This is my first Build, and I welcome any construtive feedback. I've always found it somewhat difficult to find real motivation that made sense to me for an Altmer (My favorite race) to really be in Skyrim. So this is my attempt at a build loosely based in the TES lore with inspiration from other fantasy worlds such as D&D and Pathfiner. So without further delay I present to you The Magus. 

The Magus

 

 

The magus was the youngest of 4 children born into altmer nobility in the 175 year of the 4E on the island of Alinor. At a very young age the magus is recognized as prodigy and had an uncanny grasp on magic and an instinctive martial prowess that most could only dream of. As the magus matured his love for mastering mystic arts was matched only by his drive to increase his proficiency with a blade, and to the dismay of the magus's parents as adolescent he was chosen to join the most anicent an elite order of the Summerset Isles known as the Bladesingers, and like any young altmer warrior would, he eagerly accepted. The Bladesingers trace their roots back to the Merethic Era. The most elite of the aldmer were chosen to be the great protecters of the mer homeland. They were heroes, living, breathing legends of the Summerset Isles, But hard times had slowly began to befall the order. It started to weaken after oathbreakers began to leave the order during the great exoduses that split the mer. The next great blow dealt to the order came when they were defeated by Tiber Septim, and the Summerset Isles were conquered by and assimilated into the 3rd Empire. Finally their failure to prevent the destuction of the Crystal-Like-law during the Oblivion Crisis. Now not only was the order of the Bladesingers a shadow of it's former glory but it was just a tool of the Thalmor. The group had come back into prominence after they claimed sole responsibility for closing the oblivion gates in Summerset. This is the fate the magus's parents tried to save him from, but driven by nostalgia and tales of former glory the magus accepted. He quickly learned however that protecting the elevn homeland meant something completely different to the Thalmor. After seeing firsthand how the Thalmor operate and that they were even willing to harm other altmer the the magus decides to leave the order and Alinor. His parents tried to convince him that there is more than one way to help Alinor, and the battle against the Thalmor is a political one,and their methods and ideology must be spoken out against but the magus leaves anyway. After spending time traveling abroad only settling to master a new technique or study ancient lore he gets word from his siblings from back home that his parents had all of sudden fallen ill and past away, and they believe that your parents open opposition to the Thalmor had cost them their lives. At the time of receiving the later the magus was and Hammerfell training under a Redguard Swordsage. He had heard about the war in skyrim and new the Thalmor benefited from the conflict. So he goes to Skyrim to investigate the activities of the Thalmor.

 

Race: Altmer essintial for roleplay

Stone: Whatever your preference is

Stat Distribution: 1/1/1 Heath/Magicka/Stamina until you reach 200 stamina then 2/2/1

 

 

 

 

"There are those who spend their lives poring over ancient tomes and texts, unlocking the power of magic, and there are those who spend their time perfecting the use of individual weapons, becoming masters without equal. The magus is at once a student of both philosophies, blending magical ability and martial prowess into something entirely unique, a discipline in which both spell and steel are used to devastating effect. As he grows in power, the magus unlocks powerful forms of arcana that allow him to merge his talents further, and at the pinnacle of his art, the magus becomes a blur of steel and magic, a force that few foes would dare to stand against."

 

 

 

 

 

The magus is a spellsword through and through. in the begining his skills are that of the spellsword archtype, as your journey goes on he will pick up other skills that would better serve him, like speechcraft to convince different teachers to show him a technique, illusion would help in this area through charm or to gather information once you get to the College of Winterhold, sneak for infiltration, smithing to craft masterworks.

 

 

 

 

Skills: One-Handed, Destruction, Restoration, Alteration, Light Armor, Enchanting

One-Handed: The Magus is a master swordsman. Through years of perfecting his sword art he fears no one with his blade in hand. Through meditation he has bonded with his blade and can call it to his side from a short distance and channel arcane or elmental power through it as a projectile or with each strike. he can also fix his blade if it was damaged in any way through the the same meditation. if his blade is lost he need only perform his bladesinger meditation technique with his new chosen blade.

Destruction:  The Magus is an arcane spellcasters that has mastered the manipulation of the elements to disintegrate, burn, and freeze their foes. reveling in the raw power of magic the magus can coat a battlefield in arcing lighting bolts, call down a flurry of meteors, and evoking bone chilling a blizzard, disintergrate an enemies armor and weapons, drain their vitality or weaken them to magic.

 Restoraton: Through this school of magic the magus can heal himself or his allies from wounds or fortify himself or his party making him much hardier than normal. he can cure all manner of disease, poison, or ailment. He may also cast protective wards, or repel or despel hostile magic.

Alteration: This school makes the magus extremely dangerous and versatile. with it he can maintain a field of magic around himself dampening damage or reflect damage back at attackers, he can bolster reisistance to magic, amplify his magic damage, teleport, water walk, waterbreath, use telekinesis and many other effects.

Light Armor: This is magus first line of protection. it offers him protection with minimal burden. Allowing for the magus to keep his superior guard position. From this superior defensive posture he can gracefully dodge or parry the clumsy attacks of his opponents and counter with devastating precision strikes.

