- The Archaeologist prepares to dive in.
The Archaeologist
“The earth is one big treasure hunt, and I'm itching to start.”
I've always had a fascination with ruins and caves, finding myself losing massive tracts of time diving into every single cave I could get through, often coming back overencumbered and wondering what quest I was actually supposed to be doing. This build came about due to that urge; I wanted a build that reflects my nature when it comes to the Elder Scrolls series, and I felt that this might be a great representation of one of my mindsets. While reading this, you may find it to be more of a role-play idea than a build, but nevertheless, I'll try my best to flesh out a build through it all.
Class Description:
Race: Any, Though Khajiit and Argonians are both quite suitable bonus-wise (I'm a PC player, so I personally went with the modded MaTera race for this).
Stats: 0 Magicka | 2 Health | 2 Stamina; I feel fine with about 200 Stamina, at which point I simply pump points into Health, but feel free to add more if needed.
The Archaeologist is fascinated with the secrets of the past. Not a trained fighter, the Archaeologist prefers the use of bows and crossbows over close-range weaponry, but resorts to his or her tools of the trade in tight situations; His trusty stack of torches and his pickaxe. Extremely interested in dwemer technology, the archaeologist often finds himself diving into ruins without a moment's hesitation.
Standing Stone: The Tower Stone (In search of treasure, occasionally a little breaking and entering might be required), The Shadow Stone (Sometimes, alerting the local denizens of an ancient ruin can be a bit more dangerous than enlightening), The Steed Stone (You aren't going to leave those treasure's behind, are you?)
Recommended Quests: The Lost Expedition, Unfathomable Depths, The Golden Claw, Forbidden Legend, Discerning the Transmundane, Lost to the Ages (Dawnguard Required).
Major Skills
Smithing: When coming across an unknown object, the first thing that comes to mind is, “How does this work?” In order to gain a deeper understanding of various metals and materials, you learn the trade of blacksmithing. Knowledge of the material opens a path to a whole new understanding. For RP purposes, you can easily go all the way through the tree, but it's much easier and simpler to focus on one side of the tree.
Enchanting: Needless to say, the earth is filled with countless magical artifacts previously unknown to the modern world. Metal is one thing, sorcery is another, and you'll need a working knowledge of enchanting to have a hope of understanding these relics and the magic that drives them. And due to your lack of martial knowledge, your enchanted armors and your torch are your first, last, and only lines of defense.
Archery: As an archaeologist, you were never trained to fight. Preferably, you'd avoid it in the first place, but, simply pointing and shooting that Falmer down before it's deadly poisoned blade is near you is probably a nice alternative. And after years of crypt diving and Falmer slaying, you'll unfortunately get quite a lot of experience with this skill. For Dawnguard players, consider joining the Dawnguard if you want to take advantage of crossbows. Vampires have lived for a long time; who knows what kind of treasures the Volkihar may have acquired?
Stealth: Ruins and caves are often inhabited by the unwanted specimens of the world. If at all possible, staying unnoticed is the safest route. And in the case of more sentient beings, avoiding the traps they set for uninvited guests can spell the difference between life and death.
Minor Skills
Speech: You're a genius and you still have a hard enough time understanding some of the things you've encountered. You're going to need a silver tongue to explain things to the masses, and to convince them to then purchase it from you. You'll need the money to fund your expeditions, and to jump-start your museum later.
Block: Never underestimate a torch. While small, it'll brighten your paths, and give your enemies a startling surprise when turned on them; and it just might save your skin when that last centurion catches up to you.
One-Handed: Your pickaxe is your friend. Imagine breaking into a orihalcum or ebony deposit without one, and you'll have a decent idea why. While not inherently the most deadly weapon, you'll find it still serves well in a pinch. But remember, you have a bow for a reason.
Lock-Picking: If there's one thing that never changes throughout history, its that people often put things they consider valuable inside of locked containers. The dead probably won't mind, but they're sadly not around to give you the key, are they? Key perks are up to Treasure Hunter.
-While not the most effective weapon, sometimes a good smack with a pickaxe is all you need.
Perk Spreads
Level 25:
http://skyrimcalculator.com/265109
You'll find yourself spread a little thin early on, so feel free to focus more on the combat skills until you get sure footing.
You'll want to focus on archery first, as it is your main form of offense; it provides long ranged damage, along with protection in the form of staggers.
The main point of Block early on is to get Quick Reflexes. You've dealt with enough traps in your life to be able to avoid more telegraphed attacks, and it's probably one of your strongest abilities in close range.
Smithing is the main form of defense you'll have however, and is important to your understanding of the materials you encounter.
