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Event Mini-Build: Vaermina's Nightmare

Tags: #Character Build Illusionist  #Race:Altmer  #Karver Builds  #Pure Build Series  #SE Rank:Adept  #Long-Chapper Build  #Theme Two: Resurrection  #Event: Four in Four  #Character Build Alternate Magic 
  • December 3, 2017

    I knew I wanted to continue with Deebs' Pure Build series and that the next build would have Illusion and feature the Skull of Corruption as the main damage output weapon, but I was stuck on a concept. Good builds need concepts. Enter the Lorc of Flowers with the concept of ressurecting the Altmer mage Arkved from Oblivion. In Oblivion, he has stolen the Orb of Vaermina and it is your quest to get it back for the Daedric prince. You accomplish this by going through the dungeon Arkved's Tower, which is full of nightmarish images (upside down rooms, hanging bodies, hallways with blood and flesh). When you find him, he is asleep, trapped by his own nightmares, having gotten far more than he bargained for when he stole the Orb. Bringing Arkved to Skyrim was too much to resist and as a result, The Lorc of Flowers and I, long-time collaborators with our Straag Rod Universe, now bring you that sense of maccabre with our first build collaboration for the Event Four in Four. We present to you... 

     

    There is no world so great as the world of the mind.

    There is no voyager so well-traveled as the traveler in the land of dreams.

    There is no abyss so deep as the well of terror that lies within each of us.

    I have plumbed its depths.

     

    I have seen the unthinkable. I am unafraid.

    Even death's boundaries do not confine me.

    I am the lord of limitless space, and the master of place and time.

    Through the doors of sleep, the universe lies waiting for me.

    I will no longer wait for my dreams to carry me worlds away, to unknowable deeps, to unspeakable vastness.

    I shall dwell in the House of Vaermina forever, the Orb my companion.

    There is no compass to my destination, no end to my journey.

    My mind is the eternal voyager, fearless and wild with wonder in the Halls of Horror.

    I dream. Dead? Alive? All that matters is that I dream. Nightmares.

    My heartbeat is coordinated with the thunder in the sky, and with every beat of my heart, every thundering, my dream shifts.

    Horrors upon horrors, colors more intense, more true, more pure than a day.

    My folly. Trapped in a dream. My pride. Brought me here. Trapped me here.

    My thoughts. Murky. A Quagmire.

    The Corrupted Skull.

    My release.

    Alone.

    But not anymore.

    Projections of Fear and Rage.

    Together, married, we vomit Horrors.

    Difficulty: Adept with difficulty mods. Expert or Master on Vanilla.

    Race: Altmer, for roleplaying, but the boost to magicka and to the primiary skill is great.  

    Stats: All into health, the magicka pool from passives and quest rewards is plenty for one school.

    Stone: Atronach, for the magicka boost and the survivability since Morroblivion racials and Race Revamp add an Altmer weakness to elemental magic. 

    Shouts: None, this is not a Dragonborn, nor did my playtest bring dragons into the picture, though, honestly, I think he could handle them fine.

    Blessings: Julianos or none in later levels.  

    Powers: Mora's agony, Secret Servant, Seeker of Sorcery

    Gear: The Lorc and I both preferred the look of the black Illusion robes rather than the college robes of Illusion. If you're going to play a dark Illusionist with a hidden agenda of spreading visions of the nightmare world of Vaermina throughout Skyrim, look the part. With Morrowloot, Robes of Major Illusion are found in Saarthal (17% cost reduction, 50% magicka regen). The leveled lists in Vanilla Skyrim will also guarantee a drop of Robes of Major Illusion, which appear at level 16. You would say Vaermina robes, right? But no, this build is more subtle than advertising that purpleness everywhere. Use unhooded robes if you are playing vanilla so you have room for a circlet or a hood. I have a mod that lets me use circlets with hoods and opted for my playtest to wear an Adept Hood and the Mage's Circlet given by Savos Aren. If you play with Morrowloot, you will get a bonus of +50 magicka from the hood and a nice +70 for the circlet as the mod delevels quest rewards. In Vanilla, because the circlet is leveled, you will get no more than +60 magicka for the circlet, depending on when you complete Good Intentions.

