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Character Build: The Thu'um Zahkrii

Tags: #Character Build Shouts  #Character Build Juggernaut  #Character Build Hero  #Race:Imperial  #Rank:Bloodworks 
  • January 18, 2017

     

    Hey diddly ho, neighborinoes.

    Dragon shouts, the bread-and-margarine of being the Dragonborn, the Dovakiin. The thing that makes you, as the player of Skyrim, special. 

    Unless, of course, you roleplay not being the Dragonborn, in which case, you're missing out. I find the fact that you can brutally murder people by shouting in their face incredibly entertaining. Anywho, this build makes full use of the shouts in Skyrim, as you fully embrace your fate as the Dovahkiin. With your slashing blade, holy shield and obnoxiously loud bellowing voice, you're all set for adventuring around this harsh yet wonderful land.

     

     

    The tavern was dimly lit.

    Of course, what other type of light could a tavern ever possess? Rickety tables were spread plentifully among the building, soldiers, sellswords and merchants sitting and sharing tales boisterously, all the while intaking copious amounts of mead. Bellows of laughter, the sloshing of alcohol in tankards and the obnoxiously loud chatter completed the homely atmosphere. The door slid open, creaking on shoddily oiled hinges. An armored boot planted itself inside, the light flooding in from behind effectively blinding the drinkers after hours in the dank light. The man entered, pushing the door closed with his hand behind him, insightful eyes sweeping the building and its inhabitants. Several bloodshot eyes glanced to the man, before grunting displeasurably and taking another swig of ale. The newcomer walked with a steady gait towards the counter, nodding to the barkeep. 

    "Welcome, lad. What can I get for you on this mighty fine day?" he inquired with an incredibly strong Nordic accent slightly muffled by their thick beard. The newcomer opened his mouth to reply, before a man clad in steel armor sitting on a stool beside him interrupted.

    "Mead!" he exclaimed, leaning back and sweeping out his arms, the aforementioned liquid dripping from the tankard in his hand. "That's what all come for, eh? I'll pay for him." he stated, before leaning over and patting the newcomer heftily on the back. The barkeep nodded, reaching under the counter and pulling out a bottle and a tankard. He popped out the cork, pouring the drink in before sliding it across. The newcomer grasped it, nodding to the barkeep again as a 'thank you.'

    "You have my thanks for the free drink, my friend." he spoke in a deep and rich voice to the other armored man. It was the kind of voice one could imagine telling adventurous tales of journeys through exotic lands, or battles against legendary beasts.

    "Bah. We're all companions in here, even if you're a mercenary or a thieving merchant," he announced, eyes glancing shiftily to a khajit nestled in the corner as he spoke the last few words. "Speaking of, what would you be?"

    "Oh, I fancy myself a bit of a warrior and a bard."

    "A bard, you say? Well, what can you sing, friend? What can you play?"

    "Hmm. Well, I'm afraid I can't much play music. Haven't gone to the college in Solitude either."

    "I-I see. Well." the drinker muttered, clearly befuddled by this man claiming to be a bard yet having no apparent skill. "How's your singing?"

     

    The Thu'um Zahkrii grinned, raising his tankard.

     

    "If I do say so myself, my Voice is very well the best thing I have."

     

    The Thu'um Zahkrii, or in English, The Voice Sword, is an Imperial. Born in Cyrodiil to well-off traditional Imperial parents, he was the typical adventurous type. He'd go gallivanting all over the place, wanting to make his name known across the land. This behavior led him into many 'battles' with other children, pretending they were age-old enemies, going sword against sword. These fights commonly ended with the Thu'um Zahkrii as the victor.

    One night, when the boy lay in bed, waiting for sleep to overcome him, the unmistakable sound of creaking floorboards echoed through the air. He froze, his grip tightening on the blanket. His parents were away at the time, visiting a neighboring town for reasons they explained as 'adult matters.'  The boy gathered all his courage, quietly slipping out from his bed and grabbing the wooden sword that laid on the stand next to his bed. The boy crept out into the hallway, the front door slightly ajar at one end. In front of it was a khajit with crude leather armor, and though it was dark for the boy, the thief could see easily. They hissed as they spotted the boy, before realising that it was, in fact, just a boy. They chuckled, stepping forward as the boy held his sword out with a shaking hand. The khajit struck, with blinding speed, an iron dagger coming down from nowhere upon the boy. 

    Somehow, the boy's sword raised just in time for the dagger to become impaled through the wood, inches from his head. He pushed forwards, sending the thief's arm back little more than a centimetre. They chuckled yet again, amused by the boy's antics. The boy opened his mouth to speak, but instead of his own language, one that was entirely alien to him flew out.

    "Fus ro dah!"

    The khajit was sent flying back, crashing into the door and landing in a heap outside. The boy stumbled back, dropping his sword, falling to the ground. His eyes fluttered down, his energy spent. The last thing he heard was the desperate footsteps of someone sprinting away.

