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Character Build: The Stormblade (FO4)

Tags: #Character Build Power Armor  #Character Build Melee  #Fallout 4 Build  #Character Build Chemist  #Character Build Craftsman  #Character Build Big Guns  #AmoBuild 
  • Member
    May 1, 2017

     

     

    Greetings, and welcome, welcome one and all to the Stormblade’s meadhall! Fill up your mug, drink to the gods, drink to our ancestors, drink to the glorious dead who have found their way to the hallowed realm of Valhalla! Skål! *Wipes a frothy beard free of his mead and sets down to properly address you* Warriors, shield maidens, berserkers, brothers, sisters, I bid you welcome to my latest build: The Stormblade. This viking inspired bruiser is a heavy armor, heavy weapons, foul-mouthed, bear-fisted, mountain of a man. Inspired from my love of both Skyrim and the Fallout series I have been slowly working on creating this character for a long, long time. Fusing real world norse lore, nordic inspiration straight from snowy Skyrim, and mixing into the melting pot that is the twisted alternative future of the Fallout world I bring you my monster. The Stormblade uses a variety of approaches to achieve his unique roleplay. At his core he is a raider, both in terms of viking terminology,as well as Fallout. He uses his power as Overboss of the raiders of Nuka-World with the raider settlement system to forge his raider “clans” and take over the Commonwealth. Speaking of ‘forging’ he is also a blacksmith at heart and a damned good one at that. He uses a plethora of crafting skills to arm himself and his allies in the very best gear the game has to offer. This idea of a warrior-smith is something much more often seen in the Skyrim character building side of the site, instead of the Fallout but I think you will see it fits in just fine right here. He uses chems and alcohol to achieve demi-god like power as he strolls through the wasteland taking on the very strongest creatures and challenges the bloody berserker of a character can find. With his bear like strength, he wields heavy guns and melee weapons to the utmost efficiency but with the keen and agile mind of a leader and a craftsman. But enough hype, this warrior is about action, not talk….well he is about talk too….but action more….a little more...mostly….sagas don’t write nor tell themselves you know….. *clears throat and expels a mighty warcry raising fist and axe to the air*.

    Strength: Big stat right off the bat. The Stormblade loves his big guns, he loves his axe and other melee weapons, and he loves his power armor. Makes sense that this one gives us a lot of important perks. Bobblehead nets us that sweet spot for 9 points to get rooted and give us a big increase to defence.

     

    Perception: Perception? Perception? What use is that for someone with a big axe and armor thick as a tank?!? Only sneaky cowards need fear what will come at them. The Stormblade fears no foe!

     

    Endurance: Power armor shores up a lot of our toughness, but 3 points to start, plus a bobblehead later will let us get chem resistant allowing for UNLIMITED POWER!!!!....or at least some sweet sweet jet, psycho and more without the negatives. The Stormblade is too tough for that!

     

    Charisma: Who doesn’t love a viking? I mean really people, everyone loves vikings! This is after all Tamriel Vault! Start with 6 points, add the SPECIAL book from Sanctuary, the bobblehead, and a hard point later which opens up the perks we will need to make the coolest viking-themed settlements around. Not to mention some other valuable settlement perks.

     

    Intelligence: Now you might say, Amornar, vikings were not exactly known for their intelligence. Well I say shut up, you’re wrong and this one is even smarter than most! This smith knows his way around a forge and can manipulate metal, gears, servos, and more into all manner of arms and armor to outfit both himself and his various companions and clans. Another 8 points base with an early bobblehead for the delicious nuclear physicist. 

     

    Agility: God damn you I said sneaky sneaks are pathetic cowards! The bigger the gun the better in the Stormblade’s book! We don’t need to stinking sneak or tiny guns! Forget about agility forever...unless you level over 50 and then commando starts looking pretty useful for bonus perks…..but never sneak!!!!

     

    Luck: Luck? LUCK? Who needs luck!?! Brute force, fearlessness, and raw power will see the Stormblade and his clans through the day! No points here either! *Expels a hearty laugh and takes another swig of his mug.* Skål!

    Strength of the Bear-

    Big Leagues 5/5, Heavy Gunner 5/5, Strongback 4/5, Rooted 2/3, Party Boy 2/3

    Our greatest combat perks represent the Stormblade’s affinity for the great and powerful bear. If any ancient animal were to represent the strength and toughness of our viking lord it would be the mighty bear. The pathetic yao-guai is but a sad, irradiated reflection of this majestic animal’s spirit. Big leagues, rooted, and party boy give us exceptional melee power. Heavy gunner gives us that ranged big guns threat. Rooted also gives fantastic defensive toughness and when combined with power armor and the Pack Alpha perk from Nuka-World, we are a bulwark against our foes. Lastly is strongback which reflects the character’s amazing strength and capacity to haul around all the gear he needs to forge his weapons and armor. 

