About the Build
At level 44, this inspiration for this build combines almost all traits of the Necromancer NPC class of TES Oblivion (Alchemy, Alteration, Conjuration & Restoration) and the best of this class as defined by some of the other games out there, needless to say in gaming, drawn from Guild wars 2 & Diablo 2.
The outcome of the combination above results in a very immersive and fast switching deadly play style which uses tons of Damage Over time Mechanics, Buffs and Debuffs, with a fair share of Necromancy and summons. Needless to say, it utilizes content from the Dragonborn DLC has well, which I am sure every one who reads this blog is well aware of by now and effectively utilizing it.
Lore
As a member ranked as a Necromancer Adept of the reformed Order of the Worms, you had fled the haven of the scourge barrow in the Dragon tail Mountains, following the death of a resurrected Mannimarco. Having fled, you lay low to avoid detection and make your way to your homeland of High Rock until you hear a curious conversation between two aspiring novices at a local tavern. Their ramblings about the college of winterhold and the various school of magic practised there intrigued him, until a name of a fellow kinsman piques your interest… Phinis Gestor
Making your way to skyrim, were caught in an imperial ambush, and were apparently under the impression that you were one of those they called “forsworn”. At the executioner’s block, you noticed that there were a number of captured “criminals” and wonder just truly how many of them were guilty. Lined up for the executioner’s block, a dragon of legend swooped down from the sky as soon as your turn came, raining destruction all around, providing a chance of escape.
Holding steadfast to your initial goal, you joined the college having passed the initial tests and were brought forward before the current Arch mage, to your surprise, a fellow Breton from whom a dark aura of residual arcane energy emitted, indicating him to be a skilled in the dark arts, yet somehow different from one who practises necromancy, as seen in your time at the Order.
“Greetings kinsman.. I can see that like Phinis, you seem to have skills that are….unique… like my own but yet different. It is good that we are able to come across one another in this land where there are so few of us left, either leading secluded lives or living as the barbarians that these nords make us out to be. Tell me, what is your business here at the college?” he quipped. The air was still in the tower as he paused.... looking on expectantly for a reply.
After a brief explanation on your history and intention of seeking asylum while continuation of practice in the art of necromancy, he gazed intently at you and snapped “Walk with me….” A short silence ensued when The Warlock finally spoke, “You would have probably fine-tuned yourself to my energies in our first meeting and realise that I too am a practitioner of the dark arts, though not on the same lines as you are accustomed to. The arts I practise come with a price paid in blood from pacts forged with daedric princes. Due to this, my attenuation to the planes of oblivion are increased resulting in the energies you sense.”
He paused for a moment for you to absorb the message before continuing. “ Given your history, I am willing to chance this meeting with a proposition I have for you…My time here as Archmage, has given me insight on the current state of affairs in skyrim. The nords fight amongst themselves in this civil war and Thalmor activities are rampant. This land is ripe with strife, providing us the perfect setting to reap from it. A great many plans have been set in place that would help us conquer skyrim and secure a tributary relationship with the Nords. As such, I would like you to re-build your life in this college, further your skills in the dark arts you revelled in once and execute my orders as commanded. We will benefit from the ensuing chaos and dispose all who oppose us... Do you accept?”
Realizing that passing this opportunity would be folly, you cautiously accept the Warlock’s offer. “Good… very good indeed…” he grinned. “The failure of Sancre Tor will not happen again… Dominance and Fear will provide the unwavering loyalty that we need from these fools and your skills of death over life will provide us with an immortal army, when the living have served their purpose. We have our work cut out for us… My Necromancer”
Perks:
The following perks for this build have been chosen:
Click here for the Perk Calculator version of it: http://skyrimcalculator.com/270520
Gear
The Gear showcased below are the most easiest to obtain via quests and faction...should you come across a better item, feel free to mix and match.
That said, the only item in this set is not subject to change is the Necromancer's Amulet, as it forms the core aspect of your skill and RP.
Roleplay & Stats
Here are the stats to go along with when playing this build:
- Race: Breton (preferably the evil looking sort) for their racial abilities and overall RP.
