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Character Build: The Toxicologist
*Dragonborn DLC Spoilers Below*
Three months ago, I posted this build and it seems to be the most popular build I have. Recently I have been reading complaints about the lack of depth in this build. After reading it through, I decided that now is the time for a revamp in the presentation and a more concise explanation behind the build itself. Before I go further into detail, I will say that a bit of this uses some things from the Dragonborn DLC. So those who wish to remain spoiler-free, please leave while your Dragonborn virgin eyes are still functioning properly. Those of you that don’t apply to that rule or just don’t give a shit about spoilers, continue reading.
The Toxicologist
De Rerum Dirennis – “Asliel remembered that he had once experimentally mixed glow dust and vampire dust together once and created a powerful poison. It was simple enough to steal a little redwort from the barbarian’s camp, mix that with the vampire and glow dust mixture, and create a potion that was in fact an invisibility potion. After curing himself, he gave the poison to the barbarians.”
The Toxicologist is a former Morag Tong Agent who built quite a reputation for his mastery of the alchemical arts. Besides accepting writs and gaining approval to carry out the assigned mission, he was tasked with creating recipes for deadly poisons to be used by other members. When the Grandmaster decided to take credit for everything he accomplished, he no longer associated himself with the Morag Tong and decided to take his talents to Skyrim where he would probably join the Dark Brotherhood. A few strings were pulled to imprison the lad and have him executed at Helgen. Though the Tribunal blessed him to live another day, he knew that he had to enact his revenge on those that betrayed him.
Race: Dunmer.
Stone: The Serpent. This is the perfect power to signify the importance of poisons.
Major Skills: Alchemy, Light Armor, Alteration
Minor Skills: Sneak, One-Handed, Restoration
Key Shouts: Marked For Death, Slow Time
Stats: 2/3/0 in Magicka/Health/Stamina.
The Build
The primary focus of this build revolves around the use of various poisons to weaken his targets. As such, it is natural to invest heavily in Alchemy to produce foul concoctions. Many targets are susceptible to their effects, Dragons being one of them. However, there are certain enemies that are quite resistant to poisons such as Draugr, Vampires, and Automatons. In order to compensate for this minor flaw, the gameplay was altered into a Spellsword/Rogue of sorts.
The Toxicologist relies on his mastery of stealth to bypass certain foes and administer poisons to targets that are not immune to them. When discovered and forced to fight in open combat, he simply coats his dagger with his choice of poison and keeps delivering hits with it until his foe is fallen. To help mitigate any incoming damage, he wears the armor of his former faction in combat. Even though there is strong resentment for the Grandmaster and the rest of the guild, he still reveres Mephala and the ways of the Morag Tong very much.
Restoration serves the purpose of sustaining injuries incurred in combat as well as making good use of the Poison Rune. Its effect deals 3 points of damage for 30 seconds to anything that activates it. When stacking with multiple damage poisons, this can make quite the deadly combination. Speaking of stacking, the Slow Time shout can allow for stacking poisons rather damn fast. Whether it be Lingering Damage Health or Damage Magicka poisons, the Toxicologist can make his foe’s body deteriorate in a matter of seconds. The Marked for Death shout can be utilized as part of a DoT strategy. It gives the target an armor rating penalty (25-75 points of damage to armor rating), as well as a loss of 1-3 points of health per second for 60 seconds. With three words of power, it only takes 40 seconds to shout, assuming that there is no cool-down reduction taken.
As a master poisoner, his study of magic has granted him the ability to emit a ranged poison attack that paralyzes an enemy for 5 seconds and also deals 25 points of damage. During that time, you can stack poison upon poison to amplify the amount of damage that can be potentially achieved. Through time spent with the Telvanni wizards, he learned how to fortify his defenses further more as well as manipulating the body to stand perfectly still.
Level 50 Perk Spread
Alchemy: As a master of the alchemical arts, the Toxicologist spends much of his time concocting various brews for any occasion that he may run into. Poisons are his specialty, so he stocks up on them big time. Green Thumb is great for gathering ingredients as it produces a duplicate of that ingredient. Concentrated Poison helps preserve each and every bottle of poison as the coated blade can affect a target twice. Due to extensive work with poisons, the Toxicologist is able to resist half the damage sustained from poison based enemies (Falmer, Chaurus, Frostbite Spiders, etc.)
Light Armor: When sneaking quietly, Light Armor reduces the likelihood of being discovered due to its low weight. While the Armor Rating may not be necessarily high, the Deft Movement perk gives the Toxicologist a 10% chance to avoid all damage when suited in a full set of Light Armor. This can be a difference maker if low on quantity of poisons. In the case that the Toxicologist needs to escape, Unhindered removes the speed penalty that is given when wearing armor. So he can sprint away from battle if he needs to.
Alteration: The Toxicologist is by no means a tank in combat. After being discovered by a poisoned enemy, he casts a Flesh Spell to increase the Armor Rating so that he can survive a little longer in combat. The Stability Perk ensures that a Flesh Spell stays active for 1.5 times its duration. The Paralyze spell acts as a minor spell version of the Serpent Stone. It too is affected by Stability and increases its duration to 15 seconds. The Magic Resistance perks and Atronach perk are very much useful against mages. With a 30% chance to absorb spells, this can help fuel your magicka for casting Poison Runes. Even if the Atronach Perk doesn’t kick in, there is that constant 30% magic resistance that lessens the damage incurred by spells.
