« Wind is fundamental to Skyrim and the Nords ; those that live in the far wastes always carry a wind with them. »
- Childrens of the Sky
THE SYLPH WARLOCK
Skyrim SE Vanilla Spellshield Character Build
The Sylph Warlock is an exiled Imperial Solider who wants to learn as much as he can about the ancient nord art of controling wind and ice and to transmiss his legacy to the next generation. He will move like wind trought all of Skyrim to protect those in need and to unreavel the mysteries of this mysterious frozen land.
The Sylph Warlock was the youngest son of a familly of poors farmers in High Rock. Their ancestors immigrated during the Oblivion Crisis and they didn’t return to Skyrim after Mehrunes Dagon was banished from Tamriel and were now similar in every way to the local bretons.
They where extremely poor and the local lord was merciless about taxes and they were always afraid of being crushed and not be abble to feed themselves anymore.
The little boy was a really bright child who grew up hearing the tales of ancient nordic druids who where abbles to control wind and ice to their will and he dreamed about studying magic to learn the same power than these druids. But his familly always told him they will never have the money necessary to send him to school and pay for his studies and he should rather abandon this dream to not be disapointed by the future. But, depp in his heart, the boy never forget about his dream.
When he was old enough, his parents decided to send him join the Imperial legion because they would be abble to give him a better life than they would ever be abble to.
For decades, he loyally serve the Legion, rising in the ranks over the years, but he never gain enough money to retire and become a mage, always just enough to provide for his familly to the point where he turn old and the only magic skills he had was the basic spells he learn with the imperials battlemages who accepted to teach him a few things.
During a meeting between the Legion forces deployed in High Rock and the court of the king to discuss about the futures operations, his general turned to him to inform him of his next orders.
Rumors of a rebelion against the empire in Skyrim had made their ways to his ears and he expected to be send in help to put an end to it. But it instead, the general dismiss him from his functions and told him to go back home, thanking him for his servitude. Chocked, The Sylph Warlock try to knew his reasons and the general simply explain than he was old know and than he should just retire to die in peace. He try everything to convice him to let him stay in the legion, saying than their way in a difficult situation, than only dead could dismiss him from his services. But no one in the room wanted to hear anything.
The Sylph Warlock was furious about it, the politics of High Rock robbed is his familly of every hope they had and the Legion deprive him of his life and his desire to study magic. And now, they throw him like trash with no consideration for his importance in the Legion ? That was enough for him. Outraged, he thrown down his cape and his helmet and leave the room, pushing everyone on his path. This was considerer a lack of respect for the Legion and all of his titles were removed. He didn’t now where he would go next, but his service in the Legion was over and he left the same night, carrying only a few provisions with him. He wander for a few weeks, not knowing what to do, before getting caught in an ambush of the Legion and taken to Helgen to be executed.
The Sylph Warlock get out of Helgen depply disturbed by the events. During the first steps of his journey in Skyrim, he start to think again about his studies of wind magic he had to abandon during his youth to provide for his familly and realize than the best thing to do, now than dragons threaten Tamriel, is probably to finally began his studies. He find really ironic the fact than he’s now linked to this element as an exiled imperial soldier, because it perfectly represent all the things he wasn’t in his life until then. To quote Serpico in the chapter 206 of Berserk « Spirits of wind, fettered to nothing, blowing anywhere and everywhere. It is ironic, they are what is most alien to me. »
However, he pull himself together after he discover than he his a dragonborn. He doesn’t have the time to feel sorry for himself and he doesn’t make the Greybeards wait. After his reunion with them he realize he has a lot of things to learn and, most importantly, a lot of catching up to do. The dragon war, the dragon cult, the thu’um, Ysgramor, the Compagnons, the ancient nordic pantheon… All of these things was a part of him, his legacy as a nord and he barely know his own culture because decades of his life had been claimed by the Imperial Legion. Now than he his free from his service to the legion and doesn’t have to provide for his familly anymore, he now has a lot of time to go down this rabbit hole and be at his place when he will go to Sovngard.
As such, you will wan’t to jump on every opportunity to learn more about nordic culture, both the nords of Skyrim and secluded tribes of nords such as the Skalls. Explore as much nordic tombs as you can, collect and read every book you can find about the divines, nordic culture, the history of Skyrim and military strategy.
