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Event Build: The Aedric Spear

Tags: #Character Build Crusader  #Character Build Juggernaut  #Character Build Sorcerer  #Race:Imperial  #Rank:Event Legendary  #Hall of Fame Build  #Event:Classes 
  • Member
    July 16, 2014

    I'd like to note that, while I think my english is quite good, I'm not a native speaker. So if anything seems to be worded weirdly please excuse & correct me :)

    The Aedric Spear
    Juggernaut, Crusader, Sorcerer

    First off, this build evolves in power heavily as your enchanting skill increases and obviously spikes out when you gain Extra Effect and access to the Chaos enchantment. I always start my playthrough on Adept and it is advised that you increase the difficulty when you feel fights are getting too easy - as in when you suddenly onehit all the Bandits with your Divine Spear. 

    Unless you like onehitting things, of course. Ah, the joy of freely adjustable difficulty!
    The Aedric Spear is an instrument of the Aedra or the Eight Divines on Nirn. While she is a simple civilian at first she is incredibly just and kind at heart that the Divines chose her as their champion. She embodies all that is good and which furthers the continued existence of mankind and becomes a vessel of divine might.

    In ESO Aedric Spear is a specialization path for the Templar class and focuses on magically infused melee combat, the first skill being a rapidly thrust spear of divine light. I transcribe that concept to Skyrim by using a fire-enchanted two-handed sword as a spear substitute and buffing it up by also taking the fire-focused Destruction perks.

    The occasionally cast fire & sun spells, power bashing/healing and the general tankiness are my preference to create a versatile melee character and incorporate aspects of the other two available Templar specializations, the Dawn's Wrath and the Restoring Light. I love those epic titles, which is why I ultimately chose to create this class for the event.

    The Build


    Skills
     Enchanting, Two-Handed, Destruction, Restoration, Block, Heavy Armor

    Standing Stone Warrior/Mage -> Lord
    Fresh out of Helgen you'll want to pick the Warrior Stone. Pick up the Mage stone when going for an enchanting leveling session. At around Level 15 upwards (or when you feel you need the extra defence) get the Lord Stone.

    Race & Stats Imperial (1:3:1
    Not only are they the most likely universal worshippers of the Divines but their racial skill boni also match perfectly with this build. The Voice of The Emperor racial can arguably be seen as a Divine Power and is really useful when overwhelmed early on. If you don't forget to use it like me, that is. Gender is up to you.

    Armor & Weapon 
    Nordic Carved set & Nordic or Elven Greatsword & Nordic Shield
    I use the Immersive Armors mod and chose a set from there, but Nordic Carved is the most aesthetically fitting non-mod set.

    Blessing 
    Blessing of Akatosh (+10% Magicka Regen) early on, the closest shrine is in Rorikstead
    Blessing of Talos (-20% shout cooldown) after acquiring Magicka Regen otherwise

    Shouts
    Call of Valor, Dragonrend, Fire Breath (Fire Within & Dragonborn Flame), Slow Time

    Spells
    Flames, Firebolt, Flame Cloak. Healing, Fast Healing, Close Wounds. Sun Fire, Stendarr's Aura, Vampire's Bane.


    Skills in detail

    Enchanting
    As a chosen of the Aedra and fighter for all that is good Black Soulgems and Azura's Star aren't of interest to you. Focus on leveling your enchanting. Buy all the empty Petty Soulgems you can find early on, get your weapon enchanted with Fiery Soul Trap and use those filled gems to enchant everything you can before selling it. From the profits you can afford larger gems and skill training.

     

    Two-handed
    Your mighty sword grows in strength as you imbue it with your divine magic but you also learn to wield it with great martial prowess. When opposing fire resistant enemies this source of damage is very welcome.

     

     

    Destruction
    Your increasing skill in wielding the forces of fire and divine light not only further bolsters your enchanted weapon but also allows you to start fights from afar, soften those flying beasts before they finally land and  even to envelop yourself in cleansing flame. Since you don't use destruction as a main combat style, you'll want to use a skill trainer to increase it as often as possible.

     

    Restoration
    While healing magic belongs to the repertoire of every divine champion, you are mainly a fighter who vanquishes evil and corruption and thus are focused on self healing spells to keep yourself in the fray. Respite, Recovery and especially Avoid Death add to the potency of your other skills and fit the concept of being imbued with divine power. I did NOT take Necromage because I think this build is strong enough without it.

     

    Block
    When you need to heal yourself, enemies who keep hitting you can make the process tedious and inefficient. You combine a spell in one hand with a heavy shield in the other - a well placed power bash gives you just enough time to step back while casting your healing spell and switch to your weapon again. Also getting to ranged enemies is much safer when shrugging off their spells and arrows.

     

    Heavy Armor
    Facing the mightiest foes toe to toe you need to rely on some some mundane protection to keep you healthy. If you don't want to wear a Matching Set you can put an additional point into Juggernaut instead. Conditioning is a personal favorite and I highly dislike that I need to take two "useless" perks to get it. Replace those 3 into Juggernaut and/or Speechcraft if you want, they aren't essential to the build.


