Akatosh made a covenant with Alessia in those days so long ago. He gathered the tangled skeins of Oblivion, and knit them fast with the bloody sinews of his Heart, and gave them to Alessia, saying, "This shall be my token to you, that so long as your blood and oath hold true, yet so shall my blood and oath be true to you. This token shall be the Amulet of Kings, and the Covenant shall be made between us, for I am the King of Spirits, and you are the Queen of Mortals. As you shall stand witness for all Mortal Flesh, so shall I stand witness for all Immortal Spirits."
And Akatosh drew from his breast a burning handful of his Heart's blood, and he gave it into Alessia's hand, saying, "This shall also be a token to you of our joined blood and pledged faith. So long as you and your descendants shall wear the Amulet of Kings, then shall this dragonfire burn—an eternal flame—as a sign to all men and gods of our faithfulness. So long as the dragonfires shall burn, to you, and to all generations, I swear that my Heart's blood shall hold fast the Gates of Oblivion. So long as the Blood of the Dragon runs strong in her rulers, the glory of the Empire shall extend in unbroken years. But should the dragonfires fail, and should no heir of our joined blood wear the Amulet of Kings, then shall the Empire descend into darkness, and the Demon Lords of Misrule shall govern the land."
To scour the land of Skyrim as the Champion of the Slave-Queen, here is a list of the mods you will need, as well as a few suggestions.
ESSENTIAL MODS :
RECOMMENDED MODS :
Any mod that enhances the follower system and follower behavior. The best mod in this category is undoubtedly EFF
NB : The latter three essentially act as a replacement for 20/50/100% more perk point mods that come with Ordinator. I prefer to play with these, as exploration (Skyshards), defeating epic enemies (PPA) and mastering more and more skills (PP@SL) make perk points feel like a reward for your acomplishments, rather than just something you get double every few levels. It is up to your preference, however, you could bypass these and just get any perk point modifier on the Ordinator page.
"...For you are the Queen of Mortals, and you shall stand witness for all mortal flesh..."
Name : Acilius
Age : 64
Class archetype : Knight
Race : Imperial
With Imperious installed, Imperials start with a base Health of 100 (regen rate 1%), base Magicka of 100 (regen rate 3%) and base Stamina of 100 (regen rate 5%), and a carrying capacity of 300.
As for racial abilities, they have Discipline, which provides allies within 15 feet 150 points of armor and 15% attack damage during combat, Imperial Virtues, which makes an attribute of yours regen 100% faster in combat (attribute is chosen randomly at the start of the fight), and Human Spirit, which allows you to modify your attribute values at level 10, your resistances at level 20, and your skill levels at level 30.
Furthermore, their active ability, Colovian Star, is acquired by completing any 20 quests. It is a one use a day Power that allows you to fully replenish your Magicka and Stamina, and increase them by the amount restored for 30 seconds.
You should use Human Spirit as follows :
- For attribute values, choose + 100 Health/- 50 Health (as Stamina and Magicka are both invaluable to the build, having a moderate increase in Health is better than sacrificing a secondary resource for a bigger increase).
- For resistances, choose to both up your Frost resistance and reduce your Frost resistance, which will result in a 25% increase overall ; as a pure melee build, Acilius cannot afford to have a weakness to any type of magic, nor to poison - which bypasses armor when applied.
- For skills, put levels wherever you need to unlock key perks, preferably in Heavy Armor, Restoration and Speech, and remove levels in Two-Handed, Conjuration and Sneak, as we won't be using any of these skills.
Standing Stone : The Lover
With Andromeda installed, the Lover Stone has two passive properties and one active ability.
For passives, Secret Admirer gives you a random enchanted item periodically, while Undying Love makes you come back to life when slain once every 15 minutes or once per in-game day, meaning fast travelling to the other side of the map essentially resets it. Be warned though, that when you resurrect with this ability, your selected Power will get unequipped.
