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Character Build: Alabane, the Dragon Hunter of High Rock

Tags: #Character Build Barbarian  #Character Build Mods  #Race:Breton  #Ordinator  #SE Rank:Apprentice  #21 TES Classes 
  • Member
    May 2, 2018

    Alabane

     

    Alabane, the Dragon Hunter of High Rock

     

    This is the third installment in what will be a twenty-one part series. I have been working on this project for literally three years. The goal is to create twenty-one different builds for the twenty-one classes from the Elder Scrolls (TES) series. Albino put together a similar project that served as an inspiration, but I fleshed each class out into a full on character and have been tinkering with these builds over the course of three different consoles (PS3, PS4 and XB1). I have an extensive mod list that can be viewed here. Most of these builds have been directly inspired by other builds on the Tamriel Vault, and those builds will be cited below as well.

    I followed a number of self-imposed rules and restrictions when making these builds. Each has exactly seven skills, with at least one of them a crafting skill. Five of the seven skills must come from the pool of skills used by the class in past TES games, allowing each character two additional free skills. I used information from Daggerfall, Morrowind and Oblivion to determine the skill pool for each class. Each build must have at least three skills in their specialization (Magic, Combat or Stealth), and cannot have more than three skills from a single other specialization. Over all twenty-one builds, I incorporated every gender, race, skill, weapon class and faction at least once, if not more. The result is a literal cast of characters spanning every aspect of TES V: Skyrim. The third build I will present is my Barbarian - Alabane, the Dragon Hunter of High Rock.

    Alabane grew up in the comfort of a wealthy home in Daggerfall, but always had an innate sense of adventure. Bored with the niceties of his upbringing by the time he was in his mid-twenties, he left his life as a young nobleman to try his hand at monster hunting in the harsh lands of Wrothgar. After years of tracking down werewolves, draugr, durzogs and zombies, and making some decent coin in doing so, he had a vivid nightmare of dragons returning - dreadful beings with wings as dark as night, razor-sharp teeth, blood-red eyes and maws of flame. Alabane awoke in a cold sweat, with a sinking suspicion this was no mere dream. Convinced he was granted some sort of ominous prophecy, Alabane returned to Daggerfall and spent three years recovering from his travels at his family estate while studying ancient, esoteric texts that discussed the prophesied return of the dragons, and specifically Alduin, the World Eater. With his newfound knowledge of the history of dragons, Alabane felt confident that the neighboring province of Skyrim could very well be the setting upon which his nightmare manifests. By now a seasoned monster hunter, Alabane set out on a journey ready to hunt down the most daunting monster he'll ever face - a dragon.

    Young Alabane

    A young Alabane at his campsite in Wrothgar.

    Age: 36 Gender: Male Race: Breton Class: Barbarian Specialization: Combat (4 of 7 skills) Attributes: Speed, Strength

    Spouse: none Follower: none Deity: Akatosh Home: Tundra Homestead (via the Creation Club) AlignmentChaotic Good

    Factions: The Blades Magicka/Health/Stamina1 / 2 / 1 Standing Stone: The Warrior

    Major Skills

    Two-Handed: Two-handed is the patented skill of the barbarian, and Alabane is as skilled with a battle axe as anyone in Skyrim. The battle axe has been his weapon of choice since his early days of monster hunting. He honed his skill against the monsters in the mountains of Wrothgar, and often sought training from Orc Chieftains in exchange for him hunting down the monsters that plagued the lands outside their stronghold.

    Two-Handed Mastery (2/2), Trained Fighter, Bleed Like a Dog (3/3), Ferocious Strength, Rive (2/2), Execute, Trample, Death or Glory, Decimate, Bisect, Massacre, Ram's Head, Enter the Arena, Voice of Rage and Ruin, Slayer of a Thousand Sons (19 perks)

    Light Armor: Monster hunting requires fast movement and avoiding the claws, teeth or weapons of whatever you are hunting. Consequently, Alabane always preferred lighter armor that allowed him to move quickly in and out of attacking range.

    Light Armor Mastery (2/2), As a Leaf, Light Armor Fit, Initiative (2/2), Keen Senses, Unhindered, Windrunner, Into the Maelstrom, Fight or Flight, Wardancer, Survival Instinct, Glancing Blows, Lightning Strike, Tempting Fate (16 perks)

    Block: Since he has always used a battle axe, Alabane has learned how to mitigate incoming damage with the shaft of his weapon. While not as effective as using a shield, Alabane can use his battle axe to deflect his opponent's strikes and gains a tactical advantage in doing so.

