The flaw in Skyrim’s leveling system is in how it awards power to the player, and power to the players opposition through unequivocal means. For example, by specializing in skills such as lock-picking, pick-pocketing, and speech the player gains character levels that increase the difficulty of the encounters they face in the world, however these skills award no power for the player to survive in this harsher environment. This is not a new phenomena for the Elder Scrolls series, as Skyrim’s predecessor, Oblivion, had a similar problem. This system can easily trap an ignorant player in an untenable build should they specialize heavily in skills unrelated to combat, or if they generalized their character for all skills. That said, with a little forethought one can devise a build that specializes in combat-relevant skills while avoiding others to maximize their survivability while diminishing the difficulty of the world.The goal of this summary is to outline the costs and benefits of each skill to maximize the potential of a build. To that end the skills have been collected into several categories.
- Offense: These skills are the primary ways that damage can be dealt to enemies, but just as important, they are also all the skills that gain exp by dealing damage. This means that the best way to maximize a build is to specialize in one of them as much as possible. This way all exp gained from dealing damage will be applied to their primary offensive skill. This is not to say that it’s impossible to make a feasible build without specializing, but merely that one must consider the cost of utilizing a second method comes at the cost of improving their primary.
– Two-Handed: The skill tree is nearly identical to one-handed, with the primary difference being the namesake; it’s use of both hands. This results in higher single-hit damage, though not exclusively higher DPS. Weapon selection and moveset may also come into play. Note that this skill is inferior to the faster one-handed tree when considering endgame crafted gear, as both categories of weapon will reach levels of damage capable of one-shotting bosses while two-handed will retain it’s slower swing time.
– One-Handed: Like two-handed, but with lower single-hit damage and faster swing time. With this, the player also retains a second hand for another weapon or skill.
– Destruction: Destruction provides range in combat and several unique utility spells beyond simply mashing a button for damage. Though is competitive in damage output through the mid-game it has no capability of reaching the damage of endgame crafted weapons. In addition specializing in destruction depends of magika consumption. Characters receive 100 by default, but dedicated mages will quickly find themselves depleting their resources against powerful foes or extended combat. This becomes a drawback in the late game when 100% reduction sets make improving your pool a sunk cost.
– Archery: While providing excellent range capabilities and damage is competitive with melee weapons up to and including the late game crafted gear, bows posses the slowest attack speed and are incredibly clunky in melee. Bow builds are feasible, however should the player enter close combat most strengths of the bow give way to strong weaknesses.
- Defense: Like weapons, a player’s choice of armor is heavily incentivized to be exclusive. The question between light or heavy armor is one of the more self-explanatory points of this essay, but I present reasoning for considering two other trees to serve as ‘armor’ for which a player could opt to choose as their primary, foregoing all others. The armor skills gain exp from damage dealt, and multiple trees include talents that further support specialization in one exclusively.
– Light Armor: Light armor will hit the armor cap of 567 by endgame though it will take more skill points than heavy. This means that in the long run the only difference between the two will be the perks that provide exclusive bonuses, (and the consideration that light armor will generally be lower through the mid-game). For light armor this is a 50% stamina regeneration, and 10% dodge chance.
– Heavy Armor: As above, so here. With heavy armor a build will have better mitigation through the mid-game, though this advantage is lost once light armor catches up. The unique heavy armor bonuses are unarmed gauntlet damage, reduced fall damage, -50% stagger, and 10% melee damage reflection.
– Alteration: Despite not explicitly being an armor tree, alteration is one in all but name. the majority of it’s perks are related to improving armor and/or highly exclusive with wearing other armor types. Not that there isn’t benefit to utilizing alteration alongside armor, but the tree isn’t fully utilized without wearing cloth. A drawback to this tree is it’s dependence on magika, and in many ways is the destruction equivalent for this category. One of it’s strengths is that unlike the armor trees, alteration is enhanced by consuming magika, making it somewhat easier to power level.
– Sneak: While not an armor skill in and of itself, the philosophy of sneak works in direct opposition to the armor skills. whereas light and heavy trees gain exp from taking damage, sneak effectively gains exp from not taking damage. this may sound like a boon, however the flaw with sneak is that it provides no actual damage mitigation. If combat begins and the player is caught in the open, little can be done to preserve the players HP. This is a phenomena that only worsens later in the game, to the extent that the moment an endgame player with high sneak and low armor is discovered (or forced into combat by a scripted event) the battle is already lost. Of course there is a counter-argument that can be made that high level sneak grants game-breaking levels of invisibility making it still a viable choice.
- offhand: These skills are wielded in a hand, but do not directly contribute to damage, nor prevent exp from being earned by armor. While many can be used before combat or alternated between for those who use both hands for damage they can fit comfortably in the offhand. Their viability is variable, and consideration should be made when including one in a build because each skill you add will give an additional boost to the difficulty of the world. A completely viable (if somewhat bare-boned) build can potentially be made with just one selection from each of the categories above to the exclusion of all others. The acquisition of power in this game is not a zero-sum game. It’s a race. Will your next perk point increase the power of the build more than it does the power of the world?
– Block: The only non-magic skill in this category. Blocking provides both mitigation, but also open up some interesting maneuvers in melee such as spamming shield charges to keep your enemy on the ground. The damage mitigation is stamina dependent which can potentially leave you without the resources for attacking. Think of it as exchanging health damage for the faster-regenerating stamina damage.
– Restoration: Restoration is similar to Block in function. The idea is to exchange health damage for magika damage (casting healing spells). The bonus magika regeneration perk both enhances this exchange, and can be a boon for spellcasters of all kinds.
