Note: This is a reworked version of the original Night Agent I posted half a year ago. I was carving some archery action and decided to give this femme fatale another hunting session. Now that I have a better grasp at formatting a build, I thought of slightly revamping her with better writing, improved gameplay, and a more pleasing presentation. Hope you enjoy the new Night Agent. :)
The moon looked so distant, enticing, and charming. And yet, at the same time, it was enveloped with the feeling of... loneliness, one’s solitary denied by the light of day.
“So tell me,” the Orc breaks the silence of the night.
Kragrash, a fellow vampire hunter I met just a few days ago. The poor Orc was crawling in pain when two night-dwellers ambushed him, a common mistake of a rookie hunter who used to hunt only feral fangs. Fortunately for him, I was there before those vampires turned him into their toy.
“Tell you? About what?”
His breath grew heavier, “Of course about yourself. We haven’t had the time to share our story.”
Perhaps it was just Kragrash’s facade to distract his mind. He knew his fate was near.
“Well, where should I start-”
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“Wait, decades?” His tone jolted with surprise.
“Time often flies unnoticed for creatures like me. It was more than 200 years ago, yet it still feels like yesterday when I finally embraced this curse.”
“I’m sorry. It must have been a long and hard journey,” his voice suddenly soften.
“Don’t be. It was all in the past. I try to live in the present as best as I can.”
A brief moment of silence before Magnus’ light showed itself behind the mountains peaks, boiling my blood and slightly burning Kragrash’s skin as it grew paler. His transformation became more apparent.
“The time has come,” said Kragrash as he put his crossbow down.
It had been several days since the vampires left a cursed mark on him. That morning was his final day as a mortal.
“Do you really have to do this? Even as a vampire, you will not lose yourself. I will help you control that power and–”
“No! No. At least… just let me die while I am still a mortal,” his sharp words cut my own.
“You still got the exploding bolt?”
Loading the crossbow, a hint of fear was visible in Kragrash’s eyes as I aimed the bolt at his chest, “I do.”
“Thank you, Nyxia. If I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t have guessed that there are vampires who rebel against their kin. May you always be safe and your shots sharp.”
“It was a pleasure. Farewell, Kragrash.”
Closing his eyes, the withered Orc said his final words with a smile, “May Malacath welcome me.”
If you haven’t noticed, the Intro retells the story of the quest Night Hunter where we need to locate the corpse of an Orc vampire hunter and continue his legacy. I always found it jarring that the quest overview follows the typical vampirism drawn by mass media, such as rapid transformation and instant death by sunlight exposure, rather than the one told in Skyrim. Attempting to fill that hole, I weaved an entry opportunity to roleplay a vampire hunter with a slight twist.
This build follows the journey of a vampire who hunts other vile creatures that misuse their power, an agile and clever night hunter who possesses tactical ranged arsenals and mind-controlling spells. Wear your mask, get your quiver ready, and load your crossbow. Time to hunt the Night.
Song: The Shadowbringers
Version: Anniversary Edition
Difficulty: Expert+
Optional Mods: For better control of being an agile Acrobat Archer class. These mods slightly make the combat easier, so crank up the difficulty.
- Better Vampires: Feeding makes you stronger, not weaker.
- TK Dodge: How does this game not have a dodging mechanic?
- Crouch Sliding (requires Nemesis Engine): Dodging and sliding? Yes please.
Race: All Berne clan members are Imperials; thus, lore-wise, they make the most suitable choice. Their amazing ability to calm aggressive foes would come in handy to avoid unnecessary blood baths.
Morality: Clever, observant, and tactical, the Night Agent is an outstanding night hunter with a good nature and intention, the silent protector of the night. Still, she believes that sometimes, small sacrifices are inevitable to pursue greater goals.
Class: An Agent class with Archery, Illusion, and Sneak might lead to degenerate stealth archery. However, with no crafting skills and minimum enchantment slots, we do not have that much power to one-shot most enemies. This, in turn, will open a new path to experience the fluid shift between the different archery playstyles.
Standing Stone: The Mage or the Shadow can help fasten the leveling process. The Ritual offers a brief tanking and distraction by reviving nearby corpses.
Blessing: For roleplay purposes, I chose to worship the bow and arrows. If you aim for the bonus, Talos, Au-riel, or Vaermina are good options.
Attributes: One thing that I wanted to emphasize was to make The Night Agent a glass cannon to enhance the gameplay. The main attraction is to hide and quickly traverse beneath the shadow, thus avoiding fatal hits. As Stamina is mostly for Silent Roll, Eagle Eye, and bow-bashing, Magicka needs to be prioritized to counter some of the Illusion spells hefty costs.
