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Controversial. Corrupt. Powerful. All these describe the mythical squad of elite battlemages known as the Shadow Legion. Balancing a dangerous edge of corruption, the few Imperial Battlemages who train and eventually ascend to the unit seem almost the blend into Oblivion itself. Using abandoned realms of Oblivion as a proving grounds and training facility since the days of Jagar Tharn, the Shadow Legion trains loyalty, arcane and elemental mastery, and a dangerous lust for power and knowledge. Those who survive the training are anointed as Warmages in the Imperial Palace, their identities a mystery to all but the most important of generals who could call them from their realms of Oblivion, where they live and train to protect their towers from invading daedra. To the common men and mer, the Shadow Legion is only a legend, a piece of history from a by-gone era and distinctly outlawed by the Aldmeri Dominion, but there are a few old war veterans who shudder and whisper in taverns all across Tamriel that they saw them in the Great War, the dark figures standing atop a cliff, the sickening waves of elemental fury that rolled over the Dominion’s armies, and how, when they had finished their work, they seemed to turn around and vanish with a crackle of purple light, leaving nothing but the smell of ashen corpses and melted steel of the war behind them.
And war… war never changes.
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Race : Breton. Not only are they the Manmer, mixing the blood and combat styles of men and elves to be the perfect battlemages, but the Resist Magic and +10 to Conjuration are great bonuses.
Standing Stone : Since friendly fire is a real, lethal hazard and we require compensation for being smacked with Chain Lightning and Ice Storm on a semi-regular basis, the Lord will be favoured.
Alignment : Lawful Neutral
Stats : To balance out having a multitude of followers (who are unaffected by difficulty and become stupidly powerful on Master/Legendary), I highly advise playing on Adept and keeping your health at 200, max. This, thankfully, gives us a crapton of points for magicka and stamina, letting us put the shield in shield-mage.
Key Shouts : Fire Breath, Call Dragon, Become Ethereal, Whirlwind Sprint, Drain Vitality, Unrelenting Force, Slow Time, Become Ethereal.
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Battle magic is about pushing magic to its ultimate destructive limits, turning each arcane phrase into a death sentence.
Major
Destruction – While our followers each use a different primary element, we can choose which we’d rather. I chose fire, since spells like Ignite and Incinerate give us higher single-target damage, not to mention cloaks, which are follower-friendly. Avoid AOE spells and make sure to upgrade Fire Breath with Paarthurnax’s The Fire Within.
Conjuration – Masters of Oblivion, the Shadow Legion can move through the realms almost without effort, and so I primarily used necromancy to show a soldier being called from Oblivion to Mundas to inhabit a corpse. Eventually, we can bring one or two of our greatest allies in Skyrim back to Oblivion and train them the ways of the Shadow Legion (Dead Thrall). Make this your top priority in early levels; later levels are devoted to equipping your thralls. Bound Sword and Raise Dead level insanely quickly, and aside from some cursory training to have something to spend money on, I didn’t use trainers for this.
Alchemy – Since Destruction magic doesn’t scale with skill (without mods), we’ll need some power buffs to make it not only valuable but a primary form of damage. This is also our ability to enhance our army through buffing poisons and an extension of the Poison Element.
Restoration – Our main form of healing, both for us and our soldiers, and Wards. Spellbreaker + Ward Absorb will be our new best friend. Since we aren’t doing the Volikhar questline, we only have Necromantic Healing for Thralls, but between potions of Fortify Restoration and Sailor’s Repose (+10% Healing) we’ll be fine.
Minor
Alteration – Slightly perked, our highest aim is Stability, enhancing Slow Time by a not inconsiderable amount, and it’s more useful than perking Heavy Armor, which is what we’ll be primarily wearing for coolness factor. The extra 100 AR in the endgame more than makes up for our lack of perks in Juggernaut, not to mention the buggy Ancient Knowledge (+25% AR in any heavy armor that isn’t Dwemer). It also gives us access to Paralyze and Detect, useful in cramped dungeons.
One Handed – We can compliment a Warmage’s infamous magical prowess with some martial talent, so we can remain deadly even with low magicka.
Block – Not a slouch in CQ and not a wimp on the battlefield, the Warmage can use a very versatile shield. I augmented the Block skill with enchantments and potions, rather than perks.