    Block Mastery (2/2), Timed Block (2/2), Deflect Arrows, Poke the Dragon, Apocalypse Proof (2/2), Power Bash, Quick Reflexes, Dominion, Skull Rattler, Dragon Tail, Block Runner, Mocking Blow, Dragon Scales (16 perks)

    Minor Skills 

    Archery: Alabane is a skilled marksman, and usually begins his encounters with various beasts by scouting their position and doing as much damage as possible with a bow and arrow. This ranged offense is also very useful against aerial opponents like dragons, and Alabane can occasionally defeat lesser monsters without ever unsheathing his axe. 

    Archery Mastery (2/2), Clean Kill, Long Shot (3/3), Steady Hand (3/3), Hunter's Discipline, Ranger, Focus on the Prey, Quick Shot, Hawkeye  (14 perks)

    Speech: Alabane embraces his nature as Dragonborn, and develops his ability to use the Voice with impressive power.

    Speech Mastery (2/2), And the Universe Listens, Windborne, Force Redoubled (2/2), Hurricane Force, Thu'um of War, Merciless Storm, Dovahzulaan (10 perks) 

    Alteration: As a Breton, Alabane was around magic for most of his youth. Yet he only picked up the School of Alteration, and barely practiced it at that. He was much more intrigued by martial arts than mystical arts. As a result, he knows some rudimentary Alteration spells, but only enough to keep him alive in his line of work, and mostly those spells that provide a layer of magical armor.

    Alteration Mastery (2/2), Alteration Dual Casting, Vancian Magic, Alter Self: Resistances, Alter Self: Attributes, Home Mythal (set up at Tundra Homestead) (7 perks)

    Crafting Skills

    Smithing: As a travelling monster hunter, Alabane learned a lot about how to craft and temper his own gear. He also studied under both Orcish blacksmiths in Wrothgar and noble metalworkers in Daggerfall. He wishes to one day craft himself an arsenal of Dragonbone.

    Smithing Mastery (2/2), Advanced Workshop (choose the grindstone at Tundra Homestead), Meric Smithing (1/2) (choose Dwarven), Arcane Blacksmith, Recycle Materials, Expert Smithing (1/2) (choose Hard Steel), Sandstone Sheath, Smithing Specialization (choose Light Armor), Exotic Smithing (1/2) (choose Crystalline), Iron Lore, Planar Smithing (1/2) (choose Dragonbone), Fuel the Inferno, Heart of Creation (14 perks)

    This totals 96 perks. With 50% More Perk Points enabled, the build will be completed at level 64.

    The Barbarian's starting kit, as seen in Morrowind.

    Arsenal and Armory

    Alabane's offense is a mix of battle axebow and arrow, and shouts. A true Dragonborn, he weaves shouts in and out of deadly strikes with his axe and often begins his skirmishes with a shot from his bow. Alabane uses the strongest axe and bow he can obtain, but tends to favor simpler materials and designs over fancy Elven or Dwarven ones. He is much more likely to use Iron, Steel and (Ancient) Nordic weapons than anything else. Ultimately, he will be equipped with weapons made of Dragonbone.

    While he is far from an expert enchanter, Alabane will enhance his weapons with a spell just to personalize them. Some potential names for his axe are Dragonmaw, Drakesbane, Axe of the Dragonhunter and Wyvern’s Fang, while he could call his bow Dragonhunter’s Longbow, Bow of the Dragoon or Windforce. A simple Fire enchantment fits in with his general dragon theme.

    Alabane simply uses the strongest light armor at his disposal. As with his weaponry, he is going to favor simple pieces like leather, hide and scaled armor. In the above image he is depicted with the Mail Hauberk from Common Clothes, but the newly released Blades Rogue Armor is absolutely perfect for him. He wears an Amulet of Akatosh, as his family has long considered the Dragon God of Time their patron deity, although they are not particularly devout. Alabane found this to be quite ironic after his dragon dream, and keeps the Amulet as a reminder of the larger forces that might be at play in this grand conflict.

    Shouts are a huge part of Alabane's repertoire, and he uses the following consistently: Armageddon, Become Ethereal, Bend Will, Call Dragon, Dragon Aspect, Dragonrend, Earthquake, Fire Breath, Lightning Shield, Slow Time, Storm Call, Unrelenting Force, Warcry and Whirlwind Sprint. Thunderchild is a must-have mod, as it adds thirty-one new shouts, including four of the aforementioned. 

    As a Breton, Alabane's racial ability is Shared Ancestory, which allows him to steal the racial ability of a target. He unlocks this ability after discovering ten of Skyrim's Standing Stones. Additional lesser powers Alabane will learn on his journey are Scholar's Insight, Secret of Strength and Seeker of Might.

    Alabane, near the end of his journey, readies an arrow.

