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Contents 1 Attributes 1.1 Strength and Agility 1.1.1 Strength and Agility effect on combat 1.1.1.1 Conclusion 1.2 Major Outlook

[edit] Attributes

[edit] Strength and Agility

[edit] Strength and Agility effect on combat

As you probably know, Strength directly affects melee damage while Agility directly affects bow damage. However, these effects are not as great as you might think.

Damage multiplier for character with Strength 30

   .75 + 30 * .005 = 0.9x

Damage multiplier for character with Strength 70

   .75 + 70 * .005 = 1.1x

So, an exceedingly weak character with a strength of 30 does 82% of the damage of a very strong character with a strength of 70. Nothing to sneeze at, but let's compare it to weapon skill.

Damage multiplier for character with weapon skill of 30 (e.g. Blade)

   .2 + 30 * .015 = 0.65x

Damage multiplier for character with weapon skill of 70 (e.g. Blade)

  .2 + 70 * .015 = 1.25x

An unskilled swordsmen with a Blade skill of 30 does 52% of the damage of a skilled swordsmen with a Blade skill of 70, a much bigger difference.

[edit] Conclusion

Skill is over 1.5 times more important than Strength and Agility attributes regarding combat damage. If you are trying to create an optimal fighter or archer, favor skill bonuses over attribute bonuses when selecting race.

For example, a male Khajiit gets a +5 bonus to his Blade skill and has a starting Strength of 40. A male Orc gets no bonus to his Blade skill, but has a starting Strength of 45. All other things being equal, take a look at the damage multipliers below.

Khajiit with Strength 40 and base Blade skill of 30

Khajiit Strength multiplier

   .75 + 40 * .005 = 0.95x

Khajiit Skill multiplier

   .2 + (30 + 5 bonus to Blade skill) * .015 = 0.725x

Khajiit combined multiplier for Strength and Skill

  .95 * .725 = .689x

Orc with Strength 45 and base Blade skill of 30

Orc Strength multiplier

  .75 + 45 * .005 = .975x

Orc Skill mulitplier

   .2 + 30 * .015 = .65x

Orc combined multipler for Strength and Skill

   .975 * .65 = .634x

The Khajiit will do about 9% more damage than the Orc due to the +5 Blade bonus over the +5 Strength bonus. There are many other reasons that an Orc might be end up being a better fighter than a Khajiit, but his higher Strength is not one of them.

[edit] Major Outlook

Each race, gender, birthsign, and class have advantages and disadvantages that should be carefully considered when creating your character e.g.: A male Wood Elf (Bosmer) is a prime candidate for an archer character. This is because Wood Elves are granted a bonus in marksmanship. As far as race is concerned each race is advantageous in certain skills and disadvantageous in others. Gender plays a factor in mainly one way : males are suited for combat while females are suited for magic. Birthsigns and Classes give bonuses in certain areas that you chose to use.