Elder Scrolls Character Development

Skyrim Character Guide:

2011-11-16T15:37:00.000-08:00

The Destroyer

The destroyer is the embodiment of warrior. Armed with a massive two-handed War-Hammer and armored in the heaviest plate available, this fearless warrior throws himself headlong into battle swinging throwing caution to the wind and relying on his armor and high health pool to keep him alive.

Race: The greatest destroyers come from the races of Nord and Orcs.

With their naturally ability to wear heavy armor and wield two handed weapons, Orcs can become fearsome warriors and their ability to fly into a berserker rage increasing their damage and reducing incoming damage.

Nord’s on the other hand are naturally more gifted with two-handed weapons. They also have a natural resistance to the cold inherent in Skyrim and can terrify their foes with a shout.

Attributes: (Magicka – Health – Stamina)

The destroyer has very little use for magic, many even harbor a severe distrust of magic which occasionally skirts the borders of hatred and therefore uses very little of the arts on his own. Health and Stamina are the Destroyer’s bread and butter. The Destroyer will increase his health and stamina at a ratio of 2:1 respectively (two increases to health for every 1 increase to stamina).

Skills and Perks: Two-Handed weapons and Heavy Armor are the two skills that define the Destroyer and together create a force to be reckoned with. These two skills will absorb the majority of the Destroyer’s skill perks.

Two-Handed Skill Perks: Total Perk Points invested (13)

Barbarian: When fully invested in this five rank skill, your character will essentially deal double physical damage with his weapon.

Skullcrusher: This three-point skill perk adds a nice bonus to damage. While this skills is more affective against people than creatures it will make a big difference in the amount of attacks required to Destroy your opponent.

Champions Stance: In addition to being a pre-requisite for one of the coolest perks in the game Champion’s stance reduces the stamina cost of your power attacks which account for the majority of your attacks as a Destroyer.

Great Critical Charge: As a highly offensive fighter, the Destroyer’s goal is to get into combat and deliver the most devastating blows as quickly as possible. Allowing your charge attack to deal double damage is extremely powerful.

Devastating Blow: Not only does this skill give your standing power attacks at passive 25% bonus to damage, but also gives them a small chance of decapitating enemies.

Sweep: This attack turns your sideways power attack into a cleave hitting everything in front of you. Since the Destroyer wades into battle paying little attention to the number of foes, this skill can help even the odds with every swipe.

Warmaster: The capstone of two handed warrior vengeance. This perk modifies your backward power attack giving you a chance to paralyze your foes. This can be useful when fighting multiple strong foes. Giving you a chance to pummel them thoroughly without taking any damage for a few seconds.

Heavy Armor: Total Perk Points invested (9)

Juggernaught: This is another excellent perk which simply doubles your armor rating. Max this out and ignore the peons poking you with sharpened sticks.

Well-Fitted: You’re always going to be wearing four pieces of heavy armor, so this is essentially a free 25% extra armor rating for free.

Tower of Strength: In my experience, if a foe is powerful enough to stagger you, a second power attack will likely kill you. The less staggered you are by powerful strikes, the longer you will live. Oh it’s also a prerequisite for other cool skills.

Matching Set: We’ll learn later that you’re going to be crafting your own armor so by the time you get this skill you should be crafting your own sets of armor and ‘most’ of the time you will get this additional 25% bonus to armor rating.

Reflect Blows: So we’ve determined that the Juggernaught wades into battle with a massive hammer raised above his head ready to drive his foes head down through his rectum. In the mean time puny bandits strike you and your armor turns their strikes back against them. What could be cooler than watching your enemies kill themselves by attacking you?

Smithing: Total Perk Points Invested (7)

Steel Smithing: This is the prerequisite for the craft, plus it opens up nice armors early in the game.

Dwarven Smithing: This armor wasn’t very useful to me cause by the time I could craft any of it, I was already finding better, but it still retains it’s place in the hierarchy of armors.

Orcish Smithing: This armor is definitely cool looking. Keep working.

