Amongst the fetid swamps and hostile wildlife in Argonia, victory doesn't go to the one with the sharpest sword, the shiniest armor, or even the one most skilled with such tools - it goes to the one who can best turn the environment to his or her advantage. This is what the Vanguards of Black Marsh have mastered. They forgo the trappings and codes of conduct of more traditional warriors in favor of underhanded, unorthodox, and highly effective tactics. A Black Marsh Vanguard may be outnumbered but is never outmatched. He may be expected but can never be planned for. He may not be the strongest or the toughest but he is without a doubt the deadliest. And for reasons unknown, one has made his way to Skyrim...
The Black Marsh Vanguard
The Black Marsh Vanguard is my attempt to create a master of unconventional warfare in Skyrim while using a race I had never used before, the Argonian. The Vanguard starts the battle on his own terms, whether by a poisoned arrow that turns his foes against each other or by a thundering charge into the enemy's midst from a hundred yards away. A combination of light armor, Argonians' racial Waterbreathing, an impressive Stamina, and Whirlwind Sprint ensures the Vanguard stays mobile at all times. This mobility is used to great effect: luring enemies into traps, taking the high ground, or just buying time/cover to ply healing magic. In addition to said healing magic, Vanguards are also able to passively regenerate their health at a near-freakish level thanks to The Lady Stone, their natural link to the Hist, and items plundered from those foolish enough to cross them previously. To a well-trained Vanguard, a few moments' pause in combat can be as rejuvenating as a good night's sleep. And in addition to their extensive poisoning expertise, Black Marsh Vanguards learn a select variety of spells to take advantage of their environment and surprise their enemies even more. Because if there's one thing you can count on the Vanguard to do, it's the thing you'll never see coming. Welcome to the jungle.
Features
*Note on play-testing and mods*
This build is presented in the context of vanilla Skyrim. However, this was play-tested on PC, with a lot of mods that change just about everything in the game. I tried to make sure there are no inconsistencies with the unmodded game in the build, but if I overlooked something, please let me know.
The Build
Race: Argonian
Stone:
Stats: 1/1/1 until Magicka reaches 130 (or however much you need to cast Whirlwind cloak w/ 50 Destruction skill and the Adept perk - by my calculation it's 125). After that, 1/1.
Primary Skills:
Secondary Skills:
I know it's not a very round number, but after Level 37 I feel this build has everything it needs to succeed. From here, it can evolve in any number of ways. If you find your damage (even with poisons) lacking, pick up some more advanced 2-H perks, or take up Smithing. If you want more defensive potential, Smithing also helps as do more Light Armor perks or the high-skill Avoid Death perk in Restoration. Or, you could give the Vanguard more of a "saboteur" feel with Pickpocket for Poisoned and weaken your foes before as well as during the battle. As with many other aspects of this build, it's up to you!
Spells: Whirlwind Cloak, Poison Rune, Healing, Flames, Fire Rune, Oakflesh, Detect Life
Shouts:
...and this is what happened to the fifth dentist.
Equipment:
Mostly low-quality equipment for a few reasons. First, it makes sense that a warrior from the swamps of Argonia wouldn't be experienced with shiny, expensive materials like glass or elven. At the same time, I enjoyed the challenge of using low-end weapons and armor. Last and most importantly, it just so happens that what I feel is a perfect look for a deadly swamp-trained guerilla warrior can be achieved with such unassuming equipment.
Strides-On-Wind cracks some heads on his way to the Badass Convention, of which he is Chairman for Life.
Alchemy
Poisons: Use them. I'm not a big fan of giving recipes for this build for a few reasons. In other playthroughs I've found that having them reduces my creativity and takes away the discovery aspect of poisonmaking. Since I tend to only use the recipes I know, it reduces the quantity I do make, which is detrimental to this build in particular. Also, different Vanguards have different poison priorities: some want to incapacitate their foes, others want to drive them insane (personally, I've found that the Slow effect synergizes well with this build's great mobility). It's up to you which poisons you want to focus on, or maybe you prefer not to specialize at all. Whatever your preference, make a lot of them, and use them like you're a deadly lizard-man swamp warrior. Because, you know, you are.
Potions: The Vanguard has most of the healing he needs from passive regeneration and Restoration magic. You *do* have most of the associated perks so brew as many potions as you want, but don't sacrifice your poisoning potential for it. I only craft two different kinds of potions purposefully, and since I like the Vanguard more as only a master of poisons rather than all Alchemy, I don't feel my previous recipe reasoning applies here. The recipes aren't that original anyway.
