Hey again guys, I'm happy to present to you the fourth build in the "Dragon Priests of Solstheim" series. As with Zahkriisos, the lore behind Dukaan is incredibly scarce, a wasted opportunity, I think, Bethesda could have done so much more with the Dragon Cult. This build uses Alchemy and the Apprentice Stone to escape the disadvantage of hitting frost resistance cap and utilizing Blizzard, the result is a fun Spellsword that absolutely dominates the battlefield when played right, whilst still being incredibly vulnerable to spellcasters.
The Gelid Sovereign
"Deep in the halls of White Ridge Barrow, he stirs. The dishonorable one, who was as cold as Atmora itself. He freed his soul, letting it go forth and take a mortal host. His soul penetrated the mind of a young Nord on the sourthern border of Skyrim, he was back... Tamriel will once again feel his frigid wrath..."
"Dukaan.... Dishonor.... Devour Kyne.... It matters little what his name is, only that he shall engulf you in his hyperborean rage..."
The Build
Race: Nord (You know the theme by now, friend).
Stone: The Warrior/Mage/Thief --> The Apprentice (It matters very little which stone you pick at the start, I chose the Thief to increase my Alchemy faster).
Stats: 3/2/2
Major Skills: Heavy Armor, One-Handed, Destruction, Conjuration.
Minor Skills: Alchemy, Enchanting, Smithing, Illusion.
Powers: Companions Insight, Mora's Boon, Seeker of Sorcery, Secret of Arcana, Battle Cry, Dragonborn Frost, Force Without Effort.
Weapons: Enchanted Stalhrim Sword, The Pale Blade OR Chillrend
Gear: Stalhrim Armor, Stalhrim Gauntlets, Stalhrim Boots, Dukaan, Custom Enchanted Ring and Necklace.
Shouts: Become Ethereal, Ice Form, Frost Breath, Dragon Aspect, Storm Call.
Spells: Conjure Frost Atronach, Conjure Seeker, Blizzard, Soul Trap, Rally, Ice Storm, Frost Cloak.
Quests: College of Winterhold, The Pale Lady, The Final Descent, Dragonborn, Main Quest, Discerning the Transmundane, Ironbind Barrow, A New Source of Stalhrim, Destruction Ritual Spell, Black Book: The Sallow Regent, Black Book: The Winds of Change, Black Book: The Hidden Twilight, The Reluctant Steward.
Destruction: When encountered Dukaan wields frost-based Destruction magic, so this skill is of course used. Key Perks are Augmented Frost 2/2, Deep Freeze and Master Destruction.
One-Handed: This will be used to wield The Pale Blade and later, your Stalhrim Sword with maximum efficiency. Key Perks are Armsman 5/5 and Fighting Stance.
Conjuration: This skill will be used to conjure Seekers and Atronachs from Oblivion. Key Perks here are Adept Conjuration and Elemental Potency.
Heavy Armor: This skill is you defensive skill to subdue damage, of course. Key Perks are Juggernaut 5/5, Well Fitted and Conditioning.
Alchemy: This skill is used to fortify defenses as well as induce weakness to frost. Key Perks are Alchemist 5/5, Benefactor and Poisoner.
Enchanting: Of course, this skill will be used to infuse your armor with powerful effects. Key Perks are Enchanter 5/5, Insightful Enchanter and Extra Effect.
Smithing: This skill will be used to create and improve your arms and armor. Key Perks are Ebony Smithing, Daedric Smithing and Arcane Blacksmith.
Illusion: This skill will be used to make your summons more powerful. The only perk required here is Master of the Mind.
Level 25 Perks Level 60 Perks
Gear
Dukaan: Pre-Enchanted with Augmented Frost 25% and Resist Frost 50%.
Stalhrim Armor: Enchanted with Fortify Health and Fortify Destruction
Stalhrim Gauntlets: Enchanted with Fortify One-Handed and Fortify Magicka.
Stalhrim Boots: Enchanted with Fortify One-Handed and Fortify Stamina
Necklace: Enchanted with Fortify Destruction and Fortify Illusion OR Fortify Health
Ring: Enchanted with Fortify Destruction and Fortify Conjuration.
