Ugh! If I had a Septim for every time I’ve had that bellowed at me I wouldn’t be freezing my scales off in this Hist-forsaken wasteland. I hate the cold, and the Nords here are xenophobic at best (and it’s best not to speak of the Nords here at their worst).
But all those precious stones! Diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, garnets, amethysts! Skyrim is swimming in them, and almost everyone has a couple in their pockets just waiting to be picked. Beggars in Skyrim, pleading for your Septims, may have a gem or two! Why, even the wolves you dispatch in the wilderness here will occasionally carry a garnet or something. Seriously… what’s up with that?
“Skyrim belongs to the Nords!”
Yes, yes—keep it, you hairy knuckle-draggers! But Skyrim’s gemstones will be leaving with me... well, minus the few I leave embedded in your skulls.
Slipping in and out of shadows undetected; scaling impossible heights to loot Skyrim's holds, dungeons, homes and pockets; knowing that nearly every chest and container you encounter is spilling over with gems to hoard; schmoozing with the local Guard, and fleecing local merchants to get the very best prices—that's the ultimate adventuring 2nd story man and traveling merchant… and it makes for some insanely fun gameplay. But I wanted more!
So I added teleportation and telekinetic combat to the mix for when things start to get ugly! That’s what separates the Dark Purveyor from your typical sneak-thief, and you’ll actually want things to get ugly fairly regularly... you may even find yourself forcing the issue! ;D
Smack My Glitch Up
This build capitalizes on 3 different glitches. I’m not going to reinvent the wheel here; others have already done a far better job explaining these glitches than I ever could (Elysium, Teccam, and Alastor I'm looking at you), so I’ve provided links to their work in the lines that follow. Two glitches in particular are crucial for this build to properly work: The Infinite Concentration Casting Glitch (this link takes you to a fantastic chart found in Elysium's The Mane of Elsweyr... just above the Combat section), and The 100% Shout Cooldown Glitch (the definitive guide to Fortify Shout Cooldown by Teccam). Without Infinite Concentration Casting (ICC), The Dark Purveyor would be nearly impossible to run, and without 100% Shout Cooldown (SCd) it wouldn’t be nearly as cool… let me explain:
Like many people, when I first read James’ Argument for Marked for Death (MfD) I toyed with the idea of using Telekinesis as an actual method of doling out damage, but never got too far with it. Then I stumbled across the idea again in a build Noodles placed in the Character Building Recycle Bin (The Thalmor Spectre) and got super-psyched! I just knew that this was going to be the bossest gameplay in the world… until I tried it. It took ages to get the Telekinesis spell and then it absolutely tore through my magicka reserves—I barely had enough time to line up a single shot before my magicka disappeared. Even if I managed to pull off the shot, I was still usually left with a highly agitated enemy and no more gas in the tank to defend myself. So, I maturely and thoughtfully pondered the situation and eventually ascertained the problem… Telekinesis BITES!
Then I discovered that Alastor had been working on the idea as well, and not surprisingly, he’d gotten a lot further than me with the concept. By utilizing the aforementioned glitches you suddenly become one bad MfD slinging, flash-teleporting, telekinetic force to be reckoned with. Anyone ever see the opening scene in X2 where Nightcrawler takes on the entire White House secret service staff?
Now imagine that, instead of getting his hands dirty, he blasts people with various objects lying around the room… that is something to get excited about!
I utilized a third glitch to turn this into a trifecta. For those unfamiliar with the Klimmek's Supplies Glitch, (KSG) once you deliver Klimmeck's supplies and get your reward, you can go back and pick up his pack. This doesn't sound all that special until you try to drop it... the pack floats! Alastor explains the implications of this quite well in the link above, but essentially you can use this as a platform to become one of the greatest 2nd story men in Tamrielic history (stealing Jarl Balgruuf's Unusual Gem via the Jarl's Balcony is absolutely epic). The inclusion of the KSG makes this character complete—stealthy, dangerous, and he can go just about anywhere!
Papa's got a brand new bag!
The Basics
Race
Argonian—I chose this purely for RP… I wanted an outsider who came to Skyrim to exploit its resources. Alienated and persecuted, he just wants to make his fortune and retire to a more friendly climate. But there are some solid mechanics behind this choice as well: waterbreathing is surprisingly handy, Histskin racial power can be a lifesaver, and +10 in Lockpicking and +5 in Alteration, Pickpocket, and Sneak are all very nice bonuses. Don't like the lizard folk (hater)... Breton, Dunmer, Bosmer, and Khajiit fit the bill as well ;D
Stone
Mage till you level up Illusion, Alteration and Conjuration, then switch to Thief to boost your Sneak, Speech and Lockpicking skills. After that, let your heart be your guide (I just stuck with Thief)
Stats
0 magicka/0health/1 stamina—that’s right… you’re dumping it all into stamina. Enemies will be sucking wind while you’re still sprinting (and carrying well over 600 pounds of loot to boot).
Skills
Alteration
Alteration... it's about to get all telekinetic-y up in here!
Your main offense, your best defense (no, not flesh spells surprisingly enough), and a wonderfully convenient utility school. With Telekinesis you can blast away at threats and swipe objects from afar. Flesh spells may useful in early levels when enemies are more likely to detect and attack you, but the real surprise for me was just how useful the Detect Life/Dead spells were. With the ICC glitch you can cast these spells indefinitely as you travel or crawl through dungeons… you always know where your living and dead threats are.
Speech I. Love. This. Tree—sure, it’s crucial to the roleplay of an adventuring thief and traveling purveyor of items of questionable origin, but roleplay aside, this skill tree is just crazy, crazy useful. The ability to sell anything to any vendor, whether it’s ill-gotten gains or items-honest, nets you gold... hand over fist. Likewise, being able to buy or talk your way out of trouble is just plain glorious. If you truly want to work the Speech tree over to your maximum advantage, you really ought to give Ben C’s The Underrated Speech Skill a read… it’s beautifully succinct, but packed with tips, leveling techniques, and practical information.
Pickpocket Gadfrey… this skill is a game-changer! Makes you money quick, is perhaps the greatest leveling tool in the game, and synergizes so beautifully with the Speech tree that a little piece of me dies every time I play a character whose roleplay doesn’t allow it. If you really want the lowdown on how to push this skill to its limits, Ben C (once again) is your guru and guide… The Glory of Pickpocketing is a must-read for thieves!
