« Magic is, by its very nature, volatile and dangerous. Unless you can control it, it can and will destroy you »
- Tolfdir
THE CRIMSON STRUGGLER
Skyrim Anniversary Edition Two-Handed Character Build
The Crimson Struggler is a veteran of the legion traumatized by his vision of Apocrypha. He will use his determination and talents as blacksmith and enchanter to overcome his fear of magic and save Tamriel.
The Crimson Struggler grew up in the mountains of High Rock. He was the son of the chief tribe but he had no interest in taking the lead of the fortress, he prefered to let his olders brothers take their chance against their father because his interest was elsewhere. He was a blacksmithing maniac, he loved nothing more than the idea to craft things with his hands. He spent entire days in the mines of the fortress, harvesting ores and even more time with his mother at the forge. You see, smithing always had a very important place in and we often said than an orc first learns to wield a hammer in her mother's womb. But this young boy was on a whole other level. For him, smithing was a way of life and he considered a day when he didn’t spent enough time at the forge was considered a day wasted. Although he wasn’t the best blacksmith in High Rock or even in the fortress, he was bold and hard working and his efforts made him earn the respect of his mother and the rest of the tribe.
When he became an adult he became bored of orcish smithing and wanted to learn more and know how others peoples around the world forge their weapons and armors. To avoid hurting his mother feelings, he seek a reason to leave the fortress and came the conclusion that joigning the legion was the best motive he has. He was given permission to leave by the chief fortress and join the nearest city to inlist in the legion. While he was naturally gifted in combat, the legion determited that he would be more usefull as one of their official blackmisth so they decided to give him a teacher but he quickly realise that he had nothing to teach him. So, the teacher decided to send him to Bruma to meet a skilled enchanter who lived here.
While the young Struggler was hesistant about working with a mage and the old man was a bit sinister the two ended up appreciationg each other compagny, and with practice the young Struggler became a skilled enchanter. Despite the cultural barrier that separates them, they found a lot of interests and common points. Being two craftmens only interested by their art. And the old mage was happy to have some company, he was always kind and patient with the young orc and treated him like a member of his family. One day, the orc was called by the legion to fight a powerful gang of bandits in the hills near Kvatch. Seeing this mostly as an opportunity to demonstrate his skills as a blacksmith and enchanter, the orc was ecstatic, he packed his provisions, said goodbye to the old mage and went to Kvatch.
The fight against the bandits was a real carnage, on both sides. The bandits were able to resist for almost two years thanks to their number, their wealth and the control of their environment. The soldiers of the legion died like flies and the crafting skills of The Struggler were not enough. He had to fight with all his might to keep his life and protect his comrades, but he never gave up, no matter how strong the bandits were, how bloody his armor was or how desperate the situation was. Because of this, his comrades gave him the nickname of Crimson Struggler.
When he returned to Bruma, he was totally exhausted and demoralized. The violence of the conflict had left him scars from which he would probably never be able to recover completely. At that moment, nothing would have made him happier than sharing a hot stew with his master. But to his surprise, he found the house empty, everything was still in its place and all the rooms were clean. The Crimson Struggler then entered his master's workshop and found dozens of books spread out on the floor. He thought that one of his books would probably explain where his master had gone, and so he spent the whole day reading the books scattered on the ground and found nothing. Until he found a strange black book with a rough cover and worn pages. He took it and tentacles pierced his eyes and dug into his skull. He was assailed by horrible visions, things beyond anything he could imagine and had nothing to do with reality. He saw misshapen creatures, monstrous structures made of books, and oceans of poison under nightmarish skies. The orc snaps back to reality and slams the book against a wall. He was all shaking and drenched in sweat. He spent the night locked in the workshop, the dagger in his hand and watching for the slightest shadow, afraid to see a monster there.
At dawn, the orc calmed down and was overcome with shame. How could he have been so stupid? He had spent the last two years fighting for his life but how could a simple illusion have terrified him so much? One of the books caught his attention and he started to read it. His master made researches about Apocrypha, the realm of Hermaeus Mora, Daedric prince of knowledge, secrets and fate. Had he seen Apocrypha in his vision? He remembered his master once told him that Mora was worshiped by the ancient nords of Skyrim. Maybe he would learn there what happened to him. With no further leads, the Crimson Struggler packed up some supplies and went to Skyrim.