     

    Spirit of the Wolf-

    +1 Charisma, Animal Friend 1/3, Local Leader 2/2, Wasteland Whisperer 1/3, Medic 2/4

    Now our Stormblade is without a doubt a badass warrior and a fighter without peer. But one man cannot hope to take over the Commonwealth alone. He needs his clans, he needs a pack. The spirit of a wolf dwells in his heart and reflects outwardly with his ability to influence those around him through sheer strength of will. Animal friend and wasteland whisperer while taken really for the ability to craft any and all cages to capture every creature in the wasteland and use them for training, entertainment and everything in between in his settlements, but they also help with a nice roleplay boost with subtle influences encountering enemies. These perks also reflect his ability to influence, train, and lead his clans to victory with high charisma, local leader, and even medic to support his pack-mates.

     

    Cunning of the Raven-

    Armorer 4/4, Blacksmith 3/3, Chem Resistant 2/2, Gun Nut 4/4, Scrapper 2/3, Science 4/4, Chemist 2/4, Nuclear Physicist 3/3

    If the bear represents the Stormblade’s body, and the wolf his heart, the raven is without a doubt the mind of the Stormblade. Representing the Stormblade’s veneration for ancient Odin, the cunning and intelligence of the raven represents this viking smith’s prowess and intelligence when he returns home to his forge. Armorer, blacksmith, gun nut, science, and even scrapper allow him to cannibalize everything he can get his hands onto in the Commonwealth and bend and twist it into something useful for him and his forces. Chemist and chem resistant gives him the almost divine intervention his ancestors experienced praying to the norse gods and helps buff his terrifying combat potential. Lastly is nuclear physicist, a hearty staple of any power armor build and a welcome capstone to the Stormblade’s perk layout.

    Now then, the Stormblade is all about embracing your inner viking warrior. Many of us around the Vault know exactly what it is like to grab an axe in one hand, a hammer in another, get some good heavy armor strapped on, and go wreck some face only to return to town that night and drink all the mead you can buy, and reforge your arms and armor into even greater tools of war only to get up the next day and start all over again. That is exactly the kind of mindset you want to bring to this character! The Stormblade works hard, and he plays hard! He is loyal to his friends and those who are loyal to him in return, but ruthless to his enemies. He has a code of honor of sorts, but it is his own and does not mean it matches with the rest of the Commonwealth. In his own way he respects and pays homage to his nordic gods, honoring the likes to Odin, Thor, Tyr, Freya and more. That said though, he thoroughly believes that in the wasteland only the strongest survive, and he is the toughest, strongest son of a bitch in the Commonwealth. As such, the selfless Minutemen, the sneaky Railroad, and the smug Institute offer him nothing he wants or appreciates. Only the Brotherhood of Steel with their obvious emphasis on strength, toughness, big guns, power armor, and willingness to take what they want, when they want it, by any means necessary, appeals to the Stormblade. While he is far from the stereotypical BOS soldier, he is without a doubt most at home with these warriors and can respect them for their abilities, if only as a means to an end as he works to forge his clans and conquer the Commonwealth and beyond.

     

    Now as I said above, the Stormblade, despite everything as an individual, is nothing without his assembled forces, his gangs….his clans. Now this viking warlord spends most of his game slowly building his forces from the ground up. How this will actually work is as you play the game, fight enemies, clear locations, etc. You want to be taking some time now and again to build up a new raider outpost using the raider system from Nuka-World. This means that you will do little to no settlement building prior to Nuka-World and this is fine! From a roleplay perspective this works as the character learns to adjust to the present period, unlock access to the major factions, particularly the Brotherhood of Steel, and generally gear up. I crafted the Red Rocket settlement into a personal settlement for my own little viking fort and set about tearing into the wasteland. By the time I got to Nuka-World and unlocked the raider settlement system to start setting up my raider outposts and enslave my vassal settlements I had a huge stockpile of junk and resources at my disposal.

