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Skyrim: Broken Character Builds That

Are A Lot Of Fun
Looking to breeze through Skyrim on Legendary?
These builds help players make short work of
dragons and draugr.
BY SID NATIVIDAD UPDATED NOV 3, 2022

There will come a time when there's not much left

to do in Skyrim apart from replaying the game
over and over again. To add more challenge to
that, playing the game in Legendary difficulty is
recommended. But that mode is hard, and players
will need to adjust their playstyles accordingly.
Thankfully, a treasure trove of knowledge
regarding Skyrim's most powerful builds is readily
available for players who want to waltz through
Legendary.

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While they're at it, Skyrim players might as well

pick the most fun builds that exist in the game
right now. After all, nearly everyone is a veteran of
Bethesda's decade-old game. To spice things up
while also trivializing some of the game's content
(mods notwithstanding), these tried-and-tested
Skyrim builds ought to make players worthy of
going to the Cloud District often.

Updated November 2, 2022, by Sid

Natividad: Skyrim remains as popular as ever
despite now being more than a decade old. As a
testament to its gameplay strength, there are
countless builds in the game that offer players a
myriad of ways to play as the Dragonborn.
Skyrim builds are all varied and fun and even if
some of these Skyrim builds are overpowered or
broken, they can still be enjoyable due to their
quirks and peculiar gameplay style. Unlike with
other RPGs where overpowered builds are all
about dealing godlike amounts of damage, some
overpowered Skyrim character builds are still
thematic and goofy.

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9 Daedric Princess/Princess of Dread

The Princess of Dread from the popular Skyrim

build creator Fevvy is one of the latest builds in the
game that still powers through the content like a
Daedric sword through melted butter. For those
wondering, Daedric sword substitution was
intentional because, first and foremost, this is a
dual sword build.

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The build mostly prefers to perform dual power

attacks to kill enemies in a single move.
Sometimes, it results in a kill animation and, given
how janky or abrupt those are, it adds a bit of
comedic value to the build.

Race Nord

One-Handed (prioritize)
Archery
Light Armor
Speech
Alchemy
Conjuration
Mandatory
Restoration
Skills Alteration
Enchanting
Smithing
Heavy Armor
Block
Two-Handed

Gold and Emerald Circlet -

Fortify Destruction +
Fortify Archery
Daedric Armor - Fortify
Destruction + Fortify
Restoration
Brawler's Daedric
Gauntlets - Fortify One-
Handed + Fortify Archery
Daedric Boots - Fortify
Gear One-Handed + Fortify
Stamina
Necklace - Fortify Archery
+ Fortify One-Handed
Ring - Fortify Archery +
Fortify One-Handed
2x Daedric Sword - Chaos
Damage + Absorb Health
Daedric Bow - Chaos
Damage + Absorb Health

Spells & Necromage spells

Shouts Summon Daedric Horse

The early part of this build is a little tedious since

players will need to max out their smithing and
crafting skills. This will allow them to create some
busted Daedric weapons and armor. After that, it's
a matter of just cruising through most content,
dual slicing heads off with the power attack. The
Daedric Bow is mostly used as a ranged backup.

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8 Punch Cat

As many players will have guessed, Punch Cat is an

unarmed Khajiit. It utilizes the Khajiit's racial perk
which increases their unarmed damage due to
their paws of power and claws of calamity. The
build isn't as powerful as the more min-maxed
standards such as the Stealth Archer, but
punching dragons to death as a karate cat is about
as broken as it gets in Skyrim.

As always, there are certain items and instructions

that enable this build and make it viable at the
very least. Players will need to wear either heavy
armor gloves or the Gloves of the Pugilist item to
make it work.

Race Khajiit

Heavy Armor (prioritize

Fists of Steel perk)
Smithing (craft Daedric
armor)
Enchanting (for Fortify
Mandatory Unarmed)
Alteration (for armor)
Skills
Block
Restoration
Destruction
Illusion (for multiple
enemies)

Daedric Gauntlets with

Fortify Unarmed/Gloves
of the Pugilist
Any other armor piece
Gear with Fortify Destruction
Necklace - Fortify
Destruction
Ring - Fortify Destruction

Slow Time Shout

Destruction Spells
Healing Spells
Spells & Pacify
Shouts Rout
Harmony
Hysteria
Mayhem

The thing about Punch Cat builds is that the fists

can fall off at high levels. With this in mind,
players will need to mix it up with Destruction and
Illusion spells. Destruction spells are great for
softening up enemies until they get close.
Meanwhile, Illusion spells like Mayhem will cause
a royal rumble where a Punch Cat can shine as a
bar brawler. Other Illusion spells are awesome for
crowd control.

