oneness - THE SKY FORGE2024-03-29T13:04:35Zhttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/groups/tes-character-building/forum/feed/tag/onenessCharacter Build: The Sorceresshttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/groups/tes-character-building/forum/character-build-the-sorceress2020-03-29T18:19:35.000Z2020-03-29T18:19:35.000ZOnenesshttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/members/Oneness<div><p><em>Surprise! After what has seem like forever, I finally got the chance to return to Skyrim and finish a build that has been laying around for months now. This is a twist on my favorite class in The Elder Scrolls universe: the Sorcerer. Because of some crappy mechanics in Skyrim, this class has long since fallen from the prestige it held it in Oblivion and Morrowind. That is all about to change though. I introduce to you, one of the most enjoyable, most powerful, most game changing builds this blog, well myself at least, has ever seen: the Sorceress.</em></p>
<p align="center"><strong><u>The Sorceress</u></strong></p>
<p align="center"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7Mg6obvEyuPVBjZdOhaXPlELjebQzxrXscwJ5LJmDyL33x9zoV8LGM54q6VPLj0*WHbiqxD2ANE6gfgD6GcoRRU5/WOW__Blood_Elf_Death_Knight_by_Leevitron.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7Mjb7qsok5pQoG9hbhYtSmdR2cNRFzLhTwaIWkDMu7mIYddM6Wwguv0j7U9k3786qRZUDYvk1nzExzTtGKLQMcrL/sorceress1.jpg?width=750" alt="sorceress1.jpg?width=750" width="750" /></a></p>
<p align="center"><strong><u>Introduction</u></strong></p>
<p align="center"><em>In the absence of light, few can see. Even fewer can act. And all but one will lose everything. That one is the Sorceress. A child of the darkness, the laws of the living allude her. She possesses a mastery of the arcane and black arts not known to the living, dead or other worldly. Do not think the light will be your savior, for it has no bearing upon this … this creature. You cannot hide in the light and you can never escape the darkness. You are never safe. No one is.</em></p>
<p><strong>Race:</strong> Breton Vampire</p>
<p><strong>Stone:</strong> Atronach</p>
<p><strong>Major Skills:</strong> Alteration, Conjuration, Illusion, Restoration</p>
<p><strong>Minor Skills:</strong> Enchanting, Heavy Armor, One-Handed</p>
<p><strong>Shouts:</strong> Battle Fury, Bend Will, Soul Tear</p>
<p><strong>Powers:</strong> Agent of Dibella, Lover’s Insight, Sailor’s Repose, Various Vampire Powers</p>
<p><strong>Equipment:</strong> Enchanted Ebony Armor with Circlet, Bound Sword</p>
<p align="center"><strong><u>The Build</u></strong></p>
<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7MhJMo4QteZnZL*Ug3J21MJXJgWpel9EEQIjZ5EhhhcJMHo54D4IExId3b8FSQaWWHyd8uNgzRuRWV2CxhbAsK07/198180__wowelfworldofwarcarft_p1.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7MhJMo4QteZnZL*Ug3J21MJXJgWpel9EEQIjZ5EhhhcJMHo54D4IExId3b8FSQaWWHyd8uNgzRuRWV2CxhbAsK07/198180__wowelfworldofwarcarft_p1.jpg?width=300" alt="198180__wowelfworldofwarcarft_p1.jpg?width=300" width="300" /></a>What happens when you cross your everyday Sorcerer with a Master Necromancer with an all-powerful vampire and stick the product inside a bewitching, female? Well you get the Sorceress! I know that’s a lot mixing and matching and the product is just dropping “er” off the end of sorcerer and adding an “ess”, but I assure you that it makes all the difference in the world. At its heart, the Sorceress is a variation of a Dark Sorcerer swapping out elemental magic for the pure arcane. She fights with a sword made of pure magic and fires off spheres of the same that reduce enemies to ash. Clad in her heavy armor she has no fear when it comes to getting up close and personal with foes. In fact, that is when she is most effective, particularly against male opponents as they tend to fall to their knees in the presence of her beauty.</p>
<p>It is then they are given a choice. Die by her hands or at her side. If they choose to die then and there, she will bring them back to life only to fight for her anyway. She has such a way with men that she can lead her followers into an unwinnable battle and they will not even consider the thought of fleeing. Once they understand her power, they would sooner die then betray her because the punishment for doing so is far worse than a death by a gorgeous woman, she will tear their soul from their body. That is a fate even the dead can be afraid of.</p>
<p>The Sorceress has one skill that no other Sorcerer, or any mage for that matter, can boast: she can draw her power directly from the planes of Oblivion. The magic of these realms is far more potent than that of the mortal realm and as a result the price to tap into this infinite well of magic is miniscule compared to the power it unlocks. With an army of dead and living behind her and the power of Oblivion, who in the hell can stop her?</p>
<p align="center"><strong><u>Skills</u></strong></p>
<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7Mj4snoGIqGzGScGvN8OHGs9FwUxe0tKPvo-rFcwPJseUbdjdOQD5QiSQkOrK0Iogf1cliOJQYu0zINMNEgiz4T9/PerkSpread.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7Mj4snoGIqGzGScGvN8OHGs9FwUxe0tKPvo-rFcwPJseUbdjdOQD5QiSQkOrK0Iogf1cliOJQYu0zINMNEgiz4T9/PerkSpread.jpg" alt="PerkSpread.jpg" width="750" /></a></p>
<p>The one thing I loved about playing this build was that all the skills were intertwined, there was a sort of unspoken synergy between everything. It could be as subtle as flesh spells and healing spells allowing your Heavy Armor to level efficiently or as cryptic as Enchanting affecting your spell absorption. In any case, this interdependence makes the Sorceress a very natural, flowing build even with taking three magic skills to 100. The daunting task of mastering all three is lessened by the fact these three skills are very easy to grind if they somehow fall behind, and with all the excess gear you will have from leveling Enchanting there will be plenty of money to spend on training if any of the other skills fall behind (I’m looking at you Restoration). And for once, Enchanting is more of a minor skill. Since you are not aiming to take Extra Effect, there is no need to rush to grind it out, so that is another burden lifted. Like I said it is a very organic playthrough, but if by some chance it is moving too slow, you have the freedom to speed it up or balance it out.</p>
<p>This build can be divided into 3 stages, each coming with a respective perk. Each stage brings the Sorceress to a new tier of strength entirely. The first of which, starts with Necromage Vampirism. This is the first build I’ve played where Restoration doesn’t lag too far behind. But to speed things up a bit, all early excess money was spent training, Necromage is that important. This build functions very well at early levels, but once you get Necromage you will realize you were only playing with 50% of your potential. You should be ready to take this perk around level 20 or so if you train and heal whenever you can. Vampirism can be contracted either before or after getting this perk, just make sure you have it and the perk before taking the Atronach perk and getting any powers because the magnitude of these will be augmented by being a Necromage Vampire. </p>
<p>For normal Sorcerers the capstones are typically Twin Souls and Extra Effect. Well, the next stage we have is Twin Souls. This is relatively simple, it doubles your offense and your defense. Having two undead minions is better than one.</p>
<p><span class="font-size-2">Now for the final stage, instead of Extra Effect, we have Master of the Mind. This can practically double your offenses and defenses (again) similar to Extra Effect, just in an indirect way. Until this point, and even after if you want, it is good to carry around a living follower so you have someone you can practice Rallying. Now with the perk, rather than only buffing your follower, you increase the power of your thralls and zombies making them nigh unstoppable.</span></p>
<p align="center"><strong><u>Allure of Darkness</u></strong></p>
<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7MipMBG*ElQj5LLDJC1620*Sya8r1pnO48sy*yM0msFyUI2BLX1H3sVVzVKA-**2RvHg5sNZIRIAm7srMko*m9wH/video_games_world_of_warcraft_blood_elf_blood_weapons_fantasy_art_artwork_long_ears_death_knight_swo_Wallpaper_2560x1600_www1.jpg"><img class="align-right" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7MipMBG*ElQj5LLDJC1620*Sya8r1pnO48sy*yM0msFyUI2BLX1H3sVVzVKA-**2RvHg5sNZIRIAm7srMko*m9wH/video_games_world_of_warcraft_blood_elf_blood_weapons_fantasy_art_artwork_long_ears_death_knight_swo_Wallpaper_2560x1600_www1.jpg?width=300" alt="video_games_world_of_warcraft_blood_elf_blood_weapons_fantasy_art_artwork_long_ears_death_knight_swo_Wallpaper_2560x1600_www1.jpg?width=300" width="300" /></a>It is truly amazing how many people just tack Necromage on to a build for the sake of being a little overpowered or just tacking it on to increase one very specific thing like Quick Shot or Dual Flurry, I must admit I am guilty of the latter. So it is easy to see why people are getting tired of seeing it. Well this is not the case for this build. I have come to realize that if you are going to do something, then you might as well go for the gusto. Necromage is certainly not an add-on for the Sorceress, it embodies her. It is dark and powerful. But, in the case of the Sorceress, while she will certainly gain numerous boosts from being a necro-vamp. , the key is that her followers will be the overpowered ones. Anyone who has read my builds before should know by now that I am a sucker for numbers and I believe this build would not be complete without an adequate statistics section.</p>
<p>For starters, Necromage is going to boost any spell or effect casted on yourself or any undead by 25% magnitude and 50% duration… What that means it:</p>
<ul>
<li><u>ALL</u> enchantments we place on our armor will be 25% stronger after you put the equipment on. For example a Fortify Conjuration effect of magnitude 15% will now be about 18% since the displayed values are typically rounded down.</li>
<li>The Agent of Dibella increases from 10% more damage to enemies of the opposite sex to 12.5%, this is the same boost that Lover’s Insight gets just with the pseudo Allure effect added. So together we get a nice 25% damage boost against male NPC’s.</li>
<li>Next we have Alteration effects. Necromage in tandem with Stability will <u>double</u> the duration of our flesh spells to last two minutes and will also increase the armor rating they give; now Ebonyflesh will add on 125 armor instead of just 100.</li>
<li>Then there is Restoration, only appropriate that the tree this perk is actually in is one of the most greatly affected. In essence all healing spells will be increased two-fold. The first boost comes in the form of Regeneration which is a prerequisite for Necromage and it will boost all healing spells by a magnitude of 50%. This takes a spell like Fast Healing from 50 points to 75 points. Not too shabby, but we want more! Regeneration is additive with Sailor’s Repose which is another 10% bonus, well 12.5% when obtained after Necromage. This puts us at about 84. Still not enough. Factor in Necromage and now it goes from 84 to about 105. Now we are talking. To summarize, <strong>we just doubled the power of this spell from 50 to 105!</strong> That’s what being a necro-vamp. is all about. A similar boost will also be applied when using Close Wounds, Necromantic Healing and Heal Undead.</li>
<li><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Last, but not least we have Illusion magic (coincidentally the reason for the title of this section). I have actually used this trick once already in a previous build, after I stole the idea from Henson, but I’m going to explain it here again because it gets me all giddy talking about the possible power. So get those calculators ready! All vampires have an ability called Champion of the Night which is a 25% boost to all Illusion spells. Next we have Necromage granting another 25% bonus when casted on undead. Finally, since we are using Rally spells, Kindred Mage will increase the magnitude of them by 10 points. Let’s see where this takes us.</span>
<ul>
<li>Courage is normally a 25 point boost to health and stamina. <u>With all effects considered, we are now at a 53 point boost!</u></li>
<li>This is the same for Rally and Call to Arms except Call to Arms will also boost One-Handed, Two-Handed and Archery by the same amount.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Now the last thing to factor in is the Dark Souls perk. Which is another 100 points of health. Did I mention all these stack?</p>
<p align="center"><strong>You now can have zombies with a 260 point health boost running around with a newfound mastery of their weapons.</strong></p>
<p>To cap it off, we have Battle Fury (which works only on followers from my observations), Heal Undead, and Heal Other to further augment and protect our army.</p>
<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7MiJMN8oRnUIhESI-cXJCwQ-Potf0wF7WXwCXLixTWqsNlGiGtXo4zpNOFQek5I54SGtajDgUDDdLNyFiCv3lC6*/WOW__Blood_Elf_Death_Knight_by_Leevitron.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7MiJMN8oRnUIhESI-cXJCwQ-Potf0wF7WXwCXLixTWqsNlGiGtXo4zpNOFQek5I54SGtajDgUDDdLNyFiCv3lC6*/WOW__Blood_Elf_Death_Knight_by_Leevitron.jpg?width=750" alt="WOW__Blood_Elf_Death_Knight_by_Leevitron.jpg?width=750" width="750" /></a></p>
<p align="center"><strong><u>Spell Absorption</u></strong></p>
<p>Spell Absorption is the calling card of any great Sorcerer, dark, light, male, female, any of them! Although Mason has shown us it is not a necessity, it is usually pretty high up on the list of things needed for a Sorcerer. There is one calculation I left out before because it is deserving of its own section. A necro-vamp. is one of the few people capable of gaining 100% spell absorption, this is because Necromage will boost the Atronach perk from 30% to 37.5% and the Atronach Stone form 50% to 62.5% which when added together equals 100%. Now I know it is a hassle to use Conjuration with complete spell absorption because it absorbs some of your summons such as Atronachs, Familiars, Dremora Lords, even the Soul Cairn summons. This has been the bane of Sorcerers since Skyrim's release. Well let me tell you something, the Sorceress doesn’t rely on these types of summons and relies solely on reanimation! Which effectively makes full spell absorption a non-problem. I’m not a huge fan of this for that alone though.</p>
<p>You see, I wanted to take every Sorcerers' shiny new weakness and make it the Sorceress’ strength. And through some testing I did just that. When you absorb your own spell you absorb the <u>BASE COST</u> not the effective cost. That means, with our expansive mastery of Conjuration magic we are always going to gain magic from casting a spell and then absorbing it. A quick example is just trying to summon a Familiar. The base cost for this 107 magicka, at early levels with just the Novice Conjuration perk, this will cost a little more than 50 magicka. That means you are spending about 50 magicka to gain 107 magicka. Now to increase this gap, we add in Fortify Conjuration gear. To be fair, I didn’t reduce it all the way down to 0 cost, instead I enchanted three items with Fortify Conjuration with all of my Enchanting perks for about 31% reduction each, after Necromage. With all things considered and Conjuration maxed out, the Familiar spell roughly costs 2 magicka to cast so after absorbing it, you will have gained 105 magicka. The potential does not end there though. When we apply this same scenario to casting Conjure Dremora Lord, one of the highest single-hand casting base cost spells at a whopping 358 we see the real power.</p>
<p align="center"><strong>You are paying 7 magicka to gain about 358 magicka!</strong></p>
<p>I believe that paying a little magicka to regain more is a fair trade off because it would just be silly to go from 0 to 358. This means you have to at least notice when your bar is approaching 0 rather than getting the 0 magicka flashing bar and just refilling. It is especially important to note that for the Sorceress in particular because she is a vampire and is under the influence of the Atronach stone, so when out during the day there will be absolutely no magicka regeneration outside of spell absorption and even in the dark there is very little because the Atronach stone hinders it greatly.</p>
<p>Being a vampire technically has no negative effects now though, outside of the weakness to sunlight reduction to every stat. Spell absorption means that the fire weakness is merely an afterthought and spell absorption combined with healing spells and Respite means that you are replacing passive regeneration, which is 0% in the day light, with active regeneration which is something that is certainly a lot stronger.</p>
<p align="center"><strong><u>Offensive Conjuration</u></strong></p>
<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7Mhn8lJnVq0f08RdgZ1T14XTO8RKR2hcv7c7gQXlE1cS7WU16in3Wwm810U40ibe7O5PMg6JuU4RG8uOcrNyHzl6/Blood1.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7Mhn8lJnVq0f08RdgZ1T14XTO8RKR2hcv7c7gQXlE1cS7WU16in3Wwm810U40ibe7O5PMg6JuU4RG8uOcrNyHzl6/Blood1.jpg?width=375" alt="Blood1.jpg?width=375" width="375" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The last little trick I want to talk about is using reanimate spells to “kill” someone. Ironic right? The reason I put the word kill in quotations is because you are not actually killing anyone. Rather you're turning their physical body into a pile of ash (</span><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130/http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/video/kill-em-all-even-children?commentId=6452022%3AComment%3A1082593&xg_source=activity">here is an example</a><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">), perfect for the diabolical Sorceress! This acts as a replacement to Destruction magic and goes along with the whole idea of using pure arcane magic instead of elemental. It is also another way to prevent this build from going too over the top because there is a bit of unpredictability when it comes to doing this.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>To use your reanimate spells as weapons you first need to dual-wield them. Dual-wield, not dual-cast, the difference is that we do not want the dual-casting perk. Charge up both spells, and release them at roughly the same time. Aiming for the mid-section produced the best results for me. You can use anything from Raise Zombie to Dread Zombie, I personally used which ever spell I was using to reanimate at the time because it leaves your favorites menu a little less cluttered. It may take several tries and when you first start doing it, it make take a hell of a lot more. Eventually you get in a rhythm and it only takes you a few tries or less each time. A word of caution, it does not kill them that is why it works on any NPC in the game from children to dragons. But when you do this they are gone, inaccessible and un-reanimateable. I would not use this on dragons, anyone you want to revive or anyone you actually need to kill like Arvel the Swift, just as a precaution. They cannot be looted per say, but you can pickpocket the ash pile if you really want to. Your followers will continue to attack the ash pile until it is actually dead sometimes though. How they kill ash piles, the world may never know.</p>
<p align="center"><strong><u>Gameplay</u></strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong><u><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7MgGiEAOQJluaqB-ypC3mgPETw6BDxbjEY3VxEsIVkbVj2nbOi81c3LOb5Ntd1i2jr68QzqVsqfdTcyBl-yInigh/videogamesworldofwarcraftblizzardentertainmentdeathknight1920x1200wallpaper_www.wallpaperno.com_32.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150306232130im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/Ct4BimYh7Mh90DWsB4bka1q4MwAFqHp7mNBC384zY3f9u0Uf1uzBs0U6woc1EbLLbHon7hNWv0W4v6O3YqH3EaCsC4VFHdcP/videogamesworldofwarcraftblizzardentertainmentdeathknight1920x1200wallpaper_www.jpg?width=750" alt="videogamesworldofwarcraftblizzardentertainmentdeathknight1920x1200wallpaper_www.jpg?width=750" width="750" /></a></u></strong></p>
