“The hunter waits in the boughs, clad only in leaves and shadow. She breathes as the wind shifts, and listens. Her quarry's fear grows thicker than the canopy. A glance, a turn, and it breaks cover. Her eyes open. Footsteps, muffled as owl's wings, beat softly through the Green.”
-From Wardens of the Green
“The Green Pact, also known as the Treaty of Frond and Leaf, is a strict code upheld by many of the Bosmer of Valenwood. It is said to have guided their existence since the beginning of the "great story". Its rules are clear. Do not harm the forests. Do not eat anything made from plant life. Eat only meat. When enemies are conquered, their meat must be eaten, not left to rot. Do not kill wastefully. Do not take on the shape of beasts.”
Premise: What do you get when you cross the skill of an archer, the honor of a knight, with all the religious zeal of a paladin, and the cherry on top, a spell slinging, smooth talking Khajit follower? You get The Green Warden of course. My main goal with this little jewel was to bring an extremely fun role play and fit it together with just the right perks and synergies. I am overjoyed to be able to present you all a build where I have accomplished just that. With unrivaled (without exploits) health and stamina buffs both in total stats and regeneration, with target specific poisons, and an archer that if you get to close is going to punch you in the nose and put an arrow through your eye. Oh did I forget, should you fall to this hero as a strict follower of The Green Pact she also is going to eat you.
Part of the overhaul has been cosmetic however the Warden now comes with some new tricks. Pay special attention to each rank as they now all have some special move.
“At the stream's edge stands a simple Mer. In his silhouette stands every woodsman, hunter, and guide; every jaqspur, every treethane and spinner. Every child and every elder stand with him, yet he stands alone.
Her hunter's gaze meets his. She sees herself beside him, too. She blushes, and so does he. "My Silvenar," she says at last. "My Green Lady," he responds in turn.”
-From Wardens of the Green
The Silvenar represents the Bosmer people legally, physically, and emotionally. He reflects the state of the Bosmer people in his way of thinking, his health, and even his gender. The Green lady is the wife of The Silvenar. No Silvenar can be without a Green Lady. The Silvenar has a mystical connection with the Green Lady, like with all Bosmer, only much deeper. While the Silvenar represents the civilized nature of the current Bosmer, the Green Lady has the raw physicality and passion of their primal past.
The Green Wardens serve The Green Lady. Only the most noble and devout followers of Y’ffre are chosen. Much like The Silvenar represents the loving connection to the land, the Spinners represent the connection to Y’ffre. The Spinners are the priests, and enforce The Green Pact nonviolently. The Green Wardens much like the Green Lady are the other side of nature’s coin.
Unlike in more civilized society, the Wardens do not believe in jail time for breaking the sacred laws. They are judge, jury, and executioner. Inside of The Green Wardens they are ranked on devotion and passion for the cause. Those fledgling in faith just starting out are called Initiate. Those with this title must prove themselves, and the only way to do that is enforcing the pact. The things required may seem crazy but they are completely sane... I think, maybe... um. Killing wicked loathsome farmers, or others that cause harm to the land is how you can prove your devotion and fealty to the most sacred Green Lady. Once you have proven yourself devout you are then called Acolyte. An Acolyte actively and relentlessly seeks to destroy not the people who violate the land by farming and destroying plant life, but those who resell what remains. The Alchemists who deal in plant matter must be destroyed. Once they have eliminated those people they will be called Disciples. The twice blessed Disciples are the most deadly of all the castes, with no remorse and no pity. Above them, alone stands the most holy Diviner.
In the days of yesteryear, the Wardens kept to the dense and luscious forests of Valenwood, but now with the rise of the third Aldmeri Dominion, it is now their wish to spread the enforcement of The Green Pact throughout Tamriel. And this Warden will bring those blasphemous Nords of Skyrim to their knees. Now let's take a much closer look at...
Race: Bosmer as they are the only ones that make since with the lore of the build. They also have some nice bonuses to a few of our skills. Also their Command Animal power works well with the theme.
