Why does a Breton character die so easily?

[Frosty Mist]

I’m trying to play a Breton knight build and die far easier than my other two imperial/nord characters. Stamina regen is also very slow. Still get killed quickly when wearing strong armour upgrades including steel plate say during the civil war questline.

I relied on ‘team work’ and basically mowed down enemies with power attacks using a superior skyforge steel greatsword.

It’s like playing as a newbie all over again. Except probably as a Breton maybe is it to do with prioritising skill in combat and not being able to tank much or messing around? Needing more potions etc than as other ‘races’.

I mean I learned to beat one wave of enemies in a dungeon once by stunning them, blocking as much attacks as I could, stopping myself from being hit or delaying them and attacking with skill?

It makes Skyrim feel slightly more Dark Souls-like also or down to earth. I literally relied on dodging attacks from a giant and stunning them (Like Parrying) before they were about to strike me when killing one also.

[alexander_dougherty]

Perhaps you aren't playing to your advantages, I have done a Breton, and they can survive.

First of all, use your magicka, healing spells, ward spells, summon Flame attronach, they all help. Keep plenty of potions, and enchant your gear with resist magicka and resist frost/Fire/Shock, these all help, and put attribute points into more than one attribute (For a Bretonsword weilder I would say 2health:1 Stamina:1Magicka, so you have plenty of health, and enough stamina and magic to survive).

[Frosty Mist]

Originally posted by alexander_dougherty:

Perhaps you aren't playing to your advantages, I have done a Breton, and they can survive.

First of all, use your magicka, healing spells, ward spells, summon Flame attronach, they all help. Keep plenty of potions, and enchant your gear with resist magicka and resist frost/Fire/Shock, these all help, and put attribute points into more than one attribute (For a Bretonsword weilder I would say 2health:1 Stamina:1Magicka, so you have plenty of health, and enough stamina and magic to survive).

I'm generally maybe ok in dealing with magic users or ranged maybe but when it comes to melee they maybe hit harder, and sometimes they do a killmove to KO me.

So far as goes for 2health 1 stamina 1 magicka etc do you mean more on the emphasis of points like always have health 1 point higher than the other two?

Is a greatsword or sword better recommended also? Because if stamina is more scarce and the greatsword hits harder with greater range might be a good option depending on the situation I guess?

[Zsrai]

Are you using new mods? Any character type mods? In the base game there is basically no difference between any of the races, besides a minor skill adjustment and whatever (for the most part) weak racial skills they have. Your problems shouldn't have anything to do with playing as a Breton vs an Imperial or a Nord, unless you have some overhaul or race changing mod(s).

[alexander_dougherty]

Originally posted by Artorias:

Originally posted by alexander_dougherty:

Perhaps you aren't playing to your advantages, I have done a Breton, and they can survive.

First of all, use your magicka, healing spells, ward spells, summon Flame attronach, they all help. Keep plenty of potions, and enchant your gear with resist magicka and resist frost/Fire/Shock, these all help, and put attribute points into more than one attribute (For a Bretonsword weilder I would say 2health:1 Stamina:1Magicka, so you have plenty of health, and enough stamina and magic to survive).

I'm generally maybe ok in dealing with magic users or ranged maybe but when it comes to melee they maybe hit harder, and sometimes they do a killmove to KO me.

So far as goes for 2health 1 stamina 1 magicka etc do you mean more on the emphasis of points like always have health 1 point higher than the other two?

Is a greatsword or sword better recommended also? Because if stamina is more scarce and the greatsword hits harder with greater range might be a good option depending on the situation I guess?

I started with twice as many points into health as stamin or magicka for about the first twenty or so levels, since I found with quite a few races the health would sap in fights against bosses. But feel free to match stamina with health if you feel like it. That set up was what I did with my first breton, and it worked for me.

One handed sword and shield is best combo, since shield blocks better, and both types do similar damage per second, and the greatsword is slower.

For fights, learn to sidestep power attacks, you usually see them coming after a bit, and when they do, hit a key to get you to step to one side, time it right and they miss. Blocking with a shield is also vital. As is a few perks in your armour and block trees, especially against archers. Poisons help against tough bosses, as does a weapon with a fire enchantment (also useful against trolls). And keep making restore health and restore stamina potions, these help enormously in the early levels.

There are probably guides out there that can give better advice, because they are written by people who crunch the numbers, I like maths, but never involve it in my playing, it's more fun to feel your way through a game.

[Frosty Mist]

Originally posted by Zsrai:

Are you using new mods? Any character type mods? In the base game there is basically no difference between any of the races, besides a minor skill adjustment and whatever (for the most part) weak racial skills they have. Your problems shouldn't have anything to do with playing as a Breton vs an Imperial or a Nord, unless you have some overhaul or race changing mod(s).

Will probably have to take a look tomorrow but I basically distributed my health/stamina/magick stats evenly as I did with previous two races, and this time my character was weaker. Tried to follow similar perk tree to them as well.

[Zsrai]

Originally posted by Artorias:

Originally posted by Zsrai:

Are you using new mods? Any character type mods? In the base game there is basically no difference between any of the races, besides a minor skill adjustment and whatever (for the most part) weak racial skills they have. Your problems shouldn't have anything to do with playing as a Breton vs an Imperial or a Nord, unless you have some overhaul or race changing mod(s).

Will probably have to take a look tomorrow but I basically distributed my health/stamina/magick stats evenly as I did with previous two races, and this time my character was weaker. Tried to follow similar perk tree to them as well.

Well, it's definitely a mod then. In Vanilla the races almost don't matter at all. Bretons aren't going to run into problems in a melee build when compared to other races.

[Void#151625]

all races same easy unless you use a mod that changes that...
if its hard its becauss you doing it somehow wrong..
if its caused by mods recheck your mods descriptions ...

[Frosty Mist]

Hmm does 'racemenu' affect anything stat related or 'unofficial skyrim special edition patch' and 'credo skyrim medieval overhaul'?

[DrNewcenstein]

The overhaul mod would be the likely suspect. AFAIK Racemenu doesn't alter the actual race specs. Then again, it should tell you on the mod page if it does or doesn't.

Bretons are half-elves, and thus rely on magic more than a Nord or Imperial combat class. It would make sense they're not as strong in melee as those two, by their very nature. They're not as squishy as a high elf, but they're not really the best choice for a melee build.

[Zsrai]

Originally posted by Artorias:

Hmm does 'racemenu' affect anything stat related or 'unofficial skyrim special edition patch' and 'credo skyrim medieval overhaul'?

Check the mod pages? That should always be your first step... even before downloading them.

[Frosty Mist]

Huh not sure then, Cred's overhaul is purely cosmetic. As far as goes I can't find any mods that really alter races maybe. I also have the Bruma mod installed as well as FNIS.

What I notice is I die quicker as a Breton for some reason in combat and stamina recovery is slower so to say again.