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Character Build: Knight-Priest of The Tenth Eye

Tags: #Character Build Crusader  #Character Build Healer  #Character Build No Crafting  #Race:Imperial  #Rank:Recognized  #LeBlanc Builds 
  • Member
    December 23, 2015

    For this build  I had a couple of ideas that didn't pan out once I got into my research but some of the nuts and bolts of those attempts led me back to my formative years in fantasy gaming...of course that would be D&D and my favorite D&D class, the Cleric; part warrior, part priest.  I know Ponty and No snakes aLive both did a cleric build but after reading them I thought mine was sufficiently different to move forward with it.  They both are certainly builds to strive towards however and I highly recommend you checking them out.  I've spent hours going back into D&D lore and the Players Handbook to review the Cleric class and their allowances and limitations.  I've attempted to mimic that as best I could here.

    Wander around any village, of any significant size, and you are likely to come across a robed mouthpiece espousing the virtues of their particular patron.  Typically, these are one of The Nine and on occasion you run across the odd carnival barker either attempting to tell you the glory of their daedric lord; or more likely trying to kill you as a sacrifice to that same god.  Rarely, however, will these robed money-changers leave the comfort and security of their walled cities to bring their message to the masses.

    The Knight-Priest wielding the power of The Tenth Eye.

    Then there is The Tenth Eye, a mystical branch of clerics that are rarely seen in Tamriel.  They leave the more mundane arts of healing to the Priestesses of Mara and the relic thumping to the Priests of Talos, especially the one in Whiterun.  No, the Tenth Eye are more beholden to action and confronting evil in all forms head on.  There are no temples, no bulwark of respite;  there is only the next step on a journey to rid the world of wrong doing and to smite evil where it creeps out from rotting corpses and crawls out of yawning caskets.  With word of vampires swarming the peaks of Skyrim, and the rumored destruction of the Hall of the Vigilants, The Tenth Eye have sent a Knight-Priest into Skyrim to begin to bring balance to the countryside and to combat evil wherever he may find it.

    • Race: Imperial
    • Major Skills: Alteration; Illusion; Restoration
    • Minor Skills: Heavy Armor; One-Handed
    • Standing Stone: Lord/Lover/Steed
    • Shrine: Mara
    • Shouts: Animal Allegiance; Slow Time; Throw Voice; Battle Fury
    • Unperked Stats: Level 25: 200/180/120     Level 48: 340/250/140
    • Recommended Quests: Dawnguard; Destroy the Dark Brotherhood
    • Suggested Quests: Companions and Main Quest
    • Optional Quests: Any quest where evil can be eradicated

     

    The Tenth Eye are ever seeking to vanquish evil at it's root.  No sense to wait for it to creep into the village when you can visit it at home in it's crypt and crush it at it's very heart.  Follower's will be an important part to this build.  Your primary focus will be in a support/leadership role.  History shows us that any General worth his stars leads from the front line but not to the point of being the first to die.  You bring in followers to assist you in your endeavors.  Typically they will be like-minded souls.  I recommend Mjoll the Lioness or Uthgerd the Unbroken in the early going as they are easily accessible early in the game in Whiterun and Riften.  Later you will want Frea as your end game companion.

    As we do not have a bevy of mandated quests this leaves the game open to be free-flowing for you to follow whatever path you desire.  We will stay on the Dawnguard side to vanquish the vampire threat however and pursue the build from a Chaotic Good standpoint.   Feel free to modify the build to fit an evil build should you desire.

     

    Channeling the Power of the Eye.

    In keeping with D&D lore for the cleric class we are limited in the spells we are able to utilize.  Here's a detailed list broken down by tree.

    Restoration: All self healing; all wards; all Heal Other spells; Sun Fire; all Turn Undead; Vampire's Bane; Circle of Protection; Grand healing; Bane of the Undead; Guardian Circle

    Illusion: Courage, Rally, Invisibility, Call to Arms, Harmony, Vision of the Tenth Eye, Calm, Pacify

    Alteration: All mage armors, All light spells, All detection spells (life, undead).  At Expert Level you gain the ability to paralyze your foes as their evil is overwhelmed by the light of The Eye.

     

    For gear you will note we are not taking any crafting skills.

