Intricate Vampire Necromancer Class

[MottulWulfsbane]

So I came up with this class little bits a time, just by playing different types of characters and playstyles.

 

Basically, this class is meant to be self-sufficient and nearly unstoppable. The only problem is that it is a late-game class it will probably take all 81 levels to complete, so, hope you have some time to dedicate.

 

Race: Dark Elf, Breton, or High Elf will be your best choices, though you can use any class you wish.

Weapons: Preferably none, but Bound weapons or weapons with start absorption would work.

Armor: None. Enchanted robes and clothing for spell cost reduction and skill/stat fortification.

 

Dark Elves get the 50% Fire Resist which will help greatly once you're at stage 3 and 4 of Vampirism (75% and 100% fire weakness, respectively.) Their Ancestor's Wrath ability gives you some good defense in tough situations, and their +5 bonus to Alteration and Illusion are a nice touch. A +5 bonus to Sneak is useful for anyone who wants to play more of a spell-casting assassin. They also have kind of a Vampire-esque look about them which is neat. More of a roleplay-based race.

Bretons start with 25% Magic Resistance and a +10 bonus to Conjuration. The Dragonskin power lets you absorb spells and turn them into magicka. They also start with the Conjure Familiar spell, so your Conjuration skill will start raising immediately. This will probably be the top choice for most players.

High Elves are the most adept in Magic as they start with a nice 50-point bonus to Magicka, +10 in Illusion and +5 to all other Magic skills, and the Highborn power. Another solid choice for players.

 

One of the main mechanics is going to be using yourself for regenerating health, magicka, and stamina. To do this, you will first need the Recovery and Respite perks. Regeneration is a good perk to have to boost your healing and (with Respite) stamina recovery. Recovery will of course be just for magicka. Eventually you will also need Necromage and Atronach. Necromage will allow to recover health and stamina simply by standing in a Guardian Circle, a neat little trick granted to you by your state of undeath. Once you add Atronach, GC will also restore your magicka (you absorb 30% magicka from ANY spells that affect you). So here you have your stat regeneration. (Of course you could just go the easy route of enchanting, but perks free perks are going to be few and far between.) Dual Casting is an optional feat. It has it's benefits but isn't entirely necessary. Ward Absorb could be extremely beneficial when it comes to both defense and magicka regen, but this is another non-crucial focus for the class.

 

So far this bring you to at least level 12, but considering you need 100 Alteration for Atronach, you'll probably be way past 12 when you get it. Don't worry about that for now as you have Recovery to boost your magicka regen.

 

Now let's focus on your Conjuration, as this IS primarily a Necromancy class. Since this build is magic-based, you probably won't be using physical weapons (though if you want to, you can. Just remember the perk allotment and the necessary changes you will have to make.) To counter-act this, you could use Bound weapons since you're going to be in Conjuration anyway. That aside, time to focus on the reason you're using Conjuration: ZOMBIES! To start things off, go ahead and grab Novice Conjuration at level 2. If you chose any race other than Breton, you probably won't have increased your conjuration by level 2, but don't worry. Once you start raising your Conjuration you might want to consider Summoner, as this will give you the ability to raise up any fresh corpses you've made from a distance if you're cornered. Not a necessary perk for this class though. You might also consider Dual Casting to have your dead friends at your side for a longer duration, but you should consider how the long the spells last versus how long their bodies last. If you find that they die before the affect does, then overlook Dual Casting. At Conjuration 40 you will be able to unlock Necromancy, which automatically makes reanimation spells last longer. Other than that, this perk only serves to open the way to Dark Souls at Conjuration 70. Once you have Dark Souls, all corpses you reanimate will get 100 more health. With this, the longer durations should prove useful. Between taking these Necromancy perks and any other skill perks, you should be taking your Spell Level perks for Conjuration. After taking Master at 100, you will want to take Twin Souls IMMEDIATELY! Twin Souls lets you raise two undead buddies at once, and that is always a blast.

 

Taking the bare-minimum of perks in Conjuration means you will have spent (together with the Restoration perks I already mentioned) a total of 19 perks (and 20 levels in). We're already 1/4 way through the perks and only used 2 skills.

