Skirmisher Build

[Beat]

I've been playing Mount and Blade since beta but I'm new to cRPG.  What a fool I've been for not getting into this earlier!

After perusing the forums a bit I haven't really seen anyone talking about skirmisher builds.  It's all pure infantry or pure archer.  Maybe I haven't looked enough or maybe it's because it's a bad idea in this cRPG environment, but historically skirmishers have been quite useful and I had this concept for a character before even coming to the forums and I'm already somewhat committed to it.

    Strength: 15
    Agility: 21
    Hit points: 60

    Ironflesh: 5
    Power Strike: 3
    Shield: 5
    Athletics: 7
    Riding: 0
    Horse Archery: 0
    Power Draw: 5
    Power Throw: 0
    Weapon Master: 7

    One Handed: 58
    Archery: 160

The idea is to be a good archer and still be able to hold my own against infantry or at least stall them until help arrives.  I mostly play siege mode and it has served my play style well so far.  I start out sniping enemy archers or a few infantry and when the walls are breached I can support the infantry with my shield and last longer on the flag.   I have also become adept at collecting arrows when I have a spare moment as having only 1 slot available for arrows is one of the inherent weaknesses of a build like this. 

Since I'm only level 22 I don't get many kills, and I'd imagine spreading my stats out like this will ensure that I still don't become a killing machine even at higher levels.  I don't care so much about that.  I focus on winning matches, and having a high kill count doesn't guarantee success.  I switch from ranged to melee when needed and I think I do a pretty good job of supporting my team.

So, have I gone mad?  Is a 58 1 hand skill bordering on useless?  If I play Strategus would anyone hire me as a mercenary with a build like this?  Any tips or suggestions are welcome and if anyone else has experience with a build or concept similar to this I'd love to hear how it worked out for you.
   

[Tears of Destiny]

Use 5 Power Strike and 3 Iron Flesh, otherwise you will bounce like a rubber ball and glance against everything.

As for archer, 150 wpf is good enough to shoot rather well, 160 just means you can snipe a bit better (which as a shielder you don't have the slots to carry enough ammunition to exploit that much, so focus on accurate mid-range shots). Consider lowering your archery wpf by 10 and increase your one handed accordingly.

Other then that, not a bad hybrid.

Have fun!

[karasu]

Adding a little info on what tears of destiny said, remember that the gear weight (excluding weapons/shields) will be decisive in your skirmisher character. If your total weight surpasses something around 7.5 (taking in account that the head slot is counted a little less than 3x, and hand slots as 2x the weight), you effective weapon proficiency will lower exponentially.

Taking this in account and seeing that you chose 160 wpf on archery, i take that you already had this in mind, which is good.

I'd probably take 1 of the IF points and 1 athletic point, and put at least 5 power strike (and a pierce/blunt melee weapon, just in case).

Other than that sounds really cool the build.
Cheers.

[Beat]

Thanks for the replies.  Here is my updated build:

Level 31

    Strength: 15
    Agility: 21
    Hit points: 56

    Ironflesh: 3
    Power Strike: 5
    Shield: 5
    Athletics: 7
    Riding: 0
    Horse Archery: 0
    Power Draw: 5
    Power Throw: 0
    Weapon Master: 7

    One Handed: 93
    Polearm: 4
    Archery: 150

It was a lot easier to see 2 HP go than lose any speed.  In battle mode I need to be fast, it helps me to stay with the group after firing a couple shots and using hit and run tactics.  I wish I could have more athletics.

I feel better about that 93 1 hand skill and I added the polearm for kicks.  I'm not sure if I will keep the lower archery skill though.  I do want to focus on the ranged aspect of this character.  I'm at about 130 or so right now and I'm hoping to see a difference in accuracy when I get to 150.

Karasu mentioned weight and I'm at 4.3 (excluding weapons/shields, head slot 3x, and hand slot 2x)right now.  I knew I would want light armor but am I going too light?  Is there some threshold at 7.5?  Could you point me to a resource about the relationship between weight and weapon proficiency and perhaps the effect weight has on speed?

So far I have been using fast, high damage weapons with good length like the scimitar to exploit my speed advantage when attacking as well as parrying once I lose my shield.  I can see the point  of pierce weapons since more often than not I'm facing guys in full plate but both blunt and pierce tend to be shorter and do less damage than swords and I'd have to get used to it.  I'll definitely give it a try.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

[WaltF4]

A thread on weight and proficiency

A thread on weight and running speed

[Digglez]

7 athletics is not fast enough for a skirmisher.  bows are also too slow for skirmishing and leave you open to throwers and counter archers.  skirmishers traditionally used THROWING weapons like javs & axes before engaging in melee against weakened and separated opponents

Heres my Zulu skirmisher build that I enjoyed

ZULU SKIRMISHER
LVL 30 Build
·Strength: 12
·Agility: 24
·   Hit points: 53
·   Skills to attributes: 2

·   Ironflesh: 3
·   Power Strike: 4
·   Shield: 4
·   Athletics: 8
·   Riding: 0
·   Horse Archery: 0
·   Power Draw: 0
·   Power Throw: 4
·   Weapon Master: 6

·   Polearm: 130
·   Throwing: 100

[karasu]

Regarding archery you can still use this formula (even though the head slot penalty isn't this high anymore, still unknown the value though):

(3*Head+2*Hand+Body+Leg)-7.5=MW
MW= Modified Weight

WPF(1-(MW x .008))=WPFe
WPFe= Effective WPF