    When The Nightmare ventures into the Arch-mage's quarters to steal his dreams, go right ahead and steal his boots too because 40% resistance to shock is a boon for a build that does not place any points into magicka and you will need to build at least some resisistance to shock. For a ring, favor the Enchanted Ring from Saarthal or a Ring of Illusion if you can find one. The Gaulder amulet fragment found at Saarthal, makes a great early game amulet until you acquire Savos Aren's amulet which will eventually give you +50 magicka. To complete his look, enchant plain gloves and a Necromancer's cloak (Cloaks of Skyrim) with fortify magicka or Illusion cost reduction, or search for the Cloak called the Fall of Winterhold (In a Bleak cave with Trolls) and then use the Mystic Tuning gloves once you've completed enough Out of Balance quests for Drevis Neloren that you have enough soul gems. Be aware, sometimes these gloves are bugged, giving you increased magicka regen. In addition, sometimes you cannot to the quest multiple times. They were not bugged in my playthrough. The final items, if you choose to play with mods, are a lantern, worn on the left hand, which gave the Nightmare a vibe of scariness, especially since he traveled at night and I had a mod that gave me darker nights. And if you are playing with Equipbable tomes, there's a special tome found at Nightcaller Temple called Vaermina's Verse which grants a 20% bonus to sneak and 20% more effective Illusion spells.

    Mods: While, this build can be easily played using only Vanilla and dlc, we'll include several mods that will enhance the experience. When there is a blank or blank listing, it's the mod for the original Skyrim that will be listed first. Mods listed on their own are available for both games. Wildcat or Smilodon, Race Revamp or Morroblivion Racial Traits, Immersive College of Winterhold or Magical College of Winterhold, Morrowloot Ultimate, Cloaks of Skyrim, Equipable Tomes. 

    Skills: Illusion is the only skill perked, though I opted for more flexibility to accomodate unperked enchanting to enchant gloves and cloaks as needed and to recharge the primary weapons. Some speech increases were also used to sell items needed for the coin to purchase spells and soul gems. This is a no-sneak build, so get ready to rapid fire Illusion spells because you cannot hide, and no, I only rarely used Invisibility in the gameplay. Priorities in perking should be Animage, Cost reduction up to Expert level, and then upwards towards Master of the Mind, so you can add the undead, daedra, and automations to the list of enemies you can manipulate. You will have quite a few perk points left once you perk the entire Illusion tree. If you wanted to continue Arkved's Nightmarish time in Skyrim, I would suggest investing in Enchanting, Alchemy, and perhaps Alteration.

    Follower: Jenassa in early levels or any other poor soul of your choice. When you obtain the skull, they then become collateral damage due to how the Skull of Corruption deals damage. Consider it another soul you've given to Vaermina in your service. After your follower dies, you are alone for the rest of the game. 

    Spells: Almost exclusively the Fear and Fury spells from the Illusion school and their corresponding spells as the Nightmare advanced the Skill. Endgame spells were dual-cast Frenzy and Rout, which were all the Nightmare really needed. With appropriate perks, Frenzy affected enemies up to level 79 if dual-cast and Rout affected enemies up to level 88. For a level 20 build, these are some pretty nightmarish numbers and with cost reduction, you will get a lot of mileage with just those two spells. Potions of Illusion will only augment the skill and the special tome mentioned in the "Gear" section also added to the values. Rout was almost exclusively used by the end of the game, except in situations where it benefitted the Nightmare to drive his foes into a Frenzy first, leaving the last one standing able to be manipulated. The Illusion skill was supplemented by Muffle, Clairvoyance, Courage when I had a follower, and the occasional use of Invisibility, especially to close in on an enemy before casting a fear spell. The calming branch of Illusion, after some initial experiments, was largely abandoned and I would suggest saving your septims on those spells.