Enchanting – Wonderful with thralls and great for augmenting skills, I barely even think about it anymore. Recharging and disenchanting will get us up to about 50 when we finally get to Neloth, where we can enchant staves to Extra Effect. Hoard Heart Stones to make it happen. A few perks can be thrown in it early, but it will be something you will want to invest in
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When thou enterest into Oblivion, Oblivion entereth into thee.
Nai Tyrol-Llar
Originally a public faction and a martial extension of the Mages Guild of Tamriel, the Shadow Legion trained in the Battlespire, a magical academy existing in an Imperial-controlled plane of Oblivion. They hunted down rogue mages and provided the Imperial Legion with arcane soldiers and healers. At least, until the events of the TES spin-off game, Battlespire, where Jagar Tharn assisted the forces of Mehrunes Dagon to enter and destroy the Battlespire and all within.
As we know from various sources, the typical way of entering Oblivion doesn’t include physically moving from realm to realm, it’s more of a spiritual journey. But the Shadow Legion, like a few certain individuals, live and physically exist in Oblivion, which has tainted their souls and tied them forever to another realm, the line blurred between men and daedra, as generals and fellow soldiers can summon them with a spell.
While a small squad of battlemages continued to assist the Mages Guild and Imperial Legion, it didn’t even approach the same majesty of Shadow Legion. The status of the Shadow Legion or Imperial Battlemages remains unknown after the events of the Oblivion Crisis. Seeing as the Mages Guild was dispelled due to wide-spread suspicion and mistrust of magic, the Shadow Legion probably suffered the same fate and was placed under the strict control of the Imperial Legion. Their job is now to rout out evil mages and understand the higher planes of Oblivion, assessing the threats of the various Daedric Princes and their minions to safeguard the Empire. Brought up with a survivalist, black-and-white view, the soldiers are absolute, their authority subject to no questioning.
A secret agreement of the White-Gold Concordat, the Aldmeri Dominion had tasted the Shadow Legion’s fury on the battlefield and the Imperials were supposedly forced to dispelled the order, along with the Blades. And now, with a tighter leash on their secret agents, the falling Empire calls on the Shadow Legion to serve again.
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In order for us all to have a matching heavy armor uniform, I had them join the Blades, giving them permanent Ebony-tier armor, which would protect them in addition to the flesh spell they cast upon entering combat. The rationale for using Blades Armor was that the Shadow Legion is an ancient order, dedicated to the Empire as the true Blades once were, not this fanatical terrorist organisation led by the arrogant twerp named Delphine.
There are a variety of mage followers we can choose from, but some things to keep in mind are their level cap and their skillset. Pretty much any mage follower will work since you can always give a mage a smithed, enchanted Daedric Sword but you can't give a warrior a spell tome!
I ended up using J’zargo, Marcurio and Illia. J’zargo has decent Heavy Armor and One Handed skill (making him, overall, the best suited), while Marcurio has the most magicka and has some good magic perks, and Illia is a beastly cyromancer.
As this was my first foray into creating a party in Skyrim, I thought I’d offer some tips.
- In the Legion, mutiny is a constant concern. Be wary if friendly fire gets too aggressive and use a well-placed Conjure Familiar to discharge your soldiers.
- Mage followers tend to prioritize weapons like so: staffs->magic spells->melee. They will use both Conjuration and Destruction staffs and since none of our followers naturally have a summoning spell, this is an easy way to control how they summon and the size of your party, not to mention having them drain a destruction staff of charges.
- Companion’s Insight (from the Black Books) does not extend to Thralls, but it’ll save J’zargo’s hide more than once.
- Stock up on unfilled soul gems wherever you see them. Seriously. Your followers will need their weapons filled when they need them.
- Keep an eye on their health with a quick shield bash, saving your healing magic for after the battle or topping off J’zargo mid-fight, as resurrecting the thralls is simple enough but once J’zargo is dead he’s really dead and your minions aren’t the only ones guilty of friendly fire. Save often.
- Mage followers can’t dual cast, so equipping them with a shield will give them extra AR and magic resistance. They’ll occasionally unequip it to have two spells, but can shield bash and use their sword when enemies get close.