The active ability, Lover's Kiss, is unlocked through discovering every standing stone in Skyrim. It allows you to mark your target, providing you the ability to summon them to your location with the Lover's Call power, and is usable at will. I strongly recommend using it on your follower.
Faith : Saint Alessia
With Wintersun installed, a new game mechanic is introduced : Faith. By choosing to follow Saint Alessia's Tenets and Praying once a day, Acilius will get increasing benefits.
The Tenets are the following : “Have a follower at your side. Slay Elves. Receive the blessing of a Divine.”
The Shrine of Saint Alessia can be found in the mountains overlooking the Eastmarch Imperial Camp, southeast of Mzulft. Its blessing increases your follower's armor by 50 points and Magic Resistance by 10%, provided they remain within 20 feet. You need to either meditate at the shrine to receive this buff, or choose Saint Alessia's blessing when praying. Praying once a day increases Favor.
As a Follower of Saint Alessia, Acilius receives the passive effect Covenant of Man, which allows him to choose the blessing of either one of the Nine Divines or Saint Alessia when praying, granting the magical effect of the chosen blessing as well as curing all diseases.
Once Favor reaches or exceeds 100%, Acilius becomes a Devotee, gaining an additional ability : Dragonblood Empress, which allows him to talk to a non-hostile human to make them his friend, and potential follower, while he is blessed by one of the Divines. Using this ability costs 10% Favor.
Stat Distribution : 1/3/2 - Stop putting points into Magicka at 150. Stop putting points into Stamina at 250.
Factions : The Blades, The Companions, Dawnguard, Skaal-Friend
Alignment : Neutral Good
Here are a few examples of quests that make sense role-play wise for Acilius, the devout warrior of the Nine Divines. As a wandering knight, Acilius will focus on putting an end to the return of the dragons, helping mankind in its struggle against the evil Thalmor, protecting the poor and the innocent, and helping out his travelling companions. He will also refrain from doing quests for Daedric Princes. Please note, these lists are non-exhaustive, in no particular order, and are overall just a way for you to get started into roleplaying the character.
QUESTLINES : Main Quest, Dragonborn DLC, Companions Questline (Acilius will cure his lycanthropy), Dawnguard Questline (Acilius will side with the Dawnguard)
MAIN QUESTS : Rise in the East, Blood on the Ice, The Heart of Dibella, The Man Who Cried Wolf, The Wolf Queen Awakened, The Book of Love, Missing in Action (Acilius will help Avulstein free his brother, killing a few Thalmor for sport along the way), Retaking Thirsk (Acilius will side with the Nords), In My Time of Need (Acilius will side with the Alik'r against the former Dominion mole)
MISC QUESTS : Find all Standing Stones, Amren's Family Sword, Armor for Erik, Roggi's Ancestral Shield, Bounties from Court Stewards, Dawnguard Radiant Quests. Companions Radiant Quests
As a Knight, Acilius is a charismatic melee fighter, with an emphasis on defensive abilities. He is a natural leader, able to influence the tide of battle through the use of basic Illusion principles, both bolstering his allies and weakening his enemies. Let's review the key perks here.
BLOCK - Acilius only leads the charge into battle while under the cover of his trusty shield.
- Hold the Line : This perk greatly benefits Acilius' follower, which makes it a staple for the build.
- Apocalypse Proof : The bane of most melee builds is ranged magic damage ; with this perk, blocking a spell at the proper timing will overcome said weakness.
- Dominion : Incredibly useful perk for a character that invests less points into Blocking and Heavy Armor than pure Warrior builds ; often saves several potions or makes clutch uses of a healing spell during combat less frequent.
HEAVY ARMOR - Like most combat-oriented classes, Knights favor the use of Heavy Armor, opting for protection over mobility.
- Rallying Standard : A perk that benefits both Acilius and his follower - provided the both of them wear a full set of Heavy Armor.
