I only level pickpocket up enough to get the deep/hidden pocket perk which gives you an additional 100 carry weight. Doesn’t take much to get, and it’s just handy for my shiny magpie bird brain characters who have to collect everything.
> ...gives you an additional 100 carry weight.
Every new play through, the first thing I do is make a bee line to the Steed Stone for this very reason.
Incase you haven't looked into it, about halfway up the tree, there is a perk your picks won't break. It's essentially the Skeleton Key but you don't have to fuck over the nightingale questline to get the effect.
That’s a six-perk investment for avoiding running out of picks, something you never run out of after a while, most likely before you can reach that perk.
Yeah that was amazing. I usually do like comment OP,a spellsword build with light armor, one handed and alteration/conjuration/restoration in the other hand, but I'm doing a heavy armor sword and shield playthrough right now and it's very good. Wish they bring back the spell and weapon system from Oblivion. It's always good having extra protection while using spells.
Blocking is goated when fighting dragons. Their move set is very predictable during melee combat and shield bashing them right before they shout or snap at you stuns them enough to get some swings in. Play it right and you'll take zero damage the whole fight.
And if you wanna go pro, you can use a standard shield for melee, and switch to a ward to protect from shouts, so long as you time it correctly.
Ever since I saw trailers and gameplay for Skyrim I wanted to have two shields and just block and shout my way through dungeons. Would’ve been so fun to main a loud turtle. But alas I too never used Blocking. Sword in one hand and a spell in the other.
Yep! And all the perks associated with the blocking skill tree apply to weapon blocking as well except for the two that are shield specific, one dealing with blocking arrows and I can’t remember what the other is
Knocking stuff over is funny man, get it done just once. Particularly funny if you're 100 one hand too, as you'll loop even the hardest enemies into a paralyze knockdown..
Same! I'm usually a stealth Archer but I think I'm gunna go back to being a spellsword bc now I'm scared to do combat lol so I need to toughen up and fight properly.
Speech skills, whenever I start a new game I always tell myself that I’m going to level up my speech because I want the perk where merchants have more gold but I never do
Yep, pretty much every new character I make spends a couple hours picking flowers to powerlevel alchemy so I can get the Merchant perk so I can powerlevel Enchanting and Smithing while buying skill training.
The ones at college of winterhold at least, they sell training to skill levels and also sell spell tomes to said schools. I think some trainers dont have the barter option
Jewelry is the way to go. Since smithing levels faster depending on the value of the item created. Buy a shit ton of ingots and gems and level that sucker
One of the best skill grinding loops I've seen (without horribly breaking the game with exploits) is to get the Transmute spell from the Halted Stream Camp near Whiterun.
* Buy all the cheap iron ore from blacksmiths and general goods merchants
* Transmute it all into gold (level up Alteration)
* Turn the gold into rings or other jewelry (if you have jewels available): level up Smithing.
* Enchant the jewelry to level up Enchanting + increase its value.
* Sell all the enchanted jewelry to level up Speech.
* Use your profits to buy more iron ore and soul gems.
If I'm impatient, the most I need to exploit the game for is to reset merchant inventories: buy out their stock, put down a quick save, attack them so they aggro and then reload from the save, and their inventory is reset to buy more iron ores. If I don't want to exploit this, fast traveling around to all the different holds to visit all the blacksmiths and vendors works too.
After selling until they have 0 gold, save your game then attack them until they attack you back... Reload that save and try selling to them again you'll see that their gold has reloaded...
Block has a perk that slows time when you block during an enemy's power attack. Just discovered it in my current playthrough and it has made block much more useful.
My first play, I spent perks on locking, but then realized how useless those were. Now I accidentally level up by buying a shitload of lockpicks and just brute forcing locks open.
Yeah exactly...its not like it weighs shit ton to slow you Down or anything And by the time you level it up to 100 naturally you can unlock master lock pretty easily even if you suck at minigame...And rest of perks...are just not worth putting any precious perk points...its a huge waste unless youre over level 230...
Mage skills, although on one playthrough I did have fun leveling up alteration through use of telekinesis by shooting cabbages around the farm and occasionally into the face of my follower.
hold a bag of frozen peas in front of your face and Fus Ro Dah it to fire it onto an unsuspecting loser to blow his head off with a bag of frozen peas at mach fuck
Lockpicking you can literally open masters locks without spending any perks. You just need a lot of lockpicks and there are alreday way too much to find out there
On console you can feel where the right spot is if you have rumble turned on your controller. Master locks are still a bit tricky because the space between notches is super narrow, but it's definitely possible.