Getting Sneak up to Light Foot is important to avoid the various traps set for you.
While Lock-Picking isn't exactly the most needed perk tree, getting up to Adept is to prepare you for Golden Touch and Treasure Hunter
Speech up to Merchant will allow you to sell your heavy and varied finds to anyone who happens to have the gold. Seeing as there are more male merchants than female, it might be in your interest to play a female to take advantage of Allure, but its nothing game-breaking.
The entry levels in enchanting will help make for your lack of physical training by providing extra damage and defense.
Level 50:
http://skyrimcalculator.com/265108
Archery, again, as your main offense should be prioritized. Ranger allows you to move faster to maintain distance, and Quick Shot helps keep your foes off you alongside Power Shot.
Block is taken up to Disarming Bash to attempt to minimize the threat of many close range enemies. Falmer can't hit you with a poisoned blade if it's on the ground.
No matter which side of Smithing you take, Dwarven Smithing is important simply due to the nature of the character. You're going to be spending a lot of time in Dwarven ruins; eventually, you're going to become a master of the material, either by choice, or by forcefully deconstructing the various automatons that don't want you there.
More levels in Stealth will keep you out of sight longer, and allow you to escape should things get rough. Feel free to opt in a level of Silent Roll to move more quickly while crouched.
Lock-Picking is left alone after grabbing Treasure Hunter.
For speech, after appraising a few new finds, your credibility increases, and so does the worth (or so you've convinced your patrons) of your finds. Investing will help you get a foot in the door on your future museum plans.
Enchanting is taken up to Frost Enchanter on the left. After exploring various cold caverns, and dealing with the chilly embrace of metal, you've grown to know the detrimental affects the cold can have. Therefore, you learn to take advantage of the chilling effects of frost enchants against your enemies. Extra Effect serves again as a means of amplifying damage, and covering weaknesses.
-Preparing to dive in.
Equipment Enchants
Head: Fortify Archery (and Lock-Picking/Waterbreathing). Head Enchantments are pretty limited. Luckily, you can boost your main offensive skill through them. With Extra Effect, The only other somewhat useful enchants are Lock-Picking, or Waterbreathing. Up to you.
Necklace: Resist Magic (Resist Poison). A large amount of enemies you'll encounter make heavy use of Magic Damage (Falmer Mages/Dwarven Centurions' steam breath), and Poisons (Falmer, Chaurus'). These are also some of the more deadly enemies you'll encounter in-game, so mitigating the major ranged sources of damage these enemies have is a great idea.
Chest: Resist Poison (Fortify Health) Similar premise as above, and a passive boost to health is always nice.
Hands: Fortify Archery (Fortify One-Handed) I usually reserve this slot for offensive enchants. 'Nuff Said.
Finger: Resist Magic (Fortify Block /Health). Your lack of a shield and dedicated melee weapon means that when things turn sour, you'll often be in close-range for longer than you'd like. A decent block enchant can help your torch help you stay alive.
Feet: Fortify Sneak (Fortify Carry Weight). Your survival often depends on getting the jump on your opponents, and maintaining the upper hand. You're already at a disadvantage if the enemy sees you before you can get into position to take him out. The carry weight simply allows you to grab that one last treasure without having to worry about a slow journey back.
Bow: Frost Damage (Shock Damage) AND Fiery Soul Trap (Fire Damage). The first bow combines damage with a slow effect, allowing you to land subsequent shots much easier, and gives you more time to line them up before the enemy can reach you. After Extra Effect is learned, adding Shock Damage will help keep any long-range casters from assaulting you with a barrage of spells, and provide additional damage. The second bow is your main method of gaining souls for Enchanting. The Fire damage enchant is simply for additional damage, and as an alternative for Dwemer constructs, which are immune to Frost.
Pickaxe: Fire Damage (Frost Damage). Anything that manages to get close to you needs to be removed as soon as possible. Your melee abilities are already subpar, so the combination of two damaging enchantments is used to milk as much damage out of your pickaxe as possible, so you can switch back to your superior bow skills.
-Exploring Mzulft with trusty crossbow in hand.
Gameplay:
You're inquisitive by nature. Sometimes to the point of being a bit scatter-brained. Don't be afraid to dive into a cave while traveling to a town or objective; on the contrary, embrace it. Every cave should be entered upon first discovery, only retreating if you find the inhabitants to be a bit more than you can chew.
When entering a cave or ruin, take it slow, and scope out the area. There are often plenty of treasures around if one is willing to stop and look for them.
While potions and scrolls you find are a creation of the inhabitants of an area, these can be recreated, so feel free to use them if necessary. Your survival is more important than easily replicated materials, and this is sometimes necessary due to your lack of magical skill and lack of interest in alchemy.
