Tamriel Vault - Character Build: The Death Incarnate

Member

March 21, 2015

"It was a pleasant day, yet a touch ominous. The coarse yet solid voice of my father singing filled our caravan, well at least it put my mother to sleep. Or, she was just tired of carrying a cat in her womb. I took in the beauty of Cyrodill as we were returning from a "rarely successful trade" as my father put it. Jarrin Root, expensive, rare, and deadly. "This will change our lives forever". How he obtained it, remains a mystery to me even now, but knowing my father, he never discussed business with us anyway. All I deduced was that he would sell it to the emperor, who would pay generously for such a thing. "Ah, Elsweyr, here we come". Little did I know. My thoughts of home were interrupted as I saw three figures taking form in the distance, "What are the thalmor doing here"? It was the middle of nowhere. Her "cat sense" even woke my mother up. Father got down to go talk to them. "Stay with your mother". Ten minutes. It appeared that he was arguing about something with the leader, while the other two kept staring at us.

Then in an instant, time slowed down. Many things happened in that moment, yet I felt each one of them, clearly.The hum of the summoned sword as it sliced my father's head off. My mother screaming, jumping off the caravan. A swift spectral arrow piercing her stomach. "One shot, two kills". The coldness of the tear rolling down my face. When that second had passed, I was struggling to breath, as a bow was being aimed at my face ready to unite me with my family. "Please, do it." But what I saw after that, was something else. One after the other, the three thalmor went down, paralyzed. A masked person clad in dark-red outfit, materialized out of nowhere, pulled me out, & shook me. "Where is the Root?". I pointed at the chest behind the caravan. "It was the emperor. He sent them here, for the Root. Who did your father get it from?” I shook my head. Before vanishing into thin air again, he asked, "Do you know who I am.” "No." I knew.

As a gift, he left the thalmor to writhe, wiggle, struggle, as the poison slowly drained the life out of them. As I watched them die slowly, my shock, grief & pain gave way to rage, anger ...vengeance. In a fit of madness, I ran as far away as possible from this.....nightmare, no sense of my surroundings. Before I knew it, I was being taken to be executed. I was in Skyrim, apparently. But that day, fate appeared in the form of a dragon, & saved me yet again. "Why?” I had come out alive out of another predicament. I will seek them here. My savior. My vengeance. My sanctuary. My Brotherhood. Now as I sit here in silence, scarred, bled, tortured, experienced, let me tell you, my initiates, the story of your Listener, or as the whole of Tamriel knows him as.......The Death Incarnate. "

Race : Khajit

Stone : Thief, Lover, Lord

Shouts : Elemental Fury (EF), Whirlwind Sprint, Marked For Death, Dragon Aspect

Stats : 0 / 2 / 4

End Game Armor : Glass Armor, Elven Boots, Elven Gauntlets, Diadem of the Savant

Major Skills : Alchemy, Sneak, Speech, Archery

Minor Skills : Pickpocket, Light Armor, Illusion

Recommended Difficulty : Master+

Right after leaving Helgen, go to the Riverwood Inn, and ask the innkeeper for rumors, hoping to find out about DB, your savior. “My Quantum of Solace …in this abyss.” First thing he says is about the boy in Windhelm performing Black Sacrament. Perfect role-play. From then on, you’re in pursuit of the DB. You're ready to do anything for vengeance. Even kill. After joining DB, the first thing they teach you is patience, composure. Babbette sends you on a journey across Skyrim on a foraging trip. “You want to avenge your father, first go be the alchemist he was." So, you make the road your home, foraging, making potions, hunting for food, sleeping in tents, running from bears, bandits, even mudcrabs. “Pathetic”. But, slowly, you adapt. Gifted with night vision, you start to travel at night, sneaking up on your prey. You kill the bandits that terrorize the locals. You become a being of darkness. You explore the land from Falkreath to Windhelm, foraging. Sometimes, you see your parent’s spirits in the butterflies that hover over the blue mountain flowers. “You will be avenged.” When you return, you’re a decent apprentice, with lots of ingredients & a slightly better alchemy knowledge. Next thing is to carry out low level assassination contracts handed out by Astrid. This is to check your assassin quotient. “Yes!!” You now have a purpose in life. Following the traditions of the assassins of the old, you learn your trade well.

