When I looked back at my Morrowind days, I remember an Orc I made using the ever-so-awesome weapon Scourge, given by Malacath himself. I don’t know what took me so long to realize that Scourge doesn’t have to be in Skyrim to recreate my old Morrowind character, I can re-create it. As you have already probably guessed, this build will feature a few things... an Orc and the Daedric Artifact Scourge.
"The Daedric Scourge is a mighty mace forged from sacred ebony in the Fires of Fickledire. The legendary weapon of Mackkan, it was once a fierce weapon used to send spirits of black back into Oblivion. The weapon has the ability to summon creatures from Oblivion, Once a tool used against the Daedric Lords in the Battlespire, it now roams the land with adventurers." —Yagrum Bagarn, Tamrielic Lore
Since I can summon creatures with my mace in Skyrim, I’ve decided to “alter” the weapon to fit Skyrim. Along with the Scourge, we will be using the Daedric Artifact, Sanguine Rose. The Rose will allow us to recreate the summoning effect from the Scourge without investing anything into Conjuration. I was also in debate of my two enchantments that I would place on my version of Scourge but it’s almost a matter of opinion and can be enchanted in many ways.... As long as its used in the name of Malacath.
Being an Orc and worshiping Malacath comes with its own set of rules, known as the “Code of Malacath”.
“The law of the Orcs is based on the Code of Malacath, an unwritten law. The Code prohibits things such as theft and unwarranted violence, but also places heavy emphasis on honor and personal strength in resolving conflicts. Orcs do not use imprisonment as punishment: those who violate the code must either pay material compensation or pay a "blood price", which entails allowing the one they offended to spill their blood until the price has been satisfied.”
When I decided to look further into the Code of Malacath and some of the Lore surrounding the Daedric Gods, I found some interesting things for role playing... Malacath is the archnemesis of Molag Bal, who is known as the “King of Rape”. So basically he's a nasty bastard and is responsible for the creation of Vampires. As the Champion of Malacath, we are set out to destroy all Vampires. Our association with the Flame and Malacath make Vampires cringe at the sight of this Orc and makes our enemies bow to Lord Malacath while Scourge will set them ablaze.
The Build
I fight for .... My Lord.... Malacath
Race: Orc
Stone: Lord + Steed. Wearing the Jagged Crown and the Aetherial Crown, you are able to have two standing stones and still have a helmet for the well fitted perk. By combining the Steed with the Lord Stone, you are able to resist magic and move unhindered. By using the Steed stone instead of move favorable stones such as the Atronach, you eliminate selecting the useless perks in the Heavy Armor skill tree to unlock Conditioning.
Stat Spread: 1/2/2 in Magicka/Health/Stamina. Your focus early on should be on your health and stamina. Once you’ve level up your destruction enough (through skill trainers), then you can start focusing some points into your magicka.
Level 45 - Level 50 (optional perks, explained later)
Major Skills
One Handed: This is your main form of Damage. With the mighty Scourge fixated to your right hand, you crush and burn all enemies before you in the name of Malacath. Perks are all centered around the use of the Scourge, an Ebony Mace
Armsman (5), Bone Breaker (3), Fighting Stance, Critical Charge, Savage Strike
Heavy Armor: The Champion of Malacath is fully clad in heavy armor. You wear the Ebony Mail proudly out of respect for the Daedric God, Boethiah. With the well fitted and Juggernaut bonues, you should easily reach the armor cap with smithing.
Block: Any Orc in Heavy Armor with a shield is fearsome enough. The Champion of Malacath is no exception. Used in the build to bolster our tanking abilities and add some bleed damage with the Targe.
Shield Wall (1), Quick Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Elemental Protection, Power Bash, Deadly Bash and Disarming Bash
Minor Skills
Smithing: Orcs are masters of the craft of smithing. It is widely believed among orcs that strong ore creates strong people. Our Champion is such example.
Enchanting: Enchanting only furthers the strength of the Champion. Also allows for the recreation of the famed weapon of Malacath, Scourge.
Destruction: Though the practice of Destruction magic isn’t used among many Orcs, including the Champion himself, the knowledge of the art is known by Malacath and is passed down to our Champion (well....through skill trainers).
