Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Character Build: Ra's al Ghul

Tags: #Rank:Recognized 
  • Fil
    Member
    February 25, 2015

    I've been lurking around for about a year and I've played few of the amazing builds that great players posted here. This is my first build here and my attempt to give "something back" to this beautiful community. Please welcome (and give feedback and critics)...

    Ra's al Ghul

    Backstory

    Long time ago, Ra's al Ghul was a Colovian. But that was another life. He made his own path, his own will, his own rules, and said goodbye to his camarades. They saw him as a traitor, but he just didn't resist another day playing the part of a puppet of the Empire. He left his society and started wandering through the lands, doing mercenary's jobs in order to survive; it was tough, but it was his own life.

    A day, he fell in love with a war lord and criminal's daughter. Ra's never told anyone the name of his lover, but is known that her father put him in a prison for that. After a while, he was given freedom and he went on with his life: he knew that his lover interceded for him, but he didn't know the price of his freedom. His lover took his place in the prison.

    "Once I had a wife, my great love. She was taken from me. I was forced to learn that there are those without decency that must be fought without hesitation, without pity. Your anger gives you great power, but if you let it, it will destroy you, as it almost did me."

    This became Ra's al Ghul's legacy. He decided to train himself to be an unstoppable warrior, a man who could become more than a man. A mercenary? A hero? A vigilante?

    "No, no, no. A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification. He can be destroyed or locked up. But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can’t stop you, then you become something else entirely. A legend."

    Introduction

    I've always been fascinated by this supervillain from DC Comics, and I appreciated Liam Neeson's performance in Batman Begins so this is my attempt to make a character viable in our favourite game. Most of all, it was an amazing experience playing a character like Ra's al Ghul in a Skyrim universe: how to simulate his combact style in the gameplay? How to simulate the decisions and the roleplay aspects with a character from another universe? Enjoy the reading and, please, tell me what you think about my choises.

    The build

    Race: I went for Imperial due to their backstory and look - I play on PS3, so no mods, I have to stick with vanilla - and their nice skills bonuses. +5 Block, +5 One Handed, +5 Heavy Armour and most of all +10 Restoration (I hate leveling Restoration) are very nice.

    Sex: Male. Nothing personal, ladies, it's just game-fitting.

    Lycanthropy: No. Ra's al Ghul is no werewolf.

    Vampirism: No. Ra's al Ghul is near-immortal, but not because of the gift of a daedric prince.

    Shouts: Marked for Death, Disarm, Aura Whisper, Slow Time, Elemental Fury, Dragonrend.

    Primary skills: One Handed, Block, Restoration, Alteration.

    Secondary skills: Alchemy, Heavy Armour, Sneak, Smithing.

    Perk spread: this is a level 60 build, you can check the details here.

    Quests: Dark Brotherood, Main Quest, every bounty quest, Dawnguard and Dragonborn (if you got it).

    Equipment: Mourner's Clothes, Fine Boots (the black ones), Iron>Dwarven>Steel Plate>Daedric Gauntlets, Enchanted Ring.

    Weapons: The best sword you can find (I ended with Glass Sword - awesome!).

    The skills

    One Handed: Ra's al Ghul is a master of the blade. His sword is the main source of damage to his enemies and he his one of the bests swordmen out there.

    Key perks: Armsman, for increased damage output. Bladesman and Fighting Stance, because Ra's is a great swordman and these perks justify his mastery.

    To-not-take perks: Dual Flurry and Dual Savagery, because usually Ra's uses a single sword. Hack and Slash and Bone Breaker, because Ra's uses only swords. Savage Strike and Critical Charge, because Ra's is an elegant warrior, not some kind of barbarian scum. Paralyzing Strike, doesn't worth really.

    Block: soft-perked skill (because Ra's doesn't use a shield), but still a major one because the perks we take are absolutely game-changing.

