Yo, so I won't waffle on for too long but the Rimerock Witch is a build based primarily on a combination of Phil's stunningly amazing Nocturnal: Goddess of Witches article back from Halloween and a series of In-Game books that he references in said article. Or I guess if you want to be specific, mostly Phil's article. Originally it was meant to be a Mini-Build but the idea sort of stuck with me until I decided to create a fully fledged, fully developed build that
The Basics
Race: Altmer or Breton
This is purely a gameplay decision though the build plays quite differently with each race.Playing as an Altmer encourages a somewhat more offensive role with higher Magicka pools, an actual source of Magicka Regen during the early game (where she's running around without enchanted armour for the most part). Bretons favour a more defensive mindset, due to the combination of Spell Absorption and Resistance that they get right at the start of the game.
Standing Stone: The Atronach
The Atronach is interesting because it provides an immediete boost of Magicka (which this character sorely needs due to her low regeneration), lowers Magicka Regeneration and lets you Absorb Magicka. It's a great combination for a defensively minded character and creates an additional restriction that allows the character to function quite differently from classic Mages.
Stats: 1 Magicka, 1 Health, 1 Stamina
Because of the defensive nature of The Rimerock Witch and her use of Shield Bashing she has a prominent need for all three stats with no individual stat being less useful than the others. Stamina provides a decent chunk of her staggering and the only real form of survival in melee combat in the early game while Health provides...well Health and Magicka lets her access her spells more frequently.
Destruction is the Rimerock Witch's first major skill, and the bulk of her offensive presence on the field. Devastating her opponents with a combination of Frost and Wind magics, she excels at controlling the battlefield by knocking enemies back and draining their Stamina. Her most common spells are Ice Storm*,* Frost Cloak*,Whirlwind Cloak,* Frost Rune (and it's Repeater variant from Phenderix Magic Evolved) and Wind Barrage. Together these spells combine long ranged and close ranged offensive and defensive options and allow her to fight effectively from any range creating an incredibly deadly Witch.
Perks: Novice-Expert Destruction, Dual Casting, Rune Master, Augmented Frost 2/2 and Deep Freeze.
Block may seem like a strange skill for a Witch to possess, but the Rimerock Witch prides herself on her defense, and her shield-work goes a long way to making that possible. Typically her primary approach is to bunker down behind a shield, lashing out at enemies with a Bash or Power Bash whenever they come close and then unleashing an Ice Storm once they're staggered.
Perks: Shield Wall 5/5, Deflect Arrows, Elemental Protection, Quick Reflexes, Power Bash, Deadly Bash and Disarming Bash.
Illusion is a minor skill in comparison to Block and Destruction, being used purely to set up the battlefield before she finishes making her approach. Typically her use of the Fury spell-line is the only notable aspect of her mastery of Illusion, but that spell alone allows the Witch to cause chaos behind enemy lines without putting herself in any major danger.
Perks: Novice Illusion, Dual Casting, Hypnotic Gaze, Aspect of Terror, Rage, Animage, Kindred Mage, Quiet Casting and Master of the Mind.
Conjuration is both a minor and a major skill. It's perked to nearly the same degree as Destruction, but is something that isn't needed every fight, and is typically only used at the beginning of a conflict. Frost Atronachs will end up being the primary summon for this character, but Phenderix's Magic Evolved includes a slew of interesting summons including Skeletons which are a fairly decent low-level conjuration before you have the Magicka to summon Frost Atronachs.
Perks: Novice-Expert Conjuration, Summoner 1/2, Atromancy and Elemental Potency.
Restoration is another skill like Conjuration, but one that's much more varied in it's approach. The use of it is simple, The Witch uses it to restore her health both during and between battle but uses two very different methods to make it possible. Outside of combat the simple use of Healing is all that she needs, but once combat starts it becomes more logical to use Drain Health (Phenderix Magic Evolved) to damage her enemies while restoring her own health. It's a simple approach but one that makes her defense that much more powerful without fully sacrificing offense.
