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Character Build: The Renaissance Warlock

Tags: #Character Build Elementalist  #Character Build Mage  #Character Build Vampire  #Rank:Recognized  #Race:Altmer  #Manik 
  • Member
    March 23, 2016

    Premise:  Renaissance or rebirth for the once proud race of Snow Elves. With a unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and an undeniable longing for great power I decided to take a look at a semi Warlock like class for gameplay set up, hence The Renaissance Warlock was born. Part Cryomancer, part warrior, and 100% badass I put together this build using a mechanic that I have only seen in one other build and coupled it together with the highly underrated slow effect from frost magic. Ladies and Gentlemen I now have the honor of presenting.

    It was during the First Era the Snow Elves were engaged in a bloody conflict with the exploring and invading Atmorans. Even though all sources claim the conflict was started by the now infamous Night of Tears; a slaughter of the proto-Nords due to the Snow Elves ever increasing fear of human numbers. Wave after wave of Atmoran reinforcments would drive the Snow Elf armies back. During The Battle of the Moesring the Snow Elves would lose their beloved Prince, Broken, the remaining Snow Elves sought asylum with their Dwemeri cousins; only to be betrayed and twisted into blind and barbaric slaves. Like with all stories of Tyranny, the blinded Snow Elves would rebel against their cruel masters, albeit generations later, in what is known as the War of the Crag. Today we see the decedents of these once great mer in the form of the Falmer. As the author Ursa Uthrax supposes the Falmer may be ready to change again. In this build we will take a look at what such beings might be like. The inspiration for this build is twofold, not only the lack of Falmer based builds here in the Vault, but also my own curiosities about what the kind of natural abilities a Snow Elf might have with the serious chip on their shoulders to retake their lands. In the depths of Blackreach, where hidden Dwemer cities sleep a newborn babe cried out. For the first time in generations unending one of his kind could see the luminescence of the fungi, and his bleak surroundings. The boy was the first of his kind born in thousands of years that had the ability to see. What a life he was in for. Growing up his kin could sense something different about him. They taught him all that they knew, from martial prowess to magical theory; the boy absorbed everything at an shocking rate. He grew tall, taller than any of his companions and upon learning all that he could, he was given the honor of being named Warmonger of his clan, a chieftain of sorts. The boy continued to grow in ability surpassing all others. Then late one day, a mass of tentacles sprang from a rock and seized the boy. The Golden Eye opened and told the young leader of great power and a vast array of knowledge to be had in the world above. Hermaeus Mora showed him visions of all that there was in the world above. The young leader; heart pounding and filled with exhilaration, called together his clan. He shared with them all the things that Hermaeus Mora had shown him, and explained what he had planned to do. They grieved at the idea of losing their beloved leader, and warned him that if there were any other clans of their kind remaining out in the world they would not recognize him as one of their own and that they would attack him on site. From the stat ratio to most of the endgame skills I looked at the in game Falmer to come as close as I could to a valid and accurate skill set.

    Race: White haired Altmer Male Vampire.

    It was said that the Snow Elves had a culture that rivaled the Altmer, and from in game appearance they are closest to them. The starting bonuses are nice and how does one beat the Highborn race power. On the subject of vampirism we won’t be feeding, and for once the facial distortion helps roleplay, also the blinding effect when going outside suites someone who has spent their entire life underground.

    Stats: 3/4/2 400/380/200 This ratio is based on the in game Falmer Warmonger with only a minor tweak.

    Stone: The Mage – The Lord and The Steed

    Quests: Main Quest up to The Way of the Voice, Dawnguard, Dragonborn, Discerning the Transmundane., All Black Books, The Thieves Guild, Lost to the Ages, Unearthed, The College of Wnterhold

    So Falmer Heavy Armor can be found on Falmer Warmongers, not only does it fit with the lore and look of the build but it also offers the same amount of protection as Ebony Armor but with less weight. How can you say no to that? Now Warmongers won't appear until later levels, so regular Falmer Armor can be acquired in Mzinchaleft Depths on a table.

    The Aetherial Crown is a suiting reward for pillaging the remnants fo our Dwemeri defilers. Allowing for not only more protection from magic and weapons, but also a huge boost to our mobility.

    Azhidal's Ring of Arcana is used in so many builds but manly for ignite. The slowing effect from Freeze not to mention the damage done is absolutly amazing.

    Topping our armory is on of my all time favorite weapons...... Chillrend. This Sword is devastating not only due to deep freeze perk synergy but the paralyze effect really is a perfect addition. Not to mention it does damage comparable to a Dragonbone Sword. What's not to love here folks?

    Heavy Armor - With an armor rating equivalent to ebony without needing to throw perks into smithing and upgradable with chaurus chitin, it fit the roleplay perfectly while still offering us a very good amount of protection.

    Destruction – Being a descendant of the Falmer it only felt right to add in some frosty goodness, not only can we slow down or completely freeze our enemies we can do it on a large scale. Frost magic also fits the DOT playstyle of a warlock better than the other elements.

    Archery – Those Falmer bows dish out the same damage as a Dwarven bow and can be upgraded to achieve the same damage output as a nonupgraded ebony bow.

    One Handed – This is perked for use with Chillrend, which synergizes amazingly well once all of our frost perks are taken specifically Deep Freeze.Restoration – Our main go to for healing as well as giving us the Warlocks ability to absorb magic, wth out having to pick up the Atronach Stone.Conjuration – I took just enough here to summon up a Frost Atronach. Once again thematically fitting and is a very useful boon both defensively and offensively.

