The Grey Wizard is a kind old man that travels Tamriel giving advice and guidance.
When he encounters the powers of vampirism he is faced with a choice, embrace the darkness and become the undead "Black Wizard", or choose the light to become "The White Wizard".
THE GREY WIZARD
Lore and Role-Play;
Eons ago a spark of Magnus as a shooting star descended from the heavens. An innocent newborn was touched by the light of the falling star, marking his face and changing him forever. Since his transformation he became blessed with a deep connection to Aetherius and large wells of magicka would flow from him. His great power led to him holding high positions within the courts of Cyrodiil and Alinor, however as age claimed him he began to care little for pomp, ceremony, and fine robes, and instead has made it his quest to assist the regular people of Tamriel in any way he can.
He has traveled Tamriel for generations, assisting mortals, and always taking a strong stance against the dark. Not quite powerful enough for eternal youth, he has begrudgingly settled for eternal old age.
(He is not the dragonborn, stop the main questline before retrieving the Dragonstone!)
Quests;
Becoming Thane (All Provinces except Windhelm)
Assist the people of Tamriel, ease their worries, and help keep them safe. Befriend many citizens throughout your travels by having a new follower for each hold. I thought this was nice because it's a good role-play excuse to do the smaller quests often skipped over in a playthrough.
The College of Winterhold
The Grand Wizard has visited the College many times over the decades, and when the Orb is found by Tolfdir he is called in for assistance and his council. Accepting the responsibilities of Arkmage makes sense as he is one of the most proficient mages in Tamriel.
Perks;
The only essential perks this early on include Destruction cost reductions, Augmented flames, Dual Casting, Impact, Steel Smithing and Aspect of Terror.
(Reaching Lvl 50 Illusion for Aspect of Terror is very easy, simply casting muffle while running from location to location is enough)
Items;
Abilities;
Mage Rage;
Let the enemies feel the power of the elements, Dual Cast Ignite
Hold Fast;
As a grand wizard of high stature, it is beneath you to flee from combat and kite enemies, Dual cast Flame Cloak, cast a Ward to temporarily increase armour rating, and cast Ignite.
Benevolence;
To see your allies struggle is upsetting, use your skills to allay their sufferings, Cast Healing Hands and Courage.
Power Source;
Vast quantities of magicka flow through the Grand Wizard. Take the blessing of Akatosh, the Apprentice Stone, and eat an Elsweyr Fondue. In total this will grant a satisfying +100 Magicka and + 135% Magicka Regeneration.
Note: Equipping the Ring of Arcana before taking the quest "Ill Met by Moonlight", will cause the spells "Ignite" and "Freeze" to be permanently locked into your inventory, even when the ring is not equipped. Simply start the quest, and the "Ring of Arcana" will be replaced by the game with the "Cursed Ring of Hircine". Upon slaying Sinding the Cursed Ring will be removed, leaving your ring slot once again open, while retaining the spells.
Further Note: Fire spells are boosted by "Aspect of Terror". A player with one rank of "Augmented Flames" and "Aspect of Terror" unlocked will have Ignite deliver 17 points of fire damage per second. If this is dual cast the damage over the full 15 second duration is;
17 * 2.2 * 15 = 561
Which is impressive as this is available as early as level 10. Ignite is also very cheap, and it can stack onto itself.
THE BLACK WIZARD
Lore and Role-Play;
During the Dawnguard expansion, accept the corrupting darkness of vampirism. As soon as he is touched by Harkon, The Grey Wizard knows his mistake, the power he is granted is greater than he could have imagined, but his soul tainted, his spark of Magnuses light is turned black. He rages against his loss and the living who still live in merry innocence. His hatred drives him forever onwards for more power and death.
Quests;
Dawnguard
Embrace the Darkness and the corrupting influence of vampirism.
The Dark Side
During "The Grey Wizard", you will have had a separate follower for each hold. Murder all of them. Lure them away from the towns and their loved ones to betray them one by one. If you wish, you can keep them as undead slaves, humiliating shadows of their former selves.
Deadric Power
The Black Wizard has been corrupted by darkness, but his power is not yet enough. Pursue the favor of the dark gods by completing all of the Deadric quests.
War
Join one side of the civil war. When you get to Korvanjund betray the soldiers of your faction, leaving them all to rot with the draugr. Take the crown for yourself, wear it in the wilderness and laugh manically.
Main Quest
You dont care about the fate of tamriel, but you do want one thing; the power of Alduin's soul.
Extermination
In the late game when your power is at its zenith, punish the citizens of Skyrim. Spread death and fear, as you go into every town and butcher all the non-essential NPC's.
