Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Character Build: The Hemomancer

Tags: #Character Build Mage  #Character Build Vampire  #Rank:Legendary  #Hall of Fame Build 
  • Member
    October 8, 2013

    Hi SOMB, 

    Thanks for the like on this!

    Yeah, you're right. This is was played on legendary and yeah, you're right on the arrow portion... which is why when playing this build, you need to set Arniel's shade on the ranged attacker first to take it out.

    Like I mentioned, the entire strategy for pulling this build off relies a lot on positioning and cross spell combo.

  • Member
    October 8, 2013
    So I've been playing a variant of your build and I found out that Blood of the Ancients affects VL Drain Life spell. Therefore, Drain Life recharges itself because it absorbs Magicka! You don't even need Equilibrium with this Power. Thought I'd let you know :)
  • Member
    October 8, 2013

     yeah, that is something i found out as well, which was why I included this option in the RP section of the build, Dark allies await.

    With this effect in place, the need to constantly tap for magicka is reduced, allowing for more time spent on offense, though you will still need to blood siphon in between for "on demand" magicka, if you know what i mean :)

    Therefore, instead of making this a main skill, thought I would make this an RP skill, since the element of blood siphoning is still there as a core mechanic.

  • Member
    October 8, 2013
    Yea I can see Equilibrium's usefulness, especially with other spells in play. I guess I didn't pick up on Dark Allies Await cuz it didn't specifically name the spell but you seem to have covered all angles :) For my playthrough, I don't focus much on Equilibrium but it does come in handy.
  • Member
    October 8, 2013

    Cheers mate! I guess Blood of the Ancients could be RP'd as a sort of Hemomancer Bloodline as well, where the blood of vampires and hemomancers of before add on to the power of the build.

    That said, I would caution against using this with a follower.... the nature of the buff saps magicka and stamina, something that your follower would need even more so with mods like Comabat, Duel Realism (for PC users), which overhauls physical combat to make it more stamina intensive.

    Even without the mod, sapping stamina from a follower due to the AOE nature of the spell, it would not be that wise, as some of the standard attacks used by the follower AI (ie: Lydia shield bashes before attacking against larger targets like giants and dragons, gaining an advantage and reducing damage), might be affected decreasing the risk of follower survivability and having to force yourself to focus more on support heals rather than damage output.

    Anyways, as long as the follower stays back though, your variation would work fine as well as i suppose. Have fun! 

  • Member
    October 8, 2013
    I've found that by strategically firing it near an enemies but away from my allies works well enough. I hit them occasionally but I guess I could pick up the Companion's Insight Ability from the Black Books to ensure their safety.
  • Member
    October 8, 2013

    Ah but alas my friend! Companion's insight is one of the first things i tried in an effort to counter the draining effects off my follower.... unfortunately, it doesn't work, as it is specifically made to work against destruction spells, which is funny, since vanilla vampiric drain was considered Destruction as well.

    You're right in the strategic positioning of the spell, well spotted!  Another interesting factor in my earlier experiment:- 

    • By substituting all cloth enchants with 100% spell reduction to destruction, the normal version of Vampiric Drain would be cost free

    • On legendary, health absorb effects are reduced, but Magicka and Stamina absorb are not (bethesda once again... sigh)

    • When combined with Blood of the Ancients, this would allow for a single streamed absorbtion of cost free Magicka absorption, at a rate of 5 magicka per second.

    • This mechanic is interesting to use as a supplementary form of Magicka gain, as opposed to blood siphon. Very useful in situation when you have very low health and magicka, with only 1 enemy to handle (preventing the need for activating Sanguine Mist).

    Whilst this was fun to experiment with, i noticed that the magicka cost for frequent cast spells like Ebony Flesh, Paralyze and Poison Rune during battles, the benefits of a balanced school reduction as opposed to this mechanics far outweighed. Thought i would let you know since you're experimenting with the build  

  • Member
    October 8, 2013
    I admire the effort you've put forth in this build :) I also experimented with vanilla Vampiric Drain and found that it just wasn't viable :p Also why I was excited to see you post this build. I admit that I actually adapted a few techniques here into my own Necromancer who doesn't use Resto or Alteration so my overall gameplay is totally different. I will have to try this build in its purest form to get the full effect.
  • Member
    October 9, 2013

    Hmm... a blood necromancer... i think you got something going on here mate.... might work out if you manage to use Ashspawn instead of soul carin or zombie summons, since the vampiric drain AOE doesn't affect ashspawn..

    that would probably make your necro a dunmer ash/blood necro hybrid 

  • Member
    October 9, 2013

    Good call! Too bad he's already an Orc haha. I recreated a character from a book and until now I haven't been able to get his skill set right. With your adaptations, he's perfect! And probably my favorite playthrough to date.