Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Event Build: The Dreamstrider

Tags: #Character Build Dual-Wield  #Character Build Summoner  #Character Build Mage Armor  #Race:Dunmer  #Rank:Event Recognized  #Event:Artifacts 
  • Member
    February 28, 2016

    Artifacts.  Items of great power but with a cloudy lineage on where they come from and sometimes, where they are today.  Some artifacts are easy to find while others take a lifetime of effort to recover.  Two centuries have passed since the Artifacts of Vaermina have walked the land; embraced in the cold, heartless hands of a true and willing Priestess of the goddess.  Since the fall of Oblvion, and Morrowind before that, Vaermina's artifacts have lay dormant, silent; waiting for one to arrive and reclaim them for the Glory of Vaermina herself.

    Now, a chosen one has come forth; a dutiful Priestess Warrior, a Dreamstrider, chosen from among the few worthy faithful, to embark for Skyrim; last known residence of her Artifacts.  Trials and tribulations are certain to arise for the Dreamstrider to confront, however as is the case when you involve a Daedric Lord, all that matters is the reclamation of a specific set of Artifacts as demanded by her liege.  Vaermina will not brook failure.

    Deep in the heart of Vaermina's Temple, the Dreamstrider prepares to set out on her mission...

    THE ARTIFACTS

    As this event is about "Artifacts" this section of the build will focus on the artifacts themselves, how we will recreate them and utilize them in this build.

    Vaermina's signature artifact is The Skull of Corruption.  In Oblivion, the Skull could be used to create a clone of any target that would then attack that target.  While we cannot mimic this exactly, we will attempt to recreate it in a Skyrim-way by tying in a second staff that we will craft from the pits of Oblivion itself and that will summon cloned beings based on a "stance system" depending on the type of enemy you are facing.  In addition to the Skyrim version of the Skull; you will create your cloning-Skulls (see the Stance Section for all the staffs).

    The Atronach Forge, located in The Midden, will be the tool used in recreating the secondary "Skulls"; a set of staves each used for a different "cloning" purpose detailed in the Stances section.  While not an "artifact" it is a unique item that plays an important role in recreating our artifacts.

    The Tools of Kagnarec are made up of Wraithguard, Sunder and Keening.  Wraithguard is a set of Artifact Gauntlets that must be used in order to wield either of the two melee weapons.  To recreate Wraithguard we will utilize a particular set of Dwarven Gauntlets found laying forgotten near the Aetherium Forge.  Keening will be picked up in a College of Winterhold quest while we will take special steps to recreate Sunder, from the Oblivion era, during the Lost to the Ages quest.  Here, you will find a block of scrap Dwarven metal on a bench near the Forge along with a Smithing Hammer.  This is the remains of the legendary Sunder and the hammer required to forge this artifact metal. 

    Now, Skyrim does not have one-handed hammers and Sunder was a one handed hammer originally.  So in searching around I came across the "Haft-Shard of Sunder".  If Sunder itself were a One-Handed weapon and there is a separate "Haft-Shard" that attaches to it...then we can combine the reforged "Sunder" along with the "Haft-Shard" into a Two-Handed Dwarven War Hammer to recreate this artifact. 

    THE BUILD

    Having freed the Skull of Corruption from the traitorous Mara Priest.

    Race: Dunmer (Female)

    Stone: Lord/Mage

    Shouts: Call Dragon; Summon Durnevhiir; Slow Time; Become Ethereal

    Mandatory Quests: Walking Nightmare; Mages College; Assist Aniel Gane; Lost to the Ages; A Night to Remember; Main Quest

    Suggested Quests: Dawnguard (Destroy the Vampires)

    PERKS

    Point Spread: 2 / 1/ 0

    GAMEPLAY

    Having just killed the traitorous Priest of Mara to liberate the Skull

    Gameplay will revolve around acquiring/recreating these artifacts in order to use them in game.  In the early going, use whatever weapons you can as both 1H and 2H weapons will start leveling up those skills.  Magic, however, will be limited to basic healing spells and mage armor spells plus Soul Trap.  You are a Priestess, not a true mage.  You will need the artifacts to utilize their skills in combat so gaining them is very urgent.  In this build we will have two fighting "stances"; one for magic and one for melee.  The magic stance will include several sub-stances surrounding each artifact/staff type; so dual-staff wielding in this stance.