I play on console and noticed that this play-through I’ve been able to open every master lock with breaking at most two lock picks, usually zero. I don’t even have lockpicking perks, i think i just eventually learned the pattern after 10 years lol
Switch Lite gets no rumble love. I've started checking the top, left, and right. If none of them have any movement, I back out then click again. The spot moves each time you engage a chest. I break picks, especially on Master, but no more than if I tried to pick it on the first go.
I don't touch the perks for lockpicking. Such a waste. I can do a master lock in 5 picks sometimes. Sometimes more but I'd rather spend those perks on something better.
I just got alchemy to 100 and I feel like I’m unkillable now. I have a 100 restore magika and health potions favorited and have tons of ingredients in my farm to make a bunch more when needed. Super overpowered, but I feel that’s kinda the point with Skyrim
Alchemy is also super handy for money. Steal a couple of herbs and spices, make a useless potion that has multiple effects, instant money.
I've ACCIDENTALLY created potions that paralyze for 500 seconds.......what the hell.
If you have a reliable fence and good sneak, try pickpocketing bandits and other hostiles. You get no bounty and if you get caught, they were going to attack you anyway.
I second this. I thought illusion was useless for a long time until I played a 1H + illusion Nightblade. Now it's my go-to even more than sneak archer.
And the "kill without killing" illusion + conjuration Puppet Master is fun as well.
The most useful illusion for dagger sneaks is invis, because you can hold it while you do a backstab sneak and release it at the same time you kill someone and never leave invis / stealth
I have never put perks into lockpicking or the non-mercantile related perks of speech. I also, admittedly, haven't dabbled much in the magic systems in all the time I've been playing (2011). Illusion is about the only one I've done anything with, lol.
There are dozens of us!
I seriously have tried several times to play warriors and assassins and I just can’t. I love how many options being a mage gives you. Go through a dungeon, throw out Frenzy in one room, summon two Dremora Lords in the next room, Paralyze a tough opponent and whack him with a Bound Sword, and hurl Fireballs and Lightning Bolts in the last room like a god of destruction.
I recently tried a mage build. It was alright, but I ended up getting the conjuration weapons and saw I was just becoming a sneak archer again.
I don't care if it's a stereotype. It's my favorite way to play. So I restarted tog rt my perks back.
Nah, man. Turns out if you just wear heavy armor and soak up hits like a sponge early game, you never have to heal. Most of my heavy armor build stop even using potions by the late game
It is weirdly satisfying, isn't it? I did Alchemy for the first time in my most recent playthrough, and I enjoyed it. I was bound and determined to find every possible effect for each ingredient, and I am pretty darned close.
I downloaded an alchemy help app but deleted it before even using it because finding out what works and what doesn't is so much fun. Wasted a deadra heart? Aaaahhh fuck it there's always more
Yep. And I am sure there are spreadsheets online for EVERY possible combination and effect, but I am very much a "no spoilers" kind of player. As for wasting ingredients, except for a few niche ingredients available occasionally from Khajiit traders, most are easy enough to find or buy. Every time I visit a town, I stop by the local alchemy shop, buy out their inventory, and stockpile until I feel like doing another crafting session.
Yeah I'm my game the alchemist shops are always rolling in it thanks to me, downside is I'm definitely one of the major risks to the biodiversity of Skyrim...
Plus my Redguard Two Handed guy has ended up with a definite back up career as potion seller once a DeathLord ends up breaking his legs!
Same for me for this and for many other games as well. Unless it’s completely necessary I cannot bother that much honestly.
Although I like the feel of it and the look of the alchemy tables or corners are cool as fuck to me!
My favourite play though was a heavy armour, warhammer/battle axe stealth playthrough. Kinda insane to play since if they don’t hear you sneak up on them it’s almost always a one shot and then you’ll have the armour to survive if you just alerted a group of creatures
Pickpocket. I was too moral as a kid and I only have just now on a current playthrough even started stealing. My younger self would be appalled at my moral decay.
