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Oblivion Character Build: The Soulbound Warrior

Tags: #Game:OB  #Specialization:Combat  #Type:Build 
  • Member
    July 3, 2015

     

     

    "Conjuration is the arcane art of summoning and binding creatures and items for the usage of the conjurer."

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         Greetings readers and members of the Skyrim Blog. It has been a while since I last posted a build, but I have been toying around in other games so I wouldn't have made a Skyrim Build. No, this build is for Oblivion, as I'm sure you can tell from the title. This is a build similar to one I had played in Morrowind, which was based off a similar concept to Ponty's Veteran build, a character who was proficient in all types of weapons and armor. It was a concept that I happened to like so much that I had brought the concept into other games, even games that aren't Elder Scrolls, and it just forged a personality of its own.

         To explain, in Morrowind it was a character whose class simply had every weapon and armor skill in its major and minor skillset, minus hand to hand and unarmored. Morrowind had enough weapon and armor skills to take up all 10 majors and minors as a weapon or armor skill. Oblivion was simplified much more, taking those 10 skills of Morrowind's and compressing them down into 6 skills, removing some skills like Medium Armor and Spears, and merging others into other skills like Axe and Short Blade. As Oblivion has 7 major skill slots, but I only had 6 filled for the exact same class I had played in Morrowind, there was the question of the seventh skill to choose. I was considering things like Mercantile, Sneak, Armorer, even Athletics, but then an answer hit me...

         Conjuration. The Bound weapons and armor. Morrowind didn't have a full suit of bound armor, and only most of the weapon types, but Oblivion had a full suit of bound armor, and enough of the weapons that I had considered Conjuration to fill in the empty major slot. Borrowing concepts from Oneness's Gatekeeper as well as other bound weapon builds, the Soulbound Warrior was born.

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    The Build

    Recommended Races: Nords, Redguards, and Orcs, along with Imperials. Choose whichever you prefer.

    • Redguards' Adrenalin Rush is very powerful early on, but mediocre mid-to-late game.
    • Nords' Resist Frost and Woad aren't as potent, but would remain useful later on.
    • Orcs' Resist Magic and Berserker Rage give a passive and power that aren't as good as the Nords' or the Redguards' abilities on their own, but the Orcs can have some of both good passive and active racials.

    Birthsign: The Atronach.   I chose this for a few reasons. First, the Magicka bonus makes it easier for characters with low starting intelligence to have great reserves of magicka, and second, the Magic Absorbtion is useful to everybody, especially a combat oriented warrior like this. And finally, the Stunted Magicka, which I specifically wanted so Bound equipment spells can't be spammed without potions or the magic absorb. This makes the bound spells feel more like a Greater Power than an everyday spell, and it also allows Willpower to be a dump stat.

    Custom Class - Major Skills

    Blade, Blunt, Marksman, Block, Heavy Armor, Light Armor, and Conjuration

        -I'm not one to min/max all the attributes, so these majors are chosen to reflect what skills you will be using. Useful minor skills include Mercantile, Sneak, Security, Acrobatics and Athletics.

    Custom Class - Favored Attributes

     Endurance, and either Strength or Agility, whichever starts lower based on your chosen race, or which you feel will raise slower due to how you tend to play. (Ex: I tend towards melee, so I chose Agility as a favored attribute.)

    Custom Class - Specialization:  Combat, or Stealth.

    Leveling: Endurance + Strength + Agility + Intelligence 

    Equipment: for weapons and armor you should stick to natural-looking equipment, such as Iron, Steel, Silver, Mythril, Chainmail, Leather, and Fur. This gives a good aesthetic to the build and makes sure the bound armor and weapons remain stronger than what you're usually equipped with.

    Spellbook: Bound Dagger, Bound Axe, Bound Mace, Bound Bow, Bound Sword, Bound Shield, Bound Helmet, Bound Cuirass, Bound Boots, Bound Gauntlets, Bound Greaves. Combine the weapons with armor into a single spell once your Conjuration skill is high enough to cover the cost. Here's an example:

    Daedric Form: Bound Axe 20 secs, Bound Shield 20 secs, Bound Boots, Greaves, Cuirass, and Gauntlets 20 secs. all spell effects should be cast on self. 

    Keep in mind that conjuring a full suit of armor with a weapon for enough time to be useful will cost a lot of magicka, try removing pieces of armor from the spell if it is currently too expensive or if you want more duration for your spell.

     

    Gameplay and Combat

    "The best techniques are passed on by the survivors."

    Playing this build is similar to any other archer or warrior build, pay close attention to your footwork, utilize the environment and obstacles to your advantage, block when they swing and then counterattack, and try not to run out of fatigue. You can also block with a bow, but not while it is drawn. As a Soulbound Warrior, your character is to become proficient with all arms and armor of Cyrodiil. Wear both heavy and light armor, and you can use whatever armor you'd like but make sure you have a mix in order to level both skills. As for your weapons, rotate between bows, bladed and blunt weapons. Utilize your whole arsenal when you fight or explore treacherous dungeons. This way, you can be relatively independent of the Armorer skill, just as my Morrowind warrior was. It is only necessary to pay blacksmiths to repair your gear, but consider carrying a small amount of repair hammers just in case. 