Lockpicking I KNOW! You don’t need this tree to pick locks… you probably made it to level 40 with just five lockpicks, picking nothing but Expert and Master level locks the entire time—well, bully for you. But there are some nice little perks in this tree: Quick Hands, Treasure Hunter, and Locksmith specifically, but even Golden Touch starts to add up like compound interest after a while. For those of us who don’t get into the ‘Zen’ of picking locks, the Novice through Expert Perks are a nice reduction in the time spent at any given lock. I chose not to perk Master or Unbreakable simply because Locksmith takes so much of the guesswork out of the picking process (plus it’s nice to break the occasional pick… it keeps you humble ;D)
Sneak
With the right gear and a few perks, you almost have to TRY to be detected!
Your bread-and-butter… it’s pretty darned hard to make it as a thief/burglar/pickpocket/scallywag when folks know you’re there. Plus, there’s nothing quite like having a Briarheart practically brush elbows with you as he walks right past you, totally oblivious to your presence (pickpocket his heart, and you’ve just proved that the best offense is a good defense—good times!)
Illusion This is the companion piece to Sneak. The only spell I wound up casting in this school was Muffle (mostly for leveling), but the Quiet Casting Perk is a crucial component to how the Dark Purveyor operates; silent shouts and undetected telekinetic attacks make this guy terrifying—imagine: attacks keep coming as you wheel about desperately searching for your attacker. Your health and armor are getting whittled away, and you never know where the next attack is coming from… that’s creepy!
Conjuration This school has a dual purpose for this build. First, it fits the 'Dark Purveyor' vibe really well. But more importantly, it acts as a kind of a panic button, or backup, if you will. In early levels having a flame atronach help bail you out when a sabrecat gets the drop on you, or when you stumble into a camp full of bandits is an incredibly convenient way to stay alive. Frost atronachs serve the same function later in the game. In addition, dual Bound Swords are a fantastic leveler for Conjuration (and, oddly enough, Sneak), and the Bound Bow quickly became my method of choice for dispatching the occasional dragon. Conjuration—it’s just a little peace of mind in a big, scary world.
Gear
Head—Shrouded Hood. In the late game you're a freaking shadow, but the real draw here is a whopping 25% bonus to Sneak in the very earliest stages of the game… it’s downright awesome!
Body—Master Robes of Conjuration. If you're doing your job right, the reduction in casting costs isn't really all that necessary for the late game... but it sure is nice for those less-than-perfect moments! Just keep swapping up for the next highest set of robes until you can purchase or pick these up.
Neck—Necklace of Peerless Magicka. An extra 70 points for Magicka is nice, but this baby can be used to power-up the ICC glitch... bring that! Like the robes, I kept trading up till I got it, but remember to reactivate the ICC glitch when you do.
Hands—Shrouded Wraps. These synergize with the Conjuration and Sneak schools to form a powerful leveling tool (more on this in the Gameplay section).
Finger—Ring of Peerless Health. Honestly, I kept swapping rings out, and finally settled on this for the late game. It was a nice backup that occasionally meant the difference between getting one-shotted or just getting massively hurt.
Feet—Shrouded Shoes. Very much like the Shrouded Hood, the additional Muffle enchant makes you super-sneaky, super-fast!
Gameplay
I played this build five times over the last half year before nailing down a playstyle that I really, really enjoyed. It was the perfect blend between organic, natural gameplay (which is rewarding, but soooo slow) and straight-out-power-leveling (which gets you what you want now, but is soooo monotonous and boring). It went along these lines:
From Helgen, grab all the best gear you can carry and head to Riverwood. Take a quick detour to visit the Shrine of Talos (your first left on the road to Riverwood) and loot that Thalmor Justiciar. Unload all your weapons onto Alvor, and grab anything he gives you (I sided Imperial at Helgen). Then unload everything else at the Riverwood Trader and pick up the Bleak Falls Barrow quest. Before taking that quest on, however, head to Whiterun to purchase the following spells from Farengar: Bound Sword, Flame Atronach, and Muffle—you are now ready to start training and leveling.
I went to Windhelm next to (a) pick up the Dark Brotherhood questline (you'll want that hood, those wraps and shoes, and MfD sooner rather than later), and (b) to train Speech and then pickpocket my money back from Revyn Sadri. If, after training and pickpocketing Sadri, my next level was under half way, I'd take on Bleak Falls, or maybe look for an Unusual Gem, or find another word for MfD, or go see the Greybeards in order to get Whirlwind Sprint, or whatever I deemed most necessary at the time. If, on the other hand, I was over the halfway mark to the next level, I would level Sneak to reach my next level-up by doing...
...This insanely quick and simple leveling trick: cast a flame atronach, dual cast Bound Swords, then sneak behind your summons. After making certain it doesn't detect you, give your left and right buttons a quick tap. Your Sneak skill ramps up quickly, but you also wind up leveling One-handed for an additional boost as well. If you have acquired the Shrouded Gloves, the x6 bonus to sneak attacks gets those results skyrocketing! You're back in for training in no time. This worked so perfectly that I eventually decided to train Illusion as well rather than rely entirely on casting Muffle spells as I walked about town to sell gear.
By following the halfway-above or halfway-below rule, I was able to hit 50 in Speech, Alteration, Illusion, and Sneak very quickly, but still naturally enough that I didn't feel like I was just grinding away to get the Merchant, Quiet Casting, and Adept Alteration perks.
Sneak, Conjuration and the Shrouded Wraps... your freeway to the next level!
Combat
Pinning the combat down for this build is a bit tricky. For example, in early levels I was looking for fights and dual casting Bound Swords fairly regularly to get my Conjuration up quickly. If enemies were particularly troublesome, I'd bring in a Flame Atronach for support. But that all changes when come into your true powers!
By mid-game (only an hour or two of fairly organic gameplay... that's how quickly this build leveled) I had the ICC and SCd glitches in full effect, was sneaky, telekinetic, teleportational, and marking fools for death. At this point I was ready for...