The Pale Blade: Pre-Enchanted with it's unique Frost Terror effect.
Chillrend: Pre-Enchanted with Frost Damage and Paralyze. (This can be looted from Riftweald Manor in Riften without doing the Thieves Guild Questline, for more information click here.)
Stalhrim Sword: Enchanted with Absorb Health and Damage Magicka.
Note: A New Source of Stalhrim must be completed to forge Stalhrim Armor as well as the Ebony Smithing perk, until I had these two components I wore improved Steel Armor enchanted with Fortify One-Handed and Fortify Destruction/Conjuration.
Alchemy Brews
Chilling Solution: Fortify Restoration and Weakness to Frost (Abecean Longfin + Cyrodilic Spadetail + White Cap). Consuming this potion (Or multiple ones, since the effect should stack) before using Blizzard and whilst the Apprentice Stone is active will dramatically increase the damage dealt by Blizzard.
No Escape: Slow and Weakness to Magic (Salt Pile + Deathbell + Creep Cluster)
Restored: Fortify Health and Restore Health (Blue Mountain Flower + Wheat)
Decimate: Lingering Damage Health, Ravage Health and Damage Health (Imp Stool + Scathecraw + Skeever Tail)
The Uses of Shouts
Become Ethereal: Need I go over this again? This shout is the most resourceful in the game, at least in my opinion, in this build we will be using it to
- Avoid high-damaging attacks,
- Run through traps,
- Escape hordes of enemies,
- Power attack for no stamina cost
- And finally to cast Blizzard with no interruptions.
Ice Form: This shout is useful until you have all three words of Frost Breath and Dragonborn Frost, until then, use this shout to freeze your opponents for several free swings at them.
Frost Breath: As stated above, this shout becomes more powerful than Ice Form when Dragonborn Frost is obtained, not to mention the +75% boost is gets from Dukaan and Augmented Frost.
Dragon Aspect: Lower shout cooldown, more powerful shouts and a boost in AR however, do not have this shout in effect when using Blizzard, as it increases your elemental resistance, thus weakening Blizzard.
Storm Call: Used to generate massive advantage against dragons, since their breath attack will likely annihilate you when you have such a decreased magicka resistance.
Combat
With this build, Mages can be absolutely devastating, be sure they are your primary target, your Stalhrim Sword's enchantment should help weaken them. The Fortify Health boosts make you more bulky and thus allow you to survive longer on the battlefield.
The Pale Blade is incredible against melee fighters, and reduces them to a slow, whimpering target on legs, combine the slow effect from frost magic with the No Escape poison and you've turned a warrior into a sniveling coward.
Alternatively, Chillrend can easily take down opponents with its high damaging frost effect and its chance of paralysis, making it a deadly choice in melee combat.
In close combat Dragon Aspect helps greatly with its boost in so many places and increased AR. It will also allow you to survive longer against a mages or dragons.
As for summoning, Seekers are great for ranged attack and can decimate enemies from afar, whereas Frost Atronachs are devastating in close combat. It should be noted that to have a Seeker and a Frost Atronach out at once, the Seeker must be summoned first.
As stated above, against dragons, Storm Call is invaluable, since it makes up for not being able to take much damage from them by allowing you to deal substantially more damage to them.
Finally, Blizzard when combined with multiple doses of Chilling Solution and the Apprentice Stone makes up for the Nords Racial ability and Dukaan's enchantment, leading to insane damage output, use it wisely.
Roleplay
It is evident that Dukaan became enthralled by Hermaeus Mora, just as Ahzidal and Zahkriisos did, be sure to read the Oghma Infinium and hunt the Black Books and their power.
Sorry for the incredibly brief roleplay section guys, I'm afraid, like with Zahkriisos, there is little to no lore to be able to create effective roleplay, but if you have any suggestions for it do not hesitate to tell me in the comments. This was the fourth installment in the "Dragon Priests of Solstheim" series, The Gelid Sovereign, I sincerely hope you have enjoyed it.
A large thanks to Relycs for helping me work around the Nords resistance to Frost in combination with Dukaan.