        As for the bound spells, summon them when they are needed, such as when your armor or weapon breaks, or you need that extra damage or defense. The bound arms are quite strong early on, and conjuration raises quickly despite your stunted magicka, the spells are to be used sparingly but make sure that you do cast them otherwise your conjuration and intelligence levels will suffer.

        When your Conjuration skill is relatively high (at least Expert Level) and your Magicka is sufficient, make a custom spell to put a suit of armor and your weapon of choice into one big spell to cast all at once. It should take up most of your magicka, so much that you can only cast it once before needing to recharge. This is your ultimate form, if you will, that is made near endgame. Now, you don't have to do this, but you certainly should! The idea of this helped make the build, plus summoning them separately can be a pain.

        To recharge your magicka reserves, Ayleid wells and Welkynd stones are your best bet, stock up on those Welkynd stones whenever you can. Also make or buy restore magicka potions, and remember that sleeping and waiting won't restore your magicka.

     

     

     

     

    The Bound Weaponry

     "Lesser entities bound by their Daedra Lords into weapons that may be summoned for brief periods" 

    Bound Dagger 

    The weak starting weapon, yet stronger and faster than most other weapons found early on. Has very short reach, forcing you to be very close to your target. Mainly used to level Blade skill early on, replace it with the Bound Axe once it becomes available to you.

    Bound Axe &Mace

    Listed together as they are very similar. The mace is the stronger of the two, but the axe is faster. Combine them with the Bound Shield for a more defensive one-handed and shield setup. These will likely be your strongest melee weapon until acquiring the Bound Sword.

     

     

     

     

    Bound Bow

    The lone ranged bound weapon. The Bound Bow is used whenever archery is needed. Note that when summoning the Bound Bow you do not get bound arrows with it, so make sure to carry enough arrows on hand. Useful both in stealth and in heated combat.

    Bound Sword

    The strongest of the bound weapons, it has a higher base damage than a normal Daedric Claymore, and is potentially obtainable much earlier. It is two-handed, giving it longer reach, at the cost of a slower swing. The final bound weapon you will acquire, as it requires expert level Conjuration skill.

     

     

    The Warrior before the Sorcery

    "Those who flaunt their power disappear when the truly powerful appear."

    Aside from the bound equipment, you should use a mix of Iron, Steel, Mythril, Chainmail, and Leather for armor, to keep it more natural or realistic looking, before transforming into the supernatural bound daedric armor. For shields, I highly recommend the Spellbreaker or Escutcheon of Chorrol, for their reflective properties. Otherwise you should just use whatever shields that match your armor. Remember, shield enchantments still apply when wielding a two-handed weapon, such as a bow or claymore, so leave the enchanted shields equipped even if you aren't using a one-handed weapon. While the shield will not appear on your character, the enchantments still apply, but not the armor rating, and the shield will take no durability damage.

         Most of the other enchantments come from the rings and amulet, enchanted jewelry looted or bought can easily suffice. The best enchantments to look for are Reflect Damage and Reflect Spell, to combine them with the shields, or get Shield and Magic Resistance gear for more protection. Fortify Attribute enchantments aren't very valuable to the build since when attributes reach 100 most of their better bonuses won't increase upon fortifying, except for the Fatigue bonuses. Feather enchantments are also very useful.

         A trick you could do if you absolutely love the bound armor and want more of it, is get armor enchanted with Fortify Magicka. When you conjure your armor, the armor increasing your maximum magicka is removed, and when it is re-equipped you will have magicka restored back to you, potentially allowing a second cast of your bound armor if you have enough magicka from the enchantments. Fortify Magicka enchantments are also useful for casting longer lasting spells you couldn't normally cast without the enchantments. 

     

    Quests and Factions

    • The Arena: great starting quests for nearly any character, will get you early gold and skill increases, there's almost no reason not to join the Arena combatants.
    • Fighter's Guild: You're a fighter, and this guild has good bonuses for membership, such as access to skill trainers and smiths to repair your equipment. 
    • Mage's Guild: Needed to make custom spells, the questline also has you fight necromancers, though completing the questline would be entirely optional.
    • Namira, Nocturnal, and Peryite's Daedric Quests: reward you with fantastic and useful artifacts, I would recommend these quests for most characters, the rewards are just too useful.

    "Do not allow the manipulative daedra to corrupt you, warrior. Prove to them that you are far stronger."

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    -Thanks for reading, Oblivion fans, hope you enjoyed! And thanks, those of The Workshop, for your assistance and advice for this build, it really helped set it on track.-

     

     

  • July 4, 2015

    This looks really great, Chris. I was waiting for this one for some time and it turned out great just as I expected.
    Thanks for sharing, man.

  • Member
    July 7, 2015

    Thanks. Yeah, sorry for the wait, I have a bad habit of being slow when making these things because I don't work on them constantly, they usually end up taking months when its only about a weeks worth of time actually spent on it.

  • Member
    September 2, 2015

    awesome build man, might give it a go with my mods I have. I could see a relative of Jake the Orc being this build. Can I still be considered a good guy?

  • Member
    September 16, 2015
    Going to give this a try, I'll let you know how it turns out. I am changing blunt with restoration though.