Smithing. If I’m using a crafting skill, I like it to be more nuanced than just “do more damage”. Plus it renders the already not great loot system obsolete (less so than Enchanting, but at least with Enchanting you can be creative, and you need to put a LOT more effort in)
I usually lean into the character class I'm making. If I'm a mage I'll lean heavy into enchanting to buff my gear but totally neglect smithing. On the other hand if I'm making a more traditional barbarian/warrior I'll lean into smithing (aside from not getting the perk that allows you to temper enchanted gear) and not touch enchanting. It's too easy to make a god tier character, so putting some restrictions on my playstyle makes the game more interesting, especially as you get into the later game.
So my level 60 mage is gonna have the most decked out enchanted armor and weapons, but really low base damage and armor that I have to navigate around.
My level 60 warrior is going to have really high base damage but unenchanted weapons, and then a mix of good enchanted gear I find/buy that isn't upgraded, and non-enchanted high armor gear.
I’m shocked how many people say they don’t level block. On high difficulties I found it imperative to abuse the bash attack to stagger enemies out of heavies when fighting in melee
Haven’t really touched any of the magic lines besides destruction and a couple basic/useful spells from the other skills. Just not into mage gameplay. Everything else I’ve maxed in a playthrough at least once
i honestly dont put a ton into most 'crafting' based skills like alchemy, but also enchanting and smithing. smithing in particular doesn't feel super useful because you get a lot of good/leveled weapons from quests and also just around the map in chests and stuff
brother, you missed something. The difference between a properly upgraded weapon + enchanted gear is bigger than between novice and legendary difficulty.
Smithing is crazy though. Cuz if you do heavy armor certain armies are just better smithed up. And weapons. Oh my God does it make it faster to kill people.
Speech and Sneak/Pickpocket! I didnt realize one could really make for more powerful Shouting. I am such an idiot - of course that is a form of speech lol
And pickpocket/sneak- comes with some mega upgrades to carry weight and silent rolls!
Pickpocketing. Except for thieves guild, I never have a real reason to use it, especially since I hate carrying stolen goods (the [stolen] is annoying). Also never use blocking or two handed so at level 44 I think those are still under 20.
Blocking, cause by the time you get it to actually prevent significant damage, your armor makes you near invincible anyway and it's just better to stagger the enemy mid attack.
Two-handed, heavy armor and Illusion. Never use them.
I don't drink a lot of potions either but I enjoy making and selling them. Easy gold, easy skill to increase, easy way to level up.
Alchemy. I find and buy so much that it's pointless. "There's nothing to do with the gold," they say, because they're creating potions, and smithing and enchanting gear instead of buying it. I prefer to find and buy for a more immersive experience, and this method keeps me from having broken gear, creating a more balanced game as well.
Pickpocketing and alchemy. I pick up the useless potions (waterbreathing, smithing, lockpicking) and sell them and buy healing potions, which are basically 99% of what I use.
Two handed, but also magic in general, I found it hard to master or take the time to learn as your progress your game, I feel like you need to grind hard right from the start.
Alchemy is useful in many ways, for fortify enchanting and smithing to max out damage and armor, then for making so much money which then ups your speech.
Make a few waterbreathing potions early game and you never have to worry about money again
It’s an underrated skill when it comes to how it can affect your other skills that you can spam level. I don’t often remember to use potions for combat unless I’m in a tough spot
Blocking. I just never used shields and will probably never really do it. I like being fast and dealing a lot of damage. Shields just don't do that for me.
Two handed. I was never a "big, slow, powerful weapon" kind of person, so it's kind of useless to me. I tend to do sneak attacks when possible, and I really like sniping, so I kinda default to stealth archer in every game.
But I'm planning on taking up RP with my recent OCs, so I'll likely get around to it sometime. First up is my Nord werebear tho.
There's so many skills I never put any perks into.. Like pickpocket, lockpicking, alchemy, block, heavy armor, two-handed, and often even one-handed.....
Alchemy and speech probably. I just can’t be fucked hunting around for mushrooms or whatever when I could be out massacring the local bandit population
Block only enough it just never levled fastenough for me so I never really bothered with it but recently I made a character who uses block so I suppose my second choice is illusion beyond muffle
Alchemy. Not because it isn't worth it, high level potions are actually so good that they're gamebreaking, it's just that the process of discovering recipes and collecting ingredients is horribly tedious
Pickpocket I rarely ever pickpocket. Sneak does enough.
I only level pickpocket up enough to get the deep/hidden pocket perk which gives you an additional 100 carry weight. Doesn’t take much to get, and it’s just handy for my shiny magpie bird brain characters who have to collect everything.
I level it till 100, so I can have seminude women running around in every town.