Stats 1/2/2 until stamina reaches 200, then 1/1/0 for the rest of the game.
Stone: The Lover then around level 20 switch to The Lady as it fits nicely as a servant of The Green Lady, and works nicely with the boosts we will receive from The Ring of Namira.
Shouts: Animal Allegiance, Aura Whisper, Disarm, Marked for Death, Slow Time, Whirlwind Sprint, Fire Breath, Frost Breath.
Essential Quests: Dawn Guard, Dragonborn, Main Quest, Blessings of Nature, Forbidden Legend The Companions, until you are offered the Beasts Blood. The College of Winterhold.(To gain access to Sarthal and training) No need to become arch mage.
As you ascend the ranks of The Green Wardens your gear will change to show as a symbol of your new status. This also serves to tone down the immersion breaking wait for your final armor, Dragon Scale. We will get to all that in a bit, but right now I need to tell you about to pieces of equipment that are vital to the build.
-The Ring of Namira can and should be picked up as soon as possible. Remember the meat mandate clearly states if you kill someone you must eat them. The ring together with The Lady Stone, and Windwalker grants us + 50 Health, + 50 Stamina + 75% Health and Stamina Regeneration.
-The Gaulder Amulet- Another + 30 to Health Magic, and Stamina. In total giving us the H/M/S stats of a character 19 levels higher than we are, which not only helps out but makes fighting off those larger groups much easier.
Being an alchemist and following the Green Pact brings a new level of depth and RP to this build. It keeps us from having to many ingredients, and potions to sell while at the same time will really encourage you to go out hunting and fishing. Giving you more of an opportunity to become one with the green. For a more complete look at green pact Alchemy, our very own Rune Red wrote this fabulous article.. Some of my most commonly used potions and poisons were:
Y'ffres' Wrath: Used to boost the elemental damage of our bows. Combine any of the following ingredients, Beehive Husk, Ectoplasm, Glow Dust, Glowing Mushroom, Wisp Wrappings
Y'ffres' Protection: Resist Magic: Bleeding Crown, Chicken’s Egg, Hagraven Claw, Void Salts, Wisp Wrappings
Mages' Blight (Damage Magicka Regen) Blue Butterfly Wing and Bear Claws. Great for wearing down powerful mages.
Dragons Terror: Don't want to wait to find out what kind of resistance this Dragon has... (Weakness to poison, Weakness to Fire, Weakness to frost) Bleeding Crown + Ice Wraith Teeth + Abeacean Longfin
Boomslang - For when you need something dead very fast. (Damage Health + Lingering Damage Health) Mora Tapinella + Imp Stool + River Betty
Archery- Is our main method of dealing out damage to our enemies. There is to be no "sneak shooting" You are the chosen warrior of a god. Once Ranger, Quick Shot, and Power Shot are perked you can easily move around avoid getting hit while keeping most enemies at bay.
Light Armor- A big problem with most ranger/archer builds is they tend to be squishy.With this build we will be keeping our insides on the insides. For leveling this skill I recommend using Grelka in Riften, as she is a merchant and you can sell your goods to her in exchange for training. The key perk hear is really Wind Walker. Once obtained and paired with the Lady Stone, we will be regenerating Stamina 75% faster.
Alchemy- As a servant of Y'free you know that all things contain magical properties and use them to aid you in your quest. This skill is used to brew both soothing boons, and vile death. Just make sure to follow the Green Pact.
Alteration- Channeling the natural magics of Nirn to aid you along the way. Not only does this give us a buff to our armor rating early in game, but in the mid game it makes sure we are never surprised. In the late game a bit of crowd control. Marked for Death + Paralyze is great for boss fights with a lot of minions. While the big man is down getting weaker, you can mop up the multitudes.