    Now if you try to build the entire Commonwealth in one go you will one run out of resources fast, and two burn out on trying to build every single settlement. Even as I type this I have not actually built all my settlements but this is such a long endeavor anda labor of love for me that I wanted to share this build with all of you and not wait to finish my other...half or so. A nice way to roleplay it is to in character take the remains from raider gangs and other adversaries and after an oath of loyalty to you, you form your individual clans from these scattered forces. As you destroy these rival raider gangs and kill their leaders like Ack-Ack, Slag, Bosco, Red Tourette, Boomer, Tower Tom, Cinder, Jared, Wire, Zeller, Ivey, etc.; you take their followers willing to bend knee to you, build up the nearest settlement and gift them with their new identity. I highly suggest you chart out at least a portion of your gangs and what sorts of traits or information would represent their clan’s identity making them and their settlements unique and diverse. If you are interested in this topic and have not already, I highly suggest you check out my article on themed settlement building on the Fallout Hub in order to understand how and why you should be theming your settlements for better immersion.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The following is my own personal settlement breakdown and chart of all my Stormblade’s clans and some brief information on each of them and what makes up their roleplay identity:

     

     

    10 Vassals- Abernathy, Tenpines, Sunshine, Oberland, Somerville, Warwick, Nordhagen, Finch, Slog, Greentop

     

    16 Outposts- Sanctuary, Red Rocket, Starlight, Graygarden, Hangman's, Egret, Murkwater, Jamaica, Spectacle, County Crossing, Croup, Kingsport, Coastal, Taffington, Zimonja, Nuka Rocket

     

    Independent- Covenant, Bunker Hill

     

    Custom- Mechanist, Vault 88

     

    Custom Raiders- The Castle, Boston Airport, Echo Lake, Cabin, Dalton, Visitor Center

     

     

    Now a quick inspection of the above chart will show that I incorporated some of the existing raider gangs in the game like the Forged and the Rust Devils, as well as the Operators (as in my game I sided with the Disciples and the Pack in Nuka-World). I think this makes sense as you rip up gangs and their leadership and the survivors willingly surrendering rather than facing death and new leaders rise to take control….of course under the Stormblade’s watch. The rest of the clans are almost all custom and unique with some being a little more boring, and others just being fun and different. This allowed me to flex my settlement building in lots of creative ways. One thing I tried to do with this character was play around with tighter, more vertical settlements as in the past I have tended to wall in areas and build more like a one to two story fort. But I strongly encourage anyone trying this build to have fun, be different, there are lots of settlements to make lots of different choices! Mods help wonderfully with adding tons of great new decorations and build options. Lastly, of course, I strongly recommend building all of your vassals up before you take them over! In my game the vassal settlements are built up with 30 settlers, mostly farmers, acting as small villages that feed my army of clans.

     

     

    Now every great viking leader needs a retinue of strong supports, a cadre of companions possessed of great strength, intelligence, and undying loyalty. A court if you will. For me, and my Stormblade this broke down as:

     

    Cait- Queen

    Housecarl- Strong

    Court Wizard- Curie

    Steward- Gage

    Thanes- Hancock, McCready and possibly Dance and Longfellow

     

    A chart of what I did with each of my companions might help understand how I used my followers to the greatest RP effect:

     

    As you can see the robots became customized from the Automatron DLC and became little more than tools. My closest followers became leaders of settlements such as Cait heading the Castle, my super arena settlement, fitting for her I thought. And others like my “thanes”, Hancock and MacCready leading whole clans, or in MacCready’s case overseeing vassalized settlers. Some characters who did not fit the roleplay or the Stormblade’s favored pastimes (you know pillaging, murder, plunder, etc.) were simply never used and left as is. A few you can even make choices such as Old Longfellow who you could simply decide to kill. Or Preston who you can console command to be killable, or just leave him and his pathetic band of weaklings where you found them….or didn’t, don’t need the bobblehead, personally I never even set foot in Concord lol. I think you get the idea. The Stormblade does not use the amazing Lone Wanderer perk for a reason, get some companions! The Stormblade is a social creature and loves having companionship along on his adventures, if only to record his great deeds and exploits for the sagas!

    Now while our handsome Stormblade is a mighty warrior, at heart he is still a blacksmith. Taken as my simple but powerful backstory of this character as a nordic descended soldier who has spent most of his life building tools, weapons, and armor,most recently before the bombs dropped for the US military in Alaska, he uses his array of crafting perks to be a smith beyond compare. Any and all weapons and armor pieces you get in the game will be tweaked and fitted to the best possible option for not just him, but his retinue of loyal companions, and his various clans and their individual warriors as well. Despite being a raider, the Stormblade is the definition of a team player. But what you really care about is what types of arms and armor does the Stormblade himself (or herself the build is totally set up to be played as a mighty viking Shield Maiden!) use? Well putting it simply the answer is big! The bigger the weapon, the bigger the armor, the bigger the….err *clears throat* the Stormblade has for it. This build is all about melee weapons and big guns. Nothing screams viking more than a big axe being wielded by a strong arm. The tire iron with the bladed modification functions as a nice early game hand axe, but what you really want to get is Grognak’s Axe when you eventually wander south to downtown Boston. While it cannot be modified, this axe can be boosted with your chems and alcohol to an easy cruising speed of 20 strength (for me this is simply a dirty wastelander and bufftats/psychobuff together with power armor...much much higher with extra options for boss fights such as the mysterious serum) for exceptional damage. For late game if you are feeling the itch for super powered melee, nothing satisfies more than a fully modded sledgehammer using all the glorious Nuka-World modifications. Find yourself a lovely legendary one and go to town smashing heads, hands, chests, and generally all available body parts of the wasteland’s denizens. 
     
