'' The shadows enlightened me..''
For this character I was hoping to mix a few of my favorite things (Sneak, Magic, Vampirism) and add new ones (Two-Handed, Heavy-Armor) to come up with the perfect fun/power/roleplay build.
Also let me say in advance that you WILL need the Dawnguard DLC to achieve the full potential of this build.
Pros:
Cons:
Name: Kraain
Race: Dunmer (Dark Elf) (Reduces the Fire weakness debuff from becoming a vampire).
Stats: 1/2/1
Stone: Warrior Stone until lvl 10, Lord stone afterwards (You need that resistance for the late game).
Shouts: None.
There once was a village in Morrowind where all the residents were fortunate and jolly. The sun felt warmer there, and it rarely stormed.
It was paradise, the perfect place for a young Dunmer such as Kraain. His parents owned a farm to the east of this village. The ashes from the Red Mountain were incredibly good fertilizers for the soil and as such, the farm was highly profitable.
But there are downsides to living in the periphery of these small villages. To begin, it was a long walk to reach civilization, and reaching the market to sell their goods was always a strain for Kraain's parents. Secondly, at night there was almost no light surrounding them, other than that of the moon of course. But most importantly... there were no guards near them for protection.
A few isolated incidents with wolves didn't seem to bother this family much.. a few chicken would disappear once in a while.. but it was irrelevant, as they could easily buy another one... crops sometimes would be stepped on, but it was fine.. for they had a vast amount of terrain at their disposal. Worse was.. when animals were no longer the thing they needed to fear.
One night, full moon, howls could be heard, and dinner was being prepared. As usual, there was a lot of noise in the house, so the sound of the forest was easily muffled. They ate the meal Kraain's mother had cooked and went to bed... but not for long.
Kraain woke up at the sound of fighting inside his own house. He walked out of his room only to find a man standing with Kraain's parents at his feet. He was tall, had bright eyes and was pale.. as pale as the ashes fertilizing his property.. and the blood... his face was covered in blood.. and he seemed to enjoy it.
Kraain stood there, immobilized with fear as the stranger opened the door and took his leave.
He crawled closer to his parents, only to find them lifeless and with a glare of fear on their recently murdered faces.
From this day on, his life was devoted to hunting and putting an end to the tyranny of these night crawlers. He worked alone for a couple of years, until he turned old enough to join the Vigilants of Stendarr, an organization that procured the same goal he did: A world where the darkness is kept at bay by the light.
Not long after he joined he was told to seek out an ancient group of vampires operating in Skyrim. One of them was said to strongly resemble his parents' killer.
He was given a horse and a coin purse carrying inside it 500 gold pieces to cover both food and sleeping expenses.
Kraain heard commotion and yelling south-east of the road he was riding on and changed his course to see if anyone was in need of assistance.
Turns out the Imperial Legion was in the midst of a great capture mission against the Stormcloaks, and Kraain just walked right into it.
He was taken as a Stormcloak soldier, despite not sharing their outfit.
He drew his sword and was ready to shed blood to ensure his safe escape and the continuation of his mission, but before action could be taken Kraain was shot with an arrow imbued with a powerful Paralyzing Venom. Kraain woke up hours later, bound in a carriage, sharing space with Stormcloak soldiers. They attempted to communicate with him, but Kraain would not respond. He was in this mess because of them after all.
The soldiers fell one by one at the sharp end of the executioner's axe, and it was not long before his turn came.
Kraain took the time to look up in the sky. When most would pray for their lives or ask for mercy, Kraain just stood there.. head on the stone and mind elsewhere. He thought of his mission. Of how much he accomplished and all the good he did in this life.
He came to the conclusion it wasn't enough. He couldn't die.. he just couldn't. He was the only one, in his mind, that could bring an end to the shadows eating away at our world. And then, out of pure chance (or maybe fate) the rarest of occurrences took place. Kraain was saved by a Dragon.. and not just any dragon... Alduin. The eater of worlds. To Kraain this was a sign from the gods saying his life was meaningful, and his duty to the world, just as he thought, was far from over. The execution was stopped and Kraain fled Helgen.
