Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Character Build: The Aspect of the Spider

Tags: #Character Build Sorcerer  #Character Build Agent  #Character Build Villain  #Race:Dunmer  #Rank:Recognized  #Spider 
  • Member
    February 7, 2014

    Disturbing. Twisted. Loathsome. Vile. All words used to describe the spider, that patient and methodical killer. Existing in many types and varieties, these arachnids have developed countless methods of ambush, capture, and predation. They are the ultimate predators, and so are you.


    Warning-This Build heavily relies on content from Dawnguard and Dragonborn, and is much less practical without the content from these expansions.

    The Aspect of the Spider


      "Finding an innocuous corner in which to spin its web, the spider waits. The longer the web takes, the more fabulous its construction. There is no need to chase. The spider will sit quietly, its patience a consummate force; it waits for prey to come of its own volition, and then the spider ensnares them, and injects them with venom, rendering them incapable of escaping their fate."

     

    Race: The appearance, lore, and racial bonuses of Dunmer make them the obvious choice

    Stone: Mage should be taken for leveling; in the endgame choose either the Serpent or the Shadow

    Shouts: Sadly the concept of this build doesn't really allow for the use of Thu'um

    Stat Spread: 3/2/1

     

     

     

    The Build

    As the name might lead you to believe, the Aspect of the Spider approaches combat in the same way that an actual arachnid might: patience, poison, and paralysis.


    The Aspect is adept at several schools of magic, and the build makes use of some under-appreciated gameplay mechanics to provide the player with a very unique flavor.


    However, should you find yourself engaged in melee combat, this build is capable of standing toe-to-toe with the most ferocious melee combatants that Skyrim has to offer due to your carapace of thick Falmer Armor.


    One of the more fun quirks that this arachnid utilizes are the Spider Scrolls. Located within the White Ridge Barrow, the Imbuing Chamber gives player's the ability to craft a variety of spiders from Albino Spider Pods, assorted gems, and other ingredients. It's worth noting that the amount of spiders created is doubled if a gem of flawless quality is used instead of a standard gem.


    Following are several of the craft-able spiders that this build will rely on:

    • Poison Cloaked Spider-"Tosses a Poison Cloaked spider on the ground that will poison enemies that get too close."
    • Jumping Poison Spider-"Tosses a Jumping Poison spider on the ground that will launch itself at nearby enemies and explode if it lands near them."
    • Exploding Poison Spider-"Tosses a dead spider on the ground which explodes when an enemy gets too close."
    • Mind Control Spider-"Creatures and people that this spider attaches to will fight for you for 30 seconds."

    Approach combat by casting the requisite Detect spells to locate your prey, and stealthily stalk them. Once the target is in your sights, you have several options available to you. A couple of these combos are described in the Special Abilities section.


    Major Skills


    Sneak: Skyrim's giant spiders not withstanding, one doesn't typically imagine an arachnid charging furiously into combat, flailing its many legs; though that particular mental image would probably cause many people to shudder. Instead, spiders are methodical and patient predators, preferring traps, ambush, and silent assaults.


    Heavy Armor: That's correct, this build has Sneak AND Heavy Armor as 2 of its major skills. As with Mason's Sorcerer build, the use of Heavy Armor allows the player to survive when forced into close combat situations, giving the Spider an unparalleled survivability amongst the Mage classes. Additionally, with time and wise perk choices, many of the negative aspects of wearing Heavy Armor will be rendered insignificant.


    Alteration: Can you guess what Alteration spell the Aspect of the Spider makes use of? Paralysis, the expert-level spell that causes targets who fail to resist to remain paralyzed for 10 seconds. When combined with the stability perk the duration of this spell increases to 15 seconds. This spell can be purchased from Tolfdir when Alteration has been leveled to 70, although it can occasionally be found in random chests as well. So, what to do with Alteration until it gets all the way to level 70? You'll be casting the useful Flesh spells, Detect Life, and Detect Dead.


