Forums » Smalltalk » Talk Skyrim paladins to me

edit: fixed up the title so y'know what I'm posting about.

Also known as "Copper has a gaming conundrum"

btw spoilers ahead, I guess? I don't know what you people consider spoilers regarding TES.

SO HERE IS THE DEAL:

In anticipation of the Nintendo Switch version of Skyrim releasing sometime in winter (YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS), I'm preemptively researching races and classes to play THIS DUDE (*point at icon*) in Skyrim.

But I'm stuck. D% I know my end goal is to make a paladin-esque (crusader??) Talos-worshipping-screw-you-dirty-Thalmor arcmage of the College of Winterhold. And I'm not sure how to get to that end goal in terms of a character build.

Drac' either fits the Breton or Imperial races best. That much I'm sure. Magical Bretons would be perfect for the magic knight/archmage building, but the culture and skill perks of the Imperial races (calming foes and coin finding luckiness) fit my actual Draconus-the-RP-Character's persona to a T.

Uuuugh help me? Can I make a magic Imperial? Do they build okay for paladin magic knighting? Can I make a diplomatic Breton in TES' game mechanics?

Well, as a guy who thinks Imperials are the best (Master Race... don't let anyone say different) Imperials are pretty good with magic too, or at least from my experience. And hell yeah, I always go the Paladin route whenever I play as one. It's a pretty strong build too. Although, I usually only use healing spells.
I'm not sure about Destruction and the like, but I'm sure they'll work fine, so long as you have enough potions.

So, in my honest, definite opinion, an Imperial works great as a Paladin-esque character.

Khajiit are the owners of the Nord Lands' items, with the most advanced trading techniques and sneaky wares. But if you wanted to play a different race, well, any race can do everything equally well. Except breath under water. That belongs to the Argonians.

Paladins are the easiest to make. You pick up a weapon, some heavy armor, healing magic, and proceed to the check-out line. Skyrim is much less about builds and much more about slaying dragons. Especially when butterflies and fishes make excellent dishes.

Skyrim is much more streamlined than previous Elder Scrolls games, which were more D&D-esque. Unless you have difficulty mods or want to minmax your characters, you can literally pick any race/class you want and just start playing. Case in point, one of my characters was a paladin-like Nord assassin who wore heavy armor, used restoration magic, and was as sneaky as a woolly mammoth. He did fine.

That being said, Imperials have a +10 bonus to Restoration and a +5 bonus to Destruction, Heavy Armor and One-handed, so they'd actually be pretty good for a paladin/archmage build.

Well I want to recommend the mod Requiem if it is released for the switch. I can't play skyrim with out it and it is one of the best balancing mods I like to use on PC

Thank you so much for your answers, guys! You've all been super helpful!

That all being said, I'm not sure if one can use mods on the Switch.... super resourceful player probably can pull it off and manipulate their console to use them, but that is not me. Still, yes, I am aware how awesome the mods & the modding community for Skyrim is.

Mmm, love me some Elder Scrolls. Not that this is a productive comment but felt the need to say it. Carry on!

So I've been studying on spells, basing things roughly around Drac's prayer list from a MUD I played him on (which is where his reclassing from peasant to paladin really took off).

http://www.rprepository.com/c/vsshtakdnilok/60296

And I'm thinking, Dawnguard spells aside, that these schools of magic fit best:

Restoration - obvious healing
Illusion - SO MANY BUFFS
Alteration - detecting dead/life, armor spells, buffs

Can somebody explain to me if it's possible to take on multiple schools of magic? I'm typically used to only being able to take one or two schools of a particular type of magic, because there isn't enough experience/leveling to go around.

Also little to no Conjuration or Destruction. Neither one of those really fit in with my ideas of a paladin character. If I was playing him as a straight up mage, then I definitely would take them.

You can do as many schools of magic as you like but without perks, higher mana pool, or gear then you're going to run though your magika really quick for higher end stuff. Restoration also has the Turn Undead spells I think, maybe the Banish Daedra stuff? Good Paladin things.

Any advice on perks? I don't mind information, so long as it's not story-spoilers/details.

I personally enjoy playing the route of the heavily armored, heavily weaponized Nord. A sword in one hand and a spell in the other hand, usually some destruction or restoration. Having a bow and a shield in back up just to increase your ranged offense or defense respectively is always useful. Though, I wouldn't recommend using a Nord for the magic based route.

Honestly, I say go with the race you feel best suits your character. You'll get through the game just fine either way.

The whole Restoration school rocks. Reduce your Mana costs for sure as you go. I'd avoid Dual Cast; it has its place with the Destruction/Impact perk but it's horribly magika inefficient. Plus, as a Paladin build, you can keep swinging with your weapon hand and healing with the other. Likewise, avoid Ward Absorb. You're more likely to use a shield than a ward and it'll drain your already (likely) limited magika.

Avoid Death, Regeneration, Respite... these are great. Necromage is too as it increases all spell effectiveness against undead, not just Restoration ones.

Increase traits as you wish but as a Paladin build before, I raised Health every 2 levels, Stamina every 3rd, and Magicka every 5. It diversifies you a little but it's worked out solidly for me in the past.

Edit: The Dawnguard faction offers access to some good Paladin-esque spells too, when you meet them. Worth checking out.

My paladin was mostly a glass cannon, I did not increase health at all and pumped the points into stamina and magicka. The only thing that kept me living for so long was long range spells and a lot of armor. Really challenging if you are the slash and dash kind of player, but for the strategically minded it can be real fun to coordinate an attack from long range before closing in to finish it.

So I guess less paladin more spellsword? Hope the info helped though! ^.^ lots of armor can sometimes cover for very little health, so you can be a very unconventional tank

Also, don't neglect the Smithing skill. Making and improving your own gear will give you a vast edge. Same with Enchanting! You'll really want to be able to build and augment your own armor and weapons. With perks and such, the difference between Light and Heavy armor is academic but thematically I'd say heavy makes more Paladin sense.

I'll definitely be running heavy armor, alongside smithing and enchanting. After all, what good is a paladin who can't take care of his own gear?

For Enchantment, to level it up quicker, do weapons with the Turn Undead or Damage Stamina enchantments. If you do it on Iron Daggers, you'll actually make a profit selling them back too. Might want to double check me on that; been a while since I played. A great way to level Smithing is to collect the Dwemer metal from the multiple ruins you'll go through, chop a bunch of wood, then mass produce Dwarven Arrows. Takes a bit of time to gather the materials but I found it was worth it.