Enchanting: Through enchanting the magus can create spellforged items bolstering his abilites, increasing his attributes, his stats or add an elemental property to his weapon. enchanting is even more versatile than alteration and has a myriad effects.

 

Roleplay

 

The Magus is an altmer noble born in Alinor, and just because he does not believe in the Thalmor's methods does not mean he does not believe that the altmer are the greatest race on Tamriel. He takes great pride in his altmer heritage and history. Believing all the races on Tamriel owe what little culture and structure they do have to altmer society, but despite his arrogance the magus is benevolent at heart and he feels that the other races need not only guidance but protection, and he is the first to take up arms against injustice, and is willing to sacrifice himself for the common good. He has grown much more tolerant of the other races customs and cultural differences in his travels. He has trained with all manner of warrior and studied with all manner of scholar he has even made a friend or two.

 

Mods 

 

Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim by Enai Siaion https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/16225/?

This is one of the more well known mods out of the bunch, it adds a lot to a play through when it comes to adding flavor to a build for an archtype, the mod author is also amazing at keep up maintenance on his mods. the most important spells I've found for me when playing this build are:

Ocato's Recital (Alteration/Apprentice)This build can be buff heavy depending on what difficulty mods you have installed. this spell helps with that by automatically casting three spells of your choosing magicka free at the beginnig of combat.

 

Lamb of Mara (Restoration/Apprentice)This is a spell that once cast on an opponent with heal you for 35% of the damage you do to that opponent.

Tree Rings (Restoration/Adept) Once cast this spell adds 10 layers to the caster, each layer adds X amount of health. The layers gradually fall off over 30 seconds.

Rift Bolt (Destruction/Novice) This spell does X amount of shock damage and half that to magicka, when hit the opponent is teleported backwards. 

 

Imperious - Races of Skyrim by Enai Siaion https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/61218/?

This mod is from the same author as the above mod. It adds a more unique feel to each race. Now each race gets 3 new passive abilities and 1 active ability after completing a quest. These are the changes to the Altmer.

 

• Elven Supremacy: Skills are more effective upon reaching skill level 100.
• Gold and Glass: When low on Magicka or Stamina, it regenerates faster at the cost of reduced armor and magic resistance.
• Shimmering Threads: Weapons and armor are weaker, but enchantments are stronger.

Quest reward - Pluck 40 wings off butterflies to unlock...

• Contingency: At will - Weave spells into an auto-cast trigger with specific conditions.

 

Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim by Enai Siaion https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/68425/?

This is a great perk overhaul of the vanilla Skyrim perks. It offers a lot to your game by adding perk paths for certain archtypes to roleplay both thematically and mechanically.

 

Apothecaria - Perk Addition Mod by Jase1126 https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/75834/?

I'd strongly consider getting this mod. it adds perks by way of consumables that appear in your active powers section. depending on how difficult your Skrim is, some of these perks are key, and they add much needed flare to the build.

Destruction

Supreme Focus - When wearing a circlet, your destruction spells are 25% stronger and cost 5% less.

Etched Sigil - When equipping a novice destruction spell (flames, frostbite) you will be able to cast an enhanced version of the spell (the pseudo-spell will auto-equip.)

Short Circuit - Shock spells are 50% more effective against dwemer machinery.

Slow Burn - In addition to it's initial damage, your fire spell will do it's damage of 10 seconds.

Soul Caster - Grants 0.008% additional spell damage per soul harvested. Works only with soul harvest perk. See soul harvest in conjuration tree.

Restoration

Lingering Heal - Healing spells gain a very small additional duration depending on your restoration skill level (they will heal more.) 

Wardmaster - Wards cost 75% less to cast.

Magnify - While casting a ward, all spells have their magnitude boosted by 25% and an additional 2% magnitude per level of restoration.

Ward Reflect - When a spell or shout hits your wards, you will reflect them in the direction you are facing (where your aim reticle is.)

Ward Retaliate - While casting a ward, you will reflect 200% melee damage back at attackers.

Alteration

Alter flesh - Alteration armor spell magnitude is doubled.

Telekinetic Crown - When wearing a circlet, you will take 1% less damage per point of alteration. Caps at level 80 alteration for 80% damage reduction.

Magicka Guard - When magicka is above 80%, reduce all damage taken by 20%. 

One-Handed

Blademaster - While wielding a sword or dagger, you attack 30% faster. 

Deflection - While swinging a sword, deflect enemy arrows. 

Fester - Enemies will take an additional 1-5 damage from your attacks for 60 seconds. This debuff can stack, causing them to take more damage the more you hit them.

Dash and Slash - While sprinting with a one-handed weapon, you will cast crescent slashes in front of you. The slashes will only appear if your weapon is drawn. 

Acrobatics

Swift Senses - Incoming power attacks slow time. 

Moment of truth - Attacking while time is slowed by swift or superswift senses will cause the enemy to take 50% more damage. Must have swift senses to use this. 

Vault - While sprinting, you will avoid all damage taken. 

Steady Stance - You become immune to unrelenting force's knockdown effect as well as a few other knockdown effects. 

 

TK Dodge by tktk https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/20923/?