- Stone: Levelling: Mage Stone / End Game: Lord's Stone + Ritual Stone
- Stats: 5 Magicka / 5 Health / 0 Stamina for every 10 levels
- Essential Quests: College of Winterhold Questline (until good intentions), Arneil’s Endeavour (College side quest), Blood on Ice, Dawnguard Questline (choose Volkihar until Beyond Death), Book of Love, Unearthed (DB), Lost to the ages (DG), From the Ashes (DB), Black Book: The Sallow Regent
- Optional Quests: Discerning the Transmundane, Main Questline of vanilla and all expansion packs, The Forsworn Conspiracy
Whilst the lore provides sufficient backstory to cover this, but to further immersion, the following role play tips well help cover that:
Complete all essential quests – They tailor what it means to be a necromancer, providing you with beautiful corpses to use and forming pacts with the ideal masters for Skeletal Summons.
Blood on Ice - Mannimarco's prized artifact... if it made him powerful, so would it you... and which necromancer does not crave for power?
Always side with Evil – When dealing with quest related specifics, always choose the darker side (Side with Harkon, Kill Paarthunax, Etc, that sorta thing)
Kill Wantonly – Kill just cause you can and because it provide you with the corpses needed. Annihilate guards, non essential NPC’s, killing every single witness to the act.
Stormcloaks FTW! – Sancre Tor is not forgotten… General Talos was a nord imperial… kill them, butcher them, win the war then kill the storm cloaks as well. It’s all about killing.
The Forsworn Conspiracy – You’re not forsworn but nevertheless, they are Bretons oppressed by the Nords. Follow through and kill all nords in the quest line for revenge of Sancre Tor.
Poisons & Effects
This build utilizes a very unique for of damage over time mechanics. Unlike the pure mages that rely on the afterburn effect of fire spells or wall spells of all 3 schools, the necromancer tends to focus a lot on poison skills, life drain & absorb and stagger effects, which make up a majority of the build. Of course, this does not rule out the minor sprinkles of elemental magic, but it’s usually limited to base level spells & enchants, thus not mentioned below. Below is the breakdown of the effects used in this build:
Poisons
Below are the poison effects used in this build. Do note that for the potions, the most common found ingredients have been stated, though there are combination of ingredients other than this.
Poison of Enfeeblement (Lingering Damage Health Poison)
Imp Stool + Mora Tapinella or Scathecraw (DB) - Stackable
Poison of Devouring (Poison of Weakness of to Poison)
Deathbell + Bleeding crown or Charus Eggs – Target is weaker to all poisons.
Poison of Arcane Enfeeblment (Poison of Weakness to Magic)
Salt Pile + Torchbug Thorax – Target is 40% weaker to all forms of magic
Poison Rune: Costs 146 Magicka - Target takes 3 poison damage for 30 seconds - Stackable.
Miraak’s staff: Staggers foes causing poison damage – Target takes 20 points of Poison damage (Mora’s Agony effect)
Effects
The effects listed here are unique to perks and factions, which results in an “Open Wound” & Absorb life effect, where the target continuously bleeds and life is drained that way. These are further Augmented by the usage of Potions that help with boosting Spells.
Hack and Slash Perk 3/3: Target takes bleeding damage when struck with war axe – Tests results show that when struck with Ebony Axe, all targets (except undead and dwarven targets), suffer 7.5 bleeding damage for 6 seconds
Vampiric Drain: Drains & absorbs 5 health per sec for 17 magicka per sec (Requires stage 4 vampirism) – With the novice perks, this is brought down to 8.5 magicka per sec which puts the cost near the basic sparks spell (9 per sec).
Potion of Fortify Destruction: Night Shade + Ectoplasm or Glow Dust - Usually used to augment Unholy Feast for Harder to Kill NPC's (Trolls, Dragons, Master Vampires, etc)
Potion of Resist Magic: Lavender + Tundra Cotton - Reserved Mostly for Dragon Fights. I tend to use this over the resistance per element due to the ease of obtaining the ingredients. Most of them can be found just outside of Whiterun.