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7 The Immortal Alchemist

The funny thing about builds in Skyrim is that just

about any of them can become immortal by
dipping into the Alchemist skill tree and abusing
the potion-drinking and crafting system. Using the
Alchemy skill tree in tandem with the Smithing
and Enchanting trees (all maxed out), players can
create some busted interactions with armor and
potions.

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This kind of interaction involves taking advantage

of a glitch, so it's less of a build and more of a way
to abuse the system. Here are some basic
instructions on how to do it.

1. Have an Alchemy level of at least 40 (grab

Alchemist level 3, Physician, and Benefactor).
2. High Enchanting and Smithing skills are also
advised.
3. Start the quest "Ring of Pure Mixtures" from
Frida in Mortar and Pestle (Dawnstar).
4. Pickpocket Frida for the Ring of Mixtures.
5. Remove the Fortify Alchemy enchantment and
place it on a helmet, bracer, necklace, and ring.
6. Equip the crafted Fortify Alchemy armor set.
7. Go to an Alchemy Lab then craft Fortify
Restoration.
8. Drink the potion, then unequip the Fortify
Alchemy armor set while staying on the menu
screen.
9. Equip the Fortify Alchemy armor set again
while still on the menu.
10. Craft another Fortify Restoration potion again,
then unequip the Fortify Alchemy armor set.
11. Re-equip the Fortify Alchemy armor set
without closing the inventory menu.
12. Repeat steps 9 and 10 around 10 more times.
13. The glitch should take effect after that.
14. Craft a Fortify Smithing potion, it should show
a smithing percentage increase of more than
five million.
15. Drink the Fortify Smithing potion.
16. With the Smithing skill marked up at more
than five million percent, players can now craft
the best armor and weapons in the game.
17. This could also work with other Fortify
potions.

Voila, now the player's alchemist is an immortal

being with the best items in the game. Players
should note though that as the glitch becomes
increasingly popular, Skyrim's developers might
catch wind of it and they could fix it in a future
update. Given that some Skyrim bugs and glitches
have persisted for more than a decade though, this
seems a little unlikely.

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6 Stealth Archer

Stealth Archer is probably the most common and

popular overpowered Skyrim character build. It
revolves around utilizing the broken Sneak skill
tree along with Archery in order to take down
enemies stealthily.

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Most of the time, a Dragonborn using this build

can go around one-shotting unaware opponents. It
does have one glaring weakness against dragons,
but that's easily fixed with Conjuration summons
or companions.

Race Bosmer

Archery (prioritize perks

Overdraw & Critical Shot)
Sneak (prioritize perks
Mandatory
Stealth, Backstab, Deadly
Skills Aim, & Assassin's Blade)
Illusion
Conjuration

Bow of Shadows /
Nightingale Bow /
Dragonbone Bow /
Dwarven Black Bow
Gear
Mehrunes Razor
Muffled Boots
Fortify Sneak Armor

Bound Bow
Muffle
Invisibility
Spells &
Calm
Shouts Aura Whisper
Throw Voice
Slow Time

Just about any of Skyrim's playable races will do

for this build. But for a more thematic gameplay
and roleplaying, a Bosmer (Wood Elf) seems apt.
The playstyle is simple: crouch and shoot enemies
while unseen. Aim for their heads with a bow. For
enemies that can't be killed by a single stealth
arrow, sneak up on them and stab them with a
dagger. For dragons and boss fights, use
Conjuration summons to tank hits. The Slow Time
shout is also great as an emergency backup for
combat.

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5 Illusion Assassin

The Illusion Assassin works similarly to the

Stealth Archer, except it's more melee-focused and
utilizes the Illusion tree more liberally. Stealth
daggers tend to have a higher damage output
compared to bows, after all.

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The gameplay is also rather straightforward.

Players just need to sneak up on enemies and stab
them. It really is that easy, and, in doing so, they
can make the Dark Brotherhood proud!

Race High Elf

Illusion (prioritize getting

to Master of the Mind)
One-Handed (prioritize
Mandatory Armsman, Dual Flurry, &
Skills Dual Savagery)
Sneak (prioritize Stealth,
Backstab, Deadly Aim, &
Assassin's Blade)

Mehrunes Razor
Dragonbone Dagger
Gear Blade of Woe
Muffled Boots
Fortify Sneak Armor

Bound Dagger
Bound Bow
Frenzy
Calm
Spells &
Pacify
Shouts Invisibility
Aura Whisper
Bend Will
Soul Tear

To be fair, any race will do, but the High Elves get
an advantage thanks to their Illusion skill bonus.
Moreover, High Elves also start with an Illusion
spell at the ready. Players will have to wield dual
daggers here while backstabbing enemies with a
power attack. Since players invest heavily in
Illusion, they can cast Frenzy on a whole dungeon
or small area and let the enemies kill one another.
This makes sneak-stabbing less tedious.