    Restoration: Why would a spider build utilize the Restoration School? The emphasis here is on the Poison Rune spell, which is the only restoration spell capable of damaging living enemies. This spell can be purchased from Talvas Fathryon in Tel Mithryn, though it isn't always available. Additionally, should the player elect to follow the pathway of vampirism, Restoration provides access to the potent Necromage perk. Obviously you'll also be leveling this school by healing yourself to the point that Poison Rune becomes useable.


    Illusion: One of the vital skills of this build, at early levels the Muffle spell is vital in order to make sneaking with heavy armor a viable option. Fear and Calm are both useful spells that are relied on to control the flow of combat to ensure that this defensive build isn't overwhelmed by waves of enemies. Lastly, the Invisibility spell is initially useful, but, the correct Sneaking and Heavy Armor perks will eventually limit its use.


    Minor Skills


    Enchanting: Although not a huge part of this build's actual gameplay, Enchanting is a crucial aspect for improving your survivability and for creating some of the desired effects mentioned in the Equipment section. For example, the extremely useful paralysis weapon enchantment's duration is determined by the Enchanting skill, and you'll want to enchant all of your armor to fortify your health, sneak, and magicka. However, the specific enchantments you'll place on each piece should be based around the aspects of combat you have trouble with while running the build.


    Pickpocket: Yes, the inclusion of this kill isn't particularly imaginative or visionary, but this creepy-crawly build simply wouldn't be complete without the ability to silently sneak up on foes and render them paralyzed or poisoned.


    Smithing: I typically try to steer clear from Smithing in my build's due to several playthroughs that made me regard the skill as pure tedium, however, the Aspect of the Spider doesn't overly rely on the skill. In the end I felt that the benefits from Advanced Armors and Arcane Smithing outweighed the relatively small investment of time that leveling this skill necessitated.


    Alchemy: A fun skill that gives you access to a variety of intriguing and confounding reagents. As with Pickpocket, the inclusion of Alchemy as a skill probably doesn't come as a surprise, but the build wouldn't be complete without it. Thankfully, the Poison of Paralysis is very useful for leveling this skill. Ingredients for this poison include: Briar Heart, Canis Root, Gleamblossom, Human Flesh, Imp Stool, Netch Jelly, and Swamp Fungal Pods. Another useful poison is the Weakness to Poison...poison; ingredients include: Abecean Longfin, Bleeding Crown, Chaurus Eggs, Deathbell, Giant Lichen, Pine Thrush Egg, Small Antlers, and Sabre Cat Teeth.


    Level 70 Perk Placement


    Arms and Armor


    No armor matches the spider motif as perfectly as that of the accursed Falmer, as such, this build will primarily wear different varieties of the thick carapace. Although several varieties of Falmer Armor are available, by the endgame you should be equipped with Falmer Heavy Armor, which provides the same protection as Ebony Armor and is also lighter! You can loot pieces of this set from Falmer Warmongers, and, more rarely, from Falmer Shadowmasters; if you have Dawnguard installed, then pieces of this set can be found throughout Skyrim. All pieces of this armor can be upgraded with Chaurus Chitin, and the set also benefits from the Advanced Armors perk.


    Although the build is primarily a magic class, it's probably a good idea to keep a couple daggers enchanted with paralysis and absorb health/absorb stamina on hand; you know, just in case.


    Note: It's completely possible to play this build as a Nightblade if you elect to switch out the Falmer Heavy Armor for Chitin Armor, and the Heavy Armor perks for analogous Light Armor perks.


    Special Abilities


    "The Predator's Art"

     

    Using Detect Life/Detect Dead, locate your unfortunate target. Once located stealthily approach your prey and apply Weakness to Poison, Paralysis Poison, and Poison of Damage Health. Observe as your victim slowly dies, and is powerless to resist.

    • Requires: Reverse Pickpocket, Weakness to Poison, Paralysis Poison, Poison of Damage Health

     

     

     

    "Aspect of Mephala"

     

    Cast Poison Rune on various escape points, bend the will of one of your enemies with a Mind Control Spider, and cast a fear spell. Chaos and death ensue.

