Otar the Mad is a real glass cannon. Lots of quick damage and crowd control tricks, but squishes like a bug if he gets caught in a dicey melee situation. That’s what makes it so fun to play. I developed this in an attempt to create a bit more of a challenge build: it seemed like half the things out there are variations on the Spellsword and Smithing combination. This is also my first build - I hope I've got the formatting and everything down.
This build is a variation on the Dragon Priest model. It uses magical items more than being a powerful mage in itself, bringing focus back onto masks and staffs in a way that crafting destroyed in most runs I’ve seen.
Attacking is done mostly by staff and dagger. The staff is used to place a Wall of Flames under the feet of whatever you're trying to kill, and you hack away at it with the dagger. But the dagger's a little bit special. Onehanded isn't a major skill for this build - I'm using it as a substitute for Touch-range casting with a few clever perks used to boost its damage.
Half in and half out of this world, Otar is very resilient to magic, but vulnerable to physical attacks. There’s a real emphasis on being creative in your fighting. The loom of constant danger makes this build far more exciting than typical warriors or stealthy archers – and it’s not hard to stay alive once you adjust your mindset to the much faster pace of dancing around terrain and falling in love with the ability to use hotkeys.
My apologies if the introductory backstory is too much. I wanted to really show how this build is separate from the other Dragon Priests.
~ Otar the Mad ~
You are Otar, ancient ruler of the city Ragnvald. In life you were a paragon of mankind, bridging the gap between your people and the fearsome Dovah, beloved priest-king of dragons and men alike. The men of The Reach blessed you with their lives and swords in fealty. Dragons, however, bow their heads in service to no man. Instead, they blessed you with a portion of their power, naming you amongst their nine mortal avatars, and granting you powerful magical artifacts to mark you as one of their own.
The Reach stood as a place of quiet power in the midst of the Dragon War, where the blood of man ran hot with lightning and cold with unerring loyalty to you and your dragon masters. You paid no head to the war raging outside your borders as men in every other kingdom of Skyrim sought to earn their freedom with bloodied steel.
Peace was never meant to last in the lands of Dovah.
Alduin, god-brother to your altered soul, your Dovah Sos, was cast out of time. Your dragon soul had once been part of him, and something of the bond still lingered, dragging you after him into the starless void beyond Oblivion.
For eternity, there was nothing.
There was no time. It did not pass.
Nothing tore. Nothing twisted.
The part of nothing that was Alduin roared, and the part of nothing that was Otar crystallized into your identity once more.
There was fire.
Thunder.
Dragon blood storms through your veins, blistering your very soul with power, and then, with light in your eyes and knowledge of who you are in your mind once more, you are reborn.
You are Dragon Priest Otar.
You are reborn.
As a Dragon Priest, you have been granted power, but were not born with it. It is not your own. Your talents lie in leadership and tactical planning to make the most out of any situation, not in the simple killing of foes. When you do engage in combat, you wield powerful tools and manipulate the environment to your advantage rather than hack away with an axe until your opponent is dead. Cunning, guile, and a certain degree of regal grace define how you fight.
Upon returning to your home in Ragnvald, you find the city dead, and the dead walking. You wander for hours through the empty halls, mourning your lost people and the miserable enslavement of them as Draugr. At last you come across your own body, reanimated into a lich of vast necromantic evil. It is the shell of your corpse, left behind when you were cast into the void with Alduin. You destroy the foul thing and reclaim the artifacts of your power: a mask, staff, and dagger.
The only ones who could have done such a deed are your brother Dragon Priests. As you leave the dead city of Ragnvald for the last time, you resolve to sate your thirst for revenge, strip them of their masks, and cast the living dead back into the natural cycles of rebirth. For a Dragon Priest this is madness. Your lich-corpse, manipulated like a puppet by the other priests, had come to be known as Otar the Mad.
Now you bear that name gladly, desiring nothing more than to end the rigid and cold sanity of the Dragon Cult.
You are Otar the Mad. Go forth and slaughter...out of compassion.