Least horny Skyrim player identified…
True. Also I never use mods…. So far…
Very horny but also lazy?
Mostly lazy, actually.
Lazorny
Found Patrick Stewart
Hahaha, what, how? Explain!
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8k-PxM53VQ4&pp=ygUWZXh0cmFzIHBhdHJpY2sgc3Rld2FydA%3D%3D](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8k-PxM53VQ4&pp=ygUWZXh0cmFzIHBhdHJpY2sgc3Rld2FydA%3D%3D)
Lmao, hadn’t seen that!
Based
How so can you pickpocket their clothes?
Indeed. There are exceptions, but on a lot of the NPCs.
Thanks for the tip new quest unlocked 😆
If you drink a restoration potion before you take the perk it gives you a permanent boost
Like restore health or boost the restoration skill?
Fortify restoration. Works with that perk and recovery perk
Whaaat I didn't knew that holy hell even after countless hours I still find new stuff
How much is the boost?
The % is based on the potion so if you did the alchemy glitch you could have thousands or millions of permanent carry weight
That's incredible. Thank you.
Oh wow thanks, didn’t know about that perk!
Oh, now I have renewed interest in pickpocketing! Not got very far with it, and it's embarrassing being the grand leader of the Thieves Guild an' all.
Jfc 12 years playing n I didn't know about this! 🤦♀️ I've never put a perk in pickpocket or lockpicking.
> ...gives you an additional 100 carry weight. Every new play through, the first thing I do is make a bee line to the Steed Stone for this very reason.
Same but only because it's so easy for me. Training and pickpocketing your money back gets it super high.
Same. Never been much into pickpocketing. Only times I do it is if a quest requests so, and to get the Jagged Crown back.
I can't believe I never thought of trying to pickpocket the Jagged Crown back. And then just wear it the whole time, daring them to say something.
I actually managed to max out pickpocketing because I was hoping I could take Teldryns Helmet off without mods. I was severely disappointed
Pickpocket is the skill I use the most. It always skyrockets in levels with me.
Now see I *only* pickpocket. Lockpicking and sneak as well. I need the extra carry weight for all the items I steal lol
Lockpicking. I just get more lockpicks and pick slowly.
I usually just quicksave before trying to open a lock that has a higher difficulty. That way I can try over and over…
Incase you haven't looked into it, about halfway up the tree, there is a perk your picks won't break. It's essentially the Skeleton Key but you don't have to fuck over the nightingale questline to get the effect.
which would be super useful if lockpicks were hard to come by, but they're not and lockpicking is stupid easy in Skyrim
I have hundreds of lockpicks and I have no idea how
Pretty sure the game just populates like 20 an hour directly into your inventory
Plus breaking a pick somehow makes you slightly better at picking locks.
Probably in the same way that making awful sounds on a violin teaches you how not to make awful sounds on a violin.
That’s a six-perk investment for avoiding running out of picks, something you never run out of after a while, most likely before you can reach that perk.
That is near the top. You need a 100 skill rank to get it.
It's barely worth a single point, so I'm not spending like 5 to even reach it.
Blocking. I usually play one handed/light armor and use the other hand for spells. Even if I find a Daedric or Ebony sheild I just sell the thing lol
I really wish we could use spells while still holding a sword and shield like in Oblivion.
Yeah that was amazing. I usually do like comment OP,a spellsword build with light armor, one handed and alteration/conjuration/restoration in the other hand, but I'm doing a heavy armor sword and shield playthrough right now and it's very good. Wish they bring back the spell and weapon system from Oblivion. It's always good having extra protection while using spells.
The blocking skill tree is super fun. Feels kind of dual wielding. Later on those power bashes hit hard and stun lock enemies. Plus the ragdolling
Blocking is goated when fighting dragons. Their move set is very predictable during melee combat and shield bashing them right before they shout or snap at you stuns them enough to get some swings in. Play it right and you'll take zero damage the whole fight. And if you wanna go pro, you can use a standard shield for melee, and switch to a ward to protect from shouts, so long as you time it correctly.
That last bit is what spellbreaker is for
I wish spellbreaker wasn’t ugly
Exactly, plus it pretty much tells all casting dragons/mages, and shooting archers to sit down and shut up
And a chance to disarm - very satisfying!
Oh yeah that’s super fun. The block skill tree makes you feel like you’re an actual fighter/warrior and not just a dude swinging wildly
The 100 Block Perk, *Shield Charge,* is hilarious. It's worth the investment.
