Skyrim Character Building » Discussions

Character Build: The Arcanamach

• Matt Feeney the New Guy

  
   

  June 3, 2013

  Be a dark elf or use a cloak spell. Maybe take Reflect Blows (hmm, does wearing multiple pieces of heavy armor increase the experienced gained per hit?).

  Be a dark elf or use a cloak spell. Maybe take Reflect Blows (hmm, does wearing multiple pieces of heavy armor increase the experienced gained per hit?).
• Vansalon

  

  Member
   

  June 3, 2013

  Yes, I'm only using it only to avoid a skill, but as I said I hate alchemy, and you're using an exploit regardless of whether you use alchemy or not. I already feel this build has too many skills, and this version is after I cut three. Alchemy seems to be the slowest leveling skill, and in the long run it takes far less time to collect the soul gems and items to enchant to achieve enough fortify alchemy, and become a werewolf to equip it all than just grind alchemy all day.

  And the thing is, when you're collecting soul gems, items, and doing the companions questline, you're actually playing the freaking game! You're not spending hours at an alchemy table; clicking over and over as you watch the little skill bar sloooooowwwwwllllllyyyyy go up until you have high enough alchemy to make a potion strong enough. This way, it's collect a few items, enchant them real quick, perform a very easy to do exploit that takes two minutes at most, mix a potion and you're done! Still takes a few minutes, but those minutes are not spent in a menu. Those minutes are spent in the world playing the game.

  That to me alone is worth having to perform an extra exploit.  

  Yes, I'm only using it only to avoid a skill, but as I said I hate alchemy, and you're using an exploit regardless of whether you use alchemy or not. I already feel this build has too many skills, and this version is after I cut three. Alchemy seems to be the slowest leveling skill, and in the long run it takes far less time to collect the soul gems and items to enchant to achieve enough fortify alchemy, and become a werewolf to equip it all than just grind alchemy all day.

  And the thing is, when you're collecting soul gems, items, and doing the companions questline, you're actually playing the freaking game! You're not spending hours at an alchemy table; clicking over and over as you watch the little skill bar sloooooowwwwwllllllyyyyy go up until you have high enough alchemy to make a potion strong enough. This way, it's collect a few items, enchant them real quick, perform a very easy to do exploit that takes two minutes at most, mix a potion and you're done! Still takes a few minutes, but those minutes are not spent in a menu. Those minutes are spent in the world playing the game.

  That to me alone is worth having to perform an extra exploit.  

• Matt Feeney the New Guy

  
   

  June 3, 2013

  Really? Man, I knew it wasn't great but that's horrible! Oh, but the Ebony Warrior's perk reflects back 12x damage (I don't want to reflect back that much damage, but maybe a little bit more).

  Really? Man, I knew it wasn't great but that's horrible! Oh, but the Ebony Warrior's perk reflects back 12x damage (I don't want to reflect back that much damage, but maybe a little bit more).
• Raid

  

  Member
   

  June 4, 2013

  This is a good looking build man! I love the presentation, too many of the new builds seem to have not very good presentation, but yours is great. +1

  This is a good looking build man! I love the presentation, too many of the new builds seem to have not very good presentation, but yours is great. +1
• Vansalon

  

  Member
   

  June 4, 2013

  Thanks; I worked hard on the presentation because I myself hate builds with bad presentation. Even if your idea is great, people won't read long enough to see it or be interested in it if your presentation is horrible.

  Thanks; I worked hard on the presentation because I myself hate builds with bad presentation. Even if your idea is great, people won't read long enough to see it or be interested in it if your presentation is horrible.

• Raid

  

  Member
   

  June 4, 2013

  Got it in one there, I look at some builds and just wish they had better presentation, because the idea seems good.

  Got it in one there, I look at some builds and just wish they had better presentation, because the idea seems good.
• Teccam

  

  Member
   

  June 4, 2013

  Your presentation is good, but I do think it could be improved.  The first thing I'd suggest is to deviate a bit from the pattern of <text> <full image> <text> <full image> by fitting one or two images in line with the text.

  Another presentation suggestion is to move away from centered text.  Personally, I think center alignment is best when reserved only for headers, important captions, and visual highlights (banners, big images, dividers).  If you feel like left-align is too dull, or you want a bit more balance, maybe consider using justify instead.  You can do it manually by editing in HTML.  Check out the Loup-Garou for an example of justified text.

  One last minor personal comment on presentation: I think it's nice when headers are a bit larger than the body text, to help make them stand out.  Coloring the headers does serve a similar purpose, but the size difference also helps to break up the text a bit more.

  I like the spirit of the build, and the style.  I'm not sure I really buy into your mindset of stacking small Fortify Alchemy enchantments as being a more natural or streamlined way of achieving the end goal, but I applaud you for seeking a less used method.  I'm in the same boat as Ben here though, in that I'm not generally a fan of this exploit, and I don't think the effort required to train Alchemy is as bothersome as you make it out to be.

  It's clear you put a lot of work into this, and it shows in many ways.  Apart from the constructive criticism I've already offered, my only concern is that underneath the advanced Atronach mechanic, it seems a bit two-dimensional.  This issue plagues all builds that specifically focus on gaining a tactical advantage over one enemy type.  Obviously this guy can hold his own against all types of creatures, but when not hunting mages, what makes him stand out from other spellswords?  He doesn't seem to have any unique active powers/abilities/tricks to set him apart.  Stuff like that isn't necessarily essential, but it's nice to see all the same.  Realistically, how often do you fight mages outside of the College of Winterhold quest line?

