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Character Build: The Son of Alkosh

Tags: #Character Build Dual-Wield  #Character Build Shouts  #Character Build Acrobat  #Race:Khajiit  #SE Rank:Novice 
  • Member
    May 2, 2020

    The Son of Alkosh

    The slow and the stupid never stood a chance.

     

    The Son of Alkosh is a fast, nimble khajiit warrior who defeats his opponents through speed and cunning rather than brute force. By manipulating both time and spacial positioning, The Son of Alkosh overwhelms anyone who keeps him from what he wants. Usually gold. Or shiny things.

    Race: Khajiit

    Stone: The Lover Stone ⇒ The Lady Stone

    The Son of Alkosh dances with death in his intimate and dangerous method of fighting. Choosing the Lady Stone will allow him to regenerate health and stamina more quickly, prolonging his ability to stay in combat and providing more frequent power attacks.

    Stats Distribution: 0 Magicka | 3 Health | 2 Stamina.

    Putting most points into health will ensure that The Son of Alkosh will be able to take a lot of damage in combat, while a smaller, yet still significant investment into stamina will allow The Son of Alkosh to perform many power attacks.

    Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

    The Son of Alkosh is a thrill seeker, and a self-serving individualist. While he is not intentionally malignant to others, he will usually place his personal freedom and individualism above that of others. That being said, he is not heartless, either. He is reliable and protective of those he cares about and unforgiving of those who have wronged him. The Son of Alkosh intentionally snubs tradition and authority, and he is likely to overindulge in the luxuries of life.

    Major Skills: One-Handed, Light Armor, Lockpicking, Archery, Smithing, Pickpocket, and Speech

     

    Lore:

    Alkosh, colloquially known as the Dragon King of Cats, is the chief deity of the Anaquinine Khajiit religion, which was loosely based on the Nine Divines and Altmer religions, and was a variation of the Aldmeri god Auri-El and the Imperial god Akatosh.

    He is depicted in ancient Khajiit legends as a fearsome dragon, but in the Third and Fourth Eras the Khajiit adapted the legends into claiming that he was actually just a big cat. Alkosh is the most powerful of the Khajiit gods and was a god formed before the Ri'Datta Dynasty. After the creation of the god Riddle'Thar, Alkosh lost many of his worshippers in the majority of Elsweyr, but he remained immensely popular in Elsweyr's wasteland regions.

     

    In most of the districts of Valenwood, Baan Dar is a less important god than the others of the Bosmeri Pantheon. He is a trickster spirit of thieves and beggars. In Elsweyr he is one of the more important gods, and is considered one of the Pariah. As a Pariah, Baan Dar becomes the cleverness and desperate genius of the long suffering Khajiiti, whose last minute plans always upset the evil plans of their Elven or Nedic enemies. The Five Finger Dance is Baan Dar's realm of worship. Worshippers of Baan Dar go to Thormar in Reaper's March to play pranks on each other in order to the be accepted into the Five Finger Dance.

    Riddle'Thar is the cosmic order deity of the Khajiiti. He is also known as the sugar god.

    The Riddle'Thar was revealed to Elsweyr by the prophet Rid-Thar-ri'Datta, the Mane. The Riddle'Thar is more a set of guidelines by which to live rather than a single entity, but some of his avatars like to appear as humble messengers of the gods.

    Moonsugar is a substance native to the Tenmar Forest in southern Elsweyr. The holiest of substances to the Khajiit, moonsugar is a daily part of their lives and Elsweyr's chief export, although it is also a potentially dangerous and addictive drug.

    Moonsugar is illegal under the laws of the Empire, and many merchants will refuse to do business with anyone in possession of it. Conversely, moonsugar was legal under the Aldmeri Dominion, as most of its uses are benign, and just satisfy the Catfolk’s insatiable craving for sweets.

    The state of Anequina, otherwise known as Ne Quin-al is located in the northern regions of Elsweyr, is one of the two states that existed before Keirgo of Anequina and Eshita of Pellitine combined their long-feuding kingdoms to create the Elsweyr Confederacy in 2E 309.

    The Confederacy lasted throughout its assimilation into the Tamrielic Empire before being torn back into the two separate states. It was once following a Thalmor supported coup d'état. Anequina and Pellitine now exist as client states of the Third Aldmeri Dominion.

    The northern regions of Elsweyr are dominated by badlands and desert, a climate of which has influenced the culture of the Anequina Khajiit massively. The 'kingdom' is little more than a collection of chiefdoms in loose cooperation, but all with a common goal of preserving said culture and protecting their lands.

