The idea behind this build is to create a character with all the strengths and abilities of a pure mage, with none of the weaknesses. This spellsword doesnt just hold a sword in one hand and a spell in the other all the time as the name suggests, but switches between spellsword and dual wielding spells depending on the situation. so without further ado:
Breathtaking views of the college of winterhold and surrounding areas taken from the roof of ysgramor's tomb.
The Spellsword
Spellsword has always been my favourite style of play, with dual wielding spells mixed in. i recommend a breton, although altmer is certainly an option. this is likely the tankiest and strongest arcane character your ever likely to meet. Spellswords are known for full on offense and a lack of defense, but between healing spells and the occasional ward, the paralysis spell not to mention the perks from the alteration tree, illusion spells, heavy armor, conjured minions and high amount of health thats no longer an issue. at higher levels a few stealth skills are also learned.
Major skills
illusion - good for crowd control, by the time this character is finished everything from draugr to dragon priests will be affected.
restoration - healing is important for anyone, especially those who find themselves outnumbered in melee. wards can block shouts.
alteration - the perks in this tree bolsters this characters already considerable magic resistance, the paralyze spell is also nice.
One-handed - Turns into the main damage dealer lategame as enemies start to withstand even expert level destruction spells.
Heavy armor - Robes are suicidal in melee fights on master difficulty, and for those powerplaying to level 81, the enchants are almost as good as the archmages robes anyway.
Minor skills
Destruction - Compliments one handed damage and the only source of ranged damage, stunlocking dragons mid flight with impact is a powerful ability.
Conjuration - has both offensive and defensive uses, from the flame atronach right through to the goal of 2 dead thralls.
sneak - these perks combined with invisibility, muffle and quiet casting allows the option of a thief mage playstyle.
tertiary skills
alchemy, smithing and enchanting - the spellsword enrols in tertiary education in their old age and in doing so creates godlike gear.
Level 25, 50 and 81 build
Level 25
240 magica / 200 health / 100 stamina. mage stone.
6 perks in combat, none in stealth
Heavy armor - fists of steel, juggernaut x1, well fitted
one handed - armsman x2, fighting stance
18 perks in magic
illusion - novice illusion, apprentice illusion, illusion dual casting, hypnotic gaze, animage
conjuration - novice conjuration
destruction - novice destruction, destruction dual cast, impact, augmented flames, augmented schock
restoration - novice restoration, apprentice restoration, regeneration, recovery x1
alteration - novice alteration, apprentice alteration, magic resistance x1
this early in the game the spellsword will be using whatever heavy armor and one- handed sword they can find, starting from iron or preferably steel sword and armor found on bandit chiefs. the flame atronach and lydia will prove to be valuable companions at this point. i recommend doing the companions and civil war questlines first, then college of winterhold, then main questline due of the degree of difficulty.
if you are ready to start grinding all 3 crafting skills to create enchanted legendary daedric armor skip to the level 81 part of this build if not, keep reading.
humble beginnings
Level 50
new perks are highlighted in red
300 magica / 340 health / 150 stamina. lord stone.
14 perks in combat
Heavy armor - conditioning, cushioned, fists of steel, juggernaut x1, well fitted, tower of strength
one handed - armsman x5, fighting stance, savage strike, critical charge
3 perks in stealth
sneak - stealth x1, muffled movement, backstab
32 perks in magic
illusion - novice illusion, apprentice illusion, adept illusion, illusion dual cast, animage, kindred mage, quiet casting, hypnotic gaze, aspect of terror, rage
conjuration - novice conjuration, necromancy, dark souls
destruction - novice destruction, augmented flames x2, augmented frost x2, augmented schock x2, destruction dual cast, impact
restoration - novice restoration, regeneration, respite, recovery x1, apprentice restoration, adept restoration
alteration - novice alteration, apprentice alteration, magic resistance x2
if you havent done the thieves guild and dark brotherhood questlines now is the time to do so. this build has a lot of its full power already, but destruction and conjuration spells are getting really expensive to use, to fix that alot of grinding is required...for those powerplayers among you read on.
Level 81
new perks are highlighted in red.
300 magica / 500 health / 300 stamina. atronach stone.