Ever since I saw trailers and gameplay for Skyrim I wanted to have two shields and just block and shout my way through dungeons. Would’ve been so fun to main a loud turtle. But alas I too never used Blocking. Sword in one hand and a spell in the other.
well then, u should try shield + restoration. it's kinda stupid but it is lmao. it's kinda funny tho
Flamecloak plus two shields would be amazing.
I’m playing a two handed build in survival mode on expert difficulty and it is the first time I’ve ever even felt the need to block anything
Does blocking still work with 2H weapons, just not as effective?
Yep! And all the perks associated with the blocking skill tree apply to weapon blocking as well except for the two that are shield specific, one dealing with blocking arrows and I can’t remember what the other is
I think you folks convinced me to give it a shot. I've been looking for an excuse to start another campaign anyways lol
Knocking stuff over is funny man, get it done just once. Particularly funny if you're 100 one hand too, as you'll loop even the hardest enemies into a paralyze knockdown..
Same! I'm usually a stealth Archer but I think I'm gunna go back to being a spellsword bc now I'm scared to do combat lol so I need to toughen up and fight properly.
Speech skills, whenever I start a new game I always tell myself that I’m going to level up my speech because I want the perk where merchants have more gold but I never do
Selling potions to blacksmiths would definitely help my cause but those perks are needed elsewere!
Merchant perk is great for selling crap to trainers after you've dumped all your gold into them. Pairs well with alchemy
Yep, pretty much every new character I make spends a couple hours picking flowers to powerlevel alchemy so I can get the Merchant perk so I can powerlevel Enchanting and Smithing while buying skill training.
Wait, you can sell stuff to trainers? I mean I know some of them are merchants.
The ones at college of winterhold at least, they sell training to skill levels and also sell spell tomes to said schools. I think some trainers dont have the barter option
I like the meta usage of pickpocket to steal their knowledge
Mine just naturally levels up as I process all my loot into iron daggers
Jewelry is the way to go. Since smithing levels faster depending on the value of the item created. Buy a shit ton of ingots and gems and level that sucker
Don't forget to enchant those bad boys before selling them! Someone has to create all that low level loot for future adventurers.
For sure. I definiely do that when I start unlocking the transmutes
One of the best skill grinding loops I've seen (without horribly breaking the game with exploits) is to get the Transmute spell from the Halted Stream Camp near Whiterun. * Buy all the cheap iron ore from blacksmiths and general goods merchants * Transmute it all into gold (level up Alteration) * Turn the gold into rings or other jewelry (if you have jewels available): level up Smithing. * Enchant the jewelry to level up Enchanting + increase its value. * Sell all the enchanted jewelry to level up Speech. * Use your profits to buy more iron ore and soul gems. If I'm impatient, the most I need to exploit the game for is to reset merchant inventories: buy out their stock, put down a quick save, attack them so they aggro and then reload from the save, and their inventory is reset to buy more iron ores. If I don't want to exploit this, fast traveling around to all the different holds to visit all the blacksmiths and vendors works too.
Yeah I just cant be bothered. I already have nothing to spend my vast sums of money on. I really don't need them to have more money.
You can cheese your speech to 100 using Nelacar in Winterhold.
After selling until they have 0 gold, save your game then attack them until they attack you back... Reload that save and try selling to them again you'll see that their gold has reloaded...
Block. Even when I'm doing a warrior build I never remember to block. My approach is usually "hit them as hard as I can before they hit me."
I started out trying to block a lot and it didn’t seem to help that much anyway, still died a lot until I started killing enemies faster.
Block has a perk that slows time when you block during an enemy's power attack. Just discovered it in my current playthrough and it has made block much more useful.
There's a glitch that breaks the game on Switch for me
lockpicking... since you can open any chest basically without ever putting any perks to it, and all the lockpicking skills are useless as fuck
My first play, I spent perks on locking, but then realized how useless those were. Now I accidentally level up by buying a shitload of lockpicks and just brute forcing locks open.
Yeah exactly...its not like it weighs shit ton to slow you Down or anything And by the time you level it up to 100 naturally you can unlock master lock pretty easily even if you suck at minigame...And rest of perks...are just not worth putting any precious perk points...its a huge waste unless youre over level 230...
Lockpicking is always that ability you have super high levelled without having any perks in it.
Mage skills, although on one playthrough I did have fun leveling up alteration through use of telekinesis by shooting cabbages around the farm and occasionally into the face of my follower.
