athletics outpaces your 1h skill if you use thrust attacks.
I made my last char in tutorial to 175 1H and 125 athletics. If you have spiked club, from the brother, you should be able to stab 2x in the head at first without killing, then club the radagos raider.
This way youll have 7 targes in each run. Retreat before radagos fight.
My last build was 8 vigor at start, 5 1H focus asap, I witheld leveling up endurance and gave no focus to athlecits unti l75 1-handed.
Why withold exping athletics at the start ? Well, it will kill your exp rate from 14x very fast otherwise. Still, you need 175 athletics (or 2?) for 9th vigor and 225 smithing much later on, its fine at lv-18-20.
If you dont level up your melee in the tutorial, forget about it later on. 1H skill and adding up athletics will build you levels. - and decrease your exp income. So choose carefully to not waste early levels on filler stuff. The higher your skill ceiling in an area, the more you can gain levels from total exp. I currently have something like 230 1H and 205 athletics, I used no speed buffs, Retreating looters no prob.
Athletics dont almost level up from ranged. swing attacks do barely, but thrusting, as with 1H, 2H, Polearms does the job. If you later on do 300 pierce with 1 handed headshot, exp will keep flowing.
I told you, but I wont repeat myself to too self-important individuals.