<p>Here is where we put it all together (finally, I know). Right out of Helgen pick up the Mage Stone, this will really help push through the early levels since you are packing five magic skills. Next thing, after picking up your spells, is you are going to want to grab a follower. Preferably male, for roleplay reasons, and preferably a warrior so not Faendal. I went with Stenvar just because I have always liked him. With your follower you can now practice using Heal Other and Courage, which should greatly help level both Restoration and Illusion. As I said before work on training Restoration as often as possible because the sooner you get to Necromage the sooner you see the full power. As for Illusion, it never hurts to cast Muffle as you stroll along Skyrim to give it an extra little push. For equipment, use the best heavy armor you can find until you get that nice set of Ebony. When you enchant your own armor, focus on Fortify Conjuration and them whatever else you feel you need whether it is Fortify Health, Magicka, One-Handed, etc. The best way to level Enchanting is going to be to pick up all the Petty Soul gems you can find and buy at early levels because they become scarce later. Your Bound Sword should do a nice job filling them up once you get the Soul Stealer perk. You can then use them to enchant whatever you loot. This will do a good job of making you money and leveling. Win-win situation. </p>
<p>As far as combat goes, you can always take the more traditional Sorcerer approach and sit back slinging spells, just instead of throwing balls of fire or chunks of ice you will be shooting Rally and healing spells with random reanimate spells to make equally random ash piles. OR! You can take a more Death Knight-ish approach and go head first into the fray with your flesh spell up, Bound Sword in one hand and healing spell in the other with your follower and undead at your heels. You should always have at least one undead thing with you. Revive everything you see. They keep the pressure off you and on your enemies, with the added bonus of giving your Conjuration some experience. When in battle take advantage of the high base power of the Bound Sword and use power attacks, it cost minimal stamina which will just be regained when you heal anyway. It definitely gives the feel that it is actually magic slicing through people when you can one-shot someone. After you feel comfortable with how things are moving along switch over to the Atronach Stone, now you can create temporary 100% spell absorption using Dragonskin and the stone. This opens up the floodgates because you are no longer bound to running out of magicka, or health for that matter, and makes opposing spell casters weep since they can’t touch you and you can banish or turn their summons.</p>
<p>Once you get Necromage, immediately get vampirism if you don’t already have it and complete the quests to get the Agent of Dibella, Lover’s Insight and Sailor’s Repose. Don’t forget to reactivate the Atronach stone to get the Necromage boost. There is no urgency to get the shouts since they mostly require going through entire questlines to retrieve so get them when you feel ready. The final thing to say is once you get Twin Souls and Master Conjuration choose your thralls carefully. I actually stuck with one being Stenvar and the other Vorstag because they are both in your face fighters, that are simple to hire, which make it easy to sit back or get right in there with them. Before they die, or you kill them, give them the equipment you want them to have because after they die there is no going back to change it.</p>
<p><em>Well that’s all folks. Sorry for this outrageously long thing, there was a lot of stuff I feel I needed to cover for this to be complete. Or maybe I just love to hear myself talk. Either way, thank you for reading and I hope you will give it a try and enjoy it as much as I have. This build kind of rebuilt my passion for this game so it is pretty damn special if I do say so myself. </em></p></div>Character Build: The Emissary of Darknesshttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/groups/tes-character-building/forum/character-build-the-emissary-of-darkness2020-03-29T18:17:18.000Z2020-03-29T18:17:18.000ZOnenesshttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/members/Oneness<div><p><em>This build epitomizes synergy, and we all know how much I like synergy. By combining commonly overlooked things in the right manner you begin to become overpowered fairly quickly. Among these underrated things is utilizing Two-Handed and Sneak, actively trying to get off critical strikes, and even using bashing as a resource of significant damage. In order to combine all of these things into a sophisticated play style I found the synergy in each one and the glue that really brings it all together. The glue is the combination of the Ebony Blade and Marked for Death. </em></p>
<p align="center"><img style="max-height:892px;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/27/22/02/21e07_5ca1.jpg?c=9634" alt="" /></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Emissary of Darkness</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Race:</strong> Redguard</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Stone:</strong> Thief then Lady</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Major Skills:</strong> Alchemy, Sneak, Two-Handed</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Minor Skills:</strong> Block, Light Armor</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Shouts:</strong> Aura Whisperer, Dragonrend, Marked for Death, Slow Time, Throw Voice</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Powers:</strong> Sinderion’s Serendipity, Secret of Strength, Seeker of Shadows</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Equipment:</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Shrouded Cowl with Mask</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Solitude Guard Armor</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Vampire Gauntlets</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Shrouded Boots</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Amulet of Articulation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Ring of Renewal</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The Ebony Blade</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Essential Quests:</strong> A Return to Your Roots, The Whispering Door, Thieves’ Guild, Join/Destroy the Dark Brotherhood, Main Quest</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Build</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">At its heart the Emissary of Darkness is the hand of Mephala, her chosen one, her champion, the embodiment of all that is the Webspinner. The Emissary is as quick with her tongue as she is with her blade. Because she has devoted her life to Mephala, the Spinner has granted her with gifts only fitting of a daedric champion. The first of which is the vampire, the leech, the Ebony Blade. The blade is said to calm and silence those who it kills as it sucks the life from them. A blade so strong it turns even the most powerful of its wielders insane with greed, but not the Emissary. This is because her intent is not to gain power of her own, but to carry out the requests of her master.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The second gift allows her to pull on the strings of mortals just as Mephala herself would. She has been gifted with the secrets of nearly all living things. Whether it be physical or psychological, this methodical murderer will take advantage of it. This was in part due to the help of Mephala’s sibling Hermaeus Mora. He has archived nearly all the knowledge of the world, the Spider then knows how to use this knowledge to destroy friendships, tear apart families and overturn kingdoms.</span></p>
<p><img style="max-height:892px;display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/e2/21/02/21dc3_b73a.jpg?c=d018" alt="" /></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Of course Mephala cannot give the Emissary of Darkness everything. She is already a superb warrior, and an excellent killer. Years of training have taught her all there is to know of swords and poisons. The Emissary always knows where to strike and how to strike to obtain the desired results. Due to her surgical precision with a blade, she is said to be able to cut one person nearly a thousand time without them dying. While her knowledge of poisons have allowed her to further exacerbate the weaknesses of her enemies. Being around these toxins so much has helped her develop a very high resistance to poison herself.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">But she is not called the Emissary of Darkness for nothing. To accompany her unrivaled blade skills, she boasts an undeniable affinity for the shadows. She is able to move to and fro as if she were a shadow herself. When combined with her blade skills she is not only untouchable, but unbeatable. In the midst of open combat she weaves in and out the shadows at lightning speeds, striking at every opportunity she finds. The Emissary of Darkness is nigh omnipotent thanks to her relationship with the daedric prince of lies, sex and murder: Mephala.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Marked For Death</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><a href="http://images.uesp.net/8/82/SR-icon-shout-Marked_for_Death.png" target="_blank"><img style="float:right;" src="http://images.uesp.net/8/82/SR-icon-shout-Marked_for_Death.png?width=300" alt="" width="300" /></a>The ultimate tool of the Emissary is the shout Marked for Death and that is because once an enemy has been marked there is no chance in hell for them to survive.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The basics of this shout are that the inflicted enemy will take damage and lose armor rating for a total of 60 seconds. The key here is the armor rating drop. Each word used increases this effect by 25, so that at one word enemies will lose 25 points of armor per second, 50 at two and 75 at three. To better quantify this, it translates roughly to you will be doing 3%, 6% and 9% more damage every second. This effect will continue well into the negatives thus resulting in a <span style="text-decoration:underline;">180%</span>, <span style="text-decoration:underline;">360%</span> and <span style="text-decoration:underline;">540%</span> physical damage increase at the end of the 60 seconds, if anyone is still alive at that time that is.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">This drop in armor rating results in an effective increase in <strong>ALL</strong> physical damage. This makes so many overlooked sources of damage viable. Two in particular are critical damage and bash damage. Time and time again both are overlooked because they are so minuscule on higher difficulties, but thanks to Marked for Death, they are not only now usable they are actually reliable and even threatening!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Critical damage typically halts at about three-fourths of the base damage of your weapon with all three of the appropriate perks, but can then be doubled by critical charge. Well once you factor in Marked for Death, this extra damage is multiplied by upwards of <strong>5</strong> <strong>times </strong>on critical strikes and <strong>10 times</strong> on a critical charge! No longer is critical damage just something you tack on, it is something you strive for. The same holds true for bashing damage. The base damage of bashing is about one-fourth that of your weapons base damage. Add in Deadly Bash and it becomes <em>5x </em>stronger, and then another <em>3x</em> stronger when using a power bash. So once you add in Marked for Death you are nearing <strong>75 times</strong> your original base bash damage, much more that of your swords normal swinging damage.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">This shout also opens up a ton of weapon options that were previously overlooked because of having a horrid base damage or not being able to be tempered. One weapon that has fallen victim to this plague is the Ebony Blade. It has a whopping 11 base damage and cannot be tempered, go figure.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Equipment</span></strong></span></p>
<p align="center"><img style="max-height:892px;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/fa/21/02/21ddb_6f92.jpg?c=a7b1" alt="" /></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The Ebony Blade is the ultimate gift from Mephala and as a result, it is the ultimate weapon! Well maybe not at first glance. It is a Two-Handed sword with the base damage of your average One-Handed weapon and it cannot be improved. Wait, what’s that? It has an enchantment that absorbs 30 health per hit? And it swings as fast as a One-Handed sword? And Marked for Death will raise that pathetic base damage for me? Well damn, sign me up. Once you stop comparing the Ebony Blade to other weapons, you can see that it is really a One-Handed sword that you use with two hands and as a result gets the add perks of being a Two-handed weapon. The Emissary forgoes all bows and spells in favor solely of the Ebony Blade because it is just that damn good.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Keeping up with the theme of the sword I thought it was only appropriate for the armor to match (I’m a sucker for good aesthetics) and to add in the Amulet of Articulation. No matter what version of it you get, it results in a 100% persuasion success rate that falls right in line with the themes of manipulation that accompany Mephala. Then there is the armor. The Solitude Hold Guard Armor is really a wonderful piece. Just the design of it feels like it was really meant for a rogue. Especially when you add in some Shrouded armor pieces to set it off. The Cowl has an enchantment that only affects bows, but that mask is just so awesome, it is hard to pass it up on any female character. The gloves on the other hand are a little too bulky and have an irrelevant enchantment so we replace them with a set of more insidious looking Vampire Gauntlets. And finally we have the Shrouded Boots which may be a little bulky, but their Muffle enchantment is actually pretty important.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Skills</span></strong></span></p>
<p align="center"><img style="max-height:892px;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/17/22/02/21df7_78b7.jpg?c=9220" alt="" /></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">You see, Marked for Death is not the only way the Emissary boosts the damage of the Ebony Blade. By weaving Sneak into her combat she effectively doubles her damage output, which by default results in doubling the effects of Marked for Death. Rather than staying in the shadows, attacking, returning to the shadows and waiting, this style is a lot less degenerate. It relies on combining Shadow Warrior with Silent Roll and Slow Time or Quick Reflexes to “parry” and perform sneak attacks in the midst of battle. This is really why you want Muffle on your shoes. When added to the Muffled Movement perk you are completely muffled, then factor in the force of taking all five perks in Stealth and it becomes easy to bob and weave through enemies stabbing them in the back at will. To go along with this nimbleness Unhindered and Deft Movement really make a statement. There is a noticeable difference in movement once you get Unhindered and although Deft Movement is only a 10% chance it seems as though you get the dodge at the most opportune times (well I did at least). Not to mention the prevalence of Alchemy here loves the extra room that comes with Unhindered.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/ea/21/02/21dcb_19fa.jpg?c=26eb" alt="" />Wind Walker in tandem with the Lady Stone and a Ring of Renewal grants a total 125% increase to stamina regeneration which fuels your rolling around as well as bashes and power attacks. For once bashing is relevant for more than just stunning enemies. Once you factor in Disarming Bash and Marked for Death, not only will enemies be running around weaponless, they will also continually take more and more damage just from getting hit with the hilt of the sword. This makes it very easy to hunker down and start blocking. With all the Shield Wall perks and perks that boost Light Armor the Emissary can trade blows with the best of them and retaliate with powerful bashes that have a chance to restore her health via the Ebony Blade' enchantment. When combined with her pure offensive style she becomes a very complete and diabolic package.</span></p>
<p>The last skill I want to talk about is Sweep. This perk is just amazing with this build. It takes advantage of multiple aspects. The first and most obvious one being that when you use it with the Ebony Blade you will absorb the health of everyone it hits! The next thing is that every time it hits a new person it has another chance to land a critical hit. This will greatly raise your chances of hearing that rewarding ping because every person you hit has their own equal chance of being susceptible to a critical strike rather than making it all or nothing. The final thing that makes sweeping so devastating is that when you poison your sword it will poison everyone it hits and with Concentrated Poison you can hit them all again. Let that sink in for a moment. With ONE poison you can infect an entire crowd! Just imagine using a paralyze poison and watch them all fall in one fell swoop or exponentially raising your health absorb for the remaining duration of the battle.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Alchemy</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Although this build is very much sustainable on its own, Alchemy gives you an ace up your sleeve that just makes it close to game breaking. Poisons just feel so right on a dark character like this. They will directly and indirectly raise the damage of the Ebony Blade as well as turn enemies upside down.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/0f/22/02/21def_6247.png?c=bed4" alt="" />Twilight Bloom</strong> – Weakness to Poison, Damage Health and Ravage Health</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Skeever Tail + Deathbell + Giant Lichen</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">This is typically the poison you want to start any battle with because it will strengthen every other poison and it will immediately cut the enemies’ health.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/2b/22/02/21e0b_15f1.png?c=61cd" alt="" />Silent Night –</strong> Damage Magicka Regeneration and Damage Magicka </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Glow Dust + Butterfly Wing + Blue Butterfly Wing</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">(Hanging Moss + Nightshade + Namira's Rot works well for those with Hearthfire)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">This will utterly destroy mages and dragons alike. After a few hits mages will be lucky if they can cast any spells, especially if they have already cast any prior to being hit with this. Dragons will also be rendered useless after taking enough shots. When a dragon reaches zero magicka they typically fly away and come right back down. By first hitting them with Dragonrend then a couple shots of this, they become sitting ducks, well sitting dragons. In combination with Disarming Bash, all types of enemies are now effectively neutralized.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/13/22/02/21df3_12a7.gif?c=3b3f" alt="" />Ivory Tears</strong> – Damage Health and Lingering Damage Health</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">River Betty + Imp Stool + Mora Tapinella</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">While not being anything special, this is a great poison to tack on in the middle of battle. Especially if anyone is under the effects of Marked for Death or still weak to poison. This poison will continue to slowly chip away at their health with Marked for Death.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/07/22/02/21de7_8d9a.png?c=3aeb" alt="" />Death’s Kiss</strong> – Paralysis and Lingering Damage Health</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Imp Stool + Mora Tapinella + Canis Root</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The name says it all. This poison is usually the game-ender. You can stack it with Marked for Death and sit idly by as death approaches or you can tee off to speed up the effects.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/0b/22/02/21deb_1aab.png?c=2cde" alt="" />Black Lotus Dust</strong> – Slow and Weakness to Magic</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Salt Pile + Deathbell + Scaly Pholiota</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">This is honestly the most important poison. This will inadvertently raise the damage of the Ebony Blade. First it will raise the amount of health that you absorb through its enchantment. But you will also raise the potency of Marked for Death. Which in turn will result in a further increase in the physical damage of the Ebony Blade, its critical damage and its bash damage.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Combat</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Combat is conducted upfront and with the utmost finesse which is only fitting for someone who knows their way around a blade as well as the Emissary. With everything together it almost looks like dancing from third person.</span></p>