Telekinetic Combat If you want to have fun using Telekinesis in combat, forget about throwing knives or arrows or any other specific item... you'll spend half your time in the menu dropping and arranging those items so you can fling them. That is so the opposite of fun. Instead, you'll want to look for a few things:
Banquet halls and tables
Bookshelves
Nightstands or other furniture with a flat surface
What makes these items so wonderful for a telekinetic combatant is that they usually have items to pull on them, and frequently those items are clustered closely together. If you target an item in a bunched group, then dual cast Telekinesis, you'll often pull two or three other items with it... that equals three or four times the damage, but with no menu shuffling!
The entry for telekinetic combat begins with a bit of reconnoitering. A quick scan of your surroundings to locate pull-able items (clustered items in particular), as well as open lanes for unobstructed teleportation, goes a long way to making the engagement a successful one.
Open with MfD (I would position myself to hit as many enemies as possible with a single shout). A single word of Whirlwind Sprint shoots you, unseen, to a safe location where you are free to target a cup, plate, fork, skeever tail, book, potion, blue mountain flower, empty wine bottle, or whatever. Dual cast Telkinesis, and if your targeted item is in a cluster you'll have three or four objects to fling. Chuck them at one of enemies you MfD’d up, Whirlwind Sprint to another safe location, and repeat the process. You're just a blip under the radar as you bombard enemies, and as MfD works its beautiful magic, your invisible attacks become more and more powerful!
**Update**Relycs has recently compiled an extensive list of tips and tricks for using Telekinesis. Anybody interested in getting the most bang for their buck out of this spell would be well served to check out Tips & Tricks to Make Telekinesis More Useful. There is an awful lot of cool information there—check it out!!
Serving up some seared slaughterfish
Uh, oh… I got zilch! Sometimes you'll find yourself with enemies whose surroundings offer nothing to pick up and fling. In these instances you'll need to seed the area before you take on your enemies. Simply find a few out-of-the-way locations to drop and cluster items, and proceed to wreak havoc on those poor unfortunate souls. Warning: when it comes to seeding, not all items are created equal! Here were my favorite projectiles for seeding...
Soul gem fragments—ever wondered what in Oblivion these blasted things are for? Now you know! They tend to stay put and lie fairly close together when dropped with little to no shifting to get a nice cluster
Petty soul gems—easily obtained, flat enough that they usually don't roll away from you when you drop them, easily arranged and clustered, and distinctive enough in color that they can be quickly located
Quills—nice and flat, and they look absolutely boss when tossed... like darts. The downside is they aren't always easy to get, and they blend into their surroundings making them difficult to locate afterwards
Amethysts and Garnets (never use flawless (you hoard the best)—these are great! Even flatter than soul gem fragments, you can frequently drop four of them and they're usually good to go with no arranging! These, however, should be saved for after you have obtained the Prowler's Profit, because you'll lose quite a few after those beauties make contact
Nothing around you? Then it’s BYOP... bring your own projectiles!
Enemies Since most enemies won’t detect you, it doesn’t really matter if they're ranged, melee or spellcasters... your mantra is simply, "Out of sight, out of mind." The only exceptions here are dragons; they have keen eyes, and Telekinesis works poorly on hovering dragons raining fire and ice down upon you. I tackled the blighters this way:
First, MfD them. Next, if you don't have cover, use a simple ward spell (it'll go on indefinitely) till you can find some. Finally, once you have something to hide behind, throw out a Bound Bow (my dragon-hunter), and take your shots till it's dead... it won't take long!
You can reason with a Nord… after a fashion. Sometimes. Even better, you can STEAL from a Nord. But draugr? Their pockets are UNPICKABLE! Can you believe that? Too stupid to know they’re dead, yet you can’t get anywhere near their gems. And they’ve got gems on them, my friend. Believe you me—only ONE way to get those...
Roleplay
The Dark Purveyor spends his evenings looting or raiding caves, dungeons, ruins, forts, towns, cities, pockets... well, just about everything. He works the shadows of night to accumulate the various treasures of others, then visits markets during the day to sell them. I felt that your average person would be a bit hesitant to buy items from questionable sources off a skeevy-looking Argonian in some shadowy alleyway ("Pssst! Hey, Landstrider. Wanna buy a ring... wait... let me take the finger out first—here we go!"). To avoid this I carried a set of town clothes on me, and kept them simple—no fur collars or anything—we're trying to keep a low profile, and walking around like a pimp gets you noticed.
While I enjoyed slipping past enemies in the shadows in order to clear a place out completely undetected, I also wanted to wail on bad guys occasionally; so how to find a balance? The Hist! The Hist keeps all things in balance, but the undead throw off that balance—when it's your time, it's your time... no do-overs! By focusing my telekinetic wrath on necromancers and the undead, I allowed myself the joy of sneak-thieving half the time, and telekinetically terrorizing enemies the other half. This was more a guideline than a hard and fast rule, but it helped keep gameplay roughly balanced.
Appropriating Skyrim's wealth by night, wheeling and dealing it by day
Quests
No Stone Unturned I keep seeing these little beauties popping up... don't quite know what they are, but I'm snatching up every last one I can find!
Aside from taking on quests that get you the shouts and gear you need, this should be priority number one! Once you get the quest's reward, Prowler's Profit, no chest or urn you run across in all your future adventuring will ever be the same :D
If you save the quests that follow until after you’ve picked up Prowler’s Profit, you’ll be drowning in gems, and you will be in the mid/late game which means: all merchants will have more money, you’ll be picking up ebony, daedric, and dragon gear and weapons, and you'll have tons of stamina to help you haul it all. For the first Civil War quest, I left Korvanjund with well over 20,000 septims worth of loot (and that is excluding the innumerable gems I picked up and hoarded).
Main Quest Now the World-eater... bad for business. Surely there’s a hero-type out there somewhere to vanquish this Alduin and restore a little financial stability. Surely. Come on now... anyone? Fine. FINE!!! If no one here has the scales to take it on, I guess I’ll have to do everything myself *bunch of cowardly, milk-drinking offspring of a flea-ridden she-skeever and syphilitic werebear…*
It's hard to retire and live the good life when the world has been destroyed... just something to think about ;D
The Dark Brotherhood I don't quiteunderstand how I’ve managed to get wrapped with these folk, but their gold is useful (even if the members are psychotic). I might stick around... for a bit.