    The southern regions of Elsweyr are dominated by dense jungles and woodland, similar to that of neighbouring Valenwood, the climate of which has influenced the culture of the Pelletine Khajiit as much as that of their counterparts to the North. It is presumed that the head of state in Pelletine remains to be that of the religious Khajiit Mane, who resides in the city of Torval. The society of Pelletine itself seems to be deeply involved in the process of trade and the production of the hallucinogenic moon sugars, which hold cultural and religious value in Khajiiti society. The aristocracy of Pelletine is known to own the vast groves and plantations devoted to growing this lucrative and often controversial drug.

     

    Backstory

     

    The Son of Alkosh was born on the back of a caravan cart in the whipping sands of the Anequinan badlands. Like many khajiit in Anequina, his family was a caravan of merchants, carting wares across the barren deserts to the borders Cyrodiil and Pelletine. It was a hard life, but something that the Anequinans took great pride in, being able to count themselves as some of the hardiest warriors and slyest traders in all of Tamriel. His family, being khajiiti traditionalists, revered the old pantheon, consisting of the khajiit versions of the aedra and daedra, more than they did Riddle’Thar and his sugar. Nevertheless, their family still partook in moon sugar for spiritual and culinary reasons.

    Much to his parent’s dismay, The Son of Alkosh didn’t grow up to be the pious type. As a youth, he was constantly found getting into fights with bullies twice his size, or on the wrong end of a sword after attempting to steal from wealthy nobles in the streets. Usually, he was able to weasel his way out of these situations. When he couldn’t, his parents bailed him out in exchange for giving him a tongue lashing. After one particularly spectacular failed attempt at thievery, at the peak of his eighteenth birthday, his parents decided to let him spend a spell in the local jail. That evening, his father came by to visit him. The grizzled cathay-raht wordlessly handed him an old scroll wrapped in a silk ribbon before turning to leave. As the sunlight filtering through his cell window grew dim, the young khajiit read the First Scroll of Baan Dar by candlelight. Baan Dar, a legendary thief and trickster in khajiiti culture, appealed greatly to the Son of Alkosh. In many ways, he was a representation of the anequinan people. The scroll contained much information about the pariah, but above all of that, he took away one message from the scroll- “The best way to repay a favor, is to pass it forward”.

    When he laid his head down to rest, sleep took him almost instantly, and he found his consciousness drifting from dream to dream. As his swimming vision came to a halt, he saw great clouds of dust as they danced across the anequinan desert. Before him towered a great dragon with shining golden scales: Alkosh, the Dragon King of Cats. Immediately, The Son of Alkosh fell to his knees in a fervent prayer. The dragon god made a noise resembling a laugh. The great cat spoke with a voice that inspired both awe and reverence upon the young khajiit.

    “I come here not for worship, my son, but to give you a gift. Brave cub, your soul is strong, and you are to be the last of my children. For upon this day I name you dovah-jor, a child with my own blood running through your veins. It is your choice, my son, to embrace or renounce this. I have chosen you because I believe in you, but destiny is not a kepetaj, a prison; but a wodro, road, that you must choose to follow. But before you decide, know this. It is a path of hardship and struggle, but also fortune and glory. If you should choose to follow it, you must head to the far north, where the soul of man was forged by ice and snow.”

    With this, Alkosh spread his great wings, whipping up a whirlwind of dust and sand as he prepared for flight. He left The Son of Alkosh with one parting statement as the dream faded away.

    “Farewell, my child. Know that I will be watching over you.”

    The next morning just before the break of dawn, The Son of Alkosh pried free the bars on his cell window and slipped away. Outside the borders of town, he found his parents’ caravan. Careful not to wake them, he left a short note of apology and a promise to return one day before starting his long journey north to Skyrim.

     

      

     

    [One-Handed]: The Son of Alkosh’s fighting style relies on fast, hard-hitting attacks to quickly bring opponents down. The best way for him to do this is to use twice as many swords for twice as much damage, while retaining his speed and mobility.

    [Light Armor]: Since the Son of Alkosh takes a very up-close-and-personal approach to battle, he needs some means to protect himself. Light armor is necessary to protect himself while also preserving his ability to move and travel unhindered.

    [Archery]: The Son of Alkosh isn’t a master marksman by any means, but he knows his way around a crossbow well enough to provide a significant advantage in combat. A dwarven crossbow with exploding bolts works wonderfully to thin a crowd of enemies from afar

    [Speech]: As a treasure hunter and a thief, a lot of valuables pass through the hands of The Son of Alkosh. He is an accomplished trader and salesman, and Speech ensures his bargains will net him even more gold.