    For big guns things like the minigun, with the Ashmaker quest reward a great early to mid game weapon. Although you will tear through ammunition you will equally tear through your opponents. The cryolator was one of my absolute favorites and if you can get it unlocked from Vault 111 it makes a very frosty and fitting weapon for a true viking warrior descended straight from the northern realms. If frost isn’t your prefered element, Sergeant Ash from Far Harbor, or another legendary flamer can be devastating in the hands of the Stormblade. But none of these really compares with the power and awesomeness that is the gatling laser. Specifically, what I feel is the perfect end game weapon for this build: Aeternus. Looted from the Rogue Knight adversary in the Cola-Cars Arena during your Overboss fights, this gatling laser will never need to be reloaded, and is bugged to never use any of your fusion cores. This means all of your fusion cores can be used for your armor and you can hold down the fire button for as long as the game keeps sending waves after waves of enemies after you. For some of the game’s bigger battles this, plus a healthy use of chems, makes the Stormblade feel like a god himself, raining down hellfire upon all those not willing to bend their knee to him and his clans.

    Lastly, we have our armor. For this you will want the biggest, baddest power armor you can get and craft. Using mods you can make the game’smore grisly power armors like raider power armor, and the Overboss’s power armor go all the way to end game with modifications more in line with the likes of which you can give T-60 and X-01 armors (example the jet pack you can see in pictures). If though you prefer these you can absolutely use these more streamlined and aesthetically pleasing armor options. Lastly for the true viking power armor fan I cannot recommend the TES-51 Power Armor- Skyrim Inspired mod enough. This mod was what originally inspired this entire build and helped bring my love of Skyrim and the nords to bear with my love of Fallout and adventuring through the Commonwealth. As far as what you wear under your power armor that is really up to you! I found that embracing the blacksmith persona was nice as most of the time when I was out of my power armor it was in a settlement building or crafting weapons and armor pieces. Things like the BOS engineer’s armor, some Nuka-World pieces, etc. were really simple but effective for what I think a smith might wear in the Fallout world. Remember to keep the pieces light (example ultra-light mods) as they will just weigh you down in your power armor with no real benefit.

    And that about does it…..this has probably been my longest build in development, mostly due to the sheer amount of settlement building. I also used more mods in my settlement building than I ever have before which gave me so many more tools and items to decorate with. I had a ton of fun playing it and crafting (get it….crafting….craftsmen character with a blacksmithing background?....shut up I’ve been typing for a long time don’t make me throw an axe at you…) it to be able to share with the wonderful community here at Tamriel Vault. If you have any questions please post them below and I will respond as best and quick as I can. Otherwise thank you for checking out my newest build and I raise my mug to you all! Skål!
  • Member
    May 1, 2017

    Alright well after many teases and being worked on slowly over the past several months I am very happy and releaved to post my Stormblade build. Enjoy. :)

  • Member
    May 1, 2017

    YESSSS AMORNAR! I'm so glad it's finally up, it looks AWESOME. I don't have time to read it as of right now, but expect a long and praiseful response from me soon. I can tell you put oodles of work into this, totally paid off :)

  • Member
    May 1, 2017

    Thanks Madd, I look forward to hear what you think!

  • Member
    May 1, 2017

    Oh HELL yes. :D I have this bookmarked to read with my morning coffee. 

  • Member
    May 1, 2017

    I see there is another who has found their way to the best set of power armor possible :D 

  • May 2, 2017

    I'd wager this would cope well on survival mode :P

  • Member
    May 2, 2017
    I hadn't thought about that but yes it would! A lot of the skills and gear are perfect for survival!
  • Member
    May 2, 2017

    Melle, Big Guns, Power Armor...very subtle :) The Synergy of these big three skills all being in the STR skill tree really make the build hum.

    I love this big, loud build! Nice job bringing some viking smash feels to fallout. 

     

  • Member
    May 2, 2017

    Keeping this for a later read. :D