Ebony Smithing: This armor will last you a long time as daedra hearts will be hard to come by for the next tier.

Daedric Smithing: Probably the coolest looking armor and weapons in the game. Last step before Dragon armor.

Dragon Armor: This is the pinnacle of crafting perfection, and the reason you’ve been lugging armor those 15 pound dragon scales.

Arcane Blacksmith: Finally you can improve the Magical Weapons and Armor you find in game.

Enchanting: Total Perk Points Invested (9)

Enchanter: If you’re going to be smithing your own weapons and armor, you’d better be able to put some damn nice enchantments on them. For five points you can double the effectiveness of your enchanted items.

Fire/Frost/Storm Enchanter: As a melee fighter one of your greatest weaknesses will be magic damage. You will need to enchant protection from the elements and the added benefit of additional protection and damage is an excellent prospect.

Soul Squeezer: Gaining additional magicka when recharging is always helpful. But it’s also a prerequisite for an awesome perk

Soul Siphon: With this perk you will almost never need to waste your soul gems on recharging your weapons. You can use them for leveling up your enchanting in order to get the capstone.

Insightful Enchanter: While this is generally more helpful for mage types. You may occasionally find it useful to put skill enchantments on your armor. This is also a prereq for the next skill.

Corpus Enchanter: Health and stamina enchants go a long way in your survivability and ability to last in a fight. This is an excellent Perk

Extra Effect: With this perk every item you create becomes an artifact. Your Armor can simultaneously offer resistance to fire and frost or your weapon can soultrap and electrify your foe. Begin able to add two enchantments on one item is arguably the most useful perk in the game.

Misc Skills and Perks:

At this point your Destroyer will be nearly level 40 with 11 perk points left before the theoretical max of 50. You can spend the remaining points however you feel it necessary. For those Destroyers who seek extra protection from magical effects, try picking up “Magic Resistance” in the Alteration tree. For 5 points invested, you can decrease the effects of spells against you by 20%. Other options include adding Archery to your available options. Try Speech to increase you ability to persuade, or become a merchant in your own right.

Guardian Stones: The most immediately useful Guardian stones for the Destroyer are the Warrior (increases leveling speed by 30%), and the Steed (which allows you to move unencumbered by armor, and carry 100 more pounds of weight). The Steed will a.) allow you to move at full speed while in armor and b.) allow you to carry a LOT more loot.

I hope you enjoyed this guide. There will be many more to follow so please keep checking back. Also if you have a character build you would like to see posted leave a comment.

It's official

2011-11-16T13:34:00.000-08:00

Skyrim is finally here…

And now that some of us have finally been able to pull ourselves out of Tamriel for long enough to go back to work or school we can start discussing the character creation system of the game and how you can create the perfect character to fit your character concept.

You’ve played around with your character and have a decent idea of how the character development system works and how the perks work. But here we’ll take a detailed look at how some of the skills/perks/shouts can work together to produce excellent characters.

With the addition of the excellent perk system, our characters really feel a LOT more powerful. This new system really gives the ability to really specialize and build the character we want. But with any good Role-Playing game there is always a very high opportunity cost when choosing each perk. In other words, by spending one perk in One-Handed weapons you are giving up the opportunity to place that perk in every other skill tree. With so many amazing perk options the cost is very high!

In the coming months we’ll examine builds focusing primarily on Combat, Magic, Stealth, and character builds that are hybrids between at least two of the forms and how certain perk/skill combinations can create powerful synergies.

Oblivion Character Build: The Brigand

2011-10-23T07:22:00.001-07:00

In today’s trip back into the world of Oblivion, we’ll take a look at the Brigand..

THE BRIGAND

Background: The Brigand is equal parts highwayman and thief. He makes his living by robbing, stealing, or conning. His lifestyle has forced him to live by the sword but he prefers to take any advantage possible. He will utilize stealth, range, or poison if it gives him a higher chance of winning a battle.