    Start the game by getting to Winterhold and the Mage's College.  Gain initiation into the ranks in order to begin the Mage College quest lines, meet Aniel Gane and gain access to The Midden and the Atronach Forge found within.  You will continue to use the Atronach Forge to craft your other "Skulls"; a Staff of the Frost Atronach and a Staff of the Storm Atronach as soon as you can.  You will also want to find some guy named Sam and have a drinking contest with him.  This will acquire your fifth "Skull" staff in The Sanguine Rose.

    Move on to Dawnstar to complete the Waking Nightmare quest and attain the Skull of Corruption.  Now the interesting part starts....you will be dual wielding two "Skulls" at a time.  Your off-hand (left) will ALWAYS hold the named (Skull) Skyrim artifact while your main hand will rotate among your secondary "Skulls" (hotkey allows for easy stance dancing here) each needed for a different situation and stance outlined below.  Remember to gather up all the Vaermina's Robes during this quest and keep for later enchanting and usage.

    At some point you need to begin the Lost to the Ages quest to begin tracking down the three melee artifacts.

    Vaermina's Hammer and the remains of Sunder lying forgotten near the entrance to the Aetherial Forge.

    While completing the Lost to the Ages quest you will also find the items needed to reforge Sunder and when you finish the quest you will want to craft the Aetherial Staff as your reward for this questline.  When you reach the tree, just before the final entrance to the Forge, there is a table to the left.  Upon this table lie a magical forging hammer, the large block of Dwemer Metal which is the ruined and dormant Sunder and the Dwemer strut which is the ruined Half-Shaft of Sunder.

    Moving into the Forge itself, after clearing it, there is a table to the left.  Upon this table lie the gauntlets, Wraithguard, and also a Smithing Potion.  This potion gives power to Vaermina's Hammer which you then reforge Sunder. 

    Wraithguard and Vaermina's Smithing Potion laying near the Forge.

    Feel free to use followers, especially in the early going, to enhance survival.  A Priestess of a Daedric Lord would have no hesitation to use others as cannon fodder.  The Daedra are not known for their loyalty and neither are their Priestesses.  Side with the Dawnguard for the vampire quests.  We need to pursue this quest line as well to attain the dragon summon which doubles at the "summoning staff/source" for dragon v dragon combat (see below).

    STAFF STANCES

    As noted above we will use various stances, in conjunction with each "Skull" to recreate the Skull of Corruption, circa Oblivion.  You will carry the Skyrim-Skull in your off hand and your crafted "Skull" in your main hand.  Don't forget to charge up your Skyrim Skull in order to use your cloning powers.  So let's discuss the stances and which stance you will use in various circumstances

    vs. Animals: When you find yourself facing any of the animal population around Skyrim you will equip a Staff of The Familiar (animal vs animal). 

    vs. Ranged Opponents: When facing ranged opponents like Archers, use The Flame Atronach (human form with ranged attack).

    vs. Melee Opponents: In a melee situation you will use The Frost Atronach staff (humanoid form with melee attacks).

    vs. Mages: When facing mages, although they are ranged, use The Storm Atronach.  (again, humanoid form with spell casting, and different from Flame Atronach)

    vs. Dragons: Use Call Dragon Shout and/or Summon Durnevhiir (dragon vs dragon).  There are no staffs for this so we use the shout/summon ability to recreate this "cloning" ability.

    vs. Automaton: Use the Aetherial Staff (automaton vs automaton).

    vs. Boss Level enemies: Use The Sanguine Rose (Dremora Lord vs Boss)

    Melee Attacks by you: Ensure you equip Wraithguard and either Keening OR Sunder (must be equipped together).  Remember you lose Mage Armor bonuses when doing this. 

    The Artifacts, rising up from Oblivion to the Atronach Forge

    COMBAT

    Early Game (Before you acquire Skull of Corruption)

    Begin combat by casting Soul Trap and then use Bound Sword or Bound Battleaxe. 

    Early to Mid Game (After acquiring SoC and creating staffs)

    Continue to use Soul Trap to begin combat and then cast the appropriate clone (based on stance) for the enemy you are facing.  Then either use a bound weapon or the Skyrim-SoC for battle.

    Mid to Late Game (After acquiring Tools of Kagnarec)

    This is where you can begin to stance dance as you desire.  Soul Trap will continue to be used when you need gems to recharge your staffs; otherwise just begin with your clone summons.  You can then choose to continue with your staff or switch into melee gear (Wraithguard and Sunder/Keening). 

    Remember to charge up the Skull of Corruption with dreams in order to power your cloning process.  This ties both the Oblivion and Skyrim versions of the Skull together.  Sunder will be your primary melee weapon while Keening will be used to self-heal.  Make sure to change your gear into your Fortify Destruction gear when using Keening and use Wraithguard at all times when using either melee weapon.