    [Smithing]: His nomadic childhood in the dusty badlands of Anequina afforded his family few opportunities to visit professional smiths. As a consequence, The Son of Alkosh grew up crafting and repairing everything from wagon wheels to weapons and armor.

    [Lockpicking]: The Son of Alkosh is a master of getting into places that he shouldn’t be. By utilizing lockpicking and putting perk points into its tree, The Son of Alkosh will be able to get into locked treasure chests, vaults, and even out of jail if need be.

    [Pickpocket]: It's hard for someone like The Son of Alkosh to ignore the gold-laden pockets of Skyrim's wealthier citizens. When The Son of Alkosh passes through town, he will be prone to "relieve" some of that burden.

    The world is my oyster. What it doesn’t know is that I’ve already stolen the pearl.

    Weapons

    At Low Levels, use scimitars and the best bow you can find

    Twin Nordic Swords- These elegant, self-crafted twin blades cut beautifully and quickly. They are especially deadly when dual wielded and fully improved. Do not enchant these swords, or else Elemental Fury will not affect them.

    Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow with Exploding Bolts- The Son of Alkosh's crossbow, while slower than a standard bow, packs a deadly punch. Paired with exploding bolts of various elements, this weapon can cause serious damage in the right hands.

    Armor

    At Low Levels, use leather armor or thieves guild armor

    Linwe's Hood- This thief's hood greatly enhances the wearer's skill with a bow. Wearing this hood will ensure that you wreak havoc whenever you decide to pull out your crossbow.

    Blackguard's Armor- Glover Mallory's old armor has enchantments even more powerful than that of the Guild Master's Armor. This means that you will be able to carry out much more treasure and valuables from dungeons and caves.

    Nightingale Gloves or Guild Master's Gloves- Both of these gloves make it easier to break into houses and treasure chests. While the Guild Master's Gloves are more powerful, the Nightingale gloves also enhance your skill with one-handed weapons

    Nightingale Boots or Guild Master's Boots- These boots will make sneaking significantly easier. The Muffle of the Nightingale Boots is particularly powerful at low levels, but it will eventually be outclassed by the Guild Master's Boots at higher sneak skill levels.

    Amulet of Talos (x5)- With the use of a little glitch trickery, it is possible to wear five Amulets of Talos, allowing for essentially infinite use of the Thu'um. This glitch is essential to the build, and it is important not to abuse this power.

    Ring of Choice- Wear any ring that you like. Personally I prefer a ring of resist magic, but other good choices include fortify one-handed, fortify sneak, fortify lockpicking, fortify health, and fortify stamina regen.

     

    Quests and Factions

    Main Quest / Dragonborn DLC

    The main quest is the reason that The Son of Alkosh came to Skyrim in the first place. Acquiring shouts and defeating legendary villains like Miraak and Alduin will not only make him a hero and cement his name in history forever, but it also comes with the added perk of the admiration (and coin) of Skyrim and her people. Acquiring as many shouts as possible should be a top priority, as it gives access to ancient nordic treasures and unlocks new possibilities in combat.

    Thieves’ Guild

    The Son of Alkosh had to do whatever he could to survive, even as a child. While that did not directly include thievery, the skills he learned in the deserts of Anequina transfer surprisingly well, as does his personal philosophy. If the rich aren't clever enough to keep their money out of reach, then perhaps they don't deserve to have it.

    Companions

    For The Son of Alkosh, nothing quite beats the thrill of testing his steel in bloody combat. After all, why be alive if you aren't truly living? The Companions let him fight for money, and so he does. While he does not necessarily subscribe to their personal code of honor, he respects them for it. He has no qualms about becoming a werewolf, but he may wish to purge it for the unrest and bloodlust it causes him.

    Dawnguard

    In a similar vein to The Companions, joining the Dawnguard gives The Son of Alkosh an opportunity to test his mettle. Although they don't pay nearly as well as The Companions, there are innumerable resources and fascinating weapon designs in Fort Dawnguard. The Son of Alkosh doesn't share the same zeal as some of the veteran Dawnguard members, and therefore has no issues working with or even becoming a vampire.

    Civil War

    It's easy for The Son of Alkosh to rationalize joining either side of the Civil War. For one, the khajiit of Anequina know the feeling of having to live under an empire too weak to protect them, yet cares little enough to steal their ancestral homeland. In this mind, Ulfric and The Son of Alkosh are one. On the other hand, the Stormcloaks exemplify everything that the khajiit despise about the races of men: many of them are racist, xenophobic conquerors who blindly follow outdated ideals and customs. For this reason, The Son of Alkosh may instead join The Empire.

