“Serana!” the distant, muffled cry met the vampire's ears just a moment too late. The soft hissing of the Elven arrow accompanied the warning, giving the woman only a second to raise her arm in hopes to protect her more valuable organs. The shot- while not fatal- tore through the soft fabric of her sleeve and buried itself deep within the pale flesh of her forearm. Its moonstone tip protruded from the other side; sudden extraction would be unlikely and any kind of healing would prove useless.
As the woman feinted tears and choked back the cries that wanted to spill from her lips, she scanned the twilight for signs of the archer. More directly, however, her eyes fell upon a group of heavy-armored cultists, each fighting for the chance to reach her first. Through gritted teeth, she whispered curses upon them. Her uninjured arm extended, dropping the simple dagger in exchange for a far more damaging destruction spell. Even if weaponry would do little against their ugly, yellow armor, her spells could tear through their ashen flesh and brittle bone.
Her fingertips sparked and fizzled as the spell attempted to surface, surging her body in a new wave of panic. The arrow in her arm dripped blood and water in equal volumes; it was a poison to drain her reserves. As the Cultists descended upon her, all she could do was take up her dagger once more and hope she remained upright long enough to avoid her long-overdue death.
The first to reach her raised his sword for a forceful downwards swing, but the motion was never brought to completion. A dark, metallic bolt found refuge in the smallest of openings between his helmet and pauldron. Choking and writing, the warrior dropped the weapon and fell to his knees. The display slowed his companions a pace or two, buying the vampire enough time to recollect her thoughts and put some distance between her and the would be murderers.
At her retreat, she was passed by an equally heavily-armored warrior, but the form was much more familiar- much more relieving. Silver plates and gray leathers created a shimmering glow under the mix of the falling light of Magnus and the rising lights of Secunda and Masser. The Adjudicator met the group of cultists head on, axe meeting sword and mace with equal fury. Blessed with a brief moment of respite, Serana forced herself to remove the arrow from her arm. A snap of the tip and the will-power to rip the shaft from her tender flesh was all it took, but the pain tore a scream from her lips.
Her cry was met in equal measure by the helmet-muffled scream of one of the cultists. A spell from the Adjudicator rattled his body within the armor. His blood turned to sickles within his flesh, leaving him howling and begging for relief. A quick, unguarded swing from her axe answered his pleas as his head rolled across the ash-covered earth. Unmoved by the death, a second cultist charged into the fray. Her mace battered the distracted warrior from behind to send her staggering forwards. The woman was quick to recover however, spinning around with unnatural speed to catch the mace mid-swing in the crook of her axe. There was only a faint squeak of fear from the cultist before she was flung backwards, her body taking the full power of an electricity spell.
The final cultist remained at full strength, carefully watching and waiting for his opponent to tire herself out. As he approached The Adjudicator, his confident taunt rang out through the night, “When Lord Miraak appears, all will bear witness! He is the True Dragonborn!”
The woman grinned between panting breaths. She responded with equal confidence, her vibrant Aldmeri voice ringing through the otherwise silent twilight, “Your 'lord' can't even leave his prison. How pathetic...” As the cultist sneered, she continued, “I am the Judge, Jury, and Executioner. I am the Safe-Guard of Nirn. I am the Dragonborn.” She didn't wait for his response in either word or deed; he was not going to fall and beg for her mercy. Instead, she fastened her grip firmly to her axe as a shout ripped through the body of the Dunmer, “Gaan Lah Haas!”
The cultist fell to his knees as his strength, magicka, and health waned with increasing force. He could not rise to his feet nor could he raise his sword. All assets of his being failed him in terrifying unison. His eyes fell upon the Adjudicator as the Altmer approached weaving spell and axe as one. The weapon hummed in a magical chorus as she reared back the weapon, the arc burning in an almost holy, cleansing glow- a beautiful and horrific last sight. It broke up his skull, sparing no mercy but granting the kindness of a quick death.
Grasping her blood-drenched arm, Serana finally staggered toward the Altmer, a reluctant smile on her lips. “Well, at least you had it handled on your own,” she teased softly.
The Adjudicator was relieved as she looked upon the vampire once more. Pulling the helm from her head, she tossed it aside to get a better look at her ally's injuries. “How bad is it?”