The Sylph Warlock is a neutral good character with some lawfull neutral tendencies. He’s very stoic and avoid showing his emotions and thoughts as much as possibles. He make travel plans and schedules ahead of time and stick with it. Since he never knew anything else, he continue to live like he was still a soldier and never hesitate to help the honest citizens of Skyrim who need his help. But he does it mostly because of his sense of duty rather than any romantic desire to be a hero. He take no pride in his actions and refuse to be called a hero, he’s rarely recognize in public and he’s fine with that.
Since The Sylph Warlock is now a old soldier with a legacy to transmit, it would be fitting for him to get a squire. Both to carry his stuff and to learn on the battlefield. I chose Erik the Slayer, because he’s a nord like you and because he’s a young warrior, the head full of dreams with no idea of what war truly is. And so, who would greatly benefit from the wisdom of an experimented soldier. The Sylph Warlock see his youger self in Erik, that make him sympathise with him and even convice his father to let him leave the house by giving him the money needed to buy him an armor. Be sure to equip him with a set of armor fitting yours and to give him various destruction staffs and a staff of frost atronach so you have an additional frost atronach to fight at your side. If you prefer, the followers from the College of Winterhold or Talvas from Tel Mithryn would make good squires as well. The Sylph Warlock care about his squire like a father would care about his children, he does his best for him and even goes so far as to put himself forward his squire to protect him with his shield from the spells and projectiles of their ennemies.
For questlines, The Sylph Warlock will join the Stoarmcloacks early in the playtrought. He’s not blinded by grudge, he doesn’t have any hate for non-Nords citizens of Skyrim, he simply believe than the Empire isn’t abble to protect Tamriel anymore and than the nords would totally be capable of protecting themselves from the Thalmor. Ulfric gladly welcome him in his army and treat him with the respect he deserve, gaining his unfailing loyalty.
You should also join The Compagnons early so you can start healing the guild from lycanthropy and bring it back to its former glory, but also to get yours hands on the shield of Ysgramor and complete the aesthetic.
The College of Winterhold and both Dragonborn DLC and Dawnguard DLC can be completed at your discretion.
You will also wan’t to spent a lot of time with the Skalls, discusing with the villagers and doing every quest they have for you. With that the Sylph Warlock will gain a depp understanding of wind magic and be educated by the Skalls to a whole new spiritual level.
Some relevants quests for this character inlcude: A scroll of Anska, acquire Konahrik, Silenced Tongues, Kyne’s Sacred Trials, Forbidden Legends, Return to your roots, Unearthed, The Pale Lady and The Legend of the Red Eagle.
Others roleplay features
- In speech dialogues, always chose the most rational and stoic approach. If someone need money, do not hesitate to give it to them. Keep your calm and prioritaze diplomacy.
- The Sylph Warlock would definitly spent a lot of time fishing to relax after long battles.
- Keep Ahzidal's Boots of Waterwalking in your inventory to be abble to walk on water. Roleplaying it as a cast spell which transform water in ice under your feets.
This character was build around the fact than Ice Destruction Spells slow down your ennemies, and The Sylph Warlock take full advantage of this feature. With a clever combination of spells and warriors skills, you move with an agility way superior to your ennemies, slow down by the storm.
You will often wan’t to move in circle around your ennemies and push them to gather them all in a small spot to finish them with Ice Destruction spells. If you ever find yourself, in a combat with ennemies a resistant to frost such as trolls or vampires, you can resort to shock spells.
The book, The Art of War Magic, describe the ancients nords druids using their mastery of the winds to call down storms and confuse and dismay their chimer ennemies, The Sylph Warlock immitate those druids and he's capable of controlling an entire army by himself, using his skills and cunning in battle.
You are solid like stalhrim and faster than the wind.
There is no better playstile for a gameplay like this than a spellshield. Having a shield help immensly for him, both to protect himself and his squire as well as pushing ennemies and stop them from moving.
Previous Elder Scrolls titles had enchanted pieces of gear which fortified agility and an acrobatic skill tree to make the character more agile, but these are not featured in Skyrim so we will need to seek others way to make the character more agile. The Sylph Warlock use the Steed stone for the unhindered movement, the whirlwhind cloack to blast his opponents on the ground, and use a variety of Destruction and Alteration spells to slow down his ennemies.