Restoration- This is key for both defensive and offensive purposes. Not only can we restore our health and stamina, Wards are also a key part in combat against dragons. Fire an arrow coated with Boomslang, Ward to protect against breath attack. Ward absorb is taken to ensure in these tougher battles with dragons, you can maintain this tactic.
Smithing- Is key to creating and improving your arms and armor. Also as an RP principle you can not advance in rank through the Wardens until you can craft your new armor. Balimund of Riften, and Euorland Grey-Mane can teach you much about this skill, and once again are both merchants.
As the Initiate you are out to prove yourself a loyal servant. In order to do this there are both some in game objectives and role play objectives that you must complete. Straight away you want to head to Markarth to acquire the Ring of Namira, being of our most important and vital pieces of gear. As this is both important for the meat mandate as well giving us some nice buffs early on. Hence the role play starts. You may have heard it said " You break it you buy it". Well for us, it changes to "You kill it you eat it". You will need to kill (and eat) 10 farmers as they are bringing harm to "The Green" The bounty you pick up should keep you out of some cities. Just be careful those Nords taste a little like Mammoth... moving on.
During this phase of the play through we are going to focus on both Archery and Alchemy. Archery can be trained easily early on with Feandal (and for the low low price of free). While adhering to the Green Pact makes Alchemy a bit more of a challenge, it also gives you a good reason to go out and hunt/fish. Skyrim can be a beautiful place full of color and wildlife, this is a build that aims to make the most of it.
Equipment for this stage is fairly easy to acquire and can be done so within 5 minutes of escaping Helgan. Mainly taken for looks and to get that hunter vibe going on as early as we can.
Special move: Trial of Nature: Sneak+Command Animal. Only the worthy shall be defenders of the green. And so the Green shall defend them.
Wait! I almost forgot, seriously if you don't know this you'll never make it anywhere. You must acquire both the Ranger and Quick Shot Perks in Archery. On the Alchemy side Alchemist 3/5 and Physician must be taken. You must also in order to advance complete the following. The Companions Questline up to "Proving Honor". Also The Blessings of Nature Quest. Just remember Spriggans are guardians of Nature hence a no kill encounter, unless done in a trial of nature. The Final requirement to move on is being able to craft Elven Armor.
During this phase Archery is still our main damage dealer, however our primary focus will now change to honing our senses. Through our practical application of Alteration we will be able to endure the swarms of enemies we will be encountering. Boosting both are armor rating and situational awareness through the use of detection spells.
We'll stumble upon a book of long lost legends that hints at a legendary source of power. Rumor has it that the College of Winterhold is excavating Sarthal. We will join with them as a means to an end. While there make sure to pick up J'Zargo as a follower. Not only is he a powerful mage but will bring some comedic relief and life to the play through. Seriously what is better than listening to a Khajit taunt while sling spells, oh and the best part NO maximum level cap for him. Alternative uses of the College will allow us semi-quick access to Alteration training and advanced spells in that school. Once you have reforged the long lost and near forgotten Gaulder Amulet, we will be taking a journey up the sacred 7000 steps. Along the way if you read all 10 etched tablets you will receive the voice of the sky. This is a nice passive that fits into the "Guardian of Nature" type. We will start the main quest, but only go as far a retrieving the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Once attacked by the Cultist we will travel and restore balance to a land corrupted by dark magic.
It is also during this phase of the build that we we learn how to quickly chain our bow and our voice together. Shout preparation is something I discovered here on the blog, and had explained to me by another member but works great with the shouts used in this build. You can use it to chain together an elemental assault on an enemy, or even for defensive purposes, using shouts like disarm or Whirlwind Sprint to keep distance between you and whatever is trying to kill you. Here is how it works
- Equip your Shout (In this case Whirlwind Sprint)
- Ready an arrow but don't fire it yet
- Activate the Shout (It will not activate at this point which is good)
- Release the arrow
- Look in any direction and the Shout will instantly trigger after about 1-2 seconds Abilities acquired: Dragonborn Flame/Frost, Secret of Protection, Bardic Knowledge
Special move: Elemental Assault: Y'frees Wrath+Dragons Terror+Enchanted Bow+ Shout Prep of appropriate element for the target(s).