After months of wandering around Skyrim, always helping those in need, Kraain comes across a new organization: The Dawnguard.
Seeing as the Hall of the Vigilants had been taken down by vampires, Kraain decides to join this new faction as a means to erase the vampiric scum off Mundus... but it proved to be a hard task.
Kraain finds something in Dimhollow Crypt he hasn't seen before: a vampire that doesn't attack on sight.
After helping her back to her father, Kraain finds the vampire clan he was sent to destroy, and right before him was the man who killed his parents so long ago... Harkon.
Kraain was gifted Harkon's blood and he sees this as a chance to gain Harkon's trust and take out the clan from the inside.
From this moment on, his soul is tainted and his mind is broken. He no longer is the same boy who swore vengeance on his parent's grave.. now he is.. The Corrupted Vigilant.
------- Before being corrupted ---------
Apparel: Novice/Apprentice Hood; Novice/Apprentice Robes; Steel Cuffed Boots; Steel Cuffed Gauntlets.
Weapon: Any Greatsword ( I preferred Ancient Nordic with fire enchantment).
Must Have Spells: Heal, Muffle, Stoneflesh, Lesser Ward.
-------- After being corrupted ------------
Apparel: Nahkriin (Dragon priest mask); Vampire Royal Armor or any other robes; Random Heavy armored Boots and Gauntlets you may like.
Weapon: Ebony Blade (will talk more about this in the Roleplay section)
Must Have Spells: Fast Healing, Muffle, Ebonyflesh, Greater Ward, Equilibrium.
--------- After being cleansed ------------------
Apparel: Nahkriin; Random robes (as long as they are not vampire robes); Random Heavy armored Boots and Gauntlets (can be the same as before).
Weapon: Any Greatsword (In this stage I used the Bloodskal blade, but I supose any other will do fine).
Must have spells: Fast Healing, Healing hands, Muffle, Ebonyflesh, Greater ward. (Don't use Equilibrium again, it's blood magic).
Before initiating combat make sure to cast your flesh spell and heal if you've taken damage before said fight.
Since your character lacks range and needs to close in on foes I advise you do so with your spells in hand, since you can instantly heal yourself if you take any damage.
After your're up close and personal any bowman should switch to a dagger or sword which favors you, since you'll have more single target damage.
When fighting mages it's a good combo to cast a ward and heal behind safety. If you have equilibrium there's a fun trick where you can use it to turn health into magicka and keep healing it so you have an infinite ward, providing you safe cover to rethink your strategy, or even retreat.
If you're fighting a mage with fire abilities keep in mind you can sip some potions is you're not healing at a good enough pace.
Try to sneak on your target and hit them with your greatsword before anyone notices you. This ensures that you will start the battle with an even bigger advantage already (Because if you sneak on them you don't need to worry about range, and that's an advantage on its own).
A Lovely Letter: This is the quest where you will side with Faendal. This can be done as soon as you reach Riverwood. To start it talk with Faendal. He will give you a letter to deliver to Camilla Vallerius, located in the Riverwood Trader. Say Faendal's letter is from Sven (Lie) and after that Faendal will be available as a follower. And Sven will hate you. But nobody cares about him, don't worry. Only his mother. Not even her.
Before The Storm: This is the quest you complete after reaching Whiterun and talking to the Jarl, previously received from either Gerdur or Alvor depending on who you escaped Helgen with (Ralof or Hadvar).
I advise that you also do sidequests, wherever they may come from (unless they are Daedric quests) and exploring dungeons and ruins as you come across them, so I would recommend you don't use much fast traveling.
Dawnguard: This is your main questline. It unlocks after the player reaches level 10. Randomly a Dawnguard member will procure you in a random city and ask if you want to join them. Say yes (duh!)
