Greetings and salutations everypony! Welcome to my final non-collab build for Crossworlds 2019! Wanting to buck the stereotypes of Argonian thieves, I’ve decided to harness some lore, a bit of CC content, and the fact I haven’t played an Argonian in ages, welcome to the….
Pandomay. Sithis. The Void. These are all names for the primordial darkness that surrounds the Aurbis. Shadow Magic, that which can be used to view parallel worlds, and even travel therein.
We, the Voidgazers,or Voidstriders as some know us, understand the connection between the two. For what is Shadow Magic, but manipulating the primordial shadows that overlap with reality. It is in gazing into the void that our founder, former Shadow Legionnaire Strides-Through-Shadows, fused the two together into what is known as Void Magic, a thaumaturgy that harnesses both Shadow Magic, and the latent energies of Pandomay’s darkened light, to sunder our foes, absorbing their life forces. Though, as we tell all who wish to walk our umbral path, remember thus: Beware, for if thou gaze into The Void….
The Void may gaze back.
Character Overview
Race: Argonian Vampire. Not only do these scaly swagboys have the most connection, culture wise, but also have a few other benefits. Innate Waterbreathing and Resist Disease allow easy aquatic escapes, as well as helping before you become a vampire. Alongside this, they gain a +5 bonus to unarmed damage, and +10 to Lockpicking. Plus, Histborn’s regen is wonderful during tough fights.
Stat Spread: 2/1/3 in Magicka, Health, and Stamina. Stop perking Magicka at about 270, and Health at 170
Standing Stone: The Mage or Thief to start off with, for leveling purposes, then swap over to The Atronach, boosted with a Fortify Restoration potion or two, not quite an Advanced Atronach, but boosted.
Primary Skills: Destruction, Archery, Enchanting
Secondary Skills: Alchemy, Speech, Heavy Armor
Skills
Destruction-Primarily used to boost your drain spells, whether they be the vanilla Vampiric Drain, or the ones added by the Arcane Accessories Creation Club content.
Heavy Armor-As three pieces of our apparel are Heavy Armor, this will add in a bit more AR to our squishy scale sorcerer, and also boost unarmed damage if we run out of bolts/Magicka.
Lockpicking-Tinkering with our Dwemeri crossbows and also the usage of Void Magic allows this Black Marsh born adventurer to pick any lock with ease.
Enchanting-Channeling the energy of the soul, letting the soul itself ascend to wherever it is bound, the Voidgazer channels this energy into his or her arms and armor.
Archery-When Magicka runs dry, then switching to the trusty Enhanced Dwemer Crossbow works wonders, especially with its stagger effect.
Alchemy-Used for healing, as well as buffing, particularly your absorb spells.
Speech-Useful for speech checks, as well as haggling down the prices of Soul Gems, enchanted items for disenchantment, as well as raising the prices of your items sold.
Taste the Void’s power, Enthir!
Gamplay
Gameplay as the Voidgazer was quite challenging at first, as the only spells used were quite small, in this case, drain spells, don’t have much in the way of range. Thus, you’ll have to rely on maneuverability and arrows/bolts to deal with ranged threats.
Basically put, combat is simple, but fun. First off, chug your fortify potions, and then equip your drain spells. You’ll want to keep moving, especially useful as, since there is no Master-level drain spell, then there’s little reason to not be on the move. Simply kite your enemies, refilling your health with your drain spells until you run out of Magicka. After that, use either Unrelenting Force or Whirlwind Sprint to give yourself some breathing room, then swap to your trusty crossbow.
For dragons and mages, the Atronach will help, in part, defense wise, and to keep your Magicka filling. Also, without any Magicka, dragons will be forced to land, allowing you to blast them with Vampiric Drains, Touches of Death, etc, as well as poisoned Crossbow bolts. Archers can simply be beaten with the stronger punching power of a Crossbow. Simply sniper duel them to death. Focus on the ranged enemies above all else.
Follower wise, I went with Mjoll the Lioness. This tanky titan of a Nordess is beastly with a two-hander, and will always have your back (Though beware, as Aerin may tag along for the ride). I chose to equip her with full Steel Plate, enchanting as much as I could with Fortify Health, Heavy Armor, and Resist Magic as I could, and equipping her with the Longhammer. Alongisde this, with the help of some choice poisons with positive effects, Plus, even if this character doesn’t perk into Restoration and the like, I did, on occasion, use spells like Guardian Circle (Mostly through Scrolls) as a way to create a temporary safe haven wherein I could ping my enemies with ranged bolts and spells, while also healing.
While this build doesn’t really have any “special moves” per say, one such move I did use as a sort of AOE “fuck you” was such, which I called the Void Nuke. Simply put, first chug down a Varlaic Vulnerary, then charge and cast a Drain spell, followed by Soul Tear. In essence, you not only have boosted the effects of both, but you have drained their health thrice over, two times with your drain, and once more from Soul Tear, potentially Soul Traps them, but also. Ah, “Summons forth Shadows of them where they are your allies” IE resurrects them.
If you don’t have the Arcane Accessories Creation Club content, then feel free to use goold old Vampiric Drain!
Void Shards
These crystalline capsules, said to be fragments of fallen stars, imbued with the energies of Pandomay, grant buffs and debuffs to those which the Voidgazer wishes.
Essence of the Void-A pure, potent collection of Void energies, not only restoring the imbiber’s magicka reservers, but bolstering them too, even if the taste is bitter.
(Briar Heart+Ectoplasm+Elf Ear: Fortify+Restore Magic+Damage Health)
Dusklight Drops-The sanguine light within is siad to invigorate the vitality and stamina of all who ingest its contents. (Boar Tusk+Lavender+Blue Mountain Flower: Fortify Health+Stamina+Fortify Conjuration)
Void Dragon’s Essence-To some, Sithis is said to manifest in the form of an ethereal black dragon, and grant to those his essence. This may be that, or it may be a useful simulant, good for followers of the Voidgazer
Varlaic Vulnerary-Forged from Meteoric Glass, similar to the Ayelidic Varla Stones, this crystalline mote hums with the darkened light of the Shadows.
(Ectoplasm+Elves Ear+Glowing Mushroom: Restore Magicka+Fortify Destruction)
Equipment
Roleplay
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The battlemages of the Voidgazers are scholars at heart. Collect books, especially those about magic or Sithis, and store them in your home(s).
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Never drink blood from the innocent, only, on, say, sleeping Bandits, as well as Potions of Blood (Use any duplication glitch as needed).
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Always go for persuasion based options over just resorting straight to violence. You think with your mind more than your fists.
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Whenever you use a Void Shard, you MUST either drop a filled Soul Gem, or use it to refill Thorn.
The laws of reality hold no sway over those that wield the Void’s darkened light.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it, my attempt to bring in Destiny’s Voidwalker into Skyrim. Thanks again to Lee for the spreads and screenshots. In truth, this build, at the start, was a fun challenge, as I originally could not think of how to replicate the health draining effects of the Voidwalkers, until I stumbled across something I rarely took much look at, the tomes in Arcane Accessories. Well, that’s a wrap!
Replies
Cool. Been a while since last I saw an argonian vampire, or any build using the vampire absorb spell.
Thanks on both accounts Beli. I have a few more absorb based ideas in my head
Hey Chris - sorry about missing this one. Really love what you've done. Don't forget your tags mate
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