Few names survive the centuries intact.
Fewer still are spoken only in whispers.
Among necromancers, cultists, and those who traffic in forbidden knowledge, there exists a figure known not by name, but by title — the Ancient One.
An entity so old that history bends around her absence, so powerful that even her servants dared not speak her true name aloud.
For generations, she ruled from the shadows through loyal hands and borrowed voices, her will enacted long before mortals ever understood it was not their own.
Then, suddenly… she vanished.
Some believe the Ancient One was destroyed.
Others insist such a thing is impossible.
And now, in Skyrim, the dead stir once more — as if answering a call that was never truly silenced.
Evaine awakened gasping.
Air knifed into lungs that should not have needed it — sharp, obscene, setting nerves alight where there should have been only silence. Fire bloomed in her chest. For a fraction of a moment she lay still, not in fear but confusion. Why is this happening? Breath was irrelevant. It always had been.
Then the truth arrived.
She was bound to flesh again.
The realisation was immediate and absolute. Weight pressed down on her awareness. Gravity asserted itself. A heart beat — loudly, insistently — forcing blood through veins as if it had something to prove. Every sensation was dulled, filtered, compromised. She did not feel life so much as endure it.
This was wrong.
Her soul had been dragged back into its original vessel, anchored by necessity rather than design — a contingency she had never intended to rely upon. The final refuge of a lich whose external anchor no longer existed.
Her phylactery was gone.
Not hidden. Not displaced. Destroyed.
The sustaining matrix that had once held her essence apart from mortality had collapsed entirely, its redundancies unravelled in a single, surgical betrayal. The knowledge did not come through deduction; it arrived whole and unavoidable, a flood of perfect recall.
Sigils subtly altered.
Anchors inverted.
A lattice she herself had devised — patiently refined over centuries — turned against its creator.
Everything flashed before her eyes.
The hands that had traced those runes.
The voice that had asked questions too precisely.
The moment the safeguards failed.
Antioch.
The name formed in her mind without sound or hesitation.
Of course. It could only have been him.
Once a supplicant kneeling at the threshold of her sanctum, Antioch had risen through patience and proximity. She had taught him. Elevated him. Shielded him from rivals who would have torn him apart long before he ever grasped the deeper principles of necromancy. His ambition had always been evident — but ambition, properly guided, was a useful instrument.
She remembered noticing the shift.
The reverence that lingered too long.
The questions that probed not how, but why not.
The hunger that crept into his silence when he believed her attention elsewhere.
He had always wanted more than service.
Now he had taken it.
Evaine did not rage.
Rage was imprecise. Rage wasted energy. And fear — fear was beneath her. She did not curse the weakness of breath, nor the betrayal of blood and muscle reasserting themselves. Emotion was a luxury reserved for those who still believed death was an ending.
Instead, she took inventory.
Her power had been reduced to what this fragile body could sustain — a narrow channel where once there had been a vast reservoir. But her knowledge remained untouched. The geometry of soul-binding. The recursive logic of lichdom. The flaws Antioch had already committed without realising it.
He had severed her anchor without understanding what such a destruction demanded in return.
A fatal error.
Antioch believed himself on the path to ascension. He believed he had outgrown the one who had made him. He did not yet comprehend the instability he had introduced — nor the attention such recklessness would draw.
Evaine rose, steady despite the unfamiliar drag of flesh.
Each movement felt wrong. Temporary. Correctable.
She would reclaim what had been stolen.
And when she did, she would end Antioch’s foolish attempt to grasp an eternity he had never been meant to touch.
This build uses the Gate to Sovngarde collection by JaySerpa. No further mods are used, except personal aesthetic refinement choices, which include the Nordic UI for GtS collection, as well as a few cosmetic character creation additions for warpaints, eye colors, etc. The build is fully functional without them. As a note : GtS being a stable, complete modlist, and quite frankly the modlist that brought me back to Skyrim after a prolonged hiatus, all builds within Project 21 going forward will be based on it, and GtS will be the only hard requirement – no extra mods aside from optional cosmetic improvements. No matter if you play my builds or not : try GtS. It makes everything fresh, new and exciting. Really.
