If you play in Novice difficulty, the game will also stop being challenging. The legendary difficulty seems intimidating, but it is a lot of fun when you pull something off that requires patience and skill. Not every way to play the game will work on this difficulty, so it’s essential to have a strong “build” that will carry you through the game. There are 10 races in Skyrim, 18 skills, and 13 stones. There are thousands of items and countless spells. There are so many combinations of these that there should be hundreds of ways to mix and match. That doesn’t mean every combination is good, so here is a list of 10 amazing builds you can make in Skyrim. These builds provide unique approaches to playing the game and may even spark your enthusiasm for the game when you first started playing it.
Unique Skyrim Builds to Try on Legendary
Stealth Archer
How the Build Works:
Let’s start with the most popular and most accessible Build on the list, the Stealth Archer. As a stealth archer, you will be hiding in the shadows getting sneak critical kills as your enemies fall one by one. Before they know it, all of them will be dead. As a stealth archer, you will be focused primarily on dealing tons of damage with sneak criticals. So, your Build should be focused on maximizing this. First of all, maxing out your Archery and Sneak skills is important, as they will help you deal tons of damage at any point in the game. Getting some Fortify Archery gear will also be a lifesaver. The Ancient Cowl and the Old Gods Gauntlet will give you a significant boost to your bow’s damage until the mid-game. Speaking of bows, at first try to get the Conjure Bow spell. The Purple Bow that you get from this spell is on the same level as an Ebony Bow, and you don’t even have to invest in arrows if you use it. However, as the game progresses, it is crucial to get your Smithing and Enchanting up because this bow will start falling off. Grind Smithing and Enchanting until max level, then create and upgrade a Dragonbone Bow with the best enchantments available. Also, don’t forget to craft a suit of Dragonscale Armor (plus a few rings and an amulet) with Fortify Archery, Muffle, and Fortify Health enchantments. Add Soul Trap to a Bow and get the Azura’s Star so you can always recharge your other OP bow. Finally, with Fortify Archery potions and the Orc’s “Berserker Rage” power, your bows will start one-shotting everything with a sneak critical hit. Berserker’s Rage basically doubles your damage, so your criticals will hit even hard. Dragons will fall in three to four shots. Being sneaky and one-shotting enemies, what’s there not to like!
Combat Archer
How the Build Works:
As opposed to a stealth archer, a Combat Archer plays differently. A combat archer is more well-rounded, with a focus on defense as well as offense. You will be on the battlefield slinging your crossbow by your side, and fighting creatures head to head. The Combat Archer’s position on the field differs from that of a Stealth Archer. Instead of relying on critical hits to do damage, the Combat Archer focuses on paralyzing a single enemy and tanking while dealing massive damage to the target. This is why instead of dealing pure damage like the previous Build, this Build has a more balanced approach to fights. This Build has a more flexible playstyle and is more forgiving if mistakes are made. A combat archer will be able to stay in the fight and keep going regardless of sneak status. The Lord Stone + Book of Love + Alteration Perks + Breton Blood means you’ll be taking the minimum amount of magical damage possible in the game. Deathbrand Armor is also vital, as it is a Light Armor set with stats of Heavy Armor. This combination makes your tankiness nothing to laugh at. The Build is mainly similar to the one before, but you’ll need to focus Light Armor in the early game. The Zephyr is an excellent bow to use with this Build. Its firing speed helps throw out arrows faster since sustained damage is more important here than large criticals. The glue that holds this Build together is the Poisons of Paralysis. Grinding Alchemy allows the player to create poisons that can paralyze a target for up to 7 seconds! These poisons can take out any enemy in a fight that is not immune to paralysis, and your fast bow can make short work of these downed enemies. Whoever the enemy might be, a Combat Archer will be sure to make short work of them!