Major Skills
Speechcraft –
This is the most important of your skills. You are a charismatic leader, a witty conversationalist, a quick thinker, and a sly merchant. No persuasion checks will stand in your way, and you will be raking in mountains of gold.
Destruction –
Spells from this school will make up very little of your repertoire. All your damage comes from Destruction fuelled weapons – a fire staff and a storm dagger. Together this combination will deliver more than 180 points of magical damage every second. Until you obtain the staff, you’ll substitute Flames to gain the enhanced damage delivered against foes who are ablaze. The ultimate goal here is to gain all of the Augmented Damage perks.
Enchanting –
At the Arcane Enchanter, you will create your finest weapons and armor. You’re only going to keep two of them, though! One dagger, one ring. Everything else is for sale. The money will speed up Destruction training very nicely. You'll also be picking up enchanted objects and buffs to maximise magical resistances. While you cannot walk through axes, you can certainly waltz through fire!
Conjuration –
Storm atronachs a-plenty and lots of soul trapping will see your Conjuration skill skyrocket. You also have this neat little trick where you set the flaming hounds of hell on whoever is nearby. Necromancy and bound weapons are not for you – you’re not aiming to deal physical damage much, and the other Dragon Priests called dibs on Draugr. Command Daedra is a useful trick, but beware getting caught in an atronach ownership tug of war with Morokei.
Minor Skills
Alteration –
Flesh spells are not a lot of use, given that your mask makes the Mage Armor perk unusable. That’s not a problem! You’re in this school for Paralyze and Telekinesis, then, eventually, Dragonhide as a very rare treat when you absolutely must get in a fistfight with a bear.
Illusion –
Aspect of Terror keeps you head and shoulders above the competition in the fire department while you’re still trying to set up your skills in the early levels. Fear and Calm are essential in group fights for maintaining crowd control. Be careful when using Fear – it’s easy to bring even more enemies down on you when a wetlegged bandit flees into the crowded room down the hall.
Honorable Mention:
Onehanded –
This isn’t something you develop intentionally. It’s just a side effect of using a dagger as the delivery method for your spells. The skill will rise and rise, but don’t throw perks at it if you can stop yourself.
(Passive Abilities)
Royal Authority
(Rank One): Reduces cooldown of Shouts by 20%. [Altar] Blessing of Talos
(Rank Two) : Reduces cooldown of Shouts by 40%. [Equipment] Amulet of Talos
You speak with both the voice of authority and a Voice of power. Your natural charisma enhances the articulation of speech in the Dragon Tongue, enabling you to Shout quicker. Elocution training can increase this to (Rank Two).
Dragonstorm
(Rank One): Increases Frost Damage by 25, 50%. [Perk] Augmented Frost
(Rank Two): Increases Shock Damage by 25, 50%. [Perk] Augmented Shock
(Rank Three): Amplifies Storm Damage [Enchant] Frost & Storm
Your humble Dragon Priest Dagger has been enchanted with both Frost Damage and Shock Damage, but your exceptional skill in augmenting the power of Destruction spells has caused the disparate schools to not only fortify their own strength, but synergistically increase the other enchantment’s power.
Note: With all Destruction and Enchanting perks, the enchantments reached 46 damage points each. When both are applied, this increases to 69 each, for a total of 138 additional damage on every swing.
(Active Abilities)
Dovah’s Right
1) Voice: [Shout] CLEAR SKIES
Many monarchs claim to rule by divine right – that the gods have set them above other mortals as a link between the realms of the mundane and the sacred. You rule by Dovah right! This is no feeble line of ascension, but the Thu’um! Simply order a man to stop and his body will begin to obey before his mind can catch up, providing a momentary diversion and briefly stunning him.
Demand Tribute
1) Voice: [Shout] DISARM
2) Hand: [Spell] Telekinesis
It is forbidden to carry bare steel in the presence of a king, be he crowned or one of the Dragon Cult’s priest-kings. Let indignant fury suffuse your voice and cry out for him to drop his weapon. Once it leaves his hand, command the winds of the ether to coalesce around his blade and draw to you.