The Dark Purveyor kills if it profits him, but only in the long run. I joined early to get my gear, took on all the little hits, but left the DB at Bound Until Death; destroying a wedding that could potentially heal the rift between Skyrim’s Imperialists and Stormcloaks is bad business and would only keep him in Skyrim that much longer. Also, eventually assassinating Titus Mede II would only weaken the empire, strengthen the rule of the more xenophobic faction of Nords, and generally make making money difficult. The DB is useful, but they are not family, and not terribly useful for your long-term retirement plans.
College of Winterhold I’m getting REAL tired of bumping into items that could destroy Tamriel if they fell into the wrong hands… so many items and so many hands! I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where you were free to steal and sell stuff in peace…?
You use the College initially to gain some experience in Alteration, but unwittingly (and unwillingly) are sucked into intrigue. You are no friend to the Stormcloaks, but the Thalmor are no better. Whether you want to or not, Ancano cannot be allowed to tap into the power of the Eye of Magnus. Leave the College to its own devices, but only after you get rid of the Eye and put Ancano into a hole in the ground.
Thieves Guild Great... NOCTURNAL! I'm with Brynjolf on this: jump through her hoops, get rid of that ridiculous key, and let Karliah do the worshipping for us both...
I didn't even enter the Ragged Flagon until I got all 24 Unusual Gems. The Dark Purveyor is hardly interested in running the group, but there is money to be made here, and rebuilding the Ragged Flagon gives you more places to sell your loot and stolen goods.
You’ll also have zero interest in becoming a Nightingale, but will appreciate that The Skeleton Key in the hands of Mercer Frey could become a huge problem—besides, money, revenge, and a once-a-day power justify the effort. Stick it to that smug, skeever-faced fetcher who betrayed and shanked you, and then (with your pockets bulging) you can be on your merry…
The Civil War Now, normally I’d say let the smooth-skins kill each other off (even if a divided Skyrim is bad for business in the long run). But fixing a divided Skyrim offers a unique short-term opportunity… PROFITEERING!
Oddly enough, this character was the perfect companion to many of the Civil War quests. With a detect spell in one hand and a heal spell in the other, I would race ahead, find enemies, MfD them, and then let Rikke or Hadvar and their crew mop them up while I looted chests and urns. Ironically, while I was playing a character who really wasn’t interested in keeping the soldiers alive (outside of the fact that they take some of the heat off), I didn’t lose a single soldier in Korvanjund… even when they took on 2 deathlords and an overlord—a rare achievement for me when playing a no-armor, no-health character.
Just a little while longer! Soon I'll have enough jewels and gems to buy this place(if I were ever foolish enough to want to). No, better to clear these smooth-skins out, load up enough gold and gemstones to break the backs of five strong horses, and get the Oblivion out of this wretched, wasted, BLIGHTED...
"Skyrim Belongs to the Nords!"
Oh for Hist's sake!
Acknowledgements
I shamelessly stood on the shoulders of giants in order to make this build, mainly because I was either too stupid or too lazy (or both) to figure things out for myself. A few people, however deserve especial mention:
Noodles—his Thalmor Spectre in the Character Building Recycle Bin re-kindled my dead interest in Telekinesis as a weapon. The fantastic screenshot that opens up the build is also a product of his talents :D
Morta: another great taker of screenshots... the man has a gift,
Alastor—for thinking outside the box where I couldn't, for his work with the Klimmek's Supplies Glitch, for his willingness to discuss his ideas, and for selflessly letting me use them.
Elysium—for coming up with a chart in her Mane of Elsweyr build so simple in presentation, but so profoundly illuminating, that it was able to do what all the articles, videos and builds were unable to... get me to understand how to work the Infinite Concentration Casting glitch.
Teccam—for the exhaustive work he put into his On 100% Fortify Shouts... and for the thousand other articles, tips, tricks, and posts on mechanics that he provides for the blog, equally exhaustive.
Relycs—for compiling an insanely helpful list of ways to utilize the Telekinesis to its maximum effectiveness with his ineptly named tips and tricks article, Tips & Tricks to Make Telekinesis More Useful (I'd have called it 'What You Need to Know about Telekinesis... RIGHT NOW!'). Relycs does all the leg work for you in an in-depth and concise manner. A quick and easy read with loads of useful tips... where the devil were you when I threw this build together?
Ben C—for opening my eyes to how supremely useful the Speech and Pickpocketing skills can be in his essential The Underrated Speech Skill , and the quintessential The Glory of Pickpocketing. I can't imagine playing a thief without having first read this. Sadly, Ben C is no longer with this site, and his work is "out of print" for the time being... a shame; they were amazing articles.
Nings affected by a bug that affects the like counter. Heres how many likes this build had prior to being affected by this bug.
Ugh! If I had a Septim for every time I’ve had that bellowed at me I wouldn’t be freezing my scales off in this Hist-forsaken wasteland. I hate the cold, and the Nords here are xenophobic at best (and it’s best not to speak of the Nords here at their worst).
But all those precious stones! Diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, garnets, amethysts! Skyrim is swimming in them, and almost everyone has a couple in their pockets just waiting to be picked. Beggars in Skyrim, pleading for your Septims, may have a gem or two! Why, even the wolves you dispatch in the wilderness here will occasionally carry a garnet or something. Seriously… what’s up with that?
“Skyrim belongs to the Nords!”
Yes, yes—keep it, you hairy knuckle-draggers! But Skyrim’s gemstones will be leaving with me... well, minus the few I leave embedded in your skulls.
Slipping in and out of shadows undetected; scaling impossible heights to loot Skyrim's holds, dungeons, homes and pockets; knowing that nearly every chest and container you encounter is spilling over with gems to hoard; schmoozing with the local Guard, and fleecing local merchants to get the very best prices—that's the ultimate adventuring 2nd story man and traveling merchant… and it makes for some insanely fun gameplay. But I wanted more!