The Method
Argonians are renowned as masters of guerilla warfare, and Black Marsh Vanguards are masters of it even among Argonians. But true guerilla warfare isn't just backstabbing and sneaking. In fact, the real fun of this build starts once you've been discovered and enemies are coming for you. No two battlefields are exactly alike and no two Vanguards think exactly alike, but here is a rough outline of the Vanguard's deadly process.
1. Scout the terrain and enemy positions using Eagle Eye, Detect Life (short bursts) or Aura Whisper, and of course Sneak mode. Look for easily defensible positions like tops of hills or choke points like narrow bridges, and how you can get to them easily (swimming, for example). These are good places to fight from, decreasing the advantage of numbers that your enemy surely has.
2. Plan escape routes from these positions. Staying on the move keeps you from being overwhelmed. This could mean dropping down a story or two, diving into deep water (hellooooo, Waterbreathing), or Whirlwind Sprinting away to safer territory. If possible, move to another of the easily defended positions you found.
Pretty much this. Except the fight's still going on...his enemies just don't know it.
3. Place your own traps or take advantage of existing ones if you can. You'll have enemies chasing after you at some point (see Step 2), so if you can predict which route your foes can take, make them pay for their predictability. Poison Rune fits the tone of the build the best, but a Fire Rune on top of an oil puddle is pretty great, too. This build doesn't use Quiet casting so if you place a rune, either make sure it's out of earshot or that you're ready to fight once you place it.
4. Attack. Once you know the battlefield, your options really branch out. It's not necessary, but you could begin with a sneaky backstab or shot to secure another defensible position for yourself. You could keep your distance from foes, firing poison arrows and leading them through traps/runes. You could Whirlwind Sprint around the field to eliminate specific foes (I like to go after archers since they're harder to steer into traps). You could also charge into the thick of things with your poisoned two-hander swinging, and retreat when you get swarmed to regenerate. My favorite thing about this build is that you can control which approach to use - and vary it multiple times in one battle - thanks to your mobility. This is also where poison variation comes in. In an attack, using Fear and Frenzy poisons would create a very different environment from the same attack in which Slow and Paralysis poisons were used. Experiment with different tactics and poison combinations; this keeps your experience, and the Vanguard himself, from becoming predictable.
Tips & Reminders
Vanguards even look badass when they're thinking.
Special Moves
Black March Blitz: The Vanguard gathers all his
Magicka and rushes forth, the force of his approach sending nearby enemies flying.
This is helpful for entering melee against a group:
I recommend Sprinting into the group if they're
archers/mages and slightly past the group if they're
close-range fighters, so those who don't fall can't
start wailing on you immediately.
Whirlwind Cloak + Whirlwind Sprint
Venomous Arc: The Vanguard combines his
weapons expertise with his mastery of toxins,
poisoning all in front of him with a single brutal
strike.
A good follow-up to the above move. Concentrated
Poison allows the move to be repeated with the
same poison. If you use a Frenzy poison, get out
of Dodge and let your enemies fight each other
to the last man...
Sweep + Any Poison (+Concentrated Poison)
Amphibious Assault: Emerge from the water to the midst of your foes in the blink of an eye.
Not an incredibly special move, but handy for getting the drop on unsuspecting foes from the water. Locate some enemies near a shoreline. Draw your weapon and swim underwater. As you approach the shore but are still submerged, activate Whirlwind Sprint. As soon as your feet are on the shore, you'll fly forward, weapon in hand, before anyone can get up or draw weapons of their own. The perfect surprise attack.
Racial Waterbreathing + Whirlwind Sprint
They'll never know what hit them. Which is good - they probably wouldn't want to know anyway.
Quests & Roleplay
This build is more gameplay-focused than it is roleplay-focused: it doesn't really include or exclude any specific quests or choices. The following is a summary of my experience; I'm having a blast with it and encourage you to try any parts of it that sound appealing.
What can I say...I just really hate Nazeem.
Recommended quests/dungeons: The Way of the Voice, Bard's College, and Volskygge (for Whirlwind Sprint), Infiltration (free Detect Life tome), Angi's Archery quests (just for the hell of it).
There you have it! Thanks for making it through this small novel of a build. I hope you try it out and find the gameplay as refreshing as I did. And of course, it's my first build so any input is doubly appreciated.
Amongst the fetid swamps and hostile wildlife in Argonia, victory doesn't go to the one with the sharpest sword, the shiniest armor, or even the one most skilled with such tools - it goes to the one who can best turn the environment to his or her advantage. This is what the Vanguards of Black Marsh have mastered. They forgo the trappings and codes of conduct of more traditional warriors in favor of underhanded, unorthodox, and highly effective tactics. A Black Marsh Vanguard may be outnumbered but is never outmatched. He may be expected but can never be planned for. He may not be the strongest or the toughest but he is without a doubt the deadliest. And for reasons unknown, one has made his way to Skyrim...