- Using the quest “Silenced Tongues”, we can make our Thralls permanent by making them pick up the two quest items (ceremonial sword and axe) as followers before actually activing the quest by reading the book in the entrance hall. This gives them togglable quest markers and you can find them with Clairvoyance. (credit to Mason)
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As I said above, we want full Blades armor (yes, even that helmet, but if you really hate it the Apprentice Hood matches well enough). Keep Ahzidal's Gauntlets and Spellbreaker on you for occasional use. The main enchantments we want for ourselves are Fortify Magicka, Destruction, Block, and Resist Magic. Like I said, keeping your health lowish is key to making sure your army isn't overpowered, since they will always be on "adept".
Our followers will only be affected by a limited number of enchantments and I've bolded the ones you want to spend slots on.
- Fortify Health
- Fortify Heavy Armor
- Fortify Light Armor
- Fortify Magicka
- Fortify Stamina
- Fortify Unarmed
- Muffle
- Resist Fire
- Resist Frost
- Resist Magic
- Resist Poison
- Resist Shock
- Waterbreathing
SHIELD: In order to get both “resist magic and resist magic” on Blades Shields, I disenchanted the Shield of Solitude, which amounts to approximately 40-50% magic resistance on a single piece, depending on your enchanting buffs. It’ll help out with friendly fire for all involved. I used Spellbreaker at range and a Blades Shield in melee, when I was more prone to being smacked with friendly fire.
WEAPONS: The Daedric Swords can be attained through the Atronach Forge. We want the unenchanted version (Ebony Sword + Daedric Heart + Black Soul Gem + Centrian Dynamo Core // Sigil Stone required). I chose Daedric over Blades to emphasise the Shadow Legion's link to Oblivion. Feel free to get creative with effects like Absorb Health (more durability), Fear/Turn Undead (excellent crowd control), and Chaos (making up for having no martial training). Be warned that followers run out of enchantments like crazy and these particular enchants are very soul gem hungry. This also is a great way to level Enchanting. Make sure that between the three of you and six enchantments, someone has Soul Trap.
Muffle: A silent army is a deadly army. This can mitigate that thing followers do, where they trigger the Falmer half a dungeon away by stomping around in heavy armor and then they charge through the entire dungeon, waking up everything in between. A lucky find, Muffle will save you many headaches.
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There is only one word to describe a battle once the Shadow Legion is called…
Chaos.
The most fun part of this build was witnessing the unrelenting chaos that unfolds with every encounter. Each battle turns into a visual and audial spectacle of elemental zaps and explosions as the AI struggles to work things out. Each follower can use a summoning staff (if you supply them with one), which almost doubles the size of your army, and even non-warriors can competently use swords and shields in melee if enemies get close enough. They can handle themselves, hell, some of them can heal themselves.
It takes some time to build up; training and abusing Bound Sword and Raise Dead, but the moment you can gather your army and begin to equip them in Ebony-tier equipment (around level 20), just watch the sparks (and ice lances and firebolts) fly.
Our own combat is full of possibilities as we take our role as commander of this chaos. We can go out, blasting out the destruction/offensive restoration magic and shield bashes, or play a supporting role, with healing magic and a few elemental bolts, but this is primarily dictated by the type of dungeon we’re in.
Ranged (open combat)
Characterized by wide open rooms or by being outdoors, this combat depends on letting your mages stay ranged, while you go on ahead as a tank, absorbing magical and physical damage until you notice your followers charge into combat because they run out of magicka. Once they get close, bust out the Buffing Melee Poisons if it looks like a long fight (there won’t be a lot of these at higher levels.). If you’re up against weak enemies, keeping everyone ranged would be a good idea. Using Call Dragon doesn’t use up a summoning slot and why not add some more elemental destruction to your army? Storm Call is your own way of dealing massive amounts of friendly fire, but can be dead useful.
Melee (closed combat)
Those tight dungeons with sharp turns and narrow hallways are hell for friendly fire (really narrow caves or certain sections of Dwemer ruins). Having one or two mages is cool, but three or four? All vying for control? The aim is to keep their mana pool empty. J’zargo and Illia are the ones I kept in melee, since Marcurio is an excellent ranged DPS and I joined him in ranged frequently, keeping the others buffed in between fights. Possibly the only use of Drain Vitality I’ve ever found, 2 words can take out 150 points of magicka over 30 seconds. I gave myself some serious (about 60%, so that the cooldown was lower than the effect) cooldown reduction for this purpose alone, since their magic pools get quite high at higher levels and Drain Vitality stacks nicely. A good potion of Damage Magicka Regeneration can stop their regeneration for a few minutes after DV wears off.