Perks: Novice Restoration, Recovery 2/2, Regeneration and Respite
Heavy Armour is the final skill, and because of it's nature is really just a passive skill to provide more AR. The Rimerock Witch is primarily a melee ranged (for her opponents at least), defensive spell-caster so having heavier, more robust armour is generally a benefit in allowing her to continue surviving.
Perks: Juggernaut 5/5, Well Fitted, Tower of Strength and Matching Set
As mentioned above, very briefly combat for the Rimerock Witch is broken down into multiple stages but operates basically as a Shieldmage. In other words, you enter combat with a shield in one hand, and a spell in the other. It's a relatively simple combination that favors defensive and tactical combat. Despite this, the Rimerock Witch is no ways a passive combatant, she's prefers using shorter ranged, powerful spells that debilitate and harm enemies and bashing enemies in a way that makes them incapable of fighting back. It means that as long as your in combat, you'll always be doing something as long as you have Magicka or Stamina.
Speaking of our two primary stats (or our two more important stats) this is a build that truly requires both to be successful. Use your Magicka too often and your left with a limited offense, use your Stamina too often and you won't be able to avoid Power Attacks or fight multiple opponents. Magicka is even more interesting because the build takes The Atronach Stone and doesn't really use Magicka Regeneration enchantments, meaning you'll have a fairly large pool of Magicka to draw from, but it won't regenerate as fast (while the opposite can be said for your Stamina, smaller pool but faster regeneration).
The stages mentioned previously can be broken down into pre-combat, ranged combat and melee-range (or True Combat). Pre-Combat generally involves makings sure that all three of your stats are maximized (waiting for Magicka to regenerate or using Healing to gain your Health and Stamina), summoning any allies that you plan to use for the fight and finally casting a few tactical Fury Spells. Typically I prefer to aim for either Archers or heavily armoured Warriors as the two will cause the most chaos, and be generally a bit harder to take down. The second stage, ranged combat is primarily based around Ice Spike and Deflecting Arrows, and is really just a chance to deal with any Archers that you see, typically they'll be the first to be able to hit you, and the opponents that will deal the most damage (in the shortest amount of time) so they're quite dangerous and best to deal with earlier rather than later. Melee-Ranged (True Combat) is where we get into the core of the build, utilizing bashes, runes and Ice Storm to create a continuous offense that keeps enemies, slowed, staggered and eventually killed. Having a summon is crucial for this stage as it helps you divert a few enemies and can often help you out if you start running low on Magicka (dealing with a few enemies that are left standing while you go around Bashing them). I'd also recommend having a lightly enchanted dagger or sword for this stage, just in case you need to finish a few enemies off.
Now we get to the heavier Lore/Roleplaying aspects of the build.
The Rimerock Wyrd is an almost completely undeveloped faction in Elder Scrolls Lore that exists purely as a reference in The Glenmoril Wyrd detailing just a few covens (or Wyrds) that exist in High Rock and Skyrim. All we know for real is that the Wyrd has a good relationship with some of the Reachmen (Forsworn) and primarily worship Daedra. Part of this build's aim is to create a structure for the Wyrd, which I will be differentiating from a coven (think of it as the difference between a state and federal government. Their connected, and have a lot of overlapping features, but are still separate entities with their own goals and ideas.)
If your interested in reading more about Wyrds and Witches in TES Lore, then I'd recommend reading Nocturnal: Goddess of Witches (Lore Article), Witch Cults of Northern High Rock (in-game book) and the previously mentioned Glenmoril Wyrd in-game book.
Deities: Kynareth, Nocturnal or Boethiah
The Rimerock Wyrd is actually a collective of three separate Covens that all follow a single Matriarch, but worship three different deities. This creates a somewhat blurred set of religious beliefs and rituals that each Coven bases their identity on and provides an incredibly different life-style depending on the coven that each member chooses to join. Naturally each Coven despite their singular worship will offer respect to the other deities that the Wyrd worships, so in some ways it can be said that they worship all four deities, with different members having different levels of faith.
