The Internet has seen some attempts at making unarmed combat viable, and a few have even found success. This, however, was the first build out there (to my knowledge - originally posted several years ago) to do so without the aid of looping and/or stacking exploits. This build delivers unarmed combat that is not simply viable, but truly effective and engaging. I complement this with several other tactics, to deliver a dynamic, streamlined experience from start to finish.
This would not have been possible without a TON of fantastic research and analysis by James. His efforts have been nothing short of phenomenal, and much of his work directly inspired this build.
THE REGULATOR
Regulators are elite Khajiit guards of the sovereign city of Rimmen. Trained by veterans of the city’s gladiator team and masters from local Khajiiti temples, the Regulators are unparalleled in hand-to-hand combat, archery, and alchemy. Some say the most skilled Regulators possess traces of the legendary Voice of the Mane.
After hearing reports of Skyrim’s Khajiit trade caravans siphoning large quantities of moon sugar from Rimmen’s sugarcane shipments, the city dispatches a master Regulator to investigate. And thus, our story begins….
Race » Khajiit
Stone » The Lord
Major Skills » Alchemy, Archery
Minor Skills » Conjuration, Heavy Armor, Block
Attributes » 2 Health / 1 Stamina / 0 Magicka
Essential Shout » Marked for Death
Note that acquiring the Ring of the Beast will require you to side with the Volkihar. Cure your vampirism ASAP, as it is not a part of roleplay/gameplay!
If you'd rather focus on defense than offense, Ahzidal's Helmet is a fine alternative. I find most helms look rather silly on Khajiit characters, so I wore the circlet when I played on Xbox. On PC, I used the Helmet Toggle mod to gain the effects of Ahzidal's Helm without having to see it on my toon.
THE BUILD
Thanks to James’s research, this build brings several awesome new methods to the table, allowing a couple of normally weak/unorthodox play styles to shine.
To get things started, Faendal can train you up to level 50 Archery for free. Grab the Gloves of the Pugilist next, and pick up a crossbow and steel bolts from Fort Dawnguard — that will serve you well until you can summon a Bound Bow. Grab a set of Ancient Nord armor from the ghost outside of Kjenstag Ruins any night, to get the right aesthetic prior to acquiring Ahzidal's set.
A STERLING ARCHER
The Bound Bow is ideal for several reasons:
- Being zero-weight, it affords quicker drawing and firing.
- You never need to stockpile arrows.
- It has the highest base damage of any bow in the game.
When you pick up the Ring of the Beast, grab the Ring of the Erudite as well: It will allow you to conjure the Bound Bow without investing attribute points in Magicka in the early game, before you pick up the Adept Conjuration perk. Once you obtain that perk, you can summon the bow with less than 100 Magicka, at which point you should abandon the Ring of the Erudite.
At 100 Archery and with all relevant perks, the Bound Bow will do roughly 125 damage per shot. And for the sadists out there, this build has several means of taking that power even further — several times that much damage per shot!
Bow bashes can be quicker and more accurate than arrows in close quarters. Bashing induces stagger, giving you time to switch to unarmed or apply a poison. With Deadly Bash, the Mystic Bound Bow does a solid 30 bash damage. And as with archery, this value can be easily augmented several times over, such that a single bash can kill many lesser opponents.
UNARMED & DANGEROUS
Allowing for variations in your choice of gauntlets, the Regulator has a respectable base Unarmed damage (mine was 65, with Daedric gauntlets). But respectable isn't enough; we want our enemies to be pissing themselves with fear. Consequently, the Regulator's true badassery lies in the fact that this base unarmed value increases by nearly 6 points (9% × 65 = 5.85) for every second that Marked for Death is active! Furthermore, he can instantly double his unarmed damage — including that per second Marked for Death bonus — by drinking a simple potion: the custom brew The Beast Within, described below.
That +9% damage per second bonus, and the 2x damage potion multiplier, also apply to bashes and fired arrows, as explained below.
