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Known as the finest warriors since the days of Resdayn, the Hands were the perfect combination of Dunmeri warriors. Honourable and courageous, they balanced their combat between the bow, the blade, and destructive magics as they defended their lady. Wielding powerfully enchanted armor from their patron, the Lady of Mercy, Mother Morrowind, the fine Goddess-Queen Almalexia, they were ferociously loyal to her and her virtues of mercy and charity, crusading against the evil forces that preyed on the people of Morrowind. When the Tribunal fell, the Hands were quickly disbanded, scattering as lost mercenaries, but one of them became a legend among traveling adventurers. A warrior often found in the tunnels and caves infested by necromancers and vampires, thousands of undead and enemies of the land found their end with the Last Hand.
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Race: Dunmer
Stats: 1 / 3 / 1
Standing Stone: The Steed is wonderful with heavy armor and negates having to put too many points into Stamina
Key Shouts: Fire Breath, Marked for Death, Elemental Fury, Throw Voice
Major Skills: One Handed, Block, Archery, Destruction
Minor Skills: Alchemy, Two Handed, Sneak, Heavy Armor
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The Tribunal were the original God-Kings of Morrow
ind. Comprised of Almalexia (Mercy, the Lover-Warden), Vivec (Mastery, the Warrior-Poet), and Sotha Sil (Mystery, the Wizard-Mystic) they ruled Morrowind through the ages. While some of their more controversial decisions are discussed in the game Morrowind, there is little doubt that they led the Dunmer through a golden age, repelling invasions by men, Akaviri, and even Daedric Princes, and providing a safe environment for the Dunmer to prosper in their burgeoning empire.
Almalexia took great interest in the common folk, helping to shape the moral codes and providing a motherly figure for the people. She was the godly force of compassion, sympathy, and a great protector of the weak and poor. Well known for walking among the people, her most popular name was the Lady of Mercy. In order to protect her self-named holy city and serve as private guards and agents, she created a group of warriors that came to be known as the finest in the world, hand-picked from the Tribunal Temple. Masters of all blades, of martial and magical combat, it was clear exactly how dangerous they were.
Eventually, the fall of the Tribunal signified the end of their influence and the Hands were eventually disposed of, as their order had eventually been whittled down to a handful of members and none know what became of these last legendary warriors.
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۩As you can see, the Hand is a very combat-focused character, taking all the offensive skills and Heavy Armor. Taking direct inspiration from Ponty’s Veteran, there are a variety of combat styles we can perform, but unlike the Veteran we’re not exactly a scavenger. In fact, getting early gear should be our first priority, as everything he has left has come from old Morrowind. Bonemold Armor, Hood (Adept should be available by the time you get to the College), an Elven Bow, and a pair of Silver Swords—both one and two handed.
Since most of our gameplay comes from combat, augmented with some elixirs, there is very little downtime between questing. There should also be no shortage of money to supply training if you feel one of your damage-dealing skills is falling behind. This incredibly versatility also means that we have a plan of attack for every enemy and an ace in the pocket, not to mention keeping combat fresh for any encounter or playing session. You feel like you want to be more of a marksman? Then hotkey your bow to one and start shooting. But if you wake up one morning and decide to become a barbarian, a sword+board, a nightblade, or a pyromancer, all options are viable, and at different stages in your playthrough any and every skill will surpass the others.
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On the face of it, silver weapons are crap. The same damage as a steel sword, unable to be tempered, and their description makes it difficult to gauge their enchantment once you’ve actually enchanted them. I’ve always loved the look and have used them in the past for mage characters who channeled enchantments through a series of identical blades, since they take up little room in your inventory.
Only recently did I understand what that means for a warrior. The standard one-handed Silver Sword weighs less than an Iron Sword and the damage of steel, but its “especially effective” message means it’s more powerful than Dragonbone against Draugr, vampires, werewolves, and ghosts, at about 1/3 the weight, increasing swing speed.
The Silver Greatsword is where things get crazy. It has the weight of a standard one-handed Dwarven Sword with the reach of a two-hander. When paired with Elemental Fury, it can be used to keep enemies at arm’s length with insanely fast strikes, adding an additional 10 magical damage, not to mention completely destroying anything vulnerable to silver, and I seem to encounter a fair few as an undead crusader.