Sneak: Being a naturally skilled Assassin, the Toxicologist can sneak quietly in the shadows. With the Muffled Movement and Silence perk, he is able to achieve 100% muffled movement. Should he be discovered, he can silently roll away to a safe spot to wait for the coast to be clear. For severely crippling a target, Backstab multiplies the damage dealt by a One-Handed weapon 6 times its normal output.
One-Handed: Now how can anybody poison a target if he or she does not have a weapon coated with a deadly concoction? That is where daggers come in. They swing the fastest compared to any other weapons. However, their reach is the shortest as well. So it is wise to ambush when sneaking compared to running in slashing whatever is in your way.
Restoration: It may be an odd skill choice for the Toxicologist, but thanks to Dragonborn, he has a new spell known as the Poison Rune. As previously mentioned, it deals 3 points of damage for 30 seconds. This also can be used in a DoT strategy. Though he can rely on potions to heal the damage he sustains, he is more specialized in poisons. With the Adept perk and Regeneration perk, he can cast the Close Wounds spell which will heal his health by 150 points. This ensures his survivability rate when against stronger enemies.
Equipment:
Essential Quests
Gameplay Notes
In the case that there are no more poisons, there is the Paralyze spell from the Alteration skill tree, as well as the Serpent Stone and the enchanted Ebony Dagger we will craft with a filled Grand/Black Soul Gem to create the Tentacle of the Bull Netch. The point of having numerous options to paralyze a target is simple. Should the Toxicolgist run out of magicka, he must rely on either his once-a-day power or his trusty dagger to do the work for him. When it comes to mages, he prefers to be able to sneak behind them and kill them swiftly. However, he has several brews to deal with them such as Bane of Julianos, Nullifying of Mana, and Aetherial Nightmare (scroll down to Other Recipes). Combine the stacking of these poisons with the Slow Time shout and you have yourself the ultimate Mage killer. When facing Dragons, the Toxicologist is more likely to survive against the Fire-Breathing Dragons due to resistance to both magic and fire resistances stacking with each other. Though immune to Paralysis effects, they are vulnerable to poisons generally speaking. So a bit of stacking poisons will help in the process of slaying a Dragon. When fighting the Ash Spawn in March of the Dead, they are immune to poisons and have a chance to resist paralysis. So you will need to attack a couple times, run away for a little bit, heal yourself, and repeat the process.
Tribunal Poisons
Mephala’s Sting: Scathecraw, Imp Stool, Skeever Tail
Effects: Ravage Health, Lingering Damage Health, Damage Health
Boethiah’s Grip: Netch Jelly, Human Flesh, River Betty
Effects: Paralysis, Damage Health
Azura’s Nectar: Emperor Parasol Moss, Deathbell, Chaurus Egg
Effects: Damage Health, Weakness to Poison
Other Recipes
The Horror: Cyrodilic Spadetail, Namira’s Rot, Skeever Tail
Effects: Fear, Ravage Health
Bane of Julianos: Hanging Moss, Blue Mountain Flower, Namira’s Rot
Effects: Damage Magicka + Damage Magicka Regeneration
Nullifying of Mana: Chaurus Eggs, Deathbell, Trauma Root
Effects: Slow + Weakness to Poison + Damage Magicka
Aetherial Nightmare: Cyrodilic Spadetail, Eye of Saber Cat, Namira's Rot
Effects: Damage Magicka, Ravage Health, Fear
Life Bane: River Betty, Deathbell, Giant Lichen
Effects: Damage Health + Weakness to Poison + Slow
Warrior Bane: Bone Meal, Ash Creep Cluster, Scathecraw
Effects: Damage Stamina + Ravage Stamina
Powers
Ensnared Heart: The body is confined by your minion from Apocrypha, allowing the poison to be administered directly into the victim’s heart.
Requires: Mora’s Agony + Marked for Death + Mephala’s Sting
Toxic Overdose: A foul, venomous spit will emit from thy mouth. Causing the target to lie motionless, the afflicted is subject to be further weakened and be over-exposed to high doses of toxins.
Requires: Serpent Stone + Azura’s Nectar + Poison Rune
Tribunal’s Incursion: In the case that his life may be in danger, the Toxicologist calls out to the Tribunal to deliver the final blow. Most victims never recover from the damage dealt.
Requires: Azura’s Nectar + Boethiah’s Grip + Mephala’s Sting
That about sums up the bulk of this build. I may possibly add in different paths to it, but I am done polishing it up for a while. To many of the people who have liked this build, I say thank you for appreciating what seems to be my masterpiece. Be sure to check out some of my other builds such as The Werecrocodile, The An-Xileel Agent, and The Bloodskal by clicking on the image below!
Here's the poisons. I tried taking a full page but there was too much stuff for my Chrome extension to handle. If there's any other information you need, I'll grab it.