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4 Fortified Sword & Board

Sword and board builds look deceptively simple,

but with the right enchantments and
combinations, they can be devastating while being
tanky. It's perfect for those who are tired of
sneaking around.

High Elf
 Race Orc
Breton

One-Handed (prioritize
Armsman, Fighting
Stance, and the weapon
perks depending on
Mandatory weapon choice)
Block
Skills
Heavy / Light Armor (up
to player preference)
Smithing
Enchanting

Enchanted Dragonbone
Sword (or other one-
handed weapons),
enchanted with Soul Trap
Peryite Shield, enchanted
with Health Absorb
Helmet with Fortify One-
Gear Handed enchantment
Boots with Fortify One-
Handed enchantment
Amulet with Fortify One-
Handed enchantment
Ring with Fortify One-
Handed enchantment

Spells &
Any
Shouts

High Elves are optimal here because they're the

tallest race, meaning their movement speed is
second to none. Orcs have a devastating racial skill
in Berserker Rage. Meanwhile, Bretons can be
nigh-invulnerable to magic thanks to their innate
magic resistance, which can be enhanced with
other items.

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3 Dunmer Warmage
Skyrim-Savos-Aren-Winterhold-reading

For pure magical destruction, not many other

builds can match the ferocity of a Dunmer mage.
They have a racial ability that gives them a massive
damage boost, perfect for Destruction spells.

Race Dark Elf

Destruction
Alteration (prioritize
Mandatory getting to Atronach)
Skills Conjuration (prioritize
Atromancy)
Light Armor

Enchanted equipment
with Fortify/Amplify
Gear Destruction or Fortify
Health

The strongest Destruction

spells available
Summoning spells
Spells &
Slow Time
Shouts Dragon Aspect
Drain Vitality
Fire Breath

As stated before, Dark Elves deal more damage if

they reach a certain health threshold (50% or
below). For maximum damage, players will want
to keep their health at the 50% threshold so that
the Dark Elf racial skill will activate. In order to
offset the dangers of having such a state of health,
they can fortify their health using enchantments
on gear.

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2 Vampire Necromancer
Skyrim the dragonborn as a vampire

The Vampire Necromancer is pretty self-

explanatory. Players walk around at night preying
on mere mortals and enthralling their own
followers to fight for them.

High Elf
Race
Breton

Restoration (prioritize
Necromage)
Conjuration
Mandatory Alteration (prioritize
Skills getting to Atronach)
Destruction (for
emergencies)
All Vampire Lord perks

Equipment with
enchantments that
Gear enhance the mandatory
skills above
Ring of the Erudite

Summon spells
Spells &
Dead Thrall
Shouts Any shout

High Elves tend to be great at magic, and Bretons

get a boost to Conjuration.

Other requirements

Players can just keep summoning and letting their

temporary summons do the work for them. If they
want quality summons, however, these corpses
deal good damage under the effect of Dead Thrall:

Forsworn Ravager
Arch-Curate Vyrthur
Master Vampire
Bandit Marauder

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1 Orc Werewolf

The Orc werewolf is all about savagery and

mauling everything to death, including dragons. It
gains health as it attacks and is nigh-unstoppable
under the right conditions.

Race Orc

All werewolf perks

(prioritize Bestial
Strength, Animal Vigor,
Mandatory Gorging, and Savage
Feeding)
Skills
Alchemy (for crafting
potions that increase
damage)

Ring of Bloodlust
Ring of the Hunt
Ring of Hircine
Gear Gloves of the Pugilist
Any other equipment that
provides health
enchantments

Spells &
Dragon Aspect
Shouts

Orcs have a massive melee damage boost thanks to

their racial skill. With Berserker Rage, they take
half damage and deal double damage for a minute.
Using it in conjunction with the werewolf
transformation produces some brutal results.

Other requirements

Players mustn't forget to activate Dragon Aspect

and drink some damage potions before
transforming into a werewolf. Also, they'll need to
activate Berserker Rage before mauling Whiterun
guards and Nazeem.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special

Editionis available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5,
Switch, and Xbox One and Series X|S.

MORE:
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Playthrough

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About The Author

Sid Natividad
(602 Articles Published)

Sid was born, did some stuff, then decided to become a writer. He
Jnds respite in the sweet embrace of mass media escapism aft…
having risked his life too many times as a journalist covering
warzones and depressed areas. Nowadays he mostly risks his

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