Another thing that I wanted to pursue is to exemplify a fluid experience where we don’t have to continually visit the skill trainers or craft the same items over and over. All the chosen skills sustain the playstyle and should level considerably fast (except for Restoration, hence why I note it as optional). Spend less time flirting with skill trainers and more time hunting those blood-sucking scums.
Archery
Whether delivering lethal silent hits, quickly raining down arrows, or manipulating the arrow course with telekinesis blood magic, Archery is the Night Agent’s most prominent skill. I chose to exclude Bullseye as the perk is overpowered and can ruin the moment to ‘bow-dance’ with your foes.
Illusion
Effortlessly manipulating her enemies’ minds and steering the flow of the combat, Illusion is also the core of the Night Agent’s combat tactics and her only crowd control methods. All perks are taken except Master Illusion since dual-cast Expert Illusion spells grant more reliable effects.
Sneak
The power of the shadow runs in the blood of the Berne vampires. As one who has embraced her curse, the Night Agent can easily pass the enemies unnoticed until her arrows pierce their foreheads. The perk Shadow Warrior is unnecessary since the Bow of Shadows offers an effortless method to turn invisible.
Restoration (optional):
You see it coming. The sole reason to perk Restoration is to activate the Necromage effect. While optional, Necromage provides the ‘extra punch’ as Power Shot, Quick Shot, and the Bow of Shadows enchantment all benefit from the effect. If you choose to activate Necromage, take the Steady Hand perk first.
Inspired by secret agents and sharp-shooters-esque like Black Widow and Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley, this armor combination, by far, is my favorite. The entire pieces (save the pre-enchanted hood and the jewelry) are feasible fairly early. The Elite Necromancer Hood variant worn by high-level necromancers starts to appear around level 32.
The Vampire Gloves and Daedric Crossbow are more for the pleasing aesthetics. The easiest way to obtain Vampire Gloves is by completing the Guests for Dinner quest, which requires you to side with the vampire waiter and kill the Dawnguard spies. A more roleplay-friendly alternative is the Dark Seducer Gauntlets which looks just as fantastic. For the Daedric Crossbow, If you don’t mind a bit of thievery, one is in the display case at Solitude Fletcher.
Ideally, the Ring of Masser is a perfect choice with its insane enchantment. However, a slight problem arises as vanilla Skyrim doesn’t provide a good pre-enchanted Fortify Archery necklace (well played, Bethesda). To optimize this, I offer two options:
Forget the awesome Ring of Masser and wear a Ring of Archery instead, leaving the necklace slot to any necklace you prefer. Amulet of Talos and Savos Aren’s Amulet are my top picks.
Substitute the necklace slot with a Circlet of Archery and wear the Ring of Masser. You can equip the circlet alongside the Necromancer Hood by utilizing a glitch with the hooded Dunmer outfit (one is at the Bloodskall Barrow towers). The Dunmer outfit does not occupy the head slot and lets you equip a circlet. By Quick Saving and Reloading while wearing the outfit (without the circlet), you should be able to equip the circlet alongside the Necromancer Hood. The hood might sometimes appear without the skull mask, and if it does, simply Quick Save and Reload to fix the issue.
Spells: all Illusion spells except the Master ones
Shouts: Aura Whisper, Throw Voice, Slow Time, Become Ethereal, and Bend Will
Powers: Vampire’s Sight, Bones of the Earth, and Telekinesis Arrows
Passive Abilities: Champion of the Night, Nightstalker’s Footsteps, and Agent of Dibella
Hidden Knowledge: Seekers of Shadows, Secret of Protection, and Lover’s Insight
As mentioned earlier, the main attraction is the fluid experience of employing the two most popular archer playstyles; combat and stealth. With the addition of Telekinesis Arrows, there are new possibilities to explore that open a new gate, which I self-dub as the Traps Archer. As a glassy sharp-shooter, observation is eminent to flourish on the battlefield. Aura Whisper is the key Shout to determine the enemies’ number and position, allowing you to approach each encounter more tactically.
As straightforward as the name implies, Stealth Archer is a great opening move to score the 3X Sneak Attack bonus with your crossbow. As previously noted, with the lack of Fortify Archery enchantment, most stronger enemies will not submit from a single silent hit. Still, it is a valuable method for thinning out the group number (especially to eliminate the problematic archers and mages) or weakening the strongest prey.
Muffle alongside the invisibility of the Bow of Shadows are your ace cards to approach the battlefield unnoticed. Calm and Pacify stand out when combined with stealth archery, resetting the enemies’ agro state and allowing you to deliver multiple Sneak Attack bonuses if you enjoy playing the dirty game.