 

Illusion will be another good focus for this class, as it will let you use control spells. Frenzy should be your illusory focus, as it will give you additional allies in battle. Fear should be your second focus. Calm spells are ok if you plan on being in towns while Stage 4. Illusion Perks will include Spell Level perks up to Expert, Dual Casting, Animage, Kindred Mage, Hypnotic Gaze, Aspect of terror, Rage, and Master of the mind. This will allow you to control enemies up to very high levels. Quiet casting isn't absolutely necessary, but it will help you choose to be a shadowy sneaky type.

 

Total perk expenditure: 30

 

Alteration is your final magic-skill focus for this class. It's a small focus, but still very beneficial. You will want to take the necessary Spell Level skills to unlock the good stuff. Since there is no armor focus on this build, you will want to take all three Mage Armor perks. You will also want all three Magic Resistance perks and Atronach. As far as Alteration spells go, Paralyze is about the only one you will be making use of.

 

Total perk expenditure: 41

 

Destruction spells were intentionally left out as they tend to take over as the focus of the class. Your basic touch and ranged destruction spells are good for back-up offense, but your main weapons will be your reanimated allies and opponents you turn against each other. If you do decide on using Destruction, Frost spells are good for a more immersive Necromantic style.

 

This is in no way a map of how you should spend your perks as you progress in level; I leave perk acquisition order entirely up to you. But by now you should be at least level 42, a this leaves you with some perk points to play around with (39 to be exact), and you can do several helpful things with them. I you want to go with the Bound Weapon path, you can use three more perks for the relevant skills in Conjuration, and spend five more on the first five perks of the appropriate Weapon Skill, as Bound weapons are tied to both Conjuration and the Weapon skill. If you decide to wear armor, that's addition 42 perks you (you add three from no longer needing Mage Armor perks), and you can easily spend them to fill out either Armor skill. Speech could be a useful skill, as well as alchemy or smithing (if you go with weapons and/or armor). Lockpicking is always good for easier chest access and better loot. But probably the most useful "utility" skill would be Enchanting, for obvious reasons. Bottom line, spend the rest of the points as you see fit to round out your character and play style.

 

 

Spell breakdown:

 

 

Conjuration: Raise Dead, Reanimate Dead, etc. All of the Raise spells you can learn should be learned. Knowledge of Bound weapons couldn't hurt, but I'll leave that up to your discretion.

 

Restoration: If you chose to take the Dual Casting perk, you will probably find that Fast Healing (and later Grand Healing) is the best way to go for recovering health quickly. The usual Healing spell works, but it takes far too long. As I said before, Guardian Circle is a main focus of this build. It's basically an ultimate recharging pad for you. That, and it keeps those nasty Draugr out. Ward spells, if you decide to use them. Turn spells could be helpful at first, but later on you will be able to outright make undead fight for you (Frenzy, Master of the Mind).

 

Illusion: Level-appropriate Frenzy and Fear spells; Calm spells if you so wish. You don't really need Muffle or Invisibility but they will help if you want to play the silent mage.

 

Alteration: 'Flesh spells, Paralyze, and one of my favorite spells available in Skyrim: Equilibrium. Nothing like some good blood magic. This spell does not use magicka, but rather the player's health. You trade 25 health for 25 magicka per second. However, this means you will need to have very high health. Which brings us to the next step:

 

Stat allotment.

 

Stamina is nearly pointless for this build so it should be your least concern. Although magic is this build's primary focus, there will be several factors going into regenerating and replenishing spent magicka (namely perks and cost-reducing enchantments.) Health should be your major concern, as you need to be able to live through the tough battles and be able to afford using Equilibrium. If you are going to be using the Bound weapons (or Enchanted physical weapons) I suggest a 3:2:1 H:M:S ratio. Meaning by level 7, you should have selected Health three times, Magicka twice, and Stamina once. By level 81, this will leave you with 500 health, 370 magicka, and 230 stamina. For the pure caster builds, I recommend a 3:2 H:M ratio. This will give you 580:420 at 81, but feel free to adjust it as you like (600:400 or 650:450 would be easy adjustments.)

 

So there you have it. A self-sufficient, dead-raising, blood-thirsty Vampire Necromancer.

 

Feedback, corrections, and constructive criticism are more than welcome. :) I just ask that if you point something out, please explain why it is wrong or what would be better.