As a former military and a pramatic man, he approach each situation with caution and think depply about what would be the best way to deal with the current problem. Never run head first into combat, except in case of an emergency, because you would probably just offer yourself a one-way ticket to Sovngard. Never let yourself take by the heat of battle. Take care of your problems with the most efficient way and leave behind with no second thought.
Frost Atronachs would be a good fit for this character, but since we don’t have the flexibility to add conjuration to the build, we will be using conjure atronach spell scrolls instead. You can buy scrolls of frost atronach to various mages across the world but you can also craft scrolls at the atronach forge under the College of Winterhold. You can craft a scroll of frost atronach using frost salts, charcoal and a roll of paper. All of these ingredients can easilly be found so collect as many as you can an return frequently to The College to craft all the scrolls you might need.
I prefer this method of summoning over staff of conjure atronach because it fit better with the style of the character and most importantly, because the scrolls implies ressources management and require thoughts and more investement from the player.
Over the years, The Sylph Warlock has learned the effects of various plants in nature to create potions to heal himself and his camarades after a battle. Thanks to that he will have a variety of potions on hand to help him in his toughest combats, including three unique potions.
1 – Cristal Brew
Resist Magic + Fortify Magicka + Fortify Block
Bleeding Crown + Tundra Cotton + Red Montain Flower
This powerfull potion is made by plantables and communs ingredients so feel free to drink one before any combat which present any difficulty. With the combination of all the resist magic effects you have on you, you will become almost immune to magic for a short moment, making you impossible to be slow down by others cryomancers. You will be abble to move with the speed of a tornado and maintain a barrage of spells while everyone around you seem immobilized like trapped in cristal.
2 – Sylph Tunic
Fortify Destruction + Fortify Health
Wheat + Glowing Mushroom + Nightshade
You will probably use this potion less often than the previous one but it can have its uses in situations when you need to prioritize aggressivness over defense.
3 – Kyne’s Infusion
Regenerate Health + Regenerate Magicka
Nordic Barnacle + Garlic + Taproot
This is a potion used occasionally and only to make one of his special moves more efficient.
With those unique potions you will wan’t to craft various beneficial potions, invisibility potions for eventual surprise attacks and valuables potions, so you can buy lessons in all of your skills trees.
Armor
The armor of the Sylph Warlock was chosen to create the look of a wandering warrior guided by the wind.
The steel plate helmet matches so well with the Steel soldier armor than i couldn’t pass up, in addition to be the helmet which ressemble the most to the one wore by the statues of Talos. The Steel soldier amor is an armor added with the Creation Club but you can use the Dawnguard Heavy Armor instead if you don’t have access to the Creation Club content even if it looks less good. Otherwise, the build use no other CC content and is fully functional without it.
He wield the Shield of Ysgramor, because it matches with his grey armor, for his intimitading size and for its good enchantement (+20 Health + Resist Magic 20%).
All pieces of gear can be bought to blacksmiths and the shield is located in a chest at the end Ysgramor’s Tomb, so make sure to loot it at the end of the Compagnons questline.
For auxilary gear he will wear a ring of fortify destruction (you can buy one at radiant rainement in Solitude) and the Gauldur amulet (+30 points in magicka, health and stamina) a reward for the quest Forbidden Legends.
Spells :
Destruction : Every frost Destruction spell, Whirlwhind Cloack
Alteration : Paralysis, Ebonyflesh.
Shouts :
- Frost Breath
- Slow Time
- Cyclone
- Whirlwhind Sprint
- Ice Form
- Become Etheral
- Disarm
- Dragonrend
These shouts are roleplayed as extension of his abilities to control ice and wind. Cyclone and Ice form are really usefull for surprise attacks and the others shouts will all have they uses in combat.
Stats and Perks Spread :
You will wan’t to level this character with a ratio of 2;1;0
You will play the role of agile tank in your party so it’s helpfull to have a huge pool of health to tank the damages as well as a lot of magicka to always be abble to cast spells.
The steed stone and the gauldur amulet help to ignoring adding points in stamina without harming the gameplay.
Standing stone : The Steed Stone
This standing stone remove the weight of your armor, improving considerably your agility.
The boost to carry weight is also really helpfull for all your potions, alchemicals ingredients and loot.
Race : Nord
The roleplay is all about nordic culture and the history of Skyrim so it would feel wrong to use any other race for this build.
Destruction
All of these perks will make Destruction viable for the whole playtrought.