    Weapons: Frenzy can kill, yes, but you are left with at least one enemy still standing and Rout will kill no one. However, when you pair these spells with a choice selection of staves, it is then that the Nightmare of Vaermina truly becomes something to fear. As I said above, before Karver brought the concept of Arkved to the table, I knew I wanted to have a build centered around the Skull of Corruption. And everything just fell into place. Before I discuss the specialness of the Skull, however, I will briefly mention two additional staves that were in the Nightmare's aresnal.

    With the Patches or Cutting Room Floor installed, as you walk to Saarthal with Tolfdir and the other apprentices, you will find a Staff of Storm Atronach next to the body of another apprentice and a frost troll placed from the beginning of the game. If you don't have these mods, a Staff of Storm Atronach is easily obtained through the Atronach forge using the following recipe; Void salts, a broom, either Orichalcum ore or ingot, and either a greater, grand, or black soul gem. The ice wraith guarding the forge can be made to fear you with a basic fear spell, more than enough time, if you have the ingredients, to get the staff and then get out. Or just have your follower deal with it. This staff was primarily an early game weapon and then reserved for either a distraction for later game or as a cheap way to replenish magicka, as the build had the atronach stone and was subject to the Staff Summons Glitch that I found occurs in a patched game. 

    Halldir's Staff, found in Halldir's Cairn was used as a way to trap souls and fill soul gems I needed to recharge the Nightmare's staves. Halldir's Cairn is guarded by ghosts and Draugrs, so you will need to make sure you have a way to deal damage without Illusion magic. It was the last staff I obtained for use in combat.

    Which leads us to the Skull of Corruption, the Nightmare's true means of doing direct damage. I encourage you to obtain the Skull as early as possible because this is will be the game-changer for the Nightmare. My playtest saw me get it at level 5, no easy task, but doable if you have the Staff of Storm Atronach and implement the right combination of fear and frenzy spells because your enemies are humanoid. The good thing is that the Orc warriors and the Vaermina cultists, if you hang back, often just fight each other, Erandur, and the Storm Atronach before turning their attention to you. It is the reward for the quest Waking Nightmare if you choose to kill Erandur. Normally, I save him, but after playtesting this build, I see the value of this weapon, especially for specialist builds like this. It does an unimpressive 20 points of damage in the form of Psychic Agony. However, when you feed the Skull by using it on sleeping npcs to collect their dreams, the damage becomes then known as Waking Nightmare, which is at 50, which is formidable in a low-level build. Using it on a sleeping npc yields five dreams. The npc's dreams can be harvested again after 12 ingame hours, when the Dreamsteal power wears off.  Using it on an awake npc costs one dream out of your total tally. The damage works on everything, even lurkers, seekers, draugr, daedra, and giants! The damage is also area-based which means that more than one enemy can be affected, including followers. Another amazing aspect of the weapon is that you only need to click or activate your controller once to get the full affect, which means you can spam attacks with it rapidly. It only has a moderate range, but the rapid fire more than made up for it. Finally, harvesting dreams is not considered a hostile act - surprising, eh? - so Vaermina's Nightmare could appear in his full form, lantern in his left hand, the Skull in his right, his black-cloaked terror in plain view to harvest the dreams he needed to feed the Skull's power. The only disadvantage to the weapon is that it is not boosted by any of the schools of magic. It is also potentially not as viable a weapon choice as a character levels up. However, for a non-crafting build, 50 points of damage is still very good and certainly viable for higher levels in the more moderate difficulty levels. 

