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Character Build: Old Telvanni Enchanter

Tags: #Character Build Enchanter  #Character Build Unarmored  #Race:Dunmer  #Rank:Exemplar  #Karver Builds  #Old Telvanni Enchanter 
  • October 16, 2016

    This idea comes from a character that already exists in TES. When I was playing Morrowind I stumbled upon a Telvanni enchanter, Galar Rothan. This got my attention when I tried to pickpocket him and he attacked without using any spells. And here I thought that all Telvanni are great wizards. So I checked UESP and this is what I found on Galar Rothan

    Yes, Telvanni with no magic. And I was asking myself: "What is his story? Was it hard to climb to the lawman rank? Did they laugh at him in Telvanni kindergarten? Did they bully him?“ And I have been thinking about making this build since then. So here it is.

    Old Telvanni Enchanter

    They always laughed at me, mocked me for not being able to cast even the simplest of spells. I worked hard. They still laughed at me, so I worked harder. One day even the Neloth said: "That is not a bad enchantment, Galar.“ That was the best compliment one could get from Master Neloth. So I worked even harder. Then the Red Mountain erupted and Argonians invaded. And the Telvanii were not laughing anymore because they were dead. But I was alive. I lost the only thing I felt connected to, and I had to strive for a new life in the world. And I worked much harder than before.

    Race: Dunmer.
    Stone: Lord + Advanced Lady
    Major Skills: Enchanting, One-handed
    Minor Skills: Destruction, Alchemy, Block, Heavy Armor
    Shouts: Dragon Aspect, Become Ethereal, Marked for Death
    Stats: 0/1/0 (Old guy, old bones, low stamina.)
    Recommended Quests: Windhelm Quests, Black Books, Tel Mithryn quests, Ravens Rock quests, Unearthed, Azura's Star, Destroy Dark Brotherhood, Dragonborn (Main Quest – It has been some time since I played the main quest with a character; I just tend to avoid it, but completing Dragonborn felt right with this one. However, completing the main quest is up to you)

     

    You ever heard about those old grumpy guys who would break your neck just for staring at their morning tea? Galar Rothan is one of them. He is a really big Dunmer that could even arm wrestle with an orc. And win. Back in Morrowind he was a trainer of blunt, unarmored and enchanting, and I wanted to recreate that.

    He always wanted to be a mage, but he just couldn't. So, he started to despise all mages, even the Telvanni. They had all he couldn't have. So he became jealous. And then there was Red Year. Most of the Telvanni members died but he survived and made it to Skyrim with other refugees, starting his new life.

     

    Skills

     

    Level 41 Perk Spread

    One-Handed: In morrowind blunt skill incorporated big hammers, maces and staves. I went just for maces in one hand and staff in the other. The Bone Breaker perk and Enchanting makes this guy ignore almost every armor, as if enemies were clad in paper.

    Heavy Armor: There is no Unarmored skill in Skyrim, so I went with heavy armor gauntlets, boots and Lord Stone for some armor. This character has a really powerful offensive and a large health pool, but it lacks armor rating, so most of the fights are about dispatching enemies quickly with your brute force. When that fails, you will have to fight smart. Fists of Steel should be taken as soon as possible, because that perk is part of the Roleplay.

    Enchanting: What kind of enchanter would he be without enchanting? You can't cast spells? Nevermind, imbue items with magic. You can be an even better enchanter than those weak mages.

    Destruction: There is no way to train this skill, because Galar can't use magic, so train with Sybille or Wunferth to get Augmented Flames. Higher skill in Destruction will increase the number of charges of your staff and enchanted maces.

    Block: At first I thought that I should go just for pure offensive, but then I changed mind. Block is awesome with this character. It adds a feeling that you can actually control the battlefield with Quick Reflexes, as any 200 year old veteran would.

    Alchemy: Being old isn't easy and every grandpa likes to talk about his medicaments. Galar needs his medicine too. I decided to go just for Benefactor and 2 points in Alchemist because with enchanted gear Alchemy is quite powerful, but I needed to put those perks somewhere. This choice also had the advantage of not having to grind Alchemy at all. Only 30 skill points needed. I only used healing potions, like Health Regeneration and Restoration to keep from becoming overpowered.

     

    Your early level equipment: Adept Robes, Bonemold and Dragon Priest Staff can be acquired at level one if you have 750 septims to be precise. And yes, precisely 750 septims. Why that?