- Warbringer : A very good DPS boost, it also circumvents the limit of one Rallying Standard per day : activating this perk doesn't use your Rallying Standard power.
- Immortal : This perk is a life-saver, and will give you just the time to heal back to a reasonable health total. Has great synergy with Protect Your God from the Illusion tree.
- Lead the Tempest : Not only does this perk benefit our follower, but it is also very easy to activate, due to the Overrun and Block Runner perks taken from other trees.
RESTORATION - While he is by no means a powerful healer, Acilius' deep connection to the Divines allows him to perform miracles occasionally.
- Sacred Guardian : Acilius' playstyle is combat-driven ; even though you can manually heal your follower in the middle of battle, this perk conveniently takes care of it for you.
- Gods & Mortals : Praying to Saint Alessia allows us the choose the blessing of a Divine, and the game treats it like you prayed at their shrine, which makes this whole perk branch extremely interesting.
ILLUSION - Knights often study the lore of Illusion magic in order to better control the battlefield, be it by strengthening their allies or hindering their foes.
- Commanding Presence : Our main DPS increase for our follower ; also unlocks a whole crucial tree.
- Crown of the False King : Basically gives a vanilla Lord Stone effect to our follower.
- Protect Your God : This perk will activate at the same time as Immortal ; your follower, jumping between you and your foe, will give you enough time to heal up.
ONE-HANDED - Since he isn't as nimble as in his younger years, Acilius has grown to favor the use of one-handed maces, which make up for their lack of speed by the tremendous force of their impact.
- Denting Blows : Since both Acilius and his follower focus primarily on physical damage, this perk will benefit the both of them.
- Smite : A well-needed DPS boost for Acilius, whose own damage would otherwise be subpar compared to other combat classes.
- Rise Kinsmen : The fact that this effect is stackable makes it absurdly good for any build that relies on having allies in combat.
SPEECH - A great leader has to have a way with people ; Acilius' Voice is one others often listen to, especially when used to wield the power of the Thu'um.
- Windborne : Again, since we invested less perks into offense than most combat-oriented builds, this perk provides a well-appreciated damage increase.
- Hurricane Force : Every Shout the build uses affects others - be them allies or enemies - which makes this perk a must-have.
SMITHING - Acilius has spent most of his years wearing a sturdy armor, which he has learned to maintain in good condition.
- Arcane Blacksmith : A simple but necessary perk, allowing you to temper both your own enchanted gear, as well as gear obtained in your travels, or through the Secret Admirer passive from the Lover Stone, to outfit your follower.
Even though the look I went for uses the Steel Soldier armor, which is Creation Club content, it is purely for aesthetic reasons. Given that the Steel Soldier armor's stats are roughly on par with the vanilla Steel Plate armor stats, feel free to use it, or any steel plate-level modded armor of your choice instead, should you not want to pay for this mod. Note that you will need, if you so choose, to invest a couple more points into Smithing to be able to temper the enchanted Steel Plate armor pieces you might find in your travels. Should you decide to invest into Enchanting at later levels, the Wandering Knight Armor set from Warmonger Armory is a perfect fit as well.
Helm : Steel Soldier Helmet (CC content)
Grants 40% Fire Resistance ; Can be replaced by a Steel Plate Helmet of Resist Fire
Necklace : Necklace of the Knight
This necklace will fortify Acilius' ability to use Heavy Armor. Use the highest-level variant you can find
Ring : Ring of Wielding
This ring will increase Acilius' proficiency with One-Handed weapons. Use the highest-level variant you can find
Armor : Steel Soldier Armor (CC content)
Grants 15% Magic Resistance ; Can be replaced by a Steel Plate Armor of Resist Magic
Gloves : Steel Soldier Gauntlets (CC content)
Grants 25% Blocking efficiency ; Can be replaced by Steel Plate Gauntlets of Blocking
Boots : Steel Soldier Boots (CC content)
Grants 20% Stamina Regen ; Can be replaced by Steel Plate Boots of Recuperation
Weapon : Knight of Stendarr's Mace
Once the weapon of Tyranus, Acilius acquires it after being forced to fight the Vigilant. He will refuse to do Molag Bal's bidding, and wield this mace in memory of the fallen paladin. Can be replaced with a Nordic Mace enchanted with Fire Damage.
