Well met hunters, Capricorn here! First and foremost, I want to give credit where credit is due. First to Noodles, whose Huntress build this kind of derives from, secondly the ESO in-game book Aspects of Lord Hircine that this build is based off of. Credit for the first image goes to Swietopelk at DeviantArt.com. This is my first build, and has been several years in the making of tweaking and adjusting, because I'm a perfectionist. Now without further ado, my character build magnum opus...
"Well met hunter!"
Race: Altmer(Long Brown Hair and Beard, and Black Eyes) At first this was intended as a joke because the placeholder npc for Hircine in the game is an Altmer, but as the build progressed, it turns out this race was the perfect way to pull off this build, so accept no substitutes.
Stats: 0/2/1
Stone: We'll be using the Lover Stone for leveling early on, but once we complete the Coming of the Hounds(see below), we'll switch over to the Lord Stone(Because we're the Lord of the Hunt, and in light armor, that additional armor rating will be very nice to have, as well as the magic resistance)
Equipment: As the title suggests, this build will cover the five aspects of Hircine(that's right FIVE!) so in order to keep this build concise, the list of equipment is kept as compact as possible, and several pieces are reused for multiple aspects.
"He comes here from the Hunting Grounds, if he brings not prey, flee as best you can, though you will not escape."
Head: Early Game-Helmet of the Old Gods
Late Game-Forsworn Headdress(Fortify Magicka and Archery)
Chest: Early Game-Saviors Hide
Late Game-Fur Armor Kilt(Fortify Health Regen. and Fortify Stamina Regen.
Hands: Early Game-Gauntlets of the Old Gods
Late Game-Scaled Bracers(Fortify Archery and Fortify One-Handed)
Feet: Early Game-Boots of the Old Gods
Late Game-Scaled Boots(Resist Fire and Resist Frost)
Jewelry: Early Game-Necklace of Fortify Archery and Ring of Fortify One-Handed
Late Game-Bonehawk Necklace(Fortify Archery and Resist Magic) and Bonehawk Ring(Fortify One-Handed and Resist Magic)
Weapons: Early Game-Best Bow Available, Unenchanted Staff of Illusion, Best Dagger Available
Late Game-Glass Bow of the Stag Prince and Daedric Arrows, Unenchanted Illusion Staff, and Daedric Dagger(Paralysis and Stamina Absorption)These are the builds only forms of offense, and should be acquired throughout your playthrough, although it should be noted you can get the staff(which when unenchanted and wielded in the offhand will be used as our spear) and bow at level 1 on Solstheim from Tel Mithryn and Ramshackle Trading Post respectively. Also interesting to note, that you can acquire the daedric arrows and dagger from Glover Mallory in Raven Rock once this character reaches it max level.
This aspect's early game attire, is the first form we will be able to manifest, straight from level 1. You'll head to Markarth, do the Cidhna Mine quest, join the forsworn and equip the armor, from there you'll follow the beginning of "Coming of the Hounds", as for the jewelry, just pick up whatever fortify archery and one-handed jewelry you find along the way.
"He comes here to hunt with his children...you will see your death approach, but be unable to flee."
Jewelry: Ring of Hircine and the Ring of Instinct
This aspect will utilize beast form, which can only be accessed after The Silver Hand quest for the Companions, as such this aspect cannot be accessed until acquiring the beast blood, and the ring of hircine from the Ill met by moonlight quest, and purchasing the ring of instinct from Frostmoon Crag on Solstheim. It also requires the Totem of Brotherhood, which can be acquired during the Totems of Hircine quests given by Aela after completing the Companions main storyline.
"He comes to mate with the Hinds, those who hear his drumbeat are doomed to run with the herd."
Head: Same as Aspect of Guile
Chest: Same as Aspect of Guile
Hands: Same as Aspect of Guile
Feet: Same as Aspect of Guile
Jewelry: Same as Aspect of Guile
Weapons: Same as Aspect of Guile
This aspect is almost essentially the same as the aspect of guile except for a few key points. It uses all surrounding females to do most of the fighting for you! To achieve this form you will need a few things, the Agent of Dibella power, a female follower(preferably Aela the Huntress), the Bardic Knowledge power from the Untold Legends black book found in Benkongerike, and mind control spiders that you can make after clearing white ridge barrow.
"He comes here to confound mortal hunters, to run them in circles..."