Perks;
- Up to Deadric smithing
- 5/5 Enchanter, Insightful, Corpus, Extra Effect
- 5/5 Alchemist, Physician, Benefactor
- Conjuration up to "Twin Souls"
- Augmented Shock 2/2
- Alteration up to "Atronach"
- Restoration to "Necromage"
Items;
Abilities;
Elemental Immunity
The Black Wizard is beyond weak mortal magic, and scorns those seeking to take advantage of his vampiric aversion to fire. Instead these attempts only add to his power.
You can reach 100% magicka absorption without having to use the restoration potion glitch on standing stones. Simply being a necromage vampire while taking the perk "Atronach" for the first time and "The Atronach Stone" for the first time, will grant total magicka absorption. The sanguine rose and ash guardian battery will work with this method. Laugh off the attempts of lesser Wizards to harm you.
Daedric LORD
The Black Wizard's power rivals the daedric princes themselves.
The Dark Brotherhood initiates as well as Cicero can be added to your party in addition to your regular follower. If you kit them all out in full daedric armour, and give them cloned Sanguine Rose staffs, in combat you can have up to eight deadra fighting for you. If you take the "Twin Souls" perk, you can summon an additional two, giving you a grand total of ten daedric servants.
Warlord mask
His visage is cruelty manifest. People wonder if he is still human.
I discovered that the Solstheim dragon masks and the falmer helmet will not only stack, but render together, leading to a very unique, cruel looking helm I have coined "The Warlord Mask".
Cruelty
The Black Wizard is no longer content to simply destroy his enemies, he openly mocks them with his power.
You can have the vampire lord telekinesis ability while in human form, as seen here. Its entertaining to throw people into the midst of your daedric army.
Horror
Cast "Thunderbolt" with a fortify destruction potion, and the dragon mask "Zahkriisos"
THE WHITE WIZARD
Lore and Role-Play
Battling the darkness took its tole on your body and mind. In the depths of a crypt, shattered and broken by combat, the Grey Wizard breathed his last... but Auriel and Magnus still had use for you. You were reborn through Auriel's cleansing light, more powerful than ever.
Quests
Dawnguard + The Break of Dawn
Purge Tamriel of darkness.
Civil War
Restore peace to a broken kingdom.
Dragonborn
When the dragon problem becomes more serious, the mantle of responsibility falls to you. Lead a fellowship to Solstheim in search of a dragonborn to defeat the dragons and fulfil the prophesy.
Main Quest
As the most powerful mage in Tamriel, people look to you for help when the dragon crisis begins.
Choose a follower to be the dragonborn, and lead them through the main quest. You serve as his experienced guide and advisor. Once the dragonborn banishes Alduin from the physical plane, spirit journey to Sovngarde to finish him for good.
Perks
- Up to Complex Smithing
- Alchemist 5/5, Physician, Benefactor
- Enchanter 5/5, Insightful, Corpus, Extra Effect
- Augmented Flames 2/2
- Recovery 2/2
Items
Abilities
Blessings of Auriel
The reward for resisting evil is great indeed. Feel Auriel's power flowing through you.
It is possible to permanently boost magicka regeneration to very high levels. Taking a series of "Fortify Restoration" potions before unlocking the perk "Recovery" will enhance the Recovery perk effect by the magnitude of the applied Fortify Restoration effect.
The Power of the Circle;
Very very quickly refill your mana bar using the power of white magic. Cast "Circle of Protection" while having either the "Atronach Stone" or the "Atronach" perk.
The "magicka absorption" effect will recognise the circle as a foreign spell, and will absorb large quantities of magicka from it for the spells entire duration.
Also, "Circle of Protection" coupled with "Stendarr's Aura", looks awesome.
Potency
Enhance the power of the White Wizard.
With the greenhouse Hearthfire addon, it is possible to quickly make many many potions. Glowing Mushroom + Nightshade can be used to make a fortify destruction potion. With all the alchemy perks, five items of fortify alchemy gear, and "Seeker of Shadows", you can reach potions in the +200% damage range.
This will lead to a duel cast "Incinerate" delivering around 600 damage.
You can boost this effect as high as you like, by werewolf glitching more fortify alchemy gear onto your character while making the potions.
I typically spend around 80% of my questing time under the influence of a destruction potion.
Ascension
To operate successfully in Middle Ear Tamriel, The Grand Wizard must often hide his true power to maintain balance. However against powerful foes his full divine fury can be unleashed.
Take a strong fortify restoration potion, and equip the Amulet of Talos. All shouts will now have zero cooldown.
Use the first two words of "Slow Time".
Using a series of Unrelenting Forces, blast everyone in the room to the floor, then spray "walls of fire" and "walls of lightning" everywhere. Chaincast "Blizzard". By the time enemies come to, you will have flooded the everything with unstoppable elemental magic.
