Ranger suggestions. (Buld/Character/Skills/Perks)

[B-2]

So I am starting a hardcore rp play through. My character is going to be an archer. Any suggestions what skills to build him. My first thoughts were (some are ovbious) Archery, Light armor, Alchemy, and possibly speech.

Any suggestions what else to build him in?

[wowszer]

Alchemy, Smithing, Enchanting, Sneak. Light armor of couse especially if using Frostfall in your skivies is a turn on. Speech will build unless you do no buying/selling, or you don't put in any perk points.

[Z-Boy]

Skyre takes ranger roleplaying to a whole new level with the wayfarer skill, you gain the abilty to track.

Also as the above poster has said minus enchantment though, Rangers in previous roleplaying games dabbled in nature magic while some don't, but even as they did do magic they never enchanted their gear.

[kdodds]

Light Armor (all perks), One-Hand (sword/dagger specialization only, dual wield okay, all other perks), Archery (all perks), Alchemy (no perks), Sneak (all non-thief perks), Smithing (up to Steel/Nordic/Imperial only, can go higher, but only make/improve Steel/Nordic/Imperial), Conjuration (no perks), Destruction (no perks), Restoration (no perks), Alteration (no perks), Illusion (no perks).

Equipment: Leather or Hide armor of your choice, no helmet, Steel Sword and/or Dagger (or Nordic or Imperial), Base Bows only (Hunting, Imperial, Long Bow), Iron or Steel arrows.

Spells: Summon Familiar, Bound Sword, Bound Bow, Flames, Heal Other, Healing, Muffle, Invisibility (use outdoors only), Waterbreathing, Flesh Spells if desired (in town, no armor). Alchemy should stick to appropriate potions (unless experimenting), healing, stamina healing, fortify of combat skills, poisons to paralyze or slow.

The restrictions on weaponry and armor are for RP purposes, but also to limit the OP nature of sneak/bow with all perks. No Enchanting, Rangers can use found gear, but they don't enchant theiir own. Also can use scrolls (and spiders if desired). Barbas would make a perfect full time companion if he wasn't so noisy. I'd avoid him. Jenassa is a better choice. If choosing Werewolf or Vampire, Werewolf is a much better fit.

Companions, Stormcloaks if doing the Civil War, Main works, Dawnguard side, No Black Book Perks, No Oghma. Recovering Daedric artifcacts should only be to hide them away safely.

[B-2]

Some cool suggestions, also I am using Requiem if that helps anyone else that may comment with suggestions.

[gnewna]

I'd put the first three perk points you get (straight out of the box) in Resto (once you're more used to Requiem, you can find other ways around the lack of health regen, but for the first character, that Healing Aura is invaluable, and I think a practical ranger type would probably pick up a spell like that, even if they're not super fond of magic), Archery and either Sneak, Evasion or Alchemy - I'd probably save Alchemy until level two which is usually reasonably quickly achieved, although bear in mind most races in Requiem can't make anything much at the alchemy lab without that first perk, IIRC (I play as an Altmer in Requiem, so I can at least do that). You can grab the Lesser Ward type thing or leave it when you take the Resto perk, up to you, really. A non-mage will probably not find much use for it, though. (The first perk of each magic tree lets you pick a spell or two out of a small selection, spell tomes are expensive, so it's worth going up the middle of any magic trees you're planning to use, as you get one or two free spells for each one.)

Speech is useful, especially if you get really good as you can disguise yourself and such. I'd recommend alchemy for your crafting skill, a ranger doesn't seem the type to craft weapons and armour (other than a minimal amount of knowledge to fix their own gear, of course) or be overly fond of magical trinkets. (If you do find a nice enchanted weapon and want to use it, you may want to take the first perk in enchanting as, again, most races can't charge weapons without it, IIRC).

Evasion (light armour/clothes) is good, there's a nice perk quite early on that gives you a decent chance of dodging certain attacks. I'd go with a mix of clothes and armour, e.g. some kind of tunic and pants with leather boots and bracers. Maybe have a set of basic light armour handy if you plan to get into any big fights or are travelling in dangerous areas (by default you can't change armour/jewellery in combat, so remember to get changed before you charge into a bandit camp for a bounty or whatnot). Also, bounties pay rather better in Requiem (especially dragons, hoo, boy!)

For archery, you might like to check out Real Bows, AFAIK it only changes the looks of the bows rather than their stats etc, but make sure it's compatible (I'm using it on a non-Req playthrough) before installing. Not essential, but makes the bows look a lot better for a ranger type especially.

If you want any magic, btw, you'll almost certainly want to perk the relevant tree(s) in Requiem as otherwise casting costs can be astronomical. This is another reason not to wear full armour, as casting costs are, IIRC, increased in armour.

If you want to sneak at all, it's worth perking it at least a bit - basically most skills are nearly useless in Requiem until you perk them a bit. You may want to hold off on the perks that increase damage from stealth attacks, even in Requiem it's possible to end up rather overpowering your character with some of those.