It had been months since I’d even touched my Xbox and even more months since I’d last played Skyrim. One day I was sitting at home with nothing to do when I opened the games drawer and noticed it just sitting there collecting dust. I thought to myself, I could go outside, I could read a book, I could hang out with my friends. But no. Instead, I retreated to the confines of my room and lived a new life in the province of Skyrim.
See, I’ve always been a fan of warrior builds. There’s just something about hitting people with a big-as sword that makes me feel good. My first play through of Skyrim was a warrior build, and I had a great time. So I decided I’d play a warrior build again, but with a few tweaks.
Now, many of you have played warriors and many of you have played assassins, but this… this is something I find to be exciting and unique. I present to you…
My people have seen suffering. When the lizards came and drove us from our home. When the very earth itself spat its fire upon us and destroyed our livelihoods. Many of us believed that the False Gods, the Aedra, had abandoned us. I knew they had… But I never lost faith. Not in my Gods. The True Gods. They led me to Skyrim and gave me power beyond comprehension. But, like they do, they sent me with a mission… Simply, become their conduit. Wield their power. Be their Zealot…
The Dark Zealot is simply described using two words: tank, and assassin. There is nothing like the feeling of being able to carve through your enemies without them even knowing you’d been there in the first place. I wanted to create a heavy armoured tank that could stand up to the best of them toe-to-toe, but also have the ability to commit stealthy evils without getting caught. Being able to seamlessly transition from an assassin play style to a warrior play style and back again really is something to be enjoyed. But, instead of just crap on about how much fun I had, let’s get into it.
Race: Any race would work I guess, but for roleplaying purposes, I chose Dark Elf. Not only does it make sense in Elder Scrolls lore to play as a Dark Elf for this build, but the fire resistance is just one of those nice little things to have.
Gender: Totally up to you. Really makes no difference.
Standing Stone: The Thief Stone to begin with, then the Lady Stone or the Steed Stone.
Stat Spread: Magicka 0/Health 1/Stamina 1
Shouts: None. The Dark Zealot is not the Dragonborn.
Skills: Archery – the art of dispatching enemies from a distance. Get them before they can get you.
Two Handed – the art of melee combat and the mastery of heavy weapons. The bigger the blade, the greater the damage.
Sneak – the art of moving undetected. Enemies will think the very shadows are attacking them.
Enchanting – the art of coaxing magical properties and imbuing them into ones equipment. A little otherworldly advantage never hurt anyone (except your enemies).
Heavy Armour – the art of survivability. As if you wouldn’t kit yourself out in ebony everything.
As you can see by the choice of armour and enchantments, our main goal is to buff our lethality in both open and stealthy combat. The Ebony Armour provides the Dark Zealot with the ability to survive in close-quarters combat and the enchantments boost the powers that help with his/her damage output and sneaking ability, making them a silent tank.
As you can probably guess from the selection of weapons here, the Dark Zealot is heavily influenced by Daedric Princes. This influence is a callback to his religious beliefs from when he/she lived in Morrowind, and even the beliefs he follows now.
* I included the Ebony Bow of Freezing Souls as an alternative to players who don't have the Dragonborn DLC, or players who want to switch between the two bows. Variety!
Imperial scum…
The basic roleplay tips apply to this build as well as many others:
- Don’t fast travel
- Sleep at least once every two days for a minimum of six hours
- Eat/drink all food and/or beverages you obtain
Other than this, the Dark Zealot is a Neutral Evil character. He/she doesn’t have a problem with turning on their allies of the time to further their own goals. He/she isn’t above harming or killing others, but will refrain from doing so if there is not benefit to them. He/she has no qualms concerning breaking laws, but will only do so when it’s convenient. The Dark Zealot follows the wills of Mephala, Boethiah and Azura. There was a brief moment when he/she descended into a state of chaos and followed the will of Mehrunes Dagon, but found his/her way again. Despite this he/she still utilises Mehrunes’ Razor. It should also be noted that the Dark Zealot holds a deep hatred for Argonians, and as such all of the lizards should be killed either on sight, or when he/she won’t be detected.
Carnage at the Blue Palace
This is going to be short and to the point. The Dark Zealot plays much like a classic assassin. This involves sneaking around and picking off the viable enemies from a distance with your bow. When it comes to getting a bit closer, assassinate enemies using Mehrunes Razor. Even without its unique enchantment, your perks and armour buffs should be enough to take down enemies. When everything goes to hell (or when you choose to make it hell) and the time for stealth is over, unsheathe the Ebony Blade and wreak havoc among your foes. This type of transition works for the character, and it’s this omni-play style that makes the Dark Zealot ridiculously fun to play.
