“There is no honor except in living to see another day.”
The Fugitive Gladiator
Hello all, this is my second post and my first build here in the blog! Constructive criticism and comments are always welcome! I realize this might not be the most original build in terms of gameplay, but I hope the roleplay will more than make up for that. This will probably end up becoming my truly canonical Dragonborn. So without further ado…
Having spent his whole life struggling day-to-day to stay alive in an illegal slavery-driven gladiatorial arena in the desert of Hammerfell, the Redguard Kalad gro’Orgruk has finally escaped, and will do everything that is possible to keep his hard-earned freedom. Trained in the gladiatorial arts, he is an unparalleled fighter who knows of honor, but has no qualms of breaking it. It will eventually even be necessary to use what some would call ‘unsavory skills’ to survive a life he has not until now had a chance to experience: one where he is free.
Race: Redguard (Really, any will do though, mine was just for roleplaying reasons.)
Standing Stone: Warrior/Lord, Thief
Blessings: Agent of Mara, Ancient Knowledge
Skillset
While the basic roleplaying necessities of this skillset should stay the same, you can really customize the battle style as you see fit, for there are many different types of gladiators. I chose to develop the fighting style of my gladiator in the vein of the hoplomachus, but I will list several other variations also.
Level 25
One-Handed: Armsman 3/5, Fighting Stance, Bladesman 1/3
Block: Shield Wall 1/5, Quick Reflexes, Deflect Arrows
Heavy Armor: Juggernaut 3/5, Fists of Steel
Light Armor: Agile Defender 1/5
Sneak: Stealth 1/5, Muffled Movement, Backstab
Pickpocket: Light Fingers 3/5
Speech: Haggling 1/5, Bribery
Smithing: Steel Smithing
For combat aspects, I kept it a fairly simple sword-and-board build to reflect the
hoplomachus’ fighting style. If we had spears in vanilla I would be able to even further actualize a key aspect of this certain type of gladiator. I chose to zero in on Bladesman because one of the
hoplomachus' signature weapons (the other being the spear) is the gladius. Blocking perks are also necessary for keeping true to the nature of the build, and blocking also adds great utility and survivability to combat. Perks in Juggernaut help to keep the gladiator’s defense up because of his propensity to wear metal bracers, greaves and a helmet. Fists of Steel shows that even without weapons, our fugitive can hold his own in a fight. The choice to put a perk in light armor is because historically, the
hoplomachus went practically bare-chested, and the best way to represent this is by wearing the Hide Armor Torso.
Outside of combat (or in preparation of it), I put perks in Sneak so that it would reflect his fugitive status, and also his willingness to not always adhere to so-called ‘honorable’ combat. For this build, Pickpocketing is a key roleplaying skill – besides mercenary work, it is how he gets by. Speech was taken to put a point in bribery to show he may sometimes need to sway the law to get by, and a point goes into Steel Smithing so that our warrior can properly upkeep his weapons and armor.
Level 51
One-Handed: Armsman 5/5, Fighting Stance, Bladesman 3/3, Savage Strike, Critical Charge, Paralyzing Strike
Block: Shield Wall 1/5, Quick Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Power Bash, Deadly Bash, Disarming Bash, Elemental Protection, Block Runner, Shield Charge
Heavy Armor: Juggernaut 5/5, Fists of Steel, Cushioned
Light Armor: Agile Defender 1/5
Sneak: Stealth 1/5, Muffled Movement, Backstab, Misdirection
Pickpocket: Light Fingers 5/5, Night Thief, Cutpurse
Speech: Haggling 1/5, Bribery, Persuasion, Intimidation
Smithing: Steel Smithing, Arcane Smithing, Dwarven Smithing, Orcish Smithing
The further fleshing out and mastering of the One-Handed and Block tress emphasizes the deadly prowess of the gladiator. You will notice that I have not further strengthened Light Armor; this is because our gladiator has grown, realizing it is only foolish to continue adhering to the unsafe ways of gladiatorial tradition by keeping his torso bare. He has instead opted to further strengthen his understanding of Heavy Armor by adding more perks to Juggernaut and eventually taking the Conditioning perk.