The Whispering Lady: To start this quest you'll need to be level 20, but
don't worry you'll get there fast. After you do, make your way to Whiterun and ask the innkeeper about rumors. She'l eventually tell you that the Jarl's children are going mad. That's where you go to Dragonsreach and question the Jarl about it. After this quest is complete you
will receive the Ebony Blade, so I advise you only complete it after becoming a vampire.
Destroy the Dark Brotherhood: To start this quest you will
need to head to Windhelm and speak with a guard until they tell you about Aventus Arentino. Investigate his house and carry out his command. After you return to him and receive your reward wait 48 hours and carry on your adventure until a courier stops you and gives you a mysterious note. After this, go to sleep and you'll wake up next to Astrid, Leader of the DB. Kill her inside the shack (you'l get a stack of your Ebony Blade by the way), report her death to any guard and they will send you to Dragonbridge where you'll be given said quest to eliminate this faction.
Main Questline: Derived from Before the Storm. Only start doing this questline after your third stage in the game (after you become cleansed)
DON'T join the Companions
DON'T join the Thieves Guild
Overall I think this build is very complete. It provides a nice backstory, an interesting and dynamic character, as well as a feeling of discovery as you progress with him.
This build is not incredibly overpowered or anything, and in fact it does have some big weaknesses, but I don't mind, because in my opinion the good builds aren't those without weak spots.. good builds are those that have many weaknesses but allow the player to work around them, making the game more competitive and every fight more memorable.
This marks the end of my build! Thanks for reading this far and hopefully it was good enough to make you want to try it! If so, please let me know in the comments below! Any constructive criticism is much appreciated, so I can grow as a builder and a writer.
See you in the next one, Shadows Hide You!
'' The shadows enlightened me..''
For this character I was hoping to mix a few of my favorite things (Sneak, Magic, Vampirism) and add new ones (Two-Handed, Heavy-Armor) to come up with the perfect fun/power/roleplay build.
Also let me say in advance that you WILL need the Dawnguard DLC to achieve the full potential of this build.
Pros:
Cons:
Name: Kraain
Race: Dunmer (Dark Elf) (Reduces the Fire weakness debuff from becoming a vampire).
Stats: 1/2/1
Stone: Warrior Stone until lvl 10, Lord stone afterwards (You need that resistance for the late game).
Shouts: None.
There once was a village in Morrowind where all the residents were fortunate and jolly. The sun felt warmer there, and it rarely stormed.
It was paradise, the perfect place for a young Dunmer such as Kraain. His parents owned a farm to the east of this village. The ashes from the Red Mountain were incredibly good fertilizers for the soil and as such, the farm was highly profitable.
But there are downsides to living in the periphery of these small villages. To begin, it was a long walk to reach civilization, and reaching the market to sell their goods was always a strain for Kraain's parents. Secondly, at night there was almost no light surrounding them, other than that of the moon of course. But most importantly... there were no guards near them for protection.
A few isolated incidents with wolves didn't seem to bother this family much.. a few chicken would disappear once in a while.. but it was irrelevant, as they could easily buy another one... crops sometimes would be stepped on, but it was fine.. for they had a vast amount of terrain at their disposal. Worse was.. when animals were no longer the thing they needed to fear.
One night, full moon, howls could be heard, and dinner was being prepared. As usual, there was a lot of noise in the house, so the sound of the forest was easily muffled. They ate the meal Kraain's mother had cooked and went to bed... but not for long.
Kraain woke up at the sound of fighting inside his own house. He walked out of his room only to find a man standing with Kraain's parents at his feet. He was tall, had bright eyes and was pale.. as pale as the ashes fertilizing his property.. and the blood... his face was covered in blood.. and he seemed to enjoy it.
Kraain stood there, immobilized with fear as the stranger opened the door and took his leave.
He crawled closer to his parents, only to find them lifeless and with a glare of fear on their recently murdered faces.