<p><img style="max-height:892px;display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/e6/21/02/21dc7_af24.jpg?c=f2f2" alt="" /></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Battle can be started with either a sneak attack or Marked for Death if it is not worth wasting poisons to boost it. The great thing about this build is that it can start out in the open and still net all of its kills from sneak and vice versa. From there everything will just flow into one another. You can systematically block and bash and swing then if you see an opening, activate Shadow Warrior and Silent Roll out of the way to retaliate with a sneak attack. If you ever have trouble getting the timing down, eating a sample of Vampire Dust after using Shadow Warrior will give you a few extra seconds of invisibility to get into a good position to strike.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Slow Time is where you will rule. It is much easier to dodge and attack under Slow Time, but it also comes with another less obvious benefit. Under Slow Time you of course will be moving faster than everyone which means you will get in more hits than normal which in turn will result in a higher chance for a critical strike to add on to your damage. It should be noted that using one word of Slow Time will result in a very good ratio of slowing opponents and increasing your speed for a relatively low cooldown. Likewise Marked for Death can even be used at one word and continuously stacked throughout battle if need be. Using one word of these shouts will open up more chances to use them effectively.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">To brutalize archers in the middle of battle simply use a combination of Shadow Warrior, Throw Voice Silent Roll and Great Critical Charge to close the distance while taking minimal damage. The same holds true for other ranged characters like mages, using the same philosophy just add in the Silent Night poison to render them powerless. When only facing ranged characters it is easy to misdirect them using Shadow Warrior and Throw Voice, form there you can sneak up on them and handle them as you may. The challenge comes when there are melee enemies as well. Do not be afraid of stray arrows because the Ebony Blade's effects more than make up for the lack of a high armor rating. When in melee combat it is almost a guarantee that you will be able to pull of the combination of Quick Reflexes and Slow Time which is a sustained slow time basically. During this time you can dodge arrows and spells to combat melee enemies or leave them to handle the ranged enemies appropriately.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The trouble of a lack of range attack comes when fighting dragons because they love to fly around and shout at you from the skies. Oh wait, there’s a way to ground them? Yes! Thanks to the fruit of Mephala, hit them Dragonrend as soon as possible so you can try to silence them. Then once that is accomplished all avenues of battle open up such as marking them for death, slowing time and even sneak attacks, although it may be difficult it is not entirely impossible. And thus the problems of a range-less character are alleviated.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Abilities</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/03/22/02/21de3_e149.jpg?c=3a95" alt="" width="150" height="189" />Awakening</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Quick Reflexes + Slow Time</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>When the Emissary of Darkness becomes completely focused she reaches the state of Awakening. In this state she is essentially unbeatable and virtually untouchable. She begins to maneuver with such speed and finesse that enemies are lucky to even follow her movements.</em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">By activating Quick Reflexes during a power attack and quickly pressing Slow Time right after a suspended reality is formed. This version of Slow Time can last upwards near a whole minute. If the Emissary ever reaches sustained Awakening it is game over.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/1b/22/02/21dfb_6bdb.jpg?c=d46c" alt="" width="150" />Rhythm Echo</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Throw Voice + Shadow Warrior (+ Silent Roll + Quick Reflexes)</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>At times the Emissary of Darkness can become half-Awakened. When this happens she is able to move with the grace of her Awakened state, but for a much shorter period of time. During this time she moves in such a rhythm and at such speeds that she leaves an after image.</em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">I am shocked at how many people do not use Throw Voice. With this build's Sneak prowess, using Shadow Warrior at some distance from an enemy and following up with Throw Voice is sure to turn them. While in the middle of combat it is possible to use the technique of activating Shadow Warrior and using Silent Roll to gain some distance then using Throw Voice.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/1f/22/02/21dff_6490.jpg?c=2783" alt="" width="150" />Shadow Step</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Silent Roll + Great Critical Charge</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>While the Emissary moves amongst the shadows she will majestically spring from them in order to land a hellish surprise attack.</em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">This technique is not as special as it once was, but the Emissary of Darkness uses it to its full potential because she can enter this move in a moment’s notice. By either using Shadow Warrior with Vampire Dust to get out of the way and initiate it or going right into it after the use of Rhythm Echo.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/f2/21/02/21dd3_a57b.jpg?c=d6bc" alt="" width="150" /><strong>Killer’s Intuition</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Twilight Bloom + Lotus Dust + Ivory Tears + Marked for Death</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>Once the Emissary of Darkness draws blood, she will continuously strike with every intent to kill. Without remorse she hacks and slashes as her enemy crawls, vying for safety, until they have bled out every last drop of blood they have.</em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">This move is essentially the bread and butter of combat. By using the chain of weakness to poison, lingering health damage and weakness to magic followed by Marked for Death, enemies will find themselves moving at half speed and losing their health at an astounding rate. Enter Slow Time and it is almost as if time has frozen completely while you move at a normal speed and the enemy’s health continues to drain out.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/f6/21/02/21dd7_56ae.jpg?c=30af" alt="" width="150" />Death by a Thousand Cuts</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Death’s Kiss + Slow Time</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>After reaching Awakening, the Emissary of Darkness will strike in a manner that will leave her prey helpless and near death. It is then that she takes the last joys, the final hope of life away from them by striking them with slow non-fatal cuts and torturing them until they finally die.</em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">This is just downright unfair to whoever is on the receiving end. With Slow Time active, paralysis is extended and the enemy will constantly be taking damage from the lingering poison while simultaneously fueling the Emissary’s thirst for blood. This is a great way to make an example out of a final boss or to restore health while being mobbed.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I would like to extend many thanks to James for all of the research he did. If it was not for him, I don’t think I would have ever found a real justification for using the Ebony Blade. His work really brought this to fruition.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Also a shout out to Vindictive for finding the Slow Time + Quick Reflexes thing.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks to Shinjin and his Mystic Ronin for intriguing me enough to use the Ebony Blade.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">And thanks to Alastor for helping with the name and thus inspiring me to finally write this :P</span></em></p>
<p><em><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally I would like to thank everyone that sat through this all, I know it was a lot, and also thanks to everyone who has supported me over the past year. I think this is going to be my last solo character build.</span></em></p>
<p align="center"> </p></div>Character Build: The Gatekeeperhttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/groups/tes-character-building/forum/character-build-the-gatekeeper2020-03-29T18:09:44.000Z2020-03-29T18:09:44.000ZOnenesshttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/members/Oneness<div><p><em>This build was inspired by the Elder Scrolls Online because in that game they label Soul Magic as its own skill line. That go the juices flowing and then everything else just streamlined. This build makes use of a numerous things that many people normally overlook. When these things are used together it creates a build that probably will cause me to fail my Psychology class because I have chosen to keep playing this rather than studying on many accounts.</em></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Gatekeeper</span></strong></span></p>
<p align="center"><img style="max-width:1126px;max-height:848px;display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/1d/15/02/2110a_165b.jpg?c=0e0f" alt="" /></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Introduction</span></strong></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>"He ran through the castle as if there were no walls, no enemies,</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>Left and right mages and their warrior guards alike fell to the ground.</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>The daedra they summoned disappeared into thin air.</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>The zombies they raised refused to fight.</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>It seemed like nothing would stand in his way, until he reached the last room.</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>This time the swing of his sword did not banish the powerful daedric warrior,</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>But that only meant there was more fun to be had.</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>After his failed attack he disappeared,</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>He reappeared with the swing of his giant axe before fading away again,</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>Then from across the room a series of arrows found their mark on the back of the daedra.</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>Finally the man became visible as he slowly made his way to his enemy.</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>Two swords were conjured into his hands.</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>Before the daedra had a chance to react he had both blades through his chest.</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>Every evil spirit that comes into Mundus suffers a similar fate</em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>Because it is guarded by the Gatekeeper.</em><em>"</em></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Race:</strong> Breton</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Stone:</strong> Ritual & Steed</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Major Skills:</strong> Conjuration, Enchanting</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Minor Skills:</strong> Alteration*, Archery, Heavy Armor, One-Handed, Restoration*, Two-Handed, Smithing</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Shouts:</strong> Become Ethereal, Call of Valor, Soul Tear</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Equipment:</strong> Assorted Dwarven Armor, Aetherial Crown, Bound Weapons, Staff of Magnus</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Build</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Through a mastery of soul magic and the tapping into the true power of Aetherium, the Gatekeeper controls the flow of the living and the dead to and from Mundus. His tools for doing so range in a variety of weapons that he molds from the souls of the strongest warriors to his trusty staff. His weapons have grown so powerful that they are able to send the malicious daedra back to Oblivion with one swing and turn the most insidious of undead in their tracks. And with his staff he siphons their energy and converts it into his own. Typically men and mer cannot foresee the Gatekeeper’s strength and those caught in his way will receive a fate much worse than death, their soul is drained and trapped for eternity only adding to the power of the Gatekeeper.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">He is able to invoke the force of the spirits he has captured, gaining their martial abilities to further add to his already profound skills of blades and bows alike. While being able to make use of other souls, he also has an immense control over his own life force. The Gatekeeper is able to generate a shield made of his own soul energy as well as intensify his energy to the point where it is visible and his physical body becomes nearly untouchable.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Conjuring weapons and manipulating souls are not the only feats the Gatekeeper is capable of. With the power of Aetherium, he is able to achieve enough power to open a gateway to Aetherius. Through this portal he can call upon the souls of heroes past to aid him in battle. Only the strongest of spirits are able to manifest in the plane of Mundus, others that are brought will inhabit the empty bodies of those who have fallen and lost their souls to the Gatekeeper.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Skills</span></strong></span></p>
<p align="center"><img style="display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/29/15/02/21116_6919.jpg?c=e061" alt="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/29/15/02/21116_6919.jpg?c=e061" /></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Anything less than level 50 is usually odd for me because it just feels incomplete, but let me tell you that for only 40 levels the Gatekeeper packs the power of level 50, or even level 60, builds. This is what I have come to call a toolbox build. This basically means that it uses a multitude of techniques to be prepared for any given situation, but only uses the perks that are absolutely necessary.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The two skills that are really invaluable to this build are Conjuration and Enchanting, the two skills that actually make up soul magic. (Coincidence? I think not!) Conjuration is centered on the use of bound weapons. Up to Adept is all that is necessary to reduce the cost of all bound weapons. Necromancy spells are not really used because raising the dead is usually done through the Ritual Stone and summons that do not involve necromancy are done through powers and shouts, not to mention using bound weapons will level Conjuration efficiently on its own. But the necromancy side of the tree is still taken because these perks affect those raised by the Ritual Stone and Twin Souls allows you to have two spirits out at once which is always a good thing.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Enchanting is essentially where all of the Gatekeeper’s power comes from, and what Enchanting cannot fulfill is perked. Archery, One-Handed, and Two-Handed all bring something unique to the table that cannot really be recreated through Enchanting. First, Archery is the primary form of ranged combat and the extraordinary damage of the Bound Bow coupled with its speed and the Quick Shot perk allows for an outstanding damage per second output. Next is One-Handed, which is unique in its ability to have unusually high damage via dual-wielding. Dual Flurry greatly increases the speed of each swing and Dual Savagery will further augment the damaging effects of these weightless Bound Swords. Finally there is Two-Handed. This skill is unique because of Sweep; generally the only physical way to hit multiple enemies at the same time. Combined with the weightlessness of the Bound Battleaxe and Great Critical Charge, hordes of enemies can be mowed through in a flash.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Harnessing the Power of Souls</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The weapons are not the only things that are weightless, the armor is as well. Thanks to the Steed Stone, the Gatekeeper can carry multiple pairs of the same armor all of which are lined with a different set of enchantments. Because there are no movement penalties along with this, Heavy Armor was an easy decision. Likewise, Dwarven Armor was an easy choice to pay homage to the Dwemer who were the ones to control the power of Aetherium. Surprising enough, with the Aetherial Crown you do not look like a robot compared to using the Dwarven Helmet. I digress, the sets are divided based on the offensive skill used, either Archery, One-Handed, or Two-Handed. With little to no perks, the power of the Gatekeeper’s weapons comes from enchantments. By enchanting four pieces of armor and jewelry with fortify enchantments, the chosen weapon will gain a boost of 160%, plus the 25% boost from their respective perk. The only thing to note is that Archery misses out on the head enchantment because the Aetherial Crown is used which means it only gets 120% from enchantments, but this is still more than just taking 5/5 in Overdraw and the Bound Bow already has a very good base damage rating.