    At the end of combat cast Soul Trap on any corpses left in your wake to level up Conjuration a bit more; you can consider this sucking the last vestiges of dreams out of their corpses for Vaermina.  They are likely dripping with fear from dying and will please your goddess greatly.  You can also use Slow Time or Become Ethereal shouts as needed once they are attained.

    ENCHANTING YOUR GEAR

    So the biggest challenge in this event is to "recreate" our artifacts to where they are as close as possible to the original "pre-Skyrim" artifact.  So this section walks you through the various enchantment combinations that we use to do this.

    Skull of Corruption: This is already noted in detail above; there is no enchanting of the staffs although we will enchant some gear in order to improve the number of charges on these items.

    Tools of Kagnarec: This is where the Enchantments will need to really come into play in order to replicate Sunder and Wraithguard in particular although we will also address Keening in our gear enchantments as well.

    There are two sets of gear you will need to utilize in order to recreate the abilities of the artifacts and to enhance gameplay.  The first set is your everyday gear wielded with the Staffs.  The second set are the items you will want to switch out when you equip the melee weaponry.

    Amulet - Fortify Conjuration/ Free Enchantment
    Ring - Fortify Conjuration/ Free Enchantment
    Head - Fortify Destruction / Fortify Magicka
    Body - Fortify Destruction / Fortify Health
    Boots - Resist Fire / Resist Frost
    Gloves - Fortify Magicka/Fortify Sneak.

    Amulet- Fortify Destruction / Resist Magic
    Ring- Fortify Destruction / Fortify Stamina
    Sunder- Chaos Damage / Absorb Health
    Wraithguard- Fortify One-Handed/Fortify Two-Handed

    The reason for the Fortify Destruction enchantments are to attain 100% spell reduction so Keening is useable due to the known glitch with that weapon.  The "Free" enchantments on some gear gives you some added flexibility to the build to address any issues you may feel you are facing be it health, magic regeneration or whatever you feel is needed to perk up the build for your own playstyle.

    NOTES FOR ROLEPLAYING & CRAFTING

    Pick up brooms anywhere you find them to create your staffs.  The first one is found at the Forge itself.

    As noted above you will "reforge" Sunder using very specific items found in the Aetherial Forge.  You will "recreate" the Skull of Corruption in various forms with the different Atronach Staffs created at the Atronach Forge in the Midden.

    Ensure you swap out your gear when using Keening.  If you do NOT have the 100% Fortify Destruction then Keening will not be useable after your first attack. 

    THOUGHTS AND THANKS

    I would like to point out that this was a joint venture build between Relycs and myself.  While I've done the posting, nothing in this build would be possible without the input, help and support of Relycs.  I took all the screenshots while Relycs took those to the next level with his creative genius; he also did all of the Art in the build including the perk screens.  Relycs, my sincere thanks for your time, effort and most of all your willingness to work with me on this Event Build.  Thank you my friend.

    As this was an event build centered on Artifacts, we tossed several ideas around and quickly hit on a basic idea combining my desire to use the Skull of Corruption and Relycs wanting to add in a melee twist to it.  He came up with the dual wielding aspect as a way to tie in the cloning process as best we could.  Kudos on that!   So we've recreated several artifacts dating back to Morrowind and Oblivion and bring them into Skyrim. 

    Added thanks to the Workshop gang for their review, critique and suggestions to bring this to fruition.  It just felt right for Relycs and I to do this build in the Workshop since that's our main hangout here on the site. 

  • Member
    February 28, 2016

    You need to fix your rank tag. Otherwise great job boys.

  • Member
    February 28, 2016

    Awesome work Reblanc

  • Member
    February 28, 2016

    Thanks Manik for the catch.  Fixed.

  • Member
    February 28, 2016
    Thanks :).
  • Member
    February 28, 2016
    Thank you, Dino.
    Check your inbox btw.
  • Member
    February 28, 2016
    Like always, it's too much thanks, John. Sure, I can play around with gameplay and art stuff, but everything creative here was your idea. So take my thanks for that.
  • Member
    February 28, 2016

    This is truly awesome! When I saw your entry on the contest thread, I was afraid it'd be over cluttered with Artefacts but you work it perfectly, especially with the dual wield.

    Outstanding, +1

  • Member
    February 28, 2016
    It is a contest? D:
    Thank you :).
  • Member
    February 28, 2016

    It's not XD, sorry I keep confusing it with the mini builds comp that was on, sorry if i panicked you xD