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Character Build: The Lyrezi

Tags: #Character Build Elementalist  #Character Build Enchanter  #Character Build Vampire  #Race:Orsimer  #Rank:Mythic  #TwistedOrthrusBuild 
  • July 15, 2013

    This build came about from two separate ideas being merged together. One, a warrior mage who focused on casting Master level spells fueled by absorb magicka weapons to deal high damage quickly, and the other, an assassin who silenced his enemies to easily dispatch them in open combat. These two concepts combined led me to find an interesting lore background to tie everything together with.

    The Lyrezi

    “Lyrezi is one of the vampire bloodlines of the Iliac Bay area. Those of the bloodline are gifted with the ability to turn invisible and magically silence their enemies. The bloodline dominates an area of High Rock - specifically the regions of Alcaire, Koegria, Menevia, Orsinium, the Wrothgarian Mountains and Balfiera. They are the enemies of the Garlythi bloodline”

    The Lyrezi vampire fuses the brutality of mountain Orcs with the stealth and magical talents possessed by Vampires. The end result can only be described as an unorthodox assassin, who will be blowing enemies away with master level destruction spells, or stealing their attack fuel to launch their own unrelenting assaults on an enemy who doesn’t have a hope in hell of surviving a one on one encounter…

    Race: Orc. Orsinium and the Wrothgarian Mountains being two of the Lyrezi’s dominant areas, Orc made the perfect choice from a lore standpoint. Their Berserker rage ability is a lifesaver in tough fights.

    Major Skills: Destruction, Enchanting, Two Handed

    Minor Skills: Alchemy, Heavy Armor, Sneak

    Stone: Shadow until level 25. Apprentice from level 26 and up.

    Unique Items: Ahzidal’s mask, Ebony Blade, Ring of Erudite and the Beast, Savos’ amulet.

    Shout: Slow Time

    Play style

    The Lyrezi has two options in combat. Firstly, they can steal the energy of their enemies with their weapons, recycling it to preform deadly power attacks or to blast their enemies away with fire and ice master level spells.

    The Lyrezi also has the option to silence their enemies using their weapons and potent poisons. By doing this, enemies are removed as threats, allowing the Lyrezi to concentrate on bigger threats, or kill the target at their leisure.

    The Lyriezi can augment this style of combat by utilising invisibility and slow time, making them difficult to hit and meaning many fights end before they’ve already begun.

    Level 26 Build

    The Lyrezi spends the early levels with a focus on destruction magic, to bring master level spells into play as soon as possible. Using spells liberally which is made possible with an absorb magicka weapon and makes the skill shoot up with a little help from purchased training and tactical use of skill books.  With the help of Savos Aren’s Amulet, the Vampire ring of Erudite and a little destruction cost reduction, the Lyrezi can cast Blizzard and Firestorm with magicka to spare at level 26. I can’t stress enough how awesome it is unlocking these spells half way through the character! The spells actually become a key part of the build, instead of just being tagged on in a late game special move.  The spells become a part of regular combat and it is very satisfying to annihilate a room of bandits so early on in the game with a single move.

    The shadow stone is taken early on to provide extra chances to become invisible while your alchemy skill is still developing, while all 3 words of Slow time are collected to create an awesome synergy. The Lyrezi can sneak into the midst of undetected, cause chaos with destruction spells, and finally slow time to a crawl and absorb back their magicka to launch another magical offense, or chain power attacks with infinite stamina to destroy whatever is left.

    Picking up Ahzidal’s mask early on is a huge boost to the build. As well as allowing the Well fitted perk to function, it completely negates a vampire’s weakness to fire, while at the same time providing an additional 25% damage to all fire magic, turning fire from biggest weakness to greatest ally.

    Absorb magicka and stamina enchantments can both be picked up early on from Labyrinthian, and while amazing, they both have a very low amount of charges. Enter the Soul Siphon perk, which significantly increases the amount of time before your weapons will need to be recharged. To further this, the Ebony blade is also picked up. Its light weight, unlimited charges and high damage make it the perfect weapon for picking off weak stragglers, saving your main weapon charges for when they are really needed.

    Level 26 Perk Spread

    http://skyrimcalculator.com/#304435

    Level 31 Stat Spread

    300/150/150

    Level 51 Build

    The Lyrezi undergoes some tactical changes to optimize itself for play after level 26. Firstly, at level 26 the change is made from the shadow stone to the apprentice stone. The Lyrezi can become more reliant on potions of invisibility, while the apprentice stone now augments the recently acquired Blizzard spell, making it even more powerful. The downside of the stone are made virtually non-existent when the Lyrezi can silence them before they can cast a spell, if not outright kill them.

    At level 31 the Lyrezi makes another change, swapping out the ring of Erudite for its sister ring; the ring of the Beast. This change comes about when the Lyrezi is able to cast master level spells only relying on a few pieces of self-enchanted gear and Savos’s amulet. The Lyrezi becomes significantly more durable in combat putting enemies at an even greater disadvantage.

    From this point on, the Lyrezi is all about becoming a more efficient killer, taking perks to enhance their already lethal combat methods. Fire and frost spells are augmented to make the master spells even more deadly, while extra effect is taken in enchanting to enhance the potency of your weapons. With the conditioning taken, the Lyrezi will have a hard time ever running out of stamina when paired with a weapon that saps it from enemies.

    Level 51 Perk Spread

    Level 51 Stat Spread

    350/200/250

    Master Destruction Spells

    On a personal note, I’ve always been disappointed with the master level spells in Skyrim. As well as being criminally underpowered, they are hardly ever used in a build before level 40. With the second issue dealt with, I’ll now outline the full power the Lyrezi can achieve with master spells.