    Mages’ College

    The College of Winterhold is more of a resource to The Son of Alkosh than anything. While he doesn't have any stake in their research, nor does he care much for the politics of the Psijic Order. However, it is a mutually beneficial relationship- He acts as a hired hand for The College, and they give him access to treasure-filled ruins and knowledge about The Elder Scrolls. 

     

    Roleplaying

    The Son of Alkosh is a classic "lovable rogue" type character. He is self-serving to a fault, yet altruistic enough to be likeable. He is not likely to take on a job or task solely for the sake of being a do-gooder, but thorougly enjoys the praise of being hailed as a hero for his actions. He will take on most jobs if the reward is good enough, only turning down those that do not pay at all or encourage downright evil acts such as the murder of an innocent. When confronted with the option to do a quest or questline, The Son of Alkosh will usually only accept if a significant reward or promise of treasure is offered, and he does not work for free or do "favors" to people he does not know. The Son of Alkosh is willing to step up in times of need to protect the innocent, but only if doing so does not put him in significant danger. He's not about to die to save someone he doesn't know just to be nice.

    When it comes to money and treasure, The Son of Alkosh is likely to overindulge. He isn't a penny pincher, although he gets as much as he can and will always try to convince a quest giver he deserves more money, or money up front. The Son of Alkosh lets money flow freely when buying food, drink, and goods. Growing up in Anequina, he and his family knew what frugal living was like. Some seasons they couldn't make ends meet. Their horses would die, their equipment would break, or on a rare occasion their goods would even be stolen by bandits. He doesn't want to ever limit himself because he knows that tomorrow he could lose everything. The Son of Alkosh lives life to the fullest and doesn't hold back because of things like "thinking about his future" or "following the law".

    The Son of Alkosh has a particular distain for tradition, rules, and the laws of Skyrim. He's willing to fight dirty, whether that means sucker punching someone while they're not looking or using sleight of hand to switch out a card while gambling. He believes that laws and tradition are tools used by those in power to keep their position and prevent people from doing what they want to do. As a devout khajiiti traditionalist, this might seem like an odd intersection to an outside viewer. However, the teachings of Baan Dar and Alkosh emphasize acts such as being a pariah, writing your own destiny, and ignoring the laws of others in order to live your own truth. The Son of Alkosh values his own moral judgement over laws. In part, this means that he is willing to do thing such as steal from those he deems to have too much wealth, lie for his own gain, and break in and out of places as he pleases. Where he draws the line is downright murder, stealing from the poor, and actively putting innocent lives at risk for his own gain. At the end of the day, The Son of Alkosh is a genuine person who doesn't wish to see good people hurt, but is unwilling to do selfless acts without any form of reward or recognition.

     

    On Shouts

    Achieving 100% shout cooldown reduction is a pretty simple exploit. Once you find 5 amulets of talos, you should give them to a follower to hold. Activate the Vampire Lord Form or Werewolf Form power. Before the transformation begins, initiate conversation with your follower and ask to manage their inventory. Normally, you cannot access your own inventory while in either of these forms. This is to prevent you from equipping armor and weapons while transformed. However, you can directly equip the amulets of talos from your follower's inventory to yourself. While a werewolf or a vampire lord, equipping an amulet will not remove the one you have currently equipped, meaning you can equip all 5 at once. Once you transform, these 5 amulets will remain equipped until such time as you equip a different one.

    When using 100% shout reduction, it is important not to abuse the ability to shout indefinitely. There are a couple of ways to do this. For me, it has been a two-step process. First, Until you get 100% reduction and all the required shouts and abilities, playing on adept or expert is fine, but once you acquire this (fairly overpowered) suite of abilities, you should really be playing on expert or master difficulty to give your enemies a fighting chance. Secondly, any shout that virtually disables enemies (slow time, unrelenting force, ice form, etc.) should be used no more than once per battle or when performing specific combat maneuvers. Shouts such as fire breath are perfectly fine, since they don’t do much damage even if constantly used, especially on master difficulty. This will keep combat from becoming a complete cakewalk where the enemies can’t even touch you.

    Another thing to keep in mind is that all three words of a shout are not always necessary. Not only do they take longer to use, but they are often more than adequate with one or two words. For example, there are very few situations where all three words of whirlwind sprint will not send you flying far past the enemy instead of simply closing the distance between you.

     

    Dragons

    Dragons can dish out a lot of damage with their breath attacks, especially on master difficulty.While you can deal considerable damage with your crossbow, it can’t win a dps race with a dragon due to their high health pool and the slow reload speed of the crossbow. It is important to prevent taking damage before they land; using Become Ethereal or Dragonrend will get the job done. Once they land, they’re dead. The combination of Elemental Fury and Slow time will burn away their health before they even get a chance to attack you.

