After demolishing everything with my Old Orc and loving two handed, I wanted to expand on the skill in a different way and open my new build up to using magic as well. This character is inspired from a class from Guild Wars Nightfall, a game I have played a bit and enjoyed. After reading Mason's Alik'r and No snakes aLive's Manticore, I got some insight on certain skill combinations and I believe I came up with something somewhat original. For those of you not familiar with the character class of a Dervish, you can go here and read up on what the class is all about. So without further long winded paragraphs, here is
The Dervish
To quickly describe the Dervish, I would suggest anyone to read the website I have provided in the beginning paragraph (also here). They are scythe-wielding holy warriors who can attack multiple enemies at once while being shielded by healing and protection skills, all the while having the ability to transform themselves into the forms of their gods. With regards to Skyrim, I chose to adapt this character class to wield battleaxes (closest to scythes) and clothe myself with robes to appear as a desert wanderer. Healing spells come straight from Restoration as well as protection spells and spell absorption from Alteration, as well as powerful enchantments on apparel. These healing and protection buffs aid the Dervish in battle when whirling and spinning his or her powerful axe.
There are a few important characteristics of this character build:
Build
Race:
Guardian Stones: Lady, Lord, or Atronach (start with Mage/Warrior)
Dragon Shouts
Elemental Fury: The most important shout and a key role with the build. Turns you into a whirling dervish of death.
Whirlwind Sprint: Speed is an important factor of the build. Use this to either charge into battle or get away to quickly heal.
Slow Time: The illusion to make you extremely fast. Use this to get in strikes while everyone is slowed.
Abilities
Werewolf: A Dervish's special power is to take on the form of a god, and in this case we can mimic this with Werewolf. The transformation plays nicely with the build now with Dawnguard perks added on and fits with the character class. For roleplayers out there, you do not necessarily have to "worship" hircine, but this aspect really adds a refreshing gameplay mechanic that is a ton of fun to change up battles. Nothing says "whirling dervish" like a ravenous werewolf in a frenzy!
Skills
Two Handed: The offensive skill. Specialize in the axe bleeding perk and sweep for max damage.
Alteration: For armor. Invest in all perks, especially mage armor for higher armor.
Restoration: To quickly heal and regenerate both health and magicka faster.
Enchanting: To provide protective and combat enchantments to help in battle.
Smithing: For forging powerful weapons, important because we need raw damage. Elemental Fury does not work on magic weapons.
Level 20 Perks: Here
for "optimal" perk placement: Here
Equipment
Head: Alik'r Hood
Chest: Apprentice Robes
Hands: Gloves
Boots: Redguard Boots
Ring: Enchanted Ring (Fortify Health + Healing Rate) OR Hircine's Ring
Amulet: Enchanted Amulet (Fortify Health + Healing Rate)
Weapons: 2 Handed Battleaxes. I currently have come across the Headsman's Axe which looks AWESOME, after attaining Ahtar as a follower. Later on, I will be smithing more powerful axes including Ebony and Dragonbone.
Gameplay Notes
This build comprises of two handed combat backed up by healing and protection buffs. To battle, make sure you activate your flesh spell to gain an armor rating before fighting and heal when needed. Elemental Fury is where the true power of the build comes out combined with Sweep, so those two elements are crucial to maximize the effectiveness of this build. Redguards are a perfect choice for a race because power attacks take up a lot of stamina. You could "work around" this by just eating veggie soup, but it is sort of an easy button.
The werewolf gameplay is not a priority (at least for me). I only use it in special battles and difficult areas that warrant a transformation.
As far as factions and questlines, Companions are great for the melee aspect as well as the Werewolf possibility early on. Mages College also fits with the build, as spells and enchantments are a big part of the character class being a holy warrior. Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood do not work, as Dervish's do not believe in stealing or murdering.
Anything else I come up with to add, I will. I hope you enjoy this build as much as I have. This is actually the lowest level character I have ever provided a build discussion on this site, but I was loving it so much I had to share quick so I could get back to whirling around with my axe! Have fun!