Oh my dear Scourge... I’ve missed you so.
Equipment
The Jagged Crown (Fortify Destruction + Fortify Magicka) + Aetherial Crown (Steed): Through a little exploit we’re able to wear the Jagged Crown and the Aetherial Crown together. This combination gives not only some added protection and movement to the Champion but the Jagged Crown is only fitting for a Champion.
Ebony Mail: Consider this a gift from the Daedric Lord Boethiah, creator of Malacath. The poison cloak along with our flame cloak can really stack up in battle. The Ebony Mail also provides a high armor rating with a very cool aesthetic.
Enchanted Ebony Boots and Gauntlets: For your boots, I enchanted mine with Fortify One Handed and Fortify Stamina and for the Gauntlets I used Fortify One Handed and Fortify Block
Scourge: Ebony Mace enchanted with Fire/Fiery Soul Trap and Banish. This does differ from the actually Scourge but such enchantment doesn’t exist in Skyrim. You could also use Fiery Soul Trap and Fire if you want to maximize Fire damage. The second enchantment (besides Fire) is completely up to you.
Sanguine Rose: Used to recreate the summoning aspect of the Scourge. Also, it doesn’t hurt to have a badass Dremora fighting alongside you.
Targe of the Blooded: Fits the build on many levels, don’t think I have to go into much detail on this one.
Ring and Amulet of Malacath: Ring - Resist Magic (Shield of Solitude version) and Fortify Health. Amulet - Resist Magic (SoS) and Fortify Magicka.
Quests
The quests below are essential to the build. You can justify just about every quest if you truly want, doing them in the name of Malacath.
Boethiah’s Quest, Dawnguard (Dawnguard side), Main Quest (to mediate on the word of power “Yol”), Azura’s Star (for the Black Star), Civil War (Jagged Crown), A Night To Remember (Sanquine Rose)
Special Moves and Combat
Overall, this is a Mace and Board build. However you do have some special moves and combat options to keep things interesting.
Fire Breath + Critical Charge: Fire Breath with damage and stagger your opponents while your finish them off with Critical Charge. For quick recharges of the skill, only use the first word of the Fire Breath Shout, Yol. With the damage increase from the meditation (roughly 62 damage) and the black book in dragonborn, this combo proves simple yet very effective.
Targe of the Blooded + Ebony Mail + Flame Cloak: This combo can be used very effectively against Dragons and high leveled enemies. For situations where you are surrounded by multiple or a higher leveled enemies, the Targe (bleed damage), Ebony Mail (poison damage) and Flame Cloak raises your DPS considerable. If you really want to go overboard, you can use the three mentioned plus Slow Time and Berserker. This vicious combo will literally destroy anything in your path and should be reserved for those dire situations.
For most combat, I usually open with a Fire Breath Shout but only the first word, Yol. I do this for a few reasons. First, the recharge rate is fairly quick and the mediation on the word Yol from Paarthunax indeed only applies to the first word of the shout, Yol. If you are playing on Adept difficulty or lower, you'll find that the Yol shout will outright kill many enemies. Using the first move, Fire Breath + Critical Charge, you can take out most enemies pretty easily. Also add in the Dragonborn Flame ability from the Dragonborn DLC and your Fire Breath will create wreak havoc against your enemies.
At the beginning of the build you might have noticed that the build is set for level 45 but I also listed a perk list for level 50. If you wish, the level 50 build will add a little more variety to the combat with magic. Adding perks in Illusion to get the Aspect of Terror perk, you can really increase the fire damage of your spells (sorry, doesn’t increase the flame damage on our Scourge). Two extra perks will be added in the Destruction Skill tree to add Dual Casting and Impact. These two perks will make the novice level spell Flames effective throughout the game.
This has been one of my more favored builds in Skyrim. At completion of this build, you’ll be able to smash through just about everything in the game and is a very viable build for a Master difficulty playthrough.
Shout-outs to....
The Arcane Axeman by Zach for the Aetherial Crown/Jagged Crown combo.
Ben C - For this always appreciated advice and the awesome idea with the Sanguine Rose!