You delve deeper into the craft and make such potions that you sell to make money to handle your own. Gradually, you get rich. You buy your gears for the best prices from vendors. You feel immensely painful at the plight of other Khajits who are not allowed in the towns. "Why me? I don’t want to be this ...Dragonborn". You hate the empire, for being the Thalmor's puppets. You're not particularly interested in all the Prophecies and all, so you can do the main quest later on too. It fits with the role-play because the later you do the main quest, the more experienced you’ll be to kill those Thalmor mages in "Diplomatic Immunity". So, patience.

"If you're or were guilty, even at the slightest, at some point in time, I will kill you with joy, in that way that makes you suffer, as you had made your victims suffer."

Every thalmor you stab in the back, you remember your mother's screams. They are the nightmares that haunt you every night. "I am being reminded..." You start by sneaking up on people and stabbing them, or by firing an arrow to their knees. But as you got more experienced, you started to love killing. You began looking for ways and means to kill things, depending on the person, or the situation.

Eventually, you have your revenge over the emperor. "I knew he was a decoy." Upto You. Kill him with Jarrin Root, Shouts, or put a Mind Control Spider on his head. But you be sure to make him suffer.

So, the core of the build is the progression from a guy who starts killing as practice to realize his vengeance. He also wants to end all of these so-called outlaws that kill innocent travelers, & wants to make them pay. So, he goes from your typical assassin novice to a Death dealing machine, as his inner pain grows. "Served just how they like it." YOU NEVER FAST TRAVEL. You roam around & collect ingredients, never know when these might be useful. To carry them, I suggest using Convenient Horses mod.

Some places you can visit at early levels without any hassle:

Morthal swamps – Lots of Deathbell, Swamp Fungal Pod, few Canis roots.

Windhelm – SteamCrag Camp – Loads of Dragon’s tongue, Jazbay grapes, Creep cluster.

Markarth – Loads of Juniper berries (Very useful for marksman potions), Hanging moss (Also available in 100s in Solitude catacombs).

Morrowind – Scathecrows are just lying around Raven Rock.

Whiterun – Near the HoningBrew Meadery - Mountain Flowers, Lavender.

Riften – Butterfly wings, Mountain Flowers & Winterhold for loads of snowberries (for resist fire, frost, shock potions).

Here are some vital potions you can make early on:

Note : ( Po means Poison of / Potion of ) & ( So means Scroll of )

Po Marksman – Elves Ear + Juniper Berries

Po Slow – DeathBell + Salt Pile (Search every barrel ever)

Po Paralysis - Canis Root / Imp Stool + Swamp Fungal Pod

Po Paralysis with (Lingering Damage Health) LDH - Canis Root + Imp Stool + Mora Tapinella.

Po Sneak – Purple Mountain Flower + Frost Mirriam.

Po LDH – Deathbell + Imp Stool + Scathecrow (or) DeathBell + Giant Lichen (Morthal) + Skeever Tail

Po Restore Health – Blue Mountain Flower/butterfly wing + wheat.

Po Regenerate Stamina – Dragon’s tongue + Mora Tapinella + Fly Amanita – Beast potion both for levelling (Almost one whole level) & Money, with easily available Ingredients.

To make your travel more immersive, suggested mods are Frostfall, Realistic Needs & Diseases, Wet & cold, Convenient Horses, Climates of Tamriel etc.

Don’t just rush to each location one after the other. Set up a path. I know this looks tedious & long, but it’s really not. Since you’re not fast travelling, you’ll get your share of action in the form of bandits, bears, wolves, and many other obstacles on your way. You’ll die a couple & learn. As mentioned in the role-play section, this is how you level up your offense & defense. Since you’re playing on Master, you’ll level up even faster. It becomes very immersive after a while.