Our fugitive has developed out his Pickpocket and Speech skills so that his livelihood and survival are ensured, whether that be by always being able to scrounge up some coin or talk himself out of any situation. Misdirection also adds diversity and strength to the sparse, opportunistic stealth-based combat of this build. Perks are added to Smithing; Arcane for obvious reasons, and up to Orcish because he has befriended the orcish tribes of Skryim for a roleplaying reason inherent to my interpretation of this build. You will notice that at level 51, the Fugitive Gladiator will have three extra unspent perks; these are being saved for my hopes that in Dragonborn (if it even ends up coming out for PS3) the use of spears will be made available.
Other Combat Variations:
Here are some other choices you can use to adapt the combat mechanisms of the gladiator to how you see fit.
Dimachaerus: Gladiator that utilized two swords, one in each hand. Easily replicated with the dual-wielding perks.
Cestus: A hand-to-hand fighter that utilized the cestus, an ancient, brutal type of boxing glove. This style is also easily made available by simply adding the Gloves of the Pugilist enchantment in conjunction with the Fists of Steel perk.
Sagittarius: A mounted archer traditionally. Just opt for the Archery tree instead of One-Handed, and maybe keep some of the bash perks from the Block tree since they are also usable with an archery build.
Gear
Initial
Your starting set of armor is easy to obtain early on.
Hide Armor (Chest) - Replicates the bare-chestedness of a gladiator
Steel Gauntlets, Boots, and Helmet - Gladiators wore metal greaves, bracers, and helmets so that it required skill and precision to defend themselves. The variation (Nordic vs. Imperial) doesn't really matter.
Steel Shield - The hoplomachus utilized a shield in addition to spear and sword.
Imperial Sword - This warriors signature gladius.
Eventual
Steel Armor (Chest) - As stated in the skill set section, the gladiator has grown and realized the pointlessness of keeping his chest bare .
Closed Imperial Helmet - This will help give the classic gladiator feel to the build.
Targe of the Blooded - This shield looks sort of gladiator-esque, and the bleeding effect can help a lot.
Orcish Armor and Sword - My gladiator will eventually often use this attire for rather specific roleplaying reasons.
Dawnbreaker and Nightingale Blade - These swords also look similar to the gladius, and have powerful enchantments and stats! Plus, this character's roleplay allows him to obtain both.
Shouts
Really, any shouts that go great with a warrior build or even in rare instances a thief build would work here. Unrelenting Force/ Ice Form for some crowd control, Fire/Ice Breath or Call Storm for damage. Elemental Fury for that extra melee ‘oomph.’ Up to the player and their preference.
Quests
Civil War: You can choose which side. I personally sided with the Legion because, while the Stormcloaks preach freedom, their practice of unfairly treating the other races of Tamriel is abhorrent. Plus, I just hate Ulfric and Talos.
Companions: Our gladiator is a supreme fighter among all else, and while he may adhere to a different, less stringent code of honor, this should be no reason not to rise through the Companion’s ranks. Get rid of werewolf as soon as you can though, having no choice but to spend the afterlife in Hircine’s hunting grounds isn’t freedom…well unless you really like hunting, then go ahead.
Thieves Guild: Having a fence to sell his stolen goods is imperative, and having friends who know their way around the law can only help this escaped gladiator to stay alive.
Daedric Quests: Most are okay, as the daedra, like any gods, are beings to be respected and feared, but can be powerful allies. However, quests that force the character to take inherently evil measures do not fit with this build’s lore, and never opt for a dialogue path of utter subservience, because this gladiator is all about freedom.
Lore
For those of you who would like to read more about my character and some of the more interesting aspects of him (like, why does he have an Orsimer last name?) I have posted a short backstory for Kalad gro’Orgruk in the Story group. Here’s the link: http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/the-backstory-corner/forum/topics/backstory-kalad-gro-orguk Feel free to leave comments there as well!
Thank you for taking the time to read!