The Black Marsh Vanguard
The Black Marsh Vanguard is my attempt to create a master of unconventional warfare in Skyrim while using a race I had never used before, the Argonian. The Vanguard starts the battle on his own terms, whether by a poisoned arrow that turns his foes against each other or by a thundering charge into the enemy's midst from a hundred yards away. A combination of light armor, Argonians' racial Waterbreathing, an impressive Stamina, and Whirlwind Sprint ensures the Vanguard stays mobile at all times. This mobility is used to great effect: luring enemies into traps, taking the high ground, or just buying time/cover to ply healing magic. In addition to said healing magic, Vanguards are also able to passively regenerate their health at a near-freakish level thanks to The Lady Stone, their natural link to the Hist, and items plundered from those foolish enough to cross them previously. To a well-trained Vanguard, a few moments' pause in combat can be as rejuvenating as a good night's sleep. And in addition to their extensive poisoning expertise, Black Marsh Vanguards learn a select variety of spells to take advantage of their environment and surprise their enemies even more. Because if there's one thing you can count on the Vanguard to do, it's the thing you'll never see coming. Welcome to the jungle.
Features
*Note on play-testing and mods*
This build is presented in the context of vanilla Skyrim. However, this was play-tested on PC, with a lot of mods that change just about everything in the game. I tried to make sure there are no inconsistencies with the unmodded game in the build, but if I overlooked something, please let me know.
The Build
Race: Argonian
Stone:
Stats: 1/1/1 until Magicka reaches 130 (or however much you need to cast Whirlwind cloak w/ 50 Destruction skill and the Adept perk - by my calculation it's 125). After that, 1/1.
Primary Skills:
Secondary Skills:
I know it's not a very round number, but after Level 37 I feel this build has everything it needs to succeed. From here, it can evolve in any number of ways. If you find your damage (even with poisons) lacking, pick up some more advanced 2-H perks, or take up Smithing. If you want more defensive potential, Smithing also helps as do more Light Armor perks or the high-skill Avoid Death perk in Restoration. Or, you could give the Vanguard more of a "saboteur" feel with Pickpocket for Poisoned and weaken your foes before as well as during the battle. As with many other aspects of this build, it's up to you!
Spells: Whirlwind Cloak, Poison Rune, Healing, Flames, Fire Rune, Oakflesh, Detect Life
Shouts:
...and this is what happened to the fifth dentist.
Equipment:
Mostly low-quality equipment for a few reasons. First, it makes sense that a warrior from the swamps of Argonia wouldn't be experienced with shiny, expensive materials like glass or elven. At the same time, I enjoyed the challenge of using low-end weapons and armor. Last and most importantly, it just so happens that what I feel is a perfect look for a deadly swamp-trained guerilla warrior can be achieved with such unassuming equipment.
Strides-On-Wind cracks some heads on his way to the Badass Convention, of which he is Chairman for Life.
Alchemy
Poisons: Use them. I'm not a big fan of giving recipes for this build for a few reasons. In other playthroughs I've found that having them reduces my creativity and takes away the discovery aspect of poisonmaking. Since I tend to only use the recipes I know, it reduces the quantity I do make, which is detrimental to this build in particular. Also, different Vanguards have different poison priorities: some want to incapacitate their foes, others want to drive them insane (personally, I've found that the Slow effect synergizes well with this build's great mobility). It's up to you which poisons you want to focus on, or maybe you prefer not to specialize at all. Whatever your preference, make a lot of them, and use them like you're a deadly lizard-man swamp warrior. Because, you know, you are.
Potions: The Vanguard has most of the healing he needs from passive regeneration and Restoration magic. You *do* have most of the associated perks so brew as many potions as you want, but don't sacrifice your poisoning potential for it. I only craft two different kinds of potions purposefully, and since I like the Vanguard more as only a master of poisons rather than all Alchemy, I don't feel my previous recipe reasoning applies here. The recipes aren't that original anyway.
The Method
Argonians are renowned as masters of guerilla warfare, and Black Marsh Vanguards are masters of it even among Argonians. But true guerilla warfare isn't just backstabbing and sneaking. In fact, the real fun of this build starts once you've been discovered and enemies are coming for you. No two battlefields are exactly alike and no two Vanguards think exactly alike, but here is a rough outline of the Vanguard's deadly process.