Alchemy: Build is built on this. Your father’s memory is engraved in your alchemy. At very early levels, you easily get Alchemist (3), Physician, and Benefactor. This is enough to craft decent potions. Also, get the Muiri’s Ring in the DB quest line that buffs Alchemy. Po Fortify Restoration works on almost everything. Since, you’re combat involves scrolls too, one gulp & the scrolls attain insane buffs. Especially against the undead, against whom I tend to die a lot. Also affects lots of potions.

Speech: Very important as you’re not an enchanter, & a Khajit moreover, you always buy enchanted gear, buffs, scrolls, soul gems etc. Again, easy to achieve. Get the left side till investor, with haggling (1). Train with Revyn Sadri in Windhelm . A good idea is to make lots of potions, train, and get your money back, as he’s a fence that will buy anything. Once you get the Merchant perk, you’re set.

Sneak: You’re a creature of the night, terrorizing outlaws from the shadows. Since it’s a sneak build, you can worry less about not levelling up your attack & defense. Just get the right side first. Your offense is done then & there. Eventually, you’ll get everything in here. We’re not going to abuse the 15x bonus. This is just for emergencies at lower levels. I got it to get the epic backstab animations. Then, again it’s master (along with some difficulty enhancing mods).

Archery: All that hunting has left you with an affinity towards Archery. You find the crossbow to be very deadly. Again, use it intermittently. Very fun gameplay, when combined with Whirlwind Sprint. Refer to special moves for details.

Pickpocket : (Reverse Pickpocket) How about poisoning them with a Po paralysis with LDH, then watch as their life slowly fades from their body While you're at it, why not add Drain Vitality on top of that, all the while staring into their eyes, with a smile on your face". Always use against Thalmor.

Smithing: You do not possess inclination towards smithing.You don’t craft, but train. I love the Glass Armor + elven boots/gauntlets look very much. I skipped the entire One-Handed tree in favor of Smithing, to balance it out. Or you can do vice versa, get the Dual Flurry perks or you can distribute your perks among the two.

Illusion, Light Armor: All take backseat at lower levels. You can take it as you wish later. You can go the heavy side too. With potions, smithing, & buffed gear, you easily reach your cap. But, later on, you may want to try new armor sets like the Dawnguard Armor that might need a little investing. Start your illusion training only after you are able to shout, as Quiet Casting is the sole purpose of that tree.

“At first, I killed the traditional Brotherhood way. Bows, daggers, all that good stuff. But whenever I would see thalmor roaming the roads, something took over me. I wanted to make them suffer”. There are no specific weapons as such. Early on, you’ll be an assassin, providing swift throat slits to people. Then you start getting creative & use shouts & potions to create diverse & fun methods to kill, using couple exploits. Mostly, you’ll be poisoning your enemies from a distance using a long bow (crouch), weakening them. Then when they come to seek you out, it’s up to you. You can Whirlwind sprint far away & cast frenzy, or you can MFD them, or use Crossbow.

Anyway, here are some of the Special Moves.

Inner Rage v1: Here comes the glitch. Equip an unenchanted bow, Shoot Po Slow at enemies to stop their advance. Shout Elemental Fury (EF). Switch to Dual wield. (Hotkey them, obv.) Even enchanted weapons, then get affected by EF. My favorite is Mehrunes Razor (because of the instant death chance) on Left, DawnBreaker on the Right. Let the pain out.

"Pain is a powerful motivator"

This single glitch can be used in a variety of situations, using different weapons. Dual Flurry is optional.

Inner Rage v2: Po Invisibility + So Mass Paralysis. Then EF, Let yo rage out. As soon as one starts to get up, run up to him and as he’s in the “getting up ” animation, reverse pickpocket (with 100% chance every time) another paralysis poison to make him go down again & you can continue with your assault.