Combat
The combat for this build is fast paced and dymanic, meaning there is very little switching over to the favs’s for the PC users and you’re constantly kept on your feet. Unfortunately, due to the multiple skills being deployed and weapon swapping, it might be somewhat of a hassle for PS and xbox users. Like in GW2, the combat mode is broken down by weapon skills or modes as I call them. There are 2 modes… the melee mode, which involves using weapons & low magicka cost spells and the ranged mode, which involves using staves & High cost spell casting.
Melee Mode
Enfeebling Claw – Bleed your foe and poison them, applying weakness to target, making vulnerable to poison and magic.
War axe (Absorb Stamina) + Hack and slash perk (3/3) + Bound Dagger (Soul Stealer Perk) + Poison of Weakness to poison + Poison of Weakness to Magic (Optional & Situation Dependant) + Concentrated Poisons Perk
Devouring Curse – Bleed your foe and poison them, damaging their health over time devouring their soul
War axe (Fiery Soul Trap) + Hack and slash perk (3/3) + Poison of Lingering Damage Health + Concentrated poisons perk + Poison Rune (Stackable)
Unholy Feast – Disintegrate Armor, Drain stamina and Absorb health of foes before feeding of their corpses.
Marked for Death Shout + Vampiric Drain (non-VL) + Frostbite + Feed Ability: RoN
Ranged Combat
Chilblains – Inscribes a Mark that chills and poisons foes, staggering the in the process
Ice Spike + Poison Rune
Well of Darkness – Target area corrupts, staggering all enemies & causing poison damage
Miraak’s staff (Mora’s Agony) + Poison Rune
Soul Pact – Enforce your link with the soul cairn, summon minions and ghosts
Conjure Wrathman + Arniel’s Shade + Twin Souls Perk
Defence Spells
Blood is Power - Bleed yourself to gain Magicka. Heal up to restore.
Equilibrium + Close Wounds
Transfusion – When low on magicka, bleed yourself and heal your minion for harder fights. Use carefully
Equilibrium + Heal Undead
Spectral Empowerment – Resist all forms of Melee and Magic based attacks
Ebony flesh (Dual Cast) + Mage Armor perk(3/3) + Magic Resistance perk (30%) + Standing Stone: Lord (25%) + Potion of Resist Magic (15%) + Racial: Breton (25%)
Combat Tips
Whilst how you play this build is completely up to you, here are som general combat tips when playing this build:
Your Summons aren’t tanks – Keep the aggro factor in mind. Wrathman summons can’t hold aggro well, so early usage and avoidance is necessary to stay alive. Use immediately when facing enemies, no matter how far away.
Keep mindful of your debuffs – Apply the debuffs of your melee attack accordingly. Don’t waste poisons on undead and ashspawn… there are immune to it. Same logic applied to bleeding effects. Apply weakness to magic for larger creature like dragons and trolls, since the poisons will take some time to take affect and you would need to cast spells to help with damage, aside from having your minions hack em up.
Be wary of Health – Since your mana regen is somewhat limited with the gear chosen, you will need to use blood is power. Ensure you have enough health, no enemy is on your tail and don’t tap till you die.
Use whatever loot you find or can obtain – Since this build doesn’t take smithing, use whatever gear that is possible to obtain from drop, loot and/or purchase via factions. For example, Joining the companions early see get you a war axe with optimal stats for early game till Ebony starts showing up on later levels via drops or merchant. If Daedric drops, go for that as well. Likewise master robes and hood of chose level can be purchased as well, if desired. Necromancer robes is the most common drop early game and help attribute to the look of a necromancer (though at later level, like my char, you can get “peerless” level drops, which provide lesser magicka regen but higher cost reduction while maintaining the look and feel).
Maintain Distance for Spellcasting – Whilst this seems obvious, the temptation to fall into the Spellsword / Battlemage play style when swinging your axe may occur. Don’t! The aggro generated by your axes swings is bad as it is already, though your wrathman can still take the heat. Adding spells to the mix is just gonna turn the mob at you full on within melee range… not something you want at any cost. Use unholy feast at mid range and a combination of chill blains and well of darkness for mid – long range.
Followers:
There are no followers for this build. You will need total reliance on your summons and skills to survive and take down foes.