The Northern Coven
The Northern Coven are a nomadic group that lives along the Sea of Ghosts. They're by far the least reclusive of the Covens that form the Rimerock Wyrd, and are well known to regularly make contact with the cities of Dawnstar and Winterhold, or anyone that seeks them out. Despite this, it's almost impossible to just stumble across the Wyrd due to a combination of their vast lands and nomadic nature, making them a fairly mysterious group of docile witches. The Norther Coven worships an interesting form of Kynareth who they refer to as Kiene. Kiene is slightly different from typical Imperial or Nordic versions of the goddess, and instead takes on a more natural, feral form with a heavy connection to Rain, Storms, Wind and Nature.
The Frost Witches of the North
The Frost Witches of the Reach are arguably the darkest of the three covens, with a well reported history of inflicting great violence on any outsiders who enter their (arguably) undefined lands. The most commonly reported stories often speak of elaborate rituals that begin with disembowelment and ending with bodies being impaled on spikes before being burned to the ground. Their deity of choice is unsurprisingly for many, Boethiah. Their worship of the Detiy (whose male form is completely ignored) is actually rather simplistic and seems to primarily consist of the previously mentioned ritual but may involve more that outsiders simply haven't been privy to. The Coven is by far the most reclusive of the Rimerock Wyrd, with only three people ever reporting their existence as anything other than myth.
The Ravens
The Ravens are the final of the three covens, and appropriately worship Nocturnal as their primary goddess. They're by far the most mysterious of the three, with people claiming to have met a member (never more than a single Witch) but there doesn't appear to be any defining features of their stories. No notes on how the Witches worship Nocturnal, their relationship with nature, even where they live. Some consider them a nomadic tribe while others believe they've locked themselves away in an old shrine to Nocturnal located somewhere in Northern High Rock. Without more detail it's impossible to know for sure, but they certainly exist.
Nocturnal: Goddess of Witches
The Glenmoril Wyrd
Witch Cults of Northern High Rock
The Interrogation of Henghild
Just as a note. None of the artwork is mine, I did make some minor edits (mainly the borders and sizes and all) but yeah, don't own them, not claiming too. All the banners are designed by me (by banners I mean the fancy text) and I thought these ones turned our rather nice.
First Image
Second Image
Third Image
Fourth Image
Fifth Image
Yo, so I won't waffle on for too long but the Rimerock Witch is a build based primarily on a combination of Phil's stunningly amazing Nocturnal: Goddess of Witches article back from Halloween and a series of In-Game books that he references in said article. Or I guess if you want to be specific, mostly Phil's article. Originally it was meant to be a Mini-Build but the idea sort of stuck with me until I decided to create a fully fledged, fully developed build that
The Basics
Race: Altmer or Breton
This is purely a gameplay decision though the build plays quite differently with each race.Playing as an Altmer encourages a somewhat more offensive role with higher Magicka pools, an actual source of Magicka Regen during the early game (where she's running around without enchanted armour for the most part). Bretons favour a more defensive mindset, due to the combination of Spell Absorption and Resistance that they get right at the start of the game.
Standing Stone: The Atronach
The Atronach is interesting because it provides an immediete boost of Magicka (which this character sorely needs due to her low regeneration), lowers Magicka Regeneration and lets you Absorb Magicka. It's a great combination for a defensively minded character and creates an additional restriction that allows the character to function quite differently from classic Mages.
Stats: 1 Magicka, 1 Health, 1 Stamina
Because of the defensive nature of The Rimerock Witch and her use of Shield Bashing she has a prominent need for all three stats with no individual stat being less useful than the others. Stamina provides a decent chunk of her staggering and the only real form of survival in melee combat in the early game while Health provides...well Health and Magicka lets her access her spells more frequently.
Destruction is the Rimerock Witch's first major skill, and the bulk of her offensive presence on the field. Devastating her opponents with a combination of Frost and Wind magics, she excels at controlling the battlefield by knocking enemies back and draining their Stamina. Her most common spells are Ice Storm*,* Frost Cloak*,Whirlwind Cloak,* Frost Rune (and it's Repeater variant from Phenderix Magic Evolved) and Wind Barrage. Together these spells combine long ranged and close ranged offensive and defensive options and allow her to fight effectively from any range creating an incredibly deadly Witch.
Perks: Novice-Expert Destruction, Dual Casting, Rune Master, Augmented Frost 2/2 and Deep Freeze.