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><img style="max-width:1126px;max-height:848px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/25/15/02/21112_141f.jpg?c=68f5" alt="" width="280" height="205" />Each set of armor has a set purpose and the enchantments reflect that. For Archery, first augment the power of the bow and then focus on staying on your feet. I found that one of the biggest assets was Resist Frost. With the advent of Frost magic in Skyrim this is a must, it means that you are constantly on the move and not getting dismantled by those over potent Ice Spikes. As for Two-Handed the most complementary choice is Fortify Block. Two-Handed is typically used in a crowd so it helps to mitigate as much damage as possible. And then there is the One-Handed set. This set is unique in that there is a long range of possibilities, except the only thing set in stone is Fortify Restoration. This is one of two skills that is used, but un-perked. Restoration is utilized for healing and creating wards, so by adding this to One-Handed spellswording becomes easy and you are not just limited to dual-wielding. Not to mention the One-Handed set is the set to use in tandem with the Staff of Magnus. Lastly, the other skill used that is not perked is Alteration. Every set of armor should be enchanted with Fortify Alteration so that a flesh spell can be cast simultaneously with your choice of Bound Weapon.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Beckoning Call</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><img style="max-width:1126px;max-height:848px;float:right;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/21/15/02/2110e_8356.jpg?c=7a87" alt="" width="119" height="312" />Thanks to the power of the Aetherial Crown, the Gatekeeper is able to access Aetherius at will. With the Ritual Stone locked in, the power can be activated multiple times a day by just re-equipping the crown. The Ritual Stone will raise all undead within a very generous radius and an even more generous level cap of 75. With Soul Tear also in the arsenal, the need for using reanimate spells pointless. The other great part about the Ritual Stone power is that when the time is up or one of the raised zombies die, they do not turn to ash. Which means they can be revived over and over again. This creates a devastating death knight style that allows you to go in head first with any weapon of your choosing and simply overwhelm the opposition. It is also a perfect partner for Archery because it will successfully buy you loads of time which is essential in most cases for an archer.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">So what do you do when there are no bodies to raise? Call upon the spirits themselves! First is Arniel’s Shade which is an amazing summon. Offensively, he rips holes in enemies. Defensively, he is nearly invulnerable because he is immune to physical attacks. Once the main quest is completed, you get Call of Valor. I always wrote off this shout in favor of actual Conjuration spells because of how long it takes to get, but boy was I wrong doing that. I would suggest getting this shout as soon as possible. The three warriors summoned by this shout are all very capable fighters and will all bring something new to the table whether it be archery, magic or close combat, and each one can complement your style of choice.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Then there is the notorious Twin Souls perk. The problem with Call of Valor is that it tends to dispel any summons you have out regardless of whether you have Twin Souls or not. To remedy this, first use Call of Valor and then Arniel’s Shade. This allows you to have both out at the same time and wreak havoc accordingly.</span></p>
<p align="center"> </p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Manifestation of Power</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The beautiful thing about the Gatekeeper is its versatility. The playstyle of the build is ever changing. There is not one dungeon that you will run through using just one weapon. Hell, half the time there is not one battle you will not use multiple weapons in.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">It is common sense that Archery is a ranged skill. And the set up really lets it take advantage of that. The possibility of multiple powerful summons means near unlimited time to do what you want with your arrows. But when you combine Alteration and Heavy Armor with Archery you have an archer capable of fighting at all ranges. This means all of you bow lovers can carelessly keep your bow equipped and shoot it in a close combat scenario. Is it the best strategy? No. But between bow bashing and Power Shot you can gain a lot of control and even fire quicker by using shorter draws.</span></p>
<p><img style="max-width:1126px;max-height:848px;display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/19/15/02/21106_f119.jpg?c=3449" alt="" /></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">With Sweep and the way Great Critical Charge works (it lets you keep sprinting and swing multiple times), it is painfully obvious that Two-Handed is powerful in controlling crowds. But when you add in the Block skills thanks to Enchanting, it also turns into a juggernaut skill. Again with Heavy Armor and Alteration, except this time adding in Block, this build can trade blows with most powerful individual enemies and is no longer centered on fighting crowds.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The last skill set is One-Handed. This is the difference maker because it carries three different aspects. The first of which is the Staff of Magnus. The staff is used for many combinations that use the enemies’ magicka in place of your own such as healing or just absorbing a little energy to cast a new weapon. Then there is dual-wielding. With weightless weapons, weightless armor, and Dual Flurry, this is a very strong and quick attacker that can take hits and dish them out ten-fold. But by switching the offhand to a spell the battle completely changes. The damage output takes a drastic drop, but tanking skyrockets. For starters there is the ability to heal freely now. Then there are wards. The thing people do not realize about wards is that they can block just about any spell in the game, even dragon breath, as well as add to your armor rating. It is a magical shield, it increases your armor rating just like a shield but instead of blocking physical attacks it blocks magical ones. When you add Ebonyflesh, Greater Ward and a fully upgraded set of Dwarven Armor, even without the helmet, you are sitting right around the armor cap.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">As you can see, the Gatekeeper is capable of invoking the abilities of any warrior and preforming any role to the fullest in battle. The best part is switching through these styles in the midst of battle.</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Abilities</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Transcendence</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Become Ethereal + Bound Weapons</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">This is the most used technique of the Gatekeeper. This is a free way to switch weapons in the midst of battle with no risk. All bound weapons have a little hitch when they are summoned and it can be a bit annoying if you are getting attacked while your weapon is taking its good ole time becoming tangible. So to solve this, simply cast your weapon and right after activate Become Ethereal. This keeps you safe while your weapon is conjured and then opens up the next line of combat. If switching to the Bound Battleaxe or a pair of Bound Swords then a free Great Critical Charge or dual power attack is the reward as you exit Become Ethereal. If your choice is the Bound Bow then you have time to run to the best vantage point at the cost of no stamina then rain down arrows from safety. Using Become Ethereal in this manner can be a great way to parry blows and retaliate full force.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Soul Siphon</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Staff of Magnus + Ward spell</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The Staff of Magnus has a nasty drain magicka effect and once the enemy is out of magicka it takes health. While normally the staff is used in drawn out battles to make up for an empty magicka tank from switching weapons multiple times, it has great utility against magic users. I personally despise enemy mages so that is why I developed the Staff of Magnus and ward combination. This will completely empty a mage, or even a dragon, of magicka while making you virtually untouchable. The ward is basically casted by using the magicka of the enemy, so they lose magicka from the effect of the staff and by casting their own spells except none of their spells will damage you. And the combat of a mage or a dragon without magic is completely pathetic.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Army of Spirits</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Aetherial Crown + Ritual Stone </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">It would be wrong of me not to specifically designate this as an ability because of its unrivaled power. With the Ritual Stone and Aetherial Crown it is possible to have every enemy you kill as a minion. Simply activate the effect every time you clear a room and when the timer on the last runs out. The result is a true army. If you do it right, and no one gets lost, they will follow you in an orderly fashion straight to the boss. Then you can just sit back and watch the fireworks as they tear through the enemy. This can further be combined with the last word of Call of Valor if you need some extra 'umph.'</span></p>
<p align="center"> </p></div>Character Build: The Viridian Witchhttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/groups/tes-character-building/forum/character-build-the-viridian-witch2020-03-29T18:07:50.000Z2020-03-29T18:07:50.000ZOnenesshttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/members/Oneness<div><p><em>I haven’t really had to use my imagination since my Golem build and I missed the joys I had of fantasizing up stuff not directly in the game when I played. So I thought it was time to try again, except with a little more power. For those of you that have seen my previous builds, you may have noticed my love for controller builds. I love builds that make use of manipulating enemies and oneself with buffs and debuffs while maintaining strong crowd control and great power in one on one situations. I wholeheartedly believe this build accomplishes all of this and more. It is hands down one of the most powerful builds I have ever played.</em></p><p align="center"><strong><u>The Viridian Witch</u></strong></p><p align="center"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150330004043/http://api.ning.com:80/files/lfASdeYLW4f*00aX1A8Ci7G-MLXGMJmZA6fFDSywSGIGqitbSsiDIFDtW9TZyF8G2Vzwa7Gnb-YPAsCzUw512*xrKWNrc6MN/2.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150330004043im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/lfASdeYLW4f*00aX1A8Ci7G-MLXGMJmZA6fFDSywSGIGqitbSsiDIFDtW9TZyF8G2Vzwa7Gnb-YPAsCzUw512*xrKWNrc6MN/2.jpg?width=619" alt="2.jpg?width=619" width="619" /></a></p><p align="center"><strong><u>Introduction</u></strong></p><p align="center"><em>“ They chased her through the woods until there was nowhere left to run,</em></p><p align="center"><em>She arrived at a giant tree, the other side was nothing but open grassy fields,</em></p><p align="center"><em>With nowhere left to hide she accepted her fate.</em></p><p align="center"><em>There she stood, back to the tree, as the bandits approached her,</em></p><p align="center"><em>She was the helpless victim of this shakedown and was as good as dead, or so they thought.</em></p><p align="center"><em>They inched closer, slowly, basking in their triumph.</em></p><p align="center"><em>For a second the wind hissed and roared like a dragon,</em></p><p align="center"><em>Then the ground let out a gentle growl,</em></p><p align="center"><em>Then a smirk found its way on to her face.</em></p><p align="center"><em>With that, the leaves surged in the wind, cutting through everything in their path like a razor’s edge,</em></p><p align="center"><em>Then the roots of the great tree violently erupted from the ground, </em></p><p align="center"><em>The roots took hold of the now frantic and bloodied bandits and disposed of their weapons.</em></p><p align="center"><em>She walked through the gallery of her pursuers who were strung high and low by the tree.</em></p><p align="center"><em>The glee fell from their faces and fear set in. They were now the victims.</em></p><p align="center"><em>The woman’s smirk grew into a sadistic smile as she gave the orders,</em></p><p align="center"><em>‘Kill.’ ”</em></p><p><strong>Race</strong>: Altmer</p><p><strong>Stone</strong>: Lord</p><p><strong>Major Skills</strong>: Alteration, Destruction, Illusion, Restoration</p><p><strong>Minor Skills</strong>: Alchemy, Enchanting</p><p><strong>Shouts</strong>: Unrelenting Force, Disarm, Soul Tear</p><p><strong>Powers</strong>: Force Without Effort, Mora’s Agony, Nightingale Strife</p><p><strong>Equipment</strong>:</p><ul><li>Head – Circlet/Wedding Wreath (Fortify Illusion/Fortify Alteration)</li><li>Body – Miraak’s Robes</li><li>Hands – Gloves (Fortify Magicka/Fortify Alchemy)</li><li>Feet – Dunmer Shoes (Fortify Destruction/Fortify Restoration) </li><li>Ring – (Fortify Health/Fortify Magicka)</li><li>Necklace – (Fortify Health/Fortify Destruction)</li><li>Weapon – Miraak’s Staff</li></ul><p><strong>Essential Quests</strong>: Dragonborn, Wind and Sand, The Hidden Twilight, Main Quest, Thieves’ Guild, Dawnguard</p><p align="center"><strong><u>The Build</u></strong></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150330004043/http://api.ning.com:80/files/lfASdeYLW4cloTsYLd5R371CIQxfdwb9wAbyYEB1ViDiP2B0M2CEUjLyGF6SpHVdAWoKImjNj33Tl1oAUvAuulrSLMtMDqnJ/3.jpg"><img class="align-right" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150330004043im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/lfASdeYLW4cloTsYLd5R371CIQxfdwb9wAbyYEB1ViDiP2B0M2CEUjLyGF6SpHVdAWoKImjNj33Tl1oAUvAuulrSLMtMDqnJ/3.jpg?width=400" alt="3.jpg?width=400" width="257" height="434" /></a></p><p> </p><p>What we have at work here is an art known as chloromancy, also referred to as plant manipulation. Chloromancers have the ability to create, shape and manipulate plant life. Some of the possibilities of this magic include growing plants from a seed to skyscraping trees; commanding the movements of branches, roots, and flower petals; and not to mention summoning monstrous plants.</p><p>The Viridian Witch commands nature itself through her voice and manipulates it with her magic. Plant life bends as she demands it to capture and kill. She is able to summon her own breed of plant. An extremely dangerous type that releases deadly toxins ranging in effects from, hallucinations, to full body paralysis, to death. Along with summoning plants, she can also destroy them. By centering enough magic in one plant, the witch can cause a catastrophic explosion. As well as being able to manipulate plant life, she can also manipulate the very essence of plants. By doing this she can enhance her powers to obscene levels. Through expert use of her powers, enemies are lucky to come within 50 feet of her.</p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"><strong><u>Equipment</u></strong></p><p align="center"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150330004043/http://api.ning.com:80/files/lfASdeYLW4fuGY*TxZKOLhcW4UBSWocWuZElpIv58hG83lrY1qw--kpNmX4NM8Nnz1mF8Omc095*9LbDCuv5cjlBBCcgjZKQ/Miraaks_Staff.jpg"><img class="align-full" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150330004043im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/lfASdeYLW4fuGY*TxZKOLhcW4UBSWocWuZElpIv58hG83lrY1qw--kpNmX4NM8Nnz1mF8Omc095*9LbDCuv5cjlBBCcgjZKQ/Miraaks_Staff.jpg?width=750" alt="Miraaks_Staff.jpg?width=750" width="750" /></a></p><p>Miraak’s equipment is the center point of the Viridian Witch. It is essentially how she summons her plants. Until Miraak’s equipment is available Mora’s Agony serves as a decent substitute and can be reused by going into the Black Book and re-equipping it. Although Miraak is a tough opponent, he can be defeated as early as level 10 with patience. After that the fun really begins.</p><p>First off the robes are vastly underrated. When hit by anything, and I mean anything, they cause an explosion of tentacles, or for our purposes they serve as the vines of her freakish plants. Through testing I found that this explosion is about 100 points of pure damage. It effects any enemy within its range. Even undead and automatons. And since it is a form of magical damage, it is unmitigated by armor rating. What makes this even more dangerous is the fact that it can be activated by the witch. Causing her plants to explode via Fireball, Fire Storm or runes at close range also have a chance to set off the robes’ effect. Because the robes come pre-enchanted, the Dunmer Shoes play a large role since they can be enchanted with any chest enchantment. This makes up for the crappy perk choices for shoes and not having a natural chest piece to enchant.</p><p>Another extremely underrated piece of equipment is Miraak’s staff. This staff summons a wall, and I emphasize wall, of her vines. It is a very similar effect to that of Mora’s Agony, just smaller and slightly weaker. The wall summoned by the staff is virtually impenetrable except by the mightiest enemies. Anything that does not resist poison will fall victim to the vines damaging effects and even those that do resist will most likely not overcome the staggering effect. Just about everything aside from dragons will be staggered as they enter the wall of vines. Besides things as large and powerful as Lurkers or Giants, enemies will become trapped in the staggering effects. As soon as they recover they will once again charge in and become staggered, the cycle repeats until they die or the vines disappear.</p><p>So what does this all mean? It means that with a little help the Viridian Witch becomes virtually untouchable and she will definitely take advantage of it.</p><p align="center"><strong><u>Skills</u></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><u><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150330004043/http://api.ning.com:80/files/lfASdeYLW4e-eErbkkkhPUdEtopgLIlg876hGS1lu*BSp5E*BeAUV02d95FBU7Hnu0GeEqEsnD--y-ybGG5PS1pGXFK15OXZ/PerkSpread.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150330004043im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/lfASdeYLW4e-eErbkkkhPUdEtopgLIlg876hGS1lu*BSp5E*BeAUV02d95FBU7Hnu0GeEqEsnD--y-ybGG5PS1pGXFK15OXZ/PerkSpread.jpg?width=750" alt="PerkSpread.jpg?width=750" width="750" /></a></u></strong></p><p>The main skills here are Destruction and Restoration magic. Through Destruction magic the witch is able to cause mass explosions of her plants and even control the movement of flower petals or leaves with Whirlwind Cloak. Until Master Destruction spells are unlocked, the Sun Stone from Solsthiem is a solid replacement since you will be there quite a lot, it is not too much of a hassle to grab it. Dual-casting has a couple uses; first it increases the range of Whirlwind Cloak, secondly it overpowers Fireball and unlocks the coveted Impact perk. Contrary to Destruction, Restoration is lightly perked, but plays an equally large role. To start, Turn Undead spells compliment Illusion magic very well during early levels and will train Restoration rather quickly. But the big thing here is the Poison Rune. Along with Miraak’s equipment, it compliments fire magic rather well because there is nothing that is immune to both and it is amplified by dual-casting.