Head: Same as Aspect of Guile
Chest: Adept Robes of Illusion
Hands: Same as Aspect of Guile
Feet: Same as Aspect of Guile
Jewelry: Same as Aspect of Guile
Weapons: Same as Aspect of Guile+Fear and Fury Illusion Staves
This aspect is almost the same as your aspect of guile, except you'll be equipping your adept robes of illusion(for aesthetic and to increase the usage on your staves). The aspect of wit is renowned for using the Wand of Bone, this will be replicated by using Illusion staves of fear and fury to control the battlefield, and keep the hunt in your favor.
"If you rouse him and disturb his serenity you will be torn asunder."
Head: Same as Aspect of Guile
Chest: Stormcloak Officer Cuirass(Fortify Health Regen. and Stamina Regen.)
Hands: Stormcloak Officer Bracers(Fortify Two-Handed and Unarmed)
Feet: Stormcloak Officer Boots(Fortify Two-Handed and Resist Frost)
Jewelry: Bonehawk Necklace(Fortify Two-Handed and Health Regen.) Bonehawk Ring(Fortify Two-Handed and Health Regen.)
Weapons: Early Game-Best Greatsword Available
Late Game: Nordic Greatsword(Absorb Health and Stamina)
To best represent the aspect of strength, we'll be changing out most of the gear, minus the headdress, for this gear. An interesting fact as to why he'll be using fortify two-handed enchants and a greatsword. If you didn't know, the riekling followers can equip a greatsword as a weapon, considering the fact they only wield spears(even if you give them a bow they still throw their arrows as spears), the rieklings recognize greatswords as spears, and for this aspect, we will too!
Archery: Our main offense as the Aspect Hunter, so we will be taking every perk here.
Light Armor: Our main defense, so we'll take everything except Matching Set, because we don't use a matching set of light armor.
Enchanting: This is how our Aspect Hunter will replicate his strength, by enchanting his armor and weapons and strong as possible.
One-Handed: This is how we increase the strength of our dagger, which is how we replicate the power of our "spear", speaking of which...
Block: This skill is the best way for us to increase our "spear's" stabbing ability, and as such, this becomes our spear skill tree.
"I am the Spirit of the Hunt!"
You are an aspect of the Lord of the Hunt, a weak manifestation of Hircine himself. To consolidate power, you're greater self has sent you, his sixth aspect, to Nirn. Here, your task is to recover his artifacts, and to grow in strength rivaling that of your true form. Then, once you have achieved this power, the hunt may begin.
The first part in the your grand scheme of regaining your former power after your defeat on Solstheim. You must call your hounds to the hunt, and you have found the perfect members to start rebuilding your pack. Here is where the main branch of your quests will begin, after first revisiting Solstheim and recovering a "spear" and your bow, and visiting Markarth to acquire armor blessed by the Old Gods(namely this armor contains a fragment of your old power), you will begin the companions questline, all the way through it's completion, afterwards you will claim Aela as your loyal companion and hound, then finish the coming of the hounds with getting all werewolf perks, and finishing the Totems of Hircine quests from Aela, and the Ill Met by Moonlight quest and claiming both artifacts by helping Sinding then after all the hunters are dead and you've completed the quest, immediately slay Sinding. It's also recommended that you go buy the Ring of Instinct with the money you get from the companions quests.
Now that you have your follower, and should have unlocked your Aspect of Speed by now, we begin the next part of your mission, to bring fire from the eye of glass. Since our wild hunt will be taking place in Skyrim and not on Solstheim again, we will need a different eye of glass to bring forth fire from. Oh hello there Dawnguard questline! With a bit of roleplaying we can imagine the sun is our eye of glass, and in order to bring fire from it as a sign, we will need Auriel's Bow(which when combined with bloodcursed arrows, we will need to use our special ablility, as well as start the last leg of our quest. Also, vampires ruling the world, sorry no, the night belongs to the werewolves!
This part of the quest is actually for wrapping up what little bits you would need to finish. During this part you can do whatever you want to make yourself stronger, but mostly you should spend this time getting the last of your gear, and finishing the training of your skills, after, a good way to ceremonially end this part is to complete the Rise in the East quest. That's a good way to massacre some horkers!
This is it, the culmination of all your planning. It's time to begin the hunt, let loose your bloodcursed elven arrow into the sun, and let the hunt begin. Your first target, is the March of the Dead quest. There's really no way to kick this off than hunting down a previous hunt target. The second target, Ildari Sarothril. A very powerful witch, and the one responsible for bringing Carius back to life, in order to thank her for giving her our first prey of the hunt, we will reward her with a place in the hunt, impaled on the end of our spear! Lastly, the hardest part of the hunt, the strongest prey yet, even at our full power, this will be no piece of cake, and you will need to use all the skills you have acquired throughout your playthrough. It's time to hunt the King of the Frost Giants, Karstaag! This will not be easy, but in order to prove that you are the Lord of the Hunt reborn, this prey of a former hunt must be slain, bring your A-Game!