So I added teleportation and telekinetic combat to the mix for when things start to get ugly! That’s what separates the Dark Purveyor from your typical sneak-thief, and you’ll actually want things to get ugly fairly regularly... you may even find yourself forcing the issue! ;D
Smack My Glitch Up
This build capitalizes on 3 different glitches. I’m not going to reinvent the wheel here; others have already done a far better job explaining these glitches than I ever could (Elysium, Teccam, and Alastor I'm looking at you), so I’ve provided links to their work in the lines that follow. Two glitches in particular are crucial for this build to properly work: The Infinite Concentration Casting Glitch (this link takes you to a fantastic chart found in Elysium's The Mane of Elsweyr... just above the Combat section), and The 100% Shout Cooldown Glitch (the definitive guide to Fortify Shout Cooldown by Teccam). Without Infinite Concentration Casting (ICC), The Dark Purveyor would be nearly impossible to run, and without 100% Shout Cooldown (SCd) it wouldn’t be nearly as cool… let me explain:
Like many people, when I first read James’ Argument for Marked for Death (MfD) I toyed with the idea of using Telekinesis as an actual method of doling out damage, but never got too far with it. Then I stumbled across the idea again in a build Noodles placed in the Character Building Recycle Bin (The Thalmor Spectre) and got super-psyched! I just knew that this was going to be the bossest gameplay in the world… until I tried it. It took ages to get the Telekinesis spell and then it absolutely tore through my magicka reserves—I barely had enough time to line up a single shot before my magicka disappeared. Even if I managed to pull off the shot, I was still usually left with a highly agitated enemy and no more gas in the tank to defend myself. So, I maturely and thoughtfully pondered the situation and eventually ascertained the problem… Telekinesis BITES!
Then I discovered that Alastor had been working on the idea as well, and not surprisingly, he’d gotten a lot further than me with the concept. By utilizing the aforementioned glitches you suddenly become one bad MfD slinging, flash-teleporting, telekinetic force to be reckoned with. Anyone ever see the opening scene in X2 where Nightcrawler takes on the entire White House secret service staff?
Now imagine that, instead of getting his hands dirty, he blasts people with various objects lying around the room… that is something to get excited about!
I utilized a third glitch to turn this into a trifecta. For those unfamiliar with the Klimmek's Supplies Glitch, (KSG) once you deliver Klimmeck's supplies and get your reward, you can go back and pick up his pack. This doesn't sound all that special until you try to drop it... the pack floats! Alastor explains the implications of this quite well in the link above, but essentially you can use this as a platform to become one of the greatest 2nd story men in Tamrielic history (stealing Jarl Balgruuf's Unusual Gem via the Jarl's Balcony is absolutely epic). The inclusion of the KSG makes this character complete—stealthy, dangerous, and he can go just about anywhere!
Papa's got a brand new bag!
The Basics
Race
Argonian—I chose this purely for RP… I wanted an outsider who came to Skyrim to exploit its resources. Alienated and persecuted, he just wants to make his fortune and retire to a more friendly climate. But there are some solid mechanics behind this choice as well: waterbreathing is surprisingly handy, Histskin racial power can be a lifesaver, and +10 in Lockpicking and +5 in Alteration, Pickpocket, and Sneak are all very nice bonuses. Don't like the lizard folk (hater)... Breton, Dunmer, Bosmer, and Khajiit fit the bill as well ;D
Stone
Mage till you level up Illusion, Alteration and Conjuration, then switch to Thief to boost your Sneak, Speech and Lockpicking skills. After that, let your heart be your guide (I just stuck with Thief)
Stats
0 magicka/0health/1 stamina—that’s right… you’re dumping it all into stamina. Enemies will be sucking wind while you’re still sprinting (and carrying well over 600 pounds of loot to boot).
Skills
Alteration
Alteration... it's about to get all telekinetic-y up in here!
Your main offense, your best defense (no, not flesh spells surprisingly enough), and a wonderfully convenient utility school. With Telekinesis you can blast away at threats and swipe objects from afar. Flesh spells may useful in early levels when enemies are more likely to detect and attack you, but the real surprise for me was just how useful the Detect Life/Dead spells were. With the ICC glitch you can cast these spells indefinitely as you travel or crawl through dungeons… you always know where your living and dead threats are.
Speech I. Love. This. Tree—sure, it’s crucial to the roleplay of an adventuring thief and traveling purveyor of items of questionable origin, but roleplay aside, this skill tree is just crazy, crazy useful. The ability to sell anything to any vendor, whether it’s ill-gotten gains or items-honest, nets you gold... hand over fist. Likewise, being able to buy or talk your way out of trouble is just plain glorious. If you truly want to work the Speech tree over to your maximum advantage, you really ought to give Ben C’s The Underrated Speech Skill a read… it’s beautifully succinct, but packed with tips, leveling techniques, and practical information.
Pickpocket Gadfrey… this skill is a game-changer! Makes you money quick, is perhaps the greatest leveling tool in the game, and synergizes so beautifully with the Speech tree that a little piece of me dies every time I play a character whose roleplay doesn’t allow it. If you really want the lowdown on how to push this skill to its limits, Ben C (once again) is your guru and guide… The Glory of Pickpocketing is a must-read for thieves!
Lockpicking I KNOW! You don’t need this tree to pick locks… you probably made it to level 40 with just five lockpicks, picking nothing but Expert and Master level locks the entire time—well, bully for you. But there are some nice little perks in this tree: Quick Hands, Treasure Hunter, and Locksmith specifically, but even Golden Touch starts to add up like compound interest after a while. For those of us who don’t get into the ‘Zen’ of picking locks, the Novice through Expert Perks are a nice reduction in the time spent at any given lock. I chose not to perk Master or Unbreakable simply because Locksmith takes so much of the guesswork out of the picking process (plus it’s nice to break the occasional pick… it keeps you humble ;D)
Sneak
With the right gear and a few perks, you almost have to TRY to be detected!
Your bread-and-butter… it’s pretty darned hard to make it as a thief/burglar/pickpocket/scallywag when folks know you’re there. Plus, there’s nothing quite like having a Briarheart practically brush elbows with you as he walks right past you, totally oblivious to your presence (pickpocket his heart, and you’ve just proved that the best offense is a good defense—good times!)
Illusion This is the companion piece to Sneak. The only spell I wound up casting in this school was Muffle (mostly for leveling), but the Quiet Casting Perk is a crucial component to how the Dark Purveyor operates; silent shouts and undetected telekinetic attacks make this guy terrifying—imagine: attacks keep coming as you wheel about desperately searching for your attacker. Your health and armor are getting whittled away, and you never know where the next attack is coming from… that’s creepy!