POTENT POTABLES
Through dedicated training in the noble sciences of herblore and alchemy, the Regulator is able to brew some truly incredible potions. All calculations listed below assume +66% Fortify Alchemy from worn gear. I suggest using Muiri’s Ring and any three items of Major Alchemy. If you don't want to join the Dark Brotherhood, the Ring of Pure Mixtures is your next best bet, along with one standard Alchemy item, one Major Alchemy item, and one Extreme Alchemy item.
The Beast Within
Effect » Double physical damage for 60 seconds (arrows, bashes, and claws)
Requires » Canis Root & Juniper Berries
Argument » 2x damage from all arrows, bashes, and unarmed attacks. On top of all that, you can grow both ingredients in your Hearthfire home, allowing bulk harvesting quickly and easily. Did someone say “synergy”?
Tonic of Rimmen
Effect » Fortify Health by 100 points for 60 seconds, Restore 156 Health
Requires » Blue Mountain Flower & Wheat
Argument » This is a simple potion to make, but very useful, since the Regulator uses neither Smithing nor Enchanting to compensate for an average armor set. The Lord helps to mitigate some damage, but you’ll still need to heal sometimes.
ON YOUR MARK
By now, many blog members know that Marked for Death lowers enemy AR by 75 points per second. You may also be aware that this continues to have an effect into the negatives. But I think a lot of people still write off this Shout, thinking that it takes too long to show any “significant effect”.
Well, this is the wrong way to look at it. To quote James: “If there was a shout that made the base strength of your weapons increase by 5% every second … who here wouldn't use that all the time?” And that’s the right way of looking at Marked for Death. Because that’s essentially what it does — except it’s actually +9% per second!
If you are interested in learning more about Marked for Death, check out this discussion by James for a comprehensive breakdown of this Shout’s uses and how they apply to this build.
Level 35 perk spread. Click to embiggen.
ROLEPLAYING NOTES
As your character develops, you simulate the training/development of a Regulator as he would have experienced back in Rimmen. Progression is fairly natural as you unlock better heavy gear. Ahzidal’s armor may not be the most powerful, but it’s solid enough, it looks awesome on the Regulator, and it has a useful effect.
Around town, it is best to avoid dealing with the local riffraff. Many Nords harbor distrust of Khajiit, and you are not in Skyrim to cause any disputes. It is probably best therefore to avoid the Civil War line. Instead, focus more on gathering intelligence on the Khajiit caravans, and on simply exploring Skyrim as you hone your skills.
In the endgame, you may decide that your investigation has come to a head, and you can decide whether the caravans are guilty or innocent — and how you deal with them. Whether you are lawful or chaotic, honorable or corrupt, is up to you. I like to imagine that apart from protecting the city of Rimmen and its representatives, the Regulators would have a fairly lax sense of morality … Mine was not above a few crimes here and there if it aided him on his mission.
CLOSING COMMENTS
Again, I want to stress that James deserves the bulk of the credit on this one. All the core gameplay mechanics of this build came directly from his discoveries documented in the Tips & Tricks group. If you learned anything at all from reading this build, you owe it to yourself to read his material there.
Also be aware that keeping the [inactive] Bound Bow spell in one hand may disable unarmed killcams. So if you're more interested in those sweet, sweet death blows, go ahead and hotkey the Bound Bow spell so you can easily toggle its presence in your hand as desired.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!
Replies
I've always enjoyed reading your building Teccam, btw you hit Rank:Adept, one more like and you've hit Expert
My mind is blown. I had no idea a potion of fortify marksman could boost both archery and unarmed damage, and you’ve put them both together and made it so seamless to switch between the two. Where did you come up with such a creative idea?
Wow, this is a criminally underrated build. I love the gameplay goal. It seems like a nice break from going through the same old questlines again. Builds that have you make your own questline are very neat, and this one is certainly one of those.
And then of course there's the brilliant gameplay mechanics, but I believe that goes without saying.
Hey guys! I'm trying out this build for the first time and I'm a bit confused about the perk spread. I don't really understand how the "Two-Handed" tree fits here. So sorry if I'm missing something obvious. Thanks for your help and really awesome build Teccam!
I think it's supposed to be the Archery tree from what I'm reading