Hi all, this is my first build, so I hope you enjoy. It is my take on the Spell-sword archetype. I tried to make it as unique as possible, so I apologize if anything similar has been done. Anyway, I am having tons of fun with this build, and it feels very powerful as long as you keep up with the flow of battle.
The Storm Caller
You have spent your entire life training with magic and the blade. As your knowledge of the arcane grew you formed an affinity for wind and lightning. Combining this with your expertise with blades you forged yourself into an embodiment of the storm. In combat you shock, stun, and slash your opponents in a blinding display of your power. You are the Storm Caller.
Ok, now on to the build. I wanted to make a powerful Spell-sword build that focused mainly on one handed attacks with swords. I focused on lightning spells as a secondary means of attack, because lightning is awesome. That being said, to me this play through has become more than just a simple Spell-sword. You will switch between Sword and spell, Dual wielded Spells, and Dual wielded swords as the situation demands, with plenty of Shouts for spice.
Race- No specific race is critical for this build, although Breton and Altmer would be the most effective. I prefer Breton for the innate magical resistance.
Key Shouts- Elemental Fury, Become Ethereal, Unrelenting Force, and Call Storm are all key for this build. You are calling on the wind and lightning after all.
Stone- The Lord Stone is the best for this build as it raises both your armor rating and magic resistance. I recommend the Atronach Stone as a second stone if you use the Aetherial Crown.
Stat Distribution- I use a 2-2-1 distribution in Magicka, Health, and Stamina. If you would rather be a bit more durable you can shift it to 1-3-1.
Major Skills
One-Handed- This is your bread and butter skill. The majority of your damage will be dealt with your swords. You will be dual wielding as well as mixing sword and spell, so be sure to take the dual wielding perks as well just to increase your effectiveness. The dual flurry perks are a thing of beauty when combined with Elemental Fury.
Destruction- This will be your source of magical damage. You will be specializing in lightning damage, and with both augmented shock perks and the disintegrate perk these spells remain fairly useful throughout the game. The Disintegrate perk basically reduces any enemies health by 15%, since it automatically kills enemies when their health drops below that. Lightning cloak is especially useful as it can be used in combination with dual wielded sword to add shock damage to all melee blows as well as dealing steady damage to those in range. Later in the game the chain lighting spell becomes powerful crown control when dual wielded with the stagger perk.
Alteration- This is an all-around useful spell school. You will be using the flesh spells for added toughness, but the main draw in this school is Paralyze. I have always thought all electricity attacks should stun. Since they don’t in Skyrim I use Paralyze to simulate the effect. It is also a very easy way to take down tough opponents, or just to give yourself a breather while you recover. The magic resistance perks also make fighting mages and dragons much easier.
Minor Skills
Smithing- As a perfectionist in every are of combat, you couldn't settle for second rate equipment, so you will make your own. I take it up to Ebony Smithing just because I love the look of Ebony armor and swords. It is only necessary to take this far enough to craft the equipment you want. It is a good idea to take Arcane Enchanter no matter what just for convenience sake.
Enchanting- I save this for later in the play-through to add shock damage and paralysis effects to my swords and to add Fortify Health, Magicka, and Stamina to my armor. Be sure to keep a couple of un-enchanted sword around to use with Elemental Fury.
Restoration- You won’t go heavily into Restoration, it is really just for the basic heal spell to keep up your health and stamina in combat.
Heavy Armor- Since you won’t be blocking at all this is to provide extra protection. I also just like the look of the heavy armor much more than the light armor. If you want to use light armor feel free. I also love the look of Black Mage Robes with Ebony Gauntlets and Ebony Boots if you want to look more like a caster. I also recommend getting the Conditioning perk ASAP if you wear a full set of heavy armor just to maintain mobility and reduce the stamina used.
Alchemy- I actually don’t put any perks into alchemy. I only really use it to make weakness to shock poison to help up my damage. So be sure to save up Void Salts, Bees, Giant Lichen, and Hagraven Feathers, as they can all be used to make this poison.
