Skyrim - Builds, Tips, Q&A - Page 13

On November 24 2011 23:24 Sated wrote:
I have to disagree with the Barbarian build posted above. What kind of Barbarian creeps around and uses bows? A Barbarian runs into a room and starts hitting things, no questions asked. I'm sure that build is viable, but it isn't a Barbarian. This is the build I'm aiming for and I only really have trouble with Giants in groups larger than 2. More than a match for any single enemy and usually fine with groups so long as you fight smartly.

On November 24 2011 23:24 Sated wrote:
I have to disagree with the Barbarian build posted above. What kind of Barbarian creeps around and uses bows? A Barbarian runs into a room and starts hitting things, no questions asked. I'm sure that build is viable, but it isn't a Barbarian. This is the build I'm aiming for and I only really have trouble with Giants in groups larger than 2. More than a match for any single enemy and usually fine with groups so long as you fight smartly.

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2-Handed Barbarian

Basics

Race: Nord
Leveling: 0/2/1
Skills: 2-Handed Weapons, Heavy Armour, Blocking, Smithing, Enchanting (Optional: Alchemy For Potions).

Perks:

Basic/Core Perks (48 perks):

2-Handed Perks (13):
5/5 Barbarian (obviously)
Champion's Stance
Devastating Blow
Great Critical Charge
Sweep
Warmaster
3/3 Speciality Perk (Greatword, Warhammer or Battleaxe - Your Preference)

Heavy Armour Perks (9 - 22 Total):
Juggernaut 5/5
Well-Fitted
Tower of Strength
Matching Set
Reflect Blows

Blocking (9 - 31 Total)
5/5 Shield Wall
Quick Reflexes
Power Bash
Deadly Bash
Disarming Bash

Enchanting (11 - 42 Total)
5/5 Enchanter
Insightful Enchanter
Corpus Enchanter
Fire/Frost/Storm Enchanter
Extra Effect

Smithing(6 - 48 Total)
Steel
Arcane Blacksmith
Dwarven
Orcish
Ebony
Daedric

Playguide:

- Even though Stealth isn't something you're focusing on, it is a good idea to use Sneaking as an indicator for whether or not there are enemies in the area. Enemies will spot you from quite far away (or more accurately, hear you) so you will know they're around even if you can't see them. This isn't too useful in dungeons where you can usually see enemies before they attack you, but is very useful in the wilderness for detecting sneaky enemies like wolves.

- Try to fight in choke-points and avoid open areas when possible. This allows you to funnel enemies towards you, making them prime targets for Power Attacks to the face. You don't want to get surrounded, but if you do you can use either Unrelenting Force or the Nord's racial power to push enemies away/cause them to flee. I prefer using the Nord's racial power because it reminds me more of a Diablo II Barbarian, but you can only do it once-per-day! Another option when surrounded is to use the "Sweep" Power Attack to damage multiple enemies at once, but this leaves you open to counter-attacks.

- When faced up against Mages or Archers, determine if there is a good route to run at them that keeps you under a decent amount of cover. If there is, do so and "Great Critical Charge" into them for massive damage (they will fumble around swapping to their melee weapon when you do this, giving you time for a follow-up attack: This will usually kill an archer or a mage). If there isn't a good route to run at them under cover, either charge straight at them (if their damage isn't too high) or duck behind a corner and wait for them to come to you (especially helpful with destruction mages).

- When fighting Dragons, wait for them to land and hit them with a Power-Attack straight in the face. This will often stun them. Keep repeating the Power-Attack to force them to stay on the ground. When they are on low health, repeatedly tap the attack button for a chance to perform a special kill, just 'cause it looks cool!

- When fighting other 2-Handed weapon users, the best idea is to dodge backwards when they use normal attacks and then take advantage of "Deadly Bash" and "Quick Reflexes" to stagger them when they try a Power-Attack. This gives you the oppurtunity to chain Power-Attacks together and should deal enough damage to kill them.