About the Build
At level 44, this inspiration for this build combines almost all traits of the Necromancer NPC class of TES Oblivion (Alchemy, Alteration, Conjuration & Restoration) and the best of this class as defined by some of the other games out there, needless to say in gaming, drawn from Guild wars 2 & Diablo 2.
The outcome of the combination above results in a very immersive and fast switching deadly play style which uses tons of Damage Over time Mechanics, Buffs and Debuffs, with a fair share of Necromancy and summons. Needless to say, it utilizes content from the Dragonborn DLC has well, which I am sure every one who reads this blog is well aware of by now and effectively utilizing it.
Lore
As a member ranked as a Necromancer Adept of the reformed Order of the Worms, you had fled the haven of the scourge barrow in the Dragon tail Mountains, following the death of a resurrected Mannimarco. Having fled, you lay low to avoid detection and make your way to your homeland of High Rock until you hear a curious conversation between two aspiring novices at a local tavern. Their ramblings about the college of winterhold and the various school of magic practised there intrigued him, until a name of a fellow kinsman piques your interest… Phinis Gestor
Making your way to skyrim, were caught in an imperial ambush, and were apparently under the impression that you were one of those they called “forsworn”. At the executioner’s block, you noticed that there were a number of captured “criminals” and wonder just truly how many of them were guilty. Lined up for the executioner’s block, a dragon of legend swooped down from the sky as soon as your turn came, raining destruction all around, providing a chance of escape.
Holding steadfast to your initial goal, you joined the college having passed the initial tests and were brought forward before the current Arch mage, to your surprise, a fellow Breton from whom a dark aura of residual arcane energy emitted, indicating him to be a skilled in the dark arts, yet somehow different from one who practises necromancy, as seen in your time at the Order.
“Greetings kinsman.. I can see that like Phinis, you seem to have skills that are….unique… like my own but yet different. It is good that we are able to come across one another in this land where there are so few of us left, either leading secluded lives or living as the barbarians that these nords make us out to be. Tell me, what is your business here at the college?” he quipped. The air was still in the tower as he paused.... looking on expectantly for a reply.
After a brief explanation on your history and intention of seeking asylum while continuation of practice in the art of necromancy, he gazed intently at you and snapped “Walk with me….” A short silence ensued when The Warlock finally spoke, “You would have probably fine-tuned yourself to my energies in our first meeting and realise that I too am a practitioner of the dark arts, though not on the same lines as you are accustomed to. The arts I practise come with a price paid in blood from pacts forged with daedric princes. Due to this, my attenuation to the planes of oblivion are increased resulting in the energies you sense.”
He paused for a moment for you to absorb the message before continuing. “ Given your history, I am willing to chance this meeting with a proposition I have for you…My time here as Archmage, has given me insight on the current state of affairs in skyrim. The nords fight amongst themselves in this civil war and Thalmor activities are rampant. This land is ripe with strife, providing us the perfect setting to reap from it. A great many plans have been set in place that would help us conquer skyrim and secure a tributary relationship with the Nords. As such, I would like you to re-build your life in this college, further your skills in the dark arts you revelled in once and execute my orders as commanded. We will benefit from the ensuing chaos and dispose all who oppose us... Do you accept?”
Realizing that passing this opportunity would be folly, you cautiously accept the Warlock’s offer. “Good… very good indeed…” he grinned. “The failure of Sancre Tor will not happen again… Dominance and Fear will provide the unwavering loyalty that we need from these fools and your skills of death over life will provide us with an immortal army, when the living have served their purpose. We have our work cut out for us… My Necromancer”
Perks:
The following perks for this build have been chosen:
Click here for the Perk Calculator version of it: http://skyrimcalculator.com/270520
Gear
The Gear showcased below are the most easiest to obtain via quests and faction...should you come across a better item, feel free to mix and match.
That said, the only item in this set is not subject to change is the Necromancer's Amulet, as it forms the core aspect of your skill and RP.
Roleplay & Stats
Here are the stats to go along with when playing this build:
- Race: Breton (preferably the evil looking sort) for their racial abilities and overall RP.