– Conjuration: spells in this school can be split into the two categories of bound weapons and conjure minions. There are potent exploits that can be performed with these skills. Some reanimated enemies are potent allies and perk-enhanced bound weapons have the same stats as daedric and are easy to acquire early on. That said, one must consider whether using a bound weapon is that much different than a standard one for dealing damage, or if your summoned creature is any different from a standard companion. The summon may allow for an additional ally slot and the weapon may come with unlimited daedric arrows (I’m looking at you bound bow), but it comes at the cost of investing in another skill tree.
– Illusion: with the addition of “illusion spells may be cast on x opponent” the illusion tree contains no unique perks other than the coveted Quiet Casting. The spells themselves are quite potent however. Unlike with a conjured ally, there is no limit to the number of foes you can enrage. Damage dealt to and by enemies in this manner is an exp loss, but illusion itself can be leveled via spellcasting exploits like Muffle-spam. Illusion’s primary drawback lies in it’s frequent spell failures when used on higher level opponents. This is just one more reason to take this guide into consideration. By keeping player level low enemies will also stay withing effectiveness range for Illusion spells.
- extracurricular: These skills provide no means to directly (or indirectly by a large margin) increase a build’s combat effectiveness. There are counter arguments, such as one of the three skills granting greater access to loot and gold, thus providing better equipment. However I would correct even this argument by noting that gear from shops and locked chests are not always better (I would even claim they are RARELY better), merely that they are more ‘frequent’. Some may ogle at the first glass sword they find in a shop, however the discovery of that weapon is an indicator that other similar (or likely even better) weapons are now spawning in the world. Delaying gratification may not be the reason why some engage in a fantasy RPG like this, and neither have, nor desire to provide a counter-argument for those who play the way they do. I merely point out the cost and benefits of build decisions, and in this case bring to attention that the following skills can be completely ignored with little impact to the long term in the game.
– Lock-picking: likely the hardest to argue against. Low-level locks are quite easy to pick and provide an immediate reward. That said, the loot in these locked chests are pulled from the same tables as regular chests. Not boss chests, or end of dungeon chests. Regular chests. Yes, it may be hard to resist cracking these locks, and yes, there is a chance that a major equipment upgrade may be inside, but the chances are slim, your pockets will eventually be flooded with gold and you’ll be strolling the world in top tier god-armor in only the tiniest longer time. I can confirm this. I’ve done playthroughs without lock-picking, and they were no less fun.
– Pickpocket: Some will argue that by pick-pocketing armor and weapons off opponents, this skill provides a tangible benefit in combat. This is true, but only at high levels, only if you also invest in stealth, and even then, the combat is not faster and it deprives the player of earning exp in other skills. Also this is only applicable against some foes (though granted, humanoids are quite common).
– Speech: This tree will provide the player with greater access to gold, but of all the extracurricular skills, I find this one to be the least worthwhile. Master trader is convenient, but only slightly impacts how gold-starved merchants are. Persuasion is nice for those who enjoy passing speech checks, but is rarely applicable. Leveling this skill is somewhat unavoidable as it’s a side-effect of selling items.
- crafting: These skills are most similar to the extracurricular skills, with the distinction that they produce crafted items. These items can help in combat, and there could be an argument for utilizing them throughout the game, likely to an even greater extent than the extracurricular skills. The manner that they contribute usually is slim and always dependent upon finding materials. Be wary in their use. Early investment in these three skills is the most common source of difficulties I see in builds posted online asking for help. That said, the crafting exploit is potent. A valid strategy is to avoid these skills through the mid-game while hoarding crafting materials. Once the player is satisfied with their resource pile, has a vast wallet, and has unlocked skill trainers and other miscellaneous gear they can begin a cycle of power-leveling all three together. Once all are at max and a powerful set of crafting gear/potions is made, craft one final ultimate set of equipment. In doing this the difficulty of the world becomes moot and the game from this point onward is irrevocably broken. Cast spells from multiple schools for free, and 1-shot the most powerful enemies in the game. Until this point the world will remain a dangerous place, and there will remain an incentive to follow a plan.
– Smithing: You’ll find a better piece of gear in a chest in a level or two, and likely it will come already enchanted. The real benefit of this tree is it’s ability to enhance gear based on your smithing level. Unfortunately this benefit is relatively minor.
– Enchanting: Powerful enchants can be crafted, but until late game the effects players can craft are rarely better than gear looted in dungeons. Relying on enchanting will also create a dependence on conjuration for refilling gems, or otherwise hemorrhaging gold to maintain enchants.
– Alchemy: The strongest argument for crafting likely resides here, as the ability to turn raw ingredients into health (that can be consumed in combat instantly) is an ability that enhances any build. This quality extends further to other effects as well. Invisibility negates the infrequent need for stealth, poisons for damage, fortify for every other skill, and a multitude of other effects make alchemy a tempting proposition.Just be mindful not to overextend your skill investments and make sure that the levels you earn are empowering you instead of the world. Note that this is also a strong argument to keep cooking in mind. While not nearly as broad as alchemy, cooking provides a reliable method of crafting ‘potions’ that requires no skill investiture.
Everything said, the Skyrim leveling system remains a flexible method for rewarding players for playing the game. The flaw of potentially making the world unplayably difficult could also be described as a miscalculation with giving the underpowered skills too little combat viability, or implementing too few methods of applying those non-combat skills in the wider world. My most recent build was one in which I disallowed the use of stealth entirely and found a flow to the game and it’s difficulty curve that I believe (based on forum posts and the overabundance of stealth-archers) many have not experienced before. I’m tempted with my next playthrough to go two-handed, heavy armor, and NOTHING else just to see how it goes.