Another thing to note: You could adapt this build to use dual swords, most likely scimitars for the aesthetic, but I sometimes feel two handed gets a bad rap in some cases.
After demolishing everything with my Old Orc and loving two handed, I wanted to expand on the skill in a different way and open my new build up to using magic as well. This character is inspired from a class from Guild Wars Nightfall, a game I have played a bit and enjoyed. After reading Mason's Alik'r and No snakes aLive's Manticore, I got some insight on certain skill combinations and I believe I came up with something somewhat original. For those of you not familiar with the character class of a Dervish, you can go here and read up on what the class is all about. So without further long winded paragraphs, here is
The Dervish
To quickly describe the Dervish, I would suggest anyone to read the website I have provided in the beginning paragraph (also here). They are scythe-wielding holy warriors who can attack multiple enemies at once while being shielded by healing and protection skills, all the while having the ability to transform themselves into the forms of their gods. With regards to Skyrim, I chose to adapt this character class to wield battleaxes (closest to scythes) and clothe myself with robes to appear as a desert wanderer. Healing spells come straight from Restoration as well as protection spells and spell absorption from Alteration, as well as powerful enchantments on apparel. These healing and protection buffs aid the Dervish in battle when whirling and spinning his or her powerful axe.
There are a few important characteristics of this character build:
Build
Race:
Guardian Stones: Lady, Lord, or Atronach (start with Mage/Warrior)
Dragon Shouts
Elemental Fury: The most important shout and a key role with the build. Turns you into a whirling dervish of death.
Whirlwind Sprint: Speed is an important factor of the build. Use this to either charge into battle or get away to quickly heal.
Slow Time: The illusion to make you extremely fast. Use this to get in strikes while everyone is slowed.
Abilities
Werewolf: A Dervish's special power is to take on the form of a god, and in this case we can mimic this with Werewolf. The transformation plays nicely with the build now with Dawnguard perks added on and fits with the character class. For roleplayers out there, you do not necessarily have to "worship" hircine, but this aspect really adds a refreshing gameplay mechanic that is a ton of fun to change up battles. Nothing says "whirling dervish" like a ravenous werewolf in a frenzy!
Skills
Two Handed: The offensive skill. Specialize in the axe bleeding perk and sweep for max damage.
Alteration: For armor. Invest in all perks, especially mage armor for higher armor.
Restoration: To quickly heal and regenerate both health and magicka faster.
Enchanting: To provide protective and combat enchantments to help in battle.
Smithing: For forging powerful weapons, important because we need raw damage. Elemental Fury does not work on magic weapons.
Level 20 Perks: Here
for "optimal" perk placement: Here
Equipment
Head: Alik'r Hood
Chest: Apprentice Robes
Hands: Gloves
Boots: Redguard Boots
Ring: Enchanted Ring (Fortify Health + Healing Rate) OR Hircine's Ring
Amulet: Enchanted Amulet (Fortify Health + Healing Rate)
Weapons: 2 Handed Battleaxes. I currently have come across the Headsman's Axe which looks AWESOME, after attaining Ahtar as a follower. Later on, I will be smithing more powerful axes including Ebony and Dragonbone.
Gameplay Notes
This build comprises of two handed combat backed up by healing and protection buffs. To battle, make sure you activate your flesh spell to gain an armor rating before fighting and heal when needed. Elemental Fury is where the true power of the build comes out combined with Sweep, so those two elements are crucial to maximize the effectiveness of this build. Redguards are a perfect choice for a race because power attacks take up a lot of stamina. You could "work around" this by just eating veggie soup, but it is sort of an easy button.
The werewolf gameplay is not a priority (at least for me). I only use it in special battles and difficult areas that warrant a transformation.
As far as factions and questlines, Companions are great for the melee aspect as well as the Werewolf possibility early on. Mages College also fits with the build, as spells and enchantments are a big part of the character class being a holy warrior. Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood do not work, as Dervish's do not believe in stealing or murdering.