20 perks in combat
Heavy armor - conditioning, cushioned, fists of steel, juggernaut x1, well fitted, tower of strength
one handed - armsman x5, fighting stance, savage strike, critical charge
smithing - steel smithing, dwarven smithing, orcish smithing, ebony smithing, daedric smithing, arcane blacksmith.
10 perks in stealth
Sneak - stealth x1, muffled movement, backstab
alchemy - Alchemist x5, physician, benefactor
50 perks in magic
illusion - novice illusion, illusion dual cast, animage, kindred mage, hypnotic gaze, aspect of terror, rage, quiet casting, master of the mind, apprentice illusion, adept illusion, expert illusion
conjuration - novice conjuration, necromancy, dark souls, twin souls
destruction - novice destruction, augmented schock x2, augmented frost x2, augmented flames x2, destruction dual cast, impact
restoration - novice restoration, regeneration, respite, recovery x2, necromage, apprentice restoration, adept restoration, expert restoration
alteration - novice alteration, apprentice alteration, magic resistance x3, adept alteration, expert alteration, atronach
enchanting - enchanter x5, insightful, corpus, extra effect
you may notice spell absorption goes from 0% to 80% constant between levels 50 and 81, you may be thinking "wont this mess up my conjuring?" by this point the only conjuration spell used should be dead thrall, preferably on orchendor, malkoran or whoever you feel like. flame thralls could be used as a last resort if no bodies can be found, but 80% spell absorption and no magica refunds for failed flame thrall summons will have you pulling your hair out. keep in mind in order to use dead thrall with this build, 29% cost reduction and 100 skill in conjuration is required, along with 422 magica provided by the base stats, atronach stone and fortify magica gauntlets.
in my experience paralyze works on everything except dragons, dragon priests and magical anomalies.
necromage not only boosts the level illusion spells work on undead, the level dead thrall works but also works well with vampirism, something i intend to try myself later. no arcane build is complete without having all 3 destruction elements at hand, couldnt call one an archmage without them.
i recommend the following gear:
"Spellsword"
legendary daedric helmet - fortify destruction 29%, fortify restoration 29%
legendary daedric armor - fortify magica regen 10% and fortify destruction 18%, fortify conjuration 29%
legendary daedric gauntlets - fortify magica 72 points, fortify one-handed 47%
legendary daedric boots - fortify one-handed 47%, fortify stamina regen 36%
gold diamond necklace - fortify destruction 29%, fortify illusion 29%
gold diamond ring - fortify destruction 29%, fortify illusion 29%
legendary daedric sword, "Alduin's bane" - frost damage schock damage
as for how to create it, first you have to level alchemy, smithing and enchanting to level 100 then create crafting gear. for details on the best way to do this follow this guide:
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?t=344048
of course ignore the wood chopping part, as you should have tens of thousands of septims from doing quests by now.
took me 2 days, so good luck.
the sword damages stamina, magica, and immense amounts of health with impunity. the enchants and perks allow for all the schools of magic to be used, infinite dual thunderbolts can be thrown around now. Also dead thrall becomes usable thanks to reduced conjuration spell cost.
dead thrall will use literally all of your 422 magica, fortunately necromancy is unaffected by spell absorption unlike summoning.
this build has 422 magica once you count the base stats, atronach stone and fortify magica enchant on the gauntlets. with 100 skill in conjuration and only 1 piece fortifying conjuration(29%)dead thrall costs 421 magica. 300 stamina feels pretty optimised as thats how much you get back from grand healing+respite. 500 health for general tankiness.
"uh oh, this cant be good" "whats the meaning of this?" "im about to be killed by some crazy wizard" "whoa, whoa, watch the magic"
here is some alternative armor, helmets, amulets and rings for those with different playstyles or just want to experiment or have fun. boots and gauntlets stay the same as the "spellsword" gear above.
"Mehrunes dagon"
legendary daedric armor - fortify magica regen 10% and fortify destruction 18%, fortify conjuration 29%
legendary daedric helmet - fortify destruction 29%, fortify restoration 29%
gold diamond necklace - fortify one-handed 47%, fortify destruction 29%
gold diamond ring - fortify one-handed 47%, fortify destruction 29%
one of the more amusing ways of dispatching ones foes
for those that want to use less illusion spells in favor of maxing out one handed and one shotting pretty much everything in sight.
