Character types, builds and advice

nesf

Just thought it'd be handy to have a thread where people could share advice on certain playstyles. I thought it'd be particularly useful for people new to TES games.


Battlemage

What is it: A Mage in heavy armour. Used to be a class around since the start of the games.

How to play: There are two main ways of playing. One is heavy on melee using bound weapons, the second is heavy on destruction. I'm playing the former. Using Bound Sword and the Bound Weapon perks from the Conjuration tree you can do fair damage in melee. Oakskin/Stoneskin from Alteration make you even tougher against melee opponents. You'll have high Conjuration anyway so summoning an ally is easy for you. You absolutely need to level Restoration as you need the Recovery perks that boost Magika regen. You need to Enchant as +Magicka heavy armour is very hard to find and very expensive at the start. The synergy here is the Bound Weapon perk that automatically casts Soul Trap and fills gems for you to do your enchanting with. Illusion is handy but you don't need it as much as other magic using classes because of your heavy armour. Get Juggernaught from the Heavy Armour tree to survive better. Going heavy melee helps you because your mana regen is so poor for a mage. While a mage runs around with over 100% extra mana regen you'll be stuck under 50% for quite some time.

Ideal companions: Well you can take anyone really ranged or melee. Either synergise well with this build.


Tips: If you have a melee companion, let them get the attention and attack from the side. Carry a shield, if you run out of magicka just equip the shield and block and slash until you've enough magicka to heal yourself again (useful in long fights). Precast Oakskin before potential fights always. Raising zombies is cheap on mana and a useful thing to be doing. Enchant Iron daggers to level Enchanting, you'll make a nice profit selling them on to merchants.



The magic route: Just play as a standard mage who happens to be wearing heavy armour. The problem is until the late game you're not going to have the same magicka regen as a normal mage so you need to have some backup plan for when (not if) you run out of magicka. Either bow or sword are options here. My only issue with this playstyle is that regular mages do it better with their improved mana regen. They can dual cast destruction spells for much longer.


Anyway, fun playstyle and an interesting twist on mages.

chopperbyrne

Vampire Cat

Pick a Khajiit and become a Vampire.

Kick ass!

Zomg Okay

Rogue

What it is: A warrior in light armour with considerable stealth and Illusion abilities.

How to play: Carry a bow, plenty arrows, a light shield, a sword and light armour. It's all about the stealth: you sneak around, getting sneak attack bonuses and generally play a stealth character. You will have decent One-Handed and Block, however, for tougher enemies like sabre cats, bears and dragons. Where as a heavily-armoured warrior might scoff at a sabre cat, when you pack light armour they're no joke, especially early on. Illusion can be used to Calm enemies, hide from them and assist you through the Dark Brotherhood and Thieve's Guild questlines.

Ideal companions: Lydia is useful for dealing with those tougher enemies but in my experience they can tend to get in your way while playing the stealthy type.

Tips: Draugr are a fine source of arrows early on, as ancient Nordic bows and arrows are reasonably strong.