Sample Brigand

Class:	Brigand	Race:	Imperial

	Combat		Magic		Stealth
Armorer	5	Alchemy	5	Acrobatics	15
Athletics	5	Alteration	5	Light Armor	35
Blade	30	Conjuration	5	Marksman	35
Block	25	Destruction	5	Mercantile	45
Blunt	10	Illusion	5	Security	35
Hand-to-Hand	10	Mysticism	5	Sneak	35
Heavy Armor	15	Restoration	5	Speechcraft	25


	Base	Bonuses		Health	100
Agility	50			Magicka	130
Endurance	50			Fatigue	170
Intelligence	40			Encumbrance	80
Luck	60
Personality	50
Speed	50
Strength	40
Willpower	30


BirthSign:	The Thief

Playstyle

The Brigand can quickly and easily switch combat stances from a poisoned dagger in stealth, to bow for range and sword and shield for fighting up close and personal. He uses his high speed and mobility to hit and run.

Guilds

The Brigand can easily side with either the thieves guild or the fighters guild. And brigands with lower than average morals can make a good living within the Dark Brotherhood as well.

Oblivion Character Build: The Warlock

2011-10-23T06:53:00.000-07:00

In today’s trip back into the world of Oblivion, we’ll take a look at the Warlock.

THE WARLOCK

Background: The Warlock is a practitioner of the darker of the magical arts. Where the Paladin worships the nine divines, the Warlock tries to gain favor with the daedric princes. He will use whatever means necessary to increase his power and knowledge of the arcane arts. He is not above summoning spirits from the realms of Oblivion and binding them to his service.

Sample Warlock


Class:	Warlock	Race:	Dunmer

	Combat		Magic		Stealth
Armorer	5	Alchemy	15	Acrobatics	5
Athletics	5	Alteration	35	Light Armor	25
Blade	25	Conjuration	35	Marksman	5
Block	5	Destruction	35	Mercantile	5
Blunt	5	Illusion	35	Security	5
Hand-to-Hand	5	Mysticism	15	Sneak	5
Heavy Armor	5	Restoration	35	Speechcraft	5


	Base	Bonuses		Health	100
Agility	40			Magicka	150
Endurance	50			Fatigue	160
Intelligence	50			Encumbrance	80
Luck	50
Personality	30
Speed	50
Strength	40
Willpower	30


BirthSign:	The Mage

Playstyle

Because the warlock spends most of his efforts delving into the secrets of magic and the forbidden realms of oblivion, he finds little joy in the mundane and relies on his spells to carry him through any encounter. He often has a minion to take the brunt of most assaults and his melee weapon is merely a means of delivering poison or debilitating enchantment.

Spells

When opposed the warlock prefers to bring suffering and agony to his foes instead of a quick death. Therefore he prefers spells that draw out damage over time instead of all at once. He also prefers hampering spells such as drain, damage abilities, as well as absorbing health, magic and attributes. Their loss should always be the warlock’s gain.

Oblivion Character Build: The Paladin

2011-10-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

In our first trek back into Oblivion, we'll be examining the Paladin class and how to you can create an effective paladin. We will also explore some tips and advise for the play style and role-playing applications of the Paladin class and how it can interact with certain quest lines.

Disclaimer: The guides laid out within this blog relate the role-player, not the power gamer

THE PALADIN

Paladin literally means 'to be a champion of a cause'. In role-playing games this usually translates to a Champion of good. The Paladin champions the cause of good by hunting down and vanquishing evil and by providing assistance and protection to the weak or meager. It is also important to note that that in many cases Paladin's are also the champions of a divine being of principle, and through their devotion they are rewarded with powers that aid and protect them in their battle against evil. Because of their role as defenders of the weak and vanquishers of evil, Paladins are trained in the art of combat.

Paladins are first and foremost, a front-line fighter. Their magical ability to protect and heal themselves is supplementary. In our adventure building a paladin we will examine several options. We will discuss race, birth signs and finally building the actual class.

RACE
Our first step is to decide upon a race. As with any role-playing character concept, this is largely based on personal preference, however, some races are better suited to different roles. Lets take a look at our top three options and their associated benefits and drawbacks.

