Lore
During the time of old, when dragons ruled over man, there was a group of men dedicated to worshipping their dragon masters, viewing them as gods... Their masters had decided to reward their loyalty with power... Power of the voice, to be able to shout as the dragons did. To be able to make their skin as impenetrable and armored as the scales of a dragon. And powerful frost and fire magic to match their power of the voice.
When the humans rebelled against their masters, most of these priests were among the first to do so, unable to withstand the injustice the people had to suffer at the hands of the dragons. After Alduin was "defeated" their were inducted into the group that is now know as the blades.
They viewed Reman Cyrodiil as a deity, he was granted the power of the dragons by the gods... They felt it was their honor to guard him with their lives, thus they were eventually given the name: Dovahdein... Dragonguard.
After the Great War, and the hunt for all blades members, their order's numbers dropped greatly, but they eventually made it to safety and lived in secret... Awaiting the return of the next dragonborn, so they may return light to an era bathed in darkness.
What I wanted to do was combine two things that I have almost never done before, play a straight up fighter who can hold his own against dragons while wearing robes for the body piece. At first, when I started playing this character, I thought I was going to die repeatedly... But then I realized, even with the weakest flesh spell: oakflesh, it is almost as strong as blades armor... With some smithing on the boots and gloves the AR can be on par with that of someone who uses heavy armor fully, and that was with the weakest spell.
The Build
Race: For role playing purposes any human race may fit. Good choices for starting skills would be Redguards and Imperials.
Stat Distribution: 2/2/1
You rely on your flesh spells as your main form of armor and destruction magic to weaken dragons and other enemies. Stamina isn't so important, so I stopped putting points into it after 150 stamina. With the combination of restoration spells rejuvenating stamina and the potions you'll find or buy, you'll never be hurting on stamina.
Standing Stone: Mage/Lover -> atronach
I used the mage stone early on to level my destruction and alteration up, and once they were at a decent level I switched to to atronach stone for the magicka bonus and the ability to absorb a dragon's breath attack.
Shouts: Unrelenting Force, Elemental Fury, Fire Breath, Frost Breath, Dragonrend, and Dragon Aspect
Major skills
One Handed: members of The Dragonguard train from the young age in the mastery of swords and make great use of Blades Sword and the ultimate dragonslayer's weapon - Dragonbane!
Destruction: the former dragon priests learned well the elemental magic of their cruel overlords and now use it extensively against them and anyone who dares to stay in their way.
Alteration: The dragons had made one fatal mistake with the original members of the Dragonguard... They taught them out to make their skin as tough as a dragon's hide. Now, it is well known knowledge within the group and they use it as a major advantage against their enemies.
Restoration: As priests, their main job was to heal the injured humans so that their dragon masters could have use for them again. Now they use those healing powers to keep themselves form the brink of death and to keep others from dying as well.
Minor Skills
Heavy Armor: their armor can protect them even from the razor-sharp teeth of a dragon
Smithing: the years of Dragon War taught the Dragonguard to craft blades that can cut even through the rock-hard scales of dragons and armor that protects even from hardest blows without constraining the wearer's movements.
Block: Trained by the blades, it is customary for them to train with and use the blades shield for fights.
Perks: http://skyrimcalculator.com/291166
;
Equipment:
Temple priest hood (optional), Temple priest robes, Blades gauntlets, Blades boots, Blades shield, Blades sword/Dragonbane, Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana (for those of you who don't know, you obtain this as part of a quest from the dragonborn dlc. (I'll provide a link to the quest here: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Unearthed) You need this ring to cast the spells ignite and freeze)
Now, you may be thinking that wearing robes instead of a chest piece of armor would leave your character crippled... But it's not actually true. With the added AR from your gauntlets and boots, smithing, flesh spells, dragon aspect shout and your shield, you can have a lot of AR even at lower levels. Also, with the fact that you put most of your points when you level up into magicka for your healing and health to be able to take more hits, you aren't really ever in danger.
Gameplay: When in battle with common enemies such as bandits, open up with a flesh spell to provide you with some extra protection. Wait for the enemy to power attack and either bash the enemy, staggering it and giving you extra time to attack or recuperate, or dodge the attack and land a few hits on them. For ranged enemies like archers, I typically used destruction magic to fight them at long range.
Against dragons, this is a little different, but essentially the same fighting style... The best thing to do is to figure out what type of dragon you are facing, fire or frost. Once you figure that out, switch to the spell of your choice that the dragon is weak against and aim at the dragon. When it is about to land, that is the best time to cast your strongest flesh spell. The dragon's melee bite is damaging, but it is slow which makes it easy to dodge (if you are finding its hard to dodge, then use your shield to take some of the damage). Repeat this process until the dragon is slain.
Recommended Quests/Questlines:
Main Quest: become the dragonborn and help end the tyranny of the dragons and rebuild the blades.
Civil War Stormcloak Side: You worship Talos for him being the dragonborn, help overthrow this government for its heresy!
Dragonborn Questline: Defeat the imposter named Miraak and show him the true power of the dragonborn.
The College of Winterhold: not only does this give you access to new spells, like Farelda says to you when you try to ask about the elder scrolls "there is much you can learn from the college as we can from you"
Dragon Hunting: Hunt the evil lizards down one by one, including Paarthurnax
Credits: Special thanks must be given to Vazgen and Jo'Daro who helped me flesh out the idea, Matt and Henson for helping me with the name, Twisted for the help on the presentation, and Ponty for fixing the problem with the presentation
Lore
During the time of old, when dragons ruled over man, there was a group of men dedicated to worshipping their dragon masters, viewing them as gods... Their masters had decided to reward their loyalty with power... Power of the voice, to be able to shout as the dragons did. To be able to make their skin as impenetrable and armored as the scales of a dragon. And powerful frost and fire magic to match their power of the voice.