This mod adds a dodge mechanic that should have been in the game to begin with.

 

TK Combat by tktk https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/29137/?

TK Combat seamlessly add magic to your melee combat you cast different spells through your weapon depending on the weapon equipped and which direction key you are hitting. It truly gives you that spellsword feel.  

Dual Wield Parrying by Borgut1337 https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/9247/?

In the base game you can't block an attack if dual wielding or with a spell in one hand and a melee weapon in the other. This mod fixes that and is another feature that feels like it should've been there originally.

Souls Quick Menu by Christian Weeks and Zachary McNellis https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/72238/?

Disparity -- Player Character Class - Race and Gender Diversity by kryptopyr https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/63354/?

Forgotten Magic Redone by 3JIou and sward66 https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/35339/?

Worlds Dawn - Enchanted loot and RPG attributes in Skyrim by 3jiou https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/73094/?

Lost Grimoire of Skyrim by Steelfeathers https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37440/?

Colorful Magic by 184Gesu https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37440/?

 Spellsword Tools of Trade by GKorr https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/13297/?

Smart Cast by NeoRunek https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/43123/?

Hi Artorius, sadly I can't get really into things at the moment (rather busy with some housework and only have about 5 minutes to write this up) but I wanted to point out a few changes that you should make. 

The major thing that needs to change, is that you really should have a Perk Spread, or List. Basically just listing the perks that this character used so we can understand a little bit more about how The Magus fights. With Ordinator it's also best to explain the perks at least a little bit, I tend to just use the description from the mod, maybe change it a little because Enai tends to leave out some of the actual numbers and so on, but yeah, a Perk Spread or List is kind of a requirement.

The second change I'd recommend is just changing the title to Character Build: The Magus so that it fits within the group's rules (and so it's easier to see).  

Those are really the only two required changes or anything like that, though some useful things to include would be the following. 

1- Finish linking the mods (makes it easier for people not familiar with them).

2- Introduce some of the spells added by the various mods you've got

3- Explain the differences that choosing Altmer through Imperious is (the new powers and passive effects are really different to the Vanilla ones).

4- Talk about Combat a little more. At the moment I'm not entirely sure how to fight as the Magus if I were going to play as her. It doesn't have to be the focus, but it should be in here a little bit more.

I'll get into the presentation later if you'd like some tips there (I focus way too much on it usually :P) but I have to say the character itself is rather interesting and I like the pictues you've chosen, I think they give me a pretty clear image of the character, and when paired with a rather interesting Backstory and Roleplaying section, it does keep me interested in what you've done. 

 

Ahh, feels good to have that done, alright I can be a bit less rushed about my comments now Artorias, which means I can focus more on the positives and a little less on the negatives.

Your build is pretty good, and I actually do rather enjoy it. Well, actually I suppose it'd be more accurate to say that I greatly enjoy the character that you've presented so far. I like the way that you've created a character that shares some of the views of the Thalmor but is still generally against them and wants to create a different path while still believing in the supremacy of the Altmer. It's an interesting little way to examine the Race, and something that comes across rather nicely. I also like the Lore elements incorporated, I assume that the Bladesingers are more inspired by other sources (can't say I remember running across the faction in any of my readings, but if it is TES Lore let me know, would be very interested in reading up on them), but it fits rather well with both the character and the world in general, and is entertaining, to say the least.

I think I pretty much mentioned everything else in the other post of mine, this is more...just adding some more thoughts to it I suppose. I could talk about Presentation, but I might save that for another message if your up for it :D I know I can get a little long-winded and I find that it's usually best to get the important stuff mentioned first, and then we can get into the details if you'd like.

Ah, and before I head off, I wanted to link my most recent Ordinator Build, I wouldn't usually link my own stuff (tend to hate doing it as a personal thing when I can promote someone else's work and get the point across) but it's probably the best example of some of the things I pointed out in the first section. Namely, the Mods section and the Perk Spread/Perk List because I detail the actual skills that I used from Ordinator while putting up a Perk Spread so you can see both options. Just thought it'd be good to give you some reference point to an Ordinator Build.

 

Hey Artorias and welcome to Skyrim CB.  You've got a great concept and good start to a build here but has Dragonborn has pointed out you do need to list what perks you took as this character.  The other thing you need is a description of how this character plays, how they tackle differnt situations from a gameplay perspective, i.e. how they defeat certain enemy types or how they approach certain in game situations.  Those two things are a must according to our group rules, since with out them the build can't be replicated and enjoyed by the reader.

If you need any help, or a further explanation of what we mean by perk spread/list or gameplay section please don't hesitate to ask.

 I started to work on some of the suggested changes, thank you all for the feedback. I will continue to update the build, and I'm open to anything you all would like to show me to help me better my builds.

Smoly hokes that is a lot of mods! I’d tried TK Combat and Dodge before, and I can certainly agree that they help a character feel a lot more Spellswordy. Those dodge and block mods are so powerful, though, that I’d definitely mark this as a build for legendary difficulty, especially with all your agility and Restoration/Alteration skills mixed in. This looks like a good choice for a hard character to knock down.