Some of my Builds

[Psiberzerker]

I usually start off in forums like this with some background, so people can get to know me better. Since this is Skyrim, I'm going with my build/play style, because I think it's different. The vast majority of builds I've seen on the net are either classic Tanks (from every RPGs going back to Dice&Dossiers) Nightengale Ninja, or glitch exploits like Impact artillery Mage (Usually in full Daedric armor of free destruction/elemental immunity.) I don't like these, because they dumb the character down to 1 tactic for everything. The final varient is the level 81 JoaTMoN with all the "best" perks because Moar is Gooder, or something. (Like the Utopia build.)

 

Anyhow, my primary build, the one I identify, and fell in love with, is Dreadfall. She started out a joke, pretty much a Bandit, who thought she was an Assassin, and mistook the Thieves' Guild for the Dark Brotherhood. She turned out to be remarcably ballanced, and the most fun to play, so I wrote an entire Fanfic for her from my playthrough commentary. A Nord, from Helgen, she's not the Dragonborn, and the only shout she knows is Fear. (AKA Battle Cry.) Skills are 2H, Sneak, and Block, in order of relative level. No armor, she wears the Shrouded Hood, Mourner's Dress, Jester's Boots, and Thalmor Gloves, because they match. (http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198039239700/screenshot/558688305181100035/?) Yeah, she's kind of Goth. Mostly Greatswords, she only uses axes, and hammers which strike as quickly, such as the Headsman's Axe, Longhammer, and Volendrung. Favorites are the Ebony GS from Lost Volskygg, and Red Eagle's Honed Ancient Nord Greatsword of Burning (Longest name in the game!) http://skyrimcalculator.com/#148082 I also have other versions with Archery, light armor, and Shouts, but this is the classic build.

 

She usually uses Silent Roll, and great Critical Charge for a 4x sneak attack. No Backstab multipliers for 2 handed is one of the reasons I went with it for this build, it's designed to not OP Adept, so I don't have to adjust the difficulty. Same with Unarmored, when it inevitably turns into a stand-up fight, she switches to Bash&Slash, since the bash is quicker than a strike, and opens them up for another shot. She rarely even gets hit, and when she does, it's usually to the sword. She deals with Archers, and Mages by killing them first, before the fight starts, and also uses Silent Roll as a combat maneuver. There's a lot of quick button combos in her fighting style, like the duck-sprint to roll past her attacker. She's also addicted to Vampire Dust, for the 6 seconds of invisibility to get back in the shadows, or behind cover. (She beat Warlord Gathrik,twice in a row, by repeatedly backstabbing him, then bashing, and rolling away invisible.)

 

She joined the Companions, at first for the Skyforge Steel Greatsword Farkas drops, then became a werewolf. "You ever try Mercenary work? Might suit you." Beast Form is a backup, but the Disease Immunity is also a plus. She got the ring, and fell in love with Sinding, rather than killing him for his skin. (In the story, she has his son.) Mostly uses it for cross country travel, stopping to feed on bandits so it doesn't time out, but she's also Howled Out to save her from some tricky situations. Battle Cry is another one she loves, as well as poisons with Illusion effects, like Fear, and Frenzy, or Paralysis.

 

This is not my most powerful character, by far, but that's kind of the point. She's the most fun, level capped at 32 with perks to spare, and can still beat just about anything except Dragons. (Didn't do the main quest.) Slit the Emperor's throat with a greatsord, BFFs with Jenassa (in Ancient Shrouded Armor with an Ebony Bow/Arrows, the BoW, and Windshear) and let Cicero live. Never became Harbringer, just does Radient Quests for the Circle, and left the TG right after the Goldenglow Massacre.

Edited July 1, 2012 by Psiberzerker

[Psiberzerker]

BAMFO

 

The "Moshpit Mage", it was originally going to be Melee Mage, but most people don't understand French well enough not to be confused by his utter lack of weapon skills. Anyway, it's Destruction, Illusion, and Conjusration on an Altmer platform. Like a Nightblade, only instead of using stealth, and magic to assassinate 1 person, he specializes in taking out massed armies (I.E. the Melee) invisibly, so he's never targeted.