"thief mage"
legendary daedric armor - fortify magica regen 10% and fortify illusion 18%, fortify destruction 29%
legendary daedric helmet - fortify illusion 29%, fortify destruction 29%
gold diamond necklace - fortify illusion 29%, fortify destruction 29%
gold diamond ring - fortify illusion 29%, fortify destruction 29%
for a more stealthy mage. dead thralls just get in the way and alert enemies.
keep in mind free illusion spells means all those perks to reduce illusion cost were for nothing.
"Magebane"
legendary daedric armor - fortify magica regen 10% and fortify destruction 18%, fortify restoration 29%
legendary daedric helmet - fortify destruction 29%, fortify restoration 29%
gold diamond necklace - fortify destruction 29%, fortify restoration 29%
gold diamond ring - fortify destruction 29%, fortify restoration 29%
for the ultimate anti-mage mage, if that makes sense. this gear looks weird on the surface, your probably thinking "free restoration spells!?! why?" the premise is simple:
1. equip greater ward in the left hand, storm wall or if you have already leveled destruction to 100 hevnoraaks staff in the right hand
2. hold down mouse 1 and mouse 2 at your foe
3. ???
4. profit!
magebane in action, equip a sword in the right hand for much higher damage when they land. thunderbolt may have higher damage too.
i would consider it extremely effective against mages, dragon priests and to a lesser extent dragons. mainly because while they cant really hurt you 1v1, it takes so long to kill them, having said that ward+sword can work. shouts now do nothing to you as long as the ward is up. a word of note, may make gameplay boring.
alternative weapon: legendary daedric sword "frostmourne" soul trap and frost damage. for lore reasons those enchants probably fit best.
other great weapon enchants: firey soul trap, paralyze and of course fire damage.
and there you have it, a smooth transition from a humble mortal or elf in rags stumbling through helgen to a god like level 81 spellsword with all the power of a pure mage, and some stealth elements mixed in too. all with playing the game normally and no grinding necessary until you hit level 50. i will be using this build myself with the "spellsword" gear i recommended above(not the alternative gear), as a breton. have fun!
Q&A
What if i want to get the perks shadow warrior and assassins blade for a spellsword assassin?
remove the following perks: atronach, and 5 of the spell cost reducing perks. my recommendation is adept/expert alteration and apprentice/adept/expert restoration, if your a breton take out 1 perk from magic resistance and keep apprentice restoration. then fill out the entire sneak tree, except stealth is x1. replace atronach stone with lord stone. reason being spell absorption breaks shadow warrior. take 50 points from health and put it into magica, otherwise you cant use dead thrall. as for gear, see "spellsword" or if free illusion spells is a must have, "thief mage".
*******************************************************************************************
vampire section
legendary daedric helmet - fortify restoration 38%, fortify illusion 38%
legendary daedric armor - fortify conjuration 38%, fortify magica regen 12% and fortify destruction 23%
legendary daedric gauntlets - fortify one-handed 63%, fortify magica 97 points
legendary daedric boots - resist schock 73%, resist fire 73%
gold diamond necklace - fortify illusion 38%, fortify destruction 38%
gold diamond ring - fortify destruction 38%, fortify Alteration 38%
legendary daedric sword, "Dragonrend" - 87 schock damage 87 fire damage
lord stone, remove 100 points from stamina put 50 in magica 50 in health
replace the 3 sneak perks with fire/frost/schock enchanter to obtain the above enchant strength. if your a breton, replace 1 of the magic resist perks with bladesman. i recommend getting the shadowcloak of nocturnal with this build.
i know what your thinking, 23+38+38 = 99, but i keep testing this and the destruction spells are completely free, my sword never needs to be recharged too. i cant explain why, all i can say is vampirism+necromage is really good.
literally every master spell from all schools can be cast now, true mastery of magic is achieved in vampire form with this build. all expert spells are cheap to cast, especially illusion, restoration and destruction is completely free.
keep in mind 38% enchants are required on the crafting gear, your looking to make 153% smithing potions and 38% enchanting potions. all the stats in the vampire section of this build can only be seen in the active effects, not on the gear itself.
