I think I might play this until if/when I get a copy of Mass Effect 3. I had played it before the Creation Kit came out, so I'm curious if I should try a Mage again, or go with the seemingly popular stealth-archer/assassin.

I haven't seriously played an Elder Scrolls game since Morrowind (I don't count Fallout 3 or NV in the same category), but is it still usually standard to just get the most overpowered equipment you can and rush battles with your godlike character on the hardest difficulty?

I went with mage

not that overpowered at least not at the beginning

if you take enchanting also you can make it overpowered

All of them.

Because Skyrim is really easy.

mage gets pretty boring at high levels imo, you can enchant armor that makes spells cost no mana and get a perk that makes 2 handed spells stun the enemy.

If you are interested in breaking the game mage is definitely the way to go.

As for anything else, I haven't tried them, but I am interested in trying out the stealthy bow route, for what that's worth.

Orc two handed warrior just plowed through everything in my 90 hours.

I crouch everywhere and arrow everyone til they perish (usually requiring a single arrow).

I've started playing again using a really basic Two-Hander / Heavy Armor / Restoration setup, and it's been fun. Two-Hander is great since you can pick up the Ebon Blade eventually, and that thing breaks the game without the hassle of having to play with Blacksmithing / Enchanting. I'm using a mod that fixes a lot of the messed up equipment traits though, so it actually performs as a Two-Hander instead of a Two-Hander that uses One-Hander perks. Might pick up summoning at some point too, those summons are nasty later on, it's a shame that the weapons scale so badly though, I'd love to just roll with bound weapons.

Getting the Khajiit mage follower from the Mage Guild helps a lot too, the guy really tears stuff up.

@NickL said:

mage gets pretty boring at high levels imo, you can enchant armor that makes spells cost no mana and get a perk that makes 2 handed spells stun the enemy.

If you are interested in breaking the game mage is definitely the way to go.

As for anything else, I haven't tried them, but I am interested in trying out the stealthy bow route, for what that's worth.

Yeah, I did try a mage in my last play through; it actually seemed too passive and not very interesting spellwise: summon my 2 dremora to kick ass while I just sit back (yawn) or spam crappy destruction spells; not really great damage, but they're practically free (I think I got like 97% mana reduction). I'm playing on PC so I might look at some mods to make it exciting again, or if anyone has figured out an easy way to make spells, or add one to the game like Morrowind/Oblivion.

Otherwise, I'm thinking a stealthy character sounds fun, although I didn't get my Sneak super high when I tried it, and it seemed like you need patience while waiting for enemies to forget about you.

I tried a build with almost every combination I could think of. If you touch enchanting no matter what you're character will be invincible by the end.

My favorites were Thief/Stealth Assassin and Orc with heavy armor and huge hammer.

I spent most of my time in the game with my Imperial stealth archer.

Straight up rogue. I originally wanted a hybrid mage/rogue but I found that destruction and illusion just didn't level up in line with the rest of my skills so I stopped using em.

What class dual wields one handed weapons till something dies? That's the class I chose primarily.

My way worked out pretty well - went like a rogue (archery, stealth, light armour) then added enchanting (+ smithing but that's by the by) until I could enchant armour that let me cast spells for free. Then I turned my hand to magic.

I fight with lightning spells, a greatsword, and heavy armor. I use enchantment and smithing to boost my power.

I even my character out so I'm handy with all ways of combat. Its what the Ultimate Warrior would do.

I'm pretty much a Jack of all Trades with most of my focus being on Thief and Mage skills.

I am a true Nord Warrior, in the tradition of Ysgramor himself. Let my enemies taste the blade of my axe!

Also, armor perks are for pussies. Real men go balls deep in two-handed.

One handed, heavy armor, healing spell/shield Orc.

A Nord Man named Lion-O

Dark Elf, one-haned weaponry, specializing in sneak, archery, and backstabbing. Basically thief.

I'm about 10 hours in and have kind of tried a bit of everything.

So I originally wanted to be a stealth archer, but I ended up also adding a sword and shield in to the mix, then a two handed weapon and now I alternate between the three.

I started as mostly stealth archer but then used an exploit to make myself a god and break the game. From then on I tended to destroy everything with one handed and shield combo or restoration and one handed for difficult enemies. I maxed smithing so I was rolling with legendary daedric armor and weapons.

Turns out everything is more fun when you don't die as much.

Edit: I was a Khajit lady, her race perks sucked but I just liked the idea of being an anthropomorphic cat.

Multi-Master God of War.

But I started out with a sword+spell, then two swords, and ended on sword+board.

Archer

Heavy Armour Redguard, Healing in left, Sword in right.

If you play a sneak character, you can get 30x damage when sneaking. Oh, and you're completely invisible for a few seconds when you crouch. I go 'round and backstab fools from their face.

Nord, light-armor, war axe & shield.

I went with mage basically. It was pretty good at times but not as cool as I thought it'd be in the long run.

2 playhtorughs and very similar. i was a sneaky mage in both with archery kinda high. but in my first playthrough focused heavily on destruction and conjuration and in my second its sneaking but heavily focusing on illusion, alteration and restoration. and i gotta say love my 2nd playthrough more. Just love fighting bandits then using calm or pacify on them lol. just makes me seem so godly. i then just sneak up behind them and slit their throats.