“I've seen worse,” she responded confidently, wincing as the woman placed a hand over the bloodied hole and cast an undead healing spell. The vampire studied the Altmer for a long while. Her sunken cheeks and pale skin seemed a little more sickly. Her glowing, orange eyes were accented with dark circles. She smiled, but it was delayed and weak. The Adjudicator was tired, and rightfully so. “We've been running for days now, Cindrel... Maybe it's time for a rest.”
“Miraak is waiting.” The brisk reply nearly cut her off. “We're close now.”
“You're close now,” Serana reminded her, gently dusting the ash from her hair. The kind gesture gave the warrior pause. “I can't follow you. This is something you have to do alone. That's why you need to be at top form. Miraak might be waiting, but you said it yourself: he can't leave his prison.”
The Adjudicator removed her hand from the wound, staring at the freshly mended flesh. “You're... you're right,” she resigned, drawing a deep breath as she cast her gaze away. Serana nodded gratefully, a kind smile mirroring her savior's. She retrieved the Altmer's helm as she continued, “We could use a break anyways. You need time to recover and I... I could use a drink.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hey y’all! Kendrix here once again to bring you another build! This one has been a few months in the making but I got it finished just in time for Altmer April- you know, everyone’s favorite month of the year. Haha. Combining the Altmer’s Graces and the Vampire’s Strength and Determination was a long time coming for me, but I’ve added a few little twists along the way. I hope you enjoy it!
Andromeda- Unique Standing Stones of Skyrim: Overhauls the Standing Stones in a more in-depth way.
Classic Classes and Birthsigns: Allows the player to choose a class and birthsign at the beginning of the game to help build the character early on. For this particular build, I chose to create my own class (see Lore below) and chose to go with a 3rd Era Birthsign.
Imperious- Races of Skyrim: Overhauls the racial perks and abilities of the characters in-game.
Ordinator- Perks of Skyrim: Overhauls the perk system to expand upon each skill tree, allowing for a more precise build customization.
Sacrosanct- Vampires of Skyrim: Overhauls the abilities of vampires in the game by adding new spells, powers, and quests, as well as improving and expanding upon the abilities in the Vampire Lord skill tree.
Historically, Vampires have always been pegged as evil creatures with dark, malicious intentions. The creatures of the night have been depicted as having an insatiable hunger and lust for power, while their cold, dead hearts leave little room for understanding of mortality and compassion on weaker beings. With terrifying villains such as Harkon placing their dark powers on full display, the curse has become a common fear in the world of Skyrim. I, however, have become fascinated with the prospect of having a “good” aligned vampire: someone with the excessive strength and resolve that comes with the undeath, but who's drive is the safe-guarding of others rather than the promotion of self.
The Twilight Adjudicator is a beautiful mix of justice, honor, and immortality. Taking the best parts of her disease and viciously combating the negatives, this warrior strives to do the most good in the world of Tamriel. Hastily bestowed the role of Dragonborn, her ambitions to keep the world safe are only amplified. She takes on the roles of Judge, Jury, and Executioner, relying on few others to actually achieve the good they promise in the world. After all, who better to look after the world than someone who can live forever?
This build explores all three major questlines, developing The Twilight Adjudicator's role as a safe-guard in the above listed stages. Additional quests to protect and defend Skyrim’s people, combat her disease through the use of the White Phial and other alternative methods, and live a sense of a “normal” life are also expanded upon in the Roleplay/Gameplay.
Race:
Altmer. Elegance, arcane prowess, and combatant ferocity blend perfectly to create The Adjudicator. As an Altmer, a unique blend of checks and balances keep this build interesting. With weakness to magic attacks, her “Contingency” ability allows her to store healing spells in a matrix, releasing them automatically as her health falls below a certain point. Her “Gold and Glass” ability inherently allows her Magicka and Stamina reserves to regenerate at a much faster speed when they fall below half, but her armor and already weakened magicka resistances decrease sharply. To top it all off, her “Elven Supremacy” allows her to be rewarded by her perfectionist desires, granting 10% stronger skills when she reaches 100 in a skill tree.