The idea behind this build is to create a character with all the strengths and abilities of a pure mage, with none of the weaknesses. This spellsword doesnt just hold a sword in one hand and a spell in the other all the time as the name suggests, but switches between spellsword and dual wielding spells depending on the situation. so without further ado:
Breathtaking views of the college of winterhold and surrounding areas taken from the roof of ysgramor's tomb.
The Spellsword
Spellsword has always been my favourite style of play, with dual wielding spells mixed in. i recommend a breton, although altmer is certainly an option. this is likely the tankiest and strongest arcane character your ever likely to meet. Spellswords are known for full on offense and a lack of defense, but between healing spells and the occasional ward, the paralysis spell not to mention the perks from the alteration tree, illusion spells, heavy armor, conjured minions and high amount of health thats no longer an issue. at higher levels a few stealth skills are also learned.
Major skills
illusion - good for crowd control, by the time this character is finished everything from draugr to dragon priests will be affected.
restoration - healing is important for anyone, especially those who find themselves outnumbered in melee. wards can block shouts.
alteration - the perks in this tree bolsters this characters already considerable magic resistance, the paralyze spell is also nice.
One-handed - Turns into the main damage dealer lategame as enemies start to withstand even expert level destruction spells.
Heavy armor - Robes are suicidal in melee fights on master difficulty, and for those powerplaying to level 81, the enchants are almost as good as the archmages robes anyway.
Minor skills
Destruction - Compliments one handed damage and the only source of ranged damage, stunlocking dragons mid flight with impact is a powerful ability.
Conjuration - has both offensive and defensive uses, from the flame atronach right through to the goal of 2 dead thralls.
sneak - these perks combined with invisibility, muffle and quiet casting allows the option of a thief mage playstyle.
tertiary skills
alchemy, smithing and enchanting - the spellsword enrols in tertiary education in their old age and in doing so creates godlike gear.
Level 25, 50 and 81 build
Level 25
240 magica / 200 health / 100 stamina. mage stone.
6 perks in combat, none in stealth
Heavy armor - fists of steel, juggernaut x1, well fitted
one handed - armsman x2, fighting stance
18 perks in magic
illusion - novice illusion, apprentice illusion, illusion dual casting, hypnotic gaze, animage
conjuration - novice conjuration
destruction - novice destruction, destruction dual cast, impact, augmented flames, augmented schock
restoration - novice restoration, apprentice restoration, regeneration, recovery x1
alteration - novice alteration, apprentice alteration, magic resistance x1
this early in the game the spellsword will be using whatever heavy armor and one- handed sword they can find, starting from iron or preferably steel sword and armor found on bandit chiefs. the flame atronach and lydia will prove to be valuable companions at this point. i recommend doing the companions and civil war questlines first, then college of winterhold, then main questline due of the degree of difficulty.
if you are ready to start grinding all 3 crafting skills to create enchanted legendary daedric armor skip to the level 81 part of this build if not, keep reading.
humble beginnings
Level 50
new perks are highlighted in red
300 magica / 340 health / 150 stamina. lord stone.
14 perks in combat
Heavy armor - conditioning, cushioned, fists of steel, juggernaut x1, well fitted, tower of strength
one handed - armsman x5, fighting stance, savage strike, critical charge
3 perks in stealth
sneak - stealth x1, muffled movement, backstab
32 perks in magic
illusion - novice illusion, apprentice illusion, adept illusion, illusion dual cast, animage, kindred mage, quiet casting, hypnotic gaze, aspect of terror, rage
conjuration - novice conjuration, necromancy, dark souls
destruction - novice destruction, augmented flames x2, augmented frost x2, augmented schock x2, destruction dual cast, impact
restoration - novice restoration, regeneration, respite, recovery x1, apprentice restoration, adept restoration
alteration - novice alteration, apprentice alteration, magic resistance x2
if you havent done the thieves guild and dark brotherhood questlines now is the time to do so. this build has a lot of its full power already, but destruction and conjuration spells are getting really expensive to use, to fix that alot of grinding is required...for those powerplayers among you read on.
Level 81
new perks are highlighted in red.
300 magica / 500 health / 300 stamina. atronach stone.