Should you want to use my own Evaine preset, matching the custom-made visuals in this build (preset available here), the extra cosmetic mods you will need are :
Female Makeup Suite
Race : Breton – Evaine appears as a Breton, though, being an ancient Lich, nobody knows for sure whether those are her real name and race. In GtS, Bretons get a boost of 10 points to Alteration, and 5 points to Alchemy, Conjuration, Illusion, Restoration and Speech, at the start of the game.
Additionally, Bretons have the racial passive ability Spell Warding, which increases Magic Resistance by 25% and grants a 10% chance to absorb the magicka from incoming hostile spells.
Appearance – Evaine’s appearance is uncanny, subtly unsettling. Pale skin traced with ritual markings, features arranged with almost mathematical precision, muted violet eyes that ignite only when magic stirs, silver hair untouched by age. It is not the look of a woman who is human, but of one who remembers humanity—and reconstructed it from memory alone. As if someone — or something — tried very hard to pass for mortal… and came just short of perfection.
Standing Stone : The Mage – In GtS, the Mage Stone grants +50 Magicka, and reduces all spell and enchantment costs by 10%.
Traits – GtS introduces the Trait system. You may choose up to three Traits on character creation using the Book of Traits, each has an upside and a downside. Traits cannot be changed once the alternate start room is left. For Evaine, the traits I chose were :
- Bookworm : Your Magicka is increased by 50 points, but running or sprinting drain 1 point of Stamina per second. The Stamina drain is largely irrelevant to this build, and the 50 Magicka from level 1 helps a ton. Effectively pure upside for the build.
- Electromancer : Your Shock spells deal 25% more damage, but all other damaging spells deal 25% less damage. Very important : this trait doesn't decrease effectiveness of non-damaging spells or minion damage. It only affects non-Shock direct damage spells, which Evaine doesn't use.
- Faithless : You gain 15% physical damage reduction and 15% Magic Resistance, but only if you don't pray for the blessing of a deity. This Trait means you must refrain from praying at shrines, but provides a much needed, always-on defensive bonus that, for this build, is significantly better than any shrine blessing.
Traits I did consider and playtest, but that did not make the final build :
- Dark Oath : You can raise higher level corpses. Your necromancy spells cost 25% less and last 25% longer, but all other spells are 25% weaker. Essentially, the issue here is that the penalty is too heavy in late game, and the Trait is only useful early on. The Raise Bound Thrall spell already has unlimited duration, magicka cost reduction rapidly loses marginal value in the late game.
- Lichdom Seeker : Your Health is permanently reduced by 50 points. Becoming a Lich permanently increases your Magicka by 150 points.
The opposite issue to Dark Oath : Good (although marginally) in late game, downright terrible early on. This Trait is extremely thematic, sure ; but starting the game at 50 Health baseline is horrible, and while the 150 Magicka is nice, it is not a sufficient incentive – your Magicka will naturally and through enchantments be high enough already once you attain Lichdom. The way I see it, Traits should never make the early game actively miserable in exchange for a modest late-game bonus.
- Mudcrab Curse : Your armor is permanently increased by 50, but mudcrabs kill you in one hit. This Trait sounds like a meme at first glance, but to a full ranged build – which should never get hit by a mudcrab – it is effectively free armor with no downside. It is, though, strictly worse than Faithless as a defensive option for a non-religious character.
Alignment : Neutral Evil – Evaine is Neutral Evil, not out of cruelty or malice, but through a fundamentally inhuman prioritisation of self, knowledge, and continuity.
She does not recognise moral absolutes in the mortal sense. Concepts such as good, evil, law, or chaos are frameworks designed for short-lived beings to regulate one another. To Evaine, they are descriptive tools at best, inconveniences at worst. What she values above all else is preservation — of herself, of her knowledge, and of the structures she deems necessary to maintain both.
Evaine does not kill for pleasure, nor does she seek suffering for its own sake. Violence is employed with cold efficiency, only when it serves a purpose: removing obstacles, acquiring information, or correcting threats to her long-term stability. The deaths of innocents are neither sought nor mourned; they are accepted as collateral outcomes in a world she long ago ceased to view as equitable.
