Ranger

Argonian - Waraxe - Bow - Light - Archer - Assassin - Dual Wield

Background

Rangers are skilled stalkers and hunters who make their home in the woods. Their martial skill is nearly the equal of any warrior, but they lack the latter's dedication to the craft of fighting. Rangers often accept the role of protector, aiding those who live in or travel through the woods. Their skills allow them to move quietly and stick to the shadows, especially in natural settings.

Stealth is used to initiate combat by opening with a dual wield power attack. Then the combat can continue with axe and dagger or bow. An animal companion can also be conjured to distract enemies when they are in numbers and they can also weaken the attacks of enemies as their power attacks can give enemies the Rockjoint disease which reduces melee damage by 25%.

If you've not guessed already this build is based on the Ranger from Dungeons and Dragons, which was originally based on Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. I have therefore incorporated things into the build to fit this that may never need to be used, such as the animal companion being represented by the Conjure Familiar spell.

This build can be used to complete all factions in game through the use of 4 interchangeable rings

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Weapons

Steel War Axe and Steel Dagger for dual wielding and a Hunting Bow for ranged combat. Stick with Iron arrows as although less damage they fit the look of the gear better. The War Axe can be upgraded to a Skyforge Steel version for 3 extra base damage. If you play with the Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch (USSEP) mod then you can upgrade the dagger to a Skyforge Steel version as well for 3 extra base damage. Without this mod you cannot temper Skyforge Steel daggers. All weapons have no enchantments on them.

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Armor

Dawnguard Light Boots, Gauntlets and Armor. Torturers Hood. If you use a backpack then the Dark Leather Backpack with a Bedroll fits the look. Craft a set of Leather Scout Armor as soon as you can once out of Helgen. The Dawnguard Armour is pretty easy to get as it becomes available to purchase 2 quests into the Dawnguard faction. The Torurer's Hood will be available in the loot from the Imperials in the torture room if you follow Ralof. If you follow Hadvar then you'll need to initiate combat with the Torturer to get it.

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Spells

Restoration for heals. Conjure Familiar from Conjuration for the animal companion.

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Standing Stones

The Lord Stone for the 25% magic resistance and 50 armour rating.

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Shrines

Use a shrine of Talos for the 20% shout cooldown reduction.

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Shouts

Animal Allegiance (Animal - Allegiance - Pack)

Location: Angarvunde, Ancient’s Ascent, Ysgrammor’s Tomb (Companions quest chain).

Calls forth local animals to help you in combat. More for roleplay than being useful in the game as you should be killing things very quickly.

You can get the third word without finishing the Companions quest chain by going beyond Ysgrammor’s Tomb until you find an iron ore node then jump up the rocks and go anti-clockwise up the mountain until you see the door and then jump up and continue clockwise to the word wall.

Aura Whisper (Life - Seek - Hunt)

Location: Northwind Summit, Valthume, Volunruud

Identifies all targets nearby, which allows you to plan your attack.

Elemental Fury (Air - Battle - Grace)

Location: Dragontooth Crater, Shriekwind Bastion, just a bit beyond the Statue of Meridia.

Significantly increases the speed of your weapons as long as they are not enchanted. It allows you to kill dragons with dual wield power attacks in 3 seconds instead of 6.

Whirlwind Sprint (Whirlwind - Fury - Tempest)

Location: Dead Men’s Respite, Volskygge, High Hrothgar (The Way of the Voice)

Use to reach otherwise inaccessible places and to quickly evade attacks or catch up with fleeing enemies.

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Character Creation

Female Argonian Werewolf

Lots of races are well suited to this build with Dark, High and Wood Elves along with Khajiit coming out on top with a 25 point skill boost out of the possible 35. I picked Argonian as they don’t get used in enough builds.

Pick female as the sex for your character as there are more male humanoids than females to fight in Skyrim so the 10% damage bonus against the opposite sex from Agent of Dibella gets more use. All Dwemer Automatons count as Male.

The minimum factions to join for the build are the Companions and the Dawnguard. With The Companions giving you access to steel weapons that do 3 points more base damage, which is 9 extra damage for the final gear. The Werewolf beast form is also representative of the shapechange ability of Rangers in Dungeons and Dragons. The Dawnguard should be joined to get quick access to the majority of the armour used in the build.

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Attribute Distribution

Distribute attributes at a ratio of 0/1/1. At level 64 which is required for all the perks the attributes are:

Magicka	Health	Stamina
100	420 (535)	410 (525)

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Perk Point Distribution

The skill boosts for Argonians are marked in bold.

Mage		Warrior		Rogue
Alteration +5	3	Archery	10	Alchemy	11
Conjuration	1	Block	0	Light Armor +5	5
Destruction	0	Heavy Armor	0	Lockpicking +10	0
Enchanting	8	One-handed	10	Pickpocket +5	0
Illusion	4	Smithing	3	Sneak +5	2
Restoration +5	6	Two-handed	0	Speech	0
Total	22	Total	23	Total	17

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Skills and Perks

Mage Skills

Warrior Skills

Rogue Skills

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Spells

Alteration

Spell	Level	Description
Candlelight	Novice	Creates a hovering light that lasts for 60 seconds

Get training from Dravynea at Kynesgrove to get Alteration to 30 where it's already at 20 at the start of the build.

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Conjuration

Spell	Level	Description
Conjure Familiar	Novice	Summons a familiar for 60 seconds wherever the caster is pointing
Soul Trap	Apprentice	If a target dies within 60 seconds, fills a soul gem

Use Soul Trap to fill soul gems and level conjuration quickly. Taking novice conjuration early helps as you can use the Familiar to distract enemies while when they are in numbers.