“There is no honor except in living to see another day.”
The Fugitive Gladiator
Hello all, this is my second post and my first build here in the blog! Constructive criticism and comments are always welcome! I realize this might not be the most original build in terms of gameplay, but I hope the roleplay will more than make up for that. This will probably end up becoming my truly canonical Dragonborn. So without further ado…
Having spent his whole life struggling day-to-day to stay alive in an illegal slavery-driven gladiatorial arena in the desert of Hammerfell, the Redguard Kalad gro’Orgruk has finally escaped, and will do everything that is possible to keep his hard-earned freedom. Trained in the gladiatorial arts, he is an unparalleled fighter who knows of honor, but has no qualms of breaking it. It will eventually even be necessary to use what some would call ‘unsavory skills’ to survive a life he has not until now had a chance to experience: one where he is free.
Race: Redguard (Really, any will do though, mine was just for roleplaying reasons.)
Standing Stone: Warrior/Lord, Thief
Blessings: Agent of Mara, Ancient Knowledge
Skillset
While the basic roleplaying necessities of this skillset should stay the same, you can really customize the battle style as you see fit, for there are many different types of gladiators. I chose to develop the fighting style of my gladiator in the vein of the hoplomachus, but I will list several other variations also.
Level 25
One-Handed: Armsman 3/5, Fighting Stance, Bladesman 1/3
Block: Shield Wall 1/5, Quick Reflexes, Deflect Arrows
Heavy Armor: Juggernaut 3/5, Fists of Steel
Light Armor: Agile Defender 1/5
Sneak: Stealth 1/5, Muffled Movement, Backstab
Pickpocket: Light Fingers 3/5
Speech: Haggling 1/5, Bribery
Smithing: Steel Smithing
For combat aspects, I kept it a fairly simple sword-and-board build to reflect the
hoplomachus’ fighting style. If we had spears in vanilla I would be able to even further actualize a key aspect of this certain type of gladiator. I chose to zero in on Bladesman because one of the
hoplomachus' signature weapons (the other being the spear) is the gladius. Blocking perks are also necessary for keeping true to the nature of the build, and blocking also adds great utility and survivability to combat. Perks in Juggernaut help to keep the gladiator’s defense up because of his propensity to wear metal bracers, greaves and a helmet. Fists of Steel shows that even without weapons, our fugitive can hold his own in a fight. The choice to put a perk in light armor is because historically, the
hoplomachus went practically bare-chested, and the best way to represent this is by wearing the Hide Armor Torso.
Outside of combat (or in preparation of it), I put perks in Sneak so that it would reflect his fugitive status, and also his willingness to not always adhere to so-called ‘honorable’ combat. For this build, Pickpocketing is a key roleplaying skill – besides mercenary work, it is how he gets by. Speech was taken to put a point in bribery to show he may sometimes need to sway the law to get by, and a point goes into Steel Smithing so that our warrior can properly upkeep his weapons and armor.
Level 51
One-Handed: Armsman 5/5, Fighting Stance, Bladesman 3/3, Savage Strike, Critical Charge, Paralyzing Strike
Block: Shield Wall 1/5, Quick Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Power Bash, Deadly Bash, Disarming Bash, Elemental Protection, Block Runner, Shield Charge
Heavy Armor: Juggernaut 5/5, Fists of Steel, Cushioned
Light Armor: Agile Defender 1/5
Sneak: Stealth 1/5, Muffled Movement, Backstab, Misdirection
Pickpocket: Light Fingers 5/5, Night Thief, Cutpurse
Speech: Haggling 1/5, Bribery, Persuasion, Intimidation
Smithing: Steel Smithing, Arcane Smithing, Dwarven Smithing, Orcish Smithing
The further fleshing out and mastering of the One-Handed and Block tress emphasizes the deadly prowess of the gladiator. You will notice that I have not further strengthened Light Armor; this is because our gladiator has grown, realizing it is only foolish to continue adhering to the unsafe ways of gladiatorial tradition by keeping his torso bare. He has instead opted to further strengthen his understanding of Heavy Armor by adding more perks to Juggernaut and eventually taking the Conditioning perk.
