Hollowjack is the daedra Lord of Mortal Fears and ruler of the demi-plane Detritus. When men and mer pray to their gods for help or mercy, he drains power from their fear, with whispers through his long, sharp teeth. With his words, he strikes fear into the hearts of mortals. With his armor, forged in Oblivion itself, he shrugs off the blows of Nirn's weapons. He destroys all who oppose him with axe and fire. On the 13th of Frostfall he comes to haunt the living. Hollowjack has now made a pact with Hircine. Hircine will lend Hollowjack the power to stay on Nirn forever, as long as he takes the beast blood, embraces the true spirit of the hunt, and sends Hircine the fear energy that he harvests.
Hollowjack, Hircine's Abomination
Race: Nord Werewolf, Battecry will let you fear enemies without using Magicka, and the bonus to Two-handed is helpful. Werewolf form is for your pact with Hircine and will help to chase down feared enemies.
Stats: 2 Magicka/ 2 Health/ 1 Stamina. Stamina is less important, your main goal is to keep enemies scared and then hunt them down.
Standing Stone: Lover then Ritual, Lover is good for early game, while Ritual is good for when you've gotten your skills to a good level.
Spells: Ignite, Courage, Rally, Call of Arms, Fear, Rout, Hysteria, Muffle, Invisibility, Conjure Familiar, Flaming Familiar
Shouts: Animal Alliegence let's you summon various animals to come fight for you, making your "pack." Aura Whisper is good for detecting enemies. Become Ethereal lets you close in on mages and archers. Dismay helps when you're out of Magicka and need a fear effect. Marked for Death and the glitched version of Drain Vitality (learned alongside Marked for Death) both allow you to hurt enemies as they run from you.
Patron: Hircine, Hollowjack shares a connection with him. It is mentioned in books that Sheogorath once challenged Hircine. Hircine went to a hidden realm and created a daedroth and imbued it with beast blood to fight Sheogorath. This daedroth is described as a horrible beast with long teeth and that it was a fearsome sight. This description matches that of Hollowjack. Also, Detritus is a half-plane which could be the "hidden realm" mentioned in the book. Wolves and other strange beasts can be summoned from Detritus. This implies that Detritus is a plane connected to the Hunting Grounds, and also the plane in which Hircine makes new beasts, and that he created Hollowjack to rule over it. Due to this, it is reasonable to say that Hollowjack is Hircine's creation and a powerful half werebeast in his own right.
Skills
Here's the perk spread https://skyrimcalculator.com/502098
You should be level 50 when you're done.
Note: There are some suggestions for grinding skills below, you by no means have to use them if power leveling isn't your style.
Illusion: This is your main way to fear opponents and helps you sneak better. If you take Aspect of Terror after you take Augmented Flames in Destruction, you'll get a 10-15 damage boost from fire spells. With Master of The Mind perk, you can use buffing spells on your raised dead. Keep in mind that different buffing spells stack. Casting muffle is an easy way to level Illusion.
Destruction: This is your long range damage dealer. Aspect of Terror gives a damage boost to fire attacks because fear is counted as a fire effect, just make sure you take it after Augmented Flames. Intense Flames lets you fear enemies with your fire spells. Make sure to pick up Azhidal's Ring of Arcana from the quest Unearthed. The ring gives you the ignite spell, which is actually an extremely powerful spell, because the DoT(damage over time) effect stacks. Ignite can get 21 damage per second with Augmented Flames and Aspect of Terror, and you only need Apprentice Destruction to cast ignite. Destruction can be trained by attacking Shadowmere.
Heavy Armor: Your goal is to keep enemies scared, but this is useful for when you run out of Magicka. No special gimmicks here, just high defense. You can turn your difficulty down and let yourself get hit by enemies to train this.
Two-handed: Battle-axes are the name of the game here. Limbsplitter gives you more DoT while your enemies are running away. However, the main reason this is taken is for Great Critical Charge. In case you didn't know, a silent roll counts as sprinting, so you can activate Great Critical Charge and get a sneak attack that does double, double critical damage. This is your main way to start combat. Like Destruction, Two-handed can be trained on Shadowmere.