TwistedOrthrus - Who was cool with me using the “Champion of Malacath” as my build name
When I looked back at my Morrowind days, I remember an Orc I made using the ever-so-awesome weapon Scourge, given by Malacath himself. I don’t know what took me so long to realize that Scourge doesn’t have to be in Skyrim to recreate my old Morrowind character, I can re-create it. As you have already probably guessed, this build will feature a few things... an Orc and the Daedric Artifact Scourge.
"The Daedric Scourge is a mighty mace forged from sacred ebony in the Fires of Fickledire. The legendary weapon of Mackkan, it was once a fierce weapon used to send spirits of black back into Oblivion. The weapon has the ability to summon creatures from Oblivion, Once a tool used against the Daedric Lords in the Battlespire, it now roams the land with adventurers." —Yagrum Bagarn, Tamrielic Lore
Since I can summon creatures with my mace in Skyrim, I’ve decided to “alter” the weapon to fit Skyrim. Along with the Scourge, we will be using the Daedric Artifact, Sanguine Rose. The Rose will allow us to recreate the summoning effect from the Scourge without investing anything into Conjuration. I was also in debate of my two enchantments that I would place on my version of Scourge but it’s almost a matter of opinion and can be enchanted in many ways.... As long as its used in the name of Malacath.
Being an Orc and worshiping Malacath comes with its own set of rules, known as the “Code of Malacath”.
“The law of the Orcs is based on the Code of Malacath, an unwritten law. The Code prohibits things such as theft and unwarranted violence, but also places heavy emphasis on honor and personal strength in resolving conflicts. Orcs do not use imprisonment as punishment: those who violate the code must either pay material compensation or pay a "blood price", which entails allowing the one they offended to spill their blood until the price has been satisfied.”
When I decided to look further into the Code of Malacath and some of the Lore surrounding the Daedric Gods, I found some interesting things for role playing... Malacath is the archnemesis of Molag Bal, who is known as the “King of Rape”. So basically he's a nasty bastard and is responsible for the creation of Vampires. As the Champion of Malacath, we are set out to destroy all Vampires. Our association with the Flame and Malacath make Vampires cringe at the sight of this Orc and makes our enemies bow to Lord Malacath while Scourge will set them ablaze.
The Build
I fight for .... My Lord.... Malacath
Race: Orc
Stone: Lord + Steed. Wearing the Jagged Crown and the Aetherial Crown, you are able to have two standing stones and still have a helmet for the well fitted perk. By combining the Steed with the Lord Stone, you are able to resist magic and move unhindered. By using the Steed stone instead of move favorable stones such as the Atronach, you eliminate selecting the useless perks in the Heavy Armor skill tree to unlock Conditioning.
Stat Spread: 1/2/2 in Magicka/Health/Stamina. Your focus early on should be on your health and stamina. Once you’ve level up your destruction enough (through skill trainers), then you can start focusing some points into your magicka.
Level 45 - Level 50 (optional perks, explained later)
Major Skills
One Handed: This is your main form of Damage. With the mighty Scourge fixated to your right hand, you crush and burn all enemies before you in the name of Malacath. Perks are all centered around the use of the Scourge, an Ebony Mace
Armsman (5), Bone Breaker (3), Fighting Stance, Critical Charge, Savage Strike
Heavy Armor: The Champion of Malacath is fully clad in heavy armor. You wear the Ebony Mail proudly out of respect for the Daedric God, Boethiah. With the well fitted and Juggernaut bonues, you should easily reach the armor cap with smithing.
Block: Any Orc in Heavy Armor with a shield is fearsome enough. The Champion of Malacath is no exception. Used in the build to bolster our tanking abilities and add some bleed damage with the Targe.
Shield Wall (1), Quick Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Elemental Protection, Power Bash, Deadly Bash and Disarming Bash
Minor Skills
Smithing: Orcs are masters of the craft of smithing. It is widely believed among orcs that strong ore creates strong people. Our Champion is such example.
Enchanting: Enchanting only furthers the strength of the Champion. Also allows for the recreation of the famed weapon of Malacath, Scourge.
Destruction: Though the practice of Destruction magic isn’t used among many Orcs, including the Champion himself, the knowledge of the art is known by Malacath and is passed down to our Champion (well....through skill trainers).