Shield : Wandering Knight Shield
Without any perks invested into Enchanting, but using instead both a Grand Soul Gem and an Enchanter's Philter, you will be able to apply a 15% Fortify Block enchantment to this sturdy shield. Can be replaced by a Steel Shield of Blocking
Magical Effects : Bonuses gained from completing quests that can be of use to the build
Agent of Dibella, Agent of Mara, Sailor's Repose
Hidden Knowledge : Abilities granted by reaching the end of a Black Book area
Secret of Protection, Mora's Boon, Seeker of Might, Companion's Insight, Secret of Strength, Bardic Knowledge
Here is a list of followers that may be suitable for Acilius. Please note that modded followers (notably from Interesting NPCs), Housecarls and Hirelings have been purposefully left out of this list to keep it short, but by all means, use them if you feel like it. Keep in mind, though, that a lot of our perks will only benefit followers wearing full Heavy Armor, and that, as a devout of Saint Alessia, Acilius would only ever join forces with humans.
Please note that some of the skills listed do not correspond to the base outfit and weapons these NPCs are using ; their skills are actually correctly listed (source : UESP Wiki), but for some reason Bethesda provided them with equipment that doesn't match their skillset.
Lastly, even though most follower system enhancement mods give you the ability to have as many followers at your side simultaneously as you want, I would still recommend sticking to just one at a time, for balance purposes.
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After Acilius rids Haafingar of a group of bandits, the local headsman will offer him his sword-arm.
Found in : Solitude
Prerequisite : Complete his radiant quest
Main skills : Heavy Armor, Two-Handed, Archery, Block
Maximum level : 30
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Acilius has respect for this young man's eagerness to become a guard, and takes him along on his adventures.
Found in : Morthal
Prerequisite : Beat him in a brawl
Main skills : Heavy Armor, Two-Handed, Archery, Block
Maximum level : 30
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Celann and Acilius became brothers in arms within the Dawnguard, teaming up for important missions.
Found in : Fort Dawnguard
Prerequisite : Complete "Prophet" on the Dawnguard side
Main skills : Heavy Armor, One-Handed, Archery, Block
Maximum level : None
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Since he helped the Skaal against Herma-Mora, Frea has found in Acilius a new paternal figure.
Found in : Skaal Village
Prerequisite : Complete "The Fate of the Skaal"
Main skills : One-Handed, Restoration, Alteration, Light Armor
Maximum level : None ; Frea is also essential, even after completion of the Dragonborn questline.
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After he and Golldir put down a necromancer, Acilius will take the young Nord as his squire.
Found in : Hillgrund's Tomb
Prerequisite : Complete "Ancestral Worship"
Main skills : Heavy Armor, One-Handed, Archery, Block
Maximum level : 30
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This fierce warrior and Acilius developed a lasting friendship between the walls of Fort Dawnguard.
Found in : Fort Dawnguard
Prerequisite : Complete "Prophet" on the Dawnguard side
Main skills : Heavy Armor, Two-Handed, Archery, Block
Maximum level : None
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After Acilius returned her blade, Mjoll agreed to follow the wandering knight on his adventures.
Found in : Riften
Prerequisite : Retrieve Grimsever
Main skills : Heavy Armor, Two-Handed, Archery, Block
Maximum level : 40
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Touched by the remorse shown by the battlemaiden, Acilius will try to guide her on the path to redemption.
Found in : The Bannered Mare, Whiterun
Prerequisite : Beat her in a brawl
Main skills : Heavy Armor, One-Handed, Archery, Block
Maximum level : 30
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Acilius admires Vilkas for his smarts and will make him his second-in-command amongst the Companions.