With fast drawing speed and movement, Combat Archer is a fun way to challenge your agility and precision. When augmented with Quick Shot and Necromage perks, The Bow of Shadows becomes a faster bow than Zephyr. Topped with Slow Time Shout, you will rain down your enemies with arrows.
Want to make it even fancier? Use the Telekinesis Arrows and wear the Boots of Blinding Speed. Using Vampire’s Sight and Vision of the Tenth Eye will negate the blinding effect of the boots while you double your movement speed. With the third word of Slow Time, shooting the Tele Arrows with this combo will let you embody Quicksilver’s speed while carrying Hawkeye’s bow.
Fury and Frenzy are your comrades to cloud and enrage the enemies’ minds while you’re busy gunning them down. Practicing Asgard’s The Bowdancer tactical moves allows you to cancel and counter-shot almost all incoming attacks.
As you might’ve guessed, the idea behind Traps Archer is to set up traps while toying with your enemies and pulling their strings. Traps Archer cleverly utilizes Telekinesis Arrows and Frenzy Rune on some spots to set preemptive traps by luring the prey or immobilizing incoming enemies from nearby rooms or areas.
Throw Voice and arrows distraction are your best tools to lure the enemies into your traps. Shooting arrows near your targets will alert them, dispatching them as they search for the noise sources. Fear and Rout are also reliable methods to steer the enemies’ path, especially in narrow fields.
Tele Arrows open lots of potentials to enhance your creativity and can be applied to support the other two playstyles. The combination of Tele Arrows and Slow Time discussed earlier is fascinating. For stealth archery, setting up several Tele Arrows (up to 10) and simultaneously releasing them to take down the weaker foes as you launch your bolt at the strongest target is an effective tactic.
The beauty of Tele Arrows is that you do not need to draw the string fully to deal maximum damage. The arrows always fly horizontally, and the damage is static. You only need a single tap to set up the arrow. The only drawbacks are the hard-to-get crafting ingredient and their inability to land the Sneak Attack bonus. I suggest using the Atronach Forge or duplicating glitch to mass-produce the Void Salts.
You might ask, “What about followers?” I always found myself having one, albeit I rarely used their services. Some followers could ruin your battle rhyme with their terrible Sneak level and aggressiveness. Having quite a high Sneak level and close combat tendency when possible, Jenassa was my favored companion. Her edgy dialogues also often lighten the mood. If you enjoy Lonewolf’s actions, telling your follower to wait near the entrance of a dungeon is a good idea.
The reason you would want to have a follower around is dragons. Yes, dragons are the biggest threat. Since the flying lizards are immune to any Illusion spell, they put us at a severe disadvantage. How to counter this? By having a follower. Your follower will act as a bait when facing a dragon. Apply Courage or Rally on your comrade, and if the dragon targets you, immediately cast Muffle and turn invisible. Once it switches target to your follower, time to unleash the arrows and bolts.
This is an old video of the original Night Agent. Her backstory and spreads are different, but the core gameplay mechanics remain the same.
Before diving further into her motives, I suggest several roleplay restrictions to embody a good-natured vampire that walks beneath the shadow:
- During the day, avoid traveling outdoors. The day is the perfect time to delve into caves, forts, and dungeons while hunting the dangerous games inside.
- When walking among the mortals, wear a disguise. Simple clothes/robes with a full mask are sufficient to cover your night aura.
- When the shadow of the night blankets Skyrim, time to venture outside and eliminate the dangerous threats that roam the land.
- Only feed on your enemies. Never use your vampiric power on civilians (yes, even not the innocent dreamers).
- Avoid any sinister or morally questionable quest. You’re an agent of justice, even when your deeds often go unnoticed.
With that stated, I intended the Night Agent’s journey as a quick one, taking the Volkihar side while being a good morality vampire. Most of the roleplay section centers around the early game to finishing Dawnguard quests and optimizing her skills. Once you complete the Dawnguard, The Night Agent will excel at her expected performance, and of course, there are still other duties to accomplish as the protector of the night.
From what you’ve read in the Intro, the entry point is the quest Night Hunter. Having lived for hundreds of years and waged wars against the night creatures, the sight of an injured Orc stopped the Night Agent’s journey to Hammerfell. If you look at Kragrash’s note, the vampires that ambushed him were well-organized. We’ll roleplay this as the work of the Volkihar scouts, giving the Night Agent a reason to trace and infiltrate Skyrim vampire’s court.