Unlike chaotic or sadistic evil, Evaine is not impulsive. She is deliberate, calculating, and patient. She does not lash out when wronged — she remembers. Betrayal is not met with rage, but with methodical retribution delivered when it is most final. Forgiveness is irrelevant; trust, once broken, is simply noted as a variable no longer available.
She is not bound by loyalty in the emotional sense, but she is capable of functional allegiance. Those who prove useful, reliable, or intellectually stimulating may find themselves under her protection — not out of affection, but because Evaine recognises the value of continuity and competence. Such protection persists only so long as its rationale remains intact.
Evaine is Neutral Evil because she is entirely self-directed. She does not serve chaos, law, gods, or ideology. She will cooperate, deceive, or annihilate as circumstances demand, guided solely by what preserves her existence and advances her understanding of the world.
To mortals, this makes her dangerous.
To Evaine, it is simply the most honest way to endure.
Here are a few examples of quests that make sense role-play wise for Evaine, the Ancient One. Evaine is not the Dragonborn, and will not pursue the main quest – neither will she pick sides in the Civil War. As a general rule of thumb, Evaine will pursue quests that advance her knowledge of magic, grant her access to powerful artifacts for her personal collection, or increase her power. Please note, this list is non-exhaustive, in no particular order, and is overall just a way for you to get started into roleplaying the character.
Undeath questline – This is the way for Evaine to put an end to the traitor Antioch – and more importantly, to regain immortality.
College of Winterhold questline – Evaine will join the College, trying to pass for a mere apprentice ; the Psijic Order, however, will not be fooled. Sensing her power, they will ask for her aid in resolving the Eye of Magnus crisis.
Dawnguard questline – Evaine is by no means a fan of the Dawnguard and what they stand for, but Harkon is a dangerous yet powerful fool – the worst kind of fool there is. Evaine will use the vampire hunters to quell his ambitions.
Black Book quests – Evaine will actively seek the hidden knowledge of Apocrypha – first, to regain her immortality through Lichdom. Then, out of sheer curiosity for magical mysteries.
A Return to Your Roots – Evaine will dive into the mysterious depths of Blackreach, and claim Sinderion's lost alchemy knowledge for herself.
Dreams of the Dead – This quest will allow Evaine to claim Gallows Hall as a main base of operations.
Forgotten Lore – Evaine and Olivia Meronin will study the fascinating writings of Vanus Galerion.
Forbidden Legend – Evaine will investigate the legend of the sorcerer of old, Gauldur, and add his fabled amulet to her personal artifact collection.
The Arms of Chaos – The Warlock's Mark, Arm of the Sun and Arm of the Moon are powerful relics, which should not fall into the wrong hands ; they too will join Evaine's collection.
The Black Star – Evaine cares little for gods, be they aedra or daedra. She will help Nelacar and claim the twisted Black Star as her own.
This totals 59 perks, meaning the build will be complete at level 60 – Let's review the key ones, and list some luxury perk options should you play the character to further levels.
DESTRUCTION – The primary offensive school in Evaine's arsenal. She specialises in Shock magic.
Impact : An excellent utility perk, adding crowd control to your main offensive spells without having to switch to Illusion magic mid-fight.
Static Field : This is a massive improvement for your combat effectiveness against magical foes ; as a Lich, physical damage is not a concern. Magic – especially Fire, is.
CONJURATION – Evaine focused her Conjuration mastery on the necromantic arts and soul binding rituals.
Corpse Preparation : Perhaps quietly the best perk in the entire tree ; your reanimated undead not turning into ash allows you to find high level targets to reanimate, and never lose them as a Thrall.
Necropotence : Again, a quiet perk ; its effects might go unnoticed, but they are extremely strong, especially the second rank. It lets you focus your Magicka on actual damaging spells instead of having to reanimate your Thralls constantly in or between fights.
ALCHEMY – Evaine's alchemical mastery will allow her to reclaim her immortality.