    • Requires: Poison Rune, Mind Control Spider, applicable fear spell

     

     


    Roleplay and Quests


    Because of her close association with spiders, it's not much of a stretch to roleplay your character as a Champion of Mephala, or even an avatar of the Daedric Prince or an incarnation of one of the lesser Spider Daedra. If you choose Mephala as a patron then it's obvious that you'll complete the quest associated with her; though the Ebony blade doesn't have much of a place in this build, sacrificing people to it can make for some interesting roleplay and opens up the reason for befriending people and completing their radiant quests.


    If you are going to complete radiant quests and sacrifice individuals to the Ebony Blade, might I suggest quests that offer rewards to your skills at completion? An example would be retrieving the Frost Salts for Dravynea the Stoneweaver in Kynesgrove, getting a boost to Alteration, and then sacrificing her to the Ebony Blade.


    Following the Mephala theme, some claim that the Night Mother was an aspect of Mephala. Should you find this theory appealing, then the Dark Brotherhood questline stands available to you.

    However, vampirism also suits this class well, and the patron of vampires is Molag Bal, the rival of Mephala. Should you elect to follow the path of the vampire, you can roleplay that you were unwillingly infected, like many other individuals. Alternately your character may have been tasked with becoming a vampire as a part of one of Mephala's complex and wicked schemes. Either way, should you become a vampire, you gain access to several roleplay-friendly spells, including: Vampire's Sight, Vampire's Seduction, Embrace of Shadows, and Vampiric Drain. Also, since becoming a vampire classifies your character as Undead, you'll gain the benefit of the Necromage perk.


    Other Daedric artifacts that you might like to acquire include: The Ring of Namira, the Black Soul Gem, and the Oghma Infinium.

    The questline associated with the dwarven ruin of Kagrumez is also recommended as you will gain a unique follower, the Steadfast Dwarven Spider. The spider is located in a  locked chamber opened by a lever after the first trial in Kagrumez is completed. The artifact behaves like an animal follower, and if destroyed will eventually respawn in the location you found it.

    Roleplay-wise, with the exception of actively seeking prey or interacting with merchants, you'll want to avoid towns and set up shop in an abandoned fort (spiders like quiet, secluded places); if you need somewhere safe to store items, the chest in front of High Hrothgar is safe. Additionally, when it is necessary to enter a town, you'll be keeping your appearance concealed underneath robes and hoods.

  • Member
    February 7, 2014

    Good job with this. The use of the Spiders from Dragonborn is unique and something even I need to look into.

  • Member
    February 7, 2014
    The lack of perks makes me think this isn't actually playtested...
  • Member
    February 7, 2014

    Check again...

  • Member
    February 7, 2014

    Actually there is a build somewhere on here that makes use of the Oil Spider, though I can't remember what it's name was.

  • Member
    February 7, 2014
    This is a fantastic spidey build...but Lvl 70?! Who levels Restoration to 100?! Lol didn't even know that was possible.

    You've got a lot of crafting going on here. I can see the necessity of Alchemy, definitely. You've leveled Enchanting to 100 and perked Extra Effect but the only mention I saw of Enchanting was a couple backup daggers and safety net enchantments. Either give us more detail on what Enchanting was used for or drop the skill entirely.

    Same with Smithing. You only leveled it to 60 but that's a lot in addition to Alchemy and Enchanting. Was the Smithing boost necessary in addition to all the poisons, Illusion magic, Sneaking, and Spider Scrolls? I feel like this build would be completely viable with Alchemy and one other minor crafting skill.

    You may have very well played this to 70 but nobody else will want to do that. Cater to your audience a bit and drop either a crafting skill or some of those unnecessary Lvl 100 perks. Otherwise, I really like it! Great presentation and explanation :D
  • Member
    February 7, 2014
    Ponty's Aspect Knight?
  • Member
    February 7, 2014

    Ponty's The Tinkerer

  • Member
    October 11, 2016

    I am surprised stealth isn't heavily perked or any of the melee perks and why so heavy on the Heavy lol.

    If you cut out Enchanting, Restoration and some of the Heavy armor perks, you could have a level 50 build. I dont see why Restoration is so important as you have Alchemy to heal. With Alchemy, you could also use a Fort Restore loop to emulate enchanting (without extra effect).