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Hello and welcome back to another weekly build showcase! In these showcase’s we take a build that is a stellar example of what the site has to offer and feature it prominently on the homepage for a week. You never know when it might be your own in the spotlight! Last week we had JustJam’s terrifyingly amazing Rotting Beast, an Argonian who is adept at making all things associated with poison and disease work in beautiful synergy to make for a real powerhouse of debilitations. This week we are taking to the shadows with Avispon’s Black Dragon, based off of ESO's Lyra Viria. With some serious skills in subterfuge and plenty of enticing ways to approach combat The Black Dragon promises for both an awesome and diverse playthrough. The build also boasts one of the most impressive and natural story arcs I’ve seen in a while. Here is a snippet of what you can expect from the build….

 WHO IS LYRA VIRIA?

Lyra is the main antagonist in the Elder Scrolls Online Dark Brotherhood storyline. Without spoiling the entire story, she at one point served the Dark Brotherhood as a Silencer, and later betrayed the Family as the Black Dragon—the First Sword and right hand of a corrupt priest of Akatosh. Eventually she abandoned Akatosh as well, and when if the player defeats her, her soul is hauled off to the Void. For reference she appears in two in-game journals, her own (The Black Dragon’s Journal) and that of her erstwhile Brother, Green-Venom-Tongue (Venom’s Sanctuary Marginalia).  

The chaos of the 4th Era threatens Sithis and Akatosh, and their influence on Mundus, as much as it does Skyrim’s people. This playthrough assumes that these gods strike desperate bargains with Lyra, who was once a powerful avatar for both of them. She accepts their quests, but her former experiences have left her wary of trusting blindly in gods or their proxies. She seeks redemption but also freedom and independence from Sithis, Akatosh and the shackles of any Tamrielic religion. 

Is she up to fulfilling their tasks? Will she succumb to the same weaknesses that once led her astray, or will she find a new resolve and achieve true freedom?

GAMEPLAY:

Lyra's mastery of her various skills, combined with the power of her enchantments, opens up new avenues for combat. She is more capable in each discipline, and also learns to combine those disciplines in creative ways. I forced myself back into stealth mode every so often to keep things diverse, but eventually Lyra had no need for the shadows and could tussle with anyone and anything in the game.

COMBAT MOVES:

Dawnbreaker of Smiting: Regular Attack, Forward Power Attack, Sideways Power Attack, Varied Attacks.

All one-handed perks come together in this deadly maneuver. Lyra's regular attack boosts subsequent power attack damage (Cross Cut), her forward power attack sets the enemy bleeding (Falling Sword), her sideways power attack knocks the enemy back (Windswept), and if they are not already dead, their low health and bleed state will cause her next attacks to do massive damage (Falling Sword). Takes a bit of practice. Use of the actual Dawnbreaker sword against the undead is optional, but extremely satisfying.

Forward Momentum: Survival Instinct & Tempting Fate Perks, Dodged Power Attack, Slow Time (one word).

This is a cousin of the beloved Quick Reflexes / Slow Time glitch. By dodging a power attack while activating Slow Time, you will be 30% faster while everyone else slows down. You are channeling Akatosh's time mastery to create a wide speed differential between you and your enemies for a short window of opportunity.

Ritual of Retribution: Warrior’s Flame Perk, Related Perks.

As noted above. You merely need to be present and this "move" will occur on its own. With all of the restoration perks listed, Lyra will randomly (and with fair frequency) become nearly unstoppable for 10-second chunks of time, while sapping her enemies’ strength and straight up roasting the undead.

Eye of the Storm: Shadowbond, 3x Lightning Rune, Any Ranged Attack.

Lyra combines the stealth of Sithis with the power of Akatosh with this attack. Shadowbond turns you and an enemy invisible, and when you break that invisibility you swap places with that enemy. Cast three runes from stealth at your feet, then cast Shadowbond, then break stealth however you wish. You will appear where your enemy was, and he or she will appear on top of your runes and, as they say, will get rekt. Combined with Demolition Job, few enemies can survive this. Fortunately for game balance, this move is a pain to set up, so you won’t be tempted to use it that often.  

WRAPPING THINGS UP

If a hardy resourceful Nightblade is up your alley, look no further, you’ve found one of the best! Avispon has done a very awesome job with this character – particularly for their first foray into character building, so pop on over and give The Black Dragon a like and a read, and be sure to tell Avispon your thoughts. And so, we come to the end, thank you for checking out this week’s build showcase and keep an eye open next week because your build could be up next!

Hey guys, welcome back to another Character Build Showcase, where we prominently feature a Build on the Home Page. It could be any Build, even yours. In last week's post, we had my own Lazareth the Risen, a Necromancer who for reasons unknown works to the main goal of all Necromancers - Lichdom - with a major focus on roleplay and personal objectives. This week, we decicded to feature a build, who perverts the natural order and focuses on the decaying energies of it. The Rotting Beast by JustJam! Here's a quick taste from the Build to give you an idea what it's all about.

"She came to me that night as I lay rotting in the swamps, the hackwings circling above. Her words were the maggots eating away dead flesh from my wounds, the pus forming to fight my infection. She spoke the truths I was too afraid to see.

Perhaps there was a time when the Hist was good for us. A time before our race were used as common slaves. A time before we were taken from our own homes, growing old knowing nothing but chains and punishments. The Hist did nothing but watch. It’s only act? To protect itself from Oblivion, from the invading force. I see through it- we are no freer than under the Dunmer."