Standing Stone:
The Lord Stone. Physical strength and mental fortitude go hand and hand. The Adjudicator relies greatly on her own strength to see to it that the scourges on the land are finally laid to rest, but a little help from The Lord Stone doesn’t hurt. Under its effects, her physical and magicka resistances get a nice buffer- a fantastic help for one who suffers from weakened resistances.
***Additionally, using The Warrior, The Mage, or The Lover stones early game allows her to level up some of the more pesky skills such as Heavy Armor and Destruction at a faster rate. The Lord Stone becomes essential when dealing with higher level enemies and mages however, so use discretion when changing signs.
Birthsign:
The Lady. The battle prowess of The Lord with the charming elegance of The Lady. Those born under this sign are said to be kind and tolerant, an ideal combination for one who carries the weight of Nirn on her shoulders. In addition to her charm and kind heart, The Lady grants The Adjudicator a nice boost to health and a slight magicka regeneration, even during daylight hours.
Class:
Custom. (Using the “Classic Classes and Birthsigns” mod.)
Specialization Bonus: Health
Combat Skills: Heavy Armor, Archery, One-Handed
Stealth Skills: Speech, Alchemy
Magic Skills: Destruction, Restoration
Secondary Skill: Athletics
Blessing/Divine:
Blessing of Akatosh, Blessing of Mara. The Dragon-God of Time and the Lady of Love smile upon those who wish to do good in their world. Using the blessings of these Divines, The Adjudicator puts her magicka talents to even greater use. The Blessing of Akatosh can be used at any time to give her a little boost to magicka regeneration. The Blessing of Mara, however, can be used when healing herself or allies, but is particularly useful when paired with the healing spells stored in “Contingency”.
***Additionally, once reaching Solstheim, the Blessing of Azura can be obtained, granting an additional resistance to magic that can help quell some of the negative effects of The Adjudicator’s weaknesses.
Supernaturals:
Vampire. A Child of the Night that has chosen to walk in the Light. The Adjudicator, already complex in her Altmer nature, continues to grow in strength and weakness when taking on her Vampire form. Her supernatural ability grants her total resistance to diseases, poisons, and frost spells, but a severe weakness to flame spells and the inability to regenerate health, magicka, or stamina in the sunlight. As an Altmer Vampire, her “Wine and Revelry” ability allows her to regenerate magicka faster for a short while, and her “Fortitude” allows her to come back to life as long as she has recently fed. Her enemies cannot escape her judgement; if she falls, she only comes back stronger.
Companions:
Yes. Stand beside her or step out of the way. While she may not fully rely on powerful people to make good on their promises, The Adjudicator’s judgement on others is rarely wrong. Anyone willing to stand by her side to defy the evil in the world is more than welcome to stand at her back, but certain individuals hold a special place in her heart. Serana has proven herself more than faithful during their journeys together. Members of the Dawnguard that are willing to see past her vampiric appearance- such as Agmaer- also make fantastic companions. Teldryn Sero and other Dunmer willing to defend their island home can journey around Solstheim and give her a better lay of the land. In the command of an army, or in the company of one, The Adjudicator takes pleasure standing beside her allies.
Factions:
Dawnguard, Graybeards, Blades. Traveling Skyrim and the lands beyond allows The Adjudicator to meet a number of factions and interesting people. So long as they are sound-minded and have the best interest of others at heart, she wouldn’t mind joining their ranks- whether for a battle or for a lifetime. The Dawnguard offers her first taste at camaraderie, while the Graybeards teach patience and peace with self and others. The Blades are a challenging unit, looking to expand their numbers and evolve. These factions, as well as a few others, may very well need The Adjudicator’s judgement, though they may not like her execution.
Archetypes:
Dark Knight. A Beacon of Hope by embracing the Night. The Adjudicator is a unique class that blends elements of the Knight and Paladin classes, but gives them a somewhat darker twist. Her goals and ambitions remain good-natured, but embracing her Vampirism, her dark indulgences and needs surface, despite how desperately she tries to combat them. A champion of good but in a cloak of evil, she must constantly battle herself in order to maintain the proper mindset to face the true evils around her.