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Temple Priest Hood – unenchanted
Ebony Mail – pre-enchanted with Poison Cloak and 1pt Muffle
Ebony Gauntlets of Extreme Wielding – Fortify One-Handed 30%
Ebony Boots of Frost Abatement – Resist Frost 60%
Dawnguard Rune Shield – use this minor glitch to negate the stamina drain.
Silver Sword & Greatsword – unenchanted
Necklace of Sneaking – Fortify Sneak 15-40%
Ring of Blocking – Fortify Block 15-40%
Her Wings – Elven Bow enchanted with Chaos Damage. While being blatantly overpowered for characters invested in Enchanting, Chaos Damage is a fine alternative to looted bows (make sure you use all your available buffs – Ahzidal’s gear, Seeker of Sorcery, potion of Fortify Enchanting, and a grand soul gem).
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While there is a fantastic kind of freedom in being able to do anything and naturally level with a character like this, I designed combat to have a specific flow. You can disregard this, but there’s something very interesting about a character having a specific combat style drilled into him as to have such a paint-by-numbers reaction to conflict, where everything feels choreographed like in an action movie.
Archery. The Ebony Mail can be a hassle with a really thief-y character, due to its cloak effect obscuring vision and aggro-ing NPCs, but is just perfect for an agile warrior who scouts ahead, having a solid Muffle effect. Our first line of defence is a few arrows (the first fired from the shadows for a quick and dirty damage buff), until chargers trigger your rune and staggers.
Stealth. At this point, while
all the enemies are running around, you can calmly walk up to one of them (optionally, while wearing the Dark Brotherhood gloves) due to our weightless armor and muffled Ebony Mail (or boots, which should be an early-game priority), and sneak stab them to death. A quick Invisibility potion will allow you to chain another sneak attack before you engage the others.
Destruction. The Impact perk is considered game-breaking for pure mages, but the little bonus stagger (augmented by Force Without Effort) of Fireball/bolt gives you the moment to fire-and-forget a Flame Cloak and (optionally at higher levels) to set down a Wall of Flames to fight on. This can cull lesser enemies, as they fall to their knees and can be taken out with another Firebolt. We can also use Ignite as additional DPS, which works excellently when we swap over.
Sword+Board. Once the enemy recovers, they’ve clearly shown their worthiness to face the Hand in single combat. Between our Silver Sword and our heavy armor, we can fully utilise the very low weight and its speed. Close combat is absolutelydeadly with the Hand, as it combines the Ebony Mail’s cloak, a Flame Cloak, a Wall of Flames, and the Dawnguard Rune Shield’s sun shield, giving a total damage of a shitton of damage per second by fire, sun, and poison. When you throw in your weapon damage or Ignite, or even the fact that fire damage has a stackable taper effect, you can achieve massive amounts of DPS at higher levels. Even Weakness poisons or Destruction potions go miles with this tactic, since Fortify Destruction potions amplify both the damage and range of Flame Cloaks and the Shield.
Greatsword. Saved for big bosses or when you start having a “go big or go home” feeling as a player. Kiting enemies with an Elemental Fury enhanced Silver Greatsword is probably one of the funnest things I’ve ever done. Elemental Fury gives it an incredibly high swing rate, adding an additional 10pts of magical damage to your weapon for 15 seconds of pure rage. Pairing it with a Whirlwind Cloak lets us control how many enemies are in close melee range and the DOT from the previous form, for the most part (Ebony Mail, Wall of Flames) is still active. Our short shout cooldown will also let us keep Elemental Fury going as long as we wield the greatsword. Taking a potion before selecting our blessing will take our recharge times down to a reasonable limit for Elemental Fury.
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Her Assistance
Tundra Cotton + Bleeding Crown + Red Mountain Flowers = Fortify Magicka, Fortify Block, Resist Magic. This makes the Hand more magicker, blockier, and resistier.
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Her Revenge
Glowing Mushroom + Nightshade + Blue Mountain Flowers = Fortify Health, Fortify Destruction. This potion is used to make the Hand more healthier and destructive.
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Her Shadow
Lavender + Nirnroot + Chaurus Eggs = Fortify Stamina, Resist Magic, Invisibility. Great for dipping back into sneak mode. Plus, you’re ready for battle with better magic resist and stamina for the occasional “repositioning” you’ll have to do on Master.
