The group of necromancers huddled around each other, shivering under their dark robes, as cold wind whipped around them. They were finally here; they had finally found the grave of the Kamal King. Buried in a tiny grave deep in the mountains of Eastmarch, this Akaviri warlord had sacked Windhelm before attempting to take Mournhold in Morrowind. He had been slain by a Dunmer legion, assisted by Argonian Battlemages, and his remains were brought back here to be guarded by the Nords and to ward off any Kamal that dared to return.
One necromancer approached the grave, marked by a stack of rune-scratched rocks and pulled out a book. He laid it flat on the grave, its pages held by magic, and his comrades formed a circle. They would raise the slain King and he would be their thrall, an undead servant to slay those who crossed their path. What would be more unstoppable then a forever undead Akaviri warrior?
The mages began to chant and magical energy flowed from their palms into the grave, but something went wrong. The chains of magic broke away from them, and a disembodied, rumbling voice broke through the night.
“Who disturbs my rest?”
No necromancer dared speak. The voice seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once, speaking in an unknown language. The grave rumbled, like it was causing its own earthquake, and vicious snarl erupted from the patch of dirt as a decayed, pale fist rose out of the ground.
"YOU DARE AWAKE A KING? FACE YOUR DEATH THEN!"
The necromancer’s could only scream, as they watched the undead Kamal King rise from his grave, before they were torn to shreds. Only one last word was uttered from his dead lips as he stomped on a warlock’s heads
“REVENGE!”
When the theme of the contest was announced, Nebula and I immediately knew we had to do something special. I had recently begun reading up on Akaviri lore, and was torn between two prominent figures from the continent. We settled on doing the only named king of the Kamal, Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal, a warlord who managed to sack Windhelm before being slain in battle by a collection of Argonain battlemages, Dunmer wizards and Nord barbarians. That’s right, it took at least THREE different legions to slay him. While aKamal-inspired build has already been done, we wanted to steer away from it and do our own take on this mysterious and unique race.
The undead king, Ada’Soom, has been raised from his grave after being unexpectedly woken by a group of necromancers. Now, he’s out for revenge against Skyrim after his defeat at the hands of the Nords. But time has since passed and he must regain the knowledge he needs to once again slay the people of Skyrim. To sum him up, Ada’Soom Dir-Kamal is an absolute powerhouse of a fighter, using destruction to inflict even more mutilation on his foes, necromancy to control those who have fallen before him, and enchanting to further enhance his abilities.
((Disclaimer: This build is designed to be playable on vanilla Skyrim; however, it was tested on PC with many mods installed. If I have missed something, please let me know!))
Race: Nothing fits the Kamal better than an Orc. Make his pale as possible, bald, blind eyed (for the colour), with the horned eyebrows. I played with the jaw and cheek shape, making it a bit more sunken in then normal for an undead look.
Stats: 2/2/1
Major Skills: Two Hand, Heavy Armor, Conjuration, Enchanting
Minor Skills: Block, Smithing, Destruction
Stone: Warrior, Mage and/or Ritual
Shouts: Frost Breath, Ice Form, Summon Durnehviir, Cyclone, Bend Will, Drain Vitality, Soul Tear, Dismay
Follower: Your undead army.
Powers: Summon Karstag, North Wind, Dragonborn Frost, Vampirism (Vampire Lord form not required, we only need it to increase Frost Resistance)
Notable Spells: Frost and Whirlwind Cloak, Icicle, Blizzard, Ice and Dead Thrall, Ice Spike
Two Hand: Nothing says ‘pain’ then a battleaxe cleaving through your skull. With a Stalhrim battleaxe in hand, Ada’Soom is once again ready to lead the deadly charge against the Nords.
Heavy Armor: While your battleaxe will soak up the most damage, you’re bound to get hit sometimes. Focus on the right hand side of the tree.
Conjuration: Raising your enemies after they fall is the ultimate humiliation in defeat. Not only will they be subjected to brutal wounds, but their bodies and soul isn’t even safe after death. Obviously, focusing on the necromancy perks.
Enchanting: Another great skill that the Kamal king has, to inflict even more cruelty into his blows, as well as magical defence from mages, and even more health and stamina regeneration.
Block: You might only have a battleaxe, but it doesn’t mean you can’t block and bash. This skill will level VERY slowly, but you can speed it up with training.
Smithing: This is needed to craft our final armor set and for improving weapons. We will be using Stalhrim armor (save the helmet) and battleaxe.
Destruction: While not used excessively, a few frost spells will be good to have. Frost Cloak, Blizzard and Ice Storm will be your main focus, but don’t ignore the runes. Throwing one down in combat is always a nice spanner in the works.