    Key perks: Quick Reflexes, to simulate Ra's al Ghul's mastery on avoiding blows. Disarming Bash, to take the fight on a more "personal" way and take advantage of unarmed combat. More on Gameplay section.

    Restoration: Ra's al Ghul recovers faster than other men from wounds, plus he make use of the Lazarus Pit to live longer than a common man.

    Key perks: Respite, for added stamina = more bashes and power attacks. Avoid Death, to roleplay the Lazarus Pit. More on Roleplay Notes and Quests section.

    Alteration: this skill his heavy perked because we need survivability on playing. Ra's al Ghul fights with little armor, so Alteration comes into play.

    Key perks: Stability, to support longer fights. Magic Resistance and Atronach, to take care of magic users.

    Alchemy: Ra's al Ghul is a great alchemist. His potions can improve his effectiveness in combat and his poisons are a nightmare for his enemies. It's heavy perked, but you can wait and make use of it in the early walkthrough without wasting precious perks which could be destinated to major skills.

    Key perks: Alchemist and Benefactor, to improve magnitude of potions and poisons.

    Heavy Armour: only two perks to get Fists of Steel for enjoying unarmed combat.

    Key perks: Fists of Steel, as said, to improve the effectiveness of Ra's al Ghul's unarmed attacks.

    Sneak: "A Ninja understands that invisibility is a matter of patience... and agility." This is not an assassin's build, but Ra's can make use of stealth tactics in order to get an advantage on the battlefield.

    Key perks: Silent Roll, to simulate Ra's al Ghul's superior agility in combat.

    Smithing: not merely Ra's related, but improved weapons can simulate Ra's al Ghul's major ability to inflict pain with his sword.

    Gameplay

    This build was a real blast to play, and thanks to your good advices, I will show how I played Ra's in my walkthrough.

    Against wild animals: cast a flesh spell, then draw your sword and start blocking assaults and slicing away. If you feel overwhelmed (2+ bears/sabrecats or 4+ wolves), the nice combo Quick Reflexes + Slow Time has an argument here.

    Against magic users: cast a flesh spell, drink a potion of Resist Magic and try to dodge how many attacks you can. Start going near your opponents while dodging and, when it comes to melee, they're dead. Make heavy use of Power Bash to have stagger and more time to hit them.

    Against warriors: here is where this build really shines! Cast a flesh spell, then use the "The training is nothing! The will is everything!" special move to take care of weaker enemies; when you have to face the boss, firstly make sure that all his partners are dead, and finally use the "You're good, but this is not a ballet." special move to show Ra's al Ghul's mastery in martial arts.

    Against dragons: flesh spells and good potions are you best options for starting out, but your best friends are Dragonrend and Marked for Death. Try to dodge the dragon's breath and get close to hit it with your sword.

    Special moves

    "You're good, but this is not a ballet."

    Requires: Disarm or Disarming Bash + Fists of Steel

    Ra's al Ghul is a master of martial arts and, after taking away the opponent's blade can show him how fool he's about defending his life only with a weapon. Enjoy the kill-cams!

    "The training is nothing! The will is everything!"

    Requires: Elemental Fury + Ebonyflesh + One Handed

    Ra's al Ghul shows to his enemies that his strong will drives him to a great advantage on them.

    "You know how to fight six men. We can teach you how to engage six hundred."

    Requires: Quick Reflexes + Slow Time + One Handed

    Ra's al Ghul near-superhuman reflexes and agility allow him to strikes more enemies at once, making use of the reknown Quick Reflexes + Slow Time combo in order to have more time and hit the enemies multiple times.

    "Men fear most what they cannot see." & "Always mind your surroundings."

    Requires: Aura Whisper + Backstab + One Handed

    Ra's al Ghul takes care of less prepared enemies with good scouting and stealth attacks.

    Roleplay Notes and Quests

    "When a forest grows too wild, a purging fire is inevitable and natural. The movement back to harmony will be unstoppable this time."