20 perks in combat
Heavy armor - conditioning, cushioned, fists of steel, juggernaut x1, well fitted, tower of strength
one handed - armsman x5, fighting stance, savage strike, critical charge
smithing - steel smithing, dwarven smithing, orcish smithing, ebony smithing, daedric smithing, arcane blacksmith.
10 perks in stealth
Sneak - stealth x1, muffled movement, backstab
alchemy - Alchemist x5, physician, benefactor
50 perks in magic
illusion - novice illusion, illusion dual cast, animage, kindred mage, hypnotic gaze, aspect of terror, rage, quiet casting, master of the mind, apprentice illusion, adept illusion, expert illusion
conjuration - novice conjuration, necromancy, dark souls, twin souls
destruction - novice destruction, augmented schock x2, augmented frost x2, augmented flames x2, destruction dual cast, impact
restoration - novice restoration, regeneration, respite, recovery x2, necromage, apprentice restoration, adept restoration, expert restoration
alteration - novice alteration, apprentice alteration, magic resistance x3, adept alteration, expert alteration, atronach
enchanting - enchanter x5, insightful, corpus, extra effect
you may notice spell absorption goes from 0% to 80% constant between levels 50 and 81, you may be thinking "wont this mess up my conjuring?" by this point the only conjuration spell used should be dead thrall, preferably on orchendor, malkoran or whoever you feel like. flame thralls could be used as a last resort if no bodies can be found, but 80% spell absorption and no magica refunds for failed flame thrall summons will have you pulling your hair out. keep in mind in order to use dead thrall with this build, 29% cost reduction and 100 skill in conjuration is required, along with 422 magica provided by the base stats, atronach stone and fortify magica gauntlets.
in my experience paralyze works on everything except dragons, dragon priests and magical anomalies.
necromage not only boosts the level illusion spells work on undead, the level dead thrall works but also works well with vampirism, something i intend to try myself later. no arcane build is complete without having all 3 destruction elements at hand, couldnt call one an archmage without them.
i recommend the following gear:
"Spellsword"
legendary daedric helmet - fortify destruction 29%, fortify restoration 29%
legendary daedric armor - fortify magica regen 10% and fortify destruction 18%, fortify conjuration 29%
legendary daedric gauntlets - fortify magica 72 points, fortify one-handed 47%
legendary daedric boots - fortify one-handed 47%, fortify stamina regen 36%
gold diamond necklace - fortify destruction 29%, fortify illusion 29%
gold diamond ring - fortify destruction 29%, fortify illusion 29%
legendary daedric sword, "Alduin's bane" - frost damage schock damage
as for how to create it, first you have to level alchemy, smithing and enchanting to level 100 then create crafting gear. for details on the best way to do this follow this guide:
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?t=344048
of course ignore the wood chopping part, as you should have tens of thousands of septims from doing quests by now.
took me 2 days, so good luck.
the sword damages stamina, magica, and immense amounts of health with impunity. the enchants and perks allow for all the schools of magic to be used, infinite dual thunderbolts can be thrown around now. Also dead thrall becomes usable thanks to reduced conjuration spell cost.
dead thrall will use literally all of your 422 magica, fortunately necromancy is unaffected by spell absorption unlike summoning.
this build has 422 magica once you count the base stats, atronach stone and fortify magica enchant on the gauntlets. with 100 skill in conjuration and only 1 piece fortifying conjuration(29%)dead thrall costs 421 magica. 300 stamina feels pretty optimised as thats how much you get back from grand healing+respite. 500 health for general tankiness.
"uh oh, this cant be good" "whats the meaning of this?" "im about to be killed by some crazy wizard" "whoa, whoa, watch the magic"
here is some alternative armor, helmets, amulets and rings for those with different playstyles or just want to experiment or have fun. boots and gauntlets stay the same as the "spellsword" gear above.
"Mehrunes dagon"
legendary daedric armor - fortify magica regen 10% and fortify destruction 18%, fortify conjuration 29%
legendary daedric helmet - fortify destruction 29%, fortify restoration 29%
gold diamond necklace - fortify one-handed 47%, fortify destruction 29%
gold diamond ring - fortify one-handed 47%, fortify destruction 29%
one of the more amusing ways of dispatching ones foes
for those that want to use less illusion spells in favor of maxing out one handed and one shotting pretty much everything in sight.