- Stone: Levelling: Mage Stone / End Game: Lord's Stone + Ritual Stone
- Stats: 5 Magicka / 5 Health / 0 Stamina for every 10 levels
- Essential Quests: College of Winterhold Questline (until good intentions), Arneil’s Endeavour (College side quest), Blood on Ice, Dawnguard Questline (choose Volkihar until Beyond Death), Book of Love, Unearthed (DB), Lost to the ages (DG), From the Ashes (DB), Black Book: The Sallow Regent
- Optional Quests: Discerning the Transmundane, Main Questline of vanilla and all expansion packs, The Forsworn Conspiracy
Whilst the lore provides sufficient backstory to cover this, but to further immersion, the following role play tips well help cover that:
Complete all essential quests – They tailor what it means to be a necromancer, providing you with beautiful corpses to use and forming pacts with the ideal masters for Skeletal Summons.
Blood on Ice - Mannimarco's prized artifact... if it made him powerful, so would it you... and which necromancer does not crave for power?
Always side with Evil – When dealing with quest related specifics, always choose the darker side (Side with Harkon, Kill Paarthunax, Etc, that sorta thing)
Kill Wantonly – Kill just cause you can and because it provide you with the corpses needed. Annihilate guards, non essential NPC’s, killing every single witness to the act.
Stormcloaks FTW! – Sancre Tor is not forgotten… General Talos was a nord imperial… kill them, butcher them, win the war then kill the storm cloaks as well. It’s all about killing.
The Forsworn Conspiracy – You’re not forsworn but nevertheless, they are Bretons oppressed by the Nords. Follow through and kill all nords in the quest line for revenge of Sancre Tor.
Poisons & Effects
This build utilizes a very unique for of damage over time mechanics. Unlike the pure mages that rely on the afterburn effect of fire spells or wall spells of all 3 schools, the necromancer tends to focus a lot on poison skills, life drain & absorb and stagger effects, which make up a majority of the build. Of course, this does not rule out the minor sprinkles of elemental magic, but it’s usually limited to base level spells & enchants, thus not mentioned below. Below is the breakdown of the effects used in this build:
Poisons
Below are the poison effects used in this build. Do note that for the potions, the most common found ingredients have been stated, though there are combination of ingredients other than this.
Poison of Enfeeblement (Lingering Damage Health Poison)
Imp Stool + Mora Tapinella or Scathecraw (DB) - Stackable
Poison of Devouring (Poison of Weakness of to Poison)
Deathbell + Bleeding crown or Charus Eggs – Target is weaker to all poisons.
Poison of Arcane Enfeeblment (Poison of Weakness to Magic)
Salt Pile + Torchbug Thorax – Target is 40% weaker to all forms of magic
Poison Rune: Costs 146 Magicka - Target takes 3 poison damage for 30 seconds - Stackable.
Miraak’s staff: Staggers foes causing poison damage – Target takes 20 points of Poison damage (Mora’s Agony effect)
Effects
The effects listed here are unique to perks and factions, which results in an “Open Wound” & Absorb life effect, where the target continuously bleeds and life is drained that way. These are further Augmented by the usage of Potions that help with boosting Spells.
Hack and Slash Perk 3/3: Target takes bleeding damage when struck with war axe – Tests results show that when struck with Ebony Axe, all targets (except undead and dwarven targets), suffer 7.5 bleeding damage for 6 seconds
Vampiric Drain: Drains & absorbs 5 health per sec for 17 magicka per sec (Requires stage 4 vampirism) – With the novice perks, this is brought down to 8.5 magicka per sec which puts the cost near the basic sparks spell (9 per sec).
Potion of Fortify Destruction: Night Shade + Ectoplasm or Glow Dust - Usually used to augment Unholy Feast for Harder to Kill NPC's (Trolls, Dragons, Master Vampires, etc)
Potion of Resist Magic: Lavender + Tundra Cotton - Reserved Mostly for Dragon Fights. I tend to use this over the resistance per element due to the ease of obtaining the ingredients. Most of them can be found just outside of Whiterun.
