I absolutely love the Elder Scrolls vampire bloodlines. Given that I definitely needed some boosting in the "Argonian build" department, I thought that the power of the Thrafey from the Iliac Bay would best be suited for a healing warrior. The Thrafey, as you will see, have the power to restore damaged tissue. With reading this lore, I knew I could interpret this power into a few cool ways that fit this build nicely.
***Big, big thanks to Vazgen yet again for the awesome pics! Sweet artistic take on the shots!***
The Thrafey
The Thrafey vampire bloodline is found in the Iliac Bay, most notably the regions of Daenia, Dwynnen, Ykalon, and Urvaius. Ykalon, a region known to house an ancient stronghold of the Blades, is where this particular vampire comes from. This specific region plays a bit into the equipment choice to which this Argonian uses as you will see with the use of katana and dai-katana weapons.
The Thrafey are gifted with the power to restore damaged tissue. At first thought, I knew that the Histskin power fits absolutely perfectly with this build. It provides extreme health regeneration for 60s, making an Argonian a near invincible warrior for a short period of time. Given the Thrafey can heal and restore tissue, I decided to take on some other aspects I knew would fit very well, some coming from the DLC Dawnguard, as some of those spells get overlooked at times:
- Restoration - Healing spells, protection from the undead, and heal other spells are a key player for the Thrafey. Not only do healing spells restore tissue over time or immediately, they also can heal others AND the undead thanks to Necromantic Healing and Heal Undead. Utilizing these spells, the Thrafey can restore the tissue of not only his own body, but the body of his raised, undead allies, making necromancy a suitable path of magic for this build.
- Conjuration - You guessed it. Restoration spells from Dawnguard can heal undead, so we need some zombies! Raising temporary zombies from slain enemies, your new undead allies provide a sense of "defense" and "shield" effect that is extremely effective. Having 2 powerful Revenants lead into battle to take the heat while you constantly heal them makes for effective battle planning and takes the difficulty off of you. I decided not to take Dead Thralls as they are not even needed. Strong Revenants doing your bidding for a boosted time due to dual casting and Necromage make for formidable warriors for more than enough time.
- Enchanting - The coolest skill in the game. Take any effects and customize gear to your specific playstyle. Fortify health and health regeneration rates are key here. The ratio I tried to stay close to was a 1/4/0, giving most of my attention to my health pool. This not only makes us even more steadfast in battle, but increases our base regeneration a bit more in terms of numbers. Constantly healing with an extremely large health pool creates a very strong defense when we are not blocking.
Build
Race: Argonian Vampire
Stone: The Lady - Added regeneration rates
Major Skills: Restoration, One Handed, Two Handed (Yes, two handed!), Enchanting
Minor Skills: Conjuration, Smithing, Light Armor
Dragon Shouts: Marked for Death, Drain Vitality, Aura Whisper, Dragon Aspect
Perks -Level 61
Apparel:
- Head - Diadem of the Savant. Sometimes overlooked, but provides the "Light Armor" slot as a circlet, making the Light Armor perks worth it.
- Chest - Red Vampire Armor. Fortify Health/Health Regen
- Hands - Vampire Gauntlets. Fortify One Handed
- Feet - Vampire Boots. Fortify Stamina
- Ring/Amulet - Ring of Erudite/Enchanted Ring. Fortify (Magic School)/Health/Health Regen
- Weapons -
- Blades Sword - Enchanted with Absorb Health and Absorb Stamina/Magicka
- Harkon's Sword - Awesome sword to use for this build. Will steal Health, Stamina, and Magicka as a vampire, yet the charges run out quickly. Keeping a large amount of soul gems on hand help with this!
- Ebony Blade - One HELL of a doomsday weapon. This bad boy not only fits in with the Blades sword theme, but is absolutely ridiculous. Given the new patch update, the Ebony Blade will now be governed solely on Two Handed perks, meaning it will work as intended. Going through the process of upgrading this monster, it will steal 30hp per hit. As you will see in the gameplay, it plays a key endgame role to the seemingly unusual choice to perk both one handed and two handed trees.
Gameplay and Tactics
The Thrafey thrives off of healing himself at all times during combat. This is achieved in multiple ways through a myriad of methods which synergies to bring your character to full health even in the harshest of environments.
- Blades sword + Healing spell - This is your go-to offensive/defensive tactic. Constantly having your healing spell in your left hand (Healing -> Fast Healing -> Close Wounds -> Grand Healing) keeps you in the fray at all times, never having to pop potions or pause the game. It is extremely fast paced and is thrilling to take hits left and right and barely feel a thing after healing.
- Ebony Blade + Histskin - This is your Argonian berserk mode. Histskin makes your healing rate shoot up like crazy, and combined with a fast attacking health absorbing sword with sweep like the Ebony Blade, it makes you an absolute tank. Before attaining the Ebony Blade, it is extremely satisfying to change up playstyles, fire up Histskin, and conquer with spinning power attacks all over your foes, decimating everything in your path.
- Guardian Circle + Ebony Blade + Histskin - Pretty much pure invincibility. Histskin plus the 20hp/sec from Guardian Circle on top of Ebony Blade absorb? Intense...
- Revenant + Necromantic Healing/Heal Undead - Making your raised dead tanking shields of restored tissue is a great strategy. If you are coming down off of your berserk and want to cool off and hang back, let your strong summons charge in with support.
On top of everything else, it is good to note the Turn Undead spells (single target) and Repel Undead spells (area target) will stun any undead, no matter how strong. This is effectively a spell-based shield bash against even the toughest of undead opponents. It is a fantastic tactic to stun enemy targets as your zombies go to town.
Light armor and smithing are easy choices. Light on your feet and a great aesthetic with the red armor, giving your Thrafey an even more "bloodthirsty" look. Smithing allows you to sharpen your blades sword, but unfortunately, the Ebony Blade cannot be smithed due to its magical properties. The blade gets it power from its intense life absorb.
Restoration and Conjuration are the basis for the build. Necromage, as with any vampire, makes your skills and spells much more powerful for maximizing effectiveness. As a Thrafey, any boost to healing is welcome and summons will last longer. The decision to use both one handed and two handed perks came from the unnecessarily annoying glitch with the Ebony Blade, but thankfully this is fixed with the 1.9 patch, meaning the perk trees will benefit you in both sword spell and berserk modes, giving the playstyle a refreshing feel when you may get bored of the hack n' slash ways of any warrior.
I hope you enjoy this build. It is such a pleasure to try and capture lore into a build and I think I nailed one of my favorite styles as a vampire. The Thrafey is just another bloodline of many I hope to make into a build!
- H
Replies
This is really cool, love the build!
Henson! Another great build of yours. Also you hit Rank:Apprentice