Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Character Build: The Honest Farmer

Tags: #Race:Nord  #Character Build Barbarian  #Character Build Warrior  #Character Build Hero  #Rank:Exemplar 
  • Member
    March 2, 2013

    Farmers always seem to get the short end of the stick in Skyrim. Dragons, bandits, vampires, and giants wander freely all around the wilds, a civil war ravages the country, and farmers have no walls to hide behind, nor any means to defend themselves. This is the story of a farm girl who says enough is enough. In an era of uncertainty and apocalyptic prophesies, she decides she won't sit and wait for her family to be slaughtered at the hands of one of Skyrim's many threats. She decides to take a stand, for justice and for peace, and take fate into her own hands. I give you, the Honest Farmer.

     

    Only when the last threat is dead will the farmer return to her fields.

    The farmer is nothing more than that, a farm girl. A simple and modest young woman living and working with her younger sister, older brother, grandmother and dog. That is until she kills a dragon and discovers she's the Dragonborn, the one capable of overturning the fears that plague Skyrim. With her new found power, the Farmer will embark on a journey to forge a new era of peace. Her first step will be to join the Companions, where she will temper her already hardy physique into that of a true warrior. From there, she will go wherever her hammer is needed.

    Race: Nord

    Stone: Lord or Steed

    Major Skills: Two Handed, Heavy Armor

    Minor Skills: Smithing, Alchemy, Block

    Weapons: Ebony Warhammer

    Armor: Ancient Nord Armor

    Shouts: Elemental Fury, Marked For Death, Call of Valor

    Recommended Quests: Book of Love, The Heart of Dibella, Ancient Knowledge, The Companions, Civil War (Imperials), Main Quest, Dawnguard, Destroy the Dark Brotherhood

    Racial choice here is self-explanatory. Fits the story and nice bonuses to boot. Use Battle Cry to fend off tough enemies early game.

    The Lord Stone gives the farmer much needed armor and more importantly magic resistance. If you feel you can do without the defense bonuses, take the Steed Stone or stick with the Warrior Stone for faster leveling.

    Life out on the farm has made the Farmgirl hardy and strong. Even lifting hefty weapons and armor is a breeze to her. Once both skills are fully trained, the Farmer will be able the charge any number of enemies, dealing massive damage while taking little herself.

    While out of the farm, the Farmer had to do metal working from time to time. After tutelage under Eorlund Gray-Mane however, the simple field worker will be able to even forge Daedric equipment if she so chooses. The Farmgirl is also highly proficient with natural, herbal remedies and medicines. Her expertise will expand to provide buffs and resistances to cover her lack of Enchanting know-how.

    The hammer served the Farmgirl well, allowing her to knock fruit from orchard trees and fend off wolves from cattle. As it turns out, the hammer's great for smashing bandit skulls in too. The warhammer may be slow, but it packs a tremendous punch, allowing most enemies to be dispatched will only a few power attacks.

    Through the Companions, the Farmer will delve deep into Nord tradition, eventually donning the armor of heroes old. Ancient Nord Armor requires Daedric Smithing to craft, but as a result is very strong, and will protect the Farmgirl from the monsters she opposes.

    Shout choice is centered around maximizing the Farmer's expertise with the Warhammer. Elemental fury makes the Hammer as light as a feather in her hands, allowing her to quickly shred any foe. Marked for Death will shatter defenses, causing the hammer to strike with astounding force. Both accomplish the same goal, so pick your favorite and get to swinging. 

    The Companions questline is absolutely essential for this build. All the equipment and training the Farmer desires can be found here, so waste no time becoming Harbinger and reaping the benefits.

    Stat Placement: 0/1/2 (Magicka/Health/Stamina)

    Stamina is the most important stat for this build. Power attacks are your friend, dealing excessive damage and staggering foes, and the more stamina you have, the more you can make. 

    Heavy armor allows the Farmer to reach the cap easily. With 80% damage mitigation, she will be nigh unstoppable. Take every perk except all juggernaut perks to get the most out of your armor.

    The Two-handed perks are meant to max out the damage dealt by the already powerful hammer. Great Critical Charge is overrated IMO, and Warmaster isn't worth the point, so I avoided those. Since the Warhammer is a slow weapon, utilize Sweep Power Attacks whenever possible to get the most out of every attack.

    We have to go all the way up to Daedric Smithing for Ancient Nord Armor, so start grinding early. Crafting Dwarven bows and paying Eorlund for training will have you at 91 Smithing in no time.

    Potions are going to be augmenting every aspect of the Farmer, so train this one early as well. Fortify/restore Health potions, Fortify Smithing Potions, and Resistance potions are all essential concoctions to have on hand.

    Optional Skills:

    I was thinking about taking Block perks for extra defenses, but as it turned out it wasn't really necessary. Take block if you want the extra utility of shield charge (which can be done with a two-handed weapon), or disarming bash.

    Archery was great for dishing out damage from a safe distance, before late game armor was acquired. I dropped Archery once I maxed out my armor, but if you want to keep archery, I would suggest taking the Dawnguard's strongest crossbow and taking all overdraw perks along with Eagle Eye.

    Lycanthropy:

    The ultimate ability of the Companions, both a blessing and a curse. Whether or not to remain a werewolf I will leave up to the player. Do you trade for more power for the sake of your mission, or do you keep your soul clean for Sovngarde and fight as a True and pure Nord? I will the decision up to the individual.