Otar’s Vengeance 
1) Hand: [Weapon] Dragon Priest Staff (Wall of Flames)
2) Hand: [Weapon] Dragonstorm (Dragon Priest Dagger)
Burn a hole through your opponent’s armor with a stream of incendiary magic and then strike at his freshly exposed weak spots with your weapon. Keep him immersed in flames, roasting slowly alive, and becoming ever easier to reach with your blade with every passing second. This will be your primary method of dealing out damage.
Iron Mercy 
1) Hand: [Spell] Paralyze
2) [Combat] Kill all non-paralyzed foes
3) Hand: [Spell] Calm
When surrounded by a group of enemies, you cannot hope to take them all on at once. Paralyze will help keep the number fighting you down – but maybe you’re in a foul mood. Maybe somebody stole your sweetroll, and you’re feeling a bit sadistic. Leave this one enemy paralyzed and helplessly watching you slaughter their companions, or friends, or even family. Then, once all the others are dead, Calm the survivor before they can attack you. See them stagger back. See them stumble, confused. See the way they look at you, knowing what you have just done, yet completely unable to escape the oppressive peace of Calm. They are not angry. They cannot mourn. All they do is watch you walk away, leaving them alive as a warning to any others who might cross you. Calmly.
Wildfire Hunt
1) Voice: [Racial] Battle Cry
2) Hand: [Spell] Conjure Flaming Familiar
You bit off more than you could chew, and predator has become the prey. They are all around you, closing in with knives and swords and bows. There is only one thing you can do. Accept that tiny part in the back of your mind which is not a seasoned warrior, but a cornered and frightened beast. Scream out in primal terror, that your enemies might share your dread and flee. Do not let them! Summon forth the flaming hounds of Oblivion to tear and burn and sear and char the heels of your foes. Release the Wildfire Hunt, and cook your prey before it’s even caught.
Void Brother
1) Voice: [Shout] BECOME ETHEREAL
2) Ritual: [Spell] Dragonhide
Reach out across the endless void to your patron god, Alduin. Feel your flesh tear itself apart into a wraith under the strain of channelling a god’s power into your body, then instantly reverse, slam back together stronger than ever, and as close to invulnerable as you will ever be. It is only a short loan of power. Use it wisely: to send more souls into Sovngarde for your god to feed upon.
Equipment
Otar Dragon Mask Heavy Armor 23 30% Elemental Resistances
The mask is found on the eponymous Otar the Mad, in Ragnvald. Markarth is the nearest city.
Dragon Priest Dagger Dagger 6
This dagger can be found randomly in Nordic Ruins, but one can be found on a shelf in the Hall of Countenance at the College of Winterhold.
Dragon Priest Staff Wall of Flames 50 Fire Damage per second
Otar usually carries one of these. If not, level up a bit and try the other Dragon Priests.
Archmage Boots Cloth 40% Shock Resistance
These boots are easy to steal from the Archmage’s Quarters in Winterhold. Access is granted after the first College dungeon quest in Saarthal.
Amulet of Talos Neck 20% Shout Cooldown
The pilgrim Karita on the 7,000 Steps carries one. Another can be found on Roggvir’s corpse when you enter Solitude, or bought from a random shop spawn.
Ragged Trousers Cloth
Carry a little way into the Companions questline to loot these from dead werewolves. I choose to leave them unenchanted, but adding health is a quick and easy way to lower the difficulty quite a bit.
Silver Sword Sword1H 9 20 Damage to Undead
This is good substitute for the Dragon Priest Dagger until you can find it, particularly if you add a fire enchantment. They drop from Silver Hand members you can encounter throughout the Companions quests or in rare bandit forts.
Note: I deliberately omitted Restoration from this build in an attempt to gain further distance from the Dragon Priest wards, but I think it fits okay if you'd like to use it for healing. It may be a little difficult without it.
Easy mode: All attribute points in Health.
~ Balance as you please to find the right difficulty for you! ~
Hard mode: All attribute points in Magicka.