Hey again guys, I'm happy to present to you the fourth build in the "Dragon Priests of Solstheim" series. As with Zahkriisos, the lore behind Dukaan is incredibly scarce, a wasted opportunity, I think, Bethesda could have done so much more with the Dragon Cult. This build uses Alchemy and the Apprentice Stone to escape the disadvantage of hitting frost resistance cap and utilizing Blizzard, the result is a fun Spellsword that absolutely dominates the battlefield when played right, whilst still being incredibly vulnerable to spellcasters.
The Gelid Sovereign
"Deep in the halls of White Ridge Barrow, he stirs. The dishonorable one, who was as cold as Atmora itself. He freed his soul, letting it go forth and take a mortal host. His soul penetrated the mind of a young Nord on the sourthern border of Skyrim, he was back... Tamriel will once again feel his frigid wrath..."
"Dukaan.... Dishonor.... Devour Kyne.... It matters little what his name is, only that he shall engulf you in his hyperborean rage..."
The Build
Race: Nord (You know the theme by now, friend).
Stone: The Warrior/Mage/Thief --> The Apprentice (It matters very little which stone you pick at the start, I chose the Thief to increase my Alchemy faster).
Stats: 3/2/2
Major Skills: Heavy Armor, One-Handed, Destruction, Conjuration.
Minor Skills: Alchemy, Enchanting, Smithing, Illusion.
Powers: Companions Insight, Mora's Boon, Seeker of Sorcery, Secret of Arcana, Battle Cry, Dragonborn Frost, Force Without Effort.
Weapons: Enchanted Stalhrim Sword, The Pale Blade OR Chillrend
Gear: Stalhrim Armor, Stalhrim Gauntlets, Stalhrim Boots, Dukaan, Custom Enchanted Ring and Necklace.
Shouts: Become Ethereal, Ice Form, Frost Breath, Dragon Aspect, Storm Call.
Spells: Conjure Frost Atronach, Conjure Seeker, Blizzard, Soul Trap, Rally, Ice Storm, Frost Cloak.
Quests: College of Winterhold, The Pale Lady, The Final Descent, Dragonborn, Main Quest, Discerning the Transmundane, Ironbind Barrow, A New Source of Stalhrim, Destruction Ritual Spell, Black Book: The Sallow Regent, Black Book: The Winds of Change, Black Book: The Hidden Twilight, The Reluctant Steward.
Destruction: When encountered Dukaan wields frost-based Destruction magic, so this skill is of course used. Key Perks are Augmented Frost 2/2, Deep Freeze and Master Destruction.
One-Handed: This will be used to wield The Pale Blade and later, your Stalhrim Sword with maximum efficiency. Key Perks are Armsman 5/5 and Fighting Stance.
Conjuration: This skill will be used to conjure Seekers and Atronachs from Oblivion. Key Perks here are Adept Conjuration and Elemental Potency.
Heavy Armor: This skill is you defensive skill to subdue damage, of course. Key Perks are Juggernaut 5/5, Well Fitted and Conditioning.
Alchemy: This skill is used to fortify defenses as well as induce weakness to frost. Key Perks are Alchemist 5/5, Benefactor and Poisoner.
Enchanting: Of course, this skill will be used to infuse your armor with powerful effects. Key Perks are Enchanter 5/5, Insightful Enchanter and Extra Effect.
Smithing: This skill will be used to create and improve your arms and armor. Key Perks are Ebony Smithing, Daedric Smithing and Arcane Blacksmith.
Illusion: This skill will be used to make your summons more powerful. The only perk required here is Master of the Mind.
Level 25 Perks Level 60 Perks
Gear
Dukaan: Pre-Enchanted with Augmented Frost 25% and Resist Frost 50%.
Stalhrim Armor: Enchanted with Fortify Health and Fortify Destruction
Stalhrim Gauntlets: Enchanted with Fortify One-Handed and Fortify Magicka.
Stalhrim Boots: Enchanted with Fortify One-Handed and Fortify Stamina
Necklace: Enchanted with Fortify Destruction and Fortify Illusion OR Fortify Health
Ring: Enchanted with Fortify Destruction and Fortify Conjuration.
