"Frozen in time ... but not forgotten ... at least not for long ... "
This character build has been a dream of mine to complete. With the addition of the new Dragonborn DLC, I feel confident enough to present this new race build. It includes new content from the DLCs, so reader beware.
The character concept surrounding this build is all about the Kamal. Kamal itself means "Snow Hell" and they are the snow demons from the nation of Kamal on the continent of Akavir. After looking into the Ka Po' Tun and finding some good lore and information, I was disappointed to find only a few sentences about the Kamal. This did not discourage me from continuing as it allowed me to utilize some imagination and creative application to fulfill this powerhouse of a character build. Let's take a look...
The Kamal
The Kamal are the snow demons from the nation of Kamal on Akavir. They are the most hated and feared race on that land. Little is known about this mysterious race, but what is known is about their seasonal "thaw". When the seasons change, the Kamal thaw out from their frozen "hibernation" and continually attack the Tang Mo, the monkey people of the mysterious eastern continent. It is speculated that their homeland is vast frozen tundras, littered with caves and tunnels deep in the mountains in which the Kamal sleep in ice only to emerge to wreak hell on everything.
What is also known about the Kamal is a bit of history! The Kamal had once successfully invaded Tamriel under the rule of their king, Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal. Having sacked the city of Windhelm in Skyrim, they were slowly driven back to the Red Mountain and defeated by Almalexia and Dunmer armies. This is where this character concept comes in. You are a wounded Kamal that fought in the war and retreated to the cold mountains of Skyrim to sleep and once again emerge to destroy. Waking up from a long, frozen slumber, you make your way to your homeland and are caught ... but decided to stay to wreak havoc and let the people of Skyrim know why the name Kamal means "Snow Hell".
Build
Race: Orc
Stone: The Ritual (Mage->Atronach is great too)
Major Skills: One Handed, Destruction, Conjuration, Enchanting
Minor Skills: Light Armor, Restoration, Alteration, Smithing
Weapons: Dual Stalhrim War Axes (Frost Damage + Absorb Health)
Armor:
- Head: Dukaan (+25% damage to Frost Spells and +50% Frost Resistance)
- Chest: Deathbrand armor (+45 stamina)
- Hands: Deathbrand gauntlets (+30% damage while dual wielding)
- Feet: Deathbrand boots (+30 carry capacity)
- Ring: Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana or Fortify Destruction + Fortify Magicka
- Amulet: Fortify Destruction + Fortify Magicka
There are some awesome things to note about this set up which gives opportunity for synergy:
- Stahlrim weapons will get a natural boost to frost damage enchantments
- +30% damage while dual wielding
- All frost spells will get a damage boost of 25%
- Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana provides a cool Apprentice level frost spell
Vampirism: I decided that Vampirism fits very well with this build. The funny thing is I did not become a vampire until much later in my gameplay, but it does add some great powers provided from Necromage in the Restoration tree. Sucking blood and being cold blooded seemed appropriate for a Kamal!
Dragon Shouts: Frost Breath, Ice Form, Cyclone
Powers: Vampirism, Summon Karstaag (a BADASS blizzard giant, but can only use 3 times outside), Dragonborn Frost (Frost Breathe incases enemies in ice for 15 seconds)
Skills and Perks
One Handed: Armsman 5/5, Dual Flurry 2/2, Fighting Stance, Savage Strike, Critical Charge, Dual Savagery, Paralyzing Strike
Destruction: Novice - Master, Augmented Frost 2/2, Deep Freeze, Dual Casting, Impact
Conjuration: Novice - Expert, Summoner 1/2, Necromancy, Atromancy, Dark Souls, Elemental Potency, Twin Souls
Enchanting: Enchanter 5/5, Corpus, Insightful, Extra Effect, Fire Enchanter, Frost Enchanter
Restoration: Novice - Adept, Recovery 2/2, Regeneration, Respite, Avoid Death, Necromage
Light Armor: Agile Defender 5/5
Smithing: Steel - Ebony, Arcane
Alteration: Novice - Apprentice, Magic Resistance 3/3
Perk layout here (funny it fills out at 66 ... 6)
As you can see, this build is quite an undertaking (8 skills). Perk wise, it dedicates the player to a full play through to fully realize the power of the Kamal, but you will soon see an early synergy of a true demonic necromancer combined with a dual axe wielding warlord!
Gameplay
The Kamal is a very involved "battle mage" and can be otherwise classed as a sorcerer necromancer. The amount of skills/perks may seem daunting, but the regular use of each keeps a steady incline in leveling coming and is easy to fill out those perk trees. I will break down a few here and how I used them in my applications:
Crafting Skills - I am not usually a fan of crafting skills, but both play in nicely to the build. Smithing is a must since you will not get a lot of armor boosts from the light armor perk tree due to using a heavy armor helmet (Dukaan). Enchanting is great for roleplay. A demon is usually hungry for souls. Your axes will also need regular feeding for their frost and absorb health enchants.
Magic Skills - Your bread and butter when it comes to ranged attacks (and some melee!). Ice Storm is by FAR my FAVORITE SPELL in this game now. It is absolutely devastating. Ranged, AoE, and DPS. It will be your main attack when in distance combat. The other frost spells are fantastic to have as back up, like the new Freeze spell from Ahzidal's Ring, as well as Blizzard when taking on multiple foes. Having the paralyze perk is fantastic as well. Enemies dropping like frozen statues and then following up with more spells or axe damage is very satisfying. Utilizing frost cloak or the pretty awesome whirlwind cloak when up close deals damage or throws the enemies away from you!
Conjuration is a great addition that I did not add until later on when Master difficulty got pretty tough. Zombies and Frost Atronachs are your minions to take down enemies alongside of you. The Ritual Stone is extremely fun to activate at the right time.
Restoration provides the great perk Necromage when you decide to take on the inner demon of vampirism. It boosts zombie/frost atronach durations, spell effectiveness, and some other goodies. really lays the icing on the cake later on in the game. Alteration does the same, adding in some needed magic resistances.
One Handed - You will be using this the most. Magicka runs out eventually, so you must use your dual enchanted axes to decimate your foes. Stalhrim is on par (if not a bit better) then Ebony, meaning you will have a high damage rating and fast attack speed. What does this mean? You will really be a demon to your enemies.
This build has been incredible. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an evil, menacing powerhouse. I have not been more proud of a build since my Fearmonger or Ka Po' Tun. I hope you will enjoy it and let me know what you think! The Kamal are an awesome race which I hope get explored in future additions to the Elder Scrolls series.
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