    For aesthetics we are going with the Vigilant of Stendarr look; robes and a hood along with armor boots and gauntlets.  Mage armor spells will help offset the loss of armor from the other pieces.

    As noted, in this build we are not using a shield although you can carry one with you for dire emergencies. 

    Gear will be gathered from quests, vendors and random loot drops.  In leveling I wanted the Dawnguard set plus the Nordic Mace.  The Lunar Mace was helpful in the early going; I picked up one with a +20 damage bonus.

    At the end I was looking for Stalhrim armor and the Stalhrim Mace.

    For specific gear we are seeking random loot drops.  This is made easier by the mere fact that you are hunting evil all across Skyrim.  Feel free to modify your gear selection as you find appropriate (or better) gear than you currently have.  For example, I was wearing an Adept Hood, giving me +40 Magicka.  Then I found an Elven Helm of Eminent Magicka that gave me additional armor and +50 Magicka.  Needless to say, I used the Elven helm.  We are not taking the armor bonuses in Heavy Armor so this mixing and matching will not hurt you in any way.  Also, the use of Mage Armor from the Alteration tree will help offset any lost AR while wearing robes and hoods.

    At level 25 I finished the College of Winterhold quest line and the Arch Mage robes were better than what I was wearing.  Note that there is a second set of Arch Mage robes in the bedroom area that does NOT have a hood.  This is my preferred setup to allow a hood/circlet in combination with the robes.

    For armor enchantments you will be looking for Fortify Restoration as your primary enchantment and Fortify Alteration as your secondary enchantment.  If you find pieces with Fortify Illusion hang on to those as they will come in handy when casting Master level Illusion spells.

    Weapons: Mace only.  It would also be acceptable to use staffs in the offhand but only those that line up with your cleric abilities.  This is one place you could get a Banish staff for daedra since we couldn't delve into the conjuration tree.

    Misc. Gear: As The Tenth is a conglomeration of The Nine, the Aetherial Crown would make a good addition to your gear set, allowing you to take two standing stones.  The Steed comes in handy until you gain the Heavy Armor perk to nullify armor weight.  The Lover is strong in this build as it allows +15% faster gain in all categories and we are going pretty high in all of them.  And I just like the Lord Stone benefit. 

    The Knight-Priest faces down a dragon....unflinching in his conviction.

    You will be primarily in a leadership/support role as previously stated.  Prepare for combat ahead of time by casting Courage on your follower to bump up their health and stamina.  Then switch your off hand spell to Heal Other in order to replenish the health of your side kick.  During combat with undead you can flex your muscle by utilizing your cleric-specific spells.  Use your Sun Fire spells to allow for AOE damage and your "turn undead" spells to even the odds when facing multiple enemies.  This is extremely useful when facing a boss level undead as it allows your follower to deal damage without being hit in return. 

    When the opportunity arises, and your follower has taken the attention of your opponent, dart in to throw a few hits with your mace.  Be aware of any damage your meat shield is taking and be ready to throw a heal on them quickly.  You can carry a shield if you feel the need to help with defense.

    The primary goal late in the game is to get Guardian Circle for a self healing circle for yourself, Call to Arms will be the primary buff for your follower.  The only shout we will truly want is Battle Fury and this will beef up the offense of our follower helping immensely later in the game.  We will also want to seek out one Black Book, The Winds of Change.  This keeps us from doing damage to our followers with attacks or shouts.  This will be very helpful, since the build needs a follower, in alleviating damage to your companion.

    There are a few other shouts that line up with the class as noted; Animal Allegiance, Slow Time and Throw Voice.  All of these can be used in appropriate circumstances to help change the course of a fight.

    The Knight-Priest in a support role and casting blessings on his companion.

     

     

    All Father, The Tenth Eye, Hear the call of your faithful.
    Open my spirit to receive thy blessing, Make me worthy of your works.
    I am your tool, to shape and mold; to hold in your mighty hand.
    To smite those that need smiting, and to bear up those that need comfort.
    Open my mind, heart, spirit and Arm That I may be worthy to sacrifice all in thy name;
    and bring honor to The Tenth as your Knight-Priest.
    -Knight-Priest Prayer

    The Knight-Priest laying a consecration circle in preparation for prayer.