**DO NOT GET ALL THREE WORDS OF DRAIN VITALITY. This is your official public service announcement. The first two words drain magicka and stamina, but the third drains health and you’ll surely make that mistake more than once if you take all three words.
**Second PSA: Apparently, Damage Magicka Regen is bugged on consoles and has no effect. Simply shout again when you notice them revert to magic.
ABILITIES
Arubis Absorption – Wards/Spellbreaker with Fortify Restoration potion + Ward Absorb + Ahzidal’s Gauntlets of Warding
Catching the freeborn magicka of the planes, a Warmage can weave it into their own spellcasting. Between the perk and Ahzidal’s Gauntlets we will have a 75% chance to absorb any magicka that hits our ward, while the ward absorbs the remaining, making us effectively immune to magicka, presuming you have good reflexes.
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The Wheel's Bend - Quick Reflexes + Slow Time + Whirlwind Sprint
Through extensive training in the Battlespire, the Warmages of the Shadow Legion are able to shift into Oblivion at will, bending the will of time and space in the ancient and banned school of Thaumaturgy. Slow Time will last a crazy long time, giving you breathing room to act, let the cooldown run, and then Whirlwind Sprint to safety.
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Oblivion Sacrifice - soldier in melee + Ash Shell
As the brave Warmage charges forward, his soul straddles the break between Oblivion and Mundas, allowing his body to stand countless hours of battle. Since the AI sort of "locks on" sometimes, enemies tend to try to kill the actor that is invulnerable, making them very vulnerable to ranged attack.
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Melee Buffing Poisons
My way of spitting in the face of overpowered Illusion buffs in favour of my all-time favourite skill, Alchemy, and its marvelous applications on the battlefield. These do stack, by the way.
Any assortment of these, I’ve found, are useful when you have a mage follower stuck in a melee. Just apply with a steel dagger (not your heavily enchanted and smithed Daedric sword). Concentrated Poison allows you to double the effectiveness by using one dose on two followers.
Melee Enhancer
Weakness to Poison, Resist Magic
Nirnroot + Bleeding Crown + Giant Lichen
The special Weakness to Poison effect will enhance any poison applied after it, fortifying or restoring more, basically acting like Fortify Restoration for followers. More magic resistance is never a bad thing, either.
Shadows’ Slice
Damage Magicka Regen, Fortify and Restore Health
Blue Mountain Flower + Nightshade + Wheat
Quick, dirty, and easy to harvest en masse from a Hearthfire house, it was my stock buffing poison for my army in a melee. Feel free to use this with impunity.
J’zargo’s Go-Juice
Damage Magicka Regen, Fortify Health, Restore Health, Restore Stamina
Bear Claws + Blue Mountain Flower + Eye of Sabre Cat
A bit pricy, but good to have on hand for long boss fights, J’zargo’s the best recipient, since he has a leveled amount of stamina and the others are stuck at 50. Note that on console/vanilla Skyrim, bear claws can't be sold by apothecary merchants, making farming bears in the Rift the best chance of getting them. The Unofficial Patches fixes this.
Other Buffing Poisons
Magical Enhancer
Weak to Poison, Restore Magicka
Giant Lichen + Red Mountain Flower + Chaurus Egg
Having the same special property as the Melee Enhancer, this poison is useful if you want to keep your hoard together as a ranged party (ie. Dragon attacks).
Poisoned Arcana
Damage Health, Fortify Magicka
Emperor Parasol Moss + Red Mountain Flowers
While it looks bad on paper, any damaged health can just be healed back up. Solstheim’s alchemists stock Emperor Parasol Moss on a regular basis aside from what can be gathered in the wild.
Potions
While I kept mainly to single effect potions (Fortify Destruction, Fortify Restoration, and Fortify Alteration were biggies), there are a few more involved potions I used regularly.