Sneak: Like I just mentioned, silent roll/great critical charge is going to be what you use to take strong enemies out. Muffled Movement stacks with the muffle spell, giving you completely silent movement. Silence perk will give you completely silent movement without muffle, so then you can focus on invisibility. You can train this by the Hadvar/Ralof exploit, or by sneak attacking the Greybeards while they're praying.
Conjuration: This is perked for making your Ritual Stone summoned undead stronger, and allowing you to very easily summon familiars. This is also for getting Daedric armor via the Atronach Forge. It's easy to train by casting soul trap on a corpse.
Equipment
Heavy dragon priest mask: This looks like Hollowjack's face and hood. I recommend Otar, because the elemental resistance boost can help in a pinch.
Daedric armor, boots, and gauntlets: Like I said earlier, you can get this from the Atronach Forge. Complete the Conjuration Ritual quest, put the sigil stone in the forge(down in the Midden), put a filled greater or grand soul gem(filled with greater or grand soul), a daedra heart, an ebony ingot, and one void salt into the offering box, and pull the lever. This will give you a random piece of Daedric armor, with a random enchantment. Make sure to save beforehand, so that you can reload and get the piece and enchantment you want. Until you max out Conjuration, just use the strongest heavy armor you can find.
Ring: Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana gives you the powerful ignite spell. The Ring of Hircine can be put on when you want to become a werewolf.
Necklace: Whatever you find that has a useful enchantment.
Aetherial Crown (Optional): By unequipping and reequipping the Aetherial Crown, you can use standing stone powers equipped to the crown more than once per day. Using this with the Ritual Stone can be overpowered, which is why this is optional, but it will let you summon an undead army.
Weapon: A Battle-axe. I chose the Headsman's Axe, but any Battle-axe will do.
Skills/Combos
Reaping: Requires Silent Roll and Great Critical Charge.
A silent roll counts as sprinting, so you can activate Great Critical Charge and get a sneak attack that does double, double critical damage.
Ghostly Sprint: Requires Become Ethereal and Great Critical Charge.
By activating become ethereal, you can sprint and do a running power attack without spending any stamina. Use this to take out long range opponents.
Raise Your Spirits: Requires Ritual Stone, Master of The Mind and Buffing Illusion spells.
Once there are enough dead bodies from your fire and Battle-axe, use the Ritual Stone and Illusion spells to buff them. The different spells stack, so soon you'll have an army that is stronger than when you killed them.
Deadly Dance of Definite Doom: Requires Reaping and Shadowcloak of Nocturnal.
Shadowcloak of Nocturnal makes Hollowjack invisible when sneaking. By using Reaping and then going out and back into sneak, you can become invisible again and repeatedly use Reaping.
Neverending Torment: Requires Marked for Death, Ritual Stone, and Battlecry.
First use Marked for Death to debilitate your opponents, then Battlecry to scare them, Ritual Stone finishes this combo off. Your undead will hunt down your enemies while they're helpless and growing weaker. The best part about this is that it doesn't cost any Magicka to use.
General Gameplay
You've probably seen a build that has two styles of combat before, but what about three? That's right, this build has three styles of combat.
Reaper of Men
Number one is playing it stealthy. Use muffle and invisibility spells, and then go in for the kill with Reaping. Early game, it can be hard to sneak at all, but muffle spells and Muffled Movement perk will make you silent when used together. Later, invisibility will let you kill and then become invisible again, so you can get a few extra kills in. Deadly Dance of Definite Doom will let you kill even more enemies without spending Magicka. Don't forget that Aura Whisper is an invaluable tool for scouting out enemies.
Lord of Mortal Fear
Once you've produced enough corpses, you can drop stealth. Starting off with Raise Your Spirits will probably be your best bet. Use Ghostly Sprint on mages and archers. Don't be afraid to empty out your Magicka with fear and ignite spells on anything that gets close to you. In most cases, Deadly Dance of Definite Doom and Neverending Torment right after that will kill all of your enemies.