"Just as a bear climbs a tree to escape the hunt, but only ends up trapping himself."
Warriors: These are the easiest for us to take down, all five of our aspects can handle these guys without struggle.
Aspect 1. Use your bow to take out the weakest links first, and to weaken the stronger prey. Then once the gap is closed, finish them off with your spear and hunting knife.
Aspect 2. This form lives and breathes close-combat, plus it uses the ring of instinct, which is our werewolf slow time howl. Use this time to howl and call forth your werewolf spirit brothers, and massacre the enemy before they knew what hit them!
Aspect 3. Best used if there are an abundance of female warriors in the group, turn their numbers against them, and use your hoofbeats(Bardic Knowledge) to fuel the vigor of your new hinds!
Aspect 4: Much like aspect 4, this aspect will use the enemies numbers against them with your fury staff, and rout others will to fight using your fear staff.
Aspect 5: This aspect, much like aspect 2, lives for close-combat. Just whip out your great"spear" and go to town.
Mages: These guys won't go down without a fight, depending on the number of female mages, you may want to use Aspect 3. If there aren't enough females to woo, use Aspect 1 and take them down from a distance with your bow.
Archers: Same as mages, take them down at a distance, and show them who the true master of archery is!
Rather than talk about all the different powers and combos you can use in all five aspects, I'd rather you take what you have with this character and create your own combos from the abilities you will have no doubt obtained by now. That being said, this build does have one power that I'll list, if you remember correctly, this character was referred to earlier as Hircine's sixth aspect, one weak replica of his true glory, as such, this aspect's true power can only be revealed once you have mastered the other five:
Just One Glimpse: Requires Auriel's Bow, Bloodcursed Elven Arrow, Aela the Huntress, Dawnguard Husky, Beast Form, Totem of Brotherhood, Ring of Hircine, Ring of the Hunt- Unleash a mere fraction of your true power, and let the hunt begin!
This was my first build, and I hope you enjoy it! I know I did, both making, playing, and creating it. If you have any comments or critiques you'd like to say, feel free to leave them in the comments below, and tell me what you thought. Also be sure to check out my page for more of my stuff, and as always I will see you...in the Hunting Grounds, Swift Hunting!
Well met hunters, Capricorn here! First and foremost, I want to give credit where credit is due. First to Noodles, whose Huntress build this kind of derives from, secondly the ESO in-game book Aspects of Lord Hircine that this build is based off of. Credit for the first image goes to Swietopelk at DeviantArt.com. This is my first build, and has been several years in the making of tweaking and adjusting, because I'm a perfectionist. Now without further ado, my character build magnum opus...
"Well met hunter!"
Race: Altmer(Long Brown Hair and Beard, and Black Eyes) At first this was intended as a joke because the placeholder npc for Hircine in the game is an Altmer, but as the build progressed, it turns out this race was the perfect way to pull off this build, so accept no substitutes.
Stats: 0/2/1
Stone: We'll be using the Lover Stone for leveling early on, but once we complete the Coming of the Hounds(see below), we'll switch over to the Lord Stone(Because we're the Lord of the Hunt, and in light armor, that additional armor rating will be very nice to have, as well as the magic resistance)
Equipment: As the title suggests, this build will cover the five aspects of Hircine(that's right FIVE!) so in order to keep this build concise, the list of equipment is kept as compact as possible, and several pieces are reused for multiple aspects.
"He comes here from the Hunting Grounds, if he brings not prey, flee as best you can, though you will not escape."
Head: Early Game-Helmet of the Old Gods
Late Game-Forsworn Headdress(Fortify Magicka and Archery)
Chest: Early Game-Saviors Hide
Late Game-Fur Armor Kilt(Fortify Health Regen. and Fortify Stamina Regen.
Hands: Early Game-Gauntlets of the Old Gods
Late Game-Scaled Bracers(Fortify Archery and Fortify One-Handed)
Feet: Early Game-Boots of the Old Gods
Late Game-Scaled Boots(Resist Fire and Resist Frost)
Jewelry: Early Game-Necklace of Fortify Archery and Ring of Fortify One-Handed
Late Game-Bonehawk Necklace(Fortify Archery and Resist Magic) and Bonehawk Ring(Fortify One-Handed and Resist Magic)
Weapons: Early Game-Best Bow Available, Unenchanted Staff of Illusion, Best Dagger Available
Late Game-Glass Bow of the Stag Prince and Daedric Arrows, Unenchanted Illusion Staff, and Daedric Dagger(Paralysis and Stamina Absorption)These are the builds only forms of offense, and should be acquired throughout your playthrough, although it should be noted you can get the staff(which when unenchanted and wielded in the offhand will be used as our spear) and bow at level 1 on Solstheim from Tel Mithryn and Ramshackle Trading Post respectively. Also interesting to note, that you can acquire the daedric arrows and dagger from Glover Mallory in Raven Rock once this character reaches it max level.
