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Character Build: The Oblivion Sorcerer

Tags: #Character Build Juggernaut  #Character Build Sorcerer  #Character Build Mage  #Rank:Recognized 
  • April 28, 2013

    The name refers to both the Elder Scrolls Game (IV) where I got most of the information, and the Plane of Existence where Daedra (Atronachs, and Dremora) are summoned from.

    Lore

    "Besting the most well-equipped fighters, Sorcerers rely on the spells of the mystic arts. Unique to these Mages is the bodily stamina to be armed with the thickest armor. They also possess the unique ability to absorb Magicka from spells targeting them.

    Sorcerers are adept at the use of a wide variety of armor, but typically do not utilize shields, preferring to keep their hands free for defensive spellcasting instead, their speciality."

    That makes it pretty clear, so the focus will be on following the spirit as well as the letter of the lore, rather than interpreting it into a personal definition.  There are other Builds here which fit in the general class, some of them very good.  However, all use either Weapons, or at least a Shield to enhance them.

    Race: Breton.  (For Spell Absorption.)

    Major Skills:  Destruction, Conjuration, Heavy Armor.

    Minor Skills:  Alteration, Restoration, Alchemy.

    Guardian: The Mage.

    Standing Stone: The Steed, Lord, or Atronach.

    Stats:  Magicka>Health.  Stamina could allude to the Endurance of the original, but is no longer needed with Heavy Armor, except for Sprinting.  The Steed Stone makes any more than 100 Stamina a waste of points.

    Shouts:  Unrelenting Force, Whirlwind Sprint, Become Ethereal, Ice Form, Clear Skies, Storm Call, Call of Valor, Call Dragon, Dismay, Disarm, Dragonrend.

    Important Perks

    Destruction:  Expert, Augment Elements, Disintegrate, Impact.

    Conjuration:  Expert, Atromancy, Twin Souls.

    Heavy Armor:  Juggernaut, Tower of Strength, Conditioned.

    Alteration:  Expert, Resist Magic, Stability.

    Restoration:  Master, Recovery, Respite, Regeneration, Ward Absorb.

    Alchemy:  Alchemist, Physician, Benefactor.

    FAQ "Why would I want to play a sorcerer?"

    No matter how much you pump it up, Magic doesn't do as much Damage as Weapons, and you don't have enough Health to be effective in a melee.

    1)  Playing a Glass Cannon is Hard.  This class has the potential to be a Steel Cannon, then ultimately an Ebony, Dragonplate, or Daedric cannon. 

    Though not as mobile as an unencumbered High Elf, your armor makes up for your lack of health so you can stand your ground while Magic wins the fight for you.  You're also less likely to be killed outright by a lucky stray arrow, or when your Mage Armor wears off.

    2)  Balance:  If you're looking for a game-breakingly Over Powered build, you might want to consider a Battlemage.  This collection of Skills, and Equipment can be very effective in the right hands, without ever reaching the point that every combat is a foregone conclusion.  So, basically for the same reason that people play Dead is Dead, or with other restrictions, so as not to remove all Challenge from the game.

    3)  Lore:  They've been around for a while, and this is a good class for Role Play.  Make up a story about why he doesn't like Weapons, or at least say that he thinks they're "crude, and inelegant."  (The "OB1 defense".)

    4)  Unique Fun:  This isn't a common choice, so if you want to stand out from the crowd, or grew weary of the same old tactics, this is about as rare a class as you're likely to find in the established Lore.

    Strategy

    Everything you do before battle to give you advantages, the Sorcerer has a lot of techniques at his disposal long before it gets to the tactical stage. 

    Range:  Other Tanks tend to be slow, and most effective up close.  So, you can start the damage race before they even join it.  Frost is the element of choice, because it slows them down, and saps their Stamina to prevent them using Power Attacks.  With Deep Freeze, it can even temporarily remove them from the fight.  Impact can be used to further retard their advance, and clump them together into deadly Areas of Effect.  Summons can draw off attackers to prevent being surrounded.

    Durations:  Without Robes to accelerate their Magicka Regeneration, nor Enchantment to make Destruction free, Magicka Management becomes an important issue.  With enough of a Magicka pool, one can cast a Summon, Flesh spell to reinforce their Armor and/or Cloak to Recover naturally before they wear off.

    Alchemy:  More than just Healing, potions of Destruction can fortify your Damage.  You don't have any Weapons to deliver poisons, though, so concentrate on beneficial effects. 

    The Atronach (Optional)  This Standing Stone could just as well be called The Sorcerer, in the first 2 games, Sorcerers have the most Magicka, but it's stunted to not regenerate naturally, so they use Spell Absorption instead.  That's right, exactly like the Atronach Stone.  The problem is in this game, the effect also Absorbs Summons, so if you need that Atronach right now then there's a 50/50 shot at actually pulling it off.  Bretons get the same effect once per day, but without the penalties.