The roleplay begins when The Crimson Struggler is captured by the Legion and sent to Helgen to be executed. At this time, he spent the previous months haunted by his visions of Apocrypha and his war traumas. He had forgotten what made him happy two years ago and didn't even try to explain to the soldiers that he was a veteran of the legion, he was so exhausted that he thought death would free him from his painful thoughts . But when he thought he could rest in peace, he was saved by a dragon. After fleeing Helgen with Hadvar, he meets his uncle, Alvor, who also happens to be a blacksmith. Seeing him work, The Crimson Struggler regains hope and wakes up "What would my father say he was there? He thinks to himself, i am the son of an orc fortress leader and a legion soldier. People depend on me and I have no right to time to waste for such nonsense. » He immediately goes to Whiterun to seek the help of the jarl and eventually he discovers that he is Dragonborn. This revelation comes as a shock to him. He isn't a nord and never had anything to do Skyrim. He decides to join the Greybearbs as quickly as possible, the evidence is piling up and now it's a truth for him, he's a dragonborn. He is aware that this role will lead him to face enemies with abilities beyond his imagination, but also and above all, to face mages. Even though he is traumatized by what he saw in his master's workshop, he remains a stubborn orc and to admit that he has emotions and fears would be a shame for him. But he knows that he must face his traumas if he wants to be able to face his enemies.
Rather than looking for someone to talk about his problems, he decides to use his skills as a blacksmith and an enchanter to face his fear of magic. He thinks getting in touch with enchanted artifacts and sources of magic is the best way to deal with his fear of sorcery, much like you would wet your neck before going for a swim. He joins the college of Winterhold to learn more enchanting techniques and spends a lot of time in the Arcanerum to learn more about magic. Over time he regains his confidence, he crafts more and more effective equipment which allows him to face the most dangerous threats in Skyrim. For this character, I was very inspired by Isaac Clarke, the protagonist of the Dead Space games. Isaac is nothing more than a normal human being, he has to face lovecraftians monsters which could gut him effortlessly. But thanks to his sheer determination and talent for crafts, he is abble to deal with those abominations of nature without losing his mind, while others wouldn't stand a chance against them. Because Skyrim is a poorly written and directed game. It's hard to remember that you are facing creatures and problems which are beyond a common person's imagination: dragons, undeads and creatures from other monstrous dimensions. Things than, let's face it, most of us wouldn't probably even dare to face. Which make The Crimson Struggler even more incredible.
In the arcaneum, The Crimson Struggler eventually find a book called The Doors of Oblivion which reveal him what happened to his former master. This book deal with the tale of Morian Zenas, a once skilled scholar of the mage guild of Cyrodiil who traveled to many realms of Oblivion. One day he decided to explore Apocrypha, the realm of Hermaeus Mora. To keep contact with Nirn, Zenas communicates telepathically with his apprentice, but his expedition went horribly wrong. With time, Zenas wanted to spend more and more time in Apocrypha, he spent years in this realm and his messages became strange and incomprehensible. At the end, Zenas's apprentice received nothing more than strange gibberish and he never saw his master again. The Crimson Struggler closed the book with anger and dissapointment. Any hopes he had to one day see his master again where crushed. He knew that he met the same fate as Morian Zenas.
After that, he decides to use his role as dragonborn to prevent peoples from accessing sources of magic too dangerous and he's later given the title of archmage at the college of Winterhold. Note than the archmage, isn't actually the one who directs the College of Winterhold, this is the role of the master wizard which Tolfdir inherit, not you. And your role as archmage is to rule on everything related to magic in Skyrim. A role The Crimson Struggler can totally endorse. He understands magic, he just limit himself to enchanting and a few restoration basics because he doesn't care about spell casting.
Obviously, both Dragonborn and Dawnguard DLCs are fitting for him. He joins the Dawnguard to fight the threat vampires represent to Skyrim but he's forced to become a vampire to go the Soul Cairn with Serena. Considering what his master went trough, it make sense for him to not risk to doom is soul to spent the rest of eternity in Oblivion. He isn't comftorbable with that decision at all and has every attention to cure himself when Skyrim will be sure, but for now, he will need his vampiric powers to protect Tamriel. He will also spent a lot of time in Apocrypha to plunder this realm from its knowledge and wealth. Seek the daedric artefacts, join the legion to put an end to the civil war, help every orc fortress with everything they might need and take every opportunity to improve its crafts and help peoples. The cause from the anniversary edition is also fitting for him.
This section is the reason i wrote this build. The Crimson Struggler is a two-handed warrior who fight as a standard warrior like this but his power come from his crafting skills.
This build require a lot of creativity to be fun and engaging. I decided to roleplay a few abilities as an extension of his talents for crafting with the end goal of mimicking the capacities of Isaac Clarke.
Vampiric Grip (Telekinesis)
There is a glitch in the game that allows you to use Vampiric Grip in human form. This is extremely usefull and open a world of possibilites. There a lot of videos explaining how to do this but i recommand this one :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESnWmcySirI
I roleplayed this to be a power up The Crimson Struggler added to its armor. Isaac also have this ability in his games. But instead of using it only on objets and body parts of severed corpses. You can use it on ennemies. This open up a world of possiblities. We will dive a bit futher in the special moves section of the video.