    Perkspread for Level 25

    Perkspread for Level 50


    Enchantments

    These enchantments were chosen to buff your durability by adding magic resistance, increasing magicka regen (more spells) and reducing spell cost. The others buff your physical and magical damage output - the weapon enchantments which get buffed by your Destruction skil and perks are essentially the core aspect of this build.

    without Extra Effect:

    Head
    Fortify Magicka Regen
    Chest
    Fortify Restoration/Regen
    Hands
    Fortify Twohanded
    Feet
    Fortify Twohanded

    Necklace
    Resist Magic
    Ring
    Resist Magic
    Shield
    Fortify Health

    Weapon 
    Fiery Soul Trap or
    Fire Damage

    with Extra Effect:

    Head 
    Fortify Restoration + Fortify Magicka Regen
    Chest
    Fortify Destruction/Regen + FortifyRestoration/Regen
    Hands
    Fortify Twohanded + Fortify Block
    Feet
    Fortify Twohanded + Resist Frost

    Necklace 
    Resist Magic + Fortify Twohanded
    Ring 
    Resist Magic + Fortify Twohanded
    Shield
    Resist Magic + Fortify Health

    Weapon
    Fiery SoulTrap + Fire Damage or
    Chaos Damage + Fire Damage

    As a situational option to deal with dragons before acquiring Dragonrend you can carry a set of Fortify Destruction enchanted gear consisting of Head, Necklace and Ring. Or you are incredibly stubborn like me and keep healing yourself until they land.


    Combat

    Since your Magicka reserves and regeneration are meager you will mainly switch between your sword and shield plus healing spell in the early levels. Once you've acquired some regen, health and armor you should start a fight by casting Flames or Firebolt (Sun Fire or Vampire's Bane against undead once you have those spells) until the enemy is in your face, then bash them with your shield and draw your sword.

    Throw in Slow Time against single strong or groups of weaker enemies to take out a few before they overwhelm you or to place some hits and step back to heal yourself. Also very helpful to get to those pesky mages when you don't have Magic Resistance enchantments and/or the Elemental Blocking perk yet.

    Against a a mixed group of weak and strong enemies a buffed up Fire Breath can be used to kill the weak ones and summon Fire Wyrms. Imagine them as the souls of the recently deceased seeking redemption by aiding you with their last breath!

    Once you get access to them you should have enough Magicka reserve & regen to keep up Flame Cloak or Stendarr's Aura during fights.

    Use Call of Valor, once you have it, against the biggest enemies. Such as dragons, Harkon  or Miraak.

    The stronger your weapon enchantment becomes, the less power attacks should you use and better invest your stamina into blocking and (power) bashing. An exception are sideways power attacks to hit multiple enemies once you have the Sweep perk and fire resistant enemies.

    Remember that power bashing staggers enemies longer and that you can also power bash with Two-handed weapons.


    Background & Roleplay

    This part feels a bit awkward, since I got this very strong mental image of the character concept but struggle to put it into words. So take a good, focused look at this magnificent image that hits all the right spots of my vision!

    Saint Celestine of the Adeptus Sororitas's Order of Our Martyred Lady (Warhammer 40.000) - click for full artwork.

    You were born on a farm on the outskirts of the Imperial City. While your siblings and friends seemed to be content with farmwork and a simple but good life, you always felt deep within yourself that there was more to it than that.

    That feeling combined with the desire to help out and protect those who can't do it themselves led you to taking up arms for the City Watch as soon as you were old enough. You soon rose in the ranks and became somewhat famous for your determination and incorruptibility.
    Yet you still couldn't shrug off the sense of something greater leading you onwards, urging you to not settle down and fall into routine. Rumors of brewing conflict in Skyrim - a civil war in the making as some were saying - with the cause being of religious nature led you take a leave from duty and follow your inner guidance.

    Not really knowing what you would find in the frozen lands of the north you set out with nothing more than a few rations, a simple armor and sword and your faith.

    After a few days of travel you joined a caravan to cross the border to Skyrim. When it got raided by the Imperial Legion you immediately surrendered, not wanting to harm anyone just doing their job and assumed everything would be fine once you told them who you were.

    The rest of the story is yours to write...

    This is to layout the personality for the character. In essence you are good, just and driven by a greater purpose.


    Quests & Dungeons

    In very rough chronological order - for example I "paused" the Main Quest and did most of the Dawnguard line before going to Sovngarde and also did most of the College of Winterhold quests somewhere in between.

    Coming of Age (Fiery Soul Trap)
    Starts right at the door of Ironbind Barrow, where you can find the Fiery Soul Trap enchantment, so you might just pick the quest up before you go in. Doing this as the first thing after slaying Mirmulnir was pretty hard because of all the magic thrown at you in the final fight, so you might want to be better prepared than me and buy some potions before heading out.

    Deepwood Redoubt / Hag's End (word of Slow Time)
    A word of Slow Time can be found in Hag's End. The only quest that would fittingly lead you there (Recover Hrolfdir's Shield given by the Jarl of Markarth) sadly is Radiant, which means it might not lead you there after all. So just seek the dungeon out on your own.

