Make ward spells one handed and slash up the chumps

Ward Absorb is actually pretty good if you use Spellbreaker, which casts a ward as long as you’re blocking. The shield only casts a steadfast ward, but it costs nothing and benefits from both Blocking and Restoration as well as the Ancient Knowledge perk.

I always get wax key because I collect keys

The one niche I use wards for are dragon breaths.

Wards are good for absorbing dragon shouts in a pinch. Like the drain vitality shout of high level dragons

After all these years I’m glad to have some confirmation that I was right to think Wax Key sucked

Am I crazy or can you dual cast master spells?

The ward is so useless (due to mana cost) that the spellbreaker is the better option since it casts a ward that from my testing is the only one that fully blocks about half the duration of a dragon’s voice attack regardless of level or type of dragon. I may be wrong though since I only tested it up to level 80 and found that spellbreaker is amazing to use against anyone that casts magic or uses the thu’um

theres a reason why spell breaker is always better than any wardspell in the game

Ward Absorb is only useful with Spellbreaker

Ward can be good with the right combination of armor/jewelry and traits.

I’ve had characters that were juggernauts immune to spells

Breton with max magic resist + a healing spell is better than any ward.

Wax key is the worst. It’s so bad I blocked it from my memory. Why would I ever need or even want a wax key?

I think Wards are only useful when I mod them. And I do! Very handy when I play Master or Legendary X_X dragon shouts hit fucking hard man D: Although to be fair I mod them too so….

Ok the ward absorbtion is good for dragon breath

Not related but I’m playing a loud thief

The only ward I used was “Lesser Ward.”
It’s especially useful because it can fully block any Dragon’s breath attack.

But of course, you could always get the Spellbreaker shield instead.

I’ll never forget when I unlocked the illusion perk Venetian magic by accident because I wasnt reading anything. I simply wanted to master illusion and that perk just happened to be one I needed. I found myself in a heated battle with a destruction mage master as a spell sword and after casting three fire balls and fast healing for more than 3 seconds, it told me I needed to sleep at an Inn or in a bed,in order to use my magic again. I was Pissed to say the least and immediately set out to figure out which perk was causing the issue. Never ever again. The whole perk makes it impossible to master illusion and the only reason I could foresee ever using it, is for a completely immersive mage build.

orrrrrr

make a sword or bow that DRAINS magicka and you dont need a magic shield

Ward are not so bad if you have some enchantment to decrease cost
and for some reason with the mana absortion my mana skyrocket when i get an indirect explosion damage with the ward also wards cant break from dragon fire or ice breath no matter how long they keep this attack or how much damage it cause but their shouting can break wards quite easily

Can you do something about staff’s

All the lockpick perks are a waste

I’ve never put a single perk in lock picking in all of my 800+ hours of skyrim. When you’ve picked locks enought to level that tree up significantly, you’re already at a point where you have so many lockpicks that you’ll never run out, so it’s just not worth it. I’m fine with the regular leveling bonus.

The worst is any lockpicking perk. It’s such an easy mechanic that I always skip that tree.

…and that’s why I endorse Ordinator.

Wards r amazing against dragon shouts

crits all bad for dmg but stagger.

I don’t know I’ve been using wards for a while been working okay for me I killed Alduin at level 20 ..27 I think maybe but somewhere in the the 20’s and I was dying like crazy but I went out of my way to make my magical strong so the ward save my life

I mean, if you use Ordinator, ward perks are kinda dope

If u are complaining about spells not being powerful in the late game then u clearly aint using potions that buff said spells just lvl up alchemy make fortify illusion, Restoration & Destruction potions fortify alteration and conjuration arnt needed but u can do that aswell if u want

Wax Key is so lame, either you can brute force a lock because even Master locks aren’t actually that difficult. And if there is a key the key is super easy to get especially if you’re a thief. Probably the most USELESS perk.

Point of note: the basic ward spell blocks close range dragon breath completely (the continual effect version) and ward absorb makes it completely free to use. Food for thought.

Skyrim is a great game but the RPG elements are very flawed

Thanks for the tips 👍

Ward absorb?! Thats friggin broken when used the right way.

Atronach stone + spell absorption + ward absorb by spellbreaker = no magic dmg ever

How about the same perks in vokrii? except wax key……that one is always poo!