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Her Strength
Juniper Berries + Canis Root + Namira’s Rot = Fortify Marksman, Regenerate Health. Our go-to combat potion, this fortifies any and all damage you’ll do (aside from Destruction) and will keep our health up for most battles.
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Her Fury
Bleeding Crown + Juniper Berries + Giant Lichen = Weakness to Poison, Weakness to Fire. Assisting with both the Ebony Mail poison cloak and all of our fire damage, this can be applied in quick succession to make good use of the Concentrated Poison perk.
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Her Reflected Glory
“Ayem took from the stars in the heavens the fire which they burned and returned it to the Heart of he who believes.”
Able to bring Flame Cloak to a size that will fill most dungeons (reaching from Balgruuf’s throne to the front door), in addition to a sunlit globe, we have a mobile Firestorm that is basically three times as damaging, not to mention causing undead to explode.
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Her Holy Breath
“The idle amusements of one may be the solemn tortures of another.”
>>Elemental Fury + Ebony Mail cloak + Her Fury + Silver Greatsword + Whirlwind Cloak + Fire Breath
While the great synergy and tanking ability of an EF’s Silver Greatsword with Whirlwind Cloak are explained above, the awkward circumstance of what to do with enemies blown out of your reach will always come up. Fire Breath is a fantastic mid-ranged weapon to deal with things and, since you’ll be applying Her Fury to increase your cloak’s damage, Fire Breath will do even more damage. Our short shout recharge will definitely facilitate it.
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Her All-Seeing Eye
“We are the Hand of Her Arm, the extension of Her Will, Her Eye against the Darkness.”
If timed correctly, there are a great deal of attacks, either regular or Fury’d, that you can cram into the x12 damage window of stealth. Basically, this is the cheap man’s Shadow Warrior, but it’s damn effective. Quiet Casting isn’t always needed when you go invisible and sneak, but getting the timing takes a little practise.
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Devastated by the loss of Almalexia, her wandering Hand seeks a series of progressively more suicidal tasks over the decades (Pale Lady, Silenced Tongues, Evil in Waiting) in an attempt to find meaning in his death because his life no longer has purpose. Attempting to bring the Tribunal back to the Dunmer who turned their backs on their Gods, he kills the priests of the Reclamations and defaces their shrines. Slaying the worshippers of both the Anticipations and the House of Troubles, the Hand’s anger continues to grow. Now, fueled by racial hatred, anger, and a thirst for vengeance, the Hand seeks to hone his practised skills with another organization (the Dawnguard) whose purpose it is to hunt the foul and lifeless undead as well as to gain new worshippers among the Dunmer for the Tribunal.
When he sees and hears the visage of Boethiah, he comes to recognise Almalexia and Her Anticipation to be the same mothering, chaotic energy that has guided the Dunmer for millennia. In turn, he decides to uphold the values of Mother Mercy and continue on her legacy of protecting the helpless, slaying the dead, and giving to those without (Laid to Rest, Dragon Priest).
While undertaking this venture through Skyrim, he bares witness to the treatment and devastation his people are subjected to as refugees and strives to make their lives better (Wolf Queen Awakens, Imperial Legion, Main Quest, Dragonborn), even more so as he discovers his significance to the larger world and the power of the Nords, finding an equilibrium with their honour and strength and his own, recognising their strength in battle and magic (Companions, College of Winterhold).
Returning to the values of the Dunmeri Mother of charity and fierce protection, he returns to Raven Rock and defends all who live under the skin of his kin, wherever they may be (Blood on the Ice, Raven Rock, Served Cold) and whichever House they partake in.
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Last Words
This build pays testament to the original Morrowind game that introduced the Hands and the Tribunal as well as many of the fantastically made Crusader builds, and to Phil for finding that neat Become Ethereal trick with the Dawnguard Rune Shield.
The build's images are either screenshots from me, icons from Guild Wars 2 (thanks to Tec for pointing it out), or from the following links. Almalexia Portrait, Almalexia Carving, Title Image.
Teccam, for being such a mathy, grammatically-minded, alchemical asshat, as well as various people on Skype who helped read the build over (Tec, Brewmaster, Tae-Rae, Albino and others I've surely forgotten).
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Replies
Think I might give this a go, really cool build.
You definitely wont be disappointed. This is one of Elysiums best builds.
A rather beautiful gem here Elysium. Planning to play this myself sometime in the future. Also, don't forget your Rank:Expert tag