Weapons:
Dawnguard Crossbow, Dawnguard War Axe. A testament to her roots and a reminder of her humble beginnings. The Adjudicator’s prized weaponry consists of her Dawnguard War Axe and the corresponding Crossbow. Given to her by the very people that helped mold her into who she is today, the weaponry is irreplaceable in her mind. The War Axe boasts an inherent damage boost when dealing with other unruly vampires, while the Crossbow can be improved/recreated as stronger models become available. The duo helped her look death in the eye and return unscathed; they will help her pass judgement on any soul that comes her way.
***Auriel's Bow. In addition to the Dawnguard Crossbow and War Axe, I found myself carrying around Auriel’s Bow and a good stock of Blessed Elven Arrows. Dealing massive amounts of damage to vampires and draugr alike, it served as a great weapon to have on hand.
There were a couple more weapons I carried around in game, but I’ll talk about that more in the Gameplay/Roleplay Section.
Armor:
Dawnguard Heavy Armor Set. Covered from head to toe, The Adjudicator doesn’t need to worry about trick blows or deadly sunlight. The Dawnguard Heavy Armor Set whispers of her time with the Vampire Hunters, even if those days are long behind her. The Heavy Armor protects against the heaviest of hitters, allowing her to move in close to deal just as much damage to her aggressors. Any Heavy Armor set would suit her well, however. Just make sure it keeps the sun at bay; it’s the only thing more annoying than an arrow to the knee.
Spells/Scrolls:
Destruction, Restoration. Send enemies to their knees and allies to their feet. Combining harsh judgement and healing mercy in the midst of battle is just one of The Adjudicator’s many talents. While destruction magics are at the forefront of her mind, knowing a good healing spell or two has saved more than a few lives.
Destruction:
Vampiric Drain
Blood Seed
Blood Brand
Sparks
Lightning Bolt
Thunderbolt
Restoration:
Quick Healing
Healing Hands
Necromantic Healing
Powers:
Vampiric, Racial. Mortal and immortal abilities merge. Inherently, The Adjudicator has a large variety of Active and Passive Powers that she can make use of throughout her lifetime. She embraces her strengths and combats her weaknesses all to better protect the world around her. Enemies of good beware: The Judge of Nirn awaits.
Active Powers:
Contingency- place spells in an auto-trigger matrix to cast for free when a condition is met
Vampire’s Will- clouds a person’s mind to end combat for a short period
Passive Powers:
Blood Knight- feed on a staggered person in combat
Path of Humanity- Vampiric thirst is delayed
Vicissitude- blood spells are stronger when target is affected by Blood Seed
Shouts:
Drain Vitality, Unrelenting Force, Bend Will. An axe may cut down one foe, but a voice can cut down hundreds. While not one to turn down learning any word of power she may come across, The Adjudicator uses three main shouts to deal with those she comes across. Drain Vitality can weaken the toughest foes, bringing them to their knees to await her judgement. Unrelenting Force pushes aside all who would overtake her, giving her a moment to recover and decide on a new course of action. Bend Will warps the minds of any she sets in her sights, placing them in her power alone to divulge any information or to await any execution.
Accessories
Hoods, Face Masks, Gloves. When armor isn’t a necessity, but going outside is, The Adjudicator always has the essentials on hand. Hoods, masks and gloves, shield the more delicate features of the warriors appearance from the harsh heat of the sun. Sometimes a nice dress is called for, and a lady has to look fashionable, you know? (These articles were purely used for the roleplaying perspective, but I chose to include them for any who might want a little more immersion. There are a variety of mods that add face masks, but I used Immersive Armors.)
Stat Placement: 1:2:1.
Using Magicka and Stamina quite excessively in combat, The Adjudicator places points in all three areas at a 1:2:1 ratio. However, a short list of spells makes the need for a huge pool of Magicka unnecessary, so it can be capped off close to 280. From there, continue placing points on Health and Stamina at a 2:1 ratio.
Due to playing through the three major questlines and leaving room for many more additional quests, this build can be played to an extremely high level. However, all available points become available around Level 60.
Major Perks
Heavy Armor. A heavy-armored warrior to shoulder the troubles of Nirn. The Adjudicator’s main defense is her solid, full-body armor, that can protect from the most devastating blows and most piercing sunlight. With perks like “Defiance” and “Born to Fight”, she becomes even stronger as her enemies attack- granting her increased speed and less damage taken. Further, “Out of the Inferno” allows her to resist all kinds of spells, combating her strong weaknesses to the destructive arcane.
