Welcome to The TES Character Build Archives! On this page all of the sites Elder Scrolls character builds can be navigated to quickly through our ever expanding tag network. Builds found here are categorized by archetype and play-style so you can refine your search and find the perfect Skyrim character.
Adding a tag is as simple as entering the name of the tag itself in the field at the very bottom of the page and hitting enter. No quotation marks are needed. Adding tags is an excellent way to make it easy for others to find your build. Use as many tags as you wish, within reason, that adequately describe your build. To help you along we've included a list of commonly used tags below. Each play style tag comes with a brief description.
- Archer - Peerless marksman who rely almost entirely on bows or cross bows to get the job done.
- Juggernaut- Tough, resiliant characters covered head to toe in nigh impenetrable heavy armor
- Knight- Honorable defenders willing to take the brunt of any attack in place of their allies
- Barbarian - Brutish, aggressive fighters who prefer an overwhelming offense over a cautious defense
- Monk - Combatants who rely almost entirely on hand-to-hand combat.
- Warrior - Pure fighters proficient in all manner of arms and armor, seldom relying on stealth or magic
- Blacksmith - Characters that create and/or temper their equipment
- Crusader- Holy warriors devoted to the eradication evil
- Dual-Wield - Aggressive fighters who wield weapons in both hands
- Duelist - Agile fighters who prefer finesse over brute strength
- Defender - Stalwart warriors whose proficiency with shields make them nigh unassailable opponents.
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- Necromancer - Dark mages whose foul magicks can raise the dead and cripple their foes.
- Healer - Supportive mages who specialize in life saving restoration magic and powerful buffs.
- Mage - Pure spell-casters skilled in many schools of magic. Entirely reliant on magic.
- Witchhunter - Skilled mage archers who hunt down daedra, vampires and other abominations.
- Spellsword - Powerful melee combatants who augment their fighting skills with various spells
- Illusionist - Mages who specialize in manipulating minds, altering perceptions of friend and foe alike.
- Summoner - Mages who specialize in the summoning all manner of otherworldly beings
- Enchanter - Characters that imbue their equipment with magical effects
- Battlemage - Mages who thrive in the heat of battle, preferring deadly close range spells
- Sorcerer - Heavily armored mages who often cannot generate their own magicka but typically absorb it through other means.
- Entropist- Mages who specialize in poison, decay, disease, and other damage over time spells as well as status ailments.
- Warlock - Those who harness magical power through unconventional means such as, but not limited to blood magic or pacts with higher beings.
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- Adventurer - True generalists who use martial prowess, skull-duggery, and sorcery in equal measure.
- Scout - Mobile and tactical warriors who focus on combat skills with a dash of guile or finesse.
- Assassin- Quiet killers, these types attack from the shadows against unsuspecting prey.
- Thief - Pure stealth characters who use quick hands and a sliver tongue, and prefer not to fight.
- Acrobat - Agile fighters who use speed and agility to their advantage
- Alchemist - Characters skilled in the crafting and use of powerful potions and deadly poisons
- Agent- Social, charming types when they want to be seen, and nearly invisible when they don’t.
- Nightblade - Mages who work from the shadows, using stealth to supplement their magical abilities.
- Rogue - Scoundrels willing to employ dirty, underhanded, and often illicit tactics to get their way.
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- Bound Weapons - Characters who make use of conjured weapons
- No Crafting - Characters who do not use any crafting skills
- Mage Armor - Characters who rely primarily on flesh spells for defense
- Unarmored - Characters with little to no armor rating
- Dragonborn - Characters who make heavy use of shouts
- Werewolf - Characters who use their werewolf form extensively
- Vampire - Characters who utilize vampirism
- Hero - Characters devoted to good and justice
- Villain - Characters wholly devoted to evil
- Mods - Characters that rely heavily on game modifications
- Ordinator - Character Builds that utilize perks from the Ordinator perk overhaul.
______________ Race Tags_____________
If your character's race plays a critical role in your build, or you want your build to be easier to find for anyone looking for a particular race, you can add a race tag. Simply type the race you want in the tag bar just like you would for playstyle tags.
__________Character Build Ranks___________
You may have noticed the 5 tier rank structure that now occupies the group's front page. Build ranks are but one of many methods we use to keep our growing collection of builds well organized and easy to find. In this case builds are separated based on their quality, as determined by the number of 'likes' awarded to them. What makes this rank system fair is that you, the members decide which builds to 'like', thus deciding which builds advance in rank and which ones do not.
Rank:Novice (0 - 5 likes) The lowest rank of builds is reserved for brand new builds, builds that could use a lot of improvement, and sometimes builds the author clearly didn't care to put effort into. Any and all new builds posted to the group start here and work their way up as more 'likes' are gained.
Rank:Apprentice (6 - 8 likes) The second rank, reserved for builds that have advanced passed the Novice rank. While the builds that ultimately settle here aren't usually the best the group has to offer, they're definitely worth a look.
Rank:Adept (9 - 12 likes) The third rank, for quality builds that have been well-accepted by the community, as proven by the number of 'likes' accrued up until this point. This rank and above is a good place to start looking if you're after inspiration for your own builds.
Rank:Expert ( 13 - 19 likes) the fourth rank, is for high quality builds that have received more than 12 likes. These builds are excellent examples of what Character Building is all about.
The coveted RankMaster rank ( 20+ likes) is reserved for highly popular builds with 20 likes or above. The builds within this rank show off the best this community has to offer.
__________Events & Contests___________
~ Events ~
- 2018 -
- Teams - An event where participants joined together in teams of two or more to create a character build.
- Tales of Tamriel - A book themed character building event where participants created builds based on characters from various TES books or TES fan fiction works
- This is Halloween! - In this event participants explored their favorite creepy folklore, myths, and legends and translate them into the world of the Elder Scrolls as builds
- Secret Santa - A festive Secret Santa Style build events. Each participant entered by proposing a build idea based off popular Holiday figures, and that idea was randomly given to another participant to craft into a Skyrim build.
- 2019 -
- Crossworlds - In this event, participants brought characters from outside TES sources, translating those character into the world of The Elder Scrolls in the form of character builds.
- Pirates of Tamriel - The Sky Forge's first character building contest. Contestants created builds revolving around the theme of piracy.
- Bloodlines - In this contest contestants created builds centered on the theme of vampirism or lycanthropy.
- 2020 -
- Back to Basics - A contest challenging contestants to forgo the use of mods and create builds using only what is available in the vanilla game.
-2022-
- Witches Warlocks and Wizards - In this event, participants focused on all things magical! Character concepts varied greatly but they all shared the common theme of the arcane.
We have special tags reserved for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place contest builds. Click any of the tag links below to browse a list of every contest gold, silver, or bronze placed build from previous character building contests.
Replies
You're still free to tag your build however you see fit, within reason.
Adventurer: Generalists, even-ish mix of all types of skills
Agent: Stealth focus with some magic
Assassin: Stealth focus with some combat
Battlemage: Magic focus with some combat
Mage: Pure magic character
Nightblade: Magic focus with some stealth
Scout: Combat focus with some stealth
Spellsword: Combat focus with some magic
Thief: Pure stealth character
Warrior: Pure combat character
A lot of classes overlap; the Sorcerer is basically just a Battlemage, while the Crusader is basically just a Spellsword. I go with Adventurer for generalists because despite not being a true TES class, Adventurer is the default name for a custom class in Oblivion.
This is especially true with Skyrim where there are no classes and you are handed a blank slate of a character that can be made into virtually anything you want.
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