Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Skyrim Character Building Archives

Tags: #Archives  #Crucial Discussion 
  • August 28, 2017

    Welcome to The Skyrim Character Building Archives! On this page all of the group's character builds can be navigated to quickly through our tag network. Builds found here are specified by archetype and playstyle by their original author so you can refine your search and find the perfect Skyrim character for you.

    How to link your build to the Archive?

    To display your own builds in the archive you simply need to place archive tags on your character build. You should carefully select the tags that best describe your characters most prominent characteristics to help people locate your build better. Note that the “#” will automatically be applied to all tags, do not add it yourself otherwise your tag will not link to the archives.

    All builds can have 4 Playstyle tags, 1 Race tag, 1 SE Rank tag, and the Mods tag

     

    SE Rank Tags: All builds can have one SE Rank tag.

     

    The SE (Special Edition) rank is a new system of ranking tags that replaces the classic ranking system. The rank you can use is based on the number of likes your build has. Below is a list of the ranks and the likes each rank requires.

     

    When creating the rank tag for your build write it exactly as it follows: SE Rank:Novice substituting "Novice" with "Apprentice", "Adept", and so on as your build rises through the ranks.

    The Character Building Hall of Fame and Modern Masters 2016 are both valuable tools for looking at what was considered the best in the past. We also aim to run Modern Masters 2017 later in 2018, and then continue forward one year at a time. 

     

    Playstyle Tags:

    A build can have up to four playstyle tags.

    All playstyle tags require "Character Build" at the beginning of them. For example, Character Build Thief is how you'd format the thief playstyle tag on your build.

    Warrior Aligned Tags

    Archer - Users of bows and crossbows

    Juggernaut - Tough characters that use heavy armor

    Knight - Honorable warriors skilled in close combat

    Barbarian - Brutish fighters that use light armor and two handed weapons

    Monk - Combatants that prefer to fight with their hands as well as bows

    Warrior - Fighters that rely primarily on combat skills

    Blacksmith - Characters that create and/or temper their equipment

    Dual-Wield - Characters that use a weapon in each hand

    Crusader - Holy warriors devoted to eradicating evil

    Defender - Any character that focuses on blocking, either with a shield or a ward.

    Mage Aligned Tags

    Necromancer - Magic users skilled at raising the dead

    Elementalist - Mages that wield the power of the elements through Destruction magic

    Healer - Characters skilled in healing themselves or their allies

    Sorcerer - Mages that utilize heavy armor to protect themselves

    Mage - Magic users skilled in the arcane arts

    Witchhunter - Skilled archers who make use of spells

    Spellsword - Combatants capable of wielding both weapons and magic

    Illusionist - Mages skilled in the arts of Illusion magic

    Summoner - Mages that utilize Conjuration magic to bring forth otherworldly allies

    Enchanter - Characters that imbue their equipment with magical effects

    Battlemage - Mages that can also use weapons to destroy their foes

    Nightblade - Rogues and assassins that use magic to enhance their abilities

    Alternate Magic - Mages that rely on a wide range of 'non-spell' based magic, this can include enchanted items, staves, scrolls or powers.

    Thief Aligned Tags

    Pilgrim - Mobile warriors, travelers and hagglers

    Rogue - Characters that make use of stealth, skill and wit to win battles

    Scout - Stealthy archers skilled in both alchemy and close combat

    Assassin - Characters that prefer to eliminate foes from the shadows

    Thief - Scoundrels that prefer to steal from people rather than kill them

    Acrobat - Agile fighters who use speed and agility to their advantage

    Alchemist - Characters skilled in making potions and poisons

    Bard - Jacks of all trades, these characters use weapons, magic and skill

    Agent - Spies and assassins, making use of spells and stealth

    Miscellaneous Tags

    Bound Weapons - Characters who make use of conjured weaponry

    No Crafting - Characters who do not use any crafting skills

    Mage Armor - Characters who rely primarily on flesh spells for defense

    Unarmored - Characters with little to no armor rating

    Unarmed - Characters who fight with their fists or claws

    Shouts - Characters who make heavy use of shouts

    Supporter - Characters who buff their allies instead of fighting themselves.

    Werewolf - Characters who use their werewolf form extensively

    Vampire - Characters who utilize vampirism

    Hero - Characters devoted to good and justice

    Villain - Characters devoted to evil

    Additional Build Tags

    A build can have as many Additional Build Tags as it wants. They aren't compulsory, but they provide a bit more  usage out of some more common tags that don't really fit into other areas.

    Mods - Characters that rely heavily on game modifications

    Ordinator - Characters that rely specifically on the Ordinator mod.

    Roleplaying - Any build that you consider to be 'Roleplaying Focused' can have this tag

    'Author Tag' - When writing a build you might consider adding a tag with your name. This means that you can link all your builds through a unique tag.

    Race Tags:

    (A build can have one race tag.)