Shieldmage’s Ambrosia
Fortify Magicka, Resist Magic, Fortify Block
Bleeding Crown + Red Mountain Flower + Tundra Cotton
Growable in a Hearthfire house and extremely useful, the name says it all.
Spellsword’s Solution
Regenerate Health, Regenerate Magicka
Jazbay Grapes + Garlic + Vampire Dust
Finally! A solution to what to do with the excess Vampire Dust gotten from the Dawnguard questline. Buy garlic from taverns and grow Jazbays in your house (thanks Raidrair!), making a potent, long-lasting regenerative potion.
Poisoner’s Conductor
Weakness to Poison, Damage Health, Slow
River Betty, Bleeding Crown, Death Bell
A nasty little poison and, like the others I used regularly, completely harvestable from the Hearthfire greenhouse (+ fish hatchery). It enhances the damage of the Poison Rune (when you find a good moment to cast it) and all-around poison damage from more basic poisons. Also, thanks to Raidrair, the Slow effect will wear off when an actor changes actions (running to attacking), so this is best used on feared enemies.
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May the Divines have mercy on your soul, for Shadows have none.
Like the Nerevarine of old, you are a novice in your order, sent on a mission from the Emperor but finding yourself destined to become something far more important than a mere soldier (Main Quest, Dragonborn). Desperate to continue your training, separated as you are from your masters, you get the local guild of mercenaries and the arcane university to teach you (Companions, College of Winterhold), but upon learning the Companions are daedra worshippers and arrogantly command the powers of the Daedric Prince Hircine, you march your army to Jorrvaskr and leave the disembowelled half-transformed bodies of Whiterun’s so-called heroes as a warning to those who embrace the power of the daedra. Feel free to spare those who repent and turn from their monstrous ways.
In time, you command the greatest army of witchhunters on Nirn, keeping the Empire safe from meagre bandits and covens of vampires and necromancers, safeguarding those you meet on the road (bounty quests, Repentance, Blood on the Ice, Dragon Priest hunting, Dawnguard—Dawnguard side, Thanehood). Never able to deny the common man in need, your powers steadily grow and you gain a base with which to train and hold up in (Frostflow Abyss, Thane of Morthal; getting a fish hatchery and greenhouse will save you many alchemy pains). Complete Daedric Quests and drop the artifacts at the Time Break at the Throat of the World, the closest to the fractured Weir Gate that previously guarded access to the Battlespire. In time, your superiors will take them for safekeeping.
Merciless, disciplined, and relentless, your army sweeps over the land like a plague against those who prey on the weak and innocent. You are not a precision tool; you are a blunt instrument of the Emperor’s will. You are given the orders he can’t give his legions, fearing retaliation of the Aldermi Dominion. Slaughter Thalmor and all who oppose the true Empire (Civil War—Empire side), almost single-handedly crushing the rebellion of the chainmail-clad “Stormcloaks”. The laws of the Empire are below your kind and you don’t let anything stop you once you have your orders.
While keeping your identity secret isn’t the top priority (we ain’t Batman), we don’t want to flaunt it. The general populous just think we’re a private company of mercenaries in exotic steel armor. And they’re not exactly wrong.
Pray to the Nine Divines and leave offerings of your battles at their altars and wayshrines (black soul gems from warlocks, bone meal from undead). Each of them are applicable in battle and the Shadow Legion worships them as such. Covet the power of the daedra. You’ve been trained to resist corruption and sacrificed the purity of your soul to fight and understand the Daedric Princes and their servants for the glory of the Empire, learning their minds and methods from the inside out. There is no level of worship from the common man that is acceptable. Gather the Black Books (Dragonborn Frost, Bardic Knowledge, Companion’s Insight, Seeker of Sorcery/Shadow, Secret of Arcana, Mora’s Agony) and hide them in your basement until the Legion can come to get them.
When all is said and done, and the threats to Tamriel have been defeated, your mission in Skyrim has completed, you may return to the Time Break and return to the Battlespire with your unit.
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Replies
Very nice build. I had an idea once for a daedric army build but this build does a way better job with that concept..
Awesome!
I'm torn between wanting to finish my event build or trying this build out right now.
This one certainly looks like it's worth a try!
Beautiful build Elysium - I've got a similar one myself (well it touches on Battlespire). Just one more like till Master