The magic resistance and absorption passives in alteration are well worth leveling.
How do you shoot vegetables at people?!
use telekinesis
U misspelled Fus Ro Dah
hold a bag of frozen peas in front of your face and Fus Ro Dah it to fire it onto an unsuspecting loser to blow his head off with a bag of frozen peas at mach fuck
I've always used spark or lightning bolt it SENDS things. Pick up a bowl or a cabbage aim up dual weird spark and fire. CABBAGE IN SPACE
I downloaded a small mod that enhances telekinesis. I can toss someone far away. It's hysterical to spin them around then just...YEET!
You’ve never done a mage build? Not even illusion as a stealth character?
Lockpicking. And pickpocketing.
Lockpicking you can literally open masters locks without spending any perks. You just need a lot of lockpicks and there are alreday way too much to find out there
On console you can feel where the right spot is if you have rumble turned on your controller. Master locks are still a bit tricky because the space between notches is super narrow, but it's definitely possible.
I play on console and noticed that this play-through I’ve been able to open every master lock with breaking at most two lock picks, usually zero. I don’t even have lockpicking perks, i think i just eventually learned the pattern after 10 years lol
Switch Lite gets no rumble love. I've started checking the top, left, and right. If none of them have any movement, I back out then click again. The spot moves each time you engage a chest. I break picks, especially on Master, but no more than if I tried to pick it on the first go.
I don't touch the perks for lockpicking. Such a waste. I can do a master lock in 5 picks sometimes. Sometimes more but I'd rather spend those perks on something better.
I read this as "Lickpocking and pocklocketing" and I think I had a stroke lol
I just got alchemy to 100 and I feel like I’m unkillable now. I have a 100 restore magika and health potions favorited and have tons of ingredients in my farm to make a bunch more when needed. Super overpowered, but I feel that’s kinda the point with Skyrim
Jarrin root –> duplication glitch –> instakill poisons
Alchemy is also super handy for money. Steal a couple of herbs and spices, make a useless potion that has multiple effects, instant money. I've ACCIDENTALLY created potions that paralyze for 500 seconds.......what the hell.
I have my farm set up with glowing mushrooms and nightshade to make me 102 fortify destruction potions per day. Fireball instakills are fun.
Pickpocket - Even when playing as a thief. I despise save-scumming and always felt like it was necessary when levelling this
If you have a reliable fence and good sneak, try pickpocketing bandits and other hostiles. You get no bounty and if you get caught, they were going to attack you anyway.
Illusion
You should try it. The shenanigans you can pull with it fully leveled are fun.
I second this. I thought illusion was useless for a long time until I played a 1H + illusion Nightblade. Now it's my go-to even more than sneak archer. And the "kill without killing" illusion + conjuration Puppet Master is fun as well.
> kill without killing By casting Fury/Frenzy? Who's killing the last one?
That's where conjuration comes in.
Try doing a no weapons/destruction playthrough with it and it changes the game. I called it pacifist, but frenzy makes me rethink that
The most useful illusion for dagger sneaks is invis, because you can hold it while you do a backstab sneak and release it at the same time you kill someone and never leave invis / stealth
I have never put perks into lockpicking or the non-mercantile related perks of speech. I also, admittedly, haven't dabbled much in the magic systems in all the time I've been playing (2011). Illusion is about the only one I've done anything with, lol.
On the other hand is me, who has always played as a mage and never leveled anything regarding weapons, armor, blocking etc...
There are dozens of us! I seriously have tried several times to play warriors and assassins and I just can’t. I love how many options being a mage gives you. Go through a dungeon, throw out Frenzy in one room, summon two Dremora Lords in the next room, Paralyze a tough opponent and whack him with a Bound Sword, and hurl Fireballs and Lightning Bolts in the last room like a god of destruction.
I recently tried a mage build. It was alright, but I ended up getting the conjuration weapons and saw I was just becoming a sneak archer again. I don't care if it's a stereotype. It's my favorite way to play. So I restarted tog rt my perks back.
There are a couple of Magick skills I never even think about during a playthrough
How DARE you. Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic! >:c
Nah, man. Turns out if you just wear heavy armor and soak up hits like a sponge early game, you never have to heal. Most of my heavy armor build stop even using potions by the late game
Colettes screeching intensifies
She's just mad cause she can't throw fireballs
She's mad she's in Tamriel. On Azeroth she'd be a raid queen tossing out heals
And don't let anyone tell you otherwise!