Conjuration This school has a dual purpose for this build. First, it fits the 'Dark Purveyor' vibe really well. But more importantly, it acts as a kind of a panic button, or backup, if you will. In early levels having a flame atronach help bail you out when a sabrecat gets the drop on you, or when you stumble into a camp full of bandits is an incredibly convenient way to stay alive. Frost atronachs serve the same function later in the game. In addition, dual Bound Swords are a fantastic leveler for Conjuration (and, oddly enough, Sneak), and the Bound Bow quickly became my method of choice for dispatching the occasional dragon. Conjuration—it’s just a little peace of mind in a big, scary world.
Gear
Head—Shrouded Hood. In the late game you're a freaking shadow, but the real draw here is a whopping 25% bonus to Sneak in the very earliest stages of the game… it’s downright awesome!
Body—Master Robes of Conjuration. If you're doing your job right, the reduction in casting costs isn't really all that necessary for the late game... but it sure is nice for those less-than-perfect moments! Just keep swapping up for the next highest set of robes until you can purchase or pick these up.
Neck—Necklace of Peerless Magicka. An extra 70 points for Magicka is nice, but this baby can be used to power-up the ICC glitch... bring that! Like the robes, I kept trading up till I got it, but remember to reactivate the ICC glitch when you do.
Hands—Shrouded Wraps. These synergize with the Conjuration and Sneak schools to form a powerful leveling tool (more on this in the Gameplay section).
Finger—Ring of Peerless Health. Honestly, I kept swapping rings out, and finally settled on this for the late game. It was a nice backup that occasionally meant the difference between getting one-shotted or just getting massively hurt.
Feet—Shrouded Shoes. Very much like the Shrouded Hood, the additional Muffle enchant makes you super-sneaky, super-fast!
Gameplay
I played this build five times over the last half year before nailing down a playstyle that I really, really enjoyed. It was the perfect blend between organic, natural gameplay (which is rewarding, but soooo slow) and straight-out-power-leveling (which gets you what you want now, but is soooo monotonous and boring). It went along these lines:
From Helgen, grab all the best gear you can carry and head to Riverwood. Take a quick detour to visit the Shrine of Talos (your first left on the road to Riverwood) and loot that Thalmor Justiciar. Unload all your weapons onto Alvor, and grab anything he gives you (I sided Imperial at Helgen). Then unload everything else at the Riverwood Trader and pick up the Bleak Falls Barrow quest. Before taking that quest on, however, head to Whiterun to purchase the following spells from Farengar: Bound Sword, Flame Atronach, and Muffle—you are now ready to start training and leveling.
I went to Windhelm next to (a) pick up the Dark Brotherhood questline (you'll want that hood, those wraps and shoes, and MfD sooner rather than later), and (b) to train Speech and then pickpocket my money back from Revyn Sadri. If, after training and pickpocketing Sadri, my next level was under half way, I'd take on Bleak Falls, or maybe look for an Unusual Gem, or find another word for MfD, or go see the Greybeards in order to get Whirlwind Sprint, or whatever I deemed most necessary at the time. If, on the other hand, I was over the halfway mark to the next level, I would level Sneak to reach my next level-up by doing...
...This insanely quick and simple leveling trick: cast a flame atronach, dual cast Bound Swords, then sneak behind your summons. After making certain it doesn't detect you, give your left and right buttons a quick tap. Your Sneak skill ramps up quickly, but you also wind up leveling One-handed for an additional boost as well. If you have acquired the Shrouded Gloves, the x6 bonus to sneak attacks gets those results skyrocketing! You're back in for training in no time. This worked so perfectly that I eventually decided to train Illusion as well rather than rely entirely on casting Muffle spells as I walked about town to sell gear.
By following the halfway-above or halfway-below rule, I was able to hit 50 in Speech, Alteration, Illusion, and Sneak very quickly, but still naturally enough that I didn't feel like I was just grinding away to get the Merchant, Quiet Casting, and Adept Alteration perks.
Sneak, Conjuration and the Shrouded Wraps... your freeway to the next level!
Combat
Pinning the combat down for this build is a bit tricky. For example, in early levels I was looking for fights and dual casting Bound Swords fairly regularly to get my Conjuration up quickly. If enemies were particularly troublesome, I'd bring in a Flame Atronach for support. But that all changes when come into your true powers!
By mid-game (only an hour or two of fairly organic gameplay... that's how quickly this build leveled) I had the ICC and SCd glitches in full effect, was sneaky, telekinetic, teleportational, and marking fools for death. At this point I was ready for...
Telekinetic Combat If you want to have fun using Telekinesis in combat, forget about throwing knives or arrows or any other specific item... you'll spend half your time in the menu dropping and arranging those items so you can fling them. That is so the opposite of fun. Instead, you'll want to look for a few things:
Banquet halls and tables
Bookshelves
Nightstands or other furniture with a flat surface
What makes these items so wonderful for a telekinetic combatant is that they usually have items to pull on them, and frequently those items are clustered closely together. If you target an item in a bunched group, then dual cast Telekinesis, you'll often pull two or three other items with it... that equals three or four times the damage, but with no menu shuffling!
The entry for telekinetic combat begins with a bit of reconnoitering. A quick scan of your surroundings to locate pull-able items (clustered items in particular), as well as open lanes for unobstructed teleportation, goes a long way to making the engagement a successful one.
Open with MfD (I would position myself to hit as many enemies as possible with a single shout). A single word of Whirlwind Sprint shoots you, unseen, to a safe location where you are free to target a cup, plate, fork, skeever tail, book, potion, blue mountain flower, empty wine bottle, or whatever. Dual cast Telkinesis, and if your targeted item is in a cluster you'll have three or four objects to fling. Chuck them at one of enemies you MfD’d up, Whirlwind Sprint to another safe location, and repeat the process. You're just a blip under the radar as you bombard enemies, and as MfD works its beautiful magic, your invisible attacks become more and more powerful!
**Update**Relycs has recently compiled an extensive list of tips and tricks for using Telekinesis. Anybody interested in getting the most bang for their buck out of this spell would be well served to check out Tips & Tricks to Make Telekinesis More Useful. There is an awful lot of cool information there—check it out!!