</p><p>To further compliment the previous skills and the equipment used, Illusion and Alteration take the stage. Illusion magic simulates one of the reactions of the plants toxins: hallucinations. Fear magic is the center point because it guarantees space and time to do what you please. Alteration is taken for a similar purpose. Mass Paralysis is the main goal for reasons detailed later. Besides that flesh spells also play a role. With the Lord Stone and one perk in Mage Armor, it is very easy to avoid one hit kills from kill cams and stray mages or archers. They are also effective if by some chance someone gets into close range, the witch can then take a hit and retaliate with Fireball and hopefully a plant explosion from the robes.</p><p>Bringing up the rear is Enchanting and Alchemy. Enchanting is a strong skill for any pure mage because fortifying different schools of magic make repeated casting a lot less costly. A undervalued perk is Soul Squeezer. It is very useful for any staff wielding build because it makes soul gems worth so much more, 250 points to be exact, the same as a Petty Soul Gem. Along with making things go further, fortifying magicka plays a big role. The idea is to create a big magicka pool while honing in on reducing the cost of Destruction magic because it used most often. Let’s face it, nobody wants to run dry in the middle of a battle. On a similar note, Alchemy’s initial purpose was to restore health without using magicka. With the chosen skills and enchantments, healing potions have a magnitude of 117 points. More than enough to safely heal, and since loads of damage is very rare, it is also very reliable to go into a dungeon with a few potions. Although that is how it started, that’s not how it ended. It did not feel right for a witch of the land to use Alchemy so sparingly so there needed to be something more.</p><p align="center"><strong><u>Alchemy</u></strong></p><p>What Alchemy does for this build is more than deserving of its own section. Most mages fail on higher difficulties without the use of Alchemy or 0% spell costs. Well this build was already very dominating, even on Master. Alchemy only made it game breaking.</p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150330004043/http://api.ning.com:80/files/lfASdeYLW4dJzRkMXIJijcx3nreHaP05faYgJXeu1YD6J-GmQjcdsL73hMmyauQ6inGUC1tlzmL0A0ydDS-ZD59ZO80Dz0K3/Potions.jpg"><img class="align-full" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150330004043im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/lfASdeYLW4dJzRkMXIJijcx3nreHaP05faYgJXeu1YD6J-GmQjcdsL73hMmyauQ6inGUC1tlzmL0A0ydDS-ZD59ZO80Dz0K3/Potions.jpg?width=750" alt="Potions.jpg?width=750" width="750" /></a></p><p>A very popular trick known from Mason’s Sentinals is the stacking of potions. Well that is exactly what we have here. By stacking Fortify Destruction and Fortify Restoration potions, damage levels go off the charts. With all the Alchemy perks and the small boost from enchanting, it is possible to create potions of Fortify Destruction and Restoration with a 94% magnitude, that means nearly double the damage, and stacking them means almost 4 times the damage! Here are some calculations to show how powerful this becomes:</p><ul><li>Fireball jumps from 75, with 2/2 Augmented Flames and Aspect of Terror, to 131</li><li>Fire Rune goes from 50 up to 97</li><li>Fire Storm from 165 to 306</li><li>And Whirlwind Cloak’s radius changes from 10 feet to 19 feet</li><li>Nightingale Strife goes from 100 to 194</li><li>Poison Rune goes from 3 points per second to 5</li></ul><p>Now when you add a second potion on top of that:</p><ul><li>Fireball to 187</li><li>Fire Rune to 144</li><li>Fire Storm to 447</li><li>Whirlwind Cloak to 28 feet</li><li>Nightingale Strife to 288</li><li>Poison Rune to 8</li></ul><p>Now one last factor to add is Dual-Casting which is a 2.2x multiplier:</p><ul><li>Fireball is now 413, almost as much as Fire Storm</li><li>Fire Rune jumps to 316</li><li>Whirlwind Cloak‘s radius is a whopping 61 feet</li><li>Finally Poison Rune now does 17 points per second</li></ul><p>By first taking a potion of Fortify Restoration, all other potions you take will increase by the magnitude of the first potion. Thus doubling your effectiveness in battle!</p><p align="center"><strong><u>Gameplay</u></strong></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150330004043/http://api.ning.com:80/files/lfASdeYLW4dGBvdDi08q9Y*ccZoxaXrE*4M9XWL-J8JiO*5d8JFvyIGSHrYvD5yg3R2GGvlR5agFAtu4iraH3D9BP0WFaJGl/Thorns.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150330004043im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/lfASdeYLW4dGBvdDi08q9Y*ccZoxaXrE*4M9XWL-J8JiO*5d8JFvyIGSHrYvD5yg3R2GGvlR5agFAtu4iraH3D9BP0WFaJGl/Thorns.jpg?width=330" alt="Thorns.jpg?width=330" width="330" /></a>So how does all this come together? With everything taken into account, anything is possible. Whirlwind Cloak combined with Miraak’s Staff creates a barrier that makes it nearly impossible to get hurt. The way Whirlwind Cloak works is that anything that enters the range of it has a 50/50 chance of being flung, and the only things immune are those immune to paralysis. The best part is that when it is cast, everything in its range is automatically thrown. When combined with making your plants throw enemies as well, also known as Unrelenting Force, anything lucky enough to get within the boundaries of the vines will have to do it all over again. This is then further aided by the use of Impact. Dual-casting Destruction spells, such as Fireball, will not only stagger an enemy, but push them back as well. Another method is using the first two words of Soul Tear for a strong staggering effect and low cool down. </p><p>Fear plays a similar role and works well on all different kinds of enemies. It is especially useful when you can trap enemies in an area and then fear them. It makes picking them off so much easier and if they happen to run into you, they will get thrown or if they run into your plants they get staggered. </p><p>To deal with archers command your plants to dispose of their bows, cough Disarm cough, and force them into close quarters or use the fear method. As for mages and dragons, Miraak’s Robes come with a 15% chance to absorb spells and the Lord Stone grants 25% magic resist. Mages can be captured by your plants or feared and dragons are susceptible to being stagger locked via Impact and the plant explosion of Miraak’s Robes. But what is the point of all this? What can the Viridian Witch do with all of this time and freedom?</p><p align="center"><strong><u>Powers</u></strong></p><p><strong>The Flower Bomb</strong></p><p>Miraak’s Staff/Mora’s Agony + Fire Rune/Poison Rune</p><p>There is something very special about runes. As mentioned in Henson’s Cabalist, I have also noticed they have a hit box. When an enemy runs into the side of a rune they take the appropriate listed damage. But if a rune is placed right under them, that damage is multiplied. It is at least a two to three times increase. Which makes runes the most powerful source of damage combined with the staggering grasp of your plants. Once trapped, it is very easy to place multiple runes right under an enemy’s feet. And if close enough when the rune goes off, the robes’ explosion effect may activate demolishing the foe.</p><p><strong>The Sinning Tree</strong></p><p>Miraak’s Staff/Mora’s Agony + Soul Tear + Nightingale Strife</p><p>Since the Thieves’ Guild quest line already needed to be done to obtain all three words for Disarm, completing it to get Nightingale Strife isn’t too big of a deal, not to mention it responds to Fortify Destruction potions. In tandem with Soul Tear, this move in total generates a minimum of 400 points of pure damage to everyone in its path. It is very easy to trap groups of enemies with the barricading powers of the staff. Nightingale Strife will deal 100 points, without potions, to everyone in the path, but will only absorb how every much health is stated. So if your doing 100 damage to multiple enemies, it will only absorb a maximum of 100 health. Soul Tear likewise will affect everyone in its path. This is a good way to heal if you have no potions and to fill up soul gems to keep the staff charged.</p><p><strong>The Black Garden</strong></p><p>Miraak’s Staff + Whirlwind Cloak + Rout/Mass Paralysis + Fire Storm + Highborn</p><p>This is what is possible when everything is put together. The staff will ensure everyone stays within range while the cloak pretty much guarantees that no one will get close enough to stop you. Using Rout is ideal against enemies immune to paralysis or inside where it isn’t hard to seal off exits and it will force enemies to run into the walls of vines, taking more damage. On the other hand Mass Paralysis is the best outside where enemies have the ability to flee for their lives or be flung out of range from the cloak. What follows next is Highborn. This allows you to detonate Fire Storm multiple times and subsequently the robes explosion, until the plants disappear or everyone is dead. </p></div>Character Build: The Order of Judgmenthttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/groups/tes-character-building/forum/character-build-the-order-of-judgment2020-03-29T18:06:29.000Z2020-03-29T18:06:29.000ZOnenesshttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/members/Oneness<div><p><em>Welcome to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749/http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/profile/BradleyHaines?xg_source=activity">Hainesy</a> and I’s second collaboration. The first one went over very well, winning the second character building contest, so we thought it only right to use our rewards from that and create another collaboration. The ideas of our previous build streamlined the early thoughts of this one. We are excited to present this because you are about to read a build that has a very simple, yet versatile style; a build that is so good it is evil; a build that ultimately controls fate.</em></p><p align="center"><strong><u>The Order of Judgment</u></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><u><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODov9gYbxnKdmJ-NMMMCh3UVcZkUZBiYNzuGoM63KMouLz2dpYhXz6Obmd6mE3edRHv0OiLaSH8zAnwar4l3*zsGn/Book2.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODov9gYbxnKdmJ-NMMMCh3UVcZkUZBiYNzuGoM63KMouLz2dpYhXz6Obmd6mE3edRHv0OiLaSH8zAnwar4l3*zsGn/Book2.jpg?width=400" alt="Book2.jpg?width=400" width="400" /></a></u></strong></p><p align="center"><em>"The day of reckoning is upon us"</em></p><p align="center"><strong><u>Preface</u></strong></p><p><strong>Race:</strong> Any</p><p><strong>Stone:</strong> Steed</p><p><strong>Essential Quests:</strong> Dawnguard, Thieves’ Guild, Various follower quests</p><p><strong>Major Skills:</strong> Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, One-Handed,</p><p><strong>Minor Skills:</strong> Archery, Heavy Armor, Restoration, Smithing, Sneak</p><p><strong>Equipment:</strong></p><ul><li>Thieves’ Guild Hood</li><li>Steel Plate Armor</li><li>Dawnguard Heavy Gauntlets</li><li>Dawnguard Heavy Boots</li><li>Nordic Sword/War Axe/Mace</li><li>Nordic Bow w/ Nordic Arrows</li></ul><p align="center"><strong><u>Chapter 1: Origins of the Order</u></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><u><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODouQWwW8lDnm*miedGVmQLIBUjNtSc7pfpYn1DvhgKb5sNIWyC-aoNjzC5koY0ZGyJcGS8JWEE9OPktu94KZjh5c/Screenshot22onpaper.jpg"><img class="align-full" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODouQWwW8lDnm*miedGVmQLIBUjNtSc7pfpYn1DvhgKb5sNIWyC-aoNjzC5koY0ZGyJcGS8JWEE9OPktu94KZjh5c/Screenshot22onpaper.jpg?width=750" alt="Screenshot22onpaper.jpg?width=750" width="750" /></a></u></strong></p><p>I have seen men bloodied, battered and bruised. I have seen men murdered and tortured. I have seen men ripped away from their families and their families from them. All by other men. And for what? To settle a dispute over land or money. Or maybe just to have someone do all of their work for them because they are too lethargic to do it themselves. Or maybe… maybe it is just because it is in their nature. Deep down they feel complete when pushing and shoving their way around. The worst part? Our gods sit idly by and watch their creations tear apart the very world they created. No, if they shall not put an end to this then it is up to us to save ourselves, from ourselves. It must be us who passes judgment on these wicked beings.</p><p>The everyday man has deemed himself far too corrupt to hold such power though. Therefore it must be left to the righteous. Those who possess an unparalleled sense of right and wrong. Those who can be trusted to do whatever is necessary to create a new utopian world. To take the power from the gods, the gamble from the ordinary man, and decide for themselves who shall live and shall die.</p><p align="center"><strong><u>Chapter 2: The Attributes of the Order</u></strong></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODoupaGxZ3FKc2Age3gRlPYIfBtXkVUK8dcIC3xnkucCOvWK0lU2vtFhICgrC-0qSGFbXdLCh64wefD6wZymDhbzr/Banner.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODotvoA435en8MpH73pbeqoXk4ZiAGQqSbGOPdbUrYiWiH8BPB*plq5z2QgFGAXxeaSd*hy8gLJr*jH7ZmxQHNU9q/Banner.jpg" alt="Banner.jpg" width="311" /></a></p><p>An alliance shall be forged of the most noble men and women of every race. They shall scour Nirn, cleansing the world from its evils. They will be hardy, swift and merciless. They will move amongst the shadows, for otherwise they face persecution. They will be known, feared, and respected far and wide as the Order of Judgment.</p><p>This team will identify with the Griffin, also known as the protector of life. It represents the balance of good and bad qualities. Among its good qualities are justice and nobility, while the “bad” include ferocity and violence. The Griffin will be their symbol because it embodies what they are: unbound justice.</p><p>No laws nor legislature will restrict their actions. The only way to fight evil is on a leveled playing field, and if the villianous know no bounds, then neither shall we. If anyone dare oppose the justice we herald, then it is only fitting that they suffer the same fate as their counterparts: death. And for those that have been unjustly wronged, they will be granted life once again.</p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"><strong><u>Chapter 3: Skills & Equipment</u></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><u><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODov1lz4pIJ9DfQI2rHVx5yRBxgpUmlxc8nh8N4Sbr-9C18gFz20aMN8nyTmjm*O0YjADDJ0VmmQxr75UgJfW1*zK/OrderPerkSpread2.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODov1lz4pIJ9DfQI2rHVx5yRBxgpUmlxc8nh8N4Sbr-9C18gFz20aMN8nyTmjm*O0YjADDJ0VmmQxr75UgJfW1*zK/OrderPerkSpread2.jpg?width=750" alt="OrderPerkSpread2.jpg?width=750" width="750" /></a></u></strong></p><p>During my travels I have met many different people, the strangest of most was a very scientific necromancer. He relayed some information to me that baffled me. He explained that the use of shock based magic can have effects ranging from revival to disintegration. That is why I believe shock magic will be very important to this team, and I now know why the gods are notoriously known for using it. Shock magic can give life in small doses, but also abruptly take it away when overly abused.</p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODouGcgAdOsJXCLsKfXKeAXKmcHiyjwpaI-egrFbaBAcHKm1dDYWfKr2o8f2pjYagvwVYCcsdYhCUr-B58ptSo-Te/Screenshot11onpaper.jpg"><img class="align-right" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODouGcgAdOsJXCLsKfXKeAXKmcHiyjwpaI-egrFbaBAcHKm1dDYWfKr2o8f2pjYagvwVYCcsdYhCUr-B58ptSo-Te/Screenshot11onpaper.jpg?width=300" alt="Screenshot11onpaper.jpg?width=300" width="300" /></a>Which leads me to why all members need to be well versed in Necromancy and the school of Restoration. Necromancy is simply the darker version of Restoration. It has been branded as dark because men who have conquered their demons simply wish not to fight them again. This team will need to learn that Necromancy is actually not dark, it is in fact good. It is the giving of life. Just as Restoration magic sustains life, Necromancy grants it to those who deserve it.</p><p>While being able to give the gift of life is important, it will not be their only job. No, they must also punish those who take it away. With a strong base in Archery and the use of One-Handed weaponry, expelling the evils that plague man are child’s play. Anyone capable of shooting a bow or swinging a sword will be able to be trained to become lethal eradicators of the unjust.</p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODotVME5l66UIzKuNijs86JsdiaMrBykKJduEnK-BkT9412x2z3qC8jQV10YaKiPS1*RPTK9DUmUWOMZ5mN9tVBpO/Screenshot18onpaper.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODotVME5l66UIzKuNijs86JsdiaMrBykKJduEnK-BkT9412x2z3qC8jQV10YaKiPS1*RPTK9DUmUWOMZ5mN9tVBpO/Screenshot18onpaper.jpg?width=300" alt="Screenshot18onpaper.jpg?width=300" width="300" /></a>Although it will be a normality within this team, the outside world frowns upon the use of Necromancy and killing, even in the name of justice. Therefore it is essential that all members be trained in stealth to protect their true identities. They will wear ordinary clothes in public, but when night falls and their mission begins, they shall put on the armor of their order. At this time, a simple hood will be enough to conceal their identity. They will be able to move around the shadows unnoticed and strike without hesitation or restraint.</p><p>All members must be well conditioned otherwise their Heavy Armor will weigh them down. It is imperative that they use Heavy Armor because it is the only thing that will sufficiently protect them in any given situation. They should be able to craft and temper their own weaponry and armor so that it is guaranteed to be of the highest standards.</p><p>Finally, the school of Illusion magic shall be taught to them. It will be through this magic that they will have a chance to show people the error of their ways. Though the effects may be draining, dual-casting Illusion spells is enough to reach the inner minds of nearly anyone.</p><p align="center"><strong><u>Chapter 4: Combat</u></strong></p><p>Through stealth, combat can be initiated from a multitude of angles. Ideally, one will either immediately eliminate the threat at hand or will be able to provoke one of their enemies. By using Illusion magic a member will be able to turn the numbers of a battle in their favor. While the enemies quarrel it is important that they not let up offensive pressure. This is when sufficient training with a bow comes into play. When their magicka is low or they become fatigued, their bow shall become their crutch. Use of the bow will create space and allow them a chance to regain composure.</p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODosGzoYefxqVtiNLJcwnN6bFXBV-3o20M5TCjW2Qp7uHJySeagYayOB3qQh5DPk-JE7S7nww-wuJUEflAGVl0CP5/Screenshot4onpaper.jpg"><img class="align-right" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODosGzoYefxqVtiNLJcwnN6bFXBV-3o20M5TCjW2Qp7uHJySeagYayOB3qQh5DPk-JE7S7nww-wuJUEflAGVl0CP5/Screenshot4onpaper.jpg?width=300" alt="Screenshot4onpaper.jpg?width=300" width="300" /></a>Once their strength has returned, they shall fearlessly charge into battle. Close quarter combat is where the Order will shine. With weapon in one hand and spell in the other, they will be able to dance around enemies. The use of shock magic will force any opposition to a halt as one can string together strains of lightning and attack multiple enemies at once. Foes will be forced to distance from one another out of fear of turning to ash as lightning jumps from one enemy to the next, this opens up the ability to fight one on one in a melee setting. In a setting where it is impossible to best such voracious fighters.