Keep any unique artifacts you manage to find through your travels, as you can proudly display them in your home until you save up enough money to open up a museum. Any other enchanted equipment is however fodder to improve your knowledge of these artifacts. Not to mention that you can use this knowledge to enchant your own equipment to wear or sell, because sometimes a little spin on the origin of an item can mean the difference between earning pocket change or a fortune.
Any quests involving the exploration of a crypt, ruin, or cave is fair game. However, if this place is known to be inhabited by some dangerous bandits, or the like, don't take the risk without investing in a bodyguard to come with. The quest-givers have specific instructions, so often, any loot outside of that is free to take, and will easily make up the cost of the mercenary who accompanied you.
Take extra care to grab any Dwarven artifacts and materials you can find. The creations of the Dwemer are easily some of the most intricate and difficult to understand in Skyrim, so any chance to study them should be taken. If you have Dawnguard, try to complete Lost to the Ages as soon as you can in order to craft the Aetherial Staff. This works as your conjuration counterpart, and will help keep you from being swarmed should you be discovered.
As far as combat goes, you'll want to play it safe. Scout out your enemies, and attack accordingly; Just as you would analyze notes, scan the enemies for any particular weaknesses or tells you can use to your advantage. Make use of cover and debris to avoid arrows and magical bolts while dispatching melee enemies if you deem them the bigger threat. Or use your bow to sap the magicka of the expert conjurer on the other side of the room before turning your attention to other threats. While you aren't an assassin, a sneak attack can still be deadly, so always take advantage of your stealth ability when possible and fire off a clean shot from the shadows. Your torch and pickaxe are the utter definition of last resort, so keep moving at all times to avoid getting cornered.
You lack any magical training, so magical staves are great finds, as they can temporarily make up for the plethora of abilities you personally lack.
Conclusion:
Skyrim is a massive world, filled with wonder and excitement, so I wanted to create a build that kind emphasized the exploration aspect of the game. This way, I realized I was almost forcing myself to see the sights, which got me away from the min-maxing mindset I had at one point. It's a nice change of pace, and a blast to play IMO, as I'm a decently heavy RPer. Hopefully, you guys might find my first official Skyrim build to be interesting enough to warrant a playthrough yourselves.
- The Archaeologist prepares to dive in.
The Archaeologist
“The earth is one big treasure hunt, and I'm itching to start.”
I've always had a fascination with ruins and caves, finding myself losing massive tracts of time diving into every single cave I could get through, often coming back overencumbered and wondering what quest I was actually supposed to be doing. This build came about due to that urge; I wanted a build that reflects my nature when it comes to the Elder Scrolls series, and I felt that this might be a great representation of one of my mindsets. While reading this, you may find it to be more of a role-play idea than a build, but nevertheless, I'll try my best to flesh out a build through it all.
Class Description:
Race: Any, Though Khajiit and Argonians are both quite suitable bonus-wise (I'm a PC player, so I personally went with the modded MaTera race for this).
Stats: 0 Magicka | 2 Health | 2 Stamina; I feel fine with about 200 Stamina, at which point I simply pump points into Health, but feel free to add more if needed.
The Archaeologist is fascinated with the secrets of the past. Not a trained fighter, the Archaeologist prefers the use of bows and crossbows over close-range weaponry, but resorts to his or her tools of the trade in tight situations; His trusty stack of torches and his pickaxe. Extremely interested in dwemer technology, the archaeologist often finds himself diving into ruins without a moment's hesitation.
Standing Stone: The Tower Stone (In search of treasure, occasionally a little breaking and entering might be required), The Shadow Stone (Sometimes, alerting the local denizens of an ancient ruin can be a bit more dangerous than enlightening), The Steed Stone (You aren't going to leave those treasure's behind, are you?)
Recommended Quests: The Lost Expedition, Unfathomable Depths, The Golden Claw, Forbidden Legend, Discerning the Transmundane, Lost to the Ages (Dawnguard Required).
Major Skills
Smithing: When coming across an unknown object, the first thing that comes to mind is, “How does this work?” In order to gain a deeper understanding of various metals and materials, you learn the trade of blacksmithing. Knowledge of the material opens a path to a whole new understanding. For RP purposes, you can easily go all the way through the tree, but it's much easier and simpler to focus on one side of the tree.
Enchanting: Needless to say, the earth is filled with countless magical artifacts previously unknown to the modern world. Metal is one thing, sorcery is another, and you'll need a working knowledge of enchanting to have a hope of understanding these relics and the magic that drives them. And due to your lack of martial knowledge, your enchanted armors and your torch are your first, last, and only lines of defense.