Breton Windshear Basher
How the Build Works:
Windshear plus the Targe of the Blooded are two items made for each other. Everything else in this Build is a pure tank. This Basher build will make sure that you never die in a fight, combined with the ability to take on any enemy in the game single-handed! The Lord Stone + Book of Love + Alteration Perks + Breton Blood is amazing. This combo gives you the highest magic resistance possible in the game. Now, when you add in Heavy Armor and Enchantments to the mix, you’ll be able to tank and shrug off dragon bites with no problem. With Fortify Health enchantments and Dragon Aspect, you’ll be nigh unkillable. However, the bread and butter of this Build are the Windshear + Targe of the Blooded. While the Windshear has a chance to bash when blocked, it also has a chance to knock down an enemy with regular attacks. When the enemy is down, you can repeatedly strike them with the sword or use the Targe. The Targe of the Blooded has a unique enchantment that lets you do bleeding damage to your target. So, chug a bowl of Vegetable Soup, and get bashing! If they get back up, use the Windshear. Vegetable Soup makes sure you never run out of Stamina, so you can bash to infinity. Rinse and repeat until everyone is dead! The Basher is truly a build to fear.
Bloodscythe and Soulrender
How the Build Works:
This is the ultimate maverick style build. You go into a fight, swords blazing, kill everything, then leave. Bloodscythe and Soulrender are two swords that combo with each other amazingly. This Build makes sure to take full advantage of that. Dual-wield builds focus solely on sustained damage. With the Dual Flurry perk from the one-handed tree, the combined damage of dual-wielded melee weapons basically doubles. Bloodscythe and Soulrender are two blades that will make sure to take full advantage of this massive damage. Bloodscythe heals you while Soulrender gives you Magicka. When used together, both will decrease enemy armor and reduce Magicka’s effectiveness. Vegetable Soup, The Lady Stone, and Elemental Fury synergize perfectly with this playstyle. You will attack as fast as the wind and never run out of Stamina for your combos. As long as you can keep attacking, the two blades will stack their effects and tear your enemy to shreds. When you use Berserk as an Orc, you do double damage and take half damage. The Deathbrand Armor is also useful here as it will allow you to stay in a fight without much trouble when used with Berserk. Dragon Aspect also makes you tankier, but don’t count on it. The point of this Build is to kill everything as quickly as possible. Add an Azura’s Star to the combination with Soul Trap to recharge your blades, and the Build is complete. Hack and slash through every dungeon with ease!
Orc Two-Handed Tank
How the Build Works:
Two-handed weapons are generally out-damaged by dual-wield melee builds in Skyrim. However, going dual-wield means, you won’t be able to block. This Build fixes that problem, with the ability to tank as well as deal damage. The two things that make this Build different are The Lord Stone and the weapon selection. The Lord stone will allow you to tank more damage and survive. The weapons also have their dedicated roles. The Longhammer is Skyrim’s best hammer and arguably its best two-handed weapon. It strikes faster and can be improved and enchanted to hit even harder. This is for your close-range one-on-one engagements. In bigger fights, The Bloodskal Blade will be your enemies’ bane. It swings in a huge arc, and its power attacks throw out a special ‘wave‘ that deals damage at range. Yes, it is a ranged weapon at its core. Using it with Elemental Fury and Vegetable Soup means you will always be attacking and clearing enemies. This Build is a must-try if you want to make full use of the Orc’s Berserk power. I’ll take bashing skulls over hacking and slashing any day!
Vampire Lord Mastery
How the Build Works:
This Build is a good build for vampire cosplayers or people who don’t want to grind skills. You can play the game normally focusing on trading and questing and never have to worry about combat with this Build. Just turn into a Vampire Lord, and turn your enemies into ash! At first, being a Vampire Lord might not feel so powerful. But, after you get your Amulets and Rings from the respective quests, the Vampire Lord form changes dramatically. Your bats will start healing you, and you get Magicka regen, etc. When you fight more creatures as a Lord, you will gain skill points towards your Vampire Lord tree. These skill points power up your transformation to exponential degrees. The best thing about this Build is that you can do it with any character as long as you haven’t completed Dawnguard. The Book of Love and Alteration magic resistance bonuses transfer to your Lord form, so make sure you complete them. Now, just get the rings, get bitten by Serana or Lord Harkon, and you’re set! Life-drain everything you see and grow your vampire prowess. Perfect for any vampire lovers out there.