Our fugitive has developed out his Pickpocket and Speech skills so that his livelihood and survival are ensured, whether that be by always being able to scrounge up some coin or talk himself out of any situation. Misdirection also adds diversity and strength to the sparse, opportunistic stealth-based combat of this build. Perks are added to Smithing; Arcane for obvious reasons, and up to Orcish because he has befriended the orcish tribes of Skryim for a roleplaying reason inherent to my interpretation of this build. You will notice that at level 51, the Fugitive Gladiator will have three extra unspent perks; these are being saved for my hopes that in Dragonborn (if it even ends up coming out for PS3) the use of spears will be made available.
Other Combat Variations:
Here are some other choices you can use to adapt the combat mechanisms of the gladiator to how you see fit.
Dimachaerus: Gladiator that utilized two swords, one in each hand. Easily replicated with the dual-wielding perks.
Cestus: A hand-to-hand fighter that utilized the cestus, an ancient, brutal type of boxing glove. This style is also easily made available by simply adding the Gloves of the Pugilist enchantment in conjunction with the Fists of Steel perk.
Sagittarius: A mounted archer traditionally. Just opt for the Archery tree instead of One-Handed, and maybe keep some of the bash perks from the Block tree since they are also usable with an archery build.
Gear
Initial
Your starting set of armor is easy to obtain early on.
Hide Armor (Chest) - Replicates the bare-chestedness of a gladiator
Steel Gauntlets, Boots, and Helmet - Gladiators wore metal greaves, bracers, and helmets so that it required skill and precision to defend themselves. The variation (Nordic vs. Imperial) doesn't really matter.
Steel Shield - The hoplomachus utilized a shield in addition to spear and sword.
Imperial Sword - This warriors signature gladius.
Eventual
Steel Armor (Chest) - As stated in the skill set section, the gladiator has grown and realized the pointlessness of keeping his chest bare .
Closed Imperial Helmet - This will help give the classic gladiator feel to the build.
Targe of the Blooded - This shield looks sort of gladiator-esque, and the bleeding effect can help a lot.
Orcish Armor and Sword - My gladiator will eventually often use this attire for rather specific roleplaying reasons.
Dawnbreaker and Nightingale Blade - These swords also look similar to the gladius, and have powerful enchantments and stats! Plus, this character's roleplay allows him to obtain both.
Shouts
Really, any shouts that go great with a warrior build or even in rare instances a thief build would work here. Unrelenting Force/ Ice Form for some crowd control, Fire/Ice Breath or Call Storm for damage. Elemental Fury for that extra melee ‘oomph.’ Up to the player and their preference.
Quests
Civil War: You can choose which side. I personally sided with the Legion because, while the Stormcloaks preach freedom, their practice of unfairly treating the other races of Tamriel is abhorrent. Plus, I just hate Ulfric and Talos.
Companions: Our gladiator is a supreme fighter among all else, and while he may adhere to a different, less stringent code of honor, this should be no reason not to rise through the Companion’s ranks. Get rid of werewolf as soon as you can though, having no choice but to spend the afterlife in Hircine’s hunting grounds isn’t freedom…well unless you really like hunting, then go ahead.
Thieves Guild: Having a fence to sell his stolen goods is imperative, and having friends who know their way around the law can only help this escaped gladiator to stay alive.
Daedric Quests: Most are okay, as the daedra, like any gods, are beings to be respected and feared, but can be powerful allies. However, quests that force the character to take inherently evil measures do not fit with this build’s lore, and never opt for a dialogue path of utter subservience, because this gladiator is all about freedom.
Lore
For those of you who would like to read more about my character and some of the more interesting aspects of him (like, why does he have an Orsimer last name?) I have posted a short backstory for Kalad gro’Orgruk in the Story group. Here’s the link: http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/the-backstory-corner/forum/topics/backstory-kalad-gro-orguk Feel free to leave comments there as well!
Thank you for taking the time to read!