Block may seem like a strange skill for a Witch to possess, but the Rimerock Witch prides herself on her defense, and her shield-work goes a long way to making that possible. Typically her primary approach is to bunker down behind a shield, lashing out at enemies with a Bash or Power Bash whenever they come close and then unleashing an Ice Storm once they're staggered.
Perks: Shield Wall 5/5, Deflect Arrows, Elemental Protection, Quick Reflexes, Power Bash, Deadly Bash and Disarming Bash.
Illusion is a minor skill in comparison to Block and Destruction, being used purely to set up the battlefield before she finishes making her approach. Typically her use of the Fury spell-line is the only notable aspect of her mastery of Illusion, but that spell alone allows the Witch to cause chaos behind enemy lines without putting herself in any major danger.
Perks: Novice Illusion, Dual Casting, Hypnotic Gaze, Aspect of Terror, Rage, Animage, Kindred Mage, Quiet Casting and Master of the Mind.
Conjuration is both a minor and a major skill. It's perked to nearly the same degree as Destruction, but is something that isn't needed every fight, and is typically only used at the beginning of a conflict. Frost Atronachs will end up being the primary summon for this character, but Phenderix's Magic Evolved includes a slew of interesting summons including Skeletons which are a fairly decent low-level conjuration before you have the Magicka to summon Frost Atronachs.
Perks: Novice-Expert Conjuration, Summoner 1/2, Atromancy and Elemental Potency.
Restoration is another skill like Conjuration, but one that's much more varied in it's approach. The use of it is simple, The Witch uses it to restore her health both during and between battle but uses two very different methods to make it possible. Outside of combat the simple use of Healing is all that she needs, but once combat starts it becomes more logical to use Drain Health (Phenderix Magic Evolved) to damage her enemies while restoring her own health. It's a simple approach but one that makes her defense that much more powerful without fully sacrificing offense.
Perks: Novice Restoration, Recovery 2/2, Regeneration and Respite
Heavy Armour is the final skill, and because of it's nature is really just a passive skill to provide more AR. The Rimerock Witch is primarily a melee ranged (for her opponents at least), defensive spell-caster so having heavier, more robust armour is generally a benefit in allowing her to continue surviving.
Perks: Juggernaut 5/5, Well Fitted, Tower of Strength and Matching Set
As mentioned above, very briefly combat for the Rimerock Witch is broken down into multiple stages but operates basically as a Shieldmage. In other words, you enter combat with a shield in one hand, and a spell in the other. It's a relatively simple combination that favors defensive and tactical combat. Despite this, the Rimerock Witch is no ways a passive combatant, she's prefers using shorter ranged, powerful spells that debilitate and harm enemies and bashing enemies in a way that makes them incapable of fighting back. It means that as long as your in combat, you'll always be doing something as long as you have Magicka or Stamina.
Speaking of our two primary stats (or our two more important stats) this is a build that truly requires both to be successful. Use your Magicka too often and your left with a limited offense, use your Stamina too often and you won't be able to avoid Power Attacks or fight multiple opponents. Magicka is even more interesting because the build takes The Atronach Stone and doesn't really use Magicka Regeneration enchantments, meaning you'll have a fairly large pool of Magicka to draw from, but it won't regenerate as fast (while the opposite can be said for your Stamina, smaller pool but faster regeneration).
The stages mentioned previously can be broken down into pre-combat, ranged combat and melee-range (or True Combat). Pre-Combat generally involves makings sure that all three of your stats are maximized (waiting for Magicka to regenerate or using Healing to gain your Health and Stamina), summoning any allies that you plan to use for the fight and finally casting a few tactical Fury Spells. Typically I prefer to aim for either Archers or heavily armoured Warriors as the two will cause the most chaos, and be generally a bit harder to take down. The second stage, ranged combat is primarily based around Ice Spike and Deflecting Arrows, and is really just a chance to deal with any Archers that you see, typically they'll be the first to be able to hit you, and the opponents that will deal the most damage (in the shortest amount of time) so they're quite dangerous and best to deal with earlier rather than later. Melee-Ranged (True Combat) is where we get into the core of the build, utilizing bashes, runes and Ice Storm to create a continuous offense that keeps enemies, slowed, staggered and eventually killed. Having a summon is crucial for this stage as it helps you divert a few enemies and can often help you out if you start running low on Magicka (dealing with a few enemies that are left standing while you go around Bashing them). I'd also recommend having a lightly enchanted dagger or sword for this stage, just in case you need to finish a few enemies off.