    First head to Riften and hire Mercurio for 500 septims. Than take the ship to Solstheim for 250 septims. When you arrive, you'll notice that small island on your right with some kind of flag on it. Swim there and you will find a full set of Bonemold armor. Just watch for Ash Hoppers and let Mercurio deal with them. Now the second part: go for Atronach Stone, then head to Shearpoint. With Mercurio's help kill Krosis and then kill Mercurio. Now you have Adept robes and a Staff of Fireballs. Now you can start your roleplay from Windhelm.

    Telvanni Robes and Ebony go really well together because the robes will change gauntlets and greaves into simple gloves and shoes.

    As for the Staves, you will actually be using 3 staves: Sanquine Rose, Staff of Fireballs and an unenchanted destruction staff which you can buy from Neloth. Using this staff in your left hand with your mace, you can actually block and if you bash like this, it looks like you are hitting your opponent with that staff.

    Lets talk about enchantments now. Yes, I could go complete Fortify One-Handed, but killing everything in two hits isn't fun. So I used that enchantment only on gloves and boots. Rings and Necklaces should be used for Resist Magic so you can shrug off those nasty spells from magic-using weaklings. With the Lord Stone, Azura's Blessing, and 2 items with magic resistance you should be very near resistance cap. And a higher health pool works much better than health regen for low AR characters because two hits can sometimes kill you, and health regen can't prevent that.

    Paralyze on my mace was more or less a roleplaying aspect for me. When you are hit by such crude weapon wielded by a brute, your bones might never heal. It makes sense that enemies should lie on the ground helplessly.

    For those who would like to play through the main quest with this character, I would recommend Cultist Robes, because they look awesome with bonemold gauntlets and greaves (true Dunmeri Dragonborn), and Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana + Ahzidal's Mask.

     

     

    Medicine 

    Rheumatism Liniment – Fortify Stamina Regeneration (Fly Amanita + Mora Tapinella)

     

    Cardiac Stimulant – Fortify Health Regeneration (Juniper Berries + Garlic, Luna Moth Wing, Namira's Rot)

     

    Painkiller – Fortify Health + Restore Health (Blue Mountain Flower + Wheat)

     

    Wonder Drug – Resist Fire, Frost, Shock (Fly Amanita + Hawk Beak + Snowberries)

     

     

    Roleplay

     

    After the Red Year Galar settled in Windhelm with other refugees. While taken as an eccentric individual who should be approached with care, he is part of the Dunmer community in the Grey Quarter. He might be something more than them, but he must work as hard as they do to survive. Try to complete all of the Windhelm quests, because that city might not like you, but it became your home. This was my first character to fully enjoy the real "mood“ of Windhelm. And not from Stormcloaks side.

    Still, this Dunmer isn't a very patient one, he gets angry very easily. Especially lines like: "Fancy robes. You a wizard or something?“ can make him furious. Everytime someone says something like this, equip your gloves with fortify unarmed enchantment and beat the crap out of them. I mean it. Just don't kill them. Paying 40 septims is much better than 1000.

    The thing that makes him like this is the lack of respect. He was trying so hard, but he could never compete with other Telvanni wizards. After Red Year he had to do anything necessary to stay alive, so some bounty quests should be completed. Killing bandits should relieve you of some stress. Every oldster needs a hobby.

    After you decide to visit Solstheim, act like those Redoran are beneath you. You are Telvanni after all. But when you learn about Neloth, you should be in mood to kill something. He is your superior after all. And trust that there will be  times when you feel like punching him. Just don't.


    Another important thing in Galar's life are mages. He hates them with all his being, so if you see some necromancer or summoner on a tower in the wilderness, break their bones. All of them. Non-hostile mages should be treated with disrespect or not talked to at all. The only exception should be Wunferth. You must swallow your pride, because this old Nord can teach you more on the theory of Destruction.

    Galar is also obsessed with Spell Tomes. If you find any, read them, because knowledge can be power. Every book increases your knowledge, and while you may look like a brute, you have the mind of a scholar. You should always seek more knowledge.

    Also, Galar likes to spend his evenings drinking beverages in warm taverns. And most of the time it ends up with a brawl, so he occasionally spends a night in jail. Make sure you test your physical strength against anyone who is willing to bet with you. Maybe you're old, but you're not dead yet, and there is still fire in this Dunmer. And try avoid Argonians. They are in grave danger from you; they nearly destroyed your House when they should have been grateful to be slaves to the greatest House of Morrowind. Beat them from time to time.

    After the Red Year, Galar became somehow devout to Lady Azura and Reclamations. The fall of Tribunal must have a purpose and Galar believes that it is test. A test of Endurance for Dunmeri people. If you are tougher than any other, others might follow your example.