Archery: As an archaeologist, you were never trained to fight. Preferably, you'd avoid it in the first place, but, simply pointing and shooting that Falmer down before it's deadly poisoned blade is near you is probably a nice alternative. And after years of crypt diving and Falmer slaying, you'll unfortunately get quite a lot of experience with this skill. For Dawnguard players, consider joining the Dawnguard if you want to take advantage of crossbows. Vampires have lived for a long time; who knows what kind of treasures the Volkihar may have acquired?
Stealth: Ruins and caves are often inhabited by the unwanted specimens of the world. If at all possible, staying unnoticed is the safest route. And in the case of more sentient beings, avoiding the traps they set for uninvited guests can spell the difference between life and death.
Minor Skills
Speech: You're a genius and you still have a hard enough time understanding some of the things you've encountered. You're going to need a silver tongue to explain things to the masses, and to convince them to then purchase it from you. You'll need the money to fund your expeditions, and to jump-start your museum later.
Block: Never underestimate a torch. While small, it'll brighten your paths, and give your enemies a startling surprise when turned on them; and it just might save your skin when that last centurion catches up to you.
One-Handed: Your pickaxe is your friend. Imagine breaking into a orihalcum or ebony deposit without one, and you'll have a decent idea why. While not inherently the most deadly weapon, you'll find it still serves well in a pinch. But remember, you have a bow for a reason.
Lock-Picking: If there's one thing that never changes throughout history, its that people often put things they consider valuable inside of locked containers. The dead probably won't mind, but they're sadly not around to give you the key, are they? Key perks are up to Treasure Hunter.
-While not the most effective weapon, sometimes a good smack with a pickaxe is all you need.
Perk Spreads
Level 25:
http://skyrimcalculator.com/265109
You'll find yourself spread a little thin early on, so feel free to focus more on the combat skills until you get sure footing.
You'll want to focus on archery first, as it is your main form of offense; it provides long ranged damage, along with protection in the form of staggers.
The main point of Block early on is to get Quick Reflexes. You've dealt with enough traps in your life to be able to avoid more telegraphed attacks, and it's probably one of your strongest abilities in close range.
Smithing is the main form of defense you'll have however, and is important to your understanding of the materials you encounter.
Getting Sneak up to Light Foot is important to avoid the various traps set for you.
While Lock-Picking isn't exactly the most needed perk tree, getting up to Adept is to prepare you for Golden Touch and Treasure Hunter
Speech up to Merchant will allow you to sell your heavy and varied finds to anyone who happens to have the gold. Seeing as there are more male merchants than female, it might be in your interest to play a female to take advantage of Allure, but its nothing game-breaking.
The entry levels in enchanting will help make for your lack of physical training by providing extra damage and defense.
Level 50:
http://skyrimcalculator.com/265108
Archery, again, as your main offense should be prioritized. Ranger allows you to move faster to maintain distance, and Quick Shot helps keep your foes off you alongside Power Shot.
Block is taken up to Disarming Bash to attempt to minimize the threat of many close range enemies. Falmer can't hit you with a poisoned blade if it's on the ground.
No matter which side of Smithing you take, Dwarven Smithing is important simply due to the nature of the character. You're going to be spending a lot of time in Dwarven ruins; eventually, you're going to become a master of the material, either by choice, or by forcefully deconstructing the various automatons that don't want you there.
More levels in Stealth will keep you out of sight longer, and allow you to escape should things get rough. Feel free to opt in a level of Silent Roll to move more quickly while crouched.
Lock-Picking is left alone after grabbing Treasure Hunter.
For speech, after appraising a few new finds, your credibility increases, and so does the worth (or so you've convinced your patrons) of your finds. Investing will help you get a foot in the door on your future museum plans.
Enchanting is taken up to Frost Enchanter on the left. After exploring various cold caverns, and dealing with the chilly embrace of metal, you've grown to know the detrimental affects the cold can have. Therefore, you learn to take advantage of the chilling effects of frost enchants against your enemies. Extra Effect serves again as a means of amplifying damage, and covering weaknesses.
-Preparing to dive in.
Equipment Enchants
Head: Fortify Archery (and Lock-Picking/Waterbreathing). Head Enchantments are pretty limited. Luckily, you can boost your main offensive skill through them. With Extra Effect, The only other somewhat useful enchants are Lock-Picking, or Waterbreathing. Up to you.
