Blade perk you get 15x damage with daggers while sneaking undetected. You can double this using the Dark Brotherhood's gloves. A power attack with 2 daggers consists of 4 consecutive hits for a total of 15 * 2 * 4 = 120x damage. You can easily one-hit dragons and dragon priests this way :D Tested with my Dunmer assassin.
 

vincent

SC2: DudeMan 346
I never really use followers and I've never really played as an assassin or a mage but I do have an altmer who is a archer/2hander and snipes. I'm just giving you the different perspective of a warrior. Each class has its own challenges to overcome but the warriors is most noticeable in the fact that you need to single out opponents and eliminate them quickly then switch to a new target while avoiding ranged magic.
 

Geoff

Throbbing Gristle
All races and skills are viable, when you progress more through the game your racial bonuses don't really matter anymore. I personally play as a Breton 1h/destruction Battlemage on master difficulty because of their awesome magic resistance.
 

Speshol

New Member
I apologize for my inactivity to a post I was looking forward to keep up on. I've read all the posts and I appreciate all the tips/suggestions. I'm using a Dark Elf now because of the fire resistance. Although there should be a class resistant to shock, seeing how thats like my kryponite. I constantly continue to run into quest problems because I either A. can't get through cause I'm too weak or B. I'm just too damn weak.

I will conquer this game. I've been out of the RPG loop for a while and never even touched Oblivion once or any other Elder Scroll games.

I'm currently trying to start off this character with a good income and high elective skills. Working on smithing and alchemy so far.
 

Su8tle

The Shadow of Elsweyr
It all comes down to racial ability.

Thief/Assassin type character for me is the Kajhiit. I love to be able to see at night like at day. I could see why people choose Argo/Wood Elf but, they also have nice racials.

Dual Wield character for me is the Orc. Beserker rage (do double damage/take half damage for 60 seconds) turns your attacks into hell unleashed for 60 seconds. no better racial ability for a dual wielder. Im loving the dual wield build at the moment. In other classes you need to take many things into calculations for bigger fights. With my build at the moment i just need to make sure i can do enough damage to kill anything that moves as quickly as possible before they kill me. Simple but fun.
 

YoungLord94

Yokudan Refugee
I chose Argonian just because they look like flightless mini-dragons lol. but the lockpick bonus and Histskin perk really come in handy. They also make pretty good guerrilla fighters.
 

Speshol

New Member
ReaperEOD, What quest(s) do you have to do to get married? And what perks come along with getting married? I've read a lot about it just never what quest to do so.

What's a good way to stockpile ingredients? Just pick up everything in sight? I've been doing so and I've been collecting quite a good amount of things.
 

Panthera

Don Gato
It all comes down to racial ability.

Thief/Assassin type character for me is the Kajhiit. I love to be able to see at night like at day. I could see why people choose Argo/Wood Elf but, they also have nice racials.

Dual Wield character for me is the Orc. Beserker rage (do double damage/take half damage for 60 seconds) turns your attacks into hell unleashed for 60 seconds. no better racial ability for a dual wielder. Im loving the dual wield build at the moment. In other classes you need to take many things into calculations for bigger fights. With my build at the moment i just need to make sure i can do enough damage to kill anything that moves as quickly as possible before they kill me. Simple but fun.

I have khajiit assassin with dual wielding swords... I can't imagine assassin with a shield or just having knife and bow.
 

Recent chat visitors

Latest posts

Top