From this day on, his life was devoted to hunting and putting an end to the tyranny of these night crawlers. He worked alone for a couple of years, until he turned old enough to join the Vigilants of Stendarr, an organization that procured the same goal he did: A world where the darkness is kept at bay by the light.
Not long after he joined he was told to seek out an ancient group of vampires operating in Skyrim. One of them was said to strongly resemble his parents' killer.
He was given a horse and a coin purse carrying inside it 500 gold pieces to cover both food and sleeping expenses.
Kraain heard commotion and yelling south-east of the road he was riding on and changed his course to see if anyone was in need of assistance.
Turns out the Imperial Legion was in the midst of a great capture mission against the Stormcloaks, and Kraain just walked right into it.
He was taken as a Stormcloak soldier, despite not sharing their outfit.
He drew his sword and was ready to shed blood to ensure his safe escape and the continuation of his mission, but before action could be taken Kraain was shot with an arrow imbued with a powerful Paralyzing Venom. Kraain woke up hours later, bound in a carriage, sharing space with Stormcloak soldiers. They attempted to communicate with him, but Kraain would not respond. He was in this mess because of them after all.
The soldiers fell one by one at the sharp end of the executioner's axe, and it was not long before his turn came.
Kraain took the time to look up in the sky. When most would pray for their lives or ask for mercy, Kraain just stood there.. head on the stone and mind elsewhere. He thought of his mission. Of how much he accomplished and all the good he did in this life.
He came to the conclusion it wasn't enough. He couldn't die.. he just couldn't. He was the only one, in his mind, that could bring an end to the shadows eating away at our world. And then, out of pure chance (or maybe fate) the rarest of occurrences took place. Kraain was saved by a Dragon.. and not just any dragon... Alduin. The eater of worlds. To Kraain this was a sign from the gods saying his life was meaningful, and his duty to the world, just as he thought, was far from over. The execution was stopped and Kraain fled Helgen.
After months of wandering around Skyrim, always helping those in need, Kraain comes across a new organization: The Dawnguard.
Seeing as the Hall of the Vigilants had been taken down by vampires, Kraain decides to join this new faction as a means to erase the vampiric scum off Mundus... but it proved to be a hard task.
Kraain finds something in Dimhollow Crypt he hasn't seen before: a vampire that doesn't attack on sight.
After helping her back to her father, Kraain finds the vampire clan he was sent to destroy, and right before him was the man who killed his parents so long ago... Harkon.
Kraain was gifted Harkon's blood and he sees this as a chance to gain Harkon's trust and take out the clan from the inside.
From this moment on, his soul is tainted and his mind is broken. He no longer is the same boy who swore vengeance on his parent's grave.. now he is.. The Corrupted Vigilant.
------- Before being corrupted ---------
Apparel: Novice/Apprentice Hood; Novice/Apprentice Robes; Steel Cuffed Boots; Steel Cuffed Gauntlets.
Weapon: Any Greatsword ( I preferred Ancient Nordic with fire enchantment).
Must Have Spells: Heal, Muffle, Stoneflesh, Lesser Ward.
-------- After being corrupted ------------
Apparel: Nahkriin (Dragon priest mask); Vampire Royal Armor or any other robes; Random Heavy armored Boots and Gauntlets you may like.
Weapon: Ebony Blade (will talk more about this in the Roleplay section)
Must Have Spells: Fast Healing, Muffle, Ebonyflesh, Greater Ward, Equilibrium.
--------- After being cleansed ------------------
Apparel: Nahkriin; Random robes (as long as they are not vampire robes); Random Heavy armored Boots and Gauntlets (can be the same as before).
Weapon: Any Greatsword (In this stage I used the Bloodskal blade, but I supose any other will do fine).
Must have spells: Fast Healing, Healing hands, Muffle, Ebonyflesh, Greater ward. (Don't use Equilibrium again, it's blood magic).