1. Redguard: Redguards generally start with higher Endurance and Strength than other races of Tamriel which make them very well suited to deal with the physical rigors of combating evil within the hellish realms of Oblivion. Redguards do however, start with lower scores in intelligence, personality and willpower which can hamper the Redguard Paladin's ability to use protective and healing magic. Redguards are more naturally talented in combat than any other race. The Redguards high constitution grants him or her a high resistance to the abhorrent disease of the undead and the vicious poisons of deadly assassins and rogues. In addition, Redguards can force their bodies into a state of Adrenaline Rush, greatly increasing their combat prowess.
Summary:
+10 Strength and Endurance; -10 Intelligence, Personality, and Willpower
+10 Athletics, Blade, and Blunt; +5 Heavy Armor, Light Armor, and Mercantile
75% Resistance to Poison and Disease
Adrenaline Rush: +50 Agility, Endurance, Speed, Strength, and +25 Health for 60 seconds

2. Orc: If the Redguard is the offensive melee powerhouse, then the Orc is his opposite. Orcs generally start with higher Endurance and Willpower than the other races of Tamriel which greatly increase their survivability against both melee combatants and spell-casters. Orcs do generally start with lower Intelligence and Speed which makes spell-casting more difficult for them than other races. Orcs have naturally affinity with protecting themselves by creating and using shields and heavy armor. While Orcs are not generally magically inclined they do have an innate resistance to magic, and when pushed they can unleash a righteous fury upon enemies.
Summary:
+10 Endurance and Willpower; -10 Intelligence and Speed
+10 Armorer, Block, Blunt, Heavy Armor, and +5 Hand-to-Hand
25% Resistance to Magic
Berserk: +200 Fatigue, +50 Strength, +20 Health, and -100 Agility

3. Nord: The Nords are the toughened warriors from the frigid land of Skyrim to the north. Nords are skilled warriors with a working knowledge of restoration magic. The Nord's share physical characteristics with the Redguards. Nords are at home in the frigid temperatures of Skyrim and have a natural resistance to frost. The Nordic Paladin has had a great deal of training with all types of melee weapons and is comfortable in Heavy armor.
Summary:
+10 Strength and Endurance; -10 Intelligence, Personality, and Willpower
+10 Blade, Blunt, Heavy Armor; +5 Armorer and Block
50% Resistance to Frost
30% Shield for 60 Seconds
50 Points of Frost Damage on Touch: Usable once per day

BIRTHSIGNS:
The next step in developing our Paladin is the choosing of a birth sign. As with race the choose of birth sign depends on a particular concept, however these are the best suited, in my opinion, to the Paladin.

1. The Warrior: The simplest, and arguably most powerful birth sign that a Paladin can be born under is the sign of The Warrior. Those born under this sign are blessed with enhanced Strength and Endurance. This birth sign will allow the Paladin's attacks to strike harder and truer against his enemies. +10 Strength and Endurance

2. The Lady: This is another very basic and useful birth sign for the Paladin as it increases two important attributes: Endurance and Willpower. With this birth sign, the paladin is better suited to battling enemy spellcasters. +10 Endurance and Willpower.

3. The Ritual: This is a unique option for birthsigns. With the ability to use a powerful self heal once per day and a turn undead spell, it allows the Paladin to specialize more in the destruction of undead abominations. Paladins born under this sign play more closely to traditional Pencil and Paper versions of the Paladin. Restore Health 200 points and Turn Undead level 25 for 30 seconds.

CLASS GENERATION
There is no premade "Paladin" class for Oblivion. The closest option of premade characters is the "Crusader, which unfortunately doesn't really capture the essence of a Paladin, so a custom class will need to be created by the player.