Archery. Deliver judgement from afar. Marksman proficiency allows The Adjudicator to deal damage before opponents even see her coming, even if sneaking is not her forte. Perks like “Snipe” and “Long Shot” allow her to make even the most distant shots count by boosting the damage to targets a certain distance away. Further, “Steady Hand” and “Quick Shot” improve her accuracy and speed. Whether by bolt or blade, no evil can escape her coming wrath.
One-Handed. The Adjudicator’s main offence and her means of ridding Nirn of evil lies in her One-Handed attacks. “Bleed Like a Lamb” and “Mangle” ensure that those hit by her attacks won’t wander too far as they suffer from great amounts of bleed damage. Perks such as “Furious Strength” and “Thundering Blow” only give her more strength, reducing the stamina needed for power attacks and granting a free attack after a rapid succession of hits. Her justice is devastatingly delivered, but her mercy is a swift end.
Alchemy. Her search for alternative means to satisfy her thirst lead her to an even greater discovery; The Adjudicator can create the most fatal of brews. Alchemy allows her to create poisons to drain, stifle, paralyze, and enrage a large variety of opponents by the very touch of her bolts or blade. “Alkahest” allows her poisons to ignore the armor of her targets, piercing them down to the bone with the toxins. Further, “Bottomless Cup” allows each poison to be used for an additional hit, going twice as far as the initial brew should have lasted.
Minor Perks
Destruction. The flow of blood and electricity are The Judge’s to command. The Adjudicator uses a variety of spells, though her spark spells benefit more from her perks. “Static Field” ensures a large chunk of health is taken from an opponent regardless of the strength of the spell. Further, “Nova Charge” keeps track of the spark spells, detonating a massive explosion after a certain number of attacks..
Restoration. Death in one hand, life in the other. The Adjudicator serves as a safeguard and caretaker, so it’s only fitting she’s allowed to heal those she sees fit to live. “Warrior’s Flame” allows her to randomly heal her allies in combat with a chance to also heal herself. “Descending Light”, “Edgewalker”, and “Respite” allow her to regenerate all attributes while in combat, giving her a greater advantage over her foes.
Speech. A woman of word and action. If her sound judgement and kind words cannot sway her opponents, she will rely on her Thu’um to teach them to listen. “Force Redoubled” has a chance to significantly reduce the cooldown on each Shout, letting her deliver her verdict again and again. “Hurricane Force” makes her shouts more powerful with each level of her Speech. Finally, “And The Universe Listens” allows her to restore a portion of her health, magicka, and stamina with her Thu’um, giving her strength while sapping it away from her enemies. They will learn to heed her warnings or they will fall to her sentence.
Range:
While not the main offensive, ranged attacks are the first source of The Twilight Adjudicator's damage. Sneaking is not one of her many graces, but keen eyes and steady hands make every long distance shot count. The use of the crossbow and a large variety of bolts gives her the upper-hand early on in a fight. Normal steel and dwarven bolts can take out a variety of enemies before close combat has a chance to initiate, while specialty bolts such as spark and flame can be used on higher level targets to drain massive amounts of health and magicka.
Ranged attacks also allow The Adjudicator to deliver brews and poisons to their targets, damaging their reserves before they even have a chance to cast a spell or charge a power attack. Applying the poisons just before attacking may seem tedious, but it allows her to specially choose the right drip for the job. Drain Magicka poisons can significantly even the playing field when susceptible to flame and spell. Drain Stamina and Health potions take out heavy hitters and annoying footmen from afar. Paralysis potions are great when dealing with high leveled enemies or in dire circumstances. Regardless of the brew, using this ranged method is sure to put her at the advantage.
Melee:
Melee serves as the main damage dealer for The Adjudicator. Heavy armor allows her to get in close and take some heavy hits while her axe deals some serious, lingering bleed effects to the targets. A combination of blocking and bashing can deflect some of the more serious damages, but her main objective is to deal with enemies as quickly as possible.