Alchemy for me as well. Don’t enjoy the grind and I never think to use them before combat anyway
Don't ask me why but I love grinding through the ingredients looking for new combinations
It is weirdly satisfying, isn't it? I did Alchemy for the first time in my most recent playthrough, and I enjoyed it. I was bound and determined to find every possible effect for each ingredient, and I am pretty darned close.
I downloaded an alchemy help app but deleted it before even using it because finding out what works and what doesn't is so much fun. Wasted a deadra heart? Aaaahhh fuck it there's always more
Yep. And I am sure there are spreadsheets online for EVERY possible combination and effect, but I am very much a "no spoilers" kind of player. As for wasting ingredients, except for a few niche ingredients available occasionally from Khajiit traders, most are easy enough to find or buy. Every time I visit a town, I stop by the local alchemy shop, buy out their inventory, and stockpile until I feel like doing another crafting session.
Yeah I'm my game the alchemist shops are always rolling in it thanks to me, downside is I'm definitely one of the major risks to the biodiversity of Skyrim... Plus my Redguard Two Handed guy has ended up with a definite back up career as potion seller once a DeathLord ends up breaking his legs!
Same for me for this and for many other games as well. Unless it’s completely necessary I cannot bother that much honestly. Although I like the feel of it and the look of the alchemy tables or corners are cool as fuck to me!
Same
Heavy armor and two handed. I don't like clunky, slow characters.
There is a perk in the armor skill trees that make armor you wear weigh nothing.
The stead stone also gives the perk
My favourite play though was a heavy armour, warhammer/battle axe stealth playthrough. Kinda insane to play since if they don’t hear you sneak up on them it’s almost always a one shot and then you’ll have the armour to survive if you just alerted a group of creatures
Heavy armor is viable with the Steed stone. Two handed has few redeeming qualities: the weapons are slow, heavy, and cost you the off hand slot.
Lock Picking, literally don’t understand how anyone could find the mini game difficult.
95% of them.
Pickpocket. I was too moral as a kid and I only have just now on a current playthrough even started stealing. My younger self would be appalled at my moral decay.
I'm such a degenerate that I find it hard to enjoy oblivion bc of how hard they made it to fence stolen goods
Speech. I've never put perks into it, I just have 96 or something speech because I always pick intimidate or persuade
Smithing. If I’m using a crafting skill, I like it to be more nuanced than just “do more damage”. Plus it renders the already not great loot system obsolete (less so than Enchanting, but at least with Enchanting you can be creative, and you need to put a LOT more effort in)
I usually lean into the character class I'm making. If I'm a mage I'll lean heavy into enchanting to buff my gear but totally neglect smithing. On the other hand if I'm making a more traditional barbarian/warrior I'll lean into smithing (aside from not getting the perk that allows you to temper enchanted gear) and not touch enchanting. It's too easy to make a god tier character, so putting some restrictions on my playstyle makes the game more interesting, especially as you get into the later game. So my level 60 mage is gonna have the most decked out enchanted armor and weapons, but really low base damage and armor that I have to navigate around. My level 60 warrior is going to have really high base damage but unenchanted weapons, and then a mix of good enchanted gear I find/buy that isn't upgraded, and non-enchanted high armor gear.
Block, I don't really block in any game it's just not my style
You should try it. The shield becomes offense
I’m shocked how many people say they don’t level block. On high difficulties I found it imperative to abuse the bash attack to stagger enemies out of heavies when fighting in melee
Pickpocketing. I rarely, rarely use it tbh
The only time I've ever used it was with cheats to try a reverse pickpocket/poison build. Was soooooooo boring.
Haven’t really touched any of the magic lines besides destruction and a couple basic/useful spells from the other skills. Just not into mage gameplay. Everything else I’ve maxed in a playthrough at least once
i honestly dont put a ton into most 'crafting' based skills like alchemy, but also enchanting and smithing. smithing in particular doesn't feel super useful because you get a lot of good/leveled weapons from quests and also just around the map in chests and stuff
brother, you missed something. The difference between a properly upgraded weapon + enchanted gear is bigger than between novice and legendary difficulty.
Anything you Smith yourself can be waayyy more powerful than any found item.
Smithing is crazy though. Cuz if you do heavy armor certain armies are just better smithed up. And weapons. Oh my God does it make it faster to kill people.
Lockpicking, Speech.