Otar the Mad is a real glass cannon. Lots of quick damage and crowd control tricks, but squishes like a bug if he gets caught in a dicey melee situation. That’s what makes it so fun to play. I developed this in an attempt to create a bit more of a challenge build: it seemed like half the things out there are variations on the Spellsword and Smithing combination. This is also my first build - I hope I've got the formatting and everything down.
This build is a variation on the Dragon Priest model. It uses magical items more than being a powerful mage in itself, bringing focus back onto masks and staffs in a way that crafting destroyed in most runs I’ve seen.
Attacking is done mostly by staff and dagger. The staff is used to place a Wall of Flames under the feet of whatever you're trying to kill, and you hack away at it with the dagger. But the dagger's a little bit special. Onehanded isn't a major skill for this build - I'm using it as a substitute for Touch-range casting with a few clever perks used to boost its damage.
Half in and half out of this world, Otar is very resilient to magic, but vulnerable to physical attacks. There’s a real emphasis on being creative in your fighting. The loom of constant danger makes this build far more exciting than typical warriors or stealthy archers – and it’s not hard to stay alive once you adjust your mindset to the much faster pace of dancing around terrain and falling in love with the ability to use hotkeys.
My apologies if the introductory backstory is too much. I wanted to really show how this build is separate from the other Dragon Priests.
~ Otar the Mad ~
You are Otar, ancient ruler of the city Ragnvald. In life you were a paragon of mankind, bridging the gap between your people and the fearsome Dovah, beloved priest-king of dragons and men alike. The men of The Reach blessed you with their lives and swords in fealty. Dragons, however, bow their heads in service to no man. Instead, they blessed you with a portion of their power, naming you amongst their nine mortal avatars, and granting you powerful magical artifacts to mark you as one of their own.
The Reach stood as a place of quiet power in the midst of the Dragon War, where the blood of man ran hot with lightning and cold with unerring loyalty to you and your dragon masters. You paid no head to the war raging outside your borders as men in every other kingdom of Skyrim sought to earn their freedom with bloodied steel.
Peace was never meant to last in the lands of Dovah.
Alduin, god-brother to your altered soul, your Dovah Sos, was cast out of time. Your dragon soul had once been part of him, and something of the bond still lingered, dragging you after him into the starless void beyond Oblivion.
For eternity, there was nothing.
There was no time. It did not pass.
Nothing tore. Nothing twisted.
The part of nothing that was Alduin roared, and the part of nothing that was Otar crystallized into your identity once more.
There was fire.
Thunder.
Dragon blood storms through your veins, blistering your very soul with power, and then, with light in your eyes and knowledge of who you are in your mind once more, you are reborn.
You are Dragon Priest Otar.
You are reborn.
As a Dragon Priest, you have been granted power, but were not born with it. It is not your own. Your talents lie in leadership and tactical planning to make the most out of any situation, not in the simple killing of foes. When you do engage in combat, you wield powerful tools and manipulate the environment to your advantage rather than hack away with an axe until your opponent is dead. Cunning, guile, and a certain degree of regal grace define how you fight.
Upon returning to your home in Ragnvald, you find the city dead, and the dead walking. You wander for hours through the empty halls, mourning your lost people and the miserable enslavement of them as Draugr. At last you come across your own body, reanimated into a lich of vast necromantic evil. It is the shell of your corpse, left behind when you were cast into the void with Alduin. You destroy the foul thing and reclaim the artifacts of your power: a mask, staff, and dagger.
The only ones who could have done such a deed are your brother Dragon Priests. As you leave the dead city of Ragnvald for the last time, you resolve to sate your thirst for revenge, strip them of their masks, and cast the living dead back into the natural cycles of rebirth. For a Dragon Priest this is madness. Your lich-corpse, manipulated like a puppet by the other priests, had come to be known as Otar the Mad.
Now you bear that name gladly, desiring nothing more than to end the rigid and cold sanity of the Dragon Cult.
You are Otar the Mad. Go forth and slaughter...out of compassion.