    Free yourself from the typical crutches of sneak or vampirism. Free yourself from conventional weapons and embrace the synergy of the Skull of Corruption and Illusion! The theme of the weapon is perfect for an Illusionist who only utilizes the Fear and Frenzy branches of Illusion spells. Frenzy to mimic Vaermina's nightmares driving their victim insane with rage, making them turn on each other. Fear to mimic the terrors of dark dreams, forcing them to attempt to flee. The glorious thing about Illusion? No one is immune. No one, save dragons, once the right perks are taken. Even the great Daedra of Hermaeus Mora and the powerful Automations of the Dwemer all fell to Vaermina's Nightmare. Vampires, draugr? They too succumbed to the Nightmare's onslaught.  

    Spells were used strategically. Frenzy has actually one of the greatest ranges for a spell and was used to steer the outcome in the Nightmare's favor before groups of victims even knew they were being manipulated. For more base creatures, fear spells were used to make them run away. And sometimes the spells were mixed, I would cast frenzy first and then fear, so another target within the group would be harrassed relentlessly. Halldir's staff was used to trap souls, so you can see a pattern emerge. Fear or Frenzy + Halldir's Staff + Skull of Corruption.

    But I didn't just sit and play the waiting game to acquire the perks for Illusion to affect the undead, daedra, and automations, nor did I spend my game spamming Muffle until the Illusion level I needed was achieved. The Skull has no such limitations and procuring it at level five meant I was able to tackle Saarthal not long afterwards. And when Muffle was cast, the sleeping draugr became a source of dreams for the Skull before it was then used to slaughter them.  It was then that my use of Frenzy and the Staff of Storm Atronach began to gradually subside. I would still use them for crowd control, however, I began to more heavily favor the combination of Fear or Rout and Halldir's Staff, used in conjunction with the Skull. I especially like this tactic for single enemies, or very high level enemies at the ends of dungeons. The Caller from Hitting the Books, and Mayln Veren from the Black Star died this way, their Daedra pacified before I then turned on them. That was one of the few times I actually did use pacify to frightening effect because neither Mayln nor The Caller could rely on their summoned minions anymore and I couldn't resist the extra shot of evil from Vaermina's Nightmare. However, my favorite moment in my playtest was dual-casting Rout on Morokei and watching him float around helplessly in fear, unable to use the Staff of Magnus. It was impressive.

    Until I died, because I forgot to use the Skull and the effects wore off. I got distracted and that is one thing you cannot do in this build.  I didn't make the same mistake twice. There is nothing to fall back on, save your limited group of Illusion spells, The Skull of Corruption, and the staff of Storm Atronach; no mage armor, no weapons, no shouts, and no followers after your first one is killed by the effects of the Skull. So when you are hit, you are hit. Magic-based enemies were particularly dangerous because the racial mod I used made Altmer 25% weak to all Elemental magic. Fortunately all his stats are in health and that gives him some wiggle room, but with difficulty mods, not much. So your aim with these Illusion spells has to be good and your ability to dodge and kite has to be better. At least better than mine, which were quite bad.

    Because Altmer receive Fury, I was able to roleplay as Arkved straight from Helgen, turning soldiers against Ralof and each other, while I would pick up anything useful. I also did this with the spiders. The unmarked bandit camp near the Talos shrine yielded a set of black mage robes, a cloak of black hide and with the Novice hood from Helgen, I was ready fulfill Arkved's mission. Then I walked to Whiterun, obtained Jenassa, and then journeyed to Winterhold on foot, leveling Illusion by spreading Fury and Fear everywhere Vaermina's Nightmare went. 

    Once you obtain the Skull, which I saw as Vaermina's total acceptance of Arkved as her instrument on Tamriel, the Lorc suggested that I make a pilgrimage to every city in Skyrim. A walking pilgrimage filled with many perils, but one that Vaermina's Nightmare felt compelled to make. The journey was made only at night, without the benefit of sneak or invisibility, guided only by his lantern, the Skull, and Night's shroud. If he arrived at a city in the cover of darkness, he would then tour the city, almost like a grim reaper of dreams, breaking into all the houses (this is where invisibility and muffle were used) and then steal dreams. When the sun rose, The Nightmare of Vaermina would sleep, only to heed the call to continue Vaermina's bidding with the setting of the sun. It was an incredible pilgrimage that saw the acruement of nearly 800 dreams in the Skull, more than enough to use it as an offensive weapon with no fear of ever running out of dreams. From farmers, soldiers, vagrants, and dockworkers, to court wizards, Thalmor Justiciars, Generals and even Jarls, the Skull did not discriminate. 