The Black Star: The Dark Zealot follows the will of Azura, so obtaining her Star is vital. While the Black Star is arguably more useful than Azura’s Star, for roleplaying purposes Azura’s Star is what we’ll get. This quest is available at level one.
The Whispering Door: This quest will grant the Dark Zealot the Ebony Blade, Mephala’s Daedric Artifact. This quest becomes available at level twenty after completing ‘Dragon Rising.’
Boethiah’s Calling: After the destruction of Morrowind, the Dark Zealot feels more inclined to obey the will of Boethiah. This quest will grant the Dark Zealot the Ebony Mail, which was the basis of which I put together this build. This quest becomes available at level 30.
Pieces of the Past: During his/her slip into the psychopathic, the Dark Zealot obeyed the will of Mehrunes Dagon. Completing this quest will grant the Dark Zealot Mehrunes’ Razor. Note: Do this quest after The Whispering Door, as killing Silas counts towards upgrading the Ebony Blade. Pieces of the Past becomes available at level twenty.
Destroy the Dark Brotherhood: Being a kind of traditional Dark Elf, the Dark Zealot is more inclined to support the Morag Tong over the Dark Brotherhood. Destroy them, thus ridding the world of the corrupted scum. OR you can join them if you feel like reaping the rewards, or you just don’t care about roleplaying.
Bounty Hunting: Why the hell not? You need to make money to eat and stay at inns and stuff. Plus it’s a good way to hone your skills.
Any miscellaneous quest that involves killing/blackmailing any other character.
To power up the Ebony Blade, followers are essential. Not because they’re valuable in combat, but because they’re valuable in a totally different manner. The Dark Zealot acquires temporary allies to benefit themself. The only allies that the Dark Zealot is loyal too are those of his/her kin. Examples:
With the Ultimate Follower Overhaul mod, PC players can have all of these followers at the same time for a posse of awesome. Unfortunately, for console players such as myself, we can only have one follower at a time. You win this round PC Players.
So that was the build! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Any and all feedback is welcome!
Note: I strongly apologize if this build holds strong similarities to other builds. I searched for ages to find something like this, but given the sheer amount of builds on this site I’m sure you can understand if I missed something.
It had been months since I’d even touched my Xbox and even more months since I’d last played Skyrim. One day I was sitting at home with nothing to do when I opened the games drawer and noticed it just sitting there collecting dust. I thought to myself, I could go outside, I could read a book, I could hang out with my friends. But no. Instead, I retreated to the confines of my room and lived a new life in the province of Skyrim.
See, I’ve always been a fan of warrior builds. There’s just something about hitting people with a big-as sword that makes me feel good. My first play through of Skyrim was a warrior build, and I had a great time. So I decided I’d play a warrior build again, but with a few tweaks.
Now, many of you have played warriors and many of you have played assassins, but this… this is something I find to be exciting and unique. I present to you…
My people have seen suffering. When the lizards came and drove us from our home. When the very earth itself spat its fire upon us and destroyed our livelihoods. Many of us believed that the False Gods, the Aedra, had abandoned us. I knew they had… But I never lost faith. Not in my Gods. The True Gods. They led me to Skyrim and gave me power beyond comprehension. But, like they do, they sent me with a mission… Simply, become their conduit. Wield their power. Be their Zealot…
The Dark Zealot is simply described using two words: tank, and assassin. There is nothing like the feeling of being able to carve through your enemies without them even knowing you’d been there in the first place. I wanted to create a heavy armoured tank that could stand up to the best of them toe-to-toe, but also have the ability to commit stealthy evils without getting caught. Being able to seamlessly transition from an assassin play style to a warrior play style and back again really is something to be enjoyed. But, instead of just crap on about how much fun I had, let’s get into it.
Race: Any race would work I guess, but for roleplaying purposes, I chose Dark Elf. Not only does it make sense in Elder Scrolls lore to play as a Dark Elf for this build, but the fire resistance is just one of those nice little things to have.
Gender: Totally up to you. Really makes no difference.
Standing Stone: The Thief Stone to begin with, then the Lady Stone or the Steed Stone.
Stat Spread: Magicka 0/Health 1/Stamina 1
Shouts: None. The Dark Zealot is not the Dragonborn.
Skills: Archery – the art of dispatching enemies from a distance. Get them before they can get you.
Two Handed – the art of melee combat and the mastery of heavy weapons. The bigger the blade, the greater the damage.
Sneak – the art of moving undetected. Enemies will think the very shadows are attacking them.