    Alteration – Ever wonder how most Falmer being blind can find you so easily? Detection and other utility spells round out our skill set perfectly/

    Alchemy – As poison damage is what you really have to watch out for when fighting the Falmer this was a no brainer and also stacks nicely with our DOT theme. Your main go to poisons should focus on either Slow, or lingering damage health. On the potion side of things there is nothing wrong with adding some extra time on to Freeze Time with fortify Alteration potions, or further augmenting your frost damage with destruction potions.One of the things that set a Warlock apart from your average mage is in addition to being able to cast spells they also possess at will abilities known as Pacts. Pacts are powers gained from arrangements with supernatural entities, or either an augmentation to an already held ability. Below we will delve into the depths of the Warlocks Repertoire.

    Spells: Either deal with damage over time, serve for some sort of utility or call upon our demonic allies.

    Frostbite, Ice Storm, Wall of frost, Frost Cloak,

    Detect Life,  Telekinesis,  Waterbreathing, Paralyze,

    Steadfast Ward, Close Wounds, Heal other, Sun Fire, Vampires Bane Poison Rune,

    Conjure Frost Atronach

    Passive Powers: Seeker of Sorcery,  Scholars Insight, Dragonborn Frost.

    Shouts: Slow Time, Frost Breath, Become Ethereal. Marked For Death

    The Gloom Pact – Used to connect with the shadow realm, and manipulate the forces of darkness. For this our patron will be Nocturnal, and the at will ability gained Nightingale Strife The great thing about this ability is like any other absorbtion effect it can be augmented via alchemy and fortify destruction.

    The Dark Pact – Grants the power of plague, illness, and disease. Our patron will be Hermaues Mora. Mora’s Agony is our main goal. Sommoning plague and poison tenticles fits nicely with the slow effect of our frost magic.

    The Infernal Pact – For which our Patron will be Molag Bal. This pact grants demonic powers which will make this character amazingly dangerous to any adversary. The Frozen in Time ability literally allows you to “freeze enemies” in their tracks. Combine Freeze time with Secret of Arcana and cause a permanent winter with your destruction spells.

    The whole reason for Vampirism in this build from a gameplay standpoint is so Necromage combined with Stability can augment the shit out of the Slow Time shout. Since I have only seen one other build that really uses this I will explain. When Necromage is combined with vampirism, it augments any spell effect by 25% and the duration of 50%. So the three word version of Slow Time slows things down by 90% and lasts for 16 seconds, which honestly feels like an eternity. However thanks to Necromage we can push this up to 92.5% for 24 seconds. Now with Stability perked it doesn’t add 50% to the original duration of 16 seconds, rather it stacks with the Necro-augmented 24 seconds, pushing our total duration up to approximately 36 seconds. Enter Wall of Frost or Ice Storm. Both fitting with our theme of damage over time and also adding more slow effect per second essentially locking them in the spell. This move is capable of devastating entire battlefields or single enemies. But wait there’s more. If in a battle extraordinarily outnumbered use Dragon Aspect at the start of the process and it will boost the duration by another 50%. You can easily push the effect to over a minute.So when facing off against a warrior, make good use of your frost magic and slow him to a near halt. Should one make it to within striking range, your armor will protect you, while you mop up whatever is left with Chillrend. Archers on the other hand are simple enough especially once you can freeze time and literally matrix yourself away from the arrows. This is where I would recommend conjuring up a Frosty Atronach to distract while you close the gap to destroy. Mages should be approached in very much the same manner, but don’t worry use you’re wards to negate any spells that come your way. Dragons, what is there to say? Use your wards to avoid breath attacks, hit them with a little Marked for Death when they’re flying, so the damage will skyrocket once they land. Honestly folks very few enemies can stand up to this guy. The toughest you will come across are the Draugr, but they can still be easily overcome.

    Well folks that's it for this one. As always feel free to leave any comments or questions, and have fun. A big thanks to Relycs for the equipment spread, Lissette for the perkspread and Lee Fiskills for helping with some initial ideas.

  • Member
    March 23, 2016

    Isn't that last image from Noodle's Frost Nymph?

  • Member
    March 23, 2016

    Thanks for catching that. I found it on google and thought it was pretty sweet lol. Should be fixed now.

  • Member
    March 23, 2016
    Nice build. I really like the pact-idea. :)

    You have only seen one other build using this mechanic? I guess Raidriar's White Walker.
  • Member
    March 23, 2016

    Wow, love the story mate! Very good and the build is great too

  • March 23, 2016

    This is a very well presented build and I really liked the incorporation of Snow Elf and Falmer elements. I like seeing a Falmer build that chooses to emphasize more of what they've become rather than what they once were. For me personally, I would have opted for conjured weapons, since it is something I see Falmer do all the time, but I understand why you picked Chillrend and Falmer weaponry. 

    I love the cave in the perkspread, but the text is spaced strangely. I know it's cause you want to see the cave, but if you perhaps arrange the text in more of an arch fashion you'll still get the framing effect and the spread won't seem so squashed. I also really enjoy the consistency in color scheme. 

    Great work. 

  • Member
    March 23, 2016
    Yes that would be the one.
  • Member
    March 23, 2016

    This is some beautiful stuff. I've been digging into the Falmer for a long while now but I was never able to come up with a build that felt quite good for them, and you solved both the practical problem of skills and the lore problem of a Falmer ending up on that cart admirably. Awesome job! +1

  • Member
    March 23, 2016
    I like this. Chillrend is my favorite weapon and is a good weapon for this build because it will devastate foes almost as fast as the slow time ice storm combo.
  • Member
    March 23, 2016

    Thanks Phil, always great to hear something beside Bosmer hate from you tehehehe.....