1. Specialization: The Paladin is foremost a melee combatant, relying primarily on heavy arms and armor. He wades into the thick of evil and smites it down with a flaming sword of justice. The Paladin will always choose "Combat" as his Specialization. This specialization will increase the following skills by 10 points: Armorer, Athletics, Blade, Block, Blunt, Hand-to-Hand, and Heavy Armor

2. Favored Attributes: Due to the Paladin's role as a front line fighter, he or she will need the ability to soak up damage. Therefore, many attributes are essential to the Paladin's survival however, the most important is Endurance. Endurance increases the Paladin's health and fatigue pools. After Endurance, the next most important attributes are Strength, which increases the paladins ability to damage his opponents and carry additional gear; and Willpower, which not only increases how quickly his magicka pool refills but also determines how likely he is to shrug off the affects of an enemies spell.
Summary:
Endurance - Increases Health and Fatigue Pools
Strength - Increases Physical Damage and carrying capacity
Willpower - Increases Magicka regeneration and ability to resist offensive spells

3. Skills: Each class must choose seven skills at which they excel above all others. Now that we've discussed the role that a Paladin can play, lets delve into what skills that a Paladin requires.

Heavy Armor - As melee combatants, a Paladin can not afford to skimp on protection. Often the Paladin may find himself surround by a small army of claws, blades, and clubs. He must be comfortable in the heaviest of armors.
Blade OR Blunt - The Paladin needs a weapon as strong as he. Whether he wields an axe, sword, or mace he must be proficient in its use to vanquish his enemies.
Armorer - As the Paladin travels deeper into the dark, dank dungeons or realms of Oblivion his armor and weapon will become damaged. The more damaged the item becomes the less effective it will become, and if it breaks it will be unusable. A Paladin will prepare for this and bring along a few repair hammers to beat the dings or nicks out of his gear.
Restoration - We've discussed the importance of combat in a Paladin's life, but very little of the magical side of his training, but it is a very important aspect of his abilities. Restoration magic allows the Paladin to heal himself in combat or after combat. Restoration magic also allows the paladin to buff himself before combat or remove poisons and diseases.
Alteration - The other school of magic that is vital to the survival of the Paladin is Alteration, which allows the caster to 'alter' the fabric of reality. - The paladin can use this school of magic to protect himself from physical and magical harm and lighten his pack allowing him to carry more gear. This school of magic Provides the Paladin with spells that Shield him from physical, fire, frost and shock damage and Ease Burdens.
Speechcraft - Not all evils hide in the damp dark dungeons of the world. And the Paladin cannot rely solely upon his blade and armor when entering town. A strong and charismatic personality is a requisite to root out the evil-doers within town, whether gaining information from bystanders or coercing villains into revealing information.

GUILDS/QUESTS
The Paladin is a perfect candidate to complete the main quest line. He is a defensive and offensive powerhouse who can rely on protective and healing magic to stay alive in the thick of combat. The Paladin should also consider joining the mage's guild as an avenue to train his spellcasting ability and to combat the mage's guild's enemy, the Necromancers. The Paladin should also consider joining the Fighters guild as they can help enhance his combat prowess and only allow upstanding citizens into their ranks.

SPELLS
While a Paladin generally doesn't rely on a large amount of spells there are a few that are essential to his quest to destroy evil and protect the weak.

Restore Health on Self: This is a very important spell for the Paladin to have as he will be taking a lot of damage in melee combat. There are two varieties of spells (to be made at spell altars): one is the in combat regeneration (small amount of healing over time) these are generally less expensive to make and cast; and two is the instant heal (use these as emergency heals) as they are quite expensive to cast.
Restore Health on Touch: This is an often overlooked spell as Paladin's are often traveling alone. However, sometimes the Paladin is accompanied by a companion or even a horse. And it's the Paladin's responsibility to help keep him or her alive.
Shield: This spell protects the Paladin from income damage by boosting his defense rating. This spell comes in three additional varities: Fire, Frost, and Shock which, in addition to protecting from physical damage also reduce damage dealt by elemental sources such as spells.
Fortify Attribute: These spells bolster the Paladin's attributes allowing him to better combat the forces of evil.
Light: Evil hides in the darkest of places and the Paladin can not hold a torch while fighting.