</p><p>If an enemy somehow comes close to threatening a member, that member will have left at least one body unmangled. This body shall serve as an aid, it will be revived and shall turn the tides of the battle once again. This gives the member breathing room to heal and continue their purgation of evil.</p><p align="center"><strong><u>Chapter 5: Reinforcements</u></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><u><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODosKW9ALmULs5sEwor-04Wzp3Gsrs2eOtXPqyOu7XhizSrSrTCd9hbaD-o-VHzt7NUmCHmgaCFIcgi7yd12uNduC/Screenshot19onpaper.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODosKW9ALmULs5sEwor-04Wzp3Gsrs2eOtXPqyOu7XhizSrSrTCd9hbaD-o-VHzt7NUmCHmgaCFIcgi7yd12uNduC/Screenshot19onpaper.jpg?width=750" alt="Screenshot19onpaper.jpg?width=750" width="750" /></a></u></strong></p><p>Even though members of the Order may seem untouchable on their own, it is downright idiotic that they be confronted when together. When together a natural bond is formed. One that puts both members into a natal state. They can now turn to what they know best, the skills they are naturally fond of. Nothing is more beautiful than seeing an Orc and a Nord brutalize a group of bandits or a Wood Elf fire arrows from afar as a Dark Elf shocks and slashes through a horde of vampires.</p><p align="center"><strong><u>Chapter 6: Signature Tactics</u></strong></p><p><strong>Blind Justice</strong></p><p>Through a balance of discipline and strength, a sneak attack from a member of the Order is the worst torture imaginable. With a mix of finesse and ferocity, a member will charge their enemy and attack. This attack will merely be enough to incapacitate their foe. Enough for them to look up from the ground and see who it was that killed them before they turn to ashes.</p><p><strong>Need:</strong> Silent Roll, Critical Charge, Lightning Cloak, One-Handed Weapon, Disintegrate, Muffle</p><p><strong>Redemption</strong></p><p>As I alluded to earlier, some of the undeserving may be granted life once again. But merely as a pawn. They will simply be used as a means to create space. By summoning a dead corpse, it acts as conduit for shock magic. Rather than gambling by shooting walls with Chain Lightning, this revived body will be targeted. This allows the lighting to arch around corners and spread throughout the room as enemies draw near their risen “ally.”</p><p><strong>Need:</strong> Raise Undead, Chain Lightning, Summoner</p><p><strong>Reckoning</strong></p><p>This is the end all tactic for members of the Order of Judgment. While they are cloaked in lightning and using two weapons, their damage output is drastically raised. Factoring in that obscene amounts of shock magic has the ability to disintegrate people and that the damage from the cloak is added to their weapons, enemies will fall to ash around them within minutes.</p><p><strong>Need:</strong> Dual-Wielded Weapons, Disintegrate, Lightning Cloak</p><p align="center"><strong><u>Chapter 7: Passing Judgment</u></strong></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODouwO2JzeHFNkK0RA8HnlwKSY9ly911cMV1F0dWejwPpBZSsSfAt*8d1SgV3T6TdXgCzCcpBRKRmtJtsMZhF1RnE/Screenshot12onpaper.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODouwO2JzeHFNkK0RA8HnlwKSY9ly911cMV1F0dWejwPpBZSsSfAt*8d1SgV3T6TdXgCzCcpBRKRmtJtsMZhF1RnE/Screenshot12onpaper.jpg?width=300" alt="Screenshot12onpaper.jpg?width=300" width="300" /></a></p><p>Those who steal in the name of evil shall be punished. Those who kill in the name of evil shall be eradicated. Those who follow evil will be eliminated. And those that are evil will be exterminated. A simple note will be left by their ashes explaining why the met the fate they did. There is no room for evil in this world. And those that fall victim to it shall be avenged and given a second chance.</p><p align="center"> </p><p align="center"><strong><u>Postlude</u></strong></p><p>This book was designed as a warning. For the people of Nirn. You now know the consequences of your evil. And you now know that your actions will not go unpunished. A new world is upon us. A world free from criminals and murderers. A world that is pure and just. Those who live a righteous and honest life have nothing to fear. Everyone else, you have been warned.</p><p align="center"><em><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODouQ7wuedCuUi4eHm4xwZ1jlRL6WUijiXmDDLDxnBxY6WKL197ZkVz3lA0vY3WtSxyYY*yoysxhrBZI6ZJv1MMWg/coollogo_com131049137.png"><img class="align-center" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/hSOUK3FODouQ7wuedCuUi4eHm4xwZ1jlRL6WUijiXmDDLDxnBxY6WKL197ZkVz3lA0vY3WtSxyYY*yoysxhrBZI6ZJv1MMWg/coollogo_com131049137.png?width=100" alt="coollogo_com131049137.png?width=100" width="100" /></a></em></p><p align="center">Founder of the Order of Judgment</p><p align="center"><strong><u>Demonstration</u></strong></p><p style="text-align:center;"><iframe><a href="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZMmJFG5daOI?wmode=opaque">http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZMmJFG5daOI?wmode=opaque</a>" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0"></iframe></p><p align="center"><strong><u>Notes</u></strong></p><ol><li><em>There is no stat allocation because it varies based on what you race you play as and the style you favor.</em></li><li><em>Suitable followers include J’zargo, Jenassa and Belrand.</em></li><li><em>To recreate the note of death, you can simply drop a roll of paper at the corpse/ashes. It does not have to be every person you kill, just the bosses or people you target targets. In real life Hainesy and I kept notebooks of the people we passed judgment on and why.</em></li><li><em>Here you can check out the profile of Hainesy's Order of Judgement character: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150327021749/http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/role-playing/forum/topics/profile-za-kir-the-order-of-judgement">Za'Kir</a></em></li></ol><p align="center"><strong><u>Acknowledgements</u></strong></p><p><em>Big thanks to Ponty for screenshots and the video. </em></p><p style="text-align:center;"><em>This build was a collaboration of Hainesy and myself</em>.</p></div>Contest Build: The Bal Molagmerhttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/groups/tes-character-building/forum/contest-build-the-bal-molagmer2020-03-29T18:05:10.000Z2020-03-29T18:05:10.000ZOnenesshttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/members/Oneness<div><p><em>Welcome to the second ever Character Building Contest! This is a build that was a joint effort of my good friend <a href="http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/profile/Hainesy?xg_source=activity">Hainesy</a> and myself. With the theme of the contest being racial builds it was only fitting that we chose something of racial importance. We settled on a legendary faction that is very seldom spoke of.</em></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>The Bal Molagmer</strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><img style="max-height:892px;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/6b/24/02/22049_dee5.jpg?c=4328" alt="" /></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Introduction</span></strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em style="text-align:center;">Growing up watching my father, hearing about my grandfather and Gentleman Jim Stacey resurrecting the legendary Bal Molagmer I knew that was my path. My destiny. It is in my blood to do this, help the poor, give to the ones in need, to punish the corrupt. All the stories my father told me about Gentleman Stacy and The Great Neveraine recruiting my very own grandfather to help rebuild this incredible faction was just awe inspiring. I got to watch and hear about how my father followed in his footsteps, building his own legacy as a part of this new Bal Molagmer of Vvardenfell to compete with the Camonna Tong. Slowly but surely we did woo the people on Vvardenfell, and more and more people learned about this new, Yet prestigious faction known as... The Bal Molagmer.</em></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em style="text-align:center;">It was now my turn to wear the gloves. Yet after much success and rapidly learning from my father and other members of the Guild, it seemed we had hit a ceiling. The Bal Molagmer was doing great and gained much appreciation from the city and its people. Then, after The Red Year, the Argonians knew we were weak, fragile, in no condition to fight. They attacked and conquered much of Morrowind. They were seeking retribution for the many years they were enslaved and their lost lands. I had no choice but to flee, the battlefield is no place for a thief. It was either run or die. My father chose to stay and it led to his demise, at the ripe old age of 281. I fled and roamed Tamriel looking for a place to settle and hopefully pick up where i left off. Now my travels have landed me in Skyrim, Home of the Nords. I don’t know the land, or the people. But I certainly do not feel welcomed here, not that I am too fond of the people anyway. But one thing is for sure… I will write my own legacy like my father and his father, and I will revive the Bal Molagmer again.</em></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"> <strong>Race:</strong> Dunmer</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Stone:</strong> Thief then Tower</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Stats: <span style="color:#0000ff;">3</span></strong> / <strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">1</span></strong> / <span style="color:#00ff00;"><strong>2</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Skills:</strong> Alchemy, Alteration, Destruction, Illusion, Light Armor, Sneak, (One-Handed, Archery, Pickpocket, Lockpicking)</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Equipment:</strong></span></p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Head</strong> – Thieves’ Guild Master Hood </span></p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Body</strong> – Thieves’ Guild Master Armor</span></p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Hands</strong> – Vampire Gloves</span></p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Feet</strong> – Blackguard Boots</span></p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Necklace</strong> – Fortify Lockpicking</span></p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Ring</strong> – Fortify Pickpocket</span></p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Weapons</strong> – Ebony Sword, Ebony Bow</span></p><p style="text-align:center;padding-left:30px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Build</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">In the Dunmer language, Bal Molagmer means “Stone Fire Men.” This could be a hint at their strong willpower and righteous attitude. As you see, they are no ordinary thieves, in fact they are almost the opposite; they steal from those they deem unjust to give to those in need rather than stealing from anyone and reaping the rewards. As with any Dunmer they do have a vindictive side, they generally do not kill anyone, but punishing is not out of the question. It is only fitting that these thieves are Dunmer because it takes a great deal of respect and the ability to remain reserved and level headed to perform their duties. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The Bal Molagmer were recogonized by their special gloves. These gloves were used to transport rocks and other things to and from Red Mountain. Because of this, these gloves were specially made to hold the hottest of things imaginable; giving the Bal Molagmer, like many Dunmer, the ability to manipulate fire, but more so then the average dark elf.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"> Although they were thieves, the were adept fighters like many Dunmer. They favored the sword more than other weapons for its weight and reach. Although they were naturally skilled in combat, they could never compete with those who go through formal training such as the Imperial Soldiers. Which should never be a problem as the Bal Molagmer,like most thieves, are against murder.</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Skills and Equipment</strong></span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><img style="max-height:892px;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/83/24/02/22061_9a9c.jpg?c=f784" alt="" /></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The challenge started right away when we were faced with the task of creating a master thief without Pickpocket and Lockpicking perks. This means missing out on some amazing perks such as Misdirection, Perfect Touch, Skeleton Key and the multipliers; all essential perks to the normal thief. The Bal Molagmer really shows his knowledge of the field by using alternative methods to help him. One is the use of pre-enchanted armor to boost the skill rather than using the perks. With the Blackguard Boots and one piece of jewelry of Peerless Deft Hands, you can raise your pickpocket success rate by 80%. Same holds true for Lockpicking, except we sacrifice the second boost in favor of the unique gloves the Bal Molagmer are known for, simple appearance but they are able to absorb drastic amounts of heat. Instead of getting that Lockpicking boost though, we pick up the rarely seen Tower Stone. This becomes imperative at higher levels because without the normal perks this gives you the option to open any chest up to Expert level once a day, which means you can quickly clear what you need to. Just something to note, without some of the perks, these skills rely a lot on the player’s personal skill level, but even that is remedied slightly when you add in the fact that you raise your success rate as the skill itself levels and the option of adding potions to the mix.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Alchemy is used for a couple things early on. First, it will give you the chance become a better thief early on by boosting Pickpocket, Lockpicking and Sneak. Next it gives you access to Invisibility early, before you become an expert Illusionist. This really helps since you will have relatively low sneak and will be kind of squishy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/7f/24/02/2205d_b40e.jpg?c=12ba" alt="" width="436" height="245" />Sadly, it is pretty difficult to go through the whole game and completely avoid combat. So for those times when it is absolutely necessary you have the calling card of the Dunmer: Destruction magic. Fire is the one of choice for many reasons; one it stays true the history of Dunmer who are known to excel in fire magics; secondly it will do far more damage than any unsmithed, unperked weapon at higher levels; and lastly it gives you Intense Flames which opens up a couple different combat situations. Not to mention, this makes Aspect of Terror boost the damage of all fire damage by 10%.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The main reason for Illusion was originally Muffle and Invisibility, but as it all came together it was imperative that Aspect of Terror and Master of the Mind complimented the use of fire too much to pass up. With Master of the Mind and some self-control, you can refrain from killing just about anything that you do not have to, without even having to switch to actual Illusion spells. The biggest oddity here may be that there is no Quiet-Casting, personally I felt like it made sneaking too easy and it did not seem to fit the thief perspective because it lends more towards a silent mage style.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><img style="max-height:892px;float:right;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/77/24/02/22055_c33e.jpg?c=ecae" alt="" /></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">In order to protect yourself, you will utilize Sneak, rather than a high armor rating. Sneak gives you access to abilities every thief should have. For one, Silent Roll, Silence and Muffle Movement are important because they allow you to maneuver around enemies silently and avoid combat as much as possible. When required to kill someone, sneak attacks are pretty much the only consistent way to finish someone because of having no perks in One-Handed, Two-Handed, or Archery and the use of enchantments to bolster more thief like skills rather than those previously mentioned. But since you are not an assassin either, you will only take Backstab and use an Ebony Sword rather than an overpowered dagger. You will aloso have access to your bow, but you will not be using it to kill! Hence the lack of Deadly Aim. But instead it is just another one your tools for sneaking around. The Ebony weapons were the perfect fit for a Dunmer since according to lore Ebony is made from the volcanic glass found under the lava flows of Red Mountain, not to mention all Dunmer are known for being adept in the use of swords and bows. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Finally, Light Armor and Alteration are lightly perked to give you back up options if all else fails. Light Armor needed to be perked in order to get to Unhindered which is necessary if you want to move smoothly and have loads of extra carry weight coupled with the Thieves Guild Master Armor. The other perks are so you do not die in one shot if it comes down to it. Then there is Alteration, this is used solely for the Ash Shell spell which acts as your fail safe.</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Gameplay</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/6f/24/02/2204d_a1e5.jpg?c=8c03" alt="" width="430" height="242" />Being a third generation Bal Molagmer has given you a knowledge of the job that even master thieves do not have. The ability to steal from the unjust is usually a difficult task as the majority of these people are well armed, well secured, and generally do not care about anyone else’s wellbeing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">For those times, you have many tricks. First is Invisibilty and Muffle. This is obviously the best way to go about business. The ability to move around undetected is honestly ridiculous, but is not always an option since you do not have the ability to silently cast these spells. To open up holes though, you may use your trusty bow to distract enemies and move them out of the area. Do so with caution though because depending on how far from them you are and how far from the arrows shot you are, they may detect you. Sometimes you must rely on just purely sneaking around or sometimes, combat is inevitable.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Combat is very interesting considering you are not a master of any offense style, but you use natural talent and your tricks to succeed. Remember you are a thief and killing is generally against your code unless it is unavoidable, and there will be times where it is. Early on when your bare weapon is actually capable of dealing damage it will be your main source. Power attacks are tremendous as it gives you a chance to escape if you need to while your enemy is staggered. That split second is legitimately enough with your trusty Invisibility and Muffle potions! In this situation potions are better as they do not make noise when you use them. Be wary of running out of potions though.