Archery- This is another skill that I don’t feel the need to put perks into. Archery is more of a utility tool for this build than a weapon. I mostly use crossbows with the exploding shock bolts to take pot-shots at dragons, or to apply weakness to shock poison to tougher enemies before they get close enough to hit with melee attacks.
Equipment
I use a full set of Ebony armor enchanted to increase the base stats, reduce the cost of destruction and alteration magic, and to increase one-handed weapon damage. I also use an Amulet of Talos to reduce the cost of Shouts. I also keep the Aetherial Crown on-hand with the Atronach Stone as a secondary stone to use when fighting mages and dragons.
As far as weapons I have two un-enchanted sword for Elemental Fury, one enchanted with Shock Damage and Paralysis, and one with Shock Damage and Drain Health to cut down on how much I have to switch over to healing spells.
Special Moves
Storm Spirit
You are so in tune with the storm that you become a spirit of lightning yourself. You cannot be harmed, but you deal a constant stream of electrical damage to your enemies. They still foolishly try to attack you, making it easy to lead them into traps.
Dual Cast Lightning Cloak, Become Ethereal, and Lightning Rune.
Pocket Full of Thunder
You take up position in a choke point and set a deadly lightning trap. Draw all enemies to you by shooting exploding bolts of lightning imbued with Weakness to Shock poison at them. Just as they think they will overwhelm you your trap triggers, blowing them away .
Crossbow with Exploding Shock Bolts, Weakness to Shock Poison, and Dual Cast Lightning Rune
Storm Dancer
The wind and lightning surround you blades, making your every strike as blindingly fast and powerful as a lightning strike. Every strike is more powerful than the last.
Dual Cast Lightning Cloak, Full Power Elemental Fury, Dual Flurry Perk, Weakness to Shock Poison with 2 Swords
Storm of the Century
You call a powerful lightning storm down on your enemies while you keep them immobile within the effective area of your storm.
Storm Call and Mass Paralysis
Hi all, this is my first build, so I hope you enjoy. It is my take on the Spell-sword archetype. I tried to make it as unique as possible, so I apologize if anything similar has been done. Anyway, I am having tons of fun with this build, and it feels very powerful as long as you keep up with the flow of battle.
The Storm Caller
You have spent your entire life training with magic and the blade. As your knowledge of the arcane grew you formed an affinity for wind and lightning. Combining this with your expertise with blades you forged yourself into an embodiment of the storm. In combat you shock, stun, and slash your opponents in a blinding display of your power. You are the Storm Caller.
Ok, now on to the build. I wanted to make a powerful Spell-sword build that focused mainly on one handed attacks with swords. I focused on lightning spells as a secondary means of attack, because lightning is awesome. That being said, to me this play through has become more than just a simple Spell-sword. You will switch between Sword and spell, Dual wielded Spells, and Dual wielded swords as the situation demands, with plenty of Shouts for spice.
Race- No specific race is critical for this build, although Breton and Altmer would be the most effective. I prefer Breton for the innate magical resistance.
Key Shouts- Elemental Fury, Become Ethereal, Unrelenting Force, and Call Storm are all key for this build. You are calling on the wind and lightning after all.
Stone- The Lord Stone is the best for this build as it raises both your armor rating and magic resistance. I recommend the Atronach Stone as a second stone if you use the Aetherial Crown.
Stat Distribution- I use a 2-2-1 distribution in Magicka, Health, and Stamina. If you would rather be a bit more durable you can shift it to 1-3-1.
Major Skills
One-Handed- This is your bread and butter skill. The majority of your damage will be dealt with your swords. You will be dual wielding as well as mixing sword and spell, so be sure to take the dual wielding perks as well just to increase your effectiveness. The dual flurry perks are a thing of beauty when combined with Elemental Fury.