    Blizzard: With Mason already discovering that frost resistance affects the power of Blizzard in his Obsidian Sentinel build, I utilised the same method to push Blizzard to a maximum potential of 240% damage in this build.

    So for Fire Storm you've got 225 (base damage) x 1.5 (Augmented Flames 2/2) x 1.25 (Ahzidal) x 1.6 (potion) = 675. That's 300% damage!

    Blizzard is 20 (base damage/second) x 1.5 (Augmented Frost 2/2) x 0.5 (Vampiric Resistance) x 2 (Apprentice Stone) x 1.6 (potion) = 48dps. That's 240% damage, for a total of 480 damage. 

    (Calculations courtesy of Raidriar)  

    Skill Descriptions

    Orsimer Skills

    Two handed

    Mountain Orcs are trained in the use of various weapons to dispatch their enemies in combat. The Lyrezi chose to focus on the strength of two handed weapons, taking a particular liking to battleaxes. These weapons perfectly synergise with destruction master spells which also require both hands to use.

    Heavy Armor

    Orcs are known for their craftsmanship, particularly of Orcish and Ebony armors. While the Lyrezi never bothered to craft their own armor, they have grown accustomed to having easy access to high grade Ebony armor on demand.

    Vampire Skills

    Sneak

    All Vampires have a natural ability to move silently, and the Lyrezi clan are no exception, even when clad in heavy armor.

    Destruction

    Vampires also have a natural affinity with destruction magic, as demonstrated by their ability to absorb the health of enemies. The Lyrezi clan chose to take this proficiency further by studying the arts of ice and fire.

    Lyrezi Skills

    Enchanting

    The Lyrezi clan have become master enchanters, becoming particularly adept at creating weapons which steal the energy of their target. This art is a secret to all but the Lyrezi clan and they guard their knowledge fiercely.

    Alchemy

    The Lyrezi clan have long studied alchemy, and have knowledge of recipes which can stop an enemy from recovering their energy, enhance their own destructive power, or allow themselves to turn invisible. They also can use it for more mundane purposes, such as brewing up a healing potion.

     

    Weapons and Apparel

    Sorcerer’s Axe- Uses two absorb magicka enchants to steal a maximum of 50 magicka per hit.

    Warrior’s Axe- Uses an absorb stamina and damage stamina enchant to maximise the damage to stamina, while exploiting the ability to spam power attacks with a single point of stamina.

    Ebony blade- Used to kill those too weak for the Lyrezi to expend effort on.

    Ahzidal’s Mask- Negates the vampire weakness to fire while increasing the user’s proficiency with fire magic.

    Ebony Armor- Enchanted with Destruction cost reduction to make casting spells easier.

    Ebony Gauntlets- Enchanted with Fortify Magicka to improve the Lyrezi’s spell casting

    Ebony Boots- Enchanted with Fortify Carry Weight to compensate for carrying multiple weapons.

     

    Alchemy

    Damage Magicka and Magicka Regen- Hanging Moss + Glow Dust

    Perfect for dealing with magic using enemies.

    Damage Stamina and Stamina Regen- Blisterwort + Giant’s Toe + Skeever Tail

    Perfect for dealing with warrior type enemies.

    Fortify Destruction and Invisibility- Ash Creep Cluster + Nightshade + Vampire Dust

    A potion which makes the user invisible, but also enhances their destruction skill so they can break from the shadows with explosive power.

    This build went through several development processes to make it what you see here. I’m genuinely sad to be finished with this build and hope that I will return to it someday.

     

    Credits:

    BenC for continued support and proofreading.

    Matt Feeney for proofreading

    Zimbu for the awesome screenshots

    http://artamisscatcat.deviantart.com/ for Perk Spread.

     

     

     

  • July 15, 2013

    Thanks Lex, I had a lot of fun playing this build.

  • Member
    July 15, 2013

    +1 once again Twisted.

    Also, by 'silencing' enemies you mean sapping their magicka and stamina dry? At least its what I think you meant by that.

  • July 15, 2013

    Yep, that's it. Traditionally it is only magicka but I chose to extend it to draining stamina.

  • Member
    July 15, 2013
    Awesome one Twisted! You bring orcs on a whole new levels :) +1 Doesn't Frost Resistance weaken the Blizzard? I thought with all the mentioned effects you can get 160% rather than 260. Also have you thought of using Mage stone instead of Shadow in the beginning? The invisibility potions are very easy to make and it'll allow you to get to the Master level spells faster.
  • July 15, 2013

    I calculated the reduced damage due to frost resistance Vaz. The calculations don't include the base 100% damage of the spells, rather it calculates the additional damage and the total factors them both together.

    As for the mage stone is an option if you think you can make it on invisibility potions and the Vampire once per day Invisibility power. The problem with potions at early levels is they have very low duration meaning you either need to use lots or rush yourself.

  • Member
    July 15, 2013

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I imagine it's more for survival and gaining a kinda first strike. Two handed weapons only get a 2x multiplier, which can still be pretty powerful depending on your weapon. 

  • July 15, 2013
    Mixing Math with Fun(my favorite things) while making an awesome build! Well done my friend, well done! :)
  • Tim
    Member
    July 15, 2013

    Love me a good Iliac vampire! The way the character evolves is really interesting. This is quite similar to my most recent playthrough, but I didn't go into Sneak, maybe I should add that in to become a full blown Lyrezi =p

    Nice work on this dude, +1 from me

  • Member
    July 15, 2013

    This is fantastic! Having my own view of what Lyrezi should be, this totally changes my whole view of how they can be played and interpreted in Skyrim. The use of alchemy for invisibility is brilliant. Really great build and as always, awesome presentation. Big +1