Sithis' Betrayal: Reverse pickpocket the boss (forsworn / bandit) with Po Paralysis with LDH, Whirlwind Sprint to a shadwowy corner, then fury on the nearby bodyguard. Watch as the boss gets destroyed to a wimp, as you quench your thirst for death, before the other crew members join the battle. Feed

Run for your (Un) life?: This is one of my favorites. Po Fortify Restoration is the best and most overpowered potions against the undead. With sufficient (legit) alchemy, you’ll get Resto potions with double the magnitude. And this works on scrolls & weapons too. So, if you buy a So Guardian Circle/Bane of the Undead, and it affects undead up to level x, after you drink the potion, the level becomes 2x. Same case with weapons with Turn Undead enchantment. DeathLord bosses turn into wimps and you can just attack however you want when they start to run. Very useful in high levels where every second guy is a DeathLord.

"I can handle fire, screw this."

Just gulp down invisibility, go to the dead center of the draugrs, and Cast your scroll. Done.

Hide-n-Seek: Ok, this is familiar to most, but this is most fun against Dragon Priests/Deathlord Bosses in dungeons. Throw Voice. "Who's there?” Stick as many as arrows as you can from a crouched position. When he comes to seek you out, Whirlwind Sprint (1 to 2 words enough, in closed spaces) right past him, to the opposite location. You can do this in a straight line, rectangle, triangle any shape you want. He'll not detect your sprint, even if you go right past him. Beware not to touch him though.

Wrath Incarnate : Cast Dragon Aspect. Fight normally, let your health decrease. Ancient Dragonborn comes out.. "When the soul can take no more, at that moment comes out the spirit, free at last."

The first thing he does, every time, is he shouts. Mostly Frost Breath. You can wait a second or so after he comes, and shout Frost/Fire/UF (cos these are the only three he shouted in my game). And if it syncs, congrats, you just witnessed pure awesomeness. It has happened with me many times. Or, if you know the first word, listen to what he shouts. If he says "Yol", there's a gap before "Tor Shuuuuuul". In that gap, quickly equip Fire Breath. It won’t sync with his shout, but it'll be like an echo. Still cool.

Peek-a-boo: We all know the Slow Time + Sneak (Bow Attack) Combo. Here's a fun & slightly underpowered version. Crouch (behind rock/wall). Take a long bow. (Po Fortify Alteration) Slow Time. Poison your victims with LDH or Paralysis or a combination of the two. One on each. As they come seek you out, (Crouch) Dragon Aspect + Beast Form. Boom! You just got Shyamalan'd. There. "A glowing werewolf? No thanks." Very useful in clearing forts/camps/forsworn.

"Revenge knows no bounds. It has turned good men into beasts."

Some useful Combos:

Po Weakness to Magic + Storm Call + DawnBreaker.

Po Damage Magicka Regen + Nightingale Bow. (Mages)

SpellBreaker + MFD + Po Weakness to Poison + Po (LDH). (Dragons)

Po Slow + Nightingale Bow + Po Marksman. (Giants)

(Crouch) + Mind Control Spider+ Flame Cloaked / Jumping Spider. (When you’re bored & clearing a bandit camp for a 100 septim reward. Yawn!!)

You make it a point to use Animal Allegiance whenever possible, like Dragon attacks while you're near a Giant Camp, or Chaurus near Falmer.

Vital Fight Potions - Marksman, Sneak, Resist, One-Handed (Optional), Poisons.

Retreat Potions - Invisibility, Paralysis.

Closing Notes:

Any weapon goes. This build tries to keep you in touch with your passive skills, like Alchemy & Speech more. Buy, don’t enchant, all your alchemy, smithing enhancing gear, weapons, armor throughout. Train those skills that you’re (Khajit) not familiar with, like smithing, & illusion. After level 20 –ish, every time you’re in town, visit the local mage for Scrolls, check if some better weapons are on sale, apothecaries for ingredients & potions. Chat with the locals. See your father, the people person, within you.

You got the money, spend it. Try to persuade all the time. Always buy skooma wherever possible.

Highly Recommended Mod (Personal Preference)

Revenge of the Enemies with master difficulty. Use it, you'll know what I am talking about. Suits this build perfectly. You'll die if not careful, & are forced to utilize different approaches for different AI. Console users can play on Legendary.

Done. Thank you for this chance to post my build. All comments, criticism welcome & appreciated.

Divines guide you!