Make sure to pick up a Stalhrim Bow from either Glover Mallory or Baldor Iron-Shaper. Even without perking enchanting Stalhrim has inherent properties allow us to pick up a 25% more powerful frost enchantment. This bow is named Solace. It is one of four requirements to move onto The Disciple rank. Next you must slay 5 Alchemists. Following this you must be able to craft Glass Armor. And finally skill wise you must have taken all Alteration perks listed above, as well as finishing perking Alchemy. Doubling the effectiveness of our poisons and how many times they can be used.
The Disciple is a valiant and complete warrior of Y'ffre. Upon returning from that dirty business on Solthiem you task yourself with the obliteration of the children of Molag Bal, as they are not natural, but corrupted by the Daedra. Having proven your faith in the fires of tribulation Y'ffre has granted us the power over life energies. Restoration gives us another offensive as well as a defensive tool, not to mention brings in a sense of holiness to the build.. From healing to great passives, to turning the undead and being able to blast away with sun spells. The Poison Rune is great for leveling your Restoration skill, and the damage stacks, best used against living creatures.
When you can stack poisons from your bow with poison damage from the rune and watch that DPS skyrocket, what still not satisfied? Well, how about when the mammoth dung guts the fan start this out with MfD. We will be choosing the Dawn Guard side of course. Our new Bow Solace will be of little use as well which is where our Bow of Fiery Damnation comes in. Glass Bow enchanted with Fire Damage.
Special Move: Hunters Decoy: (Conjure Familiar + Ash Shell) Conjure your wild animal spirit and encase it in ash. This will keep your enemies attention while you pepper them with arrows.
Our equipment just keeps getting better as our quest continues. Glass armor in my own opinion is about as awesome as it gets looks wise.
Upon completing the Dawngaurd quest line you will find yourself in possession of Auri-Els' Bow, surely only the purest of heart and soul could wield such a holy weapon. This is the first of four requirements for Advancement. The others are obtaining the "Windwalker" perk as well as being able to craft your Dragonscale armor. Finally you are pulled to the center of Skyrim to Shalidors' Maze. Claim the Diadem of the Savant and you will become...
Holding sway over the energies of life and death. The Faithful of Y'ffre has ascended. With the Diadem of the Savant counting as light armor, The Wind Walker perk comes to full power with the lady stone, and Ring of Namira. Giving us unparalleled buffs to regeneration and Health and Stamina pools. She has become the champion of life itself, and will do battle with the ones who seeks to end all life. It is time to seek out the first born of the Time Dragon, and destroy him once and for all. That however is not the end, only the beginning, for our heroine. Upon returning from Sovengaurd with most of Skyrims dangers sorted, it is time to hunt down the rest of the Dov. Those who will seek to dominate. You will start with Parthunax. For rebuilding the Blades use Bosmer or Khajit.
Passive Acquired: Force without effort
Combat wise she is the unleashed combination of her experience. Able to use any and all skills she has learned on our journey. The petty laws of Skyrim take second place to the laws of The Green. This doesn't mean you just run around and kill people, you become somewhat of a judge. Who is worthy? Who is lacking? Who knows? The choice is yours. This build upon completion, is mobile, lethal, and purely magical. One last thing for role play, give her a name.
Special Move: Purity of the Green (Guardian Circle + Sun+Sun Blast + Auri-els' Bow)
Conclusion
I hope you have enjoyed this build, and I would like to thank a few people for their help. The guys from the workshop, for your feedback, Golden Fool for the perk and equipment spread, as well as all the great artist from Deviant Art. In conclusion this build was great fun, I took it much farther than just level 50, as a Wanderer type. Don't forget to like it if you like it, and leave a comment. Feedback is appreciated. I will do my best to answer any questions that you may have.