- Potions of Fortify 2-Handed and Potions of the Knight/Potions of Fortify Heavy Armour are your friend. They will help you to deal more damage and tank more damage in a pinch, making fights against enemies you know are going to be difficult (or fights against enemies you've just died to) that much easier. This is why Alchemy is suggested as an optional skill, as a couple of points in the first Alchemy perk will increase the effectiveness of these potions even further.

Equipment (2 Enchants Per Item Once Enchant Maxed):

Weapon**: Fire Damage Enchantment/Stamina Absorb Enchantment: Setting enemies on fire causes them to take extra damage from subsequent blows, giving you a chance to deal quick "burst" damage against a staggered opponent. Since we open most attacks with a Power-Attack, this is ideal. Absorbing Stamina allows us to repeatedly use Power-Attacks, which is always nice.
Head*: Anything you don't already have.
Arms*: Fortify 2-Handed x2: Obvious.
Feet*: Resist Fire/Shock/Magic (Pick 2): Backs up the 50% cold resistance you get from being a Nord.
Ring: Stamina Regen and Health Regen: Quick stamina regen allows you to chain Power-Attacks more readily. Health Regen is obvious
Necklace: Resist Fire/Shock/Magic (Pick 2): Backs up the 50% cold resistance you get from being a Nord.
Chest*: Stamina Regen and Health Regen: As per the ring.

*Make sure your Helmet, Armour, Bracers and Boots come from the same set so you get all the Heavy Armour perk bonuses.
**I prefer Warhammers, but it doesn't really matter. Warhammers just look cool.

Follower:

Since you're not sneaking, having a follower isn't a problem. They're not going to disrupt your sneaking so there isn't any reason not to have one. It is best to have a follower who is capable of using a bow because that synergises well with the Barbarian's in-your-face attitude.

Stone:

Lady Stone. Duh.

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EDIT:

I'm Level 25 and I play on Expert difficulty. Gonna step it up to Master once I feel more comfortable, I don't like going straight into a game at the hardest difficulty level on my first playthrough. My current equipment following this kind of build (albeit in a bit of a scatter-brained way) looks like this, with most of this stuff smithed/enchanted myself (hence the names...):

Weapon: Orcish Warhammer of Fire (+Fire Damage, Flawless Quality)
Head: Orcish Helmet of Swimming (+Breathe Underwater, Flawless Quality)
Arms: Barbarian's Orcish Bracers (+2-Handed Damage, Flawless Quality)
Feet: Orcish Boots of Fire: (+1Fire Resistance, Flawless Quality)
Ring: Ring of Stamina Regen: (+Stamina Regen)
Necklace: Necklace of Fire: (+Fire Resistance)
Chest: Orcish Armour of Regen: (+Health Regen, Flawless Quality)

I forget the exact numbers, but they're only average: I'm obviously nowhere near maxed with this equipment and I survive pretty well, so I think it can only get better as I advance...

On November 24 2011 23:24 Sated wrote:
I have to disagree with the Barbarian build posted above. What kind of Barbarian creeps around and uses bows? A Barbarian runs into a room and starts hitting things, no questions asked. I'm sure that build is viable, but it isn't a Barbarian.

On November 25 2011 02:34 Sitinte wrote:
How efficient is a pure archer in open world combat? It's obviously harder for those without than those who have melee backups, but I find that archers require a lot of points, in both sneak and archery, and that's before you begin to factor in the broken perks (smith/enchant/alchemy) and other goodies (lockpicking/pickpocket; etc), so it's tough to focus on 1h or 2h.

On November 25 2011 02:51 Raekhor wrote:


If you're not sneaking it's going to be pretty hard without the high archery perks to play against more than 1 enemy. Getting a follower could fix that for you until you're at that point.

On November 25 2011 06:16 Faruep wrote:
is there a way to reset my perks? I started out playing 2-handed but would like to change it to 1-handed with shield now. Dont wanna start from scratch though...

On November 25 2011 05:07 -Trippin- wrote:
Having a follower completely breaks the game on any difficulty by making it far too easy. Also, any build can easily get you through a Master playthrough. This isn't exactly a challenging game.

On November 25 2011 08:11 tyCe wrote:

No, it's certainly not, although playing on a console does make it harder due to having to use a controller and thumbsticks.