Green Thumb : Alchemy will be invaluable to you in the early and mid game, but potion effects will not affect you once you attain Lichdom (a certain level in Alchemy is required to do so, among other skills), which will relegate Alchemy to a pure money-making and RP flavor skill. This perk, in conjunction with Sinderion's Serendipity, practically doubles your income.
ALTERATION – Evaine's primary defensive focus. Her deep knowledge of this school also allowed her to preserve her mortal body, even as a Lich.
Bastion : This perk allows your Flesh spell to also affect your nearby Thralls, which synergizes perfectly with Conjuration perks such as Necropotence.
Spell Shield/Spell Sip : These two perks double down on the Breton racial, and help mitigate Evaine's main weakness : magic damage.
ILLUSION – The other defensive school in Evaine's magical arsenal ; Illusion magic is used to dominate minds of living and undead foes alike.
Howl of Rage : Frenzy, along with Fear and Paralysis, is your main focus in Illusion. This perk is both very good early on, to make up for the weakness of your early reanimated undead, and later on, when Master of the Mind comes into play.
Master of the Mind : This makes your Illusion spells affect non-living targets, effectively making AoE frenzy spells a buff to your own undead minions.
RESTORATION – While many Necromancers twist the noble school of Restoration to master poison and disease magic, Evaine uses it for necromantic healing.
Healer : This perk does affect the cost of Necrotic Rejuvenation, which is your only healing spell once Lichdom is attained ; however, the subsequent perks that buff healing spells do not, which makes Healer the only perk worth taking in this tree.
ENCHANTING – Evaine's soul trapping magics fuel her own jewelry, as well as armors imbued with dark power for her Thralls, through Enchanting.
Jewelry Enchanter : This perk has higher priority than Armor Enchanter ; finding good enchanted jewelry is much rarer, and enchanted jewelry sells for more than enchanted armor while weighing significantly less.
Twin Secrets : The best perk in the tree by a landslide. Allows you to craft actual Artifact-level gear. You should enchant armor pieces and jewelry for your undead Thralls, but I would suggest giving them Artifact weapons with non-depletable enchantments, for convenience.
LUXURY PERK OPTIONS : Once you've grabbed every perk in the build, if you're still leveling up and gaining perk points, here are a few QoL perks I would suggest investing in :
- Heavy Armor – Defender 2/2. In GtS, mage armor perks from the Alteration tree work as long as you have a cloth chestpiece equipped, but you can equip heavy boots, gauntlets, and headgear with no penalty – allowing you, for instance, to equip a full Dragon Priest outfit. This buffs the armor value of these pieces ever so slightly. Alternatively, should you use Light Armor pieces, grab Scout 2/2 from that tree.
- Speech – Merchant 2/2, Supply and Demand 2/2, Investor, Entrepreneur. These are your classic money-making perks. A late game luxury. You can also make a case for Black Market if you find yourself «acquiring» items by less conventional means.
- Security – Collector 1/2, Golden Touch, Deep Pockets 2/2, Locksmith, Dungeon Delver, Treasure Hunter. Lockpicking and Pickpocket are merged in this tree in GtS. Deep Pockets is the perk to rush here, as our Carry Weight is very small considering we're not investing points into Stamina. Locksmith, Dungeon Delver and Treasure Hunter are a nice economic boost, but by no means mandatory. If you invest in Security, do it for Deep Pockets above all else.
Lichdom is introduced in GtS with a custom version of the Undeath mod. It adds a separate perk tree, akin to the Werewolf or Vampire Lord trees ; we will be taking every single perk available.
Becoming a Lich erases the concept of dying : instead, when defeated, you will reform at your phylactery. After a few defeats, all of your experience gains will be increased by 10%, as you will have reached Transcendence. Lichdom, it should be noted, removes the Survival constraints from your character : on the downside, all food, drink, potions and regular healing spells are ineffective and you are 100% weaker to Fire. On the flip side, you are no longer affected by cold, hunger or fatigue, your stress disappears upon entering Lich form, you are immune to poison and disease, are able to breathe underwater and resist 50% Frost damage. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the most important Lich-specific spells, powers and passive abilities for Evaine.