Major Skills
Speechcraft –
This is the most important of your skills. You are a charismatic leader, a witty conversationalist, a quick thinker, and a sly merchant. No persuasion checks will stand in your way, and you will be raking in mountains of gold.
Destruction –
Spells from this school will make up very little of your repertoire. All your damage comes from Destruction fuelled weapons – a fire staff and a storm dagger. Together this combination will deliver more than 180 points of magical damage every second. Until you obtain the staff, you’ll substitute Flames to gain the enhanced damage delivered against foes who are ablaze. The ultimate goal here is to gain all of the Augmented Damage perks.
Enchanting –
At the Arcane Enchanter, you will create your finest weapons and armor. You’re only going to keep two of them, though! One dagger, one ring. Everything else is for sale. The money will speed up Destruction training very nicely. You'll also be picking up enchanted objects and buffs to maximise magical resistances. While you cannot walk through axes, you can certainly waltz through fire!
Conjuration –
Storm atronachs a-plenty and lots of soul trapping will see your Conjuration skill skyrocket. You also have this neat little trick where you set the flaming hounds of hell on whoever is nearby. Necromancy and bound weapons are not for you – you’re not aiming to deal physical damage much, and the other Dragon Priests called dibs on Draugr. Command Daedra is a useful trick, but beware getting caught in an atronach ownership tug of war with Morokei.
Minor Skills
Alteration –
Flesh spells are not a lot of use, given that your mask makes the Mage Armor perk unusable. That’s not a problem! You’re in this school for Paralyze and Telekinesis, then, eventually, Dragonhide as a very rare treat when you absolutely must get in a fistfight with a bear.
Illusion –
Aspect of Terror keeps you head and shoulders above the competition in the fire department while you’re still trying to set up your skills in the early levels. Fear and Calm are essential in group fights for maintaining crowd control. Be careful when using Fear – it’s easy to bring even more enemies down on you when a wetlegged bandit flees into the crowded room down the hall.
Honorable Mention:
Onehanded –
This isn’t something you develop intentionally. It’s just a side effect of using a dagger as the delivery method for your spells. The skill will rise and rise, but don’t throw perks at it if you can stop yourself.
(Passive Abilities)
Royal Authority
(Rank One): Reduces cooldown of Shouts by 20%. [Altar] Blessing of Talos
(Rank Two) : Reduces cooldown of Shouts by 40%. [Equipment] Amulet of Talos
You speak with both the voice of authority and a Voice of power. Your natural charisma enhances the articulation of speech in the Dragon Tongue, enabling you to Shout quicker. Elocution training can increase this to (Rank Two).
Dragonstorm
(Rank One): Increases Frost Damage by 25, 50%. [Perk] Augmented Frost
(Rank Two): Increases Shock Damage by 25, 50%. [Perk] Augmented Shock
(Rank Three): Amplifies Storm Damage [Enchant] Frost & Storm
Your humble Dragon Priest Dagger has been enchanted with both Frost Damage and Shock Damage, but your exceptional skill in augmenting the power of Destruction spells has caused the disparate schools to not only fortify their own strength, but synergistically increase the other enchantment’s power.
Note: With all Destruction and Enchanting perks, the enchantments reached 46 damage points each. When both are applied, this increases to 69 each, for a total of 138 additional damage on every swing.
(Active Abilities)
Dovah’s Right
1) Voice: [Shout] CLEAR SKIES
Many monarchs claim to rule by divine right – that the gods have set them above other mortals as a link between the realms of the mundane and the sacred. You rule by Dovah right! This is no feeble line of ascension, but the Thu’um! Simply order a man to stop and his body will begin to obey before his mind can catch up, providing a momentary diversion and briefly stunning him.
Demand Tribute
1) Voice: [Shout] DISARM
2) Hand: [Spell] Telekinesis
It is forbidden to carry bare steel in the presence of a king, be he crowned or one of the Dragon Cult’s priest-kings. Let indignant fury suffuse your voice and cry out for him to drop his weapon. Once it leaves his hand, command the winds of the ether to coalesce around his blade and draw to you.