Because it's a feature from his armor and not a true spell. We will only rely on magicka from it's armor to use it.
Bloodskale Blade // Dawnguard Rune Hammer
These two weapons each have a unique effect which make them more versatile than others weapons in the game. The Hammer cast a fire rune that explode and deal damage to any ennemy who walk on it. And the sword cast a powerfull energy blast when you do a power attacks. Keep in mind that these effects are super uniques and can be use when you’re using the Become Etheral shout without breaking the shout.
In the roleplay, this represent The Crimson Struggler adding features to those unique weapons and making them reach their full potential. Imagine Isaac switching modules of his weapons when the situation call for it.
Slow Time
The slow time shout is roleplayed as The Crimson Struggler enchanting his armor with special magic so that he can gain unatural reflexes when he need to. For the Dead Space theme, it represent the Stasis, temporarily slowing down ennemies to cut them down to pieces with precise cuts.
The three special skills listed above work in synergy. The Crimson Struggler doesn’t have a huge health pool so you will need to manage your ressources carrefully and think about what weapons and spells you will need to be successfull. In good scenarios, you will be abble to make insane combos and dismember groups of ennemies all by yourself.
So be creative and have fun !
CREATING THE CHARACTER
For his weapons, The Crimson Struggler will carry the two unique weapons: The Bloodskall Blade and The Dawnguard Rune Hammer. But he will also carry a self crafted one-handed axe:
Eorlund's Shame (Skyforge Steel War Axe)
Fiery Soul Trap + Huntsman's Prowess
You will only use this weapon when you need to get souls for your enchantements. Because he isn't morally evil, you will only use it on animals which explain why i put this rarely use enchantement Huntsman's Prowess, which make you deals more damage to animals, instead of a more popular enchantement such as Fire Damage.
Armor
For this character i opted for an armor that reflect his work and way of life. A life that force him to get his hands dirty, risk his life and fight to get what he wants.
This create the look of a brutal warrior. The ring should be enchanted with Two-Handed and Fortify Block.
Spells
Restoration : Close Wounds
Vampiric Grip
Stats and Perks spread
Ratio: 0;1;3
It’s important for a warrior like The Crimson Struggler to have a high pool of stamina for power attacks and cast rune with the Dawnguard rune hammer. If you play effectively. Using this character tools and ability you won't need a huge pool of health because you won't be hit often.
Magicka isn’t perk because this build should rely on enchantements to cast spells.
Race : Orc + Vampire
Orc for the roleplay and the ability Berserker Rage. Vampire only for Vampire Grip, Sight, and the buffs that came with it such as frost resistance.
Standing Stone : The Lady
This stone conteract the negatives effects of being a vampire as it had a boost to health and stamina regen.
LEVEL 40 PERKS
Two-Handed
Barbarian (5/5)
Champion's Stance
Great Critical Charge
Devastating Blow
Sweep
Block
Shield Wall (3/5)
Quick Reflexes
Power Bash
Deadly Bash
Disarming Bash
Smithing
Steel Smithing
Arcane Blacksmith
Heavy Armor
Juggernaut (3/5)
Destruction
Novice - Apprentice
Rune Master
Restoration
Novice - Adept
Recovery (2/2)
Regeneration
Respite
Enchanting
Enchanter (5/5)
Insightful Enchanter
Corpus Enchanter
Extra Effect
1 – Juggernaut
Marked for Death + Berserker Rage + Sweep + Skull Crusher
This move is the result of his service in the legion and struggle to keep his life. With his brute force and sheer determination he pave himself a way to victory.
2 - Stasis Module
Slow Time + Vampiric Grip + Fire Rune + Fall Damage
A versatile move than can be change depending on the situation and what you need. First cast Slow time, then use Vampiric Grip to move ennemies to spots you wan’t. Then cast a fire rune with your hammer. They will fall and take damage from both the rune and the fall.
3 – Tactical Dismemberment
Aura Whisper + Vampire’s Sight + Vampiric Grip
First go to a position of advantage, far away from the battlefield. Then use Aura Whisper and Vampire’s Sight to see your ennemies as far as possible and then use Vampiric Grip to attract them to you, defensless and at your mercy.
This is really usefull when you need to reduce a groupe before going up close and personal with them.
And with that we are going to wrap up. The first Dead Space game always have been one of my favorite games of all times and it’s been a long time since i had the idea to make a tribute in Skyrim to this build.
I hope you like read this build and you will give it a try. See you soon, on my Skyforge page !
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