- Necrotic Rejuvenation – Adept-level Restoration spell, healing the caster over the duration of the channel if they are undead. This is the only way for Evaine to heal, as regular healing spells and potions are ineffective on the undead.
- Spirit of Midnight – Master-level Conjuration spell, summoning the Spirit of Midnight, a powerful Wispmother. It does not count towards your summon limit and will persist until slain.
- Wraithform – Lesser Power, allowing you to become ethereal for 15 seconds, grants the ability to fly, and makes you heal off of nearby enemy deaths.
- Dark Pact – Lesser Power, increasing Magicka regeneration by 100% but reducing Health by 100 for 60 seconds. Given that most damage taken in Lich form is converted to Magicka damage, this is an emergency button for prolonged fights.
- Magicka Weave – Passive that starts as a basic Magicka increase, and gets upgraded as you perk up the Lichdom tree, unlocking cumulative upgrades such as Hardened Weave and Supreme Weave. Magicka Weave grants 50 Magicka and 25% Magicka regen, both doubled in Lich form. In Lich form, when Weave is fully upgraded, you also gain 150 armor, convert all physical damage to Magicka damage, a chance based on your Magicka to absorb hostile spells, and 10% extra Magic Resistance. Hardened Weave is the first upgrade you should unlock, as it also converts physical damage taken in Lich form to Magicka damage, which tremendously boosts your survivability.
- Frozen Cadavers – Lich perk raising your summon limit by 1, among other things. Despite not showing up in your Active Effects tab, the summon limit increase persists in human form.
- Join the March – Lich perk that directly buffs your undead minions while you're in Lich form : should an enemy die in the next 3 seconds after being damaged by an undead Thrall, it is raised under this Thrall's control – this does not count towards your own summon limit, and lets you slowly raise legions of undead in prolonged fights.
- Flesh Transcendence – Increases the potency of Necrotic Rejuvenation, and allows you to craft different Rings of Mirrors at a Necromantic Altar. These rings are enchanted with an Illusion spell cost reduction, allow your physical form to be either human, ghoulish or skeletal depending on the variant you wear.
Not every piece of gear will be available from the start, of course. Early on, you should look to enchant your own gear, focusing on Magicka, Magicka regeneration, spell cost reduction and durability, until you get your hands on your late game outfit. Here is the setup I was personally running in the late game. Gloves and boots could be replaced by custom-enchanted stronger pieces, but I kept the full set mostly for aesthetic reasons – and the build is still more than strong enough with them.
HEAD : Vokun (Heavy Armor). Alteration, Conjuration and Illusion spells cost 25% less. Circlet enchanted with +50 Magicka and 25% Destruction spell cost reduction. (Note : I used an invisible circlet for aesthetic reasons, but any circlet can be worn with a Dragon Priest Mask).
CHEST : Vokun's Robes (Clothing). Increases Magic Resistance by 25%. Magicka regenerates 50% faster.
HANDS : Vokun's Gloves (Heavy Armor). Your Magicka is increased by 50 points.
FEET :Vokun's Boots (Heavy Armor). Your movement speed is increased by 10%.
NECK : Necklace enchanted with +50 health and +25% Magic Resistance. A greedier alternative is the Necromancer's Amulet.
RING :Ring of Mirrors (Mortal). Novice, Apprentice and Adept Illusion spells cost 25% less to cast. If worn by a Lich, it changes their appearance.
LEFT RING : Left-hand ring enchanted with +50 Magicka and 50% Magicka Regen.
THIRD RING : Wedding Band (worn on ring finger, found as loot), enchanted with +50 Magicka and 50% Magicka Regen.
These are all the spells Evaine uses in the later game – until you have access to them, use the lower-tier variants. They have not been listed here purely for clarity.
Alteration – Dragonhide, Grand Telekinesis, Swordbreaker, Armoreater, Blink
Conjuration – Raise Bound Thrall, Spirit of Midnight, Conjure Bone Colossus, Soul Harvest
Destruction – Stormblast, Finger of the Mountain, Thunder Orbs
Illusion – Debilitation, Hysteria, Mayhem, Sanctuary
Restoration – Necrotic Rejuvenation
Utility spells – Unlock, Detect All, Sea Stride, Featherlight, Swift Swim, Shalidor's Beacon, Mark, Recall, Bound Chest, Pocket Dimension, Conjure Arvak, Expel Daedra, Dispel
Unholy Legion (Passive) : Doors of Oblivion + Frozen Cadavers + Join the March
Evaine holds dominion over armies of undead, growing in numbers as they slay more foes.