    Tactics

    Lesser Sorcery:  Sorcerers are best known for channeling Magicka  directed at them to power their Spells.  Ward Absorb  uses a lot of Magicka, so Lesser Ward is preferred, and should be limited to Spellcasters, and Enemies.  Also, this doesn't absorb Summons like the Atronach Perk/Stone, and Dragonskin.

    The Spellbreaker Shield wards without using Magicka, but hand cast spells have the advantage that you can charge spells in the other hand without letting them down, and cast right through them.  You have to lower the Shield (And ward) to do anything with the other hand, and like all Wrds, there's a Lag while they charge up.  Ward Absorb is only 20% chance to work, unless you have Ahzidal's Gauntlets of Warding (Dragonborn DLC) which raises this to 70%.

    Greater Sorcery  Dragonskin is at will, so you can cast your summons first, this is the primary reason for going Breton.  (With the Atronach Stone, they can even temporarily have 100% Spell Absorbtion.) With a Staff of Summoning (Like Sanguine's Rose) you can also use this as a "Magicka Battery."

    Grand Sorcery  The ultimate exploitation of this is using Guardian Circle with your 50% Spell Absorbtion, because what doesn't go into your Magicka Heals you instead.  Both effects last 1 minute, so wear off together.  This can power even the mighty Lightning Storm, and doesn't require Enchanting to lower Casting Costs.  (May be considered a Glitch Exploit.  I don't mind using one Glitch to counter another, but YMMV.)

    Staggering Wind:  Unrelenting Force is great, but short range, and has a long cooldown.  Ice Storm can strike everyone you kite into a line, Stagger them all with Dual Casting/Imparct, and even Paralyze with Deep Freeze. 

    Hot&Cold:  Nothing is significantly resistant to both.  Flaming Familiar is cheaper than Fireball, self guided, and has a Duration so your Magicka can recover.  Ice Storm kills it instantly, detonating it, and hitting multiple enemies at once.  And finally, the Flaming Familiar runs around cover, while Ice Storm travels right through it, so you don't even have to expose yourself.

    Ice Road:  Wall of Frost cast at your feet while you kite the enemy over it, you don't even have to face them, while the Slow effect ensures they will never catch you.  You have 2 hands, so you can combine it with Fire, or Dual Cast.  (Does not work with Impact, and Wall of Storms actually glitches it so affected enemies can't be staggered.)  A safe way to kill enemies you don't want getting anywhere near you, like Giants, and Warlord Gathric.  Runes can be used similarly at lower level when you don't have the Wall effects, nor the toughness to survive standing your ground.

  • Member
    April 28, 2013

    Finaly, a sorcerer as I saw them first. I do need to say the morrowind sorcerers where enchanters first and foremost. But then, they had rings that could cast firebal... hmm maybe an destruction ring for those morrowind sorcerers.

    I just like it, wel done.

  • April 28, 2013

    I could append a Morrowind section, as well as others for earlier games, but I went with "Oblivion Sorcerer" mostly for a cool name, and differentiate from "The Sorcerer."  Also, more people are familiar with Oblivion than the earlier games, though I think Morrowind was the best in the series for Lore, Scenery Porn, and a unique gaming experience.

  • Member
    May 5, 2013

    Add dual casting to the spellcasting perks. I mean the whole point is to withstand some damage (at least the ones from melee) while keeping your distance when wearing heavy armor.

  • Member
    May 5, 2013

    Scenery Porn in Morrowind??? What did i miss?

    WHERE?!! WHERE?!! *pants*

  • Member
    May 5, 2013

    Also, i would add the Steed Stone as an optional so you can move around as if you're wearing clothes if you want to save a perk.

  • Member
    May 5, 2013

    I can +1 this, very well done!

    Als Psi, I was on a different skyrim forum trying to find some information about Ulfrics Bracers and I happened to run into your profile on that :P

  • May 6, 2013
    I give you kudos for tackling this considering Mason's Sorceror is one of the best builds on this site and a superb translation of the archetype into this game (he only uses weapons for the magic damage they're imbued with, to fall back upon when out of magicka, which, IMO, is a brilliant).
  • May 11, 2013

    Mason's Sorcerer is easily one of my favorite builds here, and I'm pretty specialized toward Sorcerers.  I have no intention of competing with that, this was just to help out a friend while trying to stick as close as possible to the original spirit of the class.  Mason's is a Sorcerer+ nothing wrong with that, and he was masterfully clever with how he got weapons in, but that's not what I was going for.

    TBPH, I prefer a Shield Sorcerer variant for some capability in a melee, but that would be a Sorcerer+ too.  That's not what I was going for.  I will point out that the Picture plainly shows a shield, while the text explicitely says they avoid them, I just didn't have as clever a way to lampshade that contradiction.

  • May 11, 2013

    Two good points to take into consideration.  Thanks.