Champion of Hircine
Werewolf form is your third option. You can try emptying out your Magicka with spells, using the Ritual Stone, and then turning into a werewolf. In beast form you'll be fast, so you can quickly chase down feared enemies. Make sure to take the quest to get the totem of brotherhood. It will let you summon wolves from Detritus.
Recommended Quests/Role-play
Your goal is to spread fear and chaos. Never miss out on the opportunity to make a morally wrong decision, or to make someone's life miserable. Terrorize patrols and wreak havoc on Skyrim. Looking for an excuse to kill Nazeem? Now you have one. Or, better yet, you could kill his wife.
Companion's Questline: This build is about Hollowjack, but it's also about his connection to Hircine. Therefore, this questline is perfect. Wuuthrad is a viable option for this build's weapon. You can also get free warrior skill training at the end by getting training and then trading the money back through the follower menu.
Ill(ill) Met By Moonlight: Another Hircine related quest. I suggest getting the ring.
Pieces of the Past: Mehrunes Dagon has a strong connection to Hircine, and actually made the Spears of Bitter Mercy. You can take the daedra hearts from the dremora at the end to use for making your Daedric armor.
Dark Brotherhood Questline: Hollowjack feeds on people's fear, so make the people of Skyrim fear the Dark Brotherhood. Shadowmere can be used to train your Two-handed and Destruction skills.
Thieves Guild Questline: The same thing as the Dark Brotherhood. At the end you can get Shadowcloak of Nocturnal, which is essential for Deadly Dance of Definite Doom.
College of Winterhold: You don't need to do the whole questline, just join so you can buy Destruction and Illusion spells.
Unearthed: Do this to get Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana.
Lost to The Ages: This gets you the Aetherial Crown, if you want it. Like I said earlier, it can get OP.
A Scroll for Anska: This is just for the Flaming Familiar spell.
Keep in mind that you aren't limited to these quests, so feel free to try others, and just have fun with this build.
Closing Notes
This is my first build. I'm sorry if it doesn't quite meet your expectations, but I had a blast playing it, and I hope you do too. If there's any improvements or constructive criticism that you have for me, I'd like to know, leave a comment for me. Thanks!
Replies
Oh, and as an addition to my previous comments, I hope I didn't come off as condescending or dismissive, especially in comparison to Long-Chapper's comments.
I am new to Skyrim character building too. And in no way an expert at it. I'm just not as wordy (not saying that's something bad, Liss).
Hello! It's great to see so many people take the plunge and offer their first builds for the contest, so congratulations. That's just so awesome to me. The build is cleanly presented and I really appreciate that you are already making adjustments based on people's constructive criticism. You're about to get Long-Chappered, so prepare for the length, but don't feel obligated to listen to anything I present below.
I'm not a huge fan of most of the lore Xenimax brings with ESO. So let's be honest, Hollowjack is basically an excuse to have "Halloween" events and the lore that they come up with to justify it has a definite "coming out of their ass" feeling, at least to me. Yes, it's very fun and entertaining, I don't deny that, but it sort of cheapens the complexity of some of the genuinely wonderful lore they do introduce. For example, the ideas behind the Golden Skull quest, creepy as heck, introduces lore that feels incredibly organic, so I know they can come up with good shit, so then seeing things like Hallowjack just disappoints me. Enough of my lore rant, but it's important to establish where I'm coming from when I'm discussing this build.
That being said, I like the gameplay ideas that are being presented here. The combination of Illusion, Destruction, Two-handed and Conjuration is fun and the introduction of strategic sneak to the mix, gives me a decent Horror Film baddy vibe. You've got elements of headless horseman, ghost rider, Hallowjack, and other demonic stuff. I can also really appreciate an unmodded build, because I will actually still play a vanilla game, so while your build doesn't introduce anything new to the gameplay, you have some nice synergies and if I personally found a better lore connection, I can see myself playing this for a lark. I was missing from you perhaps the use of familiars in some way. I know not a Hallowjack thing maybe, but definitely a Hircine thing and it would address the superficial connection to the deity that you have. Hallowjack and his Hounds of Hircine feels organic and I think adding them would add the element of minions to the build and give you a stronger connection to Hircine, especially since there are mechanics (Totems of Hircine) and shouts that really help with pack oriented gameplay. See it as Hollowjack summoning the Hunting Grounds to hunt their mutual victims. I'm addressing this because there is a theme to this contest and a weakness of your build lies in its connection to the contest theme.