Ward absorb also aplies to spelbreaker, which you can keep up without magica

Gonna say its wax key. not only for the same reason you mention in your video, but its very rair for me to loot the same chest twice and if I do, i’d have to wait a week in game.

Fudgemuppet: Ward sucks
Ward:blocks all dragon breath damage

im thinking of the alchemy perk that makes your poitions and poisons not have the others effects it is actually a detriment to financial gain

Hey mate my left hard is make a punch wen I use magic how do I fix that ?

I think ward spells would be better if they were a quick cast, not a continuous cast with a shield delay. They still wouldn’t be too useful, since you can it’s usually better to just heal damage away, but it could be have a niche against powerful spells that you can’t out heal fast enough.

I honestly just don’t like the perk system. Even in Fallout games, cause all it does is it gives you advantages that by the time you get to the certain level required are useless.

Wait how are wards useless when fighting dragons or mages it’s extremely useful specially that you are using other spell/ staff or swore in the other hand I do get annoyed cause using a ward has a weird animation when you use your other hand for swords specially 😊

Wards block shouts, no matter the shout, I rest my case

If you reduce restoration cost to 0 with enchanted equipment, wards aren’t terrible. The perk is still useless.

If you somehow find a way to actually use wards effectively. Respect.

ward absorbtion makes some sense when you use the shield that automatically puts up a ward when block (forgot the name sorry) for no magica cost. had a pretty dope palladin build with this combination

Gotta dissagree about wards. Sure, ward absorb is far from vital, but the novice ward is exceptional for protecting against dragonbreath. Because dragonbreath is many tiny instances of damage, it will never overwhelm an even mostly charged ward. Also warding a high-level fireball or icestorm can save your bum and, with some practice timing it, do so with little wasted magicka.

wards against dragons, that shit amazing

Critical damage perks suck pretty bad

The issue I have with wax key is that it robs you of xp if you end up with a key that opens multiple locks, because the game defaults to not awarding xp for locks opened with a key. Since it’s ostensibly meant as a timesaver, but game time is frozen during the lockpick sequence, it’s entirely pointless.

What visual mods is used?

I agree with the key perk. I never used it.

A thousand hours of skyrim, plus dozens from games that just copied the lockpicking has made me an expert at lockpicking. All those perks are worthless.

Counterpoint on the last one: dragon breath

nobody here has mentioned the most useless perk of all, the master intimidation perk.

Basically, it allows you to make a SINGLE intimidation check, which you can bypass by casting any spell at all.

It’s the one to gain entry into the mage’s guild.

Literally the only time you would ever need this perk is to play a character that for RP reasons will never use magic, but you somehow also need to get into the Mage’s Guild.

I agree with all of these other than quick hands. I get that you’d be able to sneak but I’ve loved doing roleplay scenarios where I can unlock a case in the Riften market without anyone knowing and then swiping all the jewelry with a distraction. It’s a perk that’s fun for confident/cocky thief builds

I really tried hard to make a ward mage build work but ultimately using spellbreaker shield was the only viable method. It simply drains too much magicka that could be used for destruction magic.

Ward Absorb is awesome paired with Spellbreaker.

Deflect arrow – block peek tree

The Ward spells really are kinda pointless. I hope the next game makes them more practical, slowing their magicka drain, and making them negate more damage. Maybe they could even make a new counter spell, which exists specifically to break those wards.

Honestly I like using wards but only for one reason: dragons. Idk but there is something that feels so epic about getting off a ward just in time before a dragon breathes fire on you

Anything that boosts crit is basically useless, but the one I regretted taking in vanilla (no dlcs) skyrim was the paralysis archer perk because it routinely made bodies unlootable.

Wards that don’t stop arrows , mixed with AI aim bots making it necessary to get better wards from the Nexus mod site . In that regard I would prefer to play a game like Dragon age Inquisition , where my player character is an aim bot .

I actually like wax key; there’s a couple locks in game that require a key to open, BUT there’s a chest somewhere else that has the SAME key but can be picked. Allowing you to bypass the original key requirement.

i wonder if the ward absorb works with peyrite’s shield, which acts like a ward when you lift it up?

