The Skills:, 18 in total, these are the lot. Options

[Thomas Kaira]

COMBAT:
-Archery
-Block
-Heavy Armor
-One-Handed
-Two-Handed
-Smithing

MAGIC:
-Alteration
-Conjuration
-Destruction
-Illusion
-Restoration
-Enchanting

STEALTH:
-Alchemy
-Light Armor
-Lockpicking
-Pickpocketing
-Sneak
-Speechcraft

So what is of note here (along with my thoughts, of course)?

1. Alchemy has been moved to Stealth specialization, with Enchanting and Smithing in Magic and Combat, respectively. This gives each specialization its own "crafting" skill. Warriors make weapons, mages enchant weapons, and rogues make potions and poisons. Makes sense to me.

2. Archery has been moved to Combat. I'm not too sure of why this was done, as now Stealth is the only specialization without a native means of defense, but I've never done pure characters, myself, so I see no harm from this.

3. Mysticism is indeed gone. I never used it all that much anyways.

4. Pickpocketing has been separated from Sneak. Well, I'm always a fan of new skills, so I'm interested to see how this will work out.

5. Athletics is gone (wasn't really much of a skill anyways), as is Acrobatics (likely integrated into Light Armor, as rogues really do need that ability to dodge).

6. Mercantile is gone (good riddance), likely integrated into Speechcraft. Makes sense, after all, Mercantile is a form of Speechcraft, is it not? Anything to make that skill more useful, because in Oblivion, Speechcraft was a joke.

7. Blade and Blunt are now redefined as one-handed and two-handed. This is really the only change I see up there I disagree with, as fighting styles are very different between hilts and hafts and neither weapon type can be interchanged smoothly. You just don't fight the same way with a sword as you do with an axe, and being proficient in one does not automatically make you proficient in the other. Still, at least the player will be permitted to make that differentiation.

8. Hand-to-Hand is gone, as well. Likely merged into Two-Handed combat. Again, doesn't make much sense, as again martial arts is a very different combat medium from fighting with weapons, but the player can still make the choice, or choose not to if he wants.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Aug 8 2011, 05:35 PM

[Destri Melarg]

1. I liked Oblivion's perks because as you advanced a skill you became better at whatever that skill was. In Skyrim the skills have been condensed to the point where blades and blunt are in the same category. Perks as far as I have seen so far are incredibly shallow and don't allow much differentiation.

Here’s the info I found on the Skyrim Perks. If you know more than this, please tell me. The way I am reading them they sound almost exactly like the perks you say you liked in Oblivion . . . only with improvements:

Allowing your mace to ignore armor - In Oblivion a high level Blunt skill meant that you could use any blunt weapon, one or two handed. A perk like this gives clear incentive to specialize.

Allowing greater critical hits with a sword – Were there critical hits in Oblivion? I honestly can't remember. If there were they would have been handled by raising your Blade skill. In Skyrim you still need to raise your Blade/Blunt skill enough to qualify for this perk.

Allowing bleeding damage for axes – Is an improvement over Oblivion if you ask me. Players can decide for themselves the amount of gore they wish to see as a result of their attacks. It also is another perk that encourages specialization.

Causing your dagger to deal greater damage during sneak attacks – This one was done in Oblivion. There it was governed by the Sneak skill. In Skyrim I am assuming that it will be governed by either Sneak, or One Handed.

Allowing you to zoom in when aiming a bow – I’m sure this one is familiar.

Allowing you to hold your breath to steady your aim – This one is a definite improvement! The implication is that, without this perk, aiming a bow will be more difficult (which should appease all of us crying for more realism). This is another perk which I’m sure will require a substantial investment in the Archery skill in order to unlock.

Perks like Shield Wall make Blocking 25% more effective but require a block skill of 20 to access. Shield Charge presumably allows you to use your shield as a weapon but requires a Block skill of 50. Bash Disarm and Elemental Protection are other confirmed perks in the Block line. Combined with a high level Block skill, the perks should serve to make you a true master with the shield.

With 280 confirmed perks dismissing all of them as 'shallow and without differentiation' is extremely near-sighted IMHO. Only a handful have been confirmed, and I'm sure that Bethesda is keeping the 'good stuff' under raps until right before the game's release. I am thinking that character customization options will expand rather than suffer from the limitations that some on this board are worried about.

This post has been edited by Destri Melarg: Aug 17 2011, 10:06 PM

[Kiln]

With 280 confirmed perks dismissing all of them as 'shallow and without differentiation' is extremely near-sighted IMHO. Only a handful have been confirmed, and I'm sure that Bethesda is keeping the 'good stuff' under raps until right before the game's release. I am thinking that character customization options will expand rather than suffer from the limitations that some on this board are worried about.

Ah, I hadn't heard the exact number of perks in the game. That does seem like a hefty amount. All of my other complaints still stand though.