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Skyrim Build: The Arctolat

Tags: #Race:Nord  #Character Build Enchanter  #Character Build Battlemage  #Character Build Hero  #Rank:Bloodworks 
  • January 28, 2017

    THE ARCTOLAT

    black-bear-of-skyrim.jpg

    Many species of bear roam Skyrim's wilds. They are fearsome creatures, but will often avoid attacking unless provoked.

    -Skyrim Load Screen

     

    Alright, my friends! This is my first ever Skyrim Build, but I've been working on this for a while, so lets get started. An arctorlat is a person who practices arctolatry, or the worship of bears. I learned this word a few weeks ago, and as soon as I heard it I knew it had to be a part of a Skyrim Build. This build is unmodded, as I play on console, but I know of some cool looking mods that allow the player to have a trained bear as a follower, or even transform into a Werebear, both of which would be a cool addition to this build.

    The Arctolat is a lightly armored Nord hero who reveres nature, especially bears, and wields a staff and a shield. In close combat they switch to a mace. They have magic skills for their staff, but take no perks in their magic skills, as they aren't a caster.

    THE BASICS

    Race: Nord

    Skills: Enchanting, One Handed, Block

    Minor Skills: Destruction, Light Armor

    Standing Stone: The Lover, and later the Steed

    Stat Spread: 2/3/0

    Perks: http://skyrimcalculator.com/build/453852/the-arctolat?sr=1

    ROLEPLAY & BACKSTORY

    The Arctolat was born in a small cabin in the wilderness of Falkreath. They grew up with just their mother, a powerful but aging woman who taught them about the Pantheon of the Ancient Nords, with animals representing the Et'Ada. They worshiped The Wolf, The Owl, The Snake, The Hawk, The Dragon, The Whale, The Fox, The Moth, and The Bear. All of these were revered by the Arctolat and their mother, but the grizzled woman had a particular respect for the bears of Skyrim. As the Arctolat grew older, their mother taught them the secrets of imbuing weapons and armor with the power of nature, and practicing the resourceful ways of the Old Nords by using the souls of enemies. By the time that the Arctolat had come of age, however, the old woman had become haggard and sickly. The woman was bedridden, and though she wanted her child to go see the world, the Arctolat was fiercly loyal to their mother. When Imperial troops were called to Skyrim to combat the Stormcloak Rebellion, they began to occupy Falkreath, and set up camp in the wilds not far from The Arctolat's cabin. The Arctolat was now hunting for themself and their dying mother, and didn't appretiate the Imperials taking all of the local game. The Imperials were equally unfriendly, believeing the Ancient Nordic ways of the Arctolat to be heresey, and as bad as the Talos worship they had come to combat. When a cave bear attacked the Imperial camp, they immediatly blamed it on the nature worshipping Arctolat and their mother. They marched into the Arctolat's cabin and slew their mother. The Imperials tried to kill the Arctolat, but they managed to cut their way through the crowd and fled into the mountains. They wandered there for weeks, before being caught in an Imperial Ambush and being taken to Helgen. Because of the Arctolat's rural upbringing, the are overwhelmed by the noise of cities. The instead prefer to be alone in the wilderness, sharing a home with the bears that they worship. They dislike the Empire, but feel even more hatred for the Nords who have bent the knee to it, feeling that they have lost all that makes them Nords. They will try to convert any of these people, and should that fail they will shun them. They are Chaotic-Good, trying to improve their home of Skyrim, and they lives of its rightful denizens, the True Nords, but will disregard laws and social norms if necessary to do what must be done. Because of this, do quests and favors to help the Nords of Skyrim, but will not help those who side with the Empire. They do not like elves in their homeland, but understand that the Dunmer have nowhere else to go, and so they tolerate them. They will avoid any requests that are blatently immoral, could disrespect the natural enviroment, or could help the murderous Imperials or overly proud Thalmor.

    THE GEAR

    Hood of Savagery

    (Stormcloak Officer Helmet enchanted with Fortify Destruction)

    Ursa's Armor

    (Stormcloak Officer Armor enchanted with Fortify Health Regen)

    Forestwalker's Boots

    (Stormcloak Officer Boots enchanted with Fortify Stamina Regen)

    Claws of Fury

    (Stormcloak Officer Bracers enchanted with Fortify One Handed)

    Buckler of The North

    (Stalhrim Shield enchated with Resist Magic)

    Staff of the Frost Wall

    (Crafted at Tel Mithryn or found rarely as random loot)

    Mace of the Great Grizzly

    (Dragonbone Mace enchanted with Soul Trap)

    (Note: the Dragonbone Mace is difficult to find without maxing out your smithing; the only set location is one of the Keepers in the Soul Cairn when above level 45)

    Gaulder Amulet

    (Obtained by Completeing Forbidden Legend)

     I went through using the best light armor and mace that I could find, but with the exeption of the Dragonbone Mace and the Stalhrim Shield, you can get most of this gear early in the game.

     Stormcloak Officer Armor is definitley the coolest looking light armor in the game.