Crown of the Kamal -- Jagged Crown (Fortify Conjuration, Fortify Destruction)
Dukaan
Aetherial Crown
Necklace of the Storm -- Any silver necklace (Resist Magic, Regen Stamina)
Armor of the King -- Stalhrim Heavy Armor (Fortify Heavy Armor, Fortify Stamina)
Gauntlets of Goring -- Stalhrim Heavy Gauntlets (Fortify Smithing, Fortify Magicka)
Ahzidal's Ring of Necromancy
Ring of the Blizzard -- Any silver ring (Fortify Two Hand, Fortify Destruction)
Boots of the Wind -- Stalhrim Boots (Resist Frost, Resist Shock)
Battleaxe of Bonechill -- Stalhrim Battleaxe (Frost Damage, Soul Trap)
What armor combo is more perfect for the Ice Demon then Stalhrim? Its name literally means ‘enchanted ice’. I would start the Main Questline until the cultists come to start Dragonborn ASAP so you can craft or buy it sooner rather than later. Early game gear to use would be the Blades Armor, as it is Akaviri-inspired.
The helmet leaves a little to be desired and we wanted to along with keeping our face covered to increase the immersion that we were playing an actual Kamal, so we decided to substitute in Dukaan, the dragon priest mask from White Ridge Barrow, instead. The Aetherial Crown is only needed to milk the Ritual Stone glitch, do not wear it in combat.
We were trying to use the Jagged Crown and Dragon Priest mask glitch for our head gear (this is where both are worn with both enchantments), but sadly, we could not get it to work on PC. I suspect this may have to do with both Official and Unofficial patches, but it may work on console. I linked the method above for those that wish to try but for other players, simply pick one helm or the other. For those who DO decide to attempt it and succeed, using the mannequin duplication glitch to gain more crowns is highly recommended.
And our weapon is Stalhrim battleaxe to match out armor set and for enhanced Frost Damage. Make sure to consume an elixir before enchanting your gear for maximum power!
As if being a long-deal Akaviri warlord wasn't enough, you have an undead army, powerful enchantments, crippling shouts, devastating powers, and when all mixed together, these will make you an extremely terrifying enemy to face. Remember, you are a proud and cruel Kamal king, so show this with your Frost related abilities such as Ice Form, Frost spells, and Ice Atronach minions. Yet, you are also a very powerful Necromancer, and you are able to rip undead minions from the earth to help you throughout combat as much as you will use your axe. Speaking of your axe, this monster of a weapon can not only send chills down your enemies’ spine (literally), but it will also capture their souls!
The most important thing to about the Kamal is to remember to absolutely DOMINATE the battlefield. Your goal is to make your enemies bow to you, to submit in terror as you swarm upon them, to make them fall to their knees and pray to their gods.
Start out combat by pulling up an undead thrall, if there so happens to be a body around. If not, well, make one! Your zombie will serve as a moving target and meat shield for enemies while you can do what you please. The master spell, Dead Thrall, is without a doubt, my favourite spell to use in Skyrim. An undead slave to follow you forever? Yes please! Speaking of the master spells, the Ice Thrall also suits out favourite undead Akaviri warlord.
Long range enemies require spells, such as Icicle, Ice Spike, Blizzard and more. I decided to use Whirlwind Cloak as a spell since I thought of it as a cold, chilling winter wind, which would freeze my enemies’ fingers to the bone. Both Frost and Whirlwind Cloak are effective to slow enemies down, especially when combined with the frost enchantment of Bonechill.
Shouts-wise, you got a pretty big arsenal. Of course, you got the typical elemental ones such as Frost Breath, Ice Form and Cyclone to deal out big damage on groups of foes. And on top of that, you got Soul Tear, which rips your enemies from the world as soon as they are hit AND traps their soul! A necromancer’s dream… To learn it, you have to summon Durnehviir, who in my eyes, pretty much the best ally in the game and is most useful then Odaviing who can only be summoned outdoors while Durnehviir can be used almost anywhere.
Then there’s Dismay, a good emergency shout, and Dain Vitality is another brilliant damaging shout. Bend Will… Bend Will is underrated, in my opinion, as most people only see it to ride dragons but it is what we’ll use to RP the dominating effect Ada-Soom Dir’Kamal has on his foes. Just two words of the Bend Will shout are needed to turn enemies against one another. Then, it’s all about just sitting back and watching the show! I even found myself raising the enemy who died first to continue the fight, because I figured the Kamal would find it amusing to witness.
Chill of the Wind
With a breath as powerful as a devastating wind and the ability to conjure freezing storms, the Kamal King can cause devastating damage with this combo. Conjure up a Frost Cloak and summon either your Ice Thrall or Ice Atronach, and then charge into the fray. Launch an Ice Storm spell to clear the way. And, if anyone IS left standing, a Cyclone shout is bound to finish it off.
Frost Cloak + Ice Thrall/Atronach +Ice Storm + Cyclone shout
Arise the Army
Upon killing a group of enemies, the Kamal King will equip his crown, the Aetherial Crown to be exact, and rise up an army of undeadRaise even more enemies in the next area by unequiping and re-equiping the crown!