    Quests: College of Winterhold, Waking Nightmare, Illusion Ritual quest, Black Book quests (to corrupt Mora's powers for Vaermina's will, as they are enemies), The Black Star (corrupt the star to serve Vaermina's whim and to provide souls to feed the Skull), A Night to Remember (Vaermina is allied with Sanguine, so it was great for roleplay, but I ended up not using the staff), Mind of Madness (the Wabbajack was also not used, but done in honor of Sheogorath, who taught Vaermina about the importance of madness in dreams). 

     

    Well, there you have it, a first build collaboration between myself and the Lorc of Flowers. Thanks to the Lorc for putting up with me and my craziness, questions, playtesting Oblivion for information on Arkved, and for the amazing concept and chilling backstory. Thanks to our usuals; Teineeva, Phil, and all who showed us support in the Workshop. And a special thanks to Deebs, for being a wonderful host and inspiring me to build and continue with this crazy one-skill concept. Three down, 18 to go, eh? Next on the one-skill builds list is argueably my favorite skill, Archery. Time to see what Tenebrous' Random Character Creation System will yield. Lies, this will be second on the list. The Orc librarian was all archery and I need a break. So the next Pure build will be-Overhate, where are you-TWO-HANDED!! But before that, I will finish a very special Orc Librarian. 

  • December 3, 2017

    OOOOOOOOOOOOH ARCHERY? Did I completely forget that you mentioned that at some point Liss? 

    Anyway, love the build (duh), it feels a bit weird to get the double whammy of this being an Event Build based on a completely separate idea that I had but anything that ends up with this as the final product is awesome in my books :D Anyway, I really like the way you've tackled Illusion here Liss, just the different ways of using it that you've mentioned and then the synergy with the Skull (had no idea about some of the Skull's info, mostly just that it isn't a hostile action...that weirded me out), throw in Haldir and Strom Atronachs and it's absolutely awesome.

    Surprise, it's a +1 from me, and I'll do all the linky stuff over in the Workshop.

  • December 3, 2017

    Mega-Dragonborn-of-Doom (1921) said:

    OOOOOOOOOOOOH ARCHERY? Did I completely forget that you mentioned that at some point Liss? 

    Anyway, love the build (duh), it feels a bit weird to get the double whammy of this being an Event Build based on a completely separate idea that I had but anything that ends up with this as the final product is awesome in my books :D Anyway, I really like the way you've tackled Illusion here Liss, just the different ways of using it that you've mentioned and then the synergy with the Skull (had no idea about some of the Skull's info, mostly just that it isn't a hostile action...that weirded me out), throw in Haldir and Strom Atronachs and it's absolutely awesome.

    Surprise, it's a +1 from me, and I'll do all the linky stuff over in the Workshop.

    Lol, if you know I love anything by now, Deebs, it's economizing. Hehehe, kill many birds with one beeeeeg stone. :D 

    It's only not hostile if you point it at a sleeping npc. If they're awake, it's definitely hostile. 

  • Member
    December 3, 2017
    Don't advertise the purpleness. Probably words to live by right there. The imagery and presentation is sick, as per, while the overall theme is inspiring and evocative. I think it's very clever over all, little touches like using a hand held lantern just makes me smile. These builds for the event and this one skill build are just so easy to get into but retain depth and inspiration. Very cleverly written and delivered, well done guys :)
  • December 3, 2017

    Paws said: Don't advertise the purpleness. Probably words to live by right there. The imagery and presentation is sick, as per, while the overall theme is inspiring and evocative. I think it's very clever over all, little touches like using a hand held lantern just makes me smile. These builds for the event and this one skill build are just so easy to get into but retain depth and inspiration. Very cleverly written and delivered, well done guys :)

    Thanks, Paw Paw. I loved the atmosphere created by the lantern, especially with the guards muttering behind you as you walked about that "unnatural weapon". 

