Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Character Build: The Desert Spellsword

Tags: #Character Build Dual-Wield  #Character Build Battlemage  #Character Build Mage Armor  #Race:Redguard  #Rank:Legendary  #Hall of Fame Build  #Albino Skyrim Build  #Mercenary  #Alik'r  #Desert Magic 
  • December 16, 2013
    I love winter, lots of builds will be pouring in!! I expect to post some of my own as well. Anyone cool build, I love unarmoured builds, though I will replace smithing and enchanting with alchemy, find my discussion on tips and tricks about that little alchemy technique.
  • Member
    December 16, 2013

    Yeah, Alchemy's definitely a strong skill; I've used it on plenty of builds myself. I prefer Smithing+Enchanting for this build, but you could definitely use Alchemy instead.

  • Member
    December 16, 2013

    I never knew that. Actually, that sounds like an interesting roleplay idea, Glass Armor forged from meteor remains. As I recall, the Ayleids were into that sort of thing; it could make for an interesting build.

  • Member
    December 16, 2013

    Second picture reminds me of Mountain Dew

  • Member
    December 16, 2013

    Hmm... just out of curiosity, what difficulty are you playing this on? Most of my later builds builds are usually on legendary difficulty, which essentially means that that archers can 1 shot you and battleaxes or warhammers can 2 hit before death.

    That said, with the lack of conjuration, even with dual casted ebony flesh (Cause really, who has time to cast dragonhide when faced with an opponent?), + 50 from lord stone, 3/3 mage armor perks and Greater Ward constantly up (i'll touch on magicka cost later), you will only have 530 AR... which will probably allow you to take maybe 2 more hits?

    How then do you face groups of 3-4 mobs? One on One should be fine, assuming you drop the ward, back off and heal. But anything more than 1 opponent (assuming you do manage to ash shell all the others), you would probably be dead.

    I know this cause of my battlemage sellsword build. Same kinda set up, minus the whole redguard thematic... but on that I had a frost atronach to tank, which you don't.... so just wondering.

    Also, for the magicka reduction on the greater ward (i am assuming you're using that due to the high AR it provides), would a 25% cost reduction be sufficient? I am asking this, cause there doesn't seem to be a magicka absorb enchant anywhere in your gear set up. Which means, you would be out of magicka, sooner than you know it, unless you have a ridiculously high amount of regen on gear.

    Don't get me wrong, I like the build... but I really think that you might want to include a absorb magicka enchant instead of a secondary fire damage enchant in order to upkeep magicka and re-visit the set up if you intend this play for legendary.

    +1 from me though however for the presentation and the initiative in exploring the lesser known strain of Desert Magic.

  • Member
    December 16, 2013

    Believe it or not, this guy is entirely viable on Master, though I didn't try Legendary. Dragonhide works well with this build (just use Become Ethereal to give you the breathing room necessary to cast it).

    Against larger groups Ash/Paralysis spells and crowd control shouts like Cyclone work wonders. This is an excellent case of where using a spellsword rather than a dual-wielding setup would be more useful; quick strikes with a single sword won't slow you down, enabling you to dodge attacks more easily, and you can keep a restoration spell in the off hand for quick heals.

    I was actually using ward spells primarily for dragon fights since their breath attacks are easy to predict and even with good magic resistance, blocking their breath with wards is still preferable. With that in mind, having just the one cost reduction enchantment is sufficient.

    With this guy, there is definitely an emphasis on killing enemies before the battle drags on too long. In situations where that does happen though, I keep a stockpile of Restore Magicka potions that I found in dungeons. That being said, using an Absorb Magicka Scimitar certainly isn't a bad idea.

    Your criticisms are certainly valid ones, and I'm glad that you still like the build.

  • Member
    December 16, 2013

    Cool concept.  +1

    I love any build that works with Redguard lore.   One question:  This build has a lot of abilities.  Do you find that switching between spells/ spellsword/dual wield to be cumbersome?  

  • Member
    December 16, 2013
    Great build Albino! The desert theme is awesome mate.
  • Member
    December 16, 2013

    Great build Albino! I once tried to make something similar using all 6 of the Redguard skills and it was great fun playing, maybe I'll play it again now that you've posted this :P 

  • Member
    December 16, 2013

    hmm... you might have a point there... i just realized you're using -75% destruction cost reduction in addition to perks. Using poisons that make targets weaker to element of choice or just magic in general might help (lavender + thundra cotton = poison of weakness to magic). That should make very short work against most mobs on legendary, considering your magic damage output is reduced by 50% (or was is 25%... can't remember) on Master difficulty.

    That said, unless you're a vamp, stability doesn't really extend the effect of dragonhide for long. BE (first word) shout + Dragonhide ain't really my cuppa tea, as i find it breaks the fluidity of combat with the constant shouting and application of spell (Dragonhide only lasts for 30 seconds i think, up to 45 with stability. A dual casted ebonyflesh lasts for much longer, though at the cost of lesser defense).

    Still to each his own i suppose... if it works for this build then I am more than happy i suppose. Good job on the build.