     

    Quests

    Windhelm Quests – Every quest in this city pretty much fits the character that is trying to survive in a foreign world. You might feel like you're better than those Nords, but in the end, you are an outlander to them. You have to prove to them you are better.

    A Night to Remember – Just another drinking night? We shall see.

    Tel Mithryn – Neloth posseses lot of secrets and you can use those secrets to gain more power. Even if you despise Neloth, you can gain much more by pretending opposite.

    Raven Rock – By gaining the trust of Raven Rock's people you might use them later against Neloth, when you'll learn all you need.

    Unearthed – Old barrow holds many secrets and maybe some artifacts. If there were some fools who would dig them out...

    Azura's Star – Gaining blessing from one of the Reclamations would be an honor.

    Destroy the Dark Brotherhood – After they sent an assassin after you, make sure to pay them a visit. A bloody one.

    Main quest and Dragonborn – Reclamations decided that you of all dunmer endured their test of endurance like they expected. For that they'll grant you the voice of ancient magic. But more tests await...

     

    Combat

    "You Nords call it dragon-slaying. I call it stress relief.“

     

    Nothing complicated about combat with this Dunmer. You charge in, kill everyone, and walk away like boss. But now seriously:

    When you'll have 5/5 Juggernaut you'll have like 110 AR with bonemold and 130 with ebony, so keep in mind, that you can't tank. And because you're wearing heavy armor boots and gauntlets it's hard to dodge too. With quick reflexes power attacks can be easily countered, but even simple swings can take a large portion of you health away. You have to kill enemies faster than they can kill you. Plus you don't have stamina, so you'll be glad if you can use one power attack in a fight. But trust me, it will be one devastating power attack. You will be switching from Staff and Mace to just Mace (+ Unenchanted Staff just for looks) in the middle of combat and it mostly depends on enemy.

    Of course, there are other elements to ensure your survival against tougher opponents. First is the Sanguine Rose. Dremora can take as much damage as they deal, so they will be a nice distraction. Another thing is the Become Ethereal Shout. It's advantage is that it can be used more quickly than you can raise your mace to block attack. And you can use your power attacks more often thanks to this.

    At first I was thinking about using scrolls with this character, but it didn't turn out so well. However, I have found one scroll that is very useful. Scroll of Guardian Circle. This one is very useful for difficult battles. Combine it with Dragon Aspect and Ancestor's Wrath and you have the ultimate ability.

    Melee – These enemies can be a piece of cake or they can ruin your day. It depends on how much leeway you allow them. You should dispose of them quickly, block as many power attacks as possible (or counter them) I didn't use staves against these enemies as much as my mace, because this Telvanni enjoys when he can get his hands dirty.

    Archers – I never had problems with archers before, but with this character their arrows can really hurt. Fortunately, they don't tend to have lot of health, so they can be dealt with staves pretty quickly.

    Mages – With your high magic resistance cap, they should be piece of cake. Be brutish, break their bones, smash their skulls and sometimes beat them to death with your fists.

    Dragons – Dealing with them with staves while they are flying wasn't very satisfying and going on melee usually meant insta-kill for me, so I was looking for alternative. And there it was, item with "Cast when used“ enchantment. Ahzidal's ring of Arcana. This little thing is dragon-killer. Combine it with Augmented flames and Ahzidal's mask and you can just watch and eat popcorn.

    Conclusion

     

    So, that is it. An unusual take on a Telvanni, but I had lot of fun with that. A Dunmer with the temper of an Orc. To be honest, sometimes I thought that I was playing an Orc. Anyway, thanks all for support and I hope that this new version still deserves your support.

     



     

  • October 16, 2016

    GALAR!!!  

    I love this build. So many things about it make me smile. :D Grumpy Telvanni! 

  • Member
    October 16, 2016

    So this is the inspiration for Galar (I'm late, yea yea); I can see where and why Galar gets his shit now. 

    Good job Karver

  • October 16, 2016

    Yup, this was what inspired Galar in Chasing Aetherius. First I encountered him in Morrowind, then made a build about him like a...year and half ago and then he made it into Chasing Aetherius. 

    This is merely a repost of the build. 

    And pretty much most of my builds have inspired characters I am writing about. :)

  • Member
    October 16, 2016

    Karver said:

    And pretty much most of my builds have inspired characters I am writing about. :)

    I noticed that o3o

  • Member
    February 9, 2017

    This guy rocked in CA! :D Very inspiring stuff.