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Character Build: The Candlemaker

Tags: #Character Build Elementalist  #Character Build Mage  #Character Build Battlemage  #Character Build Alchemist  #Character Build Vampire 
  • Member
    November 29, 2013

    Hey gang! It's Inkashes from the old forums, transfering my Candlemaker here. Enjoy.

     


    "It is better to light a candle, than to curse the darkness"


    The Candlemaker

    You are a Candlemaker: the un-sung Maestro of Flames! It's your job to light the way for the rest of Skyrim. You kindle the lamp posts at night to keep evil do-ers at bay. You stoke the tavern fires to warm those weary hearts! You scout ahead in the darkest tombs and deepest caves, to leave a trail of torches in your wake... Or do you?

    Candlemaking is dangerous profession, and an underappreciated one, at that. Maybe you're tired of being the underdog. Maybe you want to plunge Skyrim into a world of DARKNESS and CHAOS.

    This build offers a variety of roleplaying avenues. You can be a hero of clarity and peace. You seek out darkness, and thwart it with your flames. You could collect and drop torches in dark spots (or use Magelight). In your most valiant effort, you could kill the night altogether with Auriel's Bow, Sunhallowed Arrows, and the Elder Scroll (Sun).

    You could be a villain who encourages evil by stealing light away. You could drop torches in houses to "burn them down." You'd be surprised at how dark the game gets when you start collecting every torch you come by. This gives you an indirect advantage to stealth. You could also plunge Skyrim into eternal darkness and chaos with Auriel's Bow, Bloodcursed Arrows, and the Elder Scroll (Blood). To truly embrace darkness, become a vampire. It reflects your hatred for the light, and it also provides you with a Night Vision power, to better see in the darkness that you create.

     

      The Build

    Level 50 Perk Spread

    0 Magicka / 3 Health / 1 Stamina


     

    Race: Dunmer

    • Dark Elves take the cake. They get fire resist, a flame cloak, and high starting skills in Alchemy, Alteration, Destruction, and Illusion.

    Stone: Lord: Defense -- Guardian: Skills -- Ritual: use with Dragonborn Flame + Ring of Necromancy

    • Guardians to level faster, Lord for everything else. 
    • The Ritual Stone deserves special mention because of Dragonborn Flame, Azhidal's Ring of Necromancy, and the ever popular Aetherial Crown. Refer to the Utility section.

    Blessing: Talos
      
    Major:
    Alchemy, Alteration, Destruction, Two-Handed

    Minor: Block, Enchanting, Illusion

    Shouts: Unrelenting Force, Fire Breath > Dragonborn Flame, Slow Time, Soul Tear

    Armor: Aethereal Crown + Amulet of Talos + Enchanted Clothing + Ahzidal's Ring of Necromancy

    • I used pre-enchanted mage robes & hoods until I could enchant my own clothes. It doesn't matter what clothes you choose. Good enchants include:
    • Combat Set: Fortify Alteration / Destuction, Fortify Two-handed, Muffle (boots)
    • Crafting Set: Fortify Alchemy, Fortify Restoration (depending on how cheesy you want to be)

    Weapons: Candlemakers channel their power through Wicks (staves), Wax (enchantments), and Oils (alchemy). They also snuff out their foes with the Dawnguard Rune Hammer, and their own Breath (shouts). Lastly, their time spent lighting up the caves of Skyrim has helped them befriend Spiders (spider scrolls).


    Offense and Firepower

    Torch and Staff: Torches provide light and function as shields. They can set someone on fire with a bash, which counts as a destruction spell effect. Fire Staves provide ranged combat. Both of these items "burn out" and need to be replaced or recharged. Torches have a lifespan of 4 minutes, and can be saved by re-equipping them.

    You don't ever need to use the Staff Enchanter! You can pick up two key staves as soon as you want: Staff of Hag's Wrath (flame wall) from Repentance... and Eye of Melka (fireball) from The Affairs of Hagravens.

