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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Hints
Combat Tips
1 of 9: When you're heading out to explore, do a quest, or anything else that might lead to combat, be sure to take along your best armor and weapons (unless you depend on magic spells to take their place), plus lots of useful potions.
2 of 9: The most useful potions are ones that restore health, magicka, and stamina. It's especially important to have health-restoring potions for use during combat. When your health gets low, bring up your inventory menu (which pauses the game) and take your time choosing which potions to use before returning to combat. (Note that outside of combat, you can usually wait an hour to fully restore your health, magicka, and stamina without using any potions.)
3 of 9: For all the combats that you can't easily win by brute force and potion use, there are several strategies that are very useful no matter what kind of character you're building.
4 of 9: One strategy is to use stealth, especially long-range attacks with bows. Get the best bow you can, improve it with your Smithing and Enchanting skills, and save up all the arrows you can get. (See the Stealth Character Tips for more details on sneaky ranged attacks.)
5 of 9: Note that arrows are all weightless, so you can carry thousands of them around without over-encumbering yourself. One good way to get lots of free arrows is to pickpocket all the guards in the various towns.
6 of 9: Another good general strategy for tough combats is to have a follower with you (see the Followers List) plus a Conjuration spell you can cast to summon a creature. With two other targets to worry about, enemies will be a lot less likely to gang up on you. This is especially true in narrow dungeon passageways, where your follower and summoned creature can easily keep enemies from reaching you (provided they're between you and the enemies).
7 of 9: The wolf that the Summon Familiar spell conjures up is fairly weak, so you'll want to get the Summon Flame Atronach spell as soon as you can and start using it. If you haven't put any level-up points into your magicka yet, you may need to wear items that increase your magicka, such as magic hoods. Also, practice up your Conjuration skill using the Conjuration Practice Tips.
8 of 9: A third strategy that mainly applies when you're exploring around outside is to use the terrain to avoid enemy attacks. For instance, jump up onto something, such as a large rock formation, so that enemies can't reach you. They can run up steep paths, but they can't jump at all. If there's a lake or wide stream nearby, enter the water and move out to where it gets deep. Enemies who have no ranged attacks can't attack you when you're in deep water, and they usually won't try to cross the deep part of a stream to get to you (but watch out for them crossing at a nearby shallow spot). If you have a Waterbreathing spell or item, you can stay underwater to avoid ranged attacks, too.
9 of 9: A fourth "strategy" is to sprint past enemies that are too tough for you and leave them behind, or use the Muffle spell and Invisibility potions (or spell) to sneak past them. You should get the Muffle spell as soon as possible, and always keep a few Invisibility potions with you. Potions that restore stamina would also be useful for extended sprinting.