    I got really into non sneak with Ash, Darloc, and now Arkved, almost considering a skill revamp for the Orc Librarian. Maybe it's no longer in him to sneak, but to be a true Orc Atronach. I have some thinking to do while I assemble his mod list for the playtest. 

  • December 3, 2017

    Thank the god this collab is over. No longer I have to live under the cruel whip of terrible mistress, and in fear of bottles being thrown at my head... :D

    It turned out awesome, the artwork is literally selling the build more than we could ever achieve with words in my opinion. It's good to see Arkved being brought back to life - it's been so long when me and Kael toyed with the idea of ressurecting him. So yes, very glad this turned out so awesome :)

  • December 3, 2017

    The Lorc of Flowers said:

    Thank the god this collab is over. No longer I have to live under the cruel whip of terrible mistress, and in fear of bottles being thrown at my head... :D

    It turned out awesome, the artwork is literally selling the build more than we could ever achieve with words in my opinion. It's good to see Arkved being brought back to life - it's been so long when me and Kael toyed with the idea of ressurecting him. So yes, very glad this turned out so awesome :)

    *sobs uncontrollably* But you said working with me was the most awesome thing EVER!!! *throws bottle at the Lorc*

    It is cool to see him live, if you call sucking dreams under Vaermina's servitude living, but beggars can't be choosers. Now, time to work on a certain Orc, because the task master known as the Lorc has forbade me from all other things besides editing until I complete Urag. :D

  • December 3, 2017

    The Long-Chapper said:

    The Lorc of Flowers said:

    Thank the god this collab is over. No longer I have to live under the cruel whip of terrible mistress, and in fear of bottles being thrown at my head... :D

    It turned out awesome, the artwork is literally selling the build more than we could ever achieve with words in my opinion. It's good to see Arkved being brought back to life - it's been so long when me and Kael toyed with the idea of ressurecting him. So yes, very glad this turned out so awesome :)

    *sobs uncontrollably* But you said working with me was the most awesome thing EVER!!! *throws bottle at the Lorc*

    It is cool to see him live, if you call sucking dreams under Vaermina's servitude living, but beggars can't be choosers. Now, time to work on a certain Orc, because the task master known as the Lorc has forbade me from all other things besides editing until I complete Urag. :D

    *throws bottle back at Lis*

    Back to work!

  • December 3, 2017

    The Lorc of Flowers said:

    The Long-Chapper said:

    The Lorc of Flowers said:

    Thank the god this collab is over. No longer I have to live under the cruel whip of terrible mistress, and in fear of bottles being thrown at my head... :D

    It turned out awesome, the artwork is literally selling the build more than we could ever achieve with words in my opinion. It's good to see Arkved being brought back to life - it's been so long when me and Kael toyed with the idea of ressurecting him. So yes, very glad this turned out so awesome :)

    *sobs uncontrollably* But you said working with me was the most awesome thing EVER!!! *throws bottle at the Lorc*

    It is cool to see him live, if you call sucking dreams under Vaermina's servitude living, but beggars can't be choosers. Now, time to work on a certain Orc, because the task master known as the Lorc has forbade me from all other things besides editing until I complete Urag. :D

    *throws bottle back at Lis*

    Back to work!

    Alright! Alright! *sniffs*

  • December 5, 2017

    Awesome especially the pilgrimage part.  I can just imagine the black cloaked stranger arriving in town with the setting sun.  By morning the villagers are all in a fugue having been plagued in the night by horrible dreams, the stranger gone with the morning mist.  Feels more vampiric then playing an actual vampire.