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Character Build: The Scholar-Assassin

Tags: #Race:Nord  #Character Build Elementalist  #Character Build Agent  #Character Build Werewolf  #Rank:Bloodworks  #Unarmored 
  • Member
    July 9, 2014

    ‘What sent you here, my friend?’, the Redguard prisoner asked.

    ‘Lollygagging’, the Nord newcomer replied with a wicked smile in his face.

    ‘Do not play cocky with me, in this prison everyone follows my order’, angered by the reply, the Redguard’s face turned red as he spat out the words.

    ‘Is that so?’, said the man, ‘Do you know who I am? Your end is nigh.’

    ‘Who are you?’, the Redguard began to feel a chill running down his spine.

    ‘No one. I had a contract to kill you, and that’s why I am here.’ After the utterance, the man vanished into darkness.

    ‘Show yourself!’ the Redguard shouted, ‘I will break your…’

    Not being able to finish the sentence, he fell to the ground.

    He was dead.

    A great wolf charged out of the prison, leaving the guards behind, helpless.

    After hours of playing Skyrim, I needed some motivation to be able to enjoy the game again. I have played every archtypes, played as a typical good paladin to the total villain (my Dark Lord), but they are still not so challenging and rewarding enough for me. And then I decided to combine two of my favorite builds, the Shieldmage and the Werewolf assassin together to create a new character. The result is absolutely stunning, I now have a character that could handle every kind of situation by seamlessly switching between different playstyles to avoid boredom throughout combat. Lady and Gentleman, I proudly present to you

    THE SCHOLAR-ASSASSIN

    (Sorry, I can't resist the badass of this bug)

    ‘I was born in Falkreath, under the sign of the Shadow. From my childhood I have always been fascinated by sneaking after everybody in my village. In fact, with my skills I have discovered many secrets that are not supposed to be known. Affairs between two people, a hidden urn that stored money… I knew everything. My dad was not so proud about me because unlike every ‘true’ Nords, I cannot swing an ax or a hammer in a good manner. However, I am smart. The court wizard saw that in me and took me as his apprentice. I grew up to be a scholar, but deep inside me I felt like I am more than that…

    And there came the day that changed my life forever. My family decided to move to Whiterun and I was really glad to leave this hell of a place. We were camping in the wood that night when 4 vampires attacked us. Overwhelmed, I watched my family killed by those blood suckers. One of them turned to me, I grabbed my father’s shield and prepared for death.  As the vampire charged in, suddenly I was turned invisible. It was the power of the Shadow! I sneaked out and ran as fast as I can. Images of that night never escape my mind. I am going to root out all the vampires in this world.

    I suddenly remembered the court wizard’s words: ‘Vampire and werewolf are arch enemies.’

    I knew what to do.

    I will hone my skills to the fullest.

    I will walk the path of a cursed man.’

    Race: Nord (Battle Cry is extremely useful, trust me)

    Stone: The Shadow

    Stats allocation: 5/3/2 Magicka/Health/Stamina (Magicka to cast Destruction, Health to survive a hit, Stamina for shield bashing)

    Gears: Cultist Robes/Shrouded Robe/Any Robe of Destruction + Wolf Gauntlet and Boots (Later replaced with Ebony) + The Gauldur’s Amulet + Nightweaver’s Band + Mage’s Circlet (Later replaced with Otar or Nahkriin) + Aetherial Shield

    Major skills: Destruction, Sneak, Block

    Minor skills: Heavy Armor, Speech, Illusion

    (Only 6 skills! That is so amazing! And no tedious crafting too! Hooray!)

    Skills analyzing and Perks


    Destruction:
    Your bread and butter skill. Fire does more damage than any other elements, but in this build, I choose Frost and Shock to be your main skills. Shock skills suit the theme of an assassin due to its speed while Frost would provide defensive abilities which you seriously lack of. I do not take the Master perk since I feel like an assassin would want to eliminate his foes quickly, not walk in a room and tell his mark ‘Wait! Don’t disturb me. I need time to cast Fire Storm in order to kill you.’

    Sneak: An assassin walks unseen. Rolling and casting Lightning Bolt is fun too.

    Block: You are trained as a Shield-mage. The Block skill in Skyrim really amazes me in its power, it provides you with countless possibilities that you can never think of. 

    Heavy Armor: Is this just me or mage wearing heavy gauntlet and boots are extremely badass? Later you can swap the Mage’s Circlet for your favorite Dragon Priest’s heavy armored mask Otar or Nahkriin. I also take perk in Fist of Steel in case I run out of Magicka or I’m bored of using magic.

    Illusion: You told me that a mage-assassin’s main skill is always Illusion? You’re wrong buddy. Illusion in my build is taken only for Quiet Casting and is leveled up through training.

    Speech: Barely for Role-Playing purpose. I would let you choose what perks to put there to suit your assassin. Personally, I maxed out Haggling and that’s all.

    Werewolf: Get to Savage Feeding as fast as you can, after that, get the Totem of the Moon perk.

    Here’s the link for my perk choice: http://skyrimcalculator.com/380311

    GAMEPLAY

    The scholar-assassin is not a bad guy, however, due to the incident he has been turned into a cold and ruthless person, lived just for one purpose: To sharpen his skills in order to rid Skyrim of the vampires that have taken his family from him. To achieve that goal, he is willing to do anything. I played him as an anti-hero who ‘sees the bigger picture’ but also acts rashly sometimes. However, he still has a soft heart for the innocent and not always willing to commit cold-blooded murdering.