Big Bad Wolf
How the Build Works:
This is another build that foregoes traditional skill level-ups for expensive jewelry and a beast form. Lycanthropy is a big part of Skyrim, and you’ll be able to experience it fully if you use this Build. Like before, make sure you complete the Book of Love and get the Alteration skill point. Then, join the Companions. You will be turned into a werewolf and will be given werewolf powers. Just like the Vampire Lord build, it won’t be as powerful in the beginning. Now go get Hircine’s Ring and the other Rings from Frostmoon Crag. Wear whichever build suits you best, drink some soup, and transform. As you kill and devour more bodies, your werewolf form will get stronger. The soup will allow you to paralyze enemies with your running attack permanently. You’ll also be able to cover great distances and chase enemies without trouble. I prefer this to the Vampire Lord transformation as it is so much fun to play. Think of this as the melee-oriented Lord. Turn into the Big Bad Wolf and blow all the houses down with this Build!
Pure OmniMage
How the Build Works:
Magic sucks in Skyrim. While you’ll be fine in the early game, late-game mages don’t have many options when it comes to fighting. This Build is for those who want to channel their inner Gandalf without losing to a mudcrab at level 40. Any combination of the items mentioned above will work for early to mid-game. The only constant things are the race and the two stones. As a mage, you’ll do high damage but run out of Magicka constantly. If you use the Aetherial Crown, you can get both the Atronach and Apprentice Stone at once. Elsweyr Fondue will also help with Magicka regen. Late-game, level up your enchanting and enchant a set of clothes with Magicka regen and Fortify Skills to make sure you never run out of Magicka ever. The Master level spells hold this Build together late-game, and they consume copious amounts of Magicka. Ash Rune deserves a special mention as it allows you to stagger a group of enemies while your Magicka regenerates. This is perfect when you need a quick pause in the middle of a fight. Once you have everything under your belt, hotkey spells and cast until everything dies. In true Gandalf fashion, none may pass your Flame/Frost/Storm Wall!
NecroMage
How the Build Works:
This is, in my opinion, the best way to play Skyrim, by never fighting yourself. A necromage is a wizard who lets everyone else fight for them. Zombies, Wolves, Dremora, Undead, all will fight for you! This is a pure Conjuration version of the Omnimage Build. Getting some of the staves early game will help you keep things at bay while you use your summon spells to level up conjuration. Once at master level, you will be able to summon two minions. The Thrall spell also means that none of your Atronauchs will disappear and will constantly fight by your side. Make sure you complete all of the College of Winterhold quests for most of the spells and items. A special part of this Build is getting the game to give you more than two minion slots. The Ritual Stone is a great way to add more fighters to your army. You can use it once a day to raise the dead to fight for you. The Staff of Summon Ash Guardian will also summon a powerful Ash Golem that doesn’t count towards your minion cap. However, you’ll need Heart Stones to keep it at bay, or it will go rogue and attack you instead! The Necromage is a unique and fun way of tackling combat in Skyrim and is a must-try build.
Sir Fisticuffs
How the Build Works:
This is, by far, the best Build I have played in Skyrim. Mike Tyson, your enemies in the face until they die, what else is there to say? A punch does 10 damage. The Khajiit gets a racial bonus for extra punching damage. Add Heavy Armor’s Fists of Steel perk to the mix, which adds even more. Then you add in the enchantment effect from Gloves of the Pugilist to Daedric Gauntlets and a ring. Then you add the Ring of the Beast. Finally, add in Dragon Aspect and Marked for Death. You see all this addition going on? You’ll be able to punch a giant into the sky at this rate. Getting good armor is a must for this Build. Smithing and Enchanting should be your main focus. Getting The Lord Stone will also help with magic resistance. Make sure you also complete the Book of Love and get the Alteration magic resistance perk. Is this the Skyrim build that deals the most damage? Probably not. Can it tank everything? Unlikely. Is it the most fun you can have in a video game? Yes. Definitely. Now, all you need to do is tank away and let your fists do the talking! Good hunting, adventurer!