I have tried on several playthroughs to make wards work. I have made a healing duel mage that reduces the cost of the ward to zero, but duel casting anything else is just hard to give up

Ward Absorb can be good for leveling restoration if you have a good healing spell, a mage or 2 & enchanted gear that reduces the cost of the spell; I like to enchant rings, necklaces, and head pieces with 2 magic types at 25% less cost each (or more if you use alchemy/enchanting glitch). The lighter the head piece (I like forsworn headdress or stormcloak general bear skin) the better and you never need to waste perk levels on lessening the cost of spells unless you want to. There’s also a creation club addition that gives master level mage robes with dual spell cost reductions

Best thing about wards is they pretect you against dragon fire

Ward Absorb only good when you had Spellbreaker and another ring that can cast ward (i think it from fishing) when blocking, basically free 25% chancee to absorb it xD,

outside that im agree it not so cost effective

Illusion spell level caps need to be buffed.

The entire lockpicking tree is useless once you get decent at the mini-game.

Kind of cool how player skill can save you perk points.

The worst part is the archery park that paralyzes your enemies well has a chance to because if you Play Stealth auto build. It can be a real waste of ammo, because as soon as you have an enemy in your site as soon as you release the Arrow they fall all the way.

The other thing with Wax Key is that it inevitably leads to there being no more locks to pick, meaning lockpick can only be trained by skill trainers from that point on, nerfing your XP gain.

The Wax key is mostly useless cos’ once you get to the point that lockpicks don’t break… well keys are kinda pointless lol

Feel like the wards can be fixed by making them cost 1 or nothing

I think wards get really really good when you get four clothing items with fortify restoration enchantments.

I hate light foot. Pressure plates are obvious af. Waste of a point.

Wards 1 and only use,case for me is dragons

There are mods to make wards useful. There are mods for everything.

If you don’t like Ward Absorb because you think that it’s useless, that’s a skill issue

Wax Key is quite the bootful perk to a certain type of _Skyrim_ player. There are some who draw much gratification from the hundreds upon hundreds of distinct and limited-acquisition items in the game. Things like Nettlebane et al. A player who appreciates these things can be made quite happy by the storage container they full of keys of Wax Key provenance.

Does Ward Absorb affect Spell breaker?

They really need to bring in traits and make factions actually have permanent decisions on build. Like how you can become the Arch Mage just barely learning magic.

Wards mods is where it’s at. A shield and magic barrier without the need to carry a shield. Just be sure to get it activated fully before that dragon breath hits

Considering the fact the ai keeps spraying me with flames Ward Absorbtion has a use.

PLEEEASE SHOW US YOUR MOD LIST! I BEG OF YOU!!!!

If you were receiving enough magical damage to make Ward Absorb worthwhile it would also break the ward.

For starters i would like to say there is not a single lockpicking perk worth getting, if you struggle with the mechanic Skyrim isnt the gane for you.

Secondly ward absorb works nicely when playing a paladin that is equiped the Daedric artifact (dwarven) shield Spellbreaker. I have a Female Altmer Paladin thats a master of Restoration Magic, wields Dawnbreaker and Spellbreaker togeather and is equiped in fully dual enchanted Ancient Falmer Armour with the Aetherial crown. not only does she look bad ass as hell, but because ward absorb works with Spellbreakers Ward effect i just have to cycle it and restoration spells in my off hand and it works like a charm.

Ward absorb is killer, if you’re not playing with max mana reduction you’re doing it wrong

I’ve gotten so good at lock picking that I don’t even level up the lockpicking skill because I just don’t need to. I can crack a master lock easily.

I wish wards were more like a bound shield. Like a summon, not an active cast. That way you could summon it, and it could even funnel xp into the block skill tree which has some interesting perks. Also, wards should be a weapon enchantment. Imagine if blocking with an enchanted dagger auto cast a ward, or if you combine ideas, blocking could charge up and summon a bound shield provided the off hand is free.

Honestly the only use for Ward’s is actually the only protection against the Unrelenting Force shout so you don’t get one shotted by the gravity or get knocked down and just get finished by the Archer draugr deathlord, but everything else it just really sucks except for the NPC’s for some reason because they have ridiculous amount of Magicka.

Some perks might not be the best but Id rather take an Elder Scrolls game with 1000 minor perks than 50 major ones

Better for class building, role-playing, video making, and just general convo etc

I wish wards cost a base amount to cast but only ate more magic if it’s actually absorbing a spell. So maintaining them basically just cost magika regen.

This is why I think they should’ve kept the old attribute system instead of the perk tree. Just my opinion.