The Pale Blade: Pre-Enchanted with it's unique Frost Terror effect.
Chillrend: Pre-Enchanted with Frost Damage and Paralyze. (This can be looted from Riftweald Manor in Riften without doing the Thieves Guild Questline, for more information click here.)
Stalhrim Sword: Enchanted with Absorb Health and Damage Magicka.
Note: A New Source of Stalhrim must be completed to forge Stalhrim Armor as well as the Ebony Smithing perk, until I had these two components I wore improved Steel Armor enchanted with Fortify One-Handed and Fortify Destruction/Conjuration.
Alchemy Brews
Chilling Solution: Fortify Restoration and Weakness to Frost (Abecean Longfin + Cyrodilic Spadetail + White Cap). Consuming this potion (Or multiple ones, since the effect should stack) before using Blizzard and whilst the Apprentice Stone is active will dramatically increase the damage dealt by Blizzard.
No Escape: Slow and Weakness to Magic (Salt Pile + Deathbell + Creep Cluster)
Restored: Fortify Health and Restore Health (Blue Mountain Flower + Wheat)
Decimate: Lingering Damage Health, Ravage Health and Damage Health (Imp Stool + Scathecraw + Skeever Tail)
The Uses of Shouts
Become Ethereal: Need I go over this again? This shout is the most resourceful in the game, at least in my opinion, in this build we will be using it to
- Avoid high-damaging attacks,
- Run through traps,
- Escape hordes of enemies,
- Power attack for no stamina cost
- And finally to cast Blizzard with no interruptions.
Ice Form: This shout is useful until you have all three words of Frost Breath and Dragonborn Frost, until then, use this shout to freeze your opponents for several free swings at them.
Frost Breath: As stated above, this shout becomes more powerful than Ice Form when Dragonborn Frost is obtained, not to mention the +75% boost is gets from Dukaan and Augmented Frost.
Dragon Aspect: Lower shout cooldown, more powerful shouts and a boost in AR however, do not have this shout in effect when using Blizzard, as it increases your elemental resistance, thus weakening Blizzard.
Storm Call: Used to generate massive advantage against dragons, since their breath attack will likely annihilate you when you have such a decreased magicka resistance.
Combat
With this build, Mages can be absolutely devastating, be sure they are your primary target, your Stalhrim Sword's enchantment should help weaken them. The Fortify Health boosts make you more bulky and thus allow you to survive longer on the battlefield.
The Pale Blade is incredible against melee fighters, and reduces them to a slow, whimpering target on legs, combine the slow effect from frost magic with the No Escape poison and you've turned a warrior into a sniveling coward.
Alternatively, Chillrend can easily take down opponents with its high damaging frost effect and its chance of paralysis, making it a deadly choice in melee combat.
In close combat Dragon Aspect helps greatly with its boost in so many places and increased AR. It will also allow you to survive longer against a mages or dragons.
As for summoning, Seekers are great for ranged attack and can decimate enemies from afar, whereas Frost Atronachs are devastating in close combat. It should be noted that to have a Seeker and a Frost Atronach out at once, the Seeker must be summoned first.
As stated above, against dragons, Storm Call is invaluable, since it makes up for not being able to take much damage from them by allowing you to deal substantially more damage to them.
Finally, Blizzard when combined with multiple doses of Chilling Solution and the Apprentice Stone makes up for the Nords Racial ability and Dukaan's enchantment, leading to insane damage output, use it wisely.
Roleplay
It is evident that Dukaan became enthralled by Hermaeus Mora, just as Ahzidal and Zahkriisos did, be sure to read the Oghma Infinium and hunt the Black Books and their power.
Sorry for the incredibly brief roleplay section guys, I'm afraid, like with Zahkriisos, there is little to no lore to be able to create effective roleplay, but if you have any suggestions for it do not hesitate to tell me in the comments. This was the fourth installment in the "Dragon Priests of Solstheim" series, The Gelid Sovereign, I sincerely hope you have enjoyed it.
A large thanks to Relycs for helping me work around the Nords resistance to Frost in combination with Dukaan.
