Greetings, sera. Blackblood here with my second Character Build. Some of you may be familiar with a thing Ponty did, The Paladin of Molag Bal, and it's HD Version. They were prime examples of what NOT to do when making a character, and they were funny as hell to read. Well, sometime afterwards I began pondering what an actual Paladin of Molag Bal would even be. The ideas started to click in my head, and eventually this build concept came to exist. I am quite satisfied with how this turned out, and am proud to say I turned a joke build into something substantial. And so, without further ado, I present to you...
"How long has it been since my soul has been damned... I had dreams. Dreams of defending the weak from the wicked who would abuse and harm them. To root out evil, wherever it may hide. To serve the Divines as one of their most honored soldiers. I was just a budding paladin back then, having just joined the Soldiers of Light. I could have never known what would happen.
They just swarmed us out of nowhere. Worshippers of some foul demon, come to destroy the fellowship before they became a threat. We were just getting started; we were nowhere near prepared to fight off the invaders. Even our leader, Drascius Venario, was pushed back hard. We were on the verge of annihilation, when 'he' appeared. Molag Bal. His voice echoed throughout the halls, aimed at me. He saw potential in me. Said he would spare the others if I were to serve him as his champion on Tamriel.
Now I fight against everything I've ever believed in. Little by little I find my honor as a holy warrior becoming tainted by something I cannot accept. The dead are my only allies now, for in my eyes the living give me only disgust. I can only pray to the Divines that my comrades will put an end to me, so that I no longer have to bring suffering to another soul. But I can feel it within my own. Molag Bal, his influence, it's doing something to me. Corrupting me..."
The idea I had for this build is a (un)holy warrior who focuses his protective magic and gear towards the enslaved undead. You'll be focusing on using more defensive and supportive styles much like a normal Paladin, but you'll be applying them to undead that you raise. This includes taking the aggro of the enemies away from your undead, equipping them with powerful Daedric weapons, and healing them with your Heal Undead spell should they come to take damage (or if they have to).
Race: Imperial, because it works the best in Paladin-based builds due to it's skillset. Breton also works for the bonus to Conjuration. Vampirism is partially optional (more on that below).
Standing Stone: Either Warrior or Mage first, then the Lord for increased bulk.
Major Skills: Block, Conjuration, Restoration
Minor Skills: Heavy Armor , One-Handed
Shouts: Marked for Death, Soul Tear, Disarm, Dismay
Powers: Mora's Boon, Secret of Protection, Force Without Effort, Sailor's Repose, Seeker of Might,
Quests: House of Horrors, Clan Volkihar
Att. Spread: 3 / 1 / 2. We need enough Magicka to supply both our Conjuration and Restoration spells, and we don't need that much health seeing as we'll be surviving with both our tankiness and our vampiric sword.
Block: This build's main focus is being tanky enough so that your undead minions don't have to take any damage. For that, you'll need a lot of block. You'll also be taking the right side of the tree to debilitate the opponents.
Conjuration: Used for summoning the undead. These will be your main source of augmenting your damage. We'll be handing them powerful enchanted Daedric Weapons when we raise them as well. Conjuration is also how we're going to get our Daedric Armor and Weapons.
Restoration: The only spells we use for healing are Necromantic Healing and Heal Undead for the undead, and Poison Rune for the enemies. The Paladin himself has no need of healing spells, thanks to his sword. You'll need to become a Vampire to get the healing spells though.
Heavy Armor: The other thing that helps augment your defenses. We only need to go up the right side of the tree, and only up to Tower of Strength, because our armor combination isn't of the same set.
One-Handed: Necessary for just about any Paladin worth his salt. But here, it takes a backseat to some of your more important perks. Only perks in Armsman will do just fine, and only every now and again as throwaway perks. Your undead will substitute for damage nicely, at least for a while.
Ebony Helmet of Extreme Restoration
Daedric Armor of Peerless Conjuring
Ebony Gauntlets of Extreme Wielding
Ebony Boots of Extreme Stamina
The Helmet gets restoration, because the highest degree of Ebony enchanted gear that you can find is Extreme. So we put Conjuration on the chest. The Boots are to give you more stamina for bashing/power bashing, and the Gauntlets give you some form of offensive boost.
Daedric Sword of the Vampire
Daedric Shield of Peerless Blocking
Necklace of Peerless Health
Ring of Peerless Conjuration
Using Absorb Health on the blade helps to increase the Paladin's survivability, and makes up for the initial lack of health. Same thing for the necklace. The shield is enchanted to improve your tanking abilities, and the ring gives you the last bit of spell reduction for Conjuration that you need.