    The emperor his the symbol of a corrupted society that allows that Thalmor scum walk quietly in the Skyrim's lands. He must die. The Dark Brotherhood is the guild more similar to a League of Assassins that Skyrim allows us to join, so go for it. You must kill Cicero when you have to choose. Astrid deserves to die too. They're both traitors.

    "Crime can not be tolerated. Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding."

    The game has lot of bounty quests, and you can take everyone that involves purging bandits' and outlwas' dungeons/camps. A roleplay note: Ra's al Ghul kills everyone. Remember. Crime can not be tolerated.

    Main quest and Dragonborn: what if Ra's al Ghul discover a new power is his veins? He's the Dragonborn! Alduin and Miraak want to make people suffer for his own glory, and this is not accettable. Kill them.

    Dawnguard: vampires are a real menace and Ra's al Ghul will give all the help he can in order to purge this evil plague from Skyrim. Side with Isran and kill Lord Harkon.

    Lazarus Pit: when Ra's al Ghul make use of the Lazarus Pit, he becomes temporanely insane. In gameplay terms, you must act insanely (e.g.: killing innocent, wandering purposeless) for the next 24 hours you make use of the Avoid Death perk.

    That's it! I hope you'll enjoy it and give me some feedback in order to learn from my mistakes.

    EDIT: Added Backstory. Added Equipment. Added Weapons. Added Gameplay and Special moves sections. Added Thanks to section.

    THANKS TO: Chris Diokno, Curse Never Dying, Elysium, ShinJin

  • Member
    February 25, 2015

    I suggest you try to Skyrimize this more, try to give him a TES-grounded backstory, also, your gameplay should tell us how you approached combat and whatnot, what you have seems more like special moves

  • February 25, 2015
    You've got a fairly solid presentation so that's a good start. The biggest flaw here is that this build tries to place into skyrim a character that doesn't belong. What you should do instead is take some of the key characteristics of Ras and try to make it fit within established lore. There's plenty of space in lore for a madman. Lastly let's talk special moves. What you have with the Lazarus out technique is more of a Roleplay device rather than a special skill. Try to think of what spells or skills might compliment avoid death. You're off to a good start. Keep at it. Build on the advice you will recieve here to improve this build.
  • February 26, 2015

    As far as Batman goes, I'm a complete virgin (I'm more of a Marvel girl myself), but I have to say that the character sounds incredibly badass. Like Curse said, there're some miffy things about the build and I'd suggest you have a look at some of the last Event's builds (the goal was to Skyrimize characters from other worlds). There's tons of room in Skyrim for an evil dueling ninja. I'll give you a like on faith (and for dem Liam Neeson), though.

  • Member
    February 26, 2015

    Yeah, I remember this guy! I liked him a lot, and the skill set you've got matches up perfectly.

    I won't repeat what others have said about Skyrimizing other than to urge you to try it... as jacked up as it seems, those builds tend to be received better (it makes sense, I suppose--everybody is here because they like Skyrim, but of all those only so many will also like Batman).

    One thing I look for in any build I read is how the character handles various combat situations, tips or tricks the writer used when playing this build, as well as things that I should look out for when I play him. This info would help beef up your gameplay section, which kind of reads like more of a special moves section right now. This guy was bad news in the movie, and we can kind of get that by looking at skills and moves, but most people are going to want to know how you played this guy... doing that will show us that Ra's al Ghul is bad news ;D

  • Fil
    Member
    February 26, 2015

    Edited. Check it :)

  • Fil
    Member
    February 26, 2015

    Edited. Check it :)

  • Fil
    Member
    February 26, 2015

    Edited. Check it :)

  • Fil
    Member
    February 26, 2015

    Edited. Check it :)

  • February 27, 2015
    Maybe you could be more specific with the lazarus pit ? But Ras El Gul is one of my favorites of DC villains but really do as they say above skyrimise him and maybe try and find a blade that is really as in the comics for him