Aetherial Crown + Ritual Stone power
Even in death, no one can escape Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal's fury...
- With hardly any information available both about the Kamal King and the race in general, it was slightly difficult to create any real roleplaying. However, as I pressed on, I decided to form my own personality. Ada’Soom Dir-Kamal is a scheming, manipulative, power-hungry warlord who would do anything to gain victory over Skyrim. He hates all humans, loathes the Nords and Dunmer, tolerates the other and is slightly kinder to the beast races and Orc.
- The Akavir are known to be talented Dragonslayers. That being said, kill every one of the vile beasts you find, including Paarthanax. A dragon is still a dragon, even if he claims to have changed his ways. Choose three useful followers to have as new recruits (I chose Derkeethus, Kharjo and Gorbash) and have them join you on the Blade dragon slaying quests as 'Generals' of your soon to be army.
- Raise up dead enemies whenever you can. Let no one escaper the humiliation of your necromancy. And be as brutal as you
- With the Jagged Crown, I only wore it before a big battle (such as the Battle for Whiterun) but for those who use the Dragon Priest mask and crown glitch, ignore this rule.
- Knowledge is power and Ada’Soom Dir-Kamal wants power. He delves into the darkest corner of Skyrim and Solstheim, upturning every stone in order to acquire this power. The Ice Demon is a build which I feel suits almost every faction, with the exception of the Stormcloaks and the Dawnguard. He is at home with a band of murderers, the Dark Brotherhood, despite having no assassination skills. The Companions may be werewolves, but they are powerful allies, and the Imperial Legion will grant you the crown you so desperately need. The Thieves Guild will bring you gold to buy things you may not be able to afford, and the College contains a vast library of knowledge. And finally, the Volikhar Vampires will grant you immortality. I joined all these factions at one point, but did not necessarily finish their storyline.
- Windhelm is a city filled with Nords and Dunmer, two races that worked together to defeat Ada’Soom Dir-Kamal in the Second Era, so this city must be avoided at all costs. But revenge will soon be yours...
The following should be your final roleplaying goal, for when there are no more quests to be done and for when you have your final armor and spells. It is time to destroy Windhelm.
You will need to assemble an army of undead to take the city. Make sure your Aetherial crown has the Ritual Stone on it, and then dump everything but potions, your main weapon and armor at a house to clear your inventory. Next, either smith or buy some basic weapons, Nothing better than Orcish should suffice, for your army. The type of weapons does not matter. Give these to a follower when you have no more room and make as many as you can. The follower I used was one of my ‘General’s’ from the Blades.
Next, head on over to Darkwater Crossing and slay every on you can. It doesn’t matter if they’re guards or just NPCs. Once dead, take their primary weapon away from their body and replace it with one of your weapons. Use the Ritual Stone to raise them and head to the next location, Kynesgrove. Do the same thing, kill them, replace weapons BUT wait for twenty-four hours here. The Ritual Stone does not cause bodies to turn to ash so you can simply raise them all again. Finally, head up the hill to Narzulbar, the Orc Stronghold, and kill everyone inside. Here, there should be some fair amount of weapons to pass around if you run out. Wait another twenty-four hours and raise up all the Orcs.
You should have a pretty mighty army now (Hell, you could even skip Darkwater Crossing if you wanted) so head down the hill to Windhelm. Summon Durnehviir outside the city and begin your assault! The City should be Imperial-controlled if you did the Civil War but that shouldn’t stop you. Slay every single living thing that stands in your way and just have fun with it! Head to the markets and slay the blacksmith who supported Ulfric, followed by the nobles who admired him. Finish the whole thing off my getting to the Grey Quarter and killing all the Dark Elves.
And, if you so happen to die, your revenge will at least be taken by your army…
Like we mentioned earlier, the Ice Demon is a versatile build which can be manipulated to fit almost all the questlines in Skyrim. The ones below are the essential ones, the ones that cannot be missed for this build to work.
Main Quest, Imperial Legion, College of Winterhold, Dawnguard Questline – Volikhar Vampires, Lost to the Ages, Dragonborn Main Quest, A New Source of Stalhrim, Unearthed, Durnehviir, Discerning the Transmundane, The Black Star, all Blades quests, Paarthanax (kill him).
Well, I hope you enjoyed our build! We both had a lot of fun brainstorming ideas, discussing the build and eventually playing it. Good luck to all the other contest entries and give us a vote if you like what you see!
We’d like to thank everyone who votes for us and supports our work, as well as Miraak who did our perk spreads (head on over to his build extras requests thread to see some more of his stuff!) and our preview image. Oh, and kudos to both Ponty and Henson for guessing the right answer on the preview image!
Replies
This is definitely one of your best builds.
You hardly find those builds with definite end goals, and this one does it exceptionally well.
And image fixed.
Hey Tae-Rai, another awesome build of yours. Also, don't forget your Rank:Expert tag