Similarly to the Range method, The Adjudicator can apply poisons to her blade prior to and during a fight to help keep the battle going in her favor. Some of the easier to find, cheaper brews can be used repeatedly for these types of attacks while the stronger, expensive poisons can be reserved for the long distance attacks.
Followers and companions can prove invaluable during Melee attacks, especially when dealing with multiple enemies at once. As a distraction and additional damage, they allow The Adjudicator to focus on a single enemy, preferably the most difficult in the group. Poisons and attacks could prove fatal to even the toughest of allies however, so she has to be mindful of her swing at all times.
Magic:
Finally, introducing Magic based attacks allows The Adjudicator to tap into some of the better perks of being a vampire. Initially, she will only start out with spark based spells, but these will prove increasingly useful when dealing with mages and other enemies that rely on large pools of Magicka. When approaching a mage proves too difficult or when stamina is in short supply, she can rely on these spells to get her out of a bind- or at the very least keep her alive until the reserves begin to replenish.
Blood based magics are much more difficult to find and can only be learned by progressing vampirism. While she's reluctant to learn the spells due to the inherent necessity of feeding on and draining victims, the most basic of blood spells serve well enough throughout the entire game. Cycling between Blood Seed and Blood Brand, The Adjudicator deals significant damage over time to all sized targets.
Finally, her Altmer Contingency allows her to store certain spells and cast them freely when certain conditions are met. For most of the playthrough, I took advantage of this ability and used quick healing spells to give her health whenever it dropped to a certain percentage. The little buffer allows her to concentrate on the task at hand without focusing so much on keeping her health up with potions or food. Additionally, some destruction spells can be stored in this matrix, but the results were finicky and only worked a fraction of the time. It is highly recommended that restoration spells are left in the Contingency Matrix, but use additional spells at your own risk.
Throughout the playthrough, The Twilight Adjudicator solidifies herself as a genuinely kindhearted person with a strong sense of “good” morals and values. She seeks to help people- all people- in everything she does, which ultimately gets her into more trouble than she bargains for. Despite the needs her afflictions place her under, The Adjudicator is constantly placing the well beings of others before her own. The development of this character can be expressed in three stages, The Judge, The Jury, and The Executioner:
The Judge (The Dawnguard Questline)
At the start, The Adjudicator joins the Dawnguard in hopes of quelling the vampire problem that has become prevalent across Skyrim. Her feelings for the supposed fiends changes when she rescues the mysterious Serana. During this stage, her morality is tested for the first time. Who is worthy of defending? Do certain beings- living or dead- have less of a worth than others? Serana's own conflicted feelings about herself, her parents, and the entire prophecy only add fuel to the fire. During this stage, she must learn how to be a proper judge of others and discover how her judgement has the power to shape all of Tamriel.
The Dawnguard questline also serves to introduce The Adjudicator's vampirism. While ignoring the invitation from Harkon, she chooses to later accept the gift from Serana as it is the only way to enter the Soul Cairn and be in top form to contend with the dangers therein. Isran and the Dawnguard's reaction to her new powers- despite everything she's done- is an alarming realization that not everyone has the good of all in mind- only the good of some. She refuses to seek a cure solely to appease them- embracing the gift that her ally bestowed upon her.
Defeating Harkon can be completed without seeking a cure (seek Additional Mods and Cheats below). The Adjudicator may choose to keep Serana around after their shared experiences to provide a sense of companionship and company.
The Jury (The Main Questline)
News of Helgen brings The Adjudicator rushing to the gates to offer aid. Instead, she finds herself face to face with the world-eater himself. The Defeat of Alduin stages solidifies her role as Tamriel's protector and savior as the gods themselves seem to bless her with the power of the Dragonborn. During this time, The Adjudicator can put to use her new found Thu'um to enhance her powers even more. This questline also brings front and center close-to-home problems including the Skyrim Civil War and the cruelty of the Thalmor.
The Adjudicator’s role as The Jury arises during this stage, especially when dealing with the dragons that call Skyrim their home. This is no more clearly displayed than in interactions with Paarthurnax. Can current actions atone for past sins? Is the cost of a single life worth the sparing of thousands? Only by listening to all accounts- wrong or right, good or evil- will she have a better understanding and clearer judgement. Regardless of if you spare the old dovah or not, the interactions between all characters and The Adjudicator during this time continue to paint the world in a gray, making choices all the more difficult.