"thief mage"
legendary daedric armor - fortify magica regen 10% and fortify illusion 18%, fortify destruction 29%
legendary daedric helmet - fortify illusion 29%, fortify destruction 29%
gold diamond necklace - fortify illusion 29%, fortify destruction 29%
gold diamond ring - fortify illusion 29%, fortify destruction 29%
for a more stealthy mage. dead thralls just get in the way and alert enemies.
keep in mind free illusion spells means all those perks to reduce illusion cost were for nothing.
"Magebane"
legendary daedric armor - fortify magica regen 10% and fortify destruction 18%, fortify restoration 29%
legendary daedric helmet - fortify destruction 29%, fortify restoration 29%
gold diamond necklace - fortify destruction 29%, fortify restoration 29%
gold diamond ring - fortify destruction 29%, fortify restoration 29%
for the ultimate anti-mage mage, if that makes sense. this gear looks weird on the surface, your probably thinking "free restoration spells!?! why?" the premise is simple:
1. equip greater ward in the left hand, storm wall or if you have already leveled destruction to 100 hevnoraaks staff in the right hand
2. hold down mouse 1 and mouse 2 at your foe
3. ???
4. profit!
magebane in action, equip a sword in the right hand for much higher damage when they land. thunderbolt may have higher damage too.
i would consider it extremely effective against mages, dragon priests and to a lesser extent dragons. mainly because while they cant really hurt you 1v1, it takes so long to kill them, having said that ward+sword can work. shouts now do nothing to you as long as the ward is up. a word of note, may make gameplay boring.
alternative weapon: legendary daedric sword "frostmourne" soul trap and frost damage. for lore reasons those enchants probably fit best.
other great weapon enchants: firey soul trap, paralyze and of course fire damage.
and there you have it, a smooth transition from a humble mortal or elf in rags stumbling through helgen to a god like level 81 spellsword with all the power of a pure mage, and some stealth elements mixed in too. all with playing the game normally and no grinding necessary until you hit level 50. i will be using this build myself with the "spellsword" gear i recommended above(not the alternative gear), as a breton. have fun!
Q&A
What if i want to get the perks shadow warrior and assassins blade for a spellsword assassin?
remove the following perks: atronach, and 5 of the spell cost reducing perks. my recommendation is adept/expert alteration and apprentice/adept/expert restoration, if your a breton take out 1 perk from magic resistance and keep apprentice restoration. then fill out the entire sneak tree, except stealth is x1. replace atronach stone with lord stone. reason being spell absorption breaks shadow warrior. take 50 points from health and put it into magica, otherwise you cant use dead thrall. as for gear, see "spellsword" or if free illusion spells is a must have, "thief mage".
*******************************************************************************************
vampire section
legendary daedric helmet - fortify restoration 38%, fortify illusion 38%
legendary daedric armor - fortify conjuration 38%, fortify magica regen 12% and fortify destruction 23%
legendary daedric gauntlets - fortify one-handed 63%, fortify magica 97 points
legendary daedric boots - resist schock 73%, resist fire 73%
gold diamond necklace - fortify illusion 38%, fortify destruction 38%
gold diamond ring - fortify destruction 38%, fortify Alteration 38%
legendary daedric sword, "Dragonrend" - 87 schock damage 87 fire damage
lord stone, remove 100 points from stamina put 50 in magica 50 in health
replace the 3 sneak perks with fire/frost/schock enchanter to obtain the above enchant strength. if your a breton, replace 1 of the magic resist perks with bladesman. i recommend getting the shadowcloak of nocturnal with this build.
i know what your thinking, 23+38+38 = 99, but i keep testing this and the destruction spells are completely free, my sword never needs to be recharged too. i cant explain why, all i can say is vampirism+necromage is really good.
literally every master spell from all schools can be cast now, true mastery of magic is achieved in vampire form with this build. all expert spells are cheap to cast, especially illusion, restoration and destruction is completely free.
keep in mind 38% enchants are required on the crafting gear, your looking to make 153% smithing potions and 38% enchanting potions. all the stats in the vampire section of this build can only be seen in the active effects, not on the gear itself.
i got lucky on the timing with the decapitation and hitting printscreen there.