First character for an ES newbie?

[spiritcaller]

I couldn't find a prior thread on the subject, so please forgive me if it's been brought up in the past.

After a bit of pressure from some friends, I've decided to jump into Skyrim with both feet. I have very little experience with the Elder Scrolls universe, having spent perhaps thirty minutes in the very beginning of Oblivion on a friend's PC.

A question I find myself being asked is "What are you going to do for your character?" As a lifelong D&D player, I'm guessing that means race/class. And I've no idea. I know that in fantasy RPGs (both pen-and-paper and on the PC/Xbox) I prefer archers/hunters/rangers/etc. to front-line melee fighters, but it seems like having access to a little magic might be helpful. I prefer human or elf-like races. I'd be much obliged if any of you could offer any advice regarding races or starting character "classes" that I might find to have the most gentle learning curve as I make my first few steps into Elder Scrolls.

(If it makes any difference, I'll be playing the game on a console.)

Thank you!

 

[Travis]

Let me be the first to say: Welcome to a world of awesomeness. The cool thing about Elder Scrolls, is that you get good at what you do. So while you do kind-of choose a class, like in DnD, you can just pick what you like. I would recommend a Wood elf, with a focus on archery. I wouldn't worry about the learning curve, I think you will pick up on it quickly. Because anyone can do any skill at anytime in Elder Scrolls, you will easily be able to incorporate magic into your ranger, by just casting the spells you like. The game will adjust to your play style, and you won't find your ranger nuked at all just because you decided to use some magic. I hope you have fun!

 

[hexperiment]

Honestly, you can go any class with any race but some races are better, at least for a starter, than the others. I'll just simplify the list of class to 3 types: combat, magic and stealth.

IMPERIALS: humans. just think of them as jungle romans. They are the central race that runs the empire I guess. They are pretty good with combat and magic. They have the perk to charm other people which is pretty handy.

NORD: human race again. they are basically Scandinavians for TES. Good warrior but nothing else. They have an ability called battlecry that will send your enemies fleeing. also resistant to frost

REDGUARD: human race. roughly speaking, they could be congruent to African race in our world. Also a good warrior. Skyrim seems to have a bit of magic in them this time. they have the ability to regenerate stamina for few seconds. also resistant to poison

BRETON: half-elf but mostly human. they are really good at magic. they are resistant to magic and can absorb magic attack for few seconds every day

ALTMER: elf race. also known as high elves. heavily focused on magic. they get bonus in magicka and also has the ability to regenerate magicka for few seconds per day.

DUNMER: elf race also known as dark elves. they are pretty sneaky so stealth but they are also good with magic. they are resistant to fire and can activate an ability to set nearby people on fire

BOSMER: elf race also known as wood elves. They are focused on stealth. also can command animals to help you in fights. they are resistant to poison and disease.

ORC: technically an elf race. they specialize in combat. they have the ability to do double damage while taking half-damage for few seconds once a day.

KHAJIIT: beast race of cat people. they are good at stealth. decent warriors too. They can see in the dark and use claw attacks

ARGONIAN: beast race of lizard people. good at stealth with a little bit of magic. they can breath under water and are resistant to diseases. also have a power to regenerate health for few seconds

again, you can be anything as any races. each races have a pretty nice lore behind them and it's worth checking it out if you want to get into RP.

 

[Cyberote]

Welcome to the world of Elder Scrolls, my friend. If you're going for a hunter/archer type and like humans and elves, I would definitely choose a Wood Elf. They have a daily power to control an animal and have it as their ally. I believe Wood Elves get a bonus to archery as well. Other than that, I'd pick Dark Elf. I think they get an archery boost as well.

 

[Tusck]

I'm also going archer/thief/ranger type of playstyle, but with it I'll be using Illusion for fears and destruction for rune traps to keep people at a distance. Should work out well.

 

[spiritcaller]

I'm also going archer/thief/ranger type of playstyle, but with it I'll be using Illusion for fears and destruction for rune traps to keep people at a distance. Should work out well.

I like that playstyle a lot, but I was going to mix it with whatever healing and buffing magic I could bring in to help with survivability (I don't really know the schools very well, so I'm kinda going with my knowledge of magic in WoW and D&D). At the risk of sounding like a complete and total newbie (which I am, I guess), what's a rune trap?

 

[Cyberote]

Rune traps are pretty cool. It's a magic symbol you place on the ground (with magic, of course) and it works like a mine does. If an enemy steps on it, the rune goes off. Todd Howard showed us the ice rune. Whenever the Skeevers (big ol rats) ran over it, some ice spikes jutted up and killed em.

 

[Tusck]

You'd want restoration for healing, and alteration for buffing. If I was you, I'd play argonian, since they get +skill bonus to thieving skills and also restoration and alteration.

 

[Swordsmansmith]

This is my first test game also. Im being a dark elf, stealth/assassin and archer. As said just play how you want and the game adjust to your style.

 

[Flamingtaco]

Imperials or Redguards are pretty good at everything if you can't really think of what you want to do. You'll either love or hate the whole leveling system as a D&D player.

 

[Travis]

I'm a DnD player, and I love the leveling from Oblivion, and I'm sure I am going to love it too in Skyrim. I like this idea for a rune trap/archery build. Do you know what school most of the rune traps come from? Or is it totally dependent on the effect of the trap?

 

[hexperiment]

I'm a DnD player, and I love the leveling from Oblivion, and I'm sure I am going to love it too in Skyrim. I like this idea for a rune trap/archery build. Do you know what school most of the rune traps come from? Or is it totally dependent on the effect of the trap?

I think it's only destruction but it's totally possible that there's rune traps for other school of magic

 

[Travis]

Well, I really hope it is just one school... then I can just specialize in that school and be done with it. Although the great thing about this game, is it will just take care of all of that for you. Just play how you like, and the game will take care of itself... right?