Serving up some seared slaughterfish
Uh, oh… I got zilch! Sometimes you'll find yourself with enemies whose surroundings offer nothing to pick up and fling. In these instances you'll need to seed the area before you take on your enemies. Simply find a few out-of-the-way locations to drop and cluster items, and proceed to wreak havoc on those poor unfortunate souls. Warning: when it comes to seeding, not all items are created equal! Here were my favorite projectiles for seeding...
Soul gem fragments—ever wondered what in Oblivion these blasted things are for? Now you know! They tend to stay put and lie fairly close together when dropped with little to no shifting to get a nice cluster
Petty soul gems—easily obtained, flat enough that they usually don't roll away from you when you drop them, easily arranged and clustered, and distinctive enough in color that they can be quickly located
Quills—nice and flat, and they look absolutely boss when tossed... like darts. The downside is they aren't always easy to get, and they blend into their surroundings making them difficult to locate afterwards
Amethysts and Garnets (never use flawless (you hoard the best)—these are great! Even flatter than soul gem fragments, you can frequently drop four of them and they're usually good to go with no arranging! These, however, should be saved for after you have obtained the Prowler's Profit, because you'll lose quite a few after those beauties make contact
Nothing around you? Then it’s BYOP... bring your own projectiles!
Enemies Since most enemies won’t detect you, it doesn’t really matter if they're ranged, melee or spellcasters... your mantra is simply, "Out of sight, out of mind." The only exceptions here are dragons; they have keen eyes, and Telekinesis works poorly on hovering dragons raining fire and ice down upon you. I tackled the blighters this way:
First, MfD them. Next, if you don't have cover, use a simple ward spell (it'll go on indefinitely) till you can find some. Finally, once you have something to hide behind, throw out a Bound Bow (my dragon-hunter), and take your shots till it's dead... it won't take long!
You can reason with a Nord… after a fashion. Sometimes. Even better, you can STEAL from a Nord. But draugr? Their pockets are UNPICKABLE! Can you believe that? Too stupid to know they’re dead, yet you can’t get anywhere near their gems. And they’ve got gems on them, my friend. Believe you me—only ONE way to get those...
Roleplay
The Dark Purveyor spends his evenings looting or raiding caves, dungeons, ruins, forts, towns, cities, pockets... well, just about everything. He works the shadows of night to accumulate the various treasures of others, then visits markets during the day to sell them. I felt that your average person would be a bit hesitant to buy items from questionable sources off a skeevy-looking Argonian in some shadowy alleyway ("Pssst! Hey, Landstrider. Wanna buy a ring... wait... let me take the finger out first—here we go!"). To avoid this I carried a set of town clothes on me, and kept them simple—no fur collars or anything—we're trying to keep a low profile, and walking around like a pimp gets you noticed.
While I enjoyed slipping past enemies in the shadows in order to clear a place out completely undetected, I also wanted to wail on bad guys occasionally; so how to find a balance? The Hist! The Hist keeps all things in balance, but the undead throw off that balance—when it's your time, it's your time... no do-overs! By focusing my telekinetic wrath on necromancers and the undead, I allowed myself the joy of sneak-thieving half the time, and telekinetically terrorizing enemies the other half. This was more a guideline than a hard and fast rule, but it helped keep gameplay roughly balanced.
Appropriating Skyrim's wealth by night, wheeling and dealing it by day
Quests
No Stone Unturned I keep seeing these little beauties popping up... don't quite know what they are, but I'm snatching up every last one I can find!
Aside from taking on quests that get you the shouts and gear you need, this should be priority number one! Once you get the quest's reward, Prowler's Profit, no chest or urn you run across in all your future adventuring will ever be the same :D
If you save the quests that follow until after you’ve picked up Prowler’s Profit, you’ll be drowning in gems, and you will be in the mid/late game which means: all merchants will have more money, you’ll be picking up ebony, daedric, and dragon gear and weapons, and you'll have tons of stamina to help you haul it all. For the first Civil War quest, I left Korvanjund with well over 20,000 septims worth of loot (and that is excluding the innumerable gems I picked up and hoarded).
Main Quest Now the World-eater... bad for business. Surely there’s a hero-type out there somewhere to vanquish this Alduin and restore a little financial stability. Surely. Come on now... anyone? Fine. FINE!!! If no one here has the scales to take it on, I guess I’ll have to do everything myself *bunch of cowardly, milk-drinking offspring of a flea-ridden she-skeever and syphilitic werebear…*
It's hard to retire and live the good life when the world has been destroyed... just something to think about ;D
The Dark Brotherhood I don't quiteunderstand how I’ve managed to get wrapped with these folk, but their gold is useful (even if the members are psychotic). I might stick around... for a bit.
The Dark Purveyor kills if it profits him, but only in the long run. I joined early to get my gear, took on all the little hits, but left the DB at Bound Until Death; destroying a wedding that could potentially heal the rift between Skyrim’s Imperialists and Stormcloaks is bad business and would only keep him in Skyrim that much longer. Also, eventually assassinating Titus Mede II would only weaken the empire, strengthen the rule of the more xenophobic faction of Nords, and generally make making money difficult. The DB is useful, but they are not family, and not terribly useful for your long-term retirement plans.
College of Winterhold I’m getting REAL tired of bumping into items that could destroy Tamriel if they fell into the wrong hands… so many items and so many hands! I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where you were free to steal and sell stuff in peace…?
You use the College initially to gain some experience in Alteration, but unwittingly (and unwillingly) are sucked into intrigue. You are no friend to the Stormcloaks, but the Thalmor are no better. Whether you want to or not, Ancano cannot be allowed to tap into the power of the Eye of Magnus. Leave the College to its own devices, but only after you get rid of the Eye and put Ancano into a hole in the ground.
Thieves Guild Great... NOCTURNAL! I'm with Brynjolf on this: jump through her hoops, get rid of that ridiculous key, and let Karliah do the worshipping for us both...
I didn't even enter the Ragged Flagon until I got all 24 Unusual Gems. The Dark Purveyor is hardly interested in running the group, but there is money to be made here, and rebuilding the Ragged Flagon gives you more places to sell your loot and stolen goods.