 

First, I grind up illusion to at least 65, for Invisibility. If you don't know how to do this, go see Farengar, buy Muffle, and Calm, then camp out in the Whiterun market. Cast Muffle, the more NPC levels around you, the more XP you get, and keep everyone in sight Calm. Necromancer's Robes really help here, save your potions, and "sheathe" to recover your Majicka. Once it gets dark, you may have to go in the Bannered Mare to continue, but you should get there before sunup.

 

Destruction is also easy, Burn Draugr. The extra damage, plus the burning DOT maximizes your experience. Do Bleak Falls, and Saarthal, as well as any other target rich environments. Don't bother with Illusion, save your Mana for Firebolts. Trolls are good sparring partners too, I stop by the Ritual for a free robe anyway, so head down to the cave, and burn 1 within an inch of it's life while the other one heals. Jump down from the ledge so they have to go around, kite them onto Runes when you can cast them, and get up to 60 to Augment Flames/Frost.

 

Now, the tough part. Go see Anska, about a Scroll, and Spellbook. Say hellow to your walking fireball, with teeth, he'll be part of your primary combo. The other half is Ice Storm, which sweeps the battlefield, and instantly detonates Flaming Familiar. Nothing is significantly resistant to Fire, and Frost, and you can hit lots of them in the AoEs. This is the second combo, after starting off with Frenzy, and Invisibility. You only need enough Magicka to cast these, so your blue gage recovers while you're watching the moshpit, then finish any survivors with the other combo.

 

This handles everything except Dragons. You can run through Korvandjund in record time, killing everyone except Galmar/(whoever the Imperial representative is for that misson, I forget.) I highly recomend the Civil War arc, because it's got the most NPCs in the various battles to truly take advantage of this build. Dragons, just switch tactics for, or don't take the Dragonstone back. (It weighs nothing.) If you do want to run the main quest, clear the Battle of Whiterun first, so you don't have to sit through the negotiation. For Dragons, I just pop a Storm Atronach, and Dual cast Lightning Bolt. If you haven't noticed, Dragons are immune to Illusion, even with Master of the Mind, so you're a Pure Mage for the duration, stay out of striking range, and the Atronach stone/perk really helps.

 

Once you're up to Sir Stompy (My pet name for the Dremora Lord) keep it on Master, because anything less than a Fort is a cake walk. Now you see why I named him after the sound Nightcrawler makes (not to mention what Jules Winnfield has embossed on his wallet!) Your best Shout is Whirlwind Sprint, with Quiet Casting, and Invisibility, it's as close as you can get to Teleportation in the Vanilla game. Sir Stompy can just be recast ahead, so you can leapfrog between pockets of resistance. I don't know what to tell you once the war is over, and Skuldafn is cleared, you'll have a hard time finding a battlefield large enough to use this build to it's full capability after that.

 

http://skyrimcalculator.com/#148141

Edited July 1, 2012 by Psiberzerker

[Psiberzerker]

Continuing on with the OP end of the spectrum, here's how I beat Big Bad Al wearing nothing but a loincloth in a matter of seconds. http://skyrimcalculator.com/#80033 At level 9. First off, I used 1 console code. I started off a Dunmer for a boost to Destruction, then `player.setrace breton. Why? Dragonskin, and the Atronach stone. A mad minute of 100% spell absorbtion to power Wall of Frost. Also, I stopped by Drevis with the Elder Scroll to clean out the pools, then fast traveled to The Throat of the World. Equipment: The Kelle. That's it. Dragonrend him while he's hovering for his Hannibal Lecture, switch to Dragonskin before he crashes down, and double cast Wall of Frost. Go ahead, breathe on me. Standing up here where you can't reach me, I'm just going to keep hosing the footprint where he always lands with DOT that drains his stamina so he can't take back off. The first time, I did this with a Scroll of Guardian Circle, and Lightning Storm, but that brought my level up over 15. This is the only way I've found to do it under level 10.

 

The purpose of this build, and others like it is to be completely self-sufficient without any gear, much less crafting. The Power/Stone combo means pretty much infinite magicka for 60 seconds (plus the hidden boost from cleaning out the pools) stark naked. To demonstrate it, I just cherry tapped the World Eater with nothing but. Similarly, I've done Illusion/Conjuration/1handed/Stealth builds with full capability in Cidnha Mine, or the Embassy wearing just Ragged Robes, or Party Clothes respectively. Now, those are the only two instances where you have to go without gear (or smuggle it in) but those are just testors for this build style. I beat Big Bad Al with a Redguard, dual savagery, and bound swords at level 9 too, but it wasn't as fast. (The bastard took off, on Master, I had to Dragonrend him again!) Twin Drainheart Swords did the trick, with only 26 worth of equipment. I did it on Master, but it made very little difference with the Destruction Breton. He's so big, you can hit him with several instances of 115 points of Frost damage per second, and stamina drain on top of it. He never takes off, you never run out of mana, and it still takes under a minute.