Before initiating combat make sure to cast your flesh spell and heal if you've taken damage before said fight.
Since your character lacks range and needs to close in on foes I advise you do so with your spells in hand, since you can instantly heal yourself if you take any damage.
After your're up close and personal any bowman should switch to a dagger or sword which favors you, since you'll have more single target damage.
When fighting mages it's a good combo to cast a ward and heal behind safety. If you have equilibrium there's a fun trick where you can use it to turn health into magicka and keep healing it so you have an infinite ward, providing you safe cover to rethink your strategy, or even retreat.
If you're fighting a mage with fire abilities keep in mind you can sip some potions is you're not healing at a good enough pace.
Try to sneak on your target and hit them with your greatsword before anyone notices you. This ensures that you will start the battle with an even bigger advantage already (Because if you sneak on them you don't need to worry about range, and that's an advantage on its own).
A Lovely Letter: This is the quest where you will side with Faendal. This can be done as soon as you reach Riverwood. To start it talk with Faendal. He will give you a letter to deliver to Camilla Vallerius, located in the Riverwood Trader. Say Faendal's letter is from Sven (Lie) and after that Faendal will be available as a follower. And Sven will hate you. But nobody cares about him, don't worry. Only his mother. Not even her.
Before The Storm: This is the quest you complete after reaching Whiterun and talking to the Jarl, previously received from either Gerdur or Alvor depending on who you escaped Helgen with (Ralof or Hadvar).
I advise that you also do sidequests, wherever they may come from (unless they are Daedric quests) and exploring dungeons and ruins as you come across them, so I would recommend you don't use much fast traveling.
Dawnguard: This is your main questline. It unlocks after the player reaches level 10. Randomly a Dawnguard member will procure you in a random city and ask if you want to join them. Say yes (duh!)
The Whispering Lady: To start this quest you'll need to be level 20, but
don't worry you'll get there fast. After you do, make your way to Whiterun and ask the innkeeper about rumors. She'l eventually tell you that the Jarl's children are going mad. That's where you go to Dragonsreach and question the Jarl about it. After this quest is complete you
will receive the Ebony Blade, so I advise you only complete it after becoming a vampire.
Destroy the Dark Brotherhood: To start this quest you will
need to head to Windhelm and speak with a guard until they tell you about Aventus Arentino. Investigate his house and carry out his command. After you return to him and receive your reward wait 48 hours and carry on your adventure until a courier stops you and gives you a mysterious note. After this, go to sleep and you'll wake up next to Astrid, Leader of the DB. Kill her inside the shack (you'l get a stack of your Ebony Blade by the way), report her death to any guard and they will send you to Dragonbridge where you'll be given said quest to eliminate this faction.
Main Questline: Derived from Before the Storm. Only start doing this questline after your third stage in the game (after you become cleansed)
DON'T join the Companions
DON'T join the Thieves Guild
Overall I think this build is very complete. It provides a nice backstory, an interesting and dynamic character, as well as a feeling of discovery as you progress with him.
This build is not incredibly overpowered or anything, and in fact it does have some big weaknesses, but I don't mind, because in my opinion the good builds aren't those without weak spots.. good builds are those that have many weaknesses but allow the player to work around them, making the game more competitive and every fight more memorable.
This marks the end of my build! Thanks for reading this far and hopefully it was good enough to make you want to try it! If so, please let me know in the comments below! Any constructive criticism is much appreciated, so I can grow as a builder and a writer.
See you in the next one, Shadows Hide You!
Above all I will say that the presentation for this build is very well done and unique. The Build itself is also very well done for a first(?) build.
Above all I will say that the presentation for this build is very well done and unique. The Build itself is also very well done for a first(?) build.
Ah, thank you for that. I think I'll start using that when I make spreads for people. As someone that has made a lot of those things I have to say that spread looks great.
Ah, thank you for that. I think I'll start using that when I make spreads for people. As someone that has made a lot of those things I have to say that spread looks great.