    All Priests gain their power through communion with their god.  The Knight-Priest is no different and must enter a prayer-trance with The Tenth Eye in order to obtain his spell casting ability.  Once per day, the Knight-Priest prepares and consecrates a setting for this communion.  What follows is the process to establish contact with your god on a daily basis as you become stronger in your faith:

    Novice: Candlelight, to chase the shadows away.  Very weak but signifies a searching for a connection.

    Apprentice: Magelight, cast on the floor, to create a pool of purity.  Stronger, feeling the pull of the Tenth Eye.

    Adept: Magelight followed by Stendarr's Aura; signifying an increasing level of communion.

    Expert: You cast aside your weaker faith spells and embrace your deity.  Circle of Protection followed by Vampire's Bane; The Tenth Eye reaches out from the heavens to strike you with an explosion of light.  You are the first Knight-Priest to ever attain this level of familiarity with The Tenth Eye.

    Master: The Knight-Priest gains his full power when he attains the Vision of the Tenth Eye.  His deity reaches down and physically touches the Priest, opening his eyes to the full power of his faith.  At this level cast Guardian Circle and then Vision of the Tenth Eye and witness the miracle of the heavens.

    Conjunction of The Eye: When facing hordes of undead, the Knight-Priest can channel his god's power directly.  Ensure you are near your follower.  Cast down a Guardian Circle and then, as the undead begin to swarm your position, follow this up with Bane of the Undead.  The Tenth Eye will reach down from the heavens and smite your undead foes with both his mighty hands and send then back to the depths.

    Vision of the Eye: When the light is gone and all seems lost, The Tenth Eye allows you to channel his vision by casting your Vision spell, granting you access to view the world through your god's eyes and bring light to the darkness.

     

    The Knight-Priest, on the hunt for evildoers.

    As always, my thanks to those who make their home in the Workshop.  The input and support of this small group is invaluable and much appreciated.  In addition this build saw the input of many ideas that really tightened this build up and made it deeper and richer.  In particular, Relycs for his Vision of the Eye suggestion.  Also Dragonborn1721 for his discussion with me on the merits of particular perks and basically the thought that led to the entirety of the Chant section.  Also to Axius for his idea that led to the Conjunction special move.  My very humble thanks to you all.  An added thanks to Curse for his updated perk shot, very beautiful work CND!

    And thanks, to you, for reading about the Knight-Priest.  You can see my other builds at #LeBlanc Builds

  • December 24, 2015

    Sorry John, left a like but forgot to comment on this.

    Personally, I have to say that this is one of my favorite Cleric Builds. It fits my personal image a little better than most around here, and is fairly simple rather than the usual alignment shift. It seems to be uncommon to just have a straight up Cleric without any gimmicks or character changes so this is a very welcome change. 

    The special abilities seem very fitting for the build and as I said in the Workshop I  love the mere mention of Vision of the Tenth Eye, I actually did have a Seer build based around it and Clairvoyance but never got down to it, so seeing the Vision used is pretty great. 

    Great work mate, and a definite like from me. 

  • Member
    December 24, 2015
    Thanks! It took a little time to get used to playing a support role but you get your licks in and I really enjoyed it as I progressed.
  • Member
    December 25, 2015

    This doesn't have nearly enough likes. +1 from me.

  • Member
    December 25, 2015

    Thank you.  I'm hopeful it's well received but the holidays and all..

  • Member
    December 26, 2015

    I can't resist a cleric build and this one is pretty cool to boot

  • Member
    December 26, 2015

    Thanks Phil.

    I was re-reading the build and realized I had left an error in so that's fixed.  I was discussing Smithing in the Gear section and had it listed still as a minor skill; however late in the build process I decided to take that out and go with Master Alteration (for Paralyze) after some discussion with Dragonborn.  Forgot to edit that out so it's fixed now.

  • Member
    January 20, 2016

    I love the backstory and premise for this build, plus playing as a cleric is pretty darned sweet ;D

    This really should be out of the Bloodworks by now... what gives? :(

  • Member
    January 20, 2016

    Swept under the radar Shin, like many good builds

  • Member
    January 20, 2016

    Thanks for digging up another of my builds from the refuse heap ShinJin!    I don't know if they aren't good or just overlooked.  What matters is I had great fun coming up with the builds and the people that do see them seem to like them.  (I'm actually waiting for my any of my builds to get out of Bloodworks..lol.  We're close on a few.)