The Rotting Beast is truly devastating character, focusing on having summons and debilitating poisons - but not from the Alchemy tree. Using Ordinator as well as Wintersun - as a cherry on top - JustJam uses several Perks from Light Armor, Restoration and Conjuration as well as passives granted from Wintersun. All centered around decaying poisons and massive DoT in a short time. Some of the perks used (to give you an idea) are:

Hissing Dragon - You may choose a damage type (fire, frost, shock, poison, disease or sun). Unarmed attacks unleash a shockwave that deals the chosen damage type to all targets in front of you. Requires two free hands. Does not activate while sneaking.
   -From the Light Armor tree in Ordinator (The Rotting Beast chooses Poison obviously)

Plague Doctor - Radiate a zone of pestilent death that reduces the poison and disease resistance of enemies approaching within 40 feet by 50% for 30 seconds.
   -From the Restoration skill tree in Ordinator

A Plague Upon Thee - If a reanimated undead is destroyed within 20 seconds, the attacker is stricken with a Daedric disease that deals 40 damage per second for 20 seconds. Those who have this perk are immune.
   -From the Conjuration tree in Ordinator

From those still wondering - synergy is the name of the game - and JustJam does it beautifully. If this entices you at all, even to read JustJam's Build, we highly recommend it - and it's JustJam's first Build as well. Don't forget to leave a comment and a like on the Rotting Beast as well.

We'll continue these Showcases next week, and who knows who's build will be showcased next. It could just as well be yours featured on the Home Page of the Sky Forge! So keep on building guys!

Hail, adventurers! In case you missed it last week, we've got the Character Build Showcase series back up and running. In last week's post we highlighted an amazing build that focused on hunting down mages with a fiery passion while avoiding any use of the foul arcane arts. This week we're featuring a character that is precisely the sort of mage that Shadon's Mage Hunter would have liked to snuff out. Lazareth the Risen by Lee Fiskillis Carpenter! Here's a quick excerpt from the build to give you an idea of what its all about. 

Many Necromancers believe that achieving the state of Lichdom is the ultimate goal of Necromancy. Very few Necromancers have succeeded in becoming a Lich. Ascending to Lichdom is an extremely risky endeavour, and it is unique in some ways to each Necromancer who attempts it. There is only one known path which is somewhat well-known but most of the details are well hidden.

Lazareth is a truly dastardly character, with a major focus on impressive roleplaying and personal objectives. Not only is he himself an accomplished Necromancer, but he is capable of hunting down and destroying any other necromancers who might seek to oppose him with brutal efficiency. He makes effective use out of both the Ritual and Atronach Stones, allowing him to both raise his own armies of undead and counter those of his dangerous contemporaries. 

This build features not only cool gameplay mechanics, but very deep multi-stage style of roleplaying reminiscent of something like the Alchemist's Apotheosis from BlackBlood. Lazareth begins his journey as any other necromancer (albiet a skilled one) and embarks on a quest that leads him down the dark road toward Lichdom. From there, you can enjoy god-like gameplay featuring insanely strong Thralls, armies of undead, and icey magick colder than the hands of Death himself. 

If any of this interests you, please click the link above and give it a read. Although it is a bit of a long one, its worth every second of your time that you can spare. With everything from trickery of Daedric Princes to betraying loyal followers and raising armies of undead, this is the ultimate necromancer playthrough for anyone who has been looking to get into that archetype while also getting a fresh experience.

This is a terribly underrated build, so please don't forget to leave a like and a comment if you do get the time to drop by. 

We'll be continuing this series of highlights next week, and who knows? YOUR build might be featured here on the front page! We've got such a creative community here with a lot to offer, so keep building adventurers! Glory awaits!

Hey guys, after a long hiatus we're back again with more Character Build Showcases! For those of you not familiar each week we'll be prominently featuring a build on the home page. It could be any build. It could even be your build! But for now lets get down to business. This week's feature build has been the talk of the town in our Discord channel and its the Mage Hunter by Shadon! As is tradition at this point we'll start this showcase off with an excerpt from the author himself.  

"This is my first-ever build that I've posted anywhere, so I wanted to keep things simple. Like, really simple. So simple in fact, that things got back to complicated. I had noticed that the majority of witchhunter builds ended up using a ton of magic to fight magic, in a become-the-thing-you-hate-most sort of way, and while I'm a sucker for irony, I wanted to try out something I had never done before: a no-magic build. The Mage Hunter is thoroughly disgusted by magic, and will avoid it whenever possible, including spells, enchanted gear, and potions. This highly-aggressive approach against magic brought with it a few problems, which I had to delve into an often-neglected aspect of the game to overcome "

The Mage Hunter isnt your typical witch hunter. Whereas most witch hunters use magick to fight magick the Mage Hunter casts aside any and all magickal spells and augmentations, and comes at his spell slinging foes with martial prowess more formidable than any spell they can throw at him. 

The perk overhaul Ordinator features a number of defensive perks that mitigate or even nullify enemy magick. All of which are accessible to and make sense for a character who refuses to use magick of any kind. The Mage Hunter takes advantage of all of these perks and is a deadly adversary to any mage. In lieu of potions to heal the Mage Hunter uses the often neglected cooking system to craft health and stamina restoring meals. 

Much props goes to Shadon for creating such a fun and interesting build on his first attempt. The Mage Hunter presents both a fun, unique challenge and a clever new take on a classic Elder Scrolls archetype. If you haven't checked it out already click the link above to check out the Mage Hunter. 

As always, don’t forget to leave a like and/or comment on the build if you enjoy it.

Next week, it might just be YOUR build that gets featured so keep building friends!