The Grey Wizard is a kind old man that travels Tamriel giving advice and guidance.
When he encounters the powers of vampirism he is faced with a choice, embrace the darkness and become the undead "Black Wizard", or choose the light to become "The White Wizard".
THE GREY WIZARD
Lore and Role-Play;
Eons ago a spark of Magnus as a shooting star descended from the heavens. An innocent newborn was touched by the light of the falling star, marking his face and changing him forever. Since his transformation he became blessed with a deep connection to Aetherius and large wells of magicka would flow from him. His great power led to him holding high positions within the courts of Cyrodiil and Alinor, however as age claimed him he began to care little for pomp, ceremony, and fine robes, and instead has made it his quest to assist the regular people of Tamriel in any way he can.
He has traveled Tamriel for generations, assisting mortals, and always taking a strong stance against the dark. Not quite powerful enough for eternal youth, he has begrudgingly settled for eternal old age.
(He is not the dragonborn, stop the main questline before retrieving the Dragonstone!)
Quests;
Becoming Thane (All Provinces except Windhelm)
Assist the people of Tamriel, ease their worries, and help keep them safe. Befriend many citizens throughout your travels by having a new follower for each hold. I thought this was nice because it's a good role-play excuse to do the smaller quests often skipped over in a playthrough.
The College of Winterhold
The Grand Wizard has visited the College many times over the decades, and when the Orb is found by Tolfdir he is called in for assistance and his council. Accepting the responsibilities of Arkmage makes sense as he is one of the most proficient mages in Tamriel.
Perks;
The only essential perks this early on include Destruction cost reductions, Augmented flames, Dual Casting, Impact, Steel Smithing and Aspect of Terror.
(Reaching Lvl 50 Illusion for Aspect of Terror is very easy, simply casting muffle while running from location to location is enough)
Items;
Abilities;
Mage Rage;
Let the enemies feel the power of the elements, Dual Cast Ignite
Hold Fast;
As a grand wizard of high stature, it is beneath you to flee from combat and kite enemies, Dual cast Flame Cloak, cast a Ward to temporarily increase armour rating, and cast Ignite.
Benevolence;
To see your allies struggle is upsetting, use your skills to allay their sufferings, Cast Healing Hands and Courage.
Power Source;
Vast quantities of magicka flow through the Grand Wizard. Take the blessing of Akatosh, the Apprentice Stone, and eat an Elsweyr Fondue. In total this will grant a satisfying +100 Magicka and + 135% Magicka Regeneration.
Note: Equipping the Ring of Arcana before taking the quest "Ill Met by Moonlight", will cause the spells "Ignite" and "Freeze" to be permanently locked into your inventory, even when the ring is not equipped. Simply start the quest, and the "Ring of Arcana" will be replaced by the game with the "Cursed Ring of Hircine". Upon slaying Sinding the Cursed Ring will be removed, leaving your ring slot once again open, while retaining the spells.
Further Note: Fire spells are boosted by "Aspect of Terror". A player with one rank of "Augmented Flames" and "Aspect of Terror" unlocked will have Ignite deliver 17 points of fire damage per second. If this is dual cast the damage over the full 15 second duration is;
17 * 2.2 * 15 = 561
Which is impressive as this is available as early as level 10. Ignite is also very cheap, and it can stack onto itself.
THE BLACK WIZARD
Lore and Role-Play;
During the Dawnguard expansion, accept the corrupting darkness of vampirism. As soon as he is touched by Harkon, The Grey Wizard knows his mistake, the power he is granted is greater than he could have imagined, but his soul tainted, his spark of Magnuses light is turned black. He rages against his loss and the living who still live in merry innocence. His hatred drives him forever onwards for more power and death.
Quests;
Dawnguard
Embrace the Darkness and the corrupting influence of vampirism.
The Dark Side
During "The Grey Wizard", you will have had a separate follower for each hold. Murder all of them. Lure them away from the towns and their loved ones to betray them one by one. If you wish, you can keep them as undead slaves, humiliating shadows of their former selves.
Deadric Power
The Black Wizard has been corrupted by darkness, but his power is not yet enough. Pursue the favor of the dark gods by completing all of the Deadric quests.
War
Join one side of the civil war. When you get to Korvanjund betray the soldiers of your faction, leaving them all to rot with the draugr. Take the crown for yourself, wear it in the wilderness and laugh manically.
Main Quest
You dont care about the fate of tamriel, but you do want one thing; the power of Alduin's soul.
Extermination
In the late game when your power is at its zenith, punish the citizens of Skyrim. Spread death and fear, as you go into every town and butcher all the non-essential NPC's.