    For race, all you need to put in for the tag is Race:(Name of Race). For example, Race:Argonian is the race tag for Argonians.

    Modern Masters Tournaments:

    Modern Masters are tournaments that showcase recent character builds that have been added to the Vault.  It's an annual best of the best tournament that features the past year's builds and awards badges, tags, and recognition to those builds that stand out from the crowd.  Below are links to the winning builds from past tournaments.

    Other Tags

    Unlike Events, Character Building Contests are quite different in that are clear winners chosen. A list of past contests can be found here, along with tags for each contest. You can also search for previous contest winners (Contest Gold for first place, Contest Silver for second place, Contest Bronze for third place). 

    The classic rank and event rank tags are not actively used anymore. However they have been maintained and can be found on the old archive page. New builders are encouraged to use the new SE Rank tags, and may even apply these tags to their older builds but can only count the likes the build currently displays on this site to determine rank.

  • February 3, 2018

    So, my big thing for February is going to be adding some new tags into the Archives. They're going to mostly focus on some areas that I think are fairly popular and could use tags, but I'd also like to see if anyone has any suggestions on what new tags should be implemented this month. This is something I'll aim to do each month, bringing in new tags on a somewhat consistent basis (if they're needed or wanted) and if we have a situation where a month goes by and nobody uses a tag (probably two months now that I think about it) I will delete said tag.

    But yeah, basically I want to change the Archives a teeny bit, just keep them a bit more fresh rather than...I think having the original tags plus Mods? I don't know if we've ever actually added more tags to the Archives. I know all of these have been in since at least 2013, with the exception of the SE Ranks. 

    New Tags

    Shields - Characters that rely heavily on shields for some part of their combat style

    Kind of a cross between two other categories I was going to add. Defender (similar to Juggernaut but aimed more towards shields, wards and stuff like that) and Shieldmage, which is...well pretty obvious. 

    Staff - Characters that use staffs either offensively or defensively

    Simple, there are tonnes of awesome builds that use Staves and they're a pretty interesting combat style that should be shown off more. 

    Ordinator - Builds created with the use of the Ordinator Mod.

    So, the reason that Ordinator is the only mod getting a 'unique' tag is that it's probably the only mod that needs one. We're starting to get to the point where Ordinator Builds are becoming really popular, so this is going to be a way of sharing them and making sure that they're easier to find. 

    Roleplaying - Build designed with specific characters or roleplaying concepts in mind

    This is an interesting and possibly controversial tag. But we get a lot of builds that toe the line between story, RP Profile and build, by this I just mean they're incredibly developed and totally awesome. If you've written a build with the idea in mind for a real focus on Roleplaying, I thought it'd be nice to give it an official tag. 

    Changes

    A bit rarer, but something I might do from time to time is change up some tags. This'll mostly impact tags that I could reasonably change myself, or are newer ones (for example I might change the 'Shields' tag some point this month). 

    Mounted Combat ----> Riding

    Really this would just allow for a bit more flexibility with the tag, using it for builds that might be pacifists but are still connected to Horses, or just don't fight from horseback. Builds like a Knight that is still very much focused on Riding but doesn't fight from horseback 80% of the time.

     

  • February 14, 2018

    So I've noticed we don't have a Mounted Combat tag anymore...yeah you know what, makes sense, know we had one but I can't recall more than a half dozen builds that might have used it. If you've got a Horse/Dragon riding build then feel free to add it on and let me know that you'd like to be a thing but uh...yeah apparently it was ditched in the past.

    Right, also moved the 'Rank' section up, which feels right...just where it should be, because let's be honest, we want to show off the Ranks and they're (traditionally)n the main way people find the 'best' builds so I figured it'd make a bit more sense to move it up. Defender, Alternate Magic, Ordinator and Roleplaying are all set up, and I'm going to be the first person to have a Roleplaying build :P Or at least to use the tag for a few of my builds, so get it on it so I don't look like a loser who made up a tag and then was the only one to use it.

    Other minor changes include font size and spacing changes, nothing major (thus...minor) and uh..yeah that's all.

  • February 14, 2018

    Defender is officially up with two builds :D Going to go through my own because I think I've got a build or two that would fit. 

  • Member
    April 18, 2018

    So im new to the site as i just made an account but im curious if there is any way i can post my own build ive been making, if so How?

     

  • Member
    May 15, 2018
    What is a flash contest on tamrielvault?
  • Member
    May 15, 2018

    It was the latest, and recently finished, little event Deebs ran. Basically who ever won would get a double feature. 

  • May 16, 2018

    So, Flash Events are two week long events that challenge you to create a smaller build that can't reach any further than Level 20. Flash Contests are pretty much the same just done as a contest so there's a Winner declared at the end and they get a bit of a feature boost in a few ways.

  • Member
    May 16, 2018
    Ok, thanks