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Necronomicon: Prologue

Tags: #Tips and Tricks Exploits  #Tips and Tricks Glitches  #Tips and Tricks Guides  #Tips and Tricks Leveling  #Tips and Tricks Magic  #Necronomicon 
  • May 10, 2016

    Hello everyone and welcome.  A recent build of mine, and several others I’ve posted, focused heavily on the powers of necromancy in Skyrim.  In researching and playtesting them I learned a lot about the mechanics and function of the varied necromantic abilities that can be found in the game.  It’s a complex subject, too complex to be covered in a character build, and too complex to be covered in one post.  So I’ve decided to start this series in an effort to categorize and distribute the knowledge and techniques I’ve learned, and how I use them whenever I play a necromancer. 

    First it might be helpful to define the term necromancy.  Classically necromancy was the summoning of the dead, either spiritually or physically reanimating the body in order to reveal the future or to reveal unknown knowledge of the present.  For instance a necromancer might call upon the spirit of an ancestor and ask them questions about the future of the family line.  Alternatively a necromancer might reanimate the body of a recently slain man to enquire about who killed him.  In summation necromancy was a form of divination.  The word necromancy comes from the Greek word nekromantaia, nekro meaning dead body and manteia meaning prophesy or divination.  The current genre of high fantasy has taken this term to mean the reanimating of servants through the creation of zombies and walking skeletons.  It is the current use of the word in relation to the high fantasy game we all know and love (Skyrim) that I wish to explore in this series of discussions.

    Note that I play on X-Box so everything I talk about will assume the use of un-modded Skyrim and the three major DLC’s (Hearthfire, Dawnguard, Dragonborn).  There are a lot of necromancy and undead mods out there that may make this discussion redundant and unnecessary for PC players who enjoy mods.  This series however will be focused on what is available within the confines of the game itself and I hope for it to be helpful to the aspiring necromancer who plays un-modded or console versions of the game.

    So with that out of the way I hope you’ll join me for the first chapter of the Necronomicon where we will discuss some of the mechanics that are unique to the necromancy spells in Skyrim. 

    Till next time.

    Indentured to the Ideal Masters,

    Vargr

    Necronomicon Vol. 1: The Uniqueness of Necromancy

    Necronomicon Vol. 2: Reanimation vs. Enthrallment

    Necronomicon Vol. 3: The NecroGrind

    Necronomicon Vol. 4: Dead Thrall

    Necronomicon Vol. 5: Grave Digging

    Necronomicon Vol. 6: Embalming

    Necronomicon Vol. 7: The Soul Cairn Summons

    Necronomicon Vol. 8: Fleshcrafting, Healing, and the Undead

    Necronomicon Vol. 9: Cheating Death

  • May 10, 2016
    Are you open to tricks others have learned and wish to share?
  • May 10, 2016

    Absolutely!  I plan on posting several discussions on the topic so there will probably be a discussion for most things but I would love to hear about other tips or tricks people have discovered.

  • Member
    May 10, 2016
    Great, that's exactly what I've been waiting for! You know, aside the spell dead thrall for tests, I've never ever used any of the necromancy spells (let's say I used them about 5 times in 3 years playing, which isn't a joke at all).
  • Member
    May 10, 2016

    Yes, this looks great!  The one and only necromancer I've played was the Clever Man, and he lugged around a greatsword.  I'd like to do a 'traditional' necromancer someday.  

  • Member
    May 11, 2016

    Very nice Vargr! You planning on delving into the lore too? Like cultural perspectives on necromancy such as Dunmeri views on the subject? 

  • May 11, 2016

    Thanks, Phil.  I don't have anything concrete yet for lore.  I have a few discussions planned but they all focus on gameplay and mechanics so far though I have considered lore it's something that would be further down the line.

  • May 11, 2016
    Oh cool. I got a great trick I used in one of my builds to share with the group.
  • May 11, 2016

    Here's a link to my discussion on Immortal Zombies

  • May 11, 2016

    Ah yes I have run into this before. Though I never thought of using it as a distraction in combat.  

    This is why my necromancers use fire destruction magic. Shock disintegrates and frost with deep freeze causes this.  I wonder if this is permanent on persistent corpses. It would allow you to decorate your player home with zombie butlers.  Something to test. Thanks for the tip.