Found in : Jorrvaskr, Whiterun
Prerequisite : Complete the Companions' questline
Main skills : Heavy Armor, Two-Handed, Archery, Block
Maximum level : 50
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A quick note before delving into the spells : since Acilius' grasp on magic is fairly basic, and he is by no means a great wizard, he won't be joining the College of Winterhold. Therefore, all of these spells are of a maximum level of Adept, which means they can be purchased from Court Wizards when you reach the corresponding skill cap.
SPELLS :
- Aura of Vigor
- Frailty
- Weaken
- Rally
- Fast Healing - Replace whenever possible with Close Wounds
- Heal Other
SHOUTS :
- Battle Fury
- Disarm
- Dismay
- Dragonrend
Blessing of the Slave-Queen (Passive) : Undying Love + Discipline + Commanding Presence + Crown of the False King + Sacred Guardian
Acilius and his companions are protected by Saint Alessia, Lady of Heaven and Queen of all Mortal Flesh.
Hand of Partiality : Frailty + Weaken + Rally
Upon entering combat, Acilius inspires fear in his enemies' hearts, and courage in his allies'.
Lead the Charge : Lead the Tempest + Rise Kinsmen + Overrun + Smite
Acilius rushes at an enemy, dealing devastating damage, and commanding his allies to follow him into the fray.
Voice of the Dragon Empress : Battle Fury + Aura of Vigor release
Invoking the power of his Saint, Acilius grants his allies a brief moment of divine protection, and blesses the strikes of their weapons.
STRENGTHS : Very durable, especially in elongated fights, great roleplaying options, works well with easy to find enchantments, viable on any difficulty settings, decent single-target damage output, good buffing and debuffing capabilities, provides amazing utility to his follower, has excellent clutch survival tools, very versatile toolkit.
WEAKNESSES : No ranged options, no AOE damage, reliant to some extent on followers, weak to mages if they have a superior vantage point, less damage output and tankiness than traditional combat classes if not accompanied by a follower.
Acilius, Alessia's Chosen
Acilius is a Knight, a noble and charismatic fighter, able to influence both allies and foes in and out of battle. I have always viewed Knights as the more supportive of all the combat classes, due to their simple, yet efficient, use of magic, and their overall class fantasy.
Before a battle happens, that is whenever Acilius and his follower enter a dwelling, pay attention to your surroundings ; the decor around the entrance should give a clue of what type of enemies you'll find inside. Pray to St Alessia, and choose your Divine Blessing accordingly. Having the option to switch blessings at will makes Acilius extremely versatile, and potentially viable against any type of opponent. Note that you'll want to stick exclusively to St Alessia's blessing until you get the Crown of the False King perk.
After praying, it's time for Acilius to rush into battle ; contrarily to most supportive classes, Acilius needs to be at the heart of the action rather than on the outskirts of battle, to be effective ; both he and his follower benefit greatly from fighting alongside each other.
You always want to start combat with Hand of Partiality, and maintain it active throughout battle ; hindering your enemies and bolstering your allies is a core ability for Knights, and the Imposing Presence perk will make this technique quite potent, even if not a lot of points are invested into actual Illusion spell empowerment. Blessing of the Slave-Queen should keep you and your follower safe, but don't disregard how powerful a quick use of Close Wounds or Heal Other can be.
You'll want to use Lead the Charge as much as you can ; it should take care of most squishy enemies by itself, while it will reduce the defensive of better-protected foes, for your follower and you to carve through. Voice of the Dragon Empress is best used when fighting large groups, or boss battles, but you can also use Aura of Vigor by itself ; the invulnerability window on release is great against burst damage if you time it properly, while the channeled healing effect is decent against lingering damage.