    Mages

    Mages tend to have very limited health pools, but can be dangerous if they can stay out of range of your swords. Again, here your ranged damage output is still inferior, so you should focus on killing them quickly. Close the distance with Whirlwind Sprint or Become Ethereal and cut them down before they can sap away your health. Ice mages are particularly dangerous as they can severely limit your mobility and ability to power attack.

    Melee Hordes

    By far, hordes of weaker enemies are the easiest encounter to deal with. While a large groups of bandits, falmer, or draugr can muster a surprising amount of resistance, your weapons and skills give you an advantage in scenarios like this. Thin their numbers from afar with exploding bolts and damaging shouts, then use your special abilities and dual swords to dispatch of the survivors.

    Ranged Hordes

    Ranged enemies such as bandit archers and forsworn can prove to be a little more difficult than foes that charge blindly from a mile away. If you are outdoors, the best thing to do is to seek cover and summon allies. Durnehviir and Odahviing provide superb cover and can draw most of the fire from the archers and spellcasters while you dispatch them.

    Bosses

    “Bosses” as it is referred to here includes singular enemies that have large amounts of health and considerable damage potential. While your aggressive combat style may win out against some of these, in most cases you are at a severe statistical disadvantage. Therefore, the best course of action is to give them no opportunity to attack. Use shouts such as Ice Form, Unrelenting Force, and Cyclone to immobilize them, and deal as much damage as you can before they recover. If you need to, do not hesitate to retreat and regroup.

     

     

    Combat Maneuvers

     

     

     

     

     

    Accelerated Action

    Slow Time + Elemental Fury + Secret of Strength

    Description: The Thu’um steadies The Son of Alkosh's mind and quickens his body, allowing him to weave between opponents, opening deadly wounds like vents on their bodies

     

    Expeditious Retreat

    Whirlwind Sprint + Become Ethereal + Mora’s Boon

    Description: Using his Thu’um to become as a ghost, The Son of Alkosh calls on daedric powers to grant him respite

     

    Steel Whirlwind

    Disarm + Cyclone + Whirlwind Sprint

    Description:  Dashing through a sea of targets, The Son of Alkosh sends them all flying with the force of his Thu’um and cuts straight to the heart of their ranks

     

    Call of the Dovahsos

    Call Dragon + Summon Durnehviir

    Description: Calling to his blood brothers by name, The Son of Alkosh summons his lieutenant Dovahhe to dispatch of his enemies

     

     

     

     

    Build Notes

     Hi everyone! To those of you who don't know me already, my name is Xenla, but you can call me Xen or Sam. This is a build that I started working on nearly two years ago (!) when I started university. Since then, I haven't played Skyrim a lot with how busy I've been, and I didn't have a system on which to play it either. With the quarantine happening in the US right now, I decided it would be a shame for this build that I worked so hard on to die in the workshop. Hopefully you'll see more of me in the coming months. Thanks for reading! As always, feedback is both welcome and encouraged.

     

  • Member
    May 3, 2020

    Great build! Very solid on all fronts and I absolutely adore the artwork you have chosen. This covers everything I look for in a build and then some. I also love the lore section going through Khajiiti gods and connections.

    Super small note and not something I usually notice (and it could be my ipad doing it?) but the font size and type is changing throughout? If you typed it up in piecemeal it might be nice to make it a bit more uniform for body text and headers and such.

    Other than that this is a badass build! Great job.

  • Member
    May 3, 2020

    Henson said:

    Great build! Very solid on all fronts and I absolutely adore the artwork you have chosen. This covers everything I look for in a build and then some. I also love the lore section going through Khajiiti gods and connections.

    Super small note and not something I usually notice (and it could be my ipad doing it?) but the font size and type is changing throughout? If you typed it up in piecemeal it might be nice to make it a bit more uniform for body text and headers and such.

    Other than that this is a badass build! Great job.

    Thanks, Henson. Glad you like the build.

    As for the text formatting, its probably because of the way I typed and edited it, I don't really have a great explanation as I don't know why I made it so funky myself but at least it's an easy fix. IDK if anyone else has had this problem but in the past, I've had issues where whenever I bold or italicize text it reverts it to the default font. As in, it shows up in the editing window but the font isn't whatever I selected when I view the actual post.

  • Mr.
    Member
    May 17, 2020

    This is very good, Xenla. Lovely presentation and well designed, brings me back to the old days of the Vault/Skyrim Blog. While I never attempted my hand at building, I've always enjoyed reading them, and I'm glad they're still being made.