This aspect's early game attire, is the first form we will be able to manifest, straight from level 1. You'll head to Markarth, do the Cidhna Mine quest, join the forsworn and equip the armor, from there you'll follow the beginning of "Coming of the Hounds", as for the jewelry, just pick up whatever fortify archery and one-handed jewelry you find along the way.
"He comes here to hunt with his children...you will see your death approach, but be unable to flee."
Jewelry: Ring of Hircine and the Ring of Instinct
This aspect will utilize beast form, which can only be accessed after The Silver Hand quest for the Companions, as such this aspect cannot be accessed until acquiring the beast blood, and the ring of hircine from the Ill met by moonlight quest, and purchasing the ring of instinct from Frostmoon Crag on Solstheim. It also requires the Totem of Brotherhood, which can be acquired during the Totems of Hircine quests given by Aela after completing the Companions main storyline.
"He comes to mate with the Hinds, those who hear his drumbeat are doomed to run with the herd."
Head: Same as Aspect of Guile
Chest: Same as Aspect of Guile
Hands: Same as Aspect of Guile
Feet: Same as Aspect of Guile
Jewelry: Same as Aspect of Guile
Weapons: Same as Aspect of Guile
This aspect is almost essentially the same as the aspect of guile except for a few key points. It uses all surrounding females to do most of the fighting for you! To achieve this form you will need a few things, the Agent of Dibella power, a female follower(preferably Aela the Huntress), the Bardic Knowledge power from the Untold Legends black book found in Benkongerike, and mind control spiders that you can make after clearing white ridge barrow.
"He comes here to confound mortal hunters, to run them in circles..."
Head: Same as Aspect of Guile
Chest: Adept Robes of Illusion
Hands: Same as Aspect of Guile
Feet: Same as Aspect of Guile
Jewelry: Same as Aspect of Guile
Weapons: Same as Aspect of Guile+Fear and Fury Illusion Staves
This aspect is almost the same as your aspect of guile, except you'll be equipping your adept robes of illusion(for aesthetic and to increase the usage on your staves). The aspect of wit is renowned for using the Wand of Bone, this will be replicated by using Illusion staves of fear and fury to control the battlefield, and keep the hunt in your favor.
"If you rouse him and disturb his serenity you will be torn asunder."
Head: Same as Aspect of Guile
Chest: Stormcloak Officer Cuirass(Fortify Health Regen. and Stamina Regen.)
Hands: Stormcloak Officer Bracers(Fortify Two-Handed and Unarmed)
Feet: Stormcloak Officer Boots(Fortify Two-Handed and Resist Frost)
Jewelry: Bonehawk Necklace(Fortify Two-Handed and Health Regen.) Bonehawk Ring(Fortify Two-Handed and Health Regen.)
Weapons: Early Game-Best Greatsword Available
Late Game: Nordic Greatsword(Absorb Health and Stamina)
To best represent the aspect of strength, we'll be changing out most of the gear, minus the headdress, for this gear. An interesting fact as to why he'll be using fortify two-handed enchants and a greatsword. If you didn't know, the riekling followers can equip a greatsword as a weapon, considering the fact they only wield spears(even if you give them a bow they still throw their arrows as spears), the rieklings recognize greatswords as spears, and for this aspect, we will too!
Archery: Our main offense as the Aspect Hunter, so we will be taking every perk here.
Light Armor: Our main defense, so we'll take everything except Matching Set, because we don't use a matching set of light armor.
Enchanting: This is how our Aspect Hunter will replicate his strength, by enchanting his armor and weapons and strong as possible.
One-Handed: This is how we increase the strength of our dagger, which is how we replicate the power of our "spear", speaking of which...
Block: This skill is the best way for us to increase our "spear's" stabbing ability, and as such, this becomes our spear skill tree.
"I am the Spirit of the Hunt!"
You are an aspect of the Lord of the Hunt, a weak manifestation of Hircine himself. To consolidate power, you're greater self has sent you, his sixth aspect, to Nirn. Here, your task is to recover his artifacts, and to grow in strength rivaling that of your true form. Then, once you have achieved this power, the hunt may begin.