    Keep a set of Fur Armor when you are in the wild. Don a hood when in cities.

    At first, try to change into Beast Form everyday to replicate the unability to control over the wolf blood. I used to transform into a werewolf in the middle of the day in Solitude and murder a lot of people there.

    (Who would think a guy like this is a true arcane assassin?)

    The Dark Brotherhood questline should be completed. Grelod does not deserve to live and he needs to learn from the master assassin to sneak on vampire successfully.

    The Companions: Why a scholar like him would join the Companions? In honor of his father, he wants to hone his skills with a shield to perfection. Also to get access to become a werewolf. You can choose to cure yourself at last, but I preferred keeping it. Be sure to do the Totem of Hircine quest.

    Lost to the Ages: To get the Aetherial Shield.

    College of Winterhold: Only until you get the Mage’s Circlet. Leave that Orb inside the College as it provides a good look. Also to get an Illusion trainer (dump every septim you have in him, since you won't be using Illusion magic at all)

    Civil War (Stormcloaks): He was raised in Falkreath, his family is staunch supporters of Ulfric. Therefore he is willing to offer his shield and his mind to the famous leader of the rebellion.

    Dawnguard: It is obvious. Side with the Dawnguard. Fight those blood suckers! How to deal with Serana is entirely upon you. I like her and I decided never to turn a werewolf in front of her.

    Main + Dragonborn Questline: I finished this at the end.

    TACTICS

    Now is the fun part. The Scholar-Assassin is my most unique playthrough ever when I can switch my playstyle in every situation. Normally you would play as a normal assassin, sneak on your prey and find a vantage point where you could be eliminate them easily. Please don’t use Muffle as it ruins out the fun of sneaking.

    ‘Fireballs… From a darken corner… No one expects them’

    (Festus Krex – the cranky old uncle)

    Instead of a fireball, you will use a Lightning Bolt. A Lightning Bolt has so many benefits comparing to a Fireball, it is instant, which means you don’t have to aim (You still have to, but it is much easier), it drains the target’s Magicka which gives you an edge if they are a mage. When they find out where you are, switch to your Frost spells and shield.

    The fun begins now.

    As you don’t take neither Alteration nor Smithing, you’re really squishy and the shield is your last line of defence. Aetherial Shield provides you the ability to turn your enemy ethereal and fleeing, which gives you enough time to reposition yourself. Switch to Frost spells to deplete their stamina and be sure to block properly. Once Quick Reflexes is triggered, step backwards when still hurling your spells at them.

    But if everything fails? What should I do now?

    Don’t worry. After you have thrown everything you have and they are still alive, you still have 3 options left:

    No.1: Punch them in the face. You have Fist of Steel, so keep your shield in 1 hand and start punching and shield bashing them to their deaths.

    No.2: Shield Charge. It feels wonderful to knock your enemies down. By the time you run out of stamina, your magicka would have replenished quite a nice amount.

    No.2: Turn into a Werewolf and wreck havoc. For role-playing purpose, I only turn werewolf when I am facing vampires or the undead.

    Then turn Invisible or use the Shadow Stone power (not recommended) and walk out of the battlefield like a boss.

    SPECIAL MOVE

    MEET YOUR END, BLOOD SUCKER!

    Master of the Shadow: Sneak + Quiet Casting. This technique allows you to eliminate your foe by spells while still remain in the darkness.

    Acrobat: Silent Roll + Lightning Bolt/Icy Spear. This technique provides versatility (More as a show-off ability, who doesn’t like rolling around firing spells?)

    Revenge: Slow Time + Werewolf Transform. Watch your enemies trembling in fear while you turned into a gigantic werewolf.

    Lightning Strike: Whirlwind Sprint + Shield Charge. Feel like a charging star!

    (Who's laughing now?)

    FINAL WORDS

    Thanks for reading my build, hope it will give you a fun time

    Thanks to Bethesda for this awesome game.

    I do not own any photo in this (except the Perk spread)

    Criticisms are welcome. So as likes and comments too.

    If you like this build, check my Dark Lord build and see if you like it too.

  • July 9, 2014

    Your tags are wrong. You need to change them to this:

    "Character Build: Agent", "Character Build: Elementalist", "Character Build: Werewolf", Race:Nord, Rank:Bloodworks

    Overall this looks like a fun build. +1

  • Member
    July 9, 2014
    Very interesting playstyle. I had a Mage werewolf once as my first character, but I rarely used the werewolf form. This could turn into a fun playthrough.
  • Member
    July 10, 2014

    Just fix the tags. Thank you for trying out my build !!!!

    Hope you would have fun with it.

  • Member
    July 10, 2014

    It is definitely  my most unique experience playing this character ! Enjoy !

  • Member
    July 10, 2014

    Fixed the tags and added some tweaks to the Gameplay. Have fun guys !

  • TED
    Member
    July 10, 2014

    Your tags weren't right again; I fixed them for you.  When you do tags like "Character Build Warrior" with the spaces, you have to have the quotation marks around them.  Tags like Race:Nord or Rank:Recognized don't need the quotation marks because there is no space.

  • Member
    July 10, 2014

    Cheers man!