SAMPLE PALADIN BUILDS

The Vanguard
Race: Orc; Birth sign: The Lady
Class: Paladin; Specialization: Combat; Favored Attributes: Endurance and Willpower
Attributes at Level One:
Health 140, Magicka 60; Fatigue 225; Encumbrance 90
Agility 35
Endurance 70
Intelligence 30
Luck 50
Personality 30
Speed 30
Strength 45
Willpower 70
Major Skills: Alteration 25; Armorer 45; Block 45; Blunt 45; Heavy Armor 45; Restoration 25; Speechcraft 25
Minor Skills: Acrobatics 5; Alchemy 5; Athletics 15; Blade 15; Conjuration 5; Destruction 5; Hand-to-Hand 20; Illusion 5; Light Armor 5; Marksman 5; Mercantile 5; Mystiscism 5; Security 5; Sneak 5
Misc: 25% resistance to magic; Berserk

PLAYSTYLE
The Vanguard is a primarily defensive Paladin, he is cautious and tactical. He weighs his opponents carefully before combat. He realizes the ramifications of not being prepared to properly face his enemies. He usually carries several potions and scrolls that will help him resolve situations such as poisons, disease, reduced attributes or skills or even locked doors. He outfits himself with a full suit of heavy armor along with a one-handed mace or axe and shield. The vanguard is an expert at using the terrain to his advantage, often weaving between pillars to avoid an enemy's arrows or spells or luring multiple melee combatants into a narrow corridor and using his shield to wait for an openly to land a telling blow.

The Inquisitor

Race: Redguard; Birth sign: The Warrior

Class: Paladin; Specialization: Combat; Favored Attributes: Endurance and Willpower

Attributes at Level One:

Health 140, Magicka 60; Fatigue 210; Encumbrance 140

Agility 40

Endurance 70

Intelligence 30

Luck 50

Personality 30

Speed 40

Strength 70

Willpower 30

Major Skills: Alteration 25; Armorer 35; Block 35; Blade 45; Heavy Armor 40; Restoration 25; Speechcraft 25

Minor Skills: Acrobatics 5; Alchemy 5; Athletics 25; Blunt 25; Conjuration 5; Destruction 5; Hand-to-Hand 15; Illusion 5; Light Armor 10; Marksman 5; Mercantile 10; Mystiscism 5; Security 5; Sneak 5

Misc: 75% resistance to poison and disease; Adrenaline Rush

PLAYSTYLE
The Inquisitor attacks first and asks questions later. The Inquisitor knows the harm that unchecked evil can cause, he's seen the pain and misery that it causes first hand. He's dedicated his life to hunting down any and all evil to destroy it. He trades the protection of a shield for the extra potency of a two handed greatsword. His tactics usually involve charging forward in a power attack to slay the enemy before they can land a counter attack. He generally only relies on himself or a small reserve of potions for healing or magical protection, he also understands that evil can reside in the darkest places hidden behind locked doors so he's learned the basic tenants of dealing with tumblers.

I hope you enjoyed this guide to building and play the Paladin, in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Look for more guilds and make sure to let me know what you think of this post or if you have any requests.

Introduction

2011-10-16T06:51:00.001-07:00

It’s been over five years since Bethesda realized their EPIC single player role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. For many of us it has been three or more years since last we set foot in Tamriel. Now, with the release of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim looming less than a month away, what could be better for getting back into the feel of the series than replaying Oblivion.

In the coming weeks, I will be posting some of our favorite builds for you to try out in your speed runs through Cyrodil in your quest to defeat Mehrunes Dagon.

In addition, when Skyrim comes out, I will begin posting character build ideas for Skyrim… granted that may be a few days after the game comes out, when I can manage to pull myself away from the game.

I hope you enjoy!

P.S. Remember, there’s still time to preorder the Collector’s Edition of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Or if you don’t own Oblivion anymore (or never have), get the 5^th Anniversary Edition of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and get your coupon for $10 off Skyrim and its accompanying strategy guide.

Don’t forget to post your thoughts below, and if you have a request for a build you would like to see let me know!