Anything else I come up with to add, I will. I hope you enjoy this build as much as I have. This is actually the lowest level character I have ever provided a build discussion on this site, but I was loving it so much I had to share quick so I could get back to whirling around with my axe! Have fun!
Another thing to note: You could adapt this build to use dual swords, most likely scimitars for the aesthetic, but I sometimes feel two handed gets a bad rap in some cases.
Yep, another cool build from Henson - good work!
I'm really interested to see how this will play out. I haven't played with Elemental Fury very much, so I'm curious how well it will overcome the slowness of 2-handers.
I do love 2-handed weapons, but they definitely require a different strategy than other combat styles. My 2-hander, lightly armored warriors tend to get killed unless I'm playing pretty carefully - wearing robes seems incredibly dangerous!
Couple of suggestions: Block (for Quick Reflexes) and Become Ethereal.
Quick Reflexes is one of my favorite perks, especially for 2-handers, as it allows you to avoid what would otherwise be a death-blow from those other guys who use 2-handers. It also would fit with the build, as an extension of the slow time ability; your reflexes are so fast, you can just dance around behind the enemy.
Become Ethereal would be a great "Oh, shit!" button, and I think it might also work with the RP - you could think of it as a way of taking on the ethereal avatar of your god (whoever/whatever that is).
I'm just thinking about my own skills (or lack thereof) and survivability! But this is a very neat idea, +1
Yep, another cool build from Henson - good work!
I'm really interested to see how this will play out. I haven't played with Elemental Fury very much, so I'm curious how well it will overcome the slowness of 2-handers.
I do love 2-handed weapons, but they definitely require a different strategy than other combat styles. My 2-hander, lightly armored warriors tend to get killed unless I'm playing pretty carefully - wearing robes seems incredibly dangerous!
Couple of suggestions: Block (for Quick Reflexes) and Become Ethereal.
Quick Reflexes is one of my favorite perks, especially for 2-handers, as it allows you to avoid what would otherwise be a death-blow from those other guys who use 2-handers. It also would fit with the build, as an extension of the slow time ability; your reflexes are so fast, you can just dance around behind the enemy.
Become Ethereal would be a great "Oh, shit!" button, and I think it might also work with the RP - you could think of it as a way of taking on the ethereal avatar of your god (whoever/whatever that is).
I'm just thinking about my own skills (or lack thereof) and survivability! But this is a very neat idea, +1
I like this Henson, its nice and simple! Sometimes its really nice to just hone 5 or 6 skills!
The only problem I see is if your flesh spell runs out or if you need to heal during combat and your hands are busy swinging your two hander. Thats going to force you into retreat more often than you probably like during longer battles as you switch back to your spells. Become ethereal can help you out with this but only if you haven't already spent your shout on elemental fury.
I like this Henson, its nice and simple! Sometimes its really nice to just hone 5 or 6 skills!
The only problem I see is if your flesh spell runs out or if you need to heal during combat and your hands are busy swinging your two hander. Thats going to force you into retreat more often than you probably like during longer battles as you switch back to your spells. Become ethereal can help you out with this but only if you haven't already spent your shout on elemental fury.
Great build, and one that I might have to try! I really like low or un-armored builds for some reason. One thing you might want to mention is the bracer set carried by Ulfric Stormcloak. In reading about the Dervishes, it said they wore bracers. I'm guessing you just put gloves so that you didn't mess up the Mage Armor perks. Ulfric's Bracers, though, don't actually count against the Mage Armor perks, so they could be a useful addition to the build.
Great build, and one that I might have to try! I really like low or un-armored builds for some reason. One thing you might want to mention is the bracer set carried by Ulfric Stormcloak. In reading about the Dervishes, it said they wore bracers. I'm guessing you just put gloves so that you didn't mess up the Mage Armor perks. Ulfric's Bracers, though, don't actually count against the Mage Armor perks, so they could be a useful addition to the build.