Necklace: Resist Magic (Resist Poison). A large amount of enemies you'll encounter make heavy use of Magic Damage (Falmer Mages/Dwarven Centurions' steam breath), and Poisons (Falmer, Chaurus'). These are also some of the more deadly enemies you'll encounter in-game, so mitigating the major ranged sources of damage these enemies have is a great idea.
Chest: Resist Poison (Fortify Health) Similar premise as above, and a passive boost to health is always nice.
Hands: Fortify Archery (Fortify One-Handed) I usually reserve this slot for offensive enchants. 'Nuff Said.
Finger: Resist Magic (Fortify Block /Health). Your lack of a shield and dedicated melee weapon means that when things turn sour, you'll often be in close-range for longer than you'd like. A decent block enchant can help your torch help you stay alive.
Feet: Fortify Sneak (Fortify Carry Weight). Your survival often depends on getting the jump on your opponents, and maintaining the upper hand. You're already at a disadvantage if the enemy sees you before you can get into position to take him out. The carry weight simply allows you to grab that one last treasure without having to worry about a slow journey back.
Bow: Frost Damage (Shock Damage) AND Fiery Soul Trap (Fire Damage). The first bow combines damage with a slow effect, allowing you to land subsequent shots much easier, and gives you more time to line them up before the enemy can reach you. After Extra Effect is learned, adding Shock Damage will help keep any long-range casters from assaulting you with a barrage of spells, and provide additional damage. The second bow is your main method of gaining souls for Enchanting. The Fire damage enchant is simply for additional damage, and as an alternative for Dwemer constructs, which are immune to Frost.
Pickaxe: Fire Damage (Frost Damage). Anything that manages to get close to you needs to be removed as soon as possible. Your melee abilities are already subpar, so the combination of two damaging enchantments is used to milk as much damage out of your pickaxe as possible, so you can switch back to your superior bow skills.
-Exploring Mzulft with trusty crossbow in hand.
Gameplay:
You're inquisitive by nature. Sometimes to the point of being a bit scatter-brained. Don't be afraid to dive into a cave while traveling to a town or objective; on the contrary, embrace it. Every cave should be entered upon first discovery, only retreating if you find the inhabitants to be a bit more than you can chew.
When entering a cave or ruin, take it slow, and scope out the area. There are often plenty of treasures around if one is willing to stop and look for them.
While potions and scrolls you find are a creation of the inhabitants of an area, these can be recreated, so feel free to use them if necessary. Your survival is more important than easily replicated materials, and this is sometimes necessary due to your lack of magical skill and lack of interest in alchemy.
Keep any unique artifacts you manage to find through your travels, as you can proudly display them in your home until you save up enough money to open up a museum. Any other enchanted equipment is however fodder to improve your knowledge of these artifacts. Not to mention that you can use this knowledge to enchant your own equipment to wear or sell, because sometimes a little spin on the origin of an item can mean the difference between earning pocket change or a fortune.
Any quests involving the exploration of a crypt, ruin, or cave is fair game. However, if this place is known to be inhabited by some dangerous bandits, or the like, don't take the risk without investing in a bodyguard to come with. The quest-givers have specific instructions, so often, any loot outside of that is free to take, and will easily make up the cost of the mercenary who accompanied you.
Take extra care to grab any Dwarven artifacts and materials you can find. The creations of the Dwemer are easily some of the most intricate and difficult to understand in Skyrim, so any chance to study them should be taken. If you have Dawnguard, try to complete Lost to the Ages as soon as you can in order to craft the Aetherial Staff. This works as your conjuration counterpart, and will help keep you from being swarmed should you be discovered.
As far as combat goes, you'll want to play it safe. Scout out your enemies, and attack accordingly; Just as you would analyze notes, scan the enemies for any particular weaknesses or tells you can use to your advantage. Make use of cover and debris to avoid arrows and magical bolts while dispatching melee enemies if you deem them the bigger threat. Or use your bow to sap the magicka of the expert conjurer on the other side of the room before turning your attention to other threats. While you aren't an assassin, a sneak attack can still be deadly, so always take advantage of your stealth ability when possible and fire off a clean shot from the shadows. Your torch and pickaxe are the utter definition of last resort, so keep moving at all times to avoid getting cornered.
You lack any magical training, so magical staves are great finds, as they can temporarily make up for the plethora of abilities you personally lack.
Conclusion:
Skyrim is a massive world, filled with wonder and excitement, so I wanted to create a build that kind emphasized the exploration aspect of the game. This way, I realized I was almost forcing myself to see the sights, which got me away from the min-maxing mindset I had at one point. It's a nice change of pace, and a blast to play IMO, as I'm a decently heavy RPer. Hopefully, you guys might find my first official Skyrim build to be interesting enough to warrant a playthrough yourselves.