    Recharging: don't worry about a soul stealing weapon. You've got Soul Tear and the Soul Cairn at your disposal, and you can always just sell alchemy potions + buy soul gems from shop keepers.

    Dawnguard Rune Hammer: Stuck in melee? Can't kill something with fire? SMASH TO SUBMISSION! This weapon creates a Fire Rune with a shield bash. The rune will level Destruction, and it will consume Stamina instead of Magicka. Join the Dawnguard asap. Until you can get Florentius to give you the Lost Relic quest, use any two-handed hammer. 

    You cannot lay down two Fire Runes at once (spell + hammer). You cannot enchant the Rune Hammer and does not benefit from Elemental Fury. You can eat Vegetable Stew to constantly regen your stamina for infinite bashes / Fire Runes.

    Offensive Spells: You start with Flames. Learn Fire Rune and Flame Cloak. Your mana should be just large enough to cast them after perks (or enchanting / with mage hoods).

     


    Defense and Utility

    Traps: Runes (fire, ash) + Spiders (oil, mind control) + Staff of Flame Wall = lots of trap options!

    Defensive Spells: Candlemakers are proficient with Alteration. We are able to play with fire without getting burned by way of Flesh spells. Further, Ash Shell and Ash Rune make thematic sense for us. They provide great crowd control, and we can use them to protect NPCs from damage.

    Magelight: I love this spell! It's great for role play and it's practical in combat. Cast a light ahead of yourself to scout for enemies. They will show up on your compass as per usual. It has a very long range, making it easy to snipe from a distance. Enemies will rush to investigate it. This may allow you to sneak past them, or clump them together for a trap (yours or pressure plates). Magelight can also be used to trigger rune spells.

    Illusion: We spec into illusion for the Aspect of Terror perk, which gives a boost to fire damage when coupled with the fear effect of Intense Flames. Learn Muffle to help you level Illusion to 50 for the perk. It also gives you a nice smoky effect, which fits for a Candlemaker. Don't use Illusion spells otherwise.

    Fire Breath > Dragonborn Flame: If you kill something with Fire Breath, Dragonborn Flame will spawn a Fire Wyrm. If your summons take damage when you're wearing the Ring of Necromancy, they die instantly. Therefore: you can raise corpses with the Ritual Stone, and create many Fire Wyrms with one Fire Breath! They stay around the area that they were spawned, they can take a decent amount of damage, and they explode on death. Fire Wyrms are also immune to our fire damage.



    Flame Cloaked Spiders:
    The beauty of these guys is sevenfold:

    • They follow you everywhere, through map transitions and fast travel. But they move slowly.
    • They last until death, and they are immune to our fire damage.
    • They don't count against follower slots or summon slots.
    • They produce an eternal flame cloak effect in combat.
    • You can have up to SIX spiders out at once (of any kind). Although, this gets a little clunky.

    Oil Spiders: In your travels, you will undoubtedly come across oil pools: trails of metallic liquid on the ground. They usually have lanterns hanging above them. In short, you can set them ablaze for massive damage! Oil Spiders give us a way to make pools anywhere. They trail oil in combat, and give off a little explosion on death. You can attack an Oil Spider to have it drip oil in advance.

    Mind Control Spiders: They can attach themselves to almost any enemy, and make them fight for you for 30 seconds (but then they die). If you want to manipulate people, use these spiders instead of Illusion.

     

    Candle Magic (Alchemy)

     

    Our source of Buffs, Healing, and Gold. All of these ingredients are easy to find, and can be planted via Hearthfire. I love alchemy for this build because of how well everything meshes together. Note: Fortify Marksman increases all physical damage, including Two-handed. Couple this with Fortify Two-handed for even more firepower. Also: make use of Vegetable Stew. It's technically Cooking, but the constant stamina regen will allow you to perform nigh unlimited Fire Rune bashes with the Rune Hammer.