[Psiberzerker]

Another thing I don't do is level skills I'm not going to use out of combat just to unlock Perks in the skills I do use. These give me levels without increasing offense, nor defense, and the idea is to keep the level low. This keeps the NPCs from going up a tier, so you keep an advantage for your level. It also means that the starting skill bonuses are no longer useless. By keeping it at the mid-game, a Dunmer at level 29 still has a 75 in Destruction, instead of 65, which is the difference between being able to buy Incinerate, and casting it at half cost. So, I don't Pick Locks, I have my followers upen chests, and the Only pocket I've ever picked is Maedsi's. I also don't buy, and sell, except for spells, and robes, which don't show up in Radient loot reliably enough. (I also use a lot of spells you can find, or get from quests, like Detect Life from Infiltration, Flaming Familiar from Anska, and Flame Cloak from the scorched cape.) This means non Breton mages may get a couple levels in Speech, but it's generally not enough to throw off the level. (Bretons come with 20 Speech, so they can buy more without leveling.) Talk to Alvor, or Gerdur before you go to Whiterun, and you won't have to Persuade your way in. When you get to Riften, swim around to the docks (during the day) and go in through the Blackbriar Meadery so you don't get shaken down at the gate.

 

Crafting can get you very powerful gear. I know this, and I've done it. Unfortunately, to do the full loop with Fortify Resto, you have to add a minimum of 35 skill levels (with an Orc) to get them. This doubles some of my more minimalist builds, who can beat anything at their teir with vanilla scripted weapons. There's also a lot of powerful stuff you can do without any experience (Shouts, Unarmed, Staffs, and Scrolls...) Once you get 3-5 skills up to 100 they stop leveling, so you can stay at the mid game indefinitely, and still be At Least as powerful as an 81. (Relative to the NPCs.)

 

One drawback is you don't get top teir weapons, and armor in Radient loot, nor can you craft it. I like Conjuration, so it's not all that hard to get the Sigil Stone, a Daedra Heart, and Ebony Handaxe (From Arcwind) Or, I can make do with Bound Sword, and Mystic Binding at level 1. An Altmer with Novice Robes of Conjuration, and a Novice Hood can cast Bound Bow as soon as she gets to Fort Amol, and need nothing else the rest of the game. Oh look, I'm already 20 at Conjuration? At level three, I can have Mystic Binding, with my unlimited ammo, and the highest Base damage in the game! (48 without even Overdraw.)

 

Again, not telling anybody to play my way, cause it's gooder. Just saying this is how I play, and why. I have talked people into trying it, and gotten good feedback, but really I do this because it's the most fun for me. This thread is mostly to get this all out of the way so you all understand it better.

Edited June 30, 2012 by Psiberzerker

[Psiberzerker]

Elbereth

 

My generic Altmer build, the original save is standing in front of Hadvar in Helgen keep so I don't have to go through all of that again. If you must know, the name is an allusion to an old Unix Terminal game Nethack. (Older than the Civilian Internet, I have been a gamer for decades, the first video game I played was Pong, on an O-scope in the early 80s.) She's had several incarnations, but the original was a Battlemage with Bound Battleaxe, Bow, and Shouts. The beauty of this build was never putting a single point in Magicka, no Armor, and the magical ability to stay out of the Menus to maintain immersion. She keeps them in the weapon hands, battleaxe in the right, and bow on the left, so she just has to sheathe, and recast to change weapons. That's pretty much it, 3 skills, 2 weapon/spells, and 2 hotkeyed shouts.

 

FRD is paired with the bow, so when the tanks close, she can send them flying back, and shoot them while they get up. Wuld Nah (I used the dragon soul glitch, if you kill another dragon before you climb the 7000 steps, you can spend it on Wuld before Borri gives you Nah. You can also use it with Parrthy, and Yol...) is used to charge foreward once she casts the axe. Using my standard 2 handed build (See Dreadfall above, only with Limb Splitter) and Archery (Everthing but Steady Aim, and only one in Crit) the only perks I needed in Conjuration were up to Adept, and MB.