1. Scout the terrain and enemy positions using Eagle Eye, Detect Life (short bursts) or Aura Whisper, and of course Sneak mode. Look for easily defensible positions like tops of hills or choke points like narrow bridges, and how you can get to them easily (swimming, for example). These are good places to fight from, decreasing the advantage of numbers that your enemy surely has.
2. Plan escape routes from these positions. Staying on the move keeps you from being overwhelmed. This could mean dropping down a story or two, diving into deep water (hellooooo, Waterbreathing), or Whirlwind Sprinting away to safer territory. If possible, move to another of the easily defended positions you found.
Pretty much this. Except the fight's still going on...his enemies just don't know it.
3. Place your own traps or take advantage of existing ones if you can. You'll have enemies chasing after you at some point (see Step 2), so if you can predict which route your foes can take, make them pay for their predictability. Poison Rune fits the tone of the build the best, but a Fire Rune on top of an oil puddle is pretty great, too. This build doesn't use Quiet casting so if you place a rune, either make sure it's out of earshot or that you're ready to fight once you place it.
4. Attack. Once you know the battlefield, your options really branch out. It's not necessary, but you could begin with a sneaky backstab or shot to secure another defensible position for yourself. You could keep your distance from foes, firing poison arrows and leading them through traps/runes. You could Whirlwind Sprint around the field to eliminate specific foes (I like to go after archers since they're harder to steer into traps). You could also charge into the thick of things with your poisoned two-hander swinging, and retreat when you get swarmed to regenerate. My favorite thing about this build is that you can control which approach to use - and vary it multiple times in one battle - thanks to your mobility. This is also where poison variation comes in. In an attack, using Fear and Frenzy poisons would create a very different environment from the same attack in which Slow and Paralysis poisons were used. Experiment with different tactics and poison combinations; this keeps your experience, and the Vanguard himself, from becoming predictable.
Tips & Reminders
Vanguards even look badass when they're thinking.
Special Moves
Black March Blitz: The Vanguard gathers all his
Magicka and rushes forth, the force of his approach sending nearby enemies flying.
This is helpful for entering melee against a group:
I recommend Sprinting into the group if they're
archers/mages and slightly past the group if they're
close-range fighters, so those who don't fall can't
start wailing on you immediately.
Whirlwind Cloak + Whirlwind Sprint
Venomous Arc: The Vanguard combines his
weapons expertise with his mastery of toxins,
poisoning all in front of him with a single brutal
strike.
A good follow-up to the above move. Concentrated
Poison allows the move to be repeated with the
same poison. If you use a Frenzy poison, get out
of Dodge and let your enemies fight each other
to the last man...
Sweep + Any Poison (+Concentrated Poison)
Amphibious Assault: Emerge from the water to the midst of your foes in the blink of an eye.
Not an incredibly special move, but handy for getting the drop on unsuspecting foes from the water. Locate some enemies near a shoreline. Draw your weapon and swim underwater. As you approach the shore but are still submerged, activate Whirlwind Sprint. As soon as your feet are on the shore, you'll fly forward, weapon in hand, before anyone can get up or draw weapons of their own. The perfect surprise attack.
Racial Waterbreathing + Whirlwind Sprint
They'll never know what hit them. Which is good - they probably wouldn't want to know anyway.
Quests & Roleplay
This build is more gameplay-focused than it is roleplay-focused: it doesn't really include or exclude any specific quests or choices. The following is a summary of my experience; I'm having a blast with it and encourage you to try any parts of it that sound appealing.
What can I say...I just really hate Nazeem.
Recommended quests/dungeons: The Way of the Voice, Bard's College, and Volskygge (for Whirlwind Sprint), Infiltration (free Detect Life tome), Angi's Archery quests (just for the hell of it).
There you have it! Thanks for making it through this small novel of a build. I hope you try it out and find the gameplay as refreshing as I did. And of course, it's my first build so any input is doubly appreciated.
This build, In my opinion, is presented beautifully! I have, of course, mainly skimmed it though, as I am sort of rushing. As much as I can tell this is a very good first build, I can't find any flaws in grammar yet, I'll have to give this a thorough look tomorrow when I have time! +1 For presentation, Screen Shots, Unique Title, and Diverse Gameplay. (At least from what I can tell from my quick overlook)
This build, In my opinion, is presented beautifully! I have, of course, mainly skimmed it though, as I am sort of rushing. As much as I can tell this is a very good first build, I can't find any flaws in grammar yet, I'll have to give this a thorough look tomorrow when I have time! +1 For presentation, Screen Shots, Unique Title, and Diverse Gameplay. (At least from what I can tell from my quick overlook)