The Executioner (The Last Dragonborn Questline)
The final stage of The Adjudicator's growth occurs on the distant island of Solsthiem. Between Cultist attacks, mind-controlled locals, and ominous whispers of Black Books, her judgment and patience is held to the fire. The questline requires The Adjudicator to make extremely tough decisions and fight even tougher battles. All the while, the lure of Hermaeus Mora's secrets batter her mind and tempt her to give into darker indulgences. Decisions must be made and wills carried out; as the Executioner, she can’t afford to spare her blade another moment.
The local Dunmer and Skaal are her top priority, but deeper investigation into the true identity of Miraak and his role prior to being imprisoned in Mora's realm have her questioning if he is just as much a victim as anyone else. Is his mind just as broken as the ones he controls? Can he be redeemed? Is aiding his escape or condemning him all part of the Daedric Prince's plan? The hardest decisions and greatest temptations wait for The Adjudicator in the forgotten realm of Apocrypha. (The option to spare Miraak can be found with the respective mod in the Additional Mods and Cheats section below.)
Additional Gameplay and Roleplay
Beyond these three main quests, there are a plethora of other minor missions and goals that The Adjudicator could achieve. Primarily, she should strive to keep the peace and well-being of others. One way to achieve this is to seek out dangerous people and artifacts to put an end to their terror. From Queen Potema to the Skull of Corruption, Skyrim seemed to be full of malevolent creations that would seek to cause harm across Skyrim. The Adjudicator takes it upon herself to put an end to such ambitions before they have a chance to cause serious harm long term.
While questing across Skyrim, The Adjudicator is sure to find a variety of weapons, armors, and tools that can prove valuable to complete the task at hand. While favoring her crossbow and axe as primary weaponry, objects such as Auriel’s Bow and the Bloodskaal Blade could prove extremely valuable when facing threats across Tamriel. Learning to be flexible and using the “right tool for the job” makes The Adjudicator a much more fearsome opponent, and makes for some very interesting gameplay interactions along the way.
Due to her conflictions between her vampiric needs and strong morals, The Adjudicator is constantly searching for alternative ways to live her life in a civilized society. She is extremely reluctant to feed upon unsuspecting victims and unwilling participants, therefore her bloodlust must be sated in other ways. A majority of her feeding can be filled by encountering bandits and other “immorals” that might stand against her. Feeding on and draining the unsuspecting grow her powers even more, while taking blood from corpses ensures a meal later on (fulfilled with the Harvest Moon ability). Additionally, seeking out Potions of Blood in the world can prove to be a rewarding task when hungry.
Additionally, The Adjudicator seeks to find synthetic forms to sate her primal desires. Alchemy proves to be the closest route to achieving this goal, especially when hearing rumors of the fabled White Phial begin circulating. Animal blood could also prove to be a substitute, but only time will prove the effects of these methods long term. (Using Zim's Immersive Artifacts allows the White Phial to be filled with any potion in the game. Similarly, Hunterborn allows a blood potion add-on to craft blood potions from animals.) Similarly, cooking a blend of hearts and flesh may produce enough blood to make a potion or two- but requires the stomach of plucking the materials from the dead. (Sacrosanct allows the creation of Potions of Blood on a campfire so long as you have the right ingredients.)
Despite all her success and powers, the one thing The Adjudicator looks forward to most is the companionship spent with other people. She wishes to try to live as normal a life as anyone else aside from her Tamriel-shaping roles. She could buy or build a home to lay her head at night. She could adopt children to care for during times of peace. She could find love and marry, or live on the run with her closest companions. Regardless of the life she chooses, The Adjudicator will never truly feel whole unless she has a home and someone to love.
Alternate Start- Live Another Life: Allows player to start the game in a different location other than Helgen.
Amazing Follower Tweaks: Allows player to have multiple followers, edit follower armor and fighting style, and pose followers in different ways.
Hunterborn and Blood Potions for Hunterborn: Adds a hunting dynamic to the game to gather more material from creatures slain and creates the ability to make “blood” potions from game animals.
Immersive Armors: Adds many new, diverse armors to the game.