Now we get to the heavier Lore/Roleplaying aspects of the build.
The Rimerock Wyrd is an almost completely undeveloped faction in Elder Scrolls Lore that exists purely as a reference in The Glenmoril Wyrd detailing just a few covens (or Wyrds) that exist in High Rock and Skyrim. All we know for real is that the Wyrd has a good relationship with some of the Reachmen (Forsworn) and primarily worship Daedra. Part of this build's aim is to create a structure for the Wyrd, which I will be differentiating from a coven (think of it as the difference between a state and federal government. Their connected, and have a lot of overlapping features, but are still separate entities with their own goals and ideas.)
If your interested in reading more about Wyrds and Witches in TES Lore, then I'd recommend reading Nocturnal: Goddess of Witches (Lore Article), Witch Cults of Northern High Rock (in-game book) and the previously mentioned Glenmoril Wyrd in-game book.
Deities: Kynareth, Nocturnal or Boethiah
The Rimerock Wyrd is actually a collective of three separate Covens that all follow a single Matriarch, but worship three different deities. This creates a somewhat blurred set of religious beliefs and rituals that each Coven bases their identity on and provides an incredibly different life-style depending on the coven that each member chooses to join. Naturally each Coven despite their singular worship will offer respect to the other deities that the Wyrd worships, so in some ways it can be said that they worship all four deities, with different members having different levels of faith.
The Northern Coven
The Northern Coven are a nomadic group that lives along the Sea of Ghosts. They're by far the least reclusive of the Covens that form the Rimerock Wyrd, and are well known to regularly make contact with the cities of Dawnstar and Winterhold, or anyone that seeks them out. Despite this, it's almost impossible to just stumble across the Wyrd due to a combination of their vast lands and nomadic nature, making them a fairly mysterious group of docile witches. The Norther Coven worships an interesting form of Kynareth who they refer to as Kiene. Kiene is slightly different from typical Imperial or Nordic versions of the goddess, and instead takes on a more natural, feral form with a heavy connection to Rain, Storms, Wind and Nature.
The Frost Witches of the North
The Frost Witches of the Reach are arguably the darkest of the three covens, with a well reported history of inflicting great violence on any outsiders who enter their (arguably) undefined lands. The most commonly reported stories often speak of elaborate rituals that begin with disembowelment and ending with bodies being impaled on spikes before being burned to the ground. Their deity of choice is unsurprisingly for many, Boethiah. Their worship of the Detiy (whose male form is completely ignored) is actually rather simplistic and seems to primarily consist of the previously mentioned ritual but may involve more that outsiders simply haven't been privy to. The Coven is by far the most reclusive of the Rimerock Wyrd, with only three people ever reporting their existence as anything other than myth.
The Ravens
The Ravens are the final of the three covens, and appropriately worship Nocturnal as their primary goddess. They're by far the most mysterious of the three, with people claiming to have met a member (never more than a single Witch) but there doesn't appear to be any defining features of their stories. No notes on how the Witches worship Nocturnal, their relationship with nature, even where they live. Some consider them a nomadic tribe while others believe they've locked themselves away in an old shrine to Nocturnal located somewhere in Northern High Rock. Without more detail it's impossible to know for sure, but they certainly exist.
Nocturnal: Goddess of Witches
The Glenmoril Wyrd
Witch Cults of Northern High Rock
The Interrogation of Henghild
Just as a note. None of the artwork is mine, I did make some minor edits (mainly the borders and sizes and all) but yeah, don't own them, not claiming too. All the banners are designed by me (by banners I mean the fancy text) and I thought these ones turned our rather nice.
First Image
Second Image
Third Image
Fourth Image
Fifth Image
