I'm really digging the enchanting but no Enchanting thing. I tried to do something similar before by just augmenting the power of Chaos damage with the Dragonborn Dragon Priest Masks and Destruction perks, but in the end Chaos damage was still overwhelming for me lol. But I think the way you have done it makes it a lot more fair. Also, I really like your imagination here. I know sometimes it is hard to think outside of TES gives you, I know personally from my Viridian Witch and Golem builds. The thing is though, once you find a way to get past what is giving and really start using your imagination, like here, you will hit out the park every time. Great job man!

Thanks, Vaz.

I used Fire Breath occasionally, especially in the lower levels before reaching Adept Destruction and max Alchemy. Between The Fire Within, Eternal Spirit, and Dragonborn Force, there's really no reason not to pick up the Fire Within.

But yeah, definitely the least used Shout here. Especially in the endgame. I think I actually removed it from my Favorites after level 35-40 or so.

Thanks, Irissa!

I fear the conceptual nature of the build, and rather cerebral gameplay style, will turn off a lot of players. Especially with the complex writeup/presentation. Glad to know at least a few people are into it! 

Thanks, DxTr.

Like I said in the Help Desk, even if that cloak does wake up sleeping draugr, most of them will be dead before they can reach you. 45 DPS is nothing to sneeze at, and the range here is just absurd!

I moved the Crystals section up near the top. Hopefully, combined with the quick note in the beginning, that'll make things a bit easier to follow. Let me know if it flows better now.

Seeker of Sorcery reduces spell cost by 10% for all spells, and makes all [new] enchantments 10% more powerful. So without it, you'd probably be getting 30 Chaos Damage, rather than 33. I didn't test that; Enchanting buffs are kind of weird because some of them add to your character's Enchanting skill level directly, which actually makes them weaker than they purport to be. But I can attest that with the combination I listed, you will get 33 Chaos Damage.

However, once you make that weapon, switch over to Seeker of Shadows! That's where the real magic happens. It improves both Light Armor AR and potion magnitude. Normally, you can't get 100% Fortify Alchemy without maxing out Enchanting, because there are no generic magic rings. The most potent ring in the game is Muiri's Ring, for +15%. So even with three other items of Peerless quality, you only hit +90%. But with Seeker of Shadows, +82% behaves just like +100%, making Enchanting all the more superfluous here. I basically found two major ways to trick the game into thinking I had 100 Enchanting without ever perking or grinding the skill! 

I can take a low res potatophone picture of my last run through when I get home this afternoon. I actually ran through on a male Altmer most recently, but you'll at least get an idea. It looks better on a female, but at least on Altmer males, glass doesn't look totally out of place.

Same here, Lex. I don't think I did an Alchemist until maybe my fourth or fifth character. And it wasn't until Hearthfire that I became fully hooked. Since then, nearly all of my characters have been Alchemists. It's far and away the most powerful magic school -- and also the most flexible I think. And it's just fun!

Yeah, sorry for not making that clear. I just added that in next to the Lord under "Stone". That oughta do it.

Thanks, Oneness! Yeah, trying to come up with a "new" concept that can be integrated into the extant gameplay mechanics is a helluva task. And it's even harder to fit it into a build writeup. Especially after my last 3-5 builds being directly lore-based.

Thanks, Mumma.

Deviating from extant lore is always a risk. But in this case, I don't think it's necessarily fair to completely rule it out. I feel like the concept of Crystallurgy doesn't really violate any principles of magic in the TES universe. It's just a type of magic that hasn't been seen before. There's still a lot of stuff going on on Nirn that we haven't seen, so it's not a huge stretch to say that there's some secret underground society of artificers who have their own magical techniques in this sort of vein. But yeah, as far as the current canon goes, this is a clear and intentional departure.

Fantastic (and gutsy) concept here! Once you get it though (and it's not that difficult... potions = crystals) it gets super cool, and the color coded crystal concept is brilliant. Also love the fact that the crystals you rely on come from ingredients that are fairly easy to acquire--none of this giant's toe + essence of rainbow + tears of Chuck Norris stuff. That has always kind of scared me away from alchemy... give me simple but effective any day :) Every time I try alchemy I always forget to take my potions; it's some bizarre synaptic misfire on my part. This build encourages me to give it another go (even though it's kind of like learning a foreign language--difficult at first, but rewarding if you can stick with it and do it. Thanks for the inspiration :D

Thanks, Shin. Glad you like it!

I did some revision since it first went up, geared toward making the concept a bit clearer. I think the original version wasn't quite as clear about crystals = potions as far as crafting goes. It's definitely more conceptual than the average build here, but I'm glad to know it's coming across well enough.

I totally agree about Alchemy being foreboding when you don't know how to collect half of the ingredients. That's why I try to stick to Hearthfire-friendly ingredients as much as possible. Or if I do deviate, I try to at least use something easy to harvest in bulk -- like Hanging Moss for the Montalion and Sword-singer; you can collect 60+ samples inside the Solitude Catacombs, plus another dozen in Solitude proper. Keeps you from pulling your hair out trying to maintain a steady stock.

I like to build around potions, rather than just use them as occasional buffs. I feel like Enchanting and Smithing don't really lend themselves to that style as much as Alchemy does. Even though Alchemy does require a bit more hands-on approach, it's really not too hard to manage with a Hearthfire home. I hotkeyed the Red Crystal, and the second hotkey was usually either Ebonyflesh or Flame Cloak. For a simple encounter, you can easily just cast press your Red Crystal hotkey, then cast Flame Cloak, and obliterate everything in sight. For boss fights, you may need to go into your favorites menu to cast Ebonyflesh first, and maybe switch over the the "end-postive" approach by drawing on a "White Crystal" and equipping the crown.

You can mix and match tactics as desired, but it doesn't have to be as complex as I'm presenting it. I just wanted to cover all the bases.

Let me know how your Alchemy exploration works out. If you run into any snags, feel free to PM me. Alchemy's easily my favorite skill, and I'm always game to discuss ideas!