Miraak- Dragonborn Follower: Creates the option to side with Miraak and fight Hermaeus Mora instead, freeing him from Apocrypha and making him a follower.
The Paarthurnax Dilemma: Creates the option to talk to the Blades about Paarthurnax, continuing the questline without killing him.
Volkihar Knight- Vampire Armor: Adds new vampire armor to the game in heavy and light variants, as well as placing legendary armors in Castle Volkihar.
Zim's Immersive Artifacts: Overhauls the special artifacts in the game, giving them more in-depth and useful effects.
Completing Dawnguard as a Vampire:
As the game stands, right before the final fight with Harkon, Serana will request you speak to Isran to get the Dawnguards help. However, Isran will not speak with you if you don't cure your vampirism. It seems a bit ridiculous to have to cure yourself after all the good you've done for them, so I sought an alternative solution. If you are on PC, and not afraid of using console commands, head to Castle Volkihar without the Dawnguard. Without progressing across the bridge, enter “setstage DLCvq08 40”. This opens the portcullis and allows the fight to start. Proceed with caution! The castle is much harder without the Dawnguard distracting the rest of the vampires.
Zim's White Phial:
With Zim's Immersive Artifacts, it is possible to repair the White Phial yourself and place whatever potion you want to replenish inside. At an Alchemy and Enchanting level of 70, you can activate the alchemy lab in the White Phial shop to begin repairing it. It requires “Cursed Spriggan Sap” (from Nettlebane), Unmelting Snow, and Mammoth Tusk Powder. Once it is repaired, activate the “White Phial Lesser Power” to choose a current potion to place inside. I chose to place a “Potion of Blood” inside.
And that concludes the tale of The Twilight Adjudicator. This build was a blast to play as it had a ton of challenges and problems I set out to overcome while maintaining an overall "good" character. I hope you enjoyed the read and if you decide to play it let me know how it goes! I want to give a major thank you to Ponty for helping me along the way and giving me great counsel on how to improve as a builder. Congrats on winning the contest, my dude! :D
As always, I'm open to any critiques or suggestions to improve so make sure to comment below or leave a like!
Talos Guilde You!!
Replies
First comment/first like (edit: second like, damn it). This is a great build, it is queued up next after my current run. Love the vibe, and this gal and Ponty's Nightguard should start a new vamp Justice League in Tamriel. Lots of cool stuff in here, one of my favorites is a little trick to use Zim's White Phial with a Potion of Blood, never thought of that but it allows the vamp to completely avoid the evil side of vamping. Very smart!
"What is better ? To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort ?". That quote by Paarthurnax has to be my favorite in the whole game, and I feel like your character really embodies the latter option. The whole "hunting to get blood potions as opposed to killing people to feed", joining the DG as a vampire, I love the Blade vibes here.
This is a great build, there is truly not much more I can say. There is for sure a Witchhunter vibe to it, but it is a thing of its own, a completely new class ; and it works, both from a roleplay/lore perspective, and, I think (but I'm going to play the heck out of it just to be sure :D) from a gameplay perspective as well. My only regret would be that the game in itself doesn't allow the freedom to play a vampire as a vampire hunter (once again : Wesley Snipes vibes anyone ?) without using the console but given the final product, what's a little line of code ?
Smart, well-written, one of the best builds I've come across so far. Great job, and thanks a lot for sharing.
Great stuff all round here Kendrix! It's been awesome to see you bringing up some of your gameplay to the same standard as your roleplay and presentation in these last few builds of yours. Backstory & roleplay is a highlight as always and you've really played into the Judge, Jury and Executioner theme; not to mention done a number on the screenshots too! Some very nice lighting in these, the one after the lore section is my favourite. I think your trick with the White Phial is what really helps tie this all together into something unique!
I think the area where you could improve the most would be around how the information is set out. While the content you have here at the moment is good, some of the gameplay details like equipment, skills and combat styles could flow more nicely if they weren't as rigidly structured into individual sections but rather covered together. For example you could cover the one-handed perks, weapons of choice and playstyle at the same time.
Well Kendrix, I gotta say, this is the tops. I love the balancing of the vampiric nature and the hunter of the damned. Nice job
Amazing build!