Enchanting – the art of coaxing magical properties and imbuing them into ones equipment. A little otherworldly advantage never hurt anyone (except your enemies).
Heavy Armour – the art of survivability. As if you wouldn’t kit yourself out in ebony everything.
As you can see by the choice of armour and enchantments, our main goal is to buff our lethality in both open and stealthy combat. The Ebony Armour provides the Dark Zealot with the ability to survive in close-quarters combat and the enchantments boost the powers that help with his/her damage output and sneaking ability, making them a silent tank.
As you can probably guess from the selection of weapons here, the Dark Zealot is heavily influenced by Daedric Princes. This influence is a callback to his religious beliefs from when he/she lived in Morrowind, and even the beliefs he follows now.
* I included the Ebony Bow of Freezing Souls as an alternative to players who don't have the Dragonborn DLC, or players who want to switch between the two bows. Variety!
Imperial scum…
The basic roleplay tips apply to this build as well as many others:
- Don’t fast travel
- Sleep at least once every two days for a minimum of six hours
- Eat/drink all food and/or beverages you obtain
Other than this, the Dark Zealot is a Neutral Evil character. He/she doesn’t have a problem with turning on their allies of the time to further their own goals. He/she isn’t above harming or killing others, but will refrain from doing so if there is not benefit to them. He/she has no qualms concerning breaking laws, but will only do so when it’s convenient. The Dark Zealot follows the wills of Mephala, Boethiah and Azura. There was a brief moment when he/she descended into a state of chaos and followed the will of Mehrunes Dagon, but found his/her way again. Despite this he/she still utilises Mehrunes’ Razor. It should also be noted that the Dark Zealot holds a deep hatred for Argonians, and as such all of the lizards should be killed either on sight, or when he/she won’t be detected.
Carnage at the Blue Palace
This is going to be short and to the point. The Dark Zealot plays much like a classic assassin. This involves sneaking around and picking off the viable enemies from a distance with your bow. When it comes to getting a bit closer, assassinate enemies using Mehrunes Razor. Even without its unique enchantment, your perks and armour buffs should be enough to take down enemies. When everything goes to hell (or when you choose to make it hell) and the time for stealth is over, unsheathe the Ebony Blade and wreak havoc among your foes. This type of transition works for the character, and it’s this omni-play style that makes the Dark Zealot ridiculously fun to play.
The Black Star: The Dark Zealot follows the will of Azura, so obtaining her Star is vital. While the Black Star is arguably more useful than Azura’s Star, for roleplaying purposes Azura’s Star is what we’ll get. This quest is available at level one.
The Whispering Door: This quest will grant the Dark Zealot the Ebony Blade, Mephala’s Daedric Artifact. This quest becomes available at level twenty after completing ‘Dragon Rising.’
Boethiah’s Calling: After the destruction of Morrowind, the Dark Zealot feels more inclined to obey the will of Boethiah. This quest will grant the Dark Zealot the Ebony Mail, which was the basis of which I put together this build. This quest becomes available at level 30.
Pieces of the Past: During his/her slip into the psychopathic, the Dark Zealot obeyed the will of Mehrunes Dagon. Completing this quest will grant the Dark Zealot Mehrunes’ Razor. Note: Do this quest after The Whispering Door, as killing Silas counts towards upgrading the Ebony Blade. Pieces of the Past becomes available at level twenty.
Destroy the Dark Brotherhood: Being a kind of traditional Dark Elf, the Dark Zealot is more inclined to support the Morag Tong over the Dark Brotherhood. Destroy them, thus ridding the world of the corrupted scum. OR you can join them if you feel like reaping the rewards, or you just don’t care about roleplaying.
Bounty Hunting: Why the hell not? You need to make money to eat and stay at inns and stuff. Plus it’s a good way to hone your skills.
Any miscellaneous quest that involves killing/blackmailing any other character.
To power up the Ebony Blade, followers are essential. Not because they’re valuable in combat, but because they’re valuable in a totally different manner. The Dark Zealot acquires temporary allies to benefit themself. The only allies that the Dark Zealot is loyal too are those of his/her kin. Examples:
With the Ultimate Follower Overhaul mod, PC players can have all of these followers at the same time for a posse of awesome. Unfortunately, for console players such as myself, we can only have one follower at a time. You win this round PC Players.
So that was the build! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Any and all feedback is welcome!
Note: I strongly apologize if this build holds strong similarities to other builds. I searched for ages to find something like this, but given the sheer amount of builds on this site I’m sure you can understand if I missed something.