After escaping Helgen, you’ll want to focus on gathering the early arsenals and becoming a vampire. The Bow of Shadows and basic Illusion spells are the first to note. Honoring Kragrash’s will, your priority after finishing the Whiterun fiasco is to retrieve his deadly Ebony Crossbow. Make a brief stop at Cliffside Retreat to start the quest Double Edged to acquire the pre-enchanted Scout Leather Armor set. Once the crossbow is in your possession, time to investigate the filthy Volkihar’s whereabouts.
Combat-wise, as your spells mainly work on low-level bandits in this early stage, you’ll lean more toward a stealth or combat archer approach. Uthgerd or Jenassa can keep you safe for the time being. As you need to be at level 10 to attract the fine specimen - Mr. Durak’s - attention, do complete some radiant quests along the way.
Passing Windhelm during your journey to Riften Hold, the Studed Dragonscale set and Ring of Masser are obtainable in the freezing region. If you need extra protection, combine the new armor and gauntlets with the enchanted Scout Leather Hood and Boots for a devastating fashion. Be sure to also visit Mara’s Eye Den and contract Sanguinare Vampiris before slaughtering the night residents. Arriving at Fort Dawnguard, you’ll be fully ready to infiltrate as the Night Agent.
You might think the Dwanguard is a plausible choice, but we can’t join the Dawnguard as a vampire. That’s where the whole spy-esque and infiltration elements come to fruition. The Dawnguard can be seen as an unreliable faction to combat the vampire problems, as they are still fairly new and lack the power (and Isran DOES SLEEP). The most logical option to gain the upper hand is infiltrating the most prominent Vampire court and controlling them from within.
Even as a Volkihar, act still in accordance with the general roleplay restrictions mentioned earlier. Radiant quests that let you hunt the ferals are your luxury. When the Dawnguard agents test your patience, use the Voice of the Emperor to avoid killing them. Small sacrifices, unfortunately, are inevitable during the Prophet quest.
Once Harkon entrusts you with finding the Elder Scrolls, you can take a brief liberty from Dawnguard winding quests. Working the College quests (say hello to Drevis and his advanced spells) and searching for related shouts and abilities are recommended. As some cultists dare to hinder your path, detouring briefly to Solestheim and teaching them a lesson is an option where you can also complete the final look. With a more flashed Illusion playstyle, you’re ready to face Harkon and put an end to his nonsense.
Replacing Harkon as the new clan leader might seem unfitting for someone who despises her kin, but the position grants the Night Agent some benefits. As the head of the most superior clan, you have the power to affect the other minor vampire clans. Monitoring and controlling the vampire activities in Skyrim is but child’s play. Should you wish to eradicate them, slaying the unprotected vampire NPCs and locating the other liars with your intel will be the greatest showdown.
After eradicating the vampire problems, the Night Agent’s journey in Skyrim does not simply end here. Realizing other dangers threatening the land and continuing the role of the silent protector, the two main quest lines to defeat Alduin and Miraak are now her primary objectives. The return of the World-Eater and the First Dragonborn is an urgent threat that needs priority.
Other quests that prevent big-bad monsters from ever coming to Skyrim, like The Wolf Queen Awakened and The Cause, or those that simply help others, such as Missing in Action, Destroy the Dark Brotherhood and Blood on the Ice, are always befitting the Night Agent’s role. Some of the Daedric Prince’s quests which do not let you harm the innocents, like those of Meridia and Malacath, are viable options.
For the civil war, if you want to be extra strict with the roleplay, it is hard to imagine that the Empire would hire an ex-Legate who is now a two hundred years old vampire. The diplomatic route is the more believable choice. However, taking the Empire side and progressing the quests will allow you to learn the final word of Slow Time shout. Choose whichever option you fancy, whether to pursue immersive roleplay or enhanced gameplay.
Another possible faction to infiltrate is the Thieves Guild. Depending on your moral compass when giving the vendors PTSD, the guild can be seen as Skyrim’s underground crime regulator and is in line with your position as the vampire regulator. The Bow of Shadows and the night power are also tightly connected to Nocturnal. There are, of course, lots of other contents to explore as the Night Agent beyond what I stated. Now, where does the night take her next steps?
Thank you so very much for reading this revamped version. I’m always open to any comment, question, or suggestion, so feel free to drop it down below. This build is inspired by other builds, notably Henson’s The Ceya-Tar, Asgard’s The Bowdancer, and Ponty’s The Nightguard. Huge applause to these amazing builders! I also extend my gratitude to Zephyr for helping me brainstorm some ideas. As usual, see you on the next chapter of the never-ending journey! :D
Replies
Nice work, loved the new take on the presentation