Watching G*mers slowly realise Skyrim is dogshit has been an experience
I was watching "...why Skyrim?" by Razbuten on sloptube this aft and it's so weird that it finally took Starfield for people to realise. Like Fallout 76 wasn't enough, only now are negative things people were first saying about Skyrim in 2012 finally bleeding into mainstream consciousness. It's so wild, like wow they ruined the magic system? The game has worse writing than a PS1 era Mega Man X game??? Skyrim is just shitty Game of Thrones?? Welcome to thirteen years ago!!
Bethesda hasn't made a really good game since 2002, but it'll probably be years before that realisation sinks in.
Not them, but my recent playthrough I had a warrior monk.
Major classes: Alteration. Mysticism. Long Blade. Blunt Weapon. Block
Minor: Speechcraft. Enchanting. Armorer. Light Armor. Heavy Armor.
Sign: Astronach (it's such a good defense and I wasn't casting a lot of combat spells).
Basically, fought with swords and mace/hammers as they are some of the best uniques. Using alteration and mysticism for the useful effects (Water walk, levitation, mark, recall etc).
Wore a mix of heavy and light armour (as boots of blinding speed and curiass of the savior's hide are light, with fists of randagulf, helm of oryn bearclaw being heavy).
I played an Imperialised Dunmer. Imperial name, initially did the Imperial Cult and Mages Guild, but as the plot progressed connected with her roots and became the Nevarine, joined House Telvanni etc.
Yeah, magic is very useful for exploring but not that effective in combat.
My one advice is you should have at least two combat skills. Because you will max out one very quickly and it will slow down levelling. I found blunt and long blade worked well because of the great weapons available. But one big downside I noticed is they both levelled strength, so I had to pay trainers to level non minor/major skills to compensate.
Short blade levels speed. Spear levels endurance. Marksman levels endurance. Pairing one of those with one of Long Blade, Axe or Blunt which all level strength is also a good idea.
Marksman, Short Blade and Long Blade. Good Samurai Build.
Spear is also a misunderstood skill. It's not meant to be the same as the other melee skills, a primary thing to fight with, it's a long-range skill for hitting enemies before they can hit you or from spots where they can't reach you and you're cheesing them.
I did a dark elf spellsword, long blade and destruction/conjuration as majors... life sux yea
This game's stat and skill system is really complex, I had forgotten that weapon skills level an associated attribute. Short blade doing speed must be for stealthy types...
I played as a Khajiit thief - no magic other than Alchemy, only focused on sneak, speechcraft, mercantile, short blade, and marksman. In combat, hiding in the shadows and delivering critical hits before enemies could hit me, or mostly sneaking around them. In town, charming everyone while having one hand in their pocket, and gaining information with a silver tongue.
The most fun part of the playthrough for me was getting a full set of exquisite clothes strictly through theft, so that by the end she was a totally decked out bad bitch with all the most expensive accoutrements and every thread of it was stolen. Life goals honestly.
I had so much fun that I'm starting a new save as a pure mage, only magic skills and blunt for a magician's staff. I'm about mid-level in the Mages' Guild and House Telvanni and it's been fun to see how underhanded even the "above-board" factions are in the game.
yes I'm playing Atronach and it has been tricky, a lot of micromanagement of spellcasting. But even basic spells are so powerful that it's a nice balancing mechanic to me. My character is also super weak physically so if I don't hit the right order of restore fatigue >> paralyze >> destroy I get wrecked haha.
Game changer was enchanting a ring with Summon Ancestral Ghost, so it costs no magicka to cast, and if you hit the ghost it shoots fireballs at you which you mostly absorb to regain magicka. So that's a good battery while out in the wild, until I can get back to a temple for Almsivi Restoration.