Combat
The combat for this build is fast paced and dymanic, meaning there is very little switching over to the favs’s for the PC users and you’re constantly kept on your feet. Unfortunately, due to the multiple skills being deployed and weapon swapping, it might be somewhat of a hassle for PS and xbox users. Like in GW2, the combat mode is broken down by weapon skills or modes as I call them. There are 2 modes… the melee mode, which involves using weapons & low magicka cost spells and the ranged mode, which involves using staves & High cost spell casting.
Melee Mode
Enfeebling Claw – Bleed your foe and poison them, applying weakness to target, making vulnerable to poison and magic.
War axe (Absorb Stamina) + Hack and slash perk (3/3) + Bound Dagger (Soul Stealer Perk) + Poison of Weakness to poison + Poison of Weakness to Magic (Optional & Situation Dependant) + Concentrated Poisons Perk
Devouring Curse – Bleed your foe and poison them, damaging their health over time devouring their soul
War axe (Fiery Soul Trap) + Hack and slash perk (3/3) + Poison of Lingering Damage Health + Concentrated poisons perk + Poison Rune (Stackable)
Unholy Feast – Disintegrate Armor, Drain stamina and Absorb health of foes before feeding of their corpses.
Marked for Death Shout + Vampiric Drain (non-VL) + Frostbite + Feed Ability: RoN
Ranged Combat
Chilblains – Inscribes a Mark that chills and poisons foes, staggering the in the process
Ice Spike + Poison Rune
Well of Darkness – Target area corrupts, staggering all enemies & causing poison damage
Miraak’s staff (Mora’s Agony) + Poison Rune
Soul Pact – Enforce your link with the soul cairn, summon minions and ghosts
Conjure Wrathman + Arniel’s Shade + Twin Souls Perk
Defence Spells
Blood is Power - Bleed yourself to gain Magicka. Heal up to restore.
Equilibrium + Close Wounds
Transfusion – When low on magicka, bleed yourself and heal your minion for harder fights. Use carefully
Equilibrium + Heal Undead
Spectral Empowerment – Resist all forms of Melee and Magic based attacks
Ebony flesh (Dual Cast) + Mage Armor perk(3/3) + Magic Resistance perk (30%) + Standing Stone: Lord (25%) + Potion of Resist Magic (15%) + Racial: Breton (25%)
Combat Tips
Whilst how you play this build is completely up to you, here are som general combat tips when playing this build:
Your Summons aren’t tanks – Keep the aggro factor in mind. Wrathman summons can’t hold aggro well, so early usage and avoidance is necessary to stay alive. Use immediately when facing enemies, no matter how far away.
Keep mindful of your debuffs – Apply the debuffs of your melee attack accordingly. Don’t waste poisons on undead and ashspawn… there are immune to it. Same logic applied to bleeding effects. Apply weakness to magic for larger creature like dragons and trolls, since the poisons will take some time to take affect and you would need to cast spells to help with damage, aside from having your minions hack em up.
Be wary of Health – Since your mana regen is somewhat limited with the gear chosen, you will need to use blood is power. Ensure you have enough health, no enemy is on your tail and don’t tap till you die.
Use whatever loot you find or can obtain – Since this build doesn’t take smithing, use whatever gear that is possible to obtain from drop, loot and/or purchase via factions. For example, Joining the companions early see get you a war axe with optimal stats for early game till Ebony starts showing up on later levels via drops or merchant. If Daedric drops, go for that as well. Likewise master robes and hood of chose level can be purchased as well, if desired. Necromancer robes is the most common drop early game and help attribute to the look of a necromancer (though at later level, like my char, you can get “peerless” level drops, which provide lesser magicka regen but higher cost reduction while maintaining the look and feel).
Maintain Distance for Spellcasting – Whilst this seems obvious, the temptation to fall into the Spellsword / Battlemage play style when swinging your axe may occur. Don’t! The aggro generated by your axes swings is bad as it is already, though your wrathman can still take the heat. Adding spells to the mix is just gonna turn the mob at you full on within melee range… not something you want at any cost. Use unholy feast at mid range and a combination of chill blains and well of darkness for mid – long range.
Followers:
There are no followers for this build. You will need total reliance on your summons and skills to survive and take down foes.