    Companions, Sunderstone Gorge  (words of Fire Breath)
    Their good intentions in all honor, but quit the Companions after Proving Honor, since you don't want to taint your soul by becoming a werewolf and also don't want to be associated with the worshippers of a Daedric Lord.

    College of Winterhold (word of Slow Time)
    You seek to be able to control your powers as well as possible, to not harm innocents accidentally. Also a word for Slow Time is found in Labyrinthian.

    Main Quest
    You firmly believe the Divines led you to Skyrim for a reason and that reason is quickly discovered. Saving the world and its people from suffering is your ultimate purpose.

    Kyne's Sacred Trials, The Blessings of Nature, The Book of Love & The Heart of Dibella
    Those quests are directly tied to one of the Divines, so you're naturally drawn to them by a greater calling.

    Dawnguard
    This can be seen as a task from Stendarr. You side with the Dawnguard of course and can't really hide your dislike for Serana but respect that she's trying to be a good person. Be careful to not become a vampire accidentally (like I did, hello older saves)!

    Dragonborn (optional)
    This one really was a quandary to me. On one hand you want to stop crazy cultists from harming people on the other hand you inevitably become tainted to a certain degree when visiting Apocrypha. If you do the Dragonborn questline you should gradually change your roleplay to be a bit more condescending and power hungry.

    General
    Any quest that helps someone in need should be picked up as you see fit. Avoid Daedric quests or rather don't complete them once the respective Daedric Lord reveals himself - for example I did "Transcerning the Transmundane" up to the point where Mora showed up and then kindly told him to bugger off. I bet he was laughing sardonically when I visited him in Apocrypha much later...


    Closing words

    Well, this is it for my first build ever! I hope you aren't disappointed by the lack of extensive lore or backstory. I'd like to have done more in that direction but was missing inspiration and didn't want to force something even more awkward than what I presented. Hope you still like it - have fun! :)

    p.s. I think the Enchantments section could be better presented. Will see if I can think of something prettier, but I want to finally get the build out for now!

  • July 16, 2014

    Very nice. I have never thought of having those shield perks with a two handed. I never use the left side of the block tree for any of my two-handed characters. You found a way to get those cool perks on the left side of the tree and use of two-handed via shield and spell, switching to 2-handed for melee (after a good bash). It's a bit different; different is good.

    I also was surprised with "Well, this is it for my first build ever!"  This build is superb - way to come out the gates!

    Edit: I would like to see the perks listed on the build itself rather than having to click a link to go elsewhere.

  • Member
    July 16, 2014

    It may be a new feature. I just noticed it for the first time this week. When you go to save the spread, it asks if you want to name it.

  • Member
    July 16, 2014

    Really well put together! I enjoyed reading it, and the presentation was great; you've made a fun character! And I dig the St. Celestine pic at the end XD

  • Member
    July 16, 2014
    This is an outstanding build! If I didn't have to read 1000 more pages of Lord of the Rings, then I would launch Skyrim and start this character right now.
  • Member
    July 16, 2014
    Fantastic (especially for a first build)! The Two-handed/shield-Mage play style looks really cool, and the skills this character uses are amongst my favorites. Out of curiosity, I notice you perk Heavy Armor pretty heavily... did you choose the Lord Stone because you still needed the extra armor rating and magic resistance, or was it more of a roleplay choice (divine source of protection)? I agree with the others about a perk spread image. It's a small thing, and plenty of people get away without one, but I thnk it stands out for this build because it's really the only thing keeping it from being absolutely PERFECT... the build deserves one. Perhaps somebody from the art request page could help you out. If you find a suitable background for a perk spread and include it in the request that seems to speed the process up a bit. Again, a phenomenal build... just what I expect from these events. Great job! :D
  • July 16, 2014

    I really like your presentation style, even more that I see you chose the Bosmer Armor, which is severely underrated in IA7, and this is really good for a first build. I, too, like the Shield/Two Handed combat mix and am in fact going to borrow it for my next build. :)I also like that you didn't force lore or special moves, and I don't think the build is awkward at all.

    You also didn't have any obvious grammar/spelling errors that I could see.

    I think the enchanting section looks just great, but if you want to make a gear spread on Paint (use images of the Nordic Carved for convenience, since they're on the UESP, and then make text boxes) you can get creative, if that's your thing.

  • July 16, 2014

    First build? Are you sure? It's fantastic! Well done +1 .

  • Member
    July 16, 2014

    Haha, thanks! I'll put that time towards creating a nice perkspread then :)

  • Member
    July 16, 2014

    Thanks a lot!

    The idea to use a shield in addition to occasional Two-handed blocking cam to my mind when I had already started playtesting and thought that a shield in the other hand while casting a healing spell would offer even more protection, which would be perfectly in line with my idea of the character and diversify the playstyle.

    As said I'll create a spreadsheet tomorrow instead of thinking about changing the enchantment section :)