    The next day, the boy was left to wonder in amazement at what he had done. He tried to recall the words, but they seemed to have entirely vanished from his mind. His parents were entirely confused, and Imperial soldiers arrived to question the boy. He told them what had happened, and they were, too, amazed that a mere boy and fended off an adult khajit with nothing but a wooden sword and, apparently, just his voice. However strange the tale was, the boy was quickly recruited to become a soldier in the Imperial Legion. He tried, time and time again, as he grew into a strong man, but he could not call the power back to him. Even without it, though, he rapidly became a very useful asset to the Empire, even becoming a member of the Penitus Oculatus.

    Years later, the Thu'um Zahkrii was sent to Skyrim, with details assigning him to the Solitude region.

    On his way there, he was of course captured on the border along with Ulfric Stormcloak.

     

    Rejoin the Imperial Legion

    Despite being captured by them, you know that it doesn't mean the entire Legion is to fault. You seek to rejoin them and make your rank as Penitus Oculatus known.

    Uncover your fate as the Dragonborn

    You will happily accept the role of the Dragonborn, discovering that this is the power you used as a child. You seek out as many words as you can, as well as mastery of your power.

    Join the Companions

    You find the Companions to be worth joining, as an experience unique to Skyrim. You should at first accept the beast blood, for reasons to be explained later, but will then seek to cure it as you can never get a good night's sleep, but primarily because you don't want your strength to come from unnatural blood.

    Join the Blades

      You, as a member of the Penitus Oculatus, are intrigued by the Blades. You will join them upon discovering them in Skyrim, making yourself essentially double the Emperor-Protector you already are.

    Destroy the Dark Brotherhood

    The Dark Brotherhood, in your eyes, are a despicable group of people, and you seek to destroy them entirely.

    Find out what is going on in Solstheim

    You have heard whispers of strange goings-on in Solstheim, and being a proud member of the Imperial Legion, see it as your duty to rid the world of all problems.

    Stop the Vampire Crisis

    You have also heard of frequent vampire attacks, and see this as a major problem too. The vampires to you are filth on the face of the earth.

    Obtain powerful artifacts to aid your duty to cleanse Tamriel

    You believe your duty is to rid Tamriel of all evil, but know that your mortal body alone will not be enough. You will seek out powerful artifacts (e.g Dawnbreaker, Auriel's Shield, Dragonbane etc) to help you perform your duty.

    Overall, when roleplaying the Thu'um Zahkrii, you are a righteous do-gooder. You aren't entirely religious, but you do believe that divine help, whether it be from a daedra or an aedra is needed to rid the world of evil. You will help all you can and get all power you can too.

     

     

    Race: - Imperial.

    If you absolutely despise being one then any human race will do. Any gender is fine- I just use male for obvious reasons.

    Major Skills: - One-Handed

                         - Block

                         - Heavy Armor

                         - Enchanting

    Minor Skills: - Light Armor

    Optional Skills: - Alchemy

     

     

     

     

    Armor: - Dawnguard Heavy Armor w/ enchantments (Fortify Health, Fortify Stamina)

                - Wolf Gauntlets and Boots w/ enchantments (Fortify One-Handed, Fortify Block and Fortify Stamina and Fortify One-Handed respectively)

                - Penitus Oculatus Helmet and a Silver and Moonstone Circlet w/ enchantments (Waterbreathing, Fortify Alchemy if Alchemy is chosen as a skill)

                - Silver Ring w/ enchantments (Fortify One-Handed, Fortify Block)

                - Amulet of Talos x5 

                - Auriel's Shield and Spellbreaker

    The multiple Talos amulets are achieved by utilizing the Werewolf Chat glitch. For that I recommend Secret Servant or just a simple follower. This should be easy enough to find online, but I'll explain it in short: you activate a chat with your follower just before or after activating Beast Form. You should seek to get rid of Beast Form after completing this glitch, too. You can choose any variant of the Dawnguard armor, as well as wear either both the headpieces or just one of them. The shields are used interchangeably. Unfortunately there are not many enchantments that suit this build for the helmet, so I just sort of went with it and added waterbreathing for no particular reason.

    Weaponry: It's hard to specify any weapon, as this build has the potential to use so many. The Thu'um Zahkrii uses special one-handed swords including but not limited to: Dragonbane, Bolar's Oathblade, The Pale Blade, Red Eagle's Fury, etcetera. These are also used interchangeably. When it comes to swords like the Nightingale Blade and Chillrend, I find it hard to come up with a reason as to why they'd join the Thieves Guild. One is that they know it will lead them to rare items, but as this build you should really stay away.

    Spells: None. If you're finding it difficult without, spells that don't directly affect combat are fine. These are spells like Healing, but not spells like Oakflesh or Flames, however you should put no perks whatsoever into any magic trees, with the obvious exception of enchanting.

    Dragon Shouts: This list would be incredibly long, should I list them all. I'll just keep it short and simple; any shout you can get your hands on. Your ultimate goal is to seek out as many as you can without breaking your moral barriers.

    Standing Stone: Early on, the Warrior Stone is perfect. Later, I recommend the Atronach Stone or the Lady Stone.

     

     

     

    I tested this build on Legendary difficulty at first, and with my mediocre gaming skills, found it pretty darn difficult. I took a step back to Master and found it still incredibly hard but manageable if you are cautious. Good use of shouts and decision making is essential to making this build work.