Destruction- This will be your source of magical damage. You will be specializing in lightning damage, and with both augmented shock perks and the disintegrate perk these spells remain fairly useful throughout the game. The Disintegrate perk basically reduces any enemies health by 15%, since it automatically kills enemies when their health drops below that. Lightning cloak is especially useful as it can be used in combination with dual wielded sword to add shock damage to all melee blows as well as dealing steady damage to those in range. Later in the game the chain lighting spell becomes powerful crown control when dual wielded with the stagger perk.
Alteration- This is an all-around useful spell school. You will be using the flesh spells for added toughness, but the main draw in this school is Paralyze. I have always thought all electricity attacks should stun. Since they don’t in Skyrim I use Paralyze to simulate the effect. It is also a very easy way to take down tough opponents, or just to give yourself a breather while you recover. The magic resistance perks also make fighting mages and dragons much easier.
Minor Skills
Smithing- As a perfectionist in every are of combat, you couldn't settle for second rate equipment, so you will make your own. I take it up to Ebony Smithing just because I love the look of Ebony armor and swords. It is only necessary to take this far enough to craft the equipment you want. It is a good idea to take Arcane Enchanter no matter what just for convenience sake.
Enchanting- I save this for later in the play-through to add shock damage and paralysis effects to my swords and to add Fortify Health, Magicka, and Stamina to my armor. Be sure to keep a couple of un-enchanted sword around to use with Elemental Fury.
Restoration- You won’t go heavily into Restoration, it is really just for the basic heal spell to keep up your health and stamina in combat.
Heavy Armor- Since you won’t be blocking at all this is to provide extra protection. I also just like the look of the heavy armor much more than the light armor. If you want to use light armor feel free. I also love the look of Black Mage Robes with Ebony Gauntlets and Ebony Boots if you want to look more like a caster. I also recommend getting the Conditioning perk ASAP if you wear a full set of heavy armor just to maintain mobility and reduce the stamina used.
Alchemy- I actually don’t put any perks into alchemy. I only really use it to make weakness to shock poison to help up my damage. So be sure to save up Void Salts, Bees, Giant Lichen, and Hagraven Feathers, as they can all be used to make this poison.
Archery- This is another skill that I don’t feel the need to put perks into. Archery is more of a utility tool for this build than a weapon. I mostly use crossbows with the exploding shock bolts to take pot-shots at dragons, or to apply weakness to shock poison to tougher enemies before they get close enough to hit with melee attacks.
Equipment
I use a full set of Ebony armor enchanted to increase the base stats, reduce the cost of destruction and alteration magic, and to increase one-handed weapon damage. I also use an Amulet of Talos to reduce the cost of Shouts. I also keep the Aetherial Crown on-hand with the Atronach Stone as a secondary stone to use when fighting mages and dragons.
As far as weapons I have two un-enchanted sword for Elemental Fury, one enchanted with Shock Damage and Paralysis, and one with Shock Damage and Drain Health to cut down on how much I have to switch over to healing spells.
Special Moves
Storm Spirit
You are so in tune with the storm that you become a spirit of lightning yourself. You cannot be harmed, but you deal a constant stream of electrical damage to your enemies. They still foolishly try to attack you, making it easy to lead them into traps.
Dual Cast Lightning Cloak, Become Ethereal, and Lightning Rune.
Pocket Full of Thunder
You take up position in a choke point and set a deadly lightning trap. Draw all enemies to you by shooting exploding bolts of lightning imbued with Weakness to Shock poison at them. Just as they think they will overwhelm you your trap triggers, blowing them away .
Crossbow with Exploding Shock Bolts, Weakness to Shock Poison, and Dual Cast Lightning Rune
Storm Dancer
The wind and lightning surround you blades, making your every strike as blindingly fast and powerful as a lightning strike. Every strike is more powerful than the last.
Dual Cast Lightning Cloak, Full Power Elemental Fury, Dual Flurry Perk, Weakness to Shock Poison with 2 Swords
Storm of the Century
You call a powerful lightning storm down on your enemies while you keep them immobile within the effective area of your storm.
Storm Call and Mass Paralysis