    Family Reunion

    No special moves here, but an alternative play-style if fighting the evils of Skyrim alone gets boring. Team up with your younger sister (Ria) or older brother (Vilkas), pick up a loyal dog (Vilgilance is a good choice), and add in an ancestor with Call of Valor, and you have yourself a rip-snorting family outing. This approach can be useful by keeping every enemy from swarming you at once, allowing you to fight a few and pick off the others with little stress on yourself.

     

    From Farmer to Hero

    After becoming Dragonborn, the Farmer will promptly join the Companions to learn from some the greatest warriors in Skyrim. While doing that, the Farmer takes the opportunity to buff her skills further, doing favors for the divines and exploring the unknown for power and knowledge. After learning all the Companions have to offer, the Farmgirl will turn her attention to the Civil War, joining in on the Imperials Side. She may be a Nord, but that doesn't mean she has to agree with Ulfric. As far as she's concerned, Ulfric broke the peace and forced her family to abandon their farm, and he has a price to pay. After the civil war, it's time to focus on the darker threats. Dragons and Vampires are the greatest challenge yet, but through her virtuous diligence, the Farmer may yet succeed.

    The Farmer's goal is to wipe out evil in Skyrim, so don't pass up a cleansing opportunity. Passing a fort of bandits? Challenge them to combat. Encounter a tomb full of draugr? Lay them all to rest. Put yourself on the frontlines of fights to protect others from harm. And never commit a crime or tell a fib. Your Grandmother taught you better than that. It's a long an arduous journey to true peace in Skyrim, but for the sake of your family, you will persevere.

    Speaking of family, the Farmer can't resist helping those with family troubles. She understands the true value of kin, and can't resist helping someone else preserve theirs. For example, she helps Avulstein in Whiterun rescue his brother from the Thalmor without hesitation, despite the fact that they have opposing views on the war. Whatever the issue, family comes first.

    The Farmer and faithful hound, Winona, take a breather before the next conflict


    Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave a comment or critique or question in the comments!

  • Member
    March 2, 2013

    Congratulations, AASamurai, you've been able to mix a Barbarian with a Farmer! 

    Seriously, it's a good build. But now that I've been thinking... why don't you create special moves involving followers and your own skills together? You could, for example, make a special move where you tell to Lydia to attack a enemy while you rush behind your enemy and attack at the same time (This way, the enemy won't be able to focus on only one person).

    Just a example, it would make the Honest Farmer more unique.

  • Member
    March 2, 2013

    You don't need daedric crafting perk to craft ancient nord, it just appears under daedric whether you have it or not when using the skyforge

  • Member
    March 2, 2013

    Are you sure the perk 'Shield Charge' can be used with a two-handed weapon, even though the perk descriptions specifies it is used with a shield?

    If I test this, and it doesn't work, it shows you haven't tested your own build.

    Brb, there might be a +1 in it for you if this works.... (although you already know yourself if you haven't tested it, and should be ashamed, i hope what you said is true, this might be a ground-breaking build idea for the future if it is).

    Gonna poke around, nerdy stylee ...

  • March 2, 2013
    Yes, a lot of builds use the Shield Charge+Two-Handed, it works.
  • Member
    March 2, 2013

    Shield Charge does work with two-handed weapons, but kinda glitchy. Basically you have to sprint, then stop and block with your two-handed weapons. If you do it right you get the sound effect and a shield charge effect on enemies..

  • Member
    March 2, 2013

    Thanks Dan! I found that even without asking my follower to attack first, the enemies would naturally spread themselves out among myself and my comrades, accomplishing the same goal either way. I rushed a giant camp with my small army in tow, and half of the assembled mammoths and giants walked right past me to attack my dog. I know Special moves are a staple for most builds, but I honestly couldn't think of anything special, so I went without. 

  • Member
    March 2, 2013

    I did become a werewolf, and remained that way, mostly because I never could figure out how to cure myself.  I figured I would leave Lycanthropy up to the individual player. Will the Farmgirl pursue greater power, in exchange for her very soul. She's a traditional Nord, so she may prefer to keep her soul pure for Sovenguarde.

    As for Ria and Vilkas, I needed two characters to play as her siblings, and I felt they were the best choices. The point is to treat them like family; They are your shield siblings, after all. Give them improved gear to match your own, and watch out for their well-being, as a good sister should.

    The thought behind her shouts is give her a martial prowess that matches her strength and endurance, and also to be straightforward and simple. Just because she lives out on the farm doesn't mean she gets along with all animals. She tends to her cows and chickens, and kills anything that wanders onto her farm looking for a meal. She won't be looking to making friends with those predators. Hunting fits well, extra food or income is always helpful to the poor farmer. But Aura Whisper, as far as actual gameplay goes, works better with sneaky builds, which this one isn't. Storm Call is an interesting idea though, I was saving a shout for a different build idea, so to use it here hadn't occurred to me. 

    Early game, rushing into battle often involved having to chug lots of health potions due to my lower AR. Archery was just a way to alleviate some of that early game difficulty. Archery also saved by behind twice during random encounters with hostile giants.

    The most effective use of Great Critical Charge I've seen is the sneak Great Critical Charge attack, which isn't really a part of this character. Great Critical Charge just seemed beside the point to me. I find it hard to land and use on the fly. Sure, some builds could use a possible one-hit KO technique, but this build is hardly needs that.

    Reflect Blows is similar the the Two-handed Warmaster perk, it ain't a game changer. But I figured since the build centers around getting into the think of the fray, a little bit of extra passive damage couldn't hurt.

  • Member
    March 2, 2013

    I needed to get Ebony Smithing to craft my preferred Warhammer anyway, so I didn't see why I shouldn't take that one last perk.

  • Member
    March 2, 2013

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOKgNkufZAI For anyone who wants to see it for themselves, this guy does it here.