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Eventually you will begin to lean more on your fire magic. Dual-Casting and Augmented Flames allow you to out damage your sword pretty early, but that is not necessarily a good thing when you are trying not to kill anyone. Waiting until you get to Impact is when fire magic really begins to take over. Rather than throwing yourself in harm’s way you can stun opponents from a safe distance before attempting a retreat.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><img style="max-height:873px;float:right;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/7b/24/02/22059_275c.jpg?c=148f" alt="" width="286" height="161" />Soon you will not retreat right away. You will want to punish your enemies for their wrong doings. Once you have Intense Flames you can slowly torture your enemies until they run in fear of dying. This is where you choose their fate. Some people must die in order to continue your journey, such as Mercer Fray, and others are irrelevant. After they have fled you have the option to return to the shadows and continue your business as usual. Or you can return the shadows with sword in hand and kill them. The 6x multiplier of Backstab is more than sufficient when your enemy has 20% of health or less.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Lastly, you have your master escape plan if you ever are overwhelmed. Being raised around the lands of Morrowind has given you an insight into not only fire magic, but ash as well. So much so that you have become able to manipulate it as well and use it to your advantage. With your back against the wall you can unleash a fury of Ash Shells encasing all foes around you while you make your grand escape.</span></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong style="text-align:center;">Roleplay</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Your ultimate goal upon arriving in Skyrim was to spread the influence and ideals of the Bal Molagmer to return it to its legendary status.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Since the Red Year and the tragic events that followed the Dunmer have been spread across Tamriel. This only strengthened their views of family and clannish ideals and as a result you will not steal from or kill any Dunmer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><img style="max-height:892px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/73/24/02/22051_0926.jpg?c=9b09" alt="" width="299" height="168" />As a member of Bal Molagmer you have a code to honor, therefore you will not steal from just anyone and you will refrain from murder as much as possible. You shall only steal from the unjust such as bandits. You will not kill any humans unless absolutely necessary. Undead and Daedra on the other hand are not so fortunate.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">With the goods you steal or are given, you will give them to the needy. Beggars are constantly asking for some coin and you shall provide. While in cities and towns you will drop your excess equipment and goods. Anyone who picks it up can keep it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Once you become Guild Master you will start to get gifts from the thieves of Skyrim, these shall also be given to the people and gives the illusion that the guild is actually following the Bal Molagmer and giving the things they steal to those in need as well. As a result, you have once again resurrected legendary faction of the Bal Molagmer.</span></p><p> </p><p style="text-align:left;"><em>Thanks for reading guys! My partner and I really had a great time coming up with this. It was definitely a challenge, but I am glad I finally got to work with my best friend Hainesy. I hope the contests to come are all this fun and good luck to everyone!</em></p><p style="text-align:left;"><em>Credit for the screenshots goes to Zimbu as always.</em></p><p style="text-align:left;"><em>If you guys liked the idea of this build or you have much darker desires, go check out Henson's <a href="http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/character-build-the-camonna-tong">Camonna Tong</a> They are the rival faction of the Bal Molagmer and the whole reason the Bal Molagmer was revived. Henson does a great job integrating the lore and symbolism of the Camonna Tong together. If anything, by reading that you will know exactly what NOT to do when playing this build.</em></p><p align="center"> </p></div>Character Build: The Bonsamuhttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/groups/tes-character-building/forum/character-build-the-bonsamu2020-03-29T18:02:39.000Z2020-03-29T18:02:39.000ZOnenesshttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/members/Oneness<div><p><em>I would first like to apologize for the original build. I know that many of you liked it, but it was in no way the build I intended it to be. I just got caught up in the idea and rushed through it; I started to throw things together that worked without any real explanation. Most things were simply tacked on as some people noticed. It only took me 6 months and another reading of The Immortal Blood to realize it, but I hope this version of the build does itself, and the vampires of Valenwood, justice.</em></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong style="font-size:12pt;font-family:'times new roman', times;"><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Bonsamu</span></strong></span></p><p><img style="max-height:890px;display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/dd/0a/02/206d5_5cd8.jpg?c=0e9f" alt="" /></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Introduction</span></strong></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>In the deep forests of Valenwood, there dwell four distinct bloodlines of vampire. The first, and some would say one of the most dangerous, bloodlines is the Bonsamu. Although these vampires are native to Valenwood, it is not uncommon to see them around Tamriel although you would never know the difference. This line of vampires has gained its respect not for their overwhelming force, but through their manipulative powers, pure magical prowess and their own signature spell: a calming spell so strong that it makes them unidentifiable as vampires and requires the light of a candle to break it.</em></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Race:</strong> Bosmer Vampire</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Stone:</strong> Serpent</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Major Skills:</strong> Destruction, Enchanting, Illusion</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Minor Skills:</strong> Alchemy, Archery, Conjuration, Restoration</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Equipment:</strong> Clothing, Assorted Long Bows with Iron or Practice Arrows</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Shouts:</strong> Animal Allegiance, Kyne’s Peace, Bend Will, Call Dragon</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Build</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The Bonsamu are the charismatic villains that everyone loves to hate. They are master manipulators that wiggle their way in and out of every situation. They are the friendly faces that stab you in the back when you least expect it, well shoot in this case. They go a step further than just lying and deceiving, they force people to trust them with magic when their personal charm is not enough. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Though they must manipulate intelligent beings like humans and elves, the animals of Tamriel are naturally drawn to them. Animals like bats, wolves, spiders and death hounds are particular favorites of the clan, but they will not hesitate to enlist the likes of any other animal they find necessary.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">As I mentioned before, the Bonsamu are not the most skilled in pure combat. The only thing that matches their cunning and wit is their magic. Their natural affinity for the bow as a Bosmer makes it the perfect conduit to channel this pure magic power. With the help of their bows they can expend less magic energy while being more effective and faster combining to make a most efficient “spell caster.”</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Skills</span></strong> </span></p><p align="center"><img style="max-height:890px;display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/cd/0a/02/206c5_1398.jpg?c=2d1a" alt="" /></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">For a Bosmer it is odd to see Archery as a minor skill and so many magic skills as major. In the case of the Bonsamu, Archery is more of a conductor for magic. When combined with Enchanting and the school of Destruction, the strength of each enchantment is vastly superior to casually spell casting. But what makes bows special is the Quick Shot perk. This increases draw speed by 30% and 62.5% with the Necromage perk. With the Long Bow having the fastest draw speed of all enchantable bows already, this boost is certainly empowering. The power of these enchanted bows in tandem with their firing rate will grant much higher damage per second than conventional spells or normal Archery.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">To help abuse this obscene firing speed, the Bonsamu specializes in the making of poisons. These poisons are used to raise the effectiveness of their spells as well as that of their allies. Effects may range from healing companions to dismantling the resistance of enemies.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Illusion magic is the one effect the Bonsamu cannot truly channel through their bows. There are two types of Illusion magic that they specialize in. The first being in Rally spells. These spells help show the charisma of this bloodline. They are able to rally a crowd with ease even if they are all animals. The other type of Illusion magic they use is Pacifying. They use this magic to conceal their identities and talk their way out danger. Once this power has been fully realized, they can avoid any conflict they wish.</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Apparel and Bows</span></strong></span></p><p align="center"><img style="max-height:890px;display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/d5/0a/02/206cd_4374.jpg?c=3002" alt="" /></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The Bonsamu choose to wear clothing that will not make them look too unusual as it helps keeping their Illusion up if no one is really trying to figure them out. For males, simple clothes or fine clothes work well. This gives the appearance of a friendly and trustworthy face. The women are typically the same. They wear casual or fine clothes to blend in, but some who are little more adventurous may choose something along the lines of tavern clothes. This adds a bit of a seductive side to their personality, but also an increased risk of being sought out. As for enchantments, their clothing is usually tailored for what they favor. Common enchantments include Fortify Destruction, Fortify Illusion and Resist Fire. The goal of these enchantments is to raise their efficiency with little fatigue while maintaining the illusion they are not vampires.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The assortment of bows are typically enchanted to recreate the effects of spells to give the appearance of casting without putting down the bow. There are infinite combinations of enchantments with the Extra Effect perk. There a couple bows that are necessities though. The first is a vampiric bow. Absorb Health with Absorb Magicka seems to do the trick. This combination really helps in ranged battles or when out in the sun with no regeneration. The other necessary bow is more of a series. It is a series of three bows, each enchanted with only one element (Fire, Frost and Shock) and possible a secondary effect that is not damaging. The reason for these bows will be explained more shortly. Aside from those, anything is fair game and the bows chosen should really reflect your take on the Bonsamu and what effects you find helpful.</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Green Pact</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Being a Bosmer Alchemist is always a struggle because of the ever strict Green Pact. The basis of the Green Pact is that Bosmer cannot use plants or vegetation in the creation of anything, fungi is an exception. This ranges from buildings, to weapons, to potions and poisons. Thankfully the Long Bows used cannot be crafted and are found, but poisons are not as simple. The Bonsamu use poisons to increase their own damage capabilities along with their allies, but it also allows them to effortlessly heal their companions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">I am no Alchemy expert so the Green Pact really limited me to simple poisons. Here are some examples of what I used:</span></p><p><img style="max-height:890px;display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/c3/0a/02/206bb_d5f1.jpg?c=c8b6" alt="" /></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">In essence there are up to seven permanent companions, six spiders and one death hound. Other pets can be conjured such as Familiars and some recruited out of the wild with Animal Allegiance or Command Animal. Since they are only temporary, it is not essential to keep them healthy. But cloaked spiders and death hounds are a different story. They have no time restraints and will stay as long as they are alive. It is a good idea to grab the Companion’s Insight power from the Black Book: Winds of Change, but for some reason spider scrolls are not affected and they can be damaged. (To be safe, I suggest using the following method on death hounds as well in case the power becomes bugged.) To heal spiders with poisons, choose a bow that matches their element because they resist it (for death hounds they resist frost) and then you can fire off a couple healing poisons. If you mess up, the spiders are very sensitive and will turn hostile if more damage is done than what is healed. On Master difficulty, a Long Bow with Practice Arrows will net a glorious 5 points of physical damage. As you can see, all damage comes from enchantments and speed. As long as you choose the correct elements to shoot your spiders with then they will remain on your side. </span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Wildlife</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">There are numerous species of animals that call Skyrim home and though the Bonsamu will have a connection with all of them, there are a few in particular that will always find their home at the side of these vampire archers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><img style="max-height:890px;float:left;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/d1/0a/02/206c9_85e0.jpg?c=580a" alt="" /><strong>Spiders</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The spider scrolls are the number one ally of the Bonsamu. They are living and breathing spiders with a bit of a kick to them. To create these spiders you need to head to White Ridge Barrow on the island of Solstheim and craft them in the imbuing chamber. Each spider has an individual recipe. To start off fire spiders require rubies, frost requires sapphires, shock requires amethysts and poison spiders need emeralds. Using a a flawless gem will grant six scrolls, this is important because there is a limited number of spider pods with only one that respawns, without using duplication glitches.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Spider pods will also determine the type of spider. A Damaged Albino Spider Pod will create Exploding Spiders; when casted will just lay on the ground until someone goes near them and then explode. Regular Albino Spider Pods will create Jumping and Cloaked Spiders (To make a cloaked one simply add a Salt Pile). Jumping Spiders do exactly what their name says, they will charge head first into battle, jump at enemies and explode. While Cloaked Spiders are a little more subtle, they charge into battle and sit at the enemies’ feet while their cloaks unload the majority of the damage.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The last type of spider utilized by the Bonsamu is the Mind Control Spider, it is only fitting. These spiders are created by using any soul gem and Albino Spider Pods. The problem is that they can only be created one at a time, so use them sparingly. The way they work is the spider is thrown and then latches on to the nearest enemy. It has the power of controlling nearly any humanoid in the game for 30 seconds! The best part is that after the time is up the enemy will die.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Familiars</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">While not a living or breathing animal, it does play a large role. The casual Familiar is honestly nothing reputably, even in the beginning of the game. They are subpar at best with low health and low damage output. Eventually they become a force. When fully buffed by Illusion magic while being accompanied by seven other animals, it becomes a 60 second tank. Its job, with the rest of your animals is to keep the enemy off of you which it does exceedingly well given the right support. Since it only last for 60 seconds, it is not worth attempting to heal and it will not be too bulky until later levels when Master of the Mind is unlocked anyway because it is classified as a daedra.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The Flaming Familiar on the other hand is helpful from its acquisition. It is a running, ticking time bomb much like Jumping Spiders. The difference is this does not force you to waste spider scrolls, but it only comes in a fire variant sadly. Much like the spiders, it has a very generous casting range that comes with some unique angles. When using the Flaming Familiar, as well as Jumping Spiders, avoid having other followers or animals near the target because there is a chance they will get hurt in the explosion.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Death Hounds</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">There are two death hounds in Volkihar Keep that can be taken as followers: CuSith and Garmr. Both have identical stats and are level 5. Something that greatly surprised me is that they are classified as animals rather than undead. This means Illusion spells will affect them right from the start. Anyone that fights these things knows how annoying they can be. They have a mean bite and a small Frost Cloak that does about 1 point of damage per second.</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Gameplay</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Actually playing as the Bonsamu is not as complicated as it may seem. At any given time you can have out six spiders, your death hound and a familiar. I like to keep a mix of Frost, Fire and Shock Cloaked spiders depending on the situation. Then in the last few slots leave it open for Posion, Jumping, Exploding and Mind Control Spiders.