I feel like wards should be more viable to block physical damage. They only give you armor, while physical shields give you armor but still also absorb a portion of physical damage taken when using it to block. Wards should do the same. Would make that high magicka cost much more justified, and make mage playthroughs more interesting

Illusion master spells are totally worth it. When you’re vampire and have all the perks, even harmony, which gets the smallest bonus from it’s perk, works on max level guards. Let’s be honest there is almost no generic enemy over level 50. The range of the master spells is gorgeous and they last 60sec instead of just 30sec.
Harmony at the start of a dungeon and you can casually put all the lights out with a dagger and shrouded gloves, no need to hide they’re all chillin.

O mate i miss the time were i played skyrim for first time. Having no clue what was good and discovering from new

Ward Absorb is only good if you’re using Spellbreaker and a Spell in the other hand.

I think Wax Key is by far the worst. The others are not great, but only Wax Key actually punishes you for taking it. You severely limit the number of locks you can repeat lock pick therefore severely limiting the locks you can actually earn xp for

The “Wards Suck” line is popular, but try playing a pure mage on a reasonable difficulty without them and you’ll change your tune. By ‘pure mage’ I mean a no armor, no weapon, all magic build. With restoration enchantments wards become cheap to free and the magicka absorb becomes a huge boon in mage-heavy dungeons. It’s an unusual way to play but is actually quite rewarding.

To be fair, you *can* dual-cast Master level spells, if you have enough magika and the right emchaments reducing cost. Same with wards. If you have cost-reducing enchanents/abilities, “Ward Absorb” might start looking more attractive 🤔

Wards have one use. Dragon breath

Wards should have been a “cast once and have a magical shield” type thing and got buffed by the block stat. I hope Bethesda has learned from Skyrim and make magic suck less. But I won’t be holding my breath.

I did a thief build once and never put a point into lockpicking. It’s a pointless perk tree.

Wards are near mandatory when fighting dragons as a squishy mage on legendary

Silence is a pretty useless perk imo (Walking and running does not affect detection) because by habit, you’re always crouching down to sneak anyway, and most stealth oriented gear (Nightingale, Brotherhood etc.) come with enchantments that help you move silently and improve your sneaking anyway. Paired with the Muffle spell and you’re set. The only reason to get Silence is to get Shadow Warrior (which is also kinda useless if you go for the Nightingale invisibility power)

The entire lock picking tree
I literally never slot anything in that skill because it’s so easy

Its been suggested that the Pickpocketing tree could’vs just been a branch in the Sneak tree. The amount of useless perks for Pickpocket leads me to agree.

Have the Spell-breaker shield in one hand while you’re spamming magic with your other. Of course you can also shield bash once you to closed the gap

I use ward as a swordsman fighting against a mage opponent or a dragon. Ward helps to safely close the gap while I’m charging a mage with my sword.

Edit: if you protect yourself by spending mana, you must attack with something NOT involving your mana: one handed weapon or magic staff or shout (if you desperate).

Wax key is especially useless now that there is Fenrik’s Welcome (spell). But maybe both of those together would shave off a lot of time in the long run, if they somehow work together.

Definitely agree with those choices, but I would also add the perks that add a chance to crit, especially the one in the Archery perk tree because you have to waste a level on it for the better perks that come afterwards. These perks add at most around 5 damage on the strongest weapons in the game, which is absolutely pathetic considering the average damage you do per hit and the low chance to even get those 5 points of damage.

Master Illusion is actually useful for a specific use. Call to Arms is a spell boosting nearby allies’ stats. It’s very good for a support build, only it is better with more people and support build itself isn’t that good in the first place.

no more shorts pls 🙁

I love a good Illusion Mage build, manipulating the battlefield to do all your dirty work for you – it makes for a completely fresh play style rather than traditional combat.

I just wish they would make the master perk actually worth getting in such a build, such a missed opportunity! Same goes for the lockpicking perks in a super thief-oriented build.

just to spite this short I will make characters specially utilizing these perks 😤

Ward absorb is best with Spellbreaker

The entire lockpicking tree is useless. Lockpicking itself is easy without any perks, I personally never ran out of them. After some time, gold becomes useless. The extra special loot is not worth it, because you either enchant items yourself, or use unique items.

If you have spell-breaker the ward absorbed Park

What mods do you use? Are you on PC or console?

The ward i just use against fighting dragons so i can get to cover so as a vampire just not getting incarnated instantly on legendary