Electrocute : Debilitation + Finger of the Mountain + Power Surge
Evaine unleashes a blast of lightning so powerful it incapacitates her enemies, vaporizing weaker foes outright.
Darkness Incarnate : Spell Warding + Dragonhide + Spell Shield + Spell Sip
Evaine strengthens her physical form, bolstering both physical and magical defenses.
Maelström Prison : Thunder Orbs + Grand Telekinesis
Evaine summons powerful Lightning orbs, and levitates hapless enemies toward them.
Note : the Orbs will take spots within your summon limit, forcing you to raise your geared-up Thralls again after using this technique. It is therefore best used as a finisher.
Mass Mind Control : Soul Harvest + Armoreater + Mayhem
Evaine spreads chaos and confusion among enemy ranks, and claims the souls of those who fall.
Unending Despair : Swordbreaker + Hysteria + Aspect of Terror
Evaine's foes surrender to madness ; she breaks their bodies and minds, forcing them to flee in terror, only to be slaughtered by her Thralls.
Visage of the Ancient One : Assume Lich Form + Hardened Weave + Join the March
Evaine enters her true and terrible form, becoming nigh unstoppable, and raising the fallen as she inevitably advances.
STRENGTHS:
Near-total battlefield control through layered crowd control, fear, paralysis, and forced positioning
Exceptional survivability via stacked physical and magical mitigation
Snowballing encounters through undead propagation
Scales brutally into late game, especially post-lichdom
Minimal reliance on positioning once momentum is established
WEAKNESSES:
Relatively slow early game before key perks and spells come online, as for most magic-based classes
High initial setup time in large encounters
Visually noisy combat that can sometimes obscure threats
Lich Form overkill potential may trivialize content if not self-restricted
Evaine, the Ancient One
Evaine is a Mage — a spellcasting expert focused on dealing damage while controlling the battlefield and sustaining hordes of minions. Magic-based classes in TES have always been slow to ramp up, but devastatingly effective once their threshold is reached. Evaine draws inspiration from a lineage of ancient, sovereign spellcasters in popular culture — figures such as Syndra and LeBlanc (League of Legends), Xal’atath and Queen Azshara (World of Warcraft), and classic dark fantasy archetypes of the immortal sorceress whose power is expressed through control, inevitability, and patience rather than spectacle. Like them, Evaine does not seek domination for its own sake — she simply refuses to be constrained by lesser wills. Therefore, she was explicitly designed as a late-game power fantasy, played — to preserve challenge — with a self-imposed restriction on Lich Form usage, in a demanding modlist on Legendary difficulty. The journey, as it turns out, proved just as satisfying as the endgame.
Lichdom is voluntarily level-gated in GtS, and early game can be dangerous for a Mage ; you should look to let your early, weak summons, such as skeletons, take the brunt of your enemies' focus, while focusing on crowd-controlling them with basic Illusion magic, switching to your Shock spells to finish them off. Resummon your skeleton minions, or raise fallen enemies constantly, and make sure to have a Flesh spell active at all times. Once your Magicka pool feels comfortable and you gain access to Adept-level spells, the improvement becomes immediately apparent — the build comes online, and the hardest part is behind you.
Unholy Legion and Darkness Incarnate form Evaine’s first line of defense in any engagement. You should stand near your minions when using Darkness Incarnate, as the Flesh spell will also affect them once the Bastion perk is unlocked. Evaine wins fights through control and attrition rather than raw burst, and Electrocute — her primary offensive tool — embodies this philosophy by contributing both damage and crowd control. Maelström Prison follows a same idea, but is best used as a finisher, since it will kill your own Thralls due to summon limit ; on the flip side, the crowd control it offers is potent enough to remove any potential counterthreat from your target. Mass Mind Control and Unending Despair serve as heavy-duty battlefield destabilizers, capable of collapsing enemy formations entirely. Blink is a neat utility spell, circumventing the Stamina loss from running or sprinting, and Evaine's lack of natural Stamina : while the charging time isn't very fast, it still serves as a medium-range repositioning tool.