Wood elf girl who likes to strike from the shadows with a bow and arrow, fight with a one handed sword (but no shield) and use alchemy as well as healing spells. She can talk her way out of situations but also surprise people with powerful shouts that send them flying down a mountain or change the weather. Sometimes she even gets some help from her dragon friend. Classless, clever and free.

Lately I´ve been playing an orc warrior on PC with a lot of mods. This orc needs to eat in order to regain some health. I call him "The Gourmet (2)"

I swing my "blade" around if you know what i mean...

I went with a Ranger-type character. My MO is to sneak up on enemies and snipe as many as possible with my bow, before switching to my two-handed sword and taking care of the survivors. I have some light healing spells, but I mostly use potions when the shit hits the fan.

Ranger/archer.

My first playthrough was as a Nord fighter/thief. By the end of the game I could silently kill anything. Now I'm playing as a mage, which is really easy once you get enchanting leveled up and the Impact perk.

Shaman.

Thread resurrection team go!!!

Anyway, I went with a two-handed swordsman.

My first playthrough i was a Nord who relied on heavy armor and a sword and shield but had a little conjuration for when i wanted to bust out some companions, this idea really took off after getting exploding dogs, best destruction ever.

I focused on archery, light armor, and conjuration. So I suppose an archer/mage type; stealthy enough to get bonus archery damage, but hearty enough to rampage in the open with some atronaches conjured. I also stealthed a lot, though I haven't used any of my perks in that tree. Trees I invested in were: Archery (100%), Conjuration (mostly bound weapons and atronach stuff), Light Armor (only up to stamina regen bonus), and then Enchanting (armor enchants) and smithing (light armor up to dragon).

I was extremely satisfied with my build; I felt like the combat was an absolute blast.

All of them? Started out with two-handed and heavy, went on to archery, one-handed, light armor and sneak. Now its conjuration, alteration and destruction. I have difficulty mods (plus master difficulty), so I'm not overpowered. That would just ruin the fun.

A sort of ranger type guy. Stealthy wood elf, using mostly a bow, and the occasional bout of face and neck backstabbing.

Barbarian. On my "main", I didn't do the Dark Brotherhood quests, nor the Thief's Guild quests, nor the College of Winterhold quests. I did those with subsequent characters. 
 

Archery, Alchemy, Light Armor, and Destruction.

All capped, all perked up(thanks to cheats!!). I basically decided I would reward myself with 4 perks per level!

Since all of the archetypes seemed viable in Skyrim, I've decided to play a different type of character for each faction.

Initially tried the Stealh Archer type for the Thieves' Guild, but after a few hours I realized I was playing exactly the way I played Oblivion. I restarted and went with the stealth-kill approach. Cast Fury from the shadows to clear a room and backstab the last man standing. It's much more fun trying to figure out how to navigate close enough to make a stealth-kill. Since I've put most of my points into Stamina and Magic, my health is low enough that there's no gurantee I'll live if I'm found. After a while I started casting Rune spells from distance as well.

For the Assassin's Guild quest, I've been using a stealth-kill character, but using Calm instead of Fury. I've found this is kind of overpowering, though, so I only use it as a bailout if I'm discovered sneaking up on someone.

Looking forward to trying some of the Fighter/Mage types when I tackle more questlines.

I figured I would go with a pure wizard-type character for my first playthrough with Skyrim and was having a shit ton of fun for the first bit with that style of play. Throughout my quests though, the luster started to wear off as I just didn't feel the same level of character progression that is so important to me in this type of game.

Typically with other character types, your gear is constantly changing or getting better, and this is visually displayed as well. Your warrior gets better armour and weapons, you see this first-hand throughout your travels in the game. The wizard, however, has limited equipment to draw from, and most things look exactly the same. It also doesn't help that new spells are few and far between and that you cannot research your own spells anymore, which is what makes the wizard archetype truly unique and interesting to play.

Granted with all of that said, I've only sunk about 20 hours into Skyrim. When I get back home from my travels in Asia in a few months, I plan to sit down and game hard, and Skyrim will be at the forefront of that. Now that spell kill-cams have been added as well, combat should be a little more interesting as a magic user.

The next stop will likely be a magically augmented rogue who specializes in ranged combat and dual-weapon fighting styles, that will be especially fun!

I focused so heavily on stealth and archery that I can kill almost anything without too much trouble, unless I'm spotted. Even at level 41 a good, strong melee fighter like a Draugur Deathlord can kill me in just a few good shots.

Even after a hundred hours or so, the combat is still tense and challenging, and I'm still having fun with it.

I started with Khajiit, but quickly realized my playing style was more focused on heavy armor and very weapon intensive in lout of magic. I started over as a Nord. Certainly, this class suited me better.

When I played it, I was basically going the stealth/rouge/scout route. The 15x damage backstab was just too amazing to pass up. The majority of dungeons were a breeze to get through. Haven't played it in about close to half a year. Been thinking about jumping back in recently though since the gaming calender for this summer doesn't look all that exciting.

None. I maxed all my skills out as a master-of-all trades character.