Block
This skill tree provide a lot of usefull buffs and make your character more tankier and agile. Block Runner and Shield Charge are the most important perks for this build so level block quickly as you can and do not hesitate to use exploits if it’s necessary.
Alteration
For this build, Alteration is roleplayed as an extension of his ability to control ice. It provide a lot of usefull buffs and you will wan’t to make frequent uses of Paralysis and Ebonyflesh.
Alchemy
The Sylph Warlock isn’t a poisoner, so these are the only perks that are relevant.
Heavy Armor
You won’t have a lot of perks in this skill tree when you will be to level 40, but this is definitly the skill tree you will wan’t to prioritize past this level.
Black Books perks
The Sylph Warlock is a scholar and wan’t to know much as he can about nordic culture and the history of Skyrim. He know than his quest for knowledge will lead him to Herma-Mora, whether he want it or not. Herma-Mora is knowned as a trickster, a master manipulator who has lead a lot of peoples do to horrible things. So he goes trought for the sake of knowledge, taking a lot of precautions to avoid being tricked or betraying his honor.
He will gain the following perks from the Black Books
- Dragonborn Frost
- Secret of Arcana
- Mora’s Boon
- Seeker of Sorcery
- Companion’s Insight
- Bardic Knowledge
Others relevant perks for this build
- Agent of Mara
A reward for the quest ‘’The Book of Love’’ It grants a permanent 15% Resit Magic passive effect.
- Sinderion’s Serendipity
Reward for the quest A return to your roots, give you a chance to craft two potions instead of one.
- Eternal Spirit : A passive effect gain by meditating on Feim with Paarthurnax which increase health regeneration by 25 %
Specials moves are a combination of spells, abilities, potions and more to give unique abilities to each characters and make them feels more unique. For this characters, his specials moves are all ancient spells the old nord druids used to crowd control, as well as manifestation of his ability to control ice and wind.
1 – Gust of Wind
Disarm + Ice Storm
Your assault of destruction spells freeze your ennemies so hard than they drop their weapons and the wind take them away where they will no longer be abble to recover them.
2 – Stalhrim Prison
Frost Cloack + Bardic Knowledge + North Wind // Blizzard + Shield Bash
In a situation when a lot of ennemies are mass together in a small spot, cast Frost Clock and then North Wind or Blizzard and use your shield to sandwich your ennemies in the ice storm. Like trapped in a cage of ice, their health will melt as you stop them to escape with your shield bashes. You will never run out of stamina during the move because Bardic Knowledge will regenerate your stamina.
3 – Kyne’s Repose
Kyne’s Infusion + Become Etheral + Eternal Spirit
In a difficult situation, drink a Kyne’s Infusion potion (Regenerate Health + Regenerate Magicka) and then cast Become Etheral. This special move combine two sources of health regeneration and a source of magicka regeneration while Become Etheral make you immune to all damages, giving you a small moment of rest in the heat of battle, to calm your mind and regain your forces. Note than this move is also a good option to approach dangerous ennemies and you can also add a cloack to the move to add an extra layer of defense.
4 - Wind of the North
Cristal Brew + Whirlwind Cloack + Slow Time + Paralysis
This is the special move prioritized by The Sylph Warlock in open combat scenario. He concentrate his magicka to move with the speed of a tornado and blast to the ground every foes unlocky enough to cross his charge before strafing them with a variety of destruction spells.
BONUS: CC Special Move
Fear of Cold
Paralysis Rune + Battle Cry + Wall of Frost
A move than can be use both in combat and as a surprise attack. First cast Paralysis Rune on a choke point where your opponent will try to flew away and use your racial ability Battle Cry to make them run away and walk on the rune. They will be paralysed, finish the job with Wall of Frost, dooming them to slowly agonize as they are eaten by the frost.
Thanks you for your time and attention, i hope you like reading my build and you will give it a try, it's an extremely fun character to play. The nords have a fascinating lore which, unfortunatly, isn't explore enough in Skyrim but this guy is perfect for a playtrought focused on nordic lore. I wanted to create a Stoarmcloack mage for a long time and once i find the gear for this character, i immediatly thought of Serpico from Berserk and i had an absolute blast creating the character.
Be sure to leave my a like if you liked the build and to subscribe to my page if you wan't to see more builds of mine.
See you soon and have a great day !
Replies
Note: Don't take the Alteration Dual Casting perk for this build, it's useless
Credit to Mugonian#7347 for the armor combo