    The Thu'um Zahkrii has forsaken all castable magicks. While he doesn't despise magic, in fact, he views it as an incredibly useful asset, he just doesn't like to use it himself.

    This creates very unique circumstances in battle. With your stacked Talos amulets, you have no cooldown between shouts, making them your replacements for spells. When in combat, depending on the situation, you will wield a sword and shield with your Voice ready to go. This means, for example, when in a Nord burial crypt with draugr, you should probably use Spellbreaker if there are any other Thu'um using draugrs, Dawnbreaker and Fire Breath. If you're one-on-one against someone, I'd use Bolar's Oathblade and Auriel's shield combined with Unrelenting Force. You can send them ragdolling with Unrelenting Force, deal a few hits and then raise Auriel's Shield to absorb energy and power bash to stagger them again, deal more hits then rinse and repeat. If you want to play defensive, use Spellbreaker and Become Ethereal. It is a very basic playstyle but one I find very enjoyable and versatile. 

     

    As for special abilities, I will list a few below. Note that these are not necessarily attacks; they are more like setups. Special Setups.

     

    - Yol Vukein

    You embrace the power of fire, attacking all in sight.

    Red Eagle's Fury + Auriel's Shield + Fire Breath

     

    Iiz Vukein

    You embrace the power of ice, halting all in sight.

    The Pale Blade + Spellbreaker + Frost Breath or Ice Form

     

    Qo Vukein

    You embrace the power of shock, striking all in sight.

    Dragonbane + Spellbreaker + Storm Call

     

    Ven Vukein

    You embrace the power of wind, upending all in sight.

    Ghostblade + Auriel's Shield + Cyclone or Unrelenting Force

     

    Gol Vukein

    You embrace the power of earth, shaking all in sight.

    Gauldur Blackblade + Spellbreaker + Animal Alliegance or Kyne's Peace

     

    Gaaf Vukein

    You embrace the power of the ethereal, becoming untouchable.

    Ghostblade + Spellbreaker + Become Ethereal

     

    Diil Vukein

    You embrace the power of the sun, expelling all undead.

    Dawnbreaker + Auriel's Shield + Fire Breath

     

     

    So, that was the Thu'um Zahkrii.

    Hope it's worthwhile.

    All feedback and criticism is welcomed.

  • Member
    January 18, 2017

    A shout-filled Penitus Oculatus/Bard build, complete with backstory and Ned Flanders quote... what's not to like? xD

    The only feedback I can think to offer is more of an aesthetic issue than anything else--it seems like there are a lot of empty white spaces that require a lot of scrolling. For example, the list of shouts. Wrapping the text around the shout images could help fill some of that up.

    Same thing with the image of the Thu'um Zahkrii beneath your 'Goals' section. It's a nice, vertical image that would look great justified to the right with the text on the left hand side.

    But ultimately those are nit-picky things about presentation... the build itself is really cool! :D

  • January 18, 2017

    Firstly, thank you, neighborino, for the compliment as well as criticism. I'm sure you know this, but it feels great when ShinJin replies saying he liked your post. 

    I tried my absolute hardest to improve the presentation, but 'twas all worthless in the end, as I realised that I really have no clue how to do this. I'll put more work into it soon, as well as fixing other things, but I've done... something..?

    Anyways, thank you very much again for the criticism. It is, I fear, direly needed.

  • Member
    January 18, 2017

    I suggest updating your Yol Vukein (fire) setup. Herebane's courage cannot be obtained without the use of consoles commands. I'm not entirely sure, but I haven't seen it in the game before and the wiki says so. 

  • January 18, 2017

    Huh. I did not know that. I of course did add that with the console because I needed a great fiery sword that wasn't the Dawnbreaker, and I didn't realise it was so. I thought I had heard something about an NPC just called Herebane, but now that I think back to it, I'm pretty sure he was cut content.  

    It was around 2am when I posted this, and I was not really thinking right. But that is stilll no excuse, and I feel ashamed now that I did something like that and just slacked off.

    Anyways, thank you very much for informing me. It has been updated with a proper fiery blade.

  • Member
    January 18, 2017

    Wow! That looks loads better (especially the shout section--that turned out awesome :D)

    How adverse are you to moving the image of Thu'um Zahkrii in the 'Goals' section to the right side instead of the left? I think it might make it easier to read the objectives that you have listed in bold. And because the image you've got in your 'Overview' section is is on the left side, it might balance the look out a bit if the image with Thu'um Zahkrii and the flag was on the right.

    Same with the image in your 'Tactics' section--it may look less busy if you either (a) move it to the right, or (b) drop it down one paragraph.

    I know this sounds like little ticky-tack stuff (and truthfully, it is xD), but those are the only issues that I can see, and it's already shined up quite nicely ;D

  • Member
    January 22, 2017

    Aysleph said:

    I suggest updating your Yol Vukein (fire) setup. Herebane's courage cannot be obtained without the use of consoles commands. I'm not entirely sure, but I haven't seen it in the game before and the wiki says so. 

    or with a mod that adds QASmoke