Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Character Build: The Lone Corsair

Tags: #Character Build Dual-Wield  #Character Build Thief  #Character Build Assassin  #Race:Imperial  #Rank:Exemplar 
  • Member
    October 6, 2013

    Here comes the revamped failure of a sailor!  Play this on another tab to enhance reading.

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    Once a seasoned privateer under the Empire, the Corsair attempted to steal a ship and sail it. He failed the latter.

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    "Have you seen that Imperial outlaw? Some say he was the Emperor's finest privateer in the Great War, aye. What happened?"

    "The White-Gold Concordat. Aren't you Nords always going on about that? When that was signed, his crew cut their ties to the Imperial Navy and set sail for High Rock, before plundering a few merchant ships there to make a living. After a mutiny he took control of the ship and sailed the north coast. You can see the wreck there now; he wasn't quite up to Gjalund's standards."

    "So... Talos worshiper, then? Going against the Empire and all?"

    "Not religious whatsoever; still isn't. He just hates us Elves after he lost his family in the siege of Anvil, and now hates the Empire for giving in to them. He even has a hit list of Imperial and Dominion lackeys to kill."

    "Sounds like a potential candidate for the cause."

    "Hold it there, Gunmar. He acts alone, and reacts with violence if someone attempts to blow his cover. The only thing worse than being a fool is being a dead fool."

    "Watch your tongue, Niranye, or Ulfric hears that you're an Imperial spy."

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    Race: Imperial fits the character background, but can be substituted for Redguard due to more beneficial stats (+5 archery, +10 one-handed).

    Equipment:

    • Scimitar; A memoir of his privateer days, the Corsair is skilled in wielding this curved blade.
    • Shiv; Adopting a stealthier approach after becoming a criminal of the Empire.
    • Clothes; The Corsair avoids attention, so avoids wearing large armors. A good set uses the College Robes and Mage Hood.
    • Heavy Armor; He's stealthy, not stupid. Gauntlets and boots will suffice for protection.
    • Crossbow; for when the Corsair cannot reach his