     

    Inner Fire: Fortify Two-Handed, Fortify Illusion, Regen Stamina, Resist Fire

    Dragon's Tongue + Fly Amanita + (Mora Tapinella or Scaly Pholiota)

    Salamander Flask: Fortify Destruction, Fortify Health

    Glowing Mushroom + Nightshade + Wheat
      

    Ifrit's Horn: Fortify Marksman, Regen Health

    Garlic + Juniper Berries + (Canis Root or Elves Ears)
      

    Lava Lamp: Poison, Slow

    Deathbell + River Betty
     

    Phoenix Blood: Poison, Weakness to Magic

    Jazbay Grapes + Scathecraw + (Creep Cluster or Scaly Pholiota)
      

    Sunlight Oil: Weakness to Fire, Weakness to Poison

    Bleeding Crown + Deathbell + Juniper Berries
     

    Liquid Gold: An easy to make potion that sells for $$$

    Creep Cluster + Mora Tapinella + Scaly Pholiota


        

    Key Quests and Other Stuff

     

    The first thing you should do is join the College of Winterhold. You will get a free set of Destruction Robes and a Novice Hood. You don't need to progress beyond getting the clothes (although nothing is stopping you). I suggest getting a Hearthfire house asap, as the gardens will help your Alchemy. You can also adopt a child for the Father's/Mother's Love bonus, which increases the effectiveness of healing potions. You get this by sleeping in the same house as your child. In the meantime, be sure to pick up your two hagraven staves, and work toward getting the Dawnguard Rune Hammer. Other than that, here is a brief list of some Key Quests:

  • Member
    November 29, 2013

    I really like the idea and concept behind this build. It's unique and interesting. I'm not really experienced enough to provide constructive criticism, so sorry. But other than that, I think this is a great idea! +1 from me 

  • Member
    November 29, 2013

    This is pretty cool! I like the concept of the Wick, Wax, and Oil incorporation with those skills, very unique in approach as a character concept. Nice clean presentation, good reasonings, although I am not the biggest fan of phrases like "use what you like" or "feel free to use", as I just like hearing about what you used personally (or any builder for that matter.) That also makes me a little fuzzy on the role-play, but I can see how offering multiple options can be fun for those who are indecisive!

    Great stuff and thanks for sharing. +1

  • November 29, 2013

    If you hadn't said anything about this being your first build I would not have known. You're off to a great start as a character builder.

  • Member
    November 29, 2013

    Thanks guys! @Henson, you're right about the role play fuzziness. I wanted to give people the option to play to their tastes. But I did try to edit out all the uses of "feel free" or "use what you like" :)

  • Member
    November 29, 2013

    Can Elemental Fury be used with enchanted weapons? I thought it couldn't. Other than that, a great build, well thought out! +1

  • Member
    November 29, 2013

    You're right! I edited it to make it more clear. Thanks!

    In other news, I will add what enchants I put on my armor sometime later. I need a break!

  • November 30, 2013

    This is a really cool and well presented build, but you shouldn't leave so much up to the player. 

  • C2
    Member
    November 30, 2013

    This is a very interesting concept. I've never really thought about the various candles, torches, and other lighting instruments in Skyrim. That kind of career must really keep you busy! While some people view open-ended builds negatively, I find them refreshing. It makes the entire build more adaptable for the player. Honestly, who here plays a build verbatim.

    A few criticisms, though. For starters, you can't enchant the Dawnguard Rune Hammer. Nor the axe for that matter. They have unique enchantments which give them their effects. Rune Master also affects the Hammer, which might be worth adding if you found yourself using its Fire Rune effect. I also suggest adding The Break of Dawn to your notable quests page. What better thing for a candlemaker to do than help a god bring light back to their temple?

    I'm impressed with your build and I'm looking forward to future projects. Well done!

  • Member
    December 1, 2013
    This is a really interesting build and I've just started playing it today. I got a good session in and I'm close to completing Dawnguard, I'm thinking my character is sick of being overlooked as a true hero and so he will plunge the world into darkness so that he can bring forth all his light and command the respect he deserves. Another interesting idea I had was putting on the Visage of Mzund with a torch equipped and roleplaying it as a superheated steam attack heated up by my torch. I'll give it a like as soon as I figure out how to like a build from my mobile.