Your Bone Colossus is a summoned undead, not a reanimated one, and while it doesn't benefit from your Conjuration perks, it still is quite potent ; you should use it and/or Spirit of Midnight in case you get caught ahead of your Thralls, they fall in battle and retrieving their corpses is risky, or just after Maelström Prison in the unlikely event that your target survives. Spirit of Midnight has the advantages of being permanent until destroyed, and not counting towards your summon limit, but is a caster summon – Bone Colossus is much more suited to emergency frontlining.
Sanctuary, considering you don't have access to Shouts — most notably Become Ethereal — is a tremendous defensive option in human form, and a counterpart to your Lich Wraithform. Both of those function as your emergency buttons.
Visage of the Ancient One, especially with a fully-perked Lich Form, is immensely powerful. As a deliberate self-restriction, I chose to assume Evaine’s true form only when facing enemies worthy of the title — named Dragon Priests, major bosses, and similar threats. Using it in every encounter would, quite simply, remove all tension.
In combat, your priority should always be control first, damage second. Enemies will fall to your Thralls or to dual-cast Stormblasts in time — but if caught unawares, cornered, or focused down before control is established, Evaine remains vulnerable. Slow and steady wins the race.
Time is not a concern.
You are immortal.
You are a master of undeath.
You are the Ancient One.
This concludes the thirteenth build I am posting on The SkyForge as part of my Project 21 series — my Mage build.
Thank you very much for reading.
Crafting Evaine took several playthroughs and many iterations, in no small part because I was working with a brand-new modlist I was initially unfamiliar with. The process was demanding, but immensely rewarding, and I sincerely hope that the time and dedication invested into this build are reflected in its final form.
I would like to extend special thanks to JaySerpa, creator of Gate to Sovngarde. GtS is not only a curated collection of some of the finest mods available on Nexus, but also a modlist enriched with original, custom content. It single-handedly made me fall in love with Skyrim again after a long hiatus — both from the game itself and from this build series. Thanks to it, I’m back in business and more motivated than ever to continue Project 21.
Additional thanks go to Furrion17. I played many of his builds when I first got into character creation, and the care he puts into both gameplay design and narrative depth was a major inspiration for me. Since joining this community, he has consistently offered constructive feedback, encouragement, and genuine friendship. This project — and the enjoyment I get from working on it — would simply not exist without his work, advice, and support.
That’s all from me for now — but more is coming soon.
As always, feel free to comment and share your experience playing Evaine. I truly hope you’ll have as much fun playing her as I had creating, playing, and writing the build she stars in.
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
KNIGHT : Acilius, Alessia's Chosen
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
So glad to see you back on this site and posting your builds. I'm mainly a lurker, but I have used your awesome builds while playing.
I usually use the wabbajack mod packs, but I'm really tempted to give GTS a try. The only thing that holds me back is using Vortex and not mod organizer 2!
Glad to be back at it as well :) Yeah, Vortex is... What it is, shall we say. But GtS is more than worth a try. And the redeeming Vortex feature is that you can set it up on a separate profile with separate saves and game files - so no need to fuck up your MO2 version, you can have both at the same time.
Happy to see you back in this incredible project i often try somes of your builds , the skystrider is one my favorite.
another greta job i hope you'll continue this great serie
Thank you for the high praise, it means a lot :) Happy to know you enjoyed playing Ariane so much. I think this build might be my favourite I've played through and written since hers. Guess I have a thing for Breton girls eh.
Alright, everybody stay calm... STAY FREAKING CALM! He's BAAAACK!
Man, I'm so glad you're doing alright Saronis!
Well I'm glad I'm back. And I'm glad you're glad I'm back. :D
Welcome back Saronis. Excellent work
Thanks Chris ! Great to be back. Would've hated to disappoint.