 

Rediculously OP, by the way, at any level. Mostly just the bow, but the axe helps when there's not enough open range to avoid the melee. Eventually added the bash side of Block, a lot of Dreadfall came from lessons learned by Elbereth. This was my first fully realized build. Bash&Slash is more than enough to make up for not having armor, and all the level points went into health. The original concept for this build was a RunEscape Range/2H Hybrid Pure.

Edited July 1, 2012 by Psiberzerker

[Psiberzerker]

Pharen:

 

http://skyrimcalculator.com/#143900 +Novice-Apprentice Conjuration, and Mystic Binding. My take on the Spellsword, with heavy armor to avoid getting 1HKed, and Robes for magic assistance. No smithing, his armor is a little over 100, and so is his Health, but he stays alive mostly through evasion, and killing the enemy with unstoppable offense. The usual progression of battle tactics is to Bolt Archers first, then other mages while running circles around the melee. Then, he likes to clump them together for AoE spells, like Flaming Familiar, or Ice Storm, and Critical Charge with Flame Cloak to get them Burning, and Bleeding. That's assuming a large scale battle with a mix of all 3 types of enemies, like one of the larger Foresworn Redoubts. A lightning Bolt shatters the Ward, then another saps their magicka, if not killing them outright. Usually Firebolts archers, doesn't care for Ice Spike.

 

His Weapon of Choice is an Ebony Handaxe, unenchanted, and non-tempered, but he'll drop a Drainheart Sword in the off hand for Dual Flurry(with Elemental Fury, the power attack speed is determined by the right hand.) to recover Stamina. Also does the left hand feign, and stab power attack to stagger blockers, and instantly recover the Stamina. (The great thing about a drainheart sword is it weighs less than most daggers, and he has a stack of them.)

 

He's also switching focus to Conjuration, so uses Bound Sword with Flaming Familiar when he has time to cast it. Spells depend on the enemy, and he juggles them a lot. Usually double casts (2, not dual cast) Lightning Bolt to hit Dragons on the wing, then hoses them down with Frost Wall once grounded, so they can't take back off. Firebolt is for Draugr (the most Magicka Efficient) which is being replaced by FF. Ice Storm is a battlefield sweeper, (He doesn't dual cast, but if you have Impact, this can chain stun Armies!) and to detonate FF as a combo. (Simulcast, shuts "The Caller" right up!) Also kites Giants, and Warlord Gathric onto a road of Frost, or Fire Runes. (You don't even have to turn around!) Considering Consoling in Spectral Arrow, if I need it.

 

Alternates between the Lord, or Atronach Stones. Mostly the Former, now that he's summoning, and it gives him almost half again as much armor. The Magic Resistance is nice too, because he doesn't have any other source of it, yet. (May do the Agent of mara, though I hate that questline.) Really too late to work up Alteration without grinding, and he's a little tight on the Magicka, really. If he starts feeling Squishy, I might have to use it to supliment his armor. Already done the main arc, CoWH, (Wears master Robes of Destruction, and Nahkriin, instead of Archmage's, and Morokei) and Forbidden Legends. Usually travels with Jenassa (I love her, and they may get married) because she's fire resistant, and badass.

 

Doesn't really use much in the way of Shouts, mostly Whirlwind Sprint for quick cross country, when I've already used Adrenaline Rush. Has Dragonrend, but prefers to shoot them down with Bolts, then hose them with frost when grounded. Can't cast Storm Atronach yet, but has Jyrik's lightning spammer staff, and Aeren's staff (From the shelf in his quarters) in case his gauge runs out. Also Dragon preist Staffs, he can do the whole dragon fight without hard casting anything, but runs himself dry first to conserve souls (Until he perks the Bound Sword for harvasting.) Probably about time to go see mrs. Lenith about a bauble...

 

If it wasn't obvious, this is my present work in progress. May need to start Enchanting soon, but the first few levels are always Disenchanting, and topping off the weapons he does have until he gets some decent level effects. Has Burning Souls, and all three Absorption effects (From Labrynthian) but no perks in the tree, and only 27 skill level, so it's a waste of souls at this point to make anything. That, and Conjuration for the next 7 levels, or so.

Edited July 1, 2012 by Psiberzerker