    Special Attacks

    Will of the Dragon: Dragon Aspect + Strongest Mage Armor Spell. Alabane greatly enhances his defenses by invoking a magical armor and the power of the Dragon Aspect.

    Charge of the Dragoon: Whirlwind Sprint + As a Leaf + Trample. Alabane launches at his foes with incredible speed to deliver a vicious swing of his axe.

    Dragoon's Volley: Unrelenting Force + Hawkeye. Alabane launches his opponent away from him, and uses the distance to strike with the accuracy of a hawk.

    Quests

    Main Quest, Dragonborn, Evil in Waiting (to kill Hevnoraak), Ragnvlad (to kill Otar the Mad), Siege on the Dragon Cult (to kill Rahgot), A Scroll for Anska (to kill Vokun), Volskygge (to kill Volsung), and any/all miscellaneous bounty quests

    Gameplay

    Alabane is a slightly-modified version of the prototypical TES Barbarian that is heavily influenced by Henson's Dragoon. His focus is on moving quickly in and out of battle and using a battle axe to end his confrontations decisively and quickly. He uses shouts and archery to compliment his attacks, but uses the former much more than the latter. Alabane is a true master of the Voice, and uses his wide arsenal of shouts as much as physically possible. With finely tempered armor, he can withstand most damage by adding a layer of mage armor on top of his gear.

    A grizzled, veteran mercenary, Alabane has no followers, no pets and no spouse. The Tundra Homestead serves as a nice home base as its niceties remind him of his upbringing in Daggerfall, but he often spends long stretches away from home and is no stranger to the inns and taverns across Skyrim. Campfire is another essential mod as it allows him to spend nights in the wilderness tracking his next target.

    As such, Alabane is hyper-focused on the main quest. You can start off with some bounty hunting, but you better get to Bleak Falls Barrow and get started on the path to Alduin ASAP. After you defeat him, it's time for Miraak. Definitely add the Dragonborn Delayed mod, which postpones the whole Miraak saga until after you actually defeat Alduin.

    The key theme for him is dragons. Take a look at the Dragon Knight trope. To summarize:

    Everyone knows the classic tale of the Knight in Shining Armor and his quest to slay a dragon, often to rescue a princess from the dragon's clutches, or to claim the dragon's hoard. So what do you get when the dragon and the knight are one and the same? You get the Dragon Knight.

    Alabane is obsessed with dragons. He's a monster hunter first and foremost, but dragons represent the pinnacle of his life's work. You should be constantly taking bounties, and The Notice Board is a must have mod that adds literal monster hunting bounties to each city. Think of Alabane as part Geralt of Rivia, part prototypical Last Dragonborn, and part male Delphine. Keep in mind, Alabane is a monster hunter and not a witch hunter or a vampire hunter. I have a separate Witchhunter build and a separate Battlemage that is 100% Geralt-in-Skyrim, so Alabane is defined more by his obsession with dragons than anything else (and my Witcher build actually avoids killing dragons, but let's wait until I post that one). To reflect this, be sure to seek out any and everything dragon-related - weapons, scales, bones, books, Priests, claws, etc.

    Necessary Mods: Ordinator, Imperious, Summermyst, Andromeda, Apocalypse, Thunderchild and 50% More Perk Points - all by EnaiSiaion. The Notice Board gives you infinite "Slay the Beast" quests, and you can get your armor from Common Clothes or, my new preference, the Blades Rogue Armor. Campfire lets you set up a camp site and track the monster you want to slay. Finally, Dragonborn Delayed postpones the start of Miraak's questline until after you finish the main story, which makes much more sense than getting attacked by Cultists at level 7. Previous links are for XB1, but these are all available on Nexus as well.

    Inspirations: One of my favorite builds of all-time: Henson's Dragoon. This was one of the first builds I ever saw on here and it was so amazing that I found myself really hooked by this place. I tried to take the general idea of this build and apply it to the Barbarian class while meeting this mental image I had of a scarred, grizzled dragon slayer. Art is from TES: Legends and taken from The Elder Scrolls Wiki.

  • Member
    May 3, 2018

    Another awesome Build Dean! I really like this one, He gives me vibes of The Crinfrid Reaver Dragon hunters, from the Witcher Series. And that rogue Blade armor looks bloody dope haha. Also this build really gives you a good reason to embrace the dragon blood. I wonder though since this guy's main goal is killing dragons, what does that mean for old Partysnax?

  • Member
    May 3, 2018

    Furrion 17 said:

    Another awesome Build Dean! I really like this one, He gives me vibes of The Crinfrid Reaver Dragon hunters, from the Witcher Series. And that rogue Blade armor looks bloody dope haha. Also this build really gives you a good reason to embrace the dragon blood. I wonder though since this guy's main goal is killing dragons, what does that mean for old Partysnax?