Daedric War Axe of the Inferno
Daedric Battleaxe of the Inferno
These are for your undead minions. Give them to them before they stand and they'll wield them in your name. Make sure to retrieve them when the thrall falls though.
Note that while the above enchantments are preferred, they do not by any means have to be endgame. They are just what I believe to be the most suitable selection as far as augments go. The most important element is the armor pieces themselves, as they give a good aesthetic that helps you feel more like a corrupted paladin.
Combat can be done in a number of ways, and often involves winning a battle of attrition. The first is to just go in Knights ablaze. With your tankiness and your sword you should be able to survive most lesser enemies. For the tougher ones, however, You might want to consider using undead minions. The best part about being a Knight who uses Necromancy is that you don't have to worry about waiting for your undead to rise. You're tanky enough that they can take all the time they want.
For single opponents, simply drawing in and blocking the aggro is enough, as that will give your thralls the ability to focus on wailing on the enemy. You can get a few hits in every now and then to restore a bit of your health, as well as bashing to throw your opponent's guard down, but generally focus on keeping the enemy engaged with you and only you. If you find yourself dealing with too many enemies to tank, a different approach is to back off from the main fight and use your Heal Undead spell on your undead to keep them alive longer in the battle, while you keep yourself alive with your sword.
In the case of Vampirism, it is only necessary to get both Necromantic Healing and Heal Undead, and the Soul Tear shout from the Soul Cairn. After that, it's perfectly fine to cure yourself. I find that Vampirism is unnecessary, as it doesn't really boost anything in this build. Still, if you believe that becoming a Vampire is acceptable for the Paladin then by all means. You'll gain a resistance to Frost, but a weakness to Fire, so keep that in mind.
Your character may have been forced to serve the king of rape. They may have even chosen this path, falling down the dark path of being an Anti-Paladin. Either way, you're still a Paladin deep, deep, deep down, and only certain things have changed because of that. You may be able to retain your will and still strive towards your holy warrior nature, but Molag Bal's influence will guide you endlessly through your life. Here are some ideas to consider when playing this character:
- Helping others is not forbidden, but be aware that Molag Bal may desire their souls. If he commands you to kill them and steal that soul for him, you've no choice but to accept after all.
- Death is a great honor. It is a reward for the living, not a punishment. Kill those that you feel truly deserve it, not because they're in your way or because they're evil, but because you believe them to be deserving of such a wonderful gift.
- Accept quests that involve killing as much as possible. Anything else is not worth your time. You should devote yourself to spreading more dead bodies around Skyrim.
- Never use any healing spells other than Necromantic Healing and Heal Undead. You can use them to train your Restoration up, but your magic has long since turned away from the living. This rule is exempt if you are a Vampire, in which case feel free to use healing spells on yourself. After all, if you've become undead yourself, I see no reason as to why your healing spells wouldn't work on yourself.
And there you have it. I've had this idea in my head for a number of weeks now, so it feels good to finally get it out and on the site finally. As always, I'm welcome to any critique on this build. It's only my second after all. Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this build!
Replies
Honestly, the balancing was secondary; what mattered most to me was to get the concept through the woodworks, make sure everything fit in the right peg.
When/If I play this character, I may give it a revamp, but for now I'm happy with the result. but of course only time will tell.
And thank you, serjo. Your critique is valued as always.
Read the build over again. Overall I really like this build Blackblood. Good job.
Balance wise you could choose to invest less into One Handed. Ideally no more than 3/5 points as the daedric sword is quite strong on its own, not to mention the extra damage done with absorb health.
True. But the only reason I have those extra 2 points in is to round up to Level 40. I've only added every necessary perk from each of the 5 skill trees. You could probably finish the build at Level 38, or you could keep going for those last two points.
I suppose one could get rid of Power Bash, Deadly Bash, and Disarming Bash tho.
I see. Then what would you think about me replacing One-Handed with Smithing?
There's no need. You got a shield fortified with block, all 5 shield wall perks, and all the necessary heavy armor perks alongside high tier armor.
You've got plenty of defense with no need to throw smithing into the mix.
Perhaps. But then I only have about 4 skills chosen. I'd like to chose a 5th if possible.
Illusion would be useless until I get Master of the Mind.
I've tried. It doesn't work.
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