You’ll also have zero interest in becoming a Nightingale, but will appreciate that The Skeleton Key in the hands of Mercer Frey could become a huge problem—besides, money, revenge, and a once-a-day power justify the effort. Stick it to that smug, skeever-faced fetcher who betrayed and shanked you, and then (with your pockets bulging) you can be on your merry…
The Civil War Now, normally I’d say let the smooth-skins kill each other off (even if a divided Skyrim is bad for business in the long run). But fixing a divided Skyrim offers a unique short-term opportunity… PROFITEERING!
Oddly enough, this character was the perfect companion to many of the Civil War quests. With a detect spell in one hand and a heal spell in the other, I would race ahead, find enemies, MfD them, and then let Rikke or Hadvar and their crew mop them up while I looted chests and urns. Ironically, while I was playing a character who really wasn’t interested in keeping the soldiers alive (outside of the fact that they take some of the heat off), I didn’t lose a single soldier in Korvanjund… even when they took on 2 deathlords and an overlord—a rare achievement for me when playing a no-armor, no-health character.
Just a little while longer! Soon I'll have enough jewels and gems to buy this place(if I were ever foolish enough to want to). No, better to clear these smooth-skins out, load up enough gold and gemstones to break the backs of five strong horses, and get the Oblivion out of this wretched, wasted, BLIGHTED...
"Skyrim Belongs to the Nords!"
Oh for Hist's sake!
Acknowledgements
I shamelessly stood on the shoulders of giants in order to make this build, mainly because I was either too stupid or too lazy (or both) to figure things out for myself. A few people, however deserve especial mention:
Noodles—his Thalmor Spectre in the Character Building Recycle Bin re-kindled my dead interest in Telekinesis as a weapon. The fantastic screenshot that opens up the build is also a product of his talents :D
Morta: another great taker of screenshots... the man has a gift,
Alastor—for thinking outside the box where I couldn't, for his work with the Klimmek's Supplies Glitch, for his willingness to discuss his ideas, and for selflessly letting me use them.
Elysium—for coming up with a chart in her Mane of Elsweyr build so simple in presentation, but so profoundly illuminating, that it was able to do what all the articles, videos and builds were unable to... get me to understand how to work the Infinite Concentration Casting glitch.
Teccam—for the exhaustive work he put into his On 100% Fortify Shouts... and for the thousand other articles, tips, tricks, and posts on mechanics that he provides for the blog, equally exhaustive.
Relycs—for compiling an insanely helpful list of ways to utilize the Telekinesis to its maximum effectiveness with his ineptly named tips and tricks article, Tips & Tricks to Make Telekinesis More Useful (I'd have called it 'What You Need to Know about Telekinesis... RIGHT NOW!'). Relycs does all the leg work for you in an in-depth and concise manner. A quick and easy read with loads of useful tips... where the devil were you when I threw this build together?
Ben C—for opening my eyes to how supremely useful the Speech and Pickpocketing skills can be in his essential The Underrated Speech Skill , and the quintessential The Glory of Pickpocketing. I can't imagine playing a thief without having first read this. Sadly, Ben C is no longer with this site, and his work is "out of print" for the time being... a shame; they were amazing articles.
Nings affected by a bug that affects the like counter. Heres how many likes this build had prior to being affected by this bug.
This is awesome Shin. You took some oddball concepts and managed to get them to work together. And as always I love your presentation style and will be stealing it in the near future .
There's something you should know about leveling sneak. An easier method is the Hadvar/Ralof exploit. Simply grab a dagger on your way through Helgen's destroyed tunnels. When Hadvar/Ralof stop you to alert you to the presence of the bear he will stay in place crouched. You can level sneak up INSANELY fast by sneak attacking him. Just put your first point into the stealth perk so this method can really take off.
I use this with a lot of my sneak characters and walk out of Helgen with a fully perked sneak tree and 18 easy levels in about 20 minutes.
This is awesome Shin. You took some oddball concepts and managed to get them to work together. And as always I love your presentation style and will be stealing it in the near future .
There's something you should know about leveling sneak. An easier method is the Hadvar/Ralof exploit. Simply grab a dagger on your way through Helgen's destroyed tunnels. When Hadvar/Ralof stop you to alert you to the presence of the bear he will stay in place crouched. You can level sneak up INSANELY fast by sneak attacking him. Just put your first point into the stealth perk so this method can really take off.
I use this with a lot of my sneak characters and walk out of Helgen with a fully perked sneak tree and 18 easy levels in about 20 minutes.
Dear Lord, Shin. This is amazing!
I've been anticipating this one and it's well worth the wait! I must admit that I am working on something slightly similar to this, but dropped my telekinetic combat idea (because i felt it would be too clunky), but this is genius!
I think it might be worth mentioning that once you've obtained ICC, you can use telekinesis on an object and fast travel across Skyrim to get a quick alteration level 100.
+1
Dear Lord, Shin. This is amazing!
I've been anticipating this one and it's well worth the wait! I must admit that I am working on something slightly similar to this, but dropped my telekinetic combat idea (because i felt it would be too clunky), but this is genius!
I think it might be worth mentioning that once you've obtained ICC, you can use telekinesis on an object and fast travel across Skyrim to get a quick alteration level 100.
+1
Thanks, Curse! You're top tier when it comes to aesthetic sense, so it means a LOT to hear that :D
I read about that Sneak leveling tip in your Berne Clan (and used it when I played it ;D). I actually tried it for my first and second playtest, but for the third I discovered that leveling Sneak was an AMAZING way to train other skills super-fast. By using it all up in Helgen it becomes a wasted opportunity... plus, Bound Swords and Shrouded Wraps decrease how often you have to hit your mark ;D
Thanks, Curse! You're top tier when it comes to aesthetic sense, so it means a LOT to hear that :D
I read about that Sneak leveling tip in your Berne Clan (and used it when I played it ;D). I actually tried it for my first and second playtest, but for the third I discovered that leveling Sneak was an AMAZING way to train other skills super-fast. By using it all up in Helgen it becomes a wasted opportunity... plus, Bound Swords and Shrouded Wraps decrease how often you have to hit your mark ;D
Head—Shrouded Hood. In the late game you're a freaking shadow, but the real draw here is a whopping 25% bonus to Sneak in the very earliest stages of the game… it’s downright awesome!
. 