    I've only played the Witcher 3 for a little bit (I have it on PS4 but haven't gotten around to really diving in) and I can't wait. I'll check them out to see if I can incorporate anything from them into the build. As for Partysnax, it's a tough decision, but he would spare his life. In my opinion it fits in with the Dragon Knight trope I posted...Alabane spends so much time hunting dragons, realizes he is Dragonborn himself, and starts to understand the relationship between him and the dragons is a bit more complicated. End-game goal is for him to use the Call Dragon shout and use them as mounts as well, so he has some mercy at times. Thanks for the feedback!

  • May 3, 2018

    Sorry, Dean, meant to drop by earlier but got a bit distracted yesterday (or busy really). I don't have a lot to say about this build other than this just being a really good build again. I think your presentation picks up a little bit each time and it's just really nice looking. The build itself, and the character is as interesting as ever and I have to say that I'm really enjoying the set of builds so far :D

  • Member
    May 3, 2018

    Dean said:

    Furrion 17 said:

    Another awesome Build Dean! I really like this one, He gives me vibes of The Crinfrid Reaver Dragon hunters, from the Witcher Series. And that rogue Blade armor looks bloody dope haha. Also this build really gives you a good reason to embrace the dragon blood. I wonder though since this guy's main goal is killing dragons, what does that mean for old Partysnax?

    I've only played the Witcher 3 for a little bit (I have it on PS4 but haven't gotten around to really diving in) and I can't wait. I'll check them out to see if I can incorporate anything from them into the build. As for Partysnax, it's a tough decision, but he would spare his life. In my opinion it fits in with the Dragon Knight trope I posted...Alabane spends so much time hunting dragons, realizes he is Dragonborn himself, and starts to understand the relationship between him and the dragons is a bit more complicated. End-game goal is for him to use the Call Dragon shout and use them as mounts as well, so he has some mercy at times. Thanks for the feedback!

     

    They're more prominent in the books. But they pop up once or twice in TW2 and once in Blood and Wine in TW3. They have that real grisly barbaric look to em, bet if you searched for some pics you'd find some fan art out there that would look great for Alabane :D

    That's good I always find it hard to kill Parthy I think ive only done it once or twice, felt terrible afterward though. You should check out Rotmulaag if you havn't already. It lets you meditate on every word of power with Parthurnax, reckon it'd be an awesome one to use for your build.

  • Member
    May 10, 2018

    A great DB build Dean! I like how personal it is to Alabane to hunt down dragons. And finaly a build that sides with Delphine. I kill Parthurnax every time. I don't like him and he did serve Alduin. No going back from that, no matter how good you are now.

  • Member
    July 26, 2018

    Dragonborn2021 said:

    Sorry, Dean, meant to drop by earlier but got a bit distracted yesterday (or busy really). I don't have a lot to say about this build other than this just being a really good build again. I think your presentation picks up a little bit each time and it's just really nice looking. The build itself, and the character is as interesting as ever and I have to say that I'm really enjoying the set of builds so far :D

     

    Going back through some old comments and just want to say - thank you! You've really encouraged me a lot and hoping I can keep posting more and more as I play through the characters in game. I am going to re-visit this build in particular pretty soon and hope to provide a slight update on some new armor and mods I've used with Alabane in particular.

     

    DeltaFox said:

    A great DB build Dean! I like how personal it is to Alabane to hunt down dragons. And finaly a build that sides with Delphine. I kill Parthurnax every time. I don't like him and he did serve Alduin. No going back from that, no matter how good you are now.

     

    Thanks! Yes, when I make my builds I do my best to distill their theme down into a very distinct and individualized concept. I have my "vampire hunter", my "Vigilant", my "Penitus Oculatus", my "Dwemer scholar", etc. I wanted Alabane to be my "dragon hunter" and that informed my decisions about every part of his character. However, the Parthurnax Dilemma is very complicated for him. He is a dragon hunter by trade but as I said before, he starts to realize the relationship between him and dragons is more complex than he thought, and it's a tough decision either way. Either way, having a build that is obsessed with dragons all together checks off a lot of boxes for me, and I'm glad you liked reading it!

  • July 27, 2018

    Going back through some old comments and just want to say - thank you! You've really encouraged me a lot and hoping I can keep posting more and more as I play through the characters in game. I am going to re-visit this build in particular pretty soon and hope to provide a slight update on some new armor and mods I've used with Alabane in particular.

    Eh it's no big deal but I'm glad I could encourage you Dean, been really fun to see all the builds and I'll be really interested in seeing the mod changes.