  Your presentation is good, but I do think it could be improved.  The first thing I'd suggest is to deviate a bit from the pattern of <text> <full image> <text> <full image> by fitting one or two images in line with the text.

  Another presentation suggestion is to move away from centered text.  Personally, I think center alignment is best when reserved only for headers, important captions, and visual highlights (banners, big images, dividers).  If you feel like left-align is too dull, or you want a bit more balance, maybe consider using justify instead.  You can do it manually by editing in HTML.  Check out the Loup-Garou for an example of justified text.

  One last minor personal comment on presentation: I think it's nice when headers are a bit larger than the body text, to help make them stand out.  Coloring the headers does serve a similar purpose, but the size difference also helps to break up the text a bit more.

  I like the spirit of the build, and the style.  I'm not sure I really buy into your mindset of stacking small Fortify Alchemy enchantments as being a more natural or streamlined way of achieving the end goal, but I applaud you for seeking a less used method.  I'm in the same boat as Ben here though, in that I'm not generally a fan of this exploit, and I don't think the effort required to train Alchemy is as bothersome as you make it out to be.

  It's clear you put a lot of work into this, and it shows in many ways.  Apart from the constructive criticism I've already offered, my only concern is that underneath the advanced Atronach mechanic, it seems a bit two-dimensional.  This issue plagues all builds that specifically focus on gaining a tactical advantage over one enemy type.  Obviously this guy can hold his own against all types of creatures, but when not hunting mages, what makes him stand out from other spellswords?  He doesn't seem to have any unique active powers/abilities/tricks to set him apart.  Stuff like that isn't necessarily essential, but it's nice to see all the same.  Realistically, how often do you fight mages outside of the College of Winterhold quest line?

• Vansalon

  

  Member
   

  June 4, 2013

  I had a lot of trouble finding images for this build because my search-fu is terrible, which is why there's only a few, but I'll look around again.

  Centered alignment seemed to look best to me. I'll play around with other things and see what looks better, though.

  My gripe about alchemy is that when you're grinding it you're only sitting at a crafting table, not playing the game. This way still takes a bit but at least not all of it is spent crafting. This is just a personal thing, but I'd also never use potions that I'd make, because I hate consumables.

  I found it fun managing my magicka level, deciding when to use weapons and when to use destruction magic, and looking for those little spots with environmental damage I could absorb, although I didn't seek them out. It added another element of decision making for me that isn't present otherwise. Against mages, of course, I usually just used destruction magic, but against other foes I had the option to regenerate magicka by fighting them with my physical weapons, or kill them quicker and easier by stagger locking them with dual cast spells, and then regenerate that magicka later.

  Also magic using enemies show up quite often, and spell absorption absorbs more than spells. Dragon breath will also be absorbed, for example (although it doesn't heal very much magicka), making the Arcanamach excellent at killing dragons just by keeping his distance and shooting them. Bandits often use magic, with usually only a dagger for a physical weapon, and Draugr also use frost magic fairly extensively. I also found the enemies that the game actually calls mages in a lot of places. They're not as common as bandits or draugr, of course, but they did seem to be one of the more common enemy types.

  I had a lot of trouble finding images for this build because my search-fu is terrible, which is why there's only a few, but I'll look around again.

  Centered alignment seemed to look best to me. I'll play around with other things and see what looks better, though.

  My gripe about alchemy is that when you're grinding it you're only sitting at a crafting table, not playing the game. This way still takes a bit but at least not all of it is spent crafting. This is just a personal thing, but I'd also never use potions that I'd make, because I hate consumables.

  I found it fun managing my magicka level, deciding when to use weapons and when to use destruction magic, and looking for those little spots with environmental damage I could absorb, although I didn't seek them out. It added another element of decision making for me that isn't present otherwise. Against mages, of course, I usually just used destruction magic, but against other foes I had the option to regenerate magicka by fighting them with my physical weapons, or kill them quicker and easier by stagger locking them with dual cast spells, and then regenerate that magicka later.

  Also magic using enemies show up quite often, and spell absorption absorbs more than spells. Dragon breath will also be absorbed, for example (although it doesn't heal very much magicka), making the Arcanamach excellent at killing dragons just by keeping his distance and shooting them. Bandits often use magic, with usually only a dagger for a physical weapon, and Draugr also use frost magic fairly extensively. I also found the enemies that the game actually calls mages in a lot of places. They're not as common as bandits or draugr, of course, but they did seem to be one of the more common enemy types.

• Vansalon

  

  Member
   

  June 4, 2013

  Slightly too late to edit, I improved the presentation again.

  Slightly too late to edit, I improved the presentation again.

• Vazgen

  

  Member
   

  June 4, 2013

  Hey man, I took liberty to slightly edit some of your images so they'll fit better. Here they are, just click on them for larger versions:

  

  Edit: Also included the newest image

  

  Hey man, I took liberty to slightly edit some of your images so they'll fit better. Here they are, just click on them for larger versions:

  

  Edit: Also included the newest image