Even though casting these basic spells can be invaluable when you time them properly, in battle, you'll mostly want to stick to mace and shield, applying the armor reduction from Denting Blows to your enemies, and the armor boost from Hold the Line to your follower. While your damage output isn't that of a Warrior, it still is very potent in single-target situations, so your main focus should be to thin out the ranks of your enemies focusing them one by one.
Your Shouts also provide utility options for most situations : Dismay is very potent against large groups, or to incapacitate mages, while Disarm is great against Two-Handed wielders and non-mage boss enemies.
With a good mix of offense, defense, soft crowd control abilities, self and ally reinforcing and buffing, and survivability, Acilius is kind of a jack of all trades - keep in mind that it also means he is a master of none, so relying exclusively on your combat skills, or on your magic skills, will give mediocre results compared to using the entire toolkit and swapping out between spells and weapon/shield during battle.
This concludes the ninth build I'm posting on The SkyForge, namely my Knight build. This is a part of my Project 21 series of builds, which will be my own take on all 21 classes of the TES universe. I thought number Nine to be quite fitting for a build revolving around devotion to the Nine Divines. I hope you'll appreciate the nod !
I would like to extend special thanks to Enai Siaion, creator of Ordinator, Andromeda, Wildcat, Imperious, and many more gameplay-enhancing mods, for making Skyrim an even more amazing game than Bethesda already had, and one I still enjoy playing after almost a decade, as well as to Furrion 17. I tried all of his builds when I got into character building and really had a blast, and the dedication he shows in crafting a good backstory for a good build inspired me to try my hand at it as well. Since I joined this community, Furrion has given me nothing but constructive advice, words of encouragement, and sincere friendship, for which I am immensely grateful.
That's all from me for now, expect more soon ! Don't hesitate to comment and share your experience playing Acilius, I hope you'll have as much fun playing him as I had creating, playing and writing the build he is the star of !
MY OTHER BUILDS
ARCHER : Kastav, the Turncoat
ASSASSIN : Thogra gra-Karosh, the Crimson Dirk
BARBARIAN : Ulfgar, the Lone Wolf
HEALER : Alska, She of the Wild
NIGHTBLADE : Caesia Tremellius, the Imperial Inquisitor
ROGUE : Thessia, the Rascal
SCOUT : Taviah, the Wyrm's Bane
SORCERER : Lanathel, the Bloodsworn
SPELLSWORD : Ariane, the Skystrider
WARRIOR : Kazan, the Lion of Bangkorai
WITCHHUNTER : Taren Verelas, the Beckoner of Retribution
Replies
I really like that you've made a build featuring an older character. It makes him more relatable (at least to old farts like me) and definitely gives me Ser Baristan Selmy GoT vibes, who I think was one of the great badasses of the television series and who still is a serious badass in the books. Only thing I'm really missing is a reason that Acilius is in Skyrim and what his goals are, but I don't know if you need it since this is part of a build series. It may not be your emphasis with these class builds and something instead for the player to come up with. The artwork is very nice, some minor formatting and space issues (things are too spread apart), and yeah, I love the CC armor too.
To be honest, I usually am pretty story-driven with my builds, but in this particular case, i thought the excerpt from the Trials of Saint Alessia book I chose pretty much summed it up : the new dynasty, the Medes, are not of dragon blood, and therefore the empire has fallen to the evil Thalmor. Acilius however, as your typical skyrim character, is a dragonborn, and fights the thalmor. I didn't think too much more needed to be said, as writing a backstory for this build would have basically consisted in explaining what the Alessian doctrine is - which the excerpt does already.
You're spot on with the Barristan Selmy vibes though, he was one of my favourite characters in GoT - both books and TV series - and the artwork I chose for the equipment section made me think of a mix between him and Beric Dondarrion (who's also an ultimate badass if you ask me). Definitely these two were an inspiration for the build, among others. As a big fantasy nerd and a notorious bookworm, I almost feel compelled to hint at pop culture references :)
Inspired my Champion of the Divines build on this one (good job!) :)