     

    GAMEPLAY

    The Arctolat's fighting style is fairly simple. They can conjure a Werebear to aid them, a power obtained from the Beast Stone, and then proceed to surround their enemies with a wall of lightning, or use the Storm Call shout to shock them. Once this has weakend them, the smash them with a blow from their mace, stealing their soul. If the Arctolat takes a follower, they can go with an archer or a tank, depending on player preference. Housecarls and Sellswords are both excellent choices.

                   Nature's Storm:

                           For when you're faced with more intimidating enemies, it's good to have a backup. As you run into a hairier fight, use the Conjure Werebear power obtained from the Beast Stone, and then use the Frost Breath shout to chill and fatigue your enemies.

                   Norse Truth:

     

                           You manipulate time with your Slow Time shout, and pull your foe back to the days of the ancient Nords. As the marvel at the ferocious and righteous ways of old Skyrim, you run up and smack them in the face with your mace.

                  Frozen Prison:

                              Paralzing your opponent with the Ice Form shout, you spray wide circle of icy spikes around them. They will not be dicouraged from moving through this wall, but they will pay the price for it when the recover from paralysis only to freeze to death.

     

    _________________________________________________________

     

    Thanks to everybody who gave this build a read or a playthrough!

     

     

     

     

  • Member
    January 28, 2017

    A decent effort, especially for someone who's creating a build for the first time.

    However, a build is more than just the mechanics of a particular character.

    Here are some guiding questions that may help you:

    • What makes the Actolat, an arctolat?
    • What's his progression like before getting the gear?
    • On gear, what maces and spell staves can he wield before reaching henvoraak's staff and dragonbone mace?
    • What type of quests does the arctolat do when the character is being built up and why?
    • What type of quests should the arctolat avoid?
    • Given the build's reverence to bears, does it mean that the arctolat is more comfy living off the wilds?
    • Using any mods that support this notion?
    • How does enchantment fit into this build, given that enchanting uses the souls of foes to recharge weapons and enchant armor?
    • Would alchemy, since it's based of the wilds, be a better choice?

     

    These are just base questions. I'm sure as you fnd the answer to the questions above and start asking questions of your own, you can start improving your build to further fune tune.

     

    Hope this helps.

     

    Regards,

    Rishi Dave Nair

  • Member
    January 29, 2017

    I did not know that word, love to learn something new. I like the sword and staff focus too, makes for great gameplay - although sometimes it can make levelling a pig in vanilla unless you have a fast levelling skill to balance it. I reckon I would like to see the RP aspect fleshed out as what you have just begs for reams of data on the subject of bear reverence. As a Nord maybe you could make mention of the Bear totem and somehow incorporate ancient Nordic beliefs in there too. Great concept!

  • January 29, 2017

    Phil said:

    I did not know that word, love to learn something new. I like the sword and staff focus too, makes for great gameplay - although sometimes it can make levelling a pig in vanilla unless you have a fast levelling skill to balance it. I reckon I would like to see the RP aspect fleshed out as what you have just begs for reams of data on the subject of bear reverence. As a Nord maybe you could make mention of the Bear totem and somehow incorporate ancient Nordic beliefs in there too. Great concept!

    Warlocksg said:

    A decent effort, especially for someone who's creating a build for the first time.

    However, a build is more than just the mechanics of a particular character.

    Here are some guiding questions that may help you:

    • What makes the Actolat, an arctolat?
    • What's his progression like before getting the gear?
    • On gear, what maces and spell staves can he wield before reaching henvoraak's staff and dragonbone mace?
    • What type of quests does the arctolat do when the character is being built up and why?
    • What type of quests should the arctolat avoid?
    • Given the build's reverence to bears, does it mean that the arctolat is more comfy living off the wilds?
    • Using any mods that support this notion?
    • How does enchantment fit into this build, given that enchanting uses the souls of foes to recharge weapons and enchant armor?
    • Would alchemy, since it's based of the wilds, be a better choice?

     

    These are just base questions. I'm sure as you fnd the answer to the questions above and start asking questions of your own, you can start improving your build to further fune tune.

     

    Hope this helps.

     

    Regards,

    Rishi Dave Nair

    Thank you so much, guys! I'll give the build a revision when I get a minute.

  • Member
    January 31, 2017

    I'm a recent fan of animancer style builds...good work. One other thing to add as you're refining the build - please consult the official tag list found here: http://tamrielvault.com/groups/topic/view/group_id/3/topic_id/2231

  • Member
    February 1, 2017

    A very solid start. Looking forward to seeing the RP of this developed a little more. :) +1

  • February 1, 2017

    Mottyskills said:

    I'm a recent fan of animancer style builds...good work. One other thing to add as you're refining the build - please consult the official tag list found here: http://tamrielvault.com/groups/topic/view/group_id/3/topic_id/2231

    Thanks, man! I can't believe I neglected to look at the list of tags. Fixed it, but I really appretiate that!

     

     

  • February 2, 2017

    Very cool build SophieTheFeared I also played on console and developed a way you can actually get a bear follower if you're interested check out my Druids of Galen build

    There is one thing that this build is missing and needs to have added lest it be removed, a list of the perks you took.  It doesn't have to be a fancy spread and could even be a link to a perk calculator but it is one fo the two things that we require for builds.

  • Member
    February 12, 2017

    Nice updates since I last checked this out, Sophie :)