Perks;
- Up to Deadric smithing
- 5/5 Enchanter, Insightful, Corpus, Extra Effect
- 5/5 Alchemist, Physician, Benefactor
- Conjuration up to "Twin Souls"
- Augmented Shock 2/2
- Alteration up to "Atronach"
- Restoration to "Necromage"
Items;
Abilities;
Elemental Immunity
The Black Wizard is beyond weak mortal magic, and scorns those seeking to take advantage of his vampiric aversion to fire. Instead these attempts only add to his power.
You can reach 100% magicka absorption without having to use the restoration potion glitch on standing stones. Simply being a necromage vampire while taking the perk "Atronach" for the first time and "The Atronach Stone" for the first time, will grant total magicka absorption. The sanguine rose and ash guardian battery will work with this method. Laugh off the attempts of lesser Wizards to harm you.
Daedric LORD
The Black Wizard's power rivals the daedric princes themselves.
The Dark Brotherhood initiates as well as Cicero can be added to your party in addition to your regular follower. If you kit them all out in full daedric armour, and give them cloned Sanguine Rose staffs, in combat you can have up to eight deadra fighting for you. If you take the "Twin Souls" perk, you can summon an additional two, giving you a grand total of ten daedric servants.
Warlord mask
His visage is cruelty manifest. People wonder if he is still human.
I discovered that the Solstheim dragon masks and the falmer helmet will not only stack, but render together, leading to a very unique, cruel looking helm I have coined "The Warlord Mask".
Cruelty
The Black Wizard is no longer content to simply destroy his enemies, he openly mocks them with his power.
You can have the vampire lord telekinesis ability while in human form, as seen here. Its entertaining to throw people into the midst of your daedric army.
Horror
Cast "Thunderbolt" with a fortify destruction potion, and the dragon mask "Zahkriisos"
THE WHITE WIZARD
Lore and Role-Play
Battling the darkness took its tole on your body and mind. In the depths of a crypt, shattered and broken by combat, the Grey Wizard breathed his last... but Auriel and Magnus still had use for you. You were reborn through Auriel's cleansing light, more powerful than ever.
Quests
Dawnguard + The Break of Dawn
Purge Tamriel of darkness.
Civil War
Restore peace to a broken kingdom.
Dragonborn
When the dragon problem becomes more serious, the mantle of responsibility falls to you. Lead a fellowship to Solstheim in search of a dragonborn to defeat the dragons and fulfil the prophesy.
Main Quest
As the most powerful mage in Tamriel, people look to you for help when the dragon crisis begins.
Choose a follower to be the dragonborn, and lead them through the main quest. You serve as his experienced guide and advisor. Once the dragonborn banishes Alduin from the physical plane, spirit journey to Sovngarde to finish him for good.
Perks
- Up to Complex Smithing
- Alchemist 5/5, Physician, Benefactor
- Enchanter 5/5, Insightful, Corpus, Extra Effect
- Augmented Flames 2/2
- Recovery 2/2
Items
Abilities
Blessings of Auriel
The reward for resisting evil is great indeed. Feel Auriel's power flowing through you.
It is possible to permanently boost magicka regeneration to very high levels. Taking a series of "Fortify Restoration" potions before unlocking the perk "Recovery" will enhance the Recovery perk effect by the magnitude of the applied Fortify Restoration effect.
The Power of the Circle;
Very very quickly refill your mana bar using the power of white magic. Cast "Circle of Protection" while having either the "Atronach Stone" or the "Atronach" perk.
The "magicka absorption" effect will recognise the circle as a foreign spell, and will absorb large quantities of magicka from it for the spells entire duration.
Also, "Circle of Protection" coupled with "Stendarr's Aura", looks awesome.
Potency
Enhance the power of the White Wizard.
With the greenhouse Hearthfire addon, it is possible to quickly make many many potions. Glowing Mushroom + Nightshade can be used to make a fortify destruction potion. With all the alchemy perks, five items of fortify alchemy gear, and "Seeker of Shadows", you can reach potions in the +200% damage range.
This will lead to a duel cast "Incinerate" delivering around 600 damage.
You can boost this effect as high as you like, by werewolf glitching more fortify alchemy gear onto your character while making the potions.
I typically spend around 80% of my questing time under the influence of a destruction potion.
Ascension
To operate successfully in Middle Ear Tamriel, The Grand Wizard must often hide his true power to maintain balance. However against powerful foes his full divine fury can be unleashed.
Take a strong fortify restoration potion, and equip the Amulet of Talos. All shouts will now have zero cooldown.
Use the first two words of "Slow Time".
Using a series of Unrelenting Forces, blast everyone in the room to the floor, then spray "walls of fire" and "walls of lightning" everywhere. Chaincast "Blizzard". By the time enemies come to, you will have flooded the everything with unstoppable elemental magic.