The first part in the your grand scheme of regaining your former power after your defeat on Solstheim. You must call your hounds to the hunt, and you have found the perfect members to start rebuilding your pack. Here is where the main branch of your quests will begin, after first revisiting Solstheim and recovering a "spear" and your bow, and visiting Markarth to acquire armor blessed by the Old Gods(namely this armor contains a fragment of your old power), you will begin the companions questline, all the way through it's completion, afterwards you will claim Aela as your loyal companion and hound, then finish the coming of the hounds with getting all werewolf perks, and finishing the Totems of Hircine quests from Aela, and the Ill Met by Moonlight quest and claiming both artifacts by helping Sinding then after all the hunters are dead and you've completed the quest, immediately slay Sinding. It's also recommended that you go buy the Ring of Instinct with the money you get from the companions quests.
Now that you have your follower, and should have unlocked your Aspect of Speed by now, we begin the next part of your mission, to bring fire from the eye of glass. Since our wild hunt will be taking place in Skyrim and not on Solstheim again, we will need a different eye of glass to bring forth fire from. Oh hello there Dawnguard questline! With a bit of roleplaying we can imagine the sun is our eye of glass, and in order to bring fire from it as a sign, we will need Auriel's Bow(which when combined with bloodcursed arrows, we will need to use our special ablility, as well as start the last leg of our quest. Also, vampires ruling the world, sorry no, the night belongs to the werewolves!
This part of the quest is actually for wrapping up what little bits you would need to finish. During this part you can do whatever you want to make yourself stronger, but mostly you should spend this time getting the last of your gear, and finishing the training of your skills, after, a good way to ceremonially end this part is to complete the Rise in the East quest. That's a good way to massacre some horkers!
This is it, the culmination of all your planning. It's time to begin the hunt, let loose your bloodcursed elven arrow into the sun, and let the hunt begin. Your first target, is the March of the Dead quest. There's really no way to kick this off than hunting down a previous hunt target. The second target, Ildari Sarothril. A very powerful witch, and the one responsible for bringing Carius back to life, in order to thank her for giving her our first prey of the hunt, we will reward her with a place in the hunt, impaled on the end of our spear! Lastly, the hardest part of the hunt, the strongest prey yet, even at our full power, this will be no piece of cake, and you will need to use all the skills you have acquired throughout your playthrough. It's time to hunt the King of the Frost Giants, Karstaag! This will not be easy, but in order to prove that you are the Lord of the Hunt reborn, this prey of a former hunt must be slain, bring your A-Game!
"Just as a bear climbs a tree to escape the hunt, but only ends up trapping himself."
Warriors: These are the easiest for us to take down, all five of our aspects can handle these guys without struggle.
Aspect 1. Use your bow to take out the weakest links first, and to weaken the stronger prey. Then once the gap is closed, finish them off with your spear and hunting knife.
Aspect 2. This form lives and breathes close-combat, plus it uses the ring of instinct, which is our werewolf slow time howl. Use this time to howl and call forth your werewolf spirit brothers, and massacre the enemy before they knew what hit them!
Aspect 3. Best used if there are an abundance of female warriors in the group, turn their numbers against them, and use your hoofbeats(Bardic Knowledge) to fuel the vigor of your new hinds!
Aspect 4: Much like aspect 4, this aspect will use the enemies numbers against them with your fury staff, and rout others will to fight using your fear staff.
Aspect 5: This aspect, much like aspect 2, lives for close-combat. Just whip out your great"spear" and go to town.
Mages: These guys won't go down without a fight, depending on the number of female mages, you may want to use Aspect 3. If there aren't enough females to woo, use Aspect 1 and take them down from a distance with your bow.
Archers: Same as mages, take them down at a distance, and show them who the true master of archery is!
Rather than talk about all the different powers and combos you can use in all five aspects, I'd rather you take what you have with this character and create your own combos from the abilities you will have no doubt obtained by now. That being said, this build does have one power that I'll list, if you remember correctly, this character was referred to earlier as Hircine's sixth aspect, one weak replica of his true glory, as such, this aspect's true power can only be revealed once you have mastered the other five:
Just One Glimpse: Requires Auriel's Bow, Bloodcursed Elven Arrow, Aela the Huntress, Dawnguard Husky, Beast Form, Totem of Brotherhood, Ring of Hircine, Ring of the Hunt- Unleash a mere fraction of your true power, and let the hunt begin!
This was my first build, and I hope you enjoy it! I know I did, both making, playing, and creating it. If you have any comments or critiques you'd like to say, feel free to leave them in the comments below, and tell me what you thought. Also be sure to check out my page for more of my stuff, and as always I will see you...in the Hunting Grounds, Swift Hunting!