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Going into battle requires some preparation. You can begin behind the scenes by buffing your pets or if you get caught off guard, Calm or Paralyze any enemies then prepare the army. Early on, the Courage spell is relatively consistent but as the party grows it becomes less efficient. Eventually only Rally and Call to Arms will be used religiously. Both Courage and Rally are affected by Animage and Kindred Mage. For our purposes, we will look at Animage. This grants an 8 point boost to the health and stamina increases. Then the vampire power Champion of the Night will increase all Illusion spells by 25%. Finally dual-casting the spell will make it 2.2 times stronger. Courage and Rally will increase the Health and Stamina of your animals by about 90 points while Call to Arms will be about another 30 with everything taken into account. When all added together your pets can net close to 210 points of health. This is about three times more than what they normally have. If you couple an amazing health pool with the healing factor of your poisons, they become near indestructible. Word of warning, make sure they are healed before the Illusion effects wear off because you run the chance of them dying once their health returns to normal. Rather than wasting poisons, once outside of battle switch to Healing Hands and help recover your animals.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">With scores of health and some nasty cloaking effects, they will rip apart enemies on their own. But once you tie in poisons that make enemies weak to magic, your own attacks and the Serpent Stone to potentially leave the enemy for dead as they lay their helpless, it becomes down right overpowering. At first it may seem tedious, but once you realize you will at most have three elements out at a time that you would actually heal and not every spider or hound will sustain the same amount of damage, it is not too bad to switch between bows once in a while and with Concentrated Poison you will be able to heal a couple at a time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><img style="max-height:890px;float:right;" src="http://tamrielvault.com/public/album_photo/d9/0a/02/206d1_8d6f.jpg?c=3a8f" alt="" />The Bosmer power Command Animal with the shouts Animal Allegiance, Kyne's Peace, Call Dragon and Bend Will, help extend your army. Command Animal will typically only work on one animal at a time and can only be used once a day, but it is very helpful early on. Next would be Kyne's Peace which is a good way to calm the wilds early on as well. Animal Allegiance has sustained use because of its area of effect and magnitude. Even at one word it can command just about any animal aside from a mammoth, this makes it invaluable once you factor it in that it works on multiple animals at a time within a given radius. Finally, Bend Will and Call Dragon were used solely to tame Dragons. It just did not seem right for a master manipulator that has such a close bond with the wild, not be able to command dragons. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">If by the grace of heavens anyone makes it past the onslaught and reaches you, they will see your true form: Vampire Lord Form. There is not much to say about Vampire Lord Form because there are only so many options with it. But it is the ultimate fail safe. If enemies have already be poisoned with Weakness to Poison and/or Weakness to Magic then you will truly shine as a Vampire Lord. Melee mode is the best option because you won't run the risk of harming any summons, if they are still out, and you do not need to escape. The two keys are going to be Poison Talons and Night Cloak. Both of which are augmented by the poisons that were set earlier. I have also found that Blood Healing or using Corpse Curse are good transitions back to revert back. With Corpse Curse laying the same foundation as the Serpent Stone.</span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Specialties</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>Chain Reaction</strong></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>“When he looked at me I felt a sense of relief, like everything would be okay… Now here I am… Laying in a pool of my blood waiting to die.”</em></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Calm Spell/Serpent Stone + Exploding Spiders + Rune Spell + Flaming Familiar</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">This was found out of just experimenting. The idea is, if you can Calm them, then you can kill them. It is hard for any other build I've played to generate the potential damage of this technique. You simply calm the enemy then proceed to set up a death trap. You can lay out a total of six exploding spiders plus one rune. Which is pretty much laying down seven runes. Next you can unleash a Flaming Familiar and shoot one your spiders. Shooting an Exploding Spider will propel it forward a little before it explodes. If done correctly, you can clear a whole room by just setting off one spider because it will either force the others to explode or it will make the enemies turn aggressive and force them through an impossible minefield.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><strong>The Change</strong></span></p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>“I brought the light up to my face and smiled. He was surprised, even stunned by the pallor of my flesh, the dark hunger in my ageless eyes, and the teeth. Oh, yes, I think the teeth definitely surprised the man who could not afford to be surprised.”</em></span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Candlelight + Vampire Lord Form</span></p><p><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Though it is nothing special, it is fun and a good roleplay experience. Once in a while I would dismiss all my followers to experience the thrill of being on my own, with a bow and no armor. First activate Candlelight. This will attract every enemy in sight. You can try to mow them down with your bow alone, but typically it will not be enough if there are a few enemies. With your back against the wall, they will edge close enough to see the real you. By willingly breaking the Illusion you change into Vampire Lord Form and slaughter them.</span></p><p align="center"> </p></div>Character Build: The Golemhttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/groups/tes-character-building/forum/character-build-the-golem2020-03-29T17:59:42.000Z2020-03-29T17:59:42.000ZOnenesshttps://TheSkyForge.ning.com/members/Oneness<div><p><em>Welcome to my first build guys. This has been awhile in the making so I hope it’s up to par with everything else on the website. Golems are a creature of old Jewish folklore and also, in some form or another, in many action/adventure games. So I took my research, a little bit of gaming knowledge and a little bit of my imagination to bring my own to Skyrim. (It will take a little of your own imagination if you want to give this build a try.)</em></p>
<p><span class="font-size-2"><strong>The Golem</strong></span></p>
<p align="center"><strong><span class="font-size-5"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150419134821/http://api.ning.com:80/files/a7E5RrLHpGrBzevYOMeuDO8PBSwSPFdVYXgtp40o4M5a7XWR1QqkKCbTps6YmH3g3bh2aOxbyxwciP6LTdtuGIU61Zr8XGNA/GolemSummon.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150419134821im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/a7E5RrLHpGrBzevYOMeuDO8PBSwSPFdVYXgtp40o4M5a7XWR1QqkKCbTps6YmH3g3bh2aOxbyxwciP6LTdtuGIU61Zr8XGNA/GolemSummon.jpg" alt="GolemSummon.jpg" width="567" height="364" /></a></span></strong></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-2"><strong><u>Introduction</u></strong></span></p>
<p align="center"><em>In Tamriel’s time of need, in its time of despair and chaos, one mage took the initiative to save it. He called upon the forces of the nature around him to create a guardian. One that would be unstoppable; one that would be incorruptible and most of all stand for what is right. The mage used all of his power to mold the stone and ice of the land into this creature. The man gave his life in order to animate the creature; understanding that his creation will have the ability to do far more than he ever could. And thus his soul would give life and guide the new born protector: The Golem.</em></p>
<p><strong>Race:</strong> Nord</p>
<p><strong>Stone:</strong> Lady</p>
<p><strong>Skills:</strong> Block, Destruction, One–Handed, Light Armor, Alteration, Enchanting</p>
<p><strong>Equipment:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Head</strong> – Morokei (Fortify Magicka Regen)</li>
<li><strong>Body</strong> – Stahlrim Light Armor (Fortify Healing Rate/Fortify Magicka Regen)</li>
<li><strong>Hands</strong> – Chitin Bracers (Fortify Block/Fortify One-Handed)</li>
<li><strong>Feet</strong> – Chitin Boots (Fortify One-Handed/Shock Resistance)</li>
<li><strong>Ring</strong> – Ahzidal’s Ring of Arcana or (Fortify Healing Rate/Fortify Health)</li>
<li><strong>Necklace</strong> – (Fortify Healing Rate/Fortify Magicka)</li>
<li><strong>Shield</strong> – Stahlrim Shield (Fortify Block/Fire Resistance)</li>
<li><strong>Weapons</strong> – Two Stahlrim Maces</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Shouts:</strong> Elemental Fury, Cyclone, Frost Breath, Become Ethereal</p>
<p><strong>Essential Quests:</strong> College of Winterhold, Unearthed, Main Quest</p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-2"><strong><u>The Build</u></strong></span></p>
<p>The Golem is the ultimate seeker of order and bringer of justice. This is what I love about the idea, most golems are depicted as evil in many games and stories, but the fact of the matter is they are guardians and they are only protecting what they are told to protect. In this case, it is Tamriel.</p>
<p>Golems are towering, juggernaut-like creatures and I did my best to recreate this by using a Nord with bulky, but natural made armor. Nord was the best because of their abilities and even their skill boosts. I messed with a couple Heavy Armor combinations, but Light Armor really came through. I was able to maintain the Heavy Armor look and then some. Alteration is a great addition to the bulk as the Golem uses its surroundings to further its defense. Naturally being made of stone and ice, it was only logical to be resistant to the elements, which also adds to the tank feel. </p>
<p>The great part of Light Armor was the great Wind Walker perk and Morokei. Many golems are said to be able to regenerate by absorbing the ground around them. So this led to the emphasis on the regeneration of all three stats.</p>
<p>Along with absorbing surroundings, it is also said to be able to manipulate its one’s own body, which made Frost magic was perfect. Being made of stone and ice it was only fitting to further use one’s body as a weapon. By chipping parts of itself off, it can shoot the ice of its own body like a cannon. It can also use walls and runes as a way of further manipulating its surroundings.</p>
<p>Based on this idea of manipulating one’s body, the weapons of the Golem are also a part of its body. Instead of going with a sword or axe or two-handed weapon, maces and a shield were ideal. They are simple and blunt, not to mention maces have that crushing blow feeling you expect for something of this stature.</p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-2"><strong><u>Skills</u></strong></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-4"><strong><u><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150419134821/http://api.ning.com:80/files/a7E5RrLHpGqfzX4K6siyX4mIUbdY4P77oVP3tsaK2GjKjDebbTsYNeAUU*Ynfc1p*whu5qlvGF2qEw5FeVgx8p5-3nRD9M1C/GolemPerks.jpg"><img class="align-center" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150419134821im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/a7E5RrLHpGqfzX4K6siyX4mIUbdY4P77oVP3tsaK2GjKjDebbTsYNeAUU*Ynfc1p*whu5qlvGF2qEw5FeVgx8p5-3nRD9M1C/GolemPerks.jpg?width=750" alt="GolemPerks.jpg?width=750" width="598" height="373" /></a></u></strong></span></p>
<p>Enchanting can become overpowered very quickly and to limit that I kept it to only armor enchants, although Bone Breaker and a couple Fortify One-Handed enchants do tend make for some overpowering weapons. The main thing Enchanting is used for is fortifying regeneration. With 100 Enchanting and all the perks, you are able to enchant three pieces of armor with fortify Healing Rate by 31%. This coupled with the Lady Stone allows for 118% health regeneration. The Lady Stone and Wind Walker are the only regeneration used for stamina because it already recovers quite fast (this is also why no points are taken in stamina), the extra 75% is welcomed though. Finally you can enchant one piece of equipment with 65% fortify Magicka Regeneration along the 100% granted by Morokei’s mask. This regeneration is what battle is centralized around.</p>
<p>Thanks to Enchanting, you can lightly perk Block because two Fortify Block enchants will give you 84% more blocking, about the same as taking all the Shield Wall perks. Alteration and the Block perks take a lot of weight off of Light Armor giving you more of defense than normal. Something to note with Elemental Protection is that it DOES NOT stack with the other enchanted elemental resistances. Instead it is applied after elemental resistances and not just added to them. Meaning even though you are a Nord, blocking will not grant you 100% immunity to Frost damage. The other selling point of the Block tree is the amazing Shield Charge perk. By running with your shield up you knock down everyone in your way. This is symbolic of the nature of the Golem, but it has a mechanical benefit too, it buys you time.</p>
<p>As stated before, battle will revolve around abusing regeneration and this is done by slowing and stopping the battle. The first step to this is Destruction magic. Although many things in Skyrim resist Frost damage, they are still slowed by it. By slowing everyone through Frost spells, staggering by bashing or power attacks, or slowing time by Quick Reflexes you give enemies minimal breathing room; while allowing you to reap in the benefits of regenerating. Normally maces swing very slow (although remedied by Dual Flurry), but when they hit it is well worth with it. Dual Savagery boosts the damage of power attacks when dual wielding even if only one weapon is being swung, this with Savage Strike and Bone Breaker means every hit is going to leave a mark and thanks to the stamina regeneration you will be able to do at will.</p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-2"><strong><u>Gameplay</u></strong></span></p>
<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150419134821/http://api.ning.com:80/files/a7E5RrLHpGpEHrZ4NSkeI7dftvVkZkcSFdOATE1QjDxbNRx3B8mGQCHcGQJUEOqeStFuXZAyrG6BIKLyPa0C7PIlCSGRe*jZ/IceGolem2.jpg"><img class="align-left" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150419134821im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/a7E5RrLHpGpEHrZ4NSkeI7dftvVkZkcSFdOATE1QjDxbNRx3B8mGQCHcGQJUEOqeStFuXZAyrG6BIKLyPa0C7PIlCSGRe*jZ/IceGolem2.jpg" alt="IceGolem2.jpg" width="313" height="377" /></a>Early on, get your hands on Chitin Armor and just use the best two maces you can find until you reach level 35. Besides aesthetics, the basic gameplay will remain relatively the same throughout the game. At first that may sound dry, but the beauty of this Golem is the versatility that it packs.</p>
<p>The Golem can be a ranged monster as a shield mage, it can become the tank its meant to be by using mace and board tactics or it can hit like a truck when dual wielding its maces.</p>
<p>Try to start battle from a distance with your shield and Frost spell. This ideally done with Freeze, but Ice Spike will suffice until then, this is to make sure everyone is already slowed down by the time you get there. Frost Breath is really good as an area of effect move to slow multiple people. I typically use Frost Runes on archers as a bit of surprise while they try to keep their distance and maneuver around you.</p>
<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150419134821/http://api.ning.com:80/files/a7E5RrLHpGqFxhQlTrG8BDCZ3I6EgnjzZrJKYEqQ31PJnr0rAgifoV8de2QCPfYmy1739B4LUBtOga2KJAkgiuVfNm1RGQve/IceGolem1.jpg"><img class="align-right" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150419134821im_/http://api.ning.com:80/files/a7E5RrLHpGqFxhQlTrG8BDCZ3I6EgnjzZrJKYEqQ31PJnr0rAgifoV8de2QCPfYmy1739B4LUBtOga2KJAkgiuVfNm1RGQve/IceGolem1.jpg" alt="IceGolem1.jpg" width="313" height="374" /></a>At the start of close combat cast your best flesh spell and Frost Cloak if you have it. The cloak will ensure any enemy that gets too close will remained slow and stop you from being overwhelmed. Eventually once the Deep Freeze perk is taken, this will stop lower levels enemies from being a nuisance and allow you to concentrate on the higher level enemies. Another way to stop aforementioned annoyances is to cast an Ash spell on a higher level guy and then beat down on the little guys (Ash Spells can also be used to save any followers/allies from traps and dying).</p>
<p>When in a group of people it is best two use two maces because this will make quick work of most things thanks to everyone being slower than you, but it does leave you vulnerable. In dog fights against tougher opponents, namely dragons, it is best to balance offense and defense through using your mace and shield.</p>
<p>Anytime your health gets into the danger zone it is best to just stop combat and allow yourself to heal. This can be done a couple different ways. Whenever enemies are low on health using Cyclone is best because you can pick up a couple kills. It is by far my favorite shout because of how much fun it is. You toss around everyone in front of you. They will take falling damage and frost damage. And it will give you a moment to catch your breathe. Another tactic is to Shield Charge. By knocking down everyone, you grant yourself more than enough time to recover. But before you can do that you must rely on using “earthquakes” to scare away enemies. You can recreate the effect of an earthquake by using Battle Cry. And finally there is going underground.</p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-2"><strong><u>Special Abilities</u></strong></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-2"><strong>Underground</strong></span></p>
<p>With the ability to manipulate itself and its surroundings, also comes with the ability to submerge itself underground. By going underground, you are granted faster healing as well as the ability to hit opponents harder.</p>
<p>By using Become Ethereal with Ethereal Spirit you will be regenerating health at 146% and not using any stamina. This is an opportune time to heal or to avoid any unwanted situation.</p>
<p><strong>Need</strong>: Become Ethereal, Ethereal Spirit, Fortify Healing Rate enchantments</p>
<p><span class="font-size-2"><strong>Underground Assault</strong></span></p>
<p>While underground, have the ability to attack from beneath. Although you will leave the safety of the underground, you will most certainly kill whatever is in your way. </p>
<p>The other benefit of not using stamina is a free power attack. Better yet, a free Critical Charge. By dual wielding maces, you are able to charge in and leave the underground with a very strong power attack. With Critical Charge alone even a one handed charge will be damn near life threatening. But a charging one handed attack with Dual Savagery while dual wielding is just off the charts. </p>
<p><strong>Need</strong>: Become Ethereal, Critical Charge, and Dual Savagery</p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><strong><span class="font-size-2">Unhindered Force</span></strong></span></p>
<p>When the time arises that something comes near killing the Golem, it unleashes its true power with a lack of any remorse.</p>
<p>The Golem’s ace in the hole, that I rarely use but it is nice to know there is an overpowered way out if need be. By dual wielding maces you have already maximized normal damage. Dual Flurry plus Elemental Fury means your heavy maces now swing faster than two daggers. The only thing that can come from that is sure destruction.</p>
<p><strong>Need</strong>: Dual Flurry, Bone Breaker, Elemental Fury</p>
<p align="center"><em>Well that’s all folks. This build is one of the most fun times I've had playing this game and I hope you try it out. Any and all feedback is welcome. Thanks for reading.</em></p></div>