Otar’s Vengeance
1) Hand: [Weapon] Dragon Priest Staff (Wall of Flames)
2) Hand: [Weapon] Dragonstorm (Dragon Priest Dagger)
Burn a hole through your opponent’s armor with a stream of incendiary magic and then strike at his freshly exposed weak spots with your weapon. Keep him immersed in flames, roasting slowly alive, and becoming ever easier to reach with your blade with every passing second. This will be your primary method of dealing out damage.
Iron Mercy
1) Hand: [Spell] Paralyze
2) [Combat] Kill all non-paralyzed foes
3) Hand: [Spell] Calm
When surrounded by a group of enemies, you cannot hope to take them all on at once. Paralyze will help keep the number fighting you down – but maybe you’re in a foul mood. Maybe somebody stole your sweetroll, and you’re feeling a bit sadistic. Leave this one enemy paralyzed and helplessly watching you slaughter their companions, or friends, or even family. Then, once all the others are dead, Calm the survivor before they can attack you. See them stagger back. See them stumble, confused. See the way they look at you, knowing what you have just done, yet completely unable to escape the oppressive peace of Calm. They are not angry. They cannot mourn. All they do is watch you walk away, leaving them alive as a warning to any others who might cross you. Calmly.
Wildfire Hunt
1) Voice: [Racial] Battle Cry
2) Hand: [Spell] Conjure Flaming Familiar
You bit off more than you could chew, and predator has become the prey. They are all around you, closing in with knives and swords and bows. There is only one thing you can do. Accept that tiny part in the back of your mind which is not a seasoned warrior, but a cornered and frightened beast. Scream out in primal terror, that your enemies might share your dread and flee. Do not let them! Summon forth the flaming hounds of Oblivion to tear and burn and sear and char the heels of your foes. Release the Wildfire Hunt, and cook your prey before it’s even caught.
Void Brother
1) Voice: [Shout] BECOME ETHEREAL
2) Ritual: [Spell] Dragonhide
Reach out across the endless void to your patron god, Alduin. Feel your flesh tear itself apart into a wraith under the strain of channelling a god’s power into your body, then instantly reverse, slam back together stronger than ever, and as close to invulnerable as you will ever be. It is only a short loan of power. Use it wisely: to send more souls into Sovngarde for your god to feed upon.
Equipment
Otar Dragon Mask Heavy Armor 23 30% Elemental Resistances
The mask is found on the eponymous Otar the Mad, in Ragnvald. Markarth is the nearest city.
Dragon Priest Dagger Dagger 6
This dagger can be found randomly in Nordic Ruins, but one can be found on a shelf in the Hall of Countenance at the College of Winterhold.
Dragon Priest Staff Wall of Flames 50 Fire Damage per second
Otar usually carries one of these. If not, level up a bit and try the other Dragon Priests.
Archmage Boots Cloth 40% Shock Resistance
These boots are easy to steal from the Archmage’s Quarters in Winterhold. Access is granted after the first College dungeon quest in Saarthal.
Amulet of Talos Neck 20% Shout Cooldown
The pilgrim Karita on the 7,000 Steps carries one. Another can be found on Roggvir’s corpse when you enter Solitude, or bought from a random shop spawn.
Ragged Trousers Cloth
Carry a little way into the Companions questline to loot these from dead werewolves. I choose to leave them unenchanted, but adding health is a quick and easy way to lower the difficulty quite a bit.
Silver Sword Sword1H 9 20 Damage to Undead
This is good substitute for the Dragon Priest Dagger until you can find it, particularly if you add a fire enchantment. They drop from Silver Hand members you can encounter throughout the Companions quests or in rare bandit forts.
Note: I deliberately omitted Restoration from this build in an attempt to gain further distance from the Dragon Priest wards, but I think it fits okay if you'd like to use it for healing. It may be a little difficult without it.
Easy mode: All attribute points in Health.
~ Balance as you please to find the right difficulty for you! ~
Hard mode: All attribute points in Magicka.