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Destruction

Spell	Level	Description
Unbounded Storms	Expert	Targets in melee range take 40 shock damage per second to Health, and half that to Magicka. Random lightning strikes deal an additional 30 damage

Unbounded Storms is purely used as a means to speed the levelling of Destruction by casting and using fast travel.

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Illusion

Spell	Level	Description
Courage	Novice	Target won't flee for 60 seconds, and gets some extra health and stamina.

Courage can be used to level illusion by casting it at an NPC.

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Restoration

Spell	Level	Description
Healing	Novice	Heals the caster 10 points per second
Fast Healing	Apprentice	Heals caster by 50 points

Just the healing spells from Restoration.I never found a need to use larger heals than Fast Healing and I could spam them while wearing the Ring of Healing where I only got short of magicka after about 4 or 5 minutes and a quick run around for a bit gave me enough to go again. I used this and a mammoth to level my Light Armor skill and Restortion to 100.

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Enchantments

The effects listed below are based upon 100 Enchanting skill, all the enchanting perks in the build and with a set of enchanted crafting gear. Read my guide on making crafting gear if you are not familiar with it.

Summary of combined effects

Bows and One-handed attacks do 225% more damage.
Restoration spells cost 46% less Magicka.
Health and Stamina are increased by 115 points.
Sneaking is 75% more effective
Wearer is muffled and moves silently
Resist 37% of all magical effects

Item	Enchantment	Effect
Head	Fortify Archery	Bows do 75% more damage
	Fortify Restoration	Restoration spells and enchantments cost 46% less
Body	Fortify Health	Health is increased by 115 points
	Fortify Stamina	Stamina is increased by 115 points
Feet	Fortify Sneak	Sneaking is 75% more effective
	Muffle	Wearer is muffled and moves silently
Hands	Fortify Archery	Bows do 75% more damage
	Fortify One-handed	One-handed attacks do 75% more damage
Amulet	Resist Magic	Resist 37% of magical effects
	Fortify One-handed	One-handed attacks do 75% more damage
Ring of Combat	Fortify Archery	Bows do 75% more damage
	Fortify One-handed	One-handed attacks do 75% more damage
Ring of Healing	Fortify Restoration	Restoration spells and enchantments cost 46% less
	Fortify Magicka Regen	Magicka regenerates 115% faster.
Ring of Lockpicking	Fortify Lockpicking	Lockpicking is 75% easier
	Fortify Sneak	Sneaking is 75% more effective
Ring of Pickpocketing	Fortify Pickpocket	Pickpocketing is 75% easier
	Fortify Sneak	Sneaking is 75% more effective

With the Sallowed Regent Black Book the magnitude of all enchantments can be increased. Please note that Black Books can only be used on Solstheim.

The magnitude of the enchantments can be further increased by equipping 4 pieces of Azhidal's gear.

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Alchemy

All the details for the potions and poisons are based on having all the listed alchemy perks, Alchemy at 100 and a set of crafting gear.

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Potion of Fortify Health

Ingredients	Blue Mountain Flower & Wheat
Effects	Fortify Health	170 points for 60 seconds
	Restore Health	266 points restored

You can get all the Blue Mountain Flowers and Lavender you need in Whiterun. The two farms to the east of Whiterun also get you all the Wheat you need.

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Poison of Paralysis

Ingredients	Canis Root, Imp Stool, Mora Tapinella
Effects	Paralysis	Target is paralyzed for 43 seconds
	Lingering Damage Health	43 points of poison damage per second for 10 seconds

There’s all the Canis Root you need around Folgunthur and the Apprentice Stone to the east of solitude docks. Imp Stool are in Left Hand Mine, Reachwater Rock near Markarth. The last 2 are outside Reachcliff Cave, which is a little further along. Mora Tapinella are found on the way from Helgen to Whiterun on rotting logs and tree stumps.

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Potion of Fortify Enchanting

Ingredients	Dreugh Wax/Stoneflower Petals & Snowberries
Effects	Fortify Enchanting	85% stronger for 30 seconds

Dreugh Wax and Stoneflower Petals are only available from Khajiit caravans. Some travel between Whiterun and Markarth. Snowberries are abundant near Windhelm.

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Potion of Fortify Smithing

Ingredients	Dreugh Wax/Gold Kanet & Glowing Mushrooms
Effects	Fortify Smithing	213% stronger for 30 seconds

Dreugh Wax and Gold Kanet are only available from Khajiit caravans. Some travel between Whiterun and Markarth. Glowing Mushrooms are in Falmer caves.

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Farming

For more information on getting to and setting up your farm read my guide.

Ingredients Needed

6 x Blue Mountain Flower
10 x Canis Root
10 x Imp Stool
13 x Mora Tapinella
5 x Wheat

Potions and Poisons Produced

42 x Potions of Forify Health
90 x Poisons of Paralysis

Main Area (27)

Ingredient	Qty	Harvest	Green Thumbs
Canis Root (4)	4	16 + 4 = 20	32 + 4 = 36
Imp Stool (4)	10	40 + 10 = 50	80 + 10 = 90
Mora Tapinella (3)	13	39 + 13 = 52	78 + 13 = 91

Side Area (11)

Ingredient	Qty	Harvest	Green Thumbs
Wheat (4)	5	20 + 5 = 25	40 + 5 = 45
Blue Mountain Flowers (3)	6	18 + 6 = 24	36 + 6 = 42

Planters (6)

Ingredient	Qty	Harvest	Green Thumbs
Canis Root (4)	6	24 + 6 = 30	48 + 6 = 54

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