As a gameplay oriented build, I'm hesitant to address rp issues because I don't think that's your goal and I can get behind that. Sometimes, even I just want a dirty, quick playthrough that's just fun and I don't have to think too hard. Just create chaos and kill Nazeem, as you say. That being said, for future builds, start to think about how you can fill out your build with more rp decisions. Because another drawback to your build is that you mention a lot of "grindy" things to reach your endgame goals. Lol, poor Shadowmere and Hadvar, used and abused for so many skill increases. As you continue to build, you're going to figure out pretty fast that that doesn't lead to particularly exciting playthroughs. You grind the skills and then you reach the end. Perhaps work to incorporate making early/mid game a more entertaining experience for your builds. Sometimes the journey can be just as entertaining as the end goal. Giving Hallowjack a story of some kind. Did he somehow lose his favor with Hircine and then finds himself in Skyrim without his powers? And now, see, with just that little bit, you can rp all your quests and skill increases as Hollowjack trying to get in good with Hircine again. You see examples of this in several places in Elder scrolls lore of lesser Daedra wanting back in with their patron Prince (Barbas is a fine example). Doing something so simple gives your build a bit more drive.
Alright, I'm done. All in all, congratulations on getting a build out there. Hope to see you create more.
EDIT: Please, please, please don't like your own builds. It's like bad etiquette. Yes, we're proud of our own work, but we know that you like it because you're posting the build. :D
I unliked my build, I thought if it was possible to do it then it wouldn't be bad etiquette, but I guess I was wrong.
I changed the skills section to now say that the power leveling is optional.
I didn't really know how I could really get wolf followers for my character, but I did mention the totem of brotherhood. Maybe you missed it?
I actually was already thinking about the fall from power that you mentioned. Honestly, I did plan on this build to be more combat oriented from the beginning, but then when I actually posted it, I noticed that it could definitely use some work. I have a lot of spare time this weekend, so you can expect a big update to the role-play and backstory soon.
I have to say, I really appreciate how much time you must have put in just to write that comment. That sort of constructive criticism is just what makes me strive to get better. Thanks!
It was rather early in the morning when I read your build, so it's entirely possible I missed something, but yes, totem of the Brotherhood. Also, flaming familiar, the familiar. A canine follower could also work. Essentially, you could have Barbas, Meeko or another dog, two summons, totem of the brotherhood, and animal allegiance or ritual stone around wolves. Nice little Daedric/Undead pack for you.
Thanks. If I'm going to comment on a build, I like investing in the time to do it right, that means positives, because yeah, it takes courage to post something, and well, negatives, because how then do we improve? Best way to improve, besides actually building, is to check out other people's builds. Read, comment, and ask questions.
I was thinking about maybe adding novice-dark souls in Conjuration. That would give extended duration and higher hp to Ritual summons and let me cast conjure familiar for half cost. Then the build would max out at 49, or if I also added twin souls, 50. What do you think?
Necromancy on wolves doesn't really seem like something Hircine would like, but I could add animal alliegence to the shouts.
Edit: Not sure about canine followers, they have no concept of sneaking, so a temporary pack that you can summon/call is really the only option that I can see for stealth.
Well, since you are already doing the Conjuration ritual quest, adding twin souls isn't a bad move. Level 50 isn't a terrible number.
Don't we all wish Bethesda slapped a bit of Fallout 4's Dogmeat's AI into Skyrim's dogs? That dog has a perception and agility level of 14, making him the best sneak follower and he gets stuff for you. He's my favorite puppy.
Ok, I changed the perk spread, as well as adding the familiar spells, and animal alliegence shout.
Awesome work dude
Haven't heard of Hollowjack, but you covered both Spooktober and the concept well
Thank you, Hollowjack is basically what Bethesda uses to have a halloween event in ESO. I saw him on a list of deities and I instantly knew I just had to use him.
Nice, I really like it.
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