Oh my dear Scourge... I’ve missed you so.
Equipment
The Jagged Crown (Fortify Destruction + Fortify Magicka) + Aetherial Crown (Steed): Through a little exploit we’re able to wear the Jagged Crown and the Aetherial Crown together. This combination gives not only some added protection and movement to the Champion but the Jagged Crown is only fitting for a Champion.
Ebony Mail: Consider this a gift from the Daedric Lord Boethiah, creator of Malacath. The poison cloak along with our flame cloak can really stack up in battle. The Ebony Mail also provides a high armor rating with a very cool aesthetic.
Enchanted Ebony Boots and Gauntlets: For your boots, I enchanted mine with Fortify One Handed and Fortify Stamina and for the Gauntlets I used Fortify One Handed and Fortify Block
Scourge: Ebony Mace enchanted with Fire/Fiery Soul Trap and Banish. This does differ from the actually Scourge but such enchantment doesn’t exist in Skyrim. You could also use Fiery Soul Trap and Fire if you want to maximize Fire damage. The second enchantment (besides Fire) is completely up to you.
Sanguine Rose: Used to recreate the summoning aspect of the Scourge. Also, it doesn’t hurt to have a badass Dremora fighting alongside you.
Targe of the Blooded: Fits the build on many levels, don’t think I have to go into much detail on this one.
Ring and Amulet of Malacath: Ring - Resist Magic (Shield of Solitude version) and Fortify Health. Amulet - Resist Magic (SoS) and Fortify Magicka.
Quests
The quests below are essential to the build. You can justify just about every quest if you truly want, doing them in the name of Malacath.
Boethiah’s Quest, Dawnguard (Dawnguard side), Main Quest (to mediate on the word of power “Yol”), Azura’s Star (for the Black Star), Civil War (Jagged Crown), A Night To Remember (Sanquine Rose)
Special Moves and Combat
Overall, this is a Mace and Board build. However you do have some special moves and combat options to keep things interesting.
Fire Breath + Critical Charge: Fire Breath with damage and stagger your opponents while your finish them off with Critical Charge. For quick recharges of the skill, only use the first word of the Fire Breath Shout, Yol. With the damage increase from the meditation (roughly 62 damage) and the black book in dragonborn, this combo proves simple yet very effective.
Targe of the Blooded + Ebony Mail + Flame Cloak: This combo can be used very effectively against Dragons and high leveled enemies. For situations where you are surrounded by multiple or a higher leveled enemies, the Targe (bleed damage), Ebony Mail (poison damage) and Flame Cloak raises your DPS considerable. If you really want to go overboard, you can use the three mentioned plus Slow Time and Berserker. This vicious combo will literally destroy anything in your path and should be reserved for those dire situations.
For most combat, I usually open with a Fire Breath Shout but only the first word, Yol. I do this for a few reasons. First, the recharge rate is fairly quick and the mediation on the word Yol from Paarthunax indeed only applies to the first word of the shout, Yol. If you are playing on Adept difficulty or lower, you'll find that the Yol shout will outright kill many enemies. Using the first move, Fire Breath + Critical Charge, you can take out most enemies pretty easily. Also add in the Dragonborn Flame ability from the Dragonborn DLC and your Fire Breath will create wreak havoc against your enemies.
At the beginning of the build you might have noticed that the build is set for level 45 but I also listed a perk list for level 50. If you wish, the level 50 build will add a little more variety to the combat with magic. Adding perks in Illusion to get the Aspect of Terror perk, you can really increase the fire damage of your spells (sorry, doesn’t increase the flame damage on our Scourge). Two extra perks will be added in the Destruction Skill tree to add Dual Casting and Impact. These two perks will make the novice level spell Flames effective throughout the game.
This has been one of my more favored builds in Skyrim. At completion of this build, you’ll be able to smash through just about everything in the game and is a very viable build for a Master difficulty playthrough.
Shout-outs to....
The Arcane Axeman by Zach for the Aetherial Crown/Jagged Crown combo.
Ben C - For this always appreciated advice and the awesome idea with the Sanguine Rose!
TwistedOrthrus - Who was cool with me using the “Champion of Malacath” as my build name