When the humans rebelled against their masters, most of these priests were among the first to do so, unable to withstand the injustice the people had to suffer at the hands of the dragons. After Alduin was "defeated" their were inducted into the group that is now know as the blades.
They viewed Reman Cyrodiil as a deity, he was granted the power of the dragons by the gods... They felt it was their honor to guard him with their lives, thus they were eventually given the name: Dovahdein... Dragonguard.
After the Great War, and the hunt for all blades members, their order's numbers dropped greatly, but they eventually made it to safety and lived in secret... Awaiting the return of the next dragonborn, so they may return light to an era bathed in darkness.
What I wanted to do was combine two things that I have almost never done before, play a straight up fighter who can hold his own against dragons while wearing robes for the body piece. At first, when I started playing this character, I thought I was going to die repeatedly... But then I realized, even with the weakest flesh spell: oakflesh, it is almost as strong as blades armor... With some smithing on the boots and gloves the AR can be on par with that of someone who uses heavy armor fully, and that was with the weakest spell.
The Build
Race: For role playing purposes any human race may fit. Good choices for starting skills would be Redguards and Imperials.
Stat Distribution: 2/2/1
You rely on your flesh spells as your main form of armor and destruction magic to weaken dragons and other enemies. Stamina isn't so important, so I stopped putting points into it after 150 stamina. With the combination of restoration spells rejuvenating stamina and the potions you'll find or buy, you'll never be hurting on stamina.
Standing Stone: Mage/Lover -> atronach
I used the mage stone early on to level my destruction and alteration up, and once they were at a decent level I switched to to atronach stone for the magicka bonus and the ability to absorb a dragon's breath attack.
Shouts: Unrelenting Force, Elemental Fury, Fire Breath, Frost Breath, Dragonrend, and Dragon Aspect
Major skills
One Handed: members of The Dragonguard train from the young age in the mastery of swords and make great use of Blades Sword and the ultimate dragonslayer's weapon - Dragonbane!
Destruction: the former dragon priests learned well the elemental magic of their cruel overlords and now use it extensively against them and anyone who dares to stay in their way.
Alteration: The dragons had made one fatal mistake with the original members of the Dragonguard... They taught them out to make their skin as tough as a dragon's hide. Now, it is well known knowledge within the group and they use it as a major advantage against their enemies.
Restoration: As priests, their main job was to heal the injured humans so that their dragon masters could have use for them again. Now they use those healing powers to keep themselves form the brink of death and to keep others from dying as well.
Minor Skills
Heavy Armor: their armor can protect them even from the razor-sharp teeth of a dragon
Smithing: the years of Dragon War taught the Dragonguard to craft blades that can cut even through the rock-hard scales of dragons and armor that protects even from hardest blows without constraining the wearer's movements.
Block: Trained by the blades, it is customary for them to train with and use the blades shield for fights.
Perks: http://skyrimcalculator.com/291166
;
Equipment:
Temple priest hood (optional), Temple priest robes, Blades gauntlets, Blades boots, Blades shield, Blades sword/Dragonbane, Ahzidal's Ring of Arcana (for those of you who don't know, you obtain this as part of a quest from the dragonborn dlc. (I'll provide a link to the quest here: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Dragonborn:Unearthed) You need this ring to cast the spells ignite and freeze)
Now, you may be thinking that wearing robes instead of a chest piece of armor would leave your character crippled... But it's not actually true. With the added AR from your gauntlets and boots, smithing, flesh spells, dragon aspect shout and your shield, you can have a lot of AR even at lower levels. Also, with the fact that you put most of your points when you level up into magicka for your healing and health to be able to take more hits, you aren't really ever in danger.
Gameplay: When in battle with common enemies such as bandits, open up with a flesh spell to provide you with some extra protection. Wait for the enemy to power attack and either bash the enemy, staggering it and giving you extra time to attack or recuperate, or dodge the attack and land a few hits on them. For ranged enemies like archers, I typically used destruction magic to fight them at long range.
Against dragons, this is a little different, but essentially the same fighting style... The best thing to do is to figure out what type of dragon you are facing, fire or frost. Once you figure that out, switch to the spell of your choice that the dragon is weak against and aim at the dragon. When it is about to land, that is the best time to cast your strongest flesh spell. The dragon's melee bite is damaging, but it is slow which makes it easy to dodge (if you are finding its hard to dodge, then use your shield to take some of the damage). Repeat this process until the dragon is slain.
Recommended Quests/Questlines:
Main Quest: become the dragonborn and help end the tyranny of the dragons and rebuild the blades.
Civil War Stormcloak Side: You worship Talos for him being the dragonborn, help overthrow this government for its heresy!
Dragonborn Questline: Defeat the imposter named Miraak and show him the true power of the dragonborn.
The College of Winterhold: not only does this give you access to new spells, like Farelda says to you when you try to ask about the elder scrolls "there is much you can learn from the college as we can from you"
Dragon Hunting: Hunt the evil lizards down one by one, including Paarthurnax
Credits: Special thanks must be given to Vazgen and Jo'Daro who helped me flesh out the idea, Matt and Henson for helping me with the name, Twisted for the help on the presentation, and Ponty for fixing the problem with the presentation