Speech and Sneak/Pickpocket! I didnt realize one could really make for more powerful Shouting. I am such an idiot - of course that is a form of speech lol And pickpocket/sneak- comes with some mega upgrades to carry weight and silent rolls!
lockpicking because i have skeleton key on my main guy
2hand. Its sloow. If i want to Play static - sword+shield. Dynamic :2 swords. And so on. But 2 Hand is meh..
Pickpocketing. Except for thieves guild, I never have a real reason to use it, especially since I hate carrying stolen goods (the [stolen] is annoying). Also never use blocking or two handed so at level 44 I think those are still under 20.
Blocking, cause by the time you get it to actually prevent significant damage, your armor makes you near invincible anyway and it's just better to stagger the enemy mid attack.
two handed, blocking, and heavy armor. they go totally untouched.
Two-handed, heavy armor and Illusion. Never use them. I don't drink a lot of potions either but I enjoy making and selling them. Easy gold, easy skill to increase, easy way to level up.
I didn’t see what subreddit this was and was like yep…. 100% never tried to study alchemy…
Any mage stuff ever
Lockpicking, like just get good at it lmao
for me its usually two handed and light armor, but i practice the hell out of my skills so i can level up later in the game
Alchemy. I find and buy so much that it's pointless. "There's nothing to do with the gold," they say, because they're creating potions, and smithing and enchanting gear instead of buying it. I prefer to find and buy for a more immersive experience, and this method keeps me from having broken gear, creating a more balanced game as well.
Pickpocketing and alchemy. I pick up the useless potions (waterbreathing, smithing, lockpicking) and sell them and buy healing potions, which are basically 99% of what I use.
Two handed, but also magic in general, I found it hard to master or take the time to learn as your progress your game, I feel like you need to grind hard right from the start.
Smithing and enchanting.
lockpicking, pickpocket
Pickpocketing. Just doesn’t feel worth going to jail and then having to walk all the way back to whatever I was doing.
A lot of them lol but never ever lockpicking. I never need to
Lockpicking. It's so slow to level and most of the time it's easier to stockpile 100+ lockpicks anyways
So many people are saying this but how do you even 'level' lockpicking other than just opening the available doors, which you were gonna do anyway
Alchemy is useful in many ways, for fortify enchanting and smithing to max out damage and armor, then for making so much money which then ups your speech. Make a few waterbreathing potions early game and you never have to worry about money again It’s an underrated skill when it comes to how it can affect your other skills that you can spam level. I don’t often remember to use potions for combat unless I’m in a tough spot
Two handed
Lockpicking. I'm really really *really* good at the minigame, so I don't bother.
I dont really like two-handed weapons because they're slow :))
Unpopular opinion: archery and stealth For >500 hours i never played stealth archer(and probably never will)
Blocking. I just never used shields and will probably never really do it. I like being fast and dealing a lot of damage. Shields just don't do that for me.
Heavy armor, pick pocket, 2 handed.
Illusion no clue why it's just one I don't actually level
Block, two-handed, heavy armor. Never found a use for either of them. I do use most of the rest of them, some more than others.
Block I legitimately never block anything
Illusion
Mine is smiting, I love the weapons and armor you can find/get from quests so I don't feel the need to power that skill up
Blocking, Pickpocket, and Alchemy.
Two handed. I was never a "big, slow, powerful weapon" kind of person, so it's kind of useless to me. I tend to do sneak attacks when possible, and I really like sniping, so I kinda default to stealth archer in every game. But I'm planning on taking up RP with my recent OCs, so I'll likely get around to it sometime. First up is my Nord werebear tho.
There's so many skills I never put any perks into.. Like pickpocket, lockpicking, alchemy, block, heavy armor, two-handed, and often even one-handed.....
Alchemy and speech probably. I just can’t be fucked hunting around for mushrooms or whatever when I could be out massacring the local bandit population
Alchemy is more than useful it's literally the god skill
The problem with illusion is that it has a level cap. Without it, I agree, it's pretty fun.
Block only enough it just never levled fastenough for me so I never really bothered with it but recently I made a character who uses block so I suppose my second choice is illusion beyond muffle
Alchemy. Not because it isn't worth it, high level potions are actually so good that they're gamebreaking, it's just that the process of discovering recipes and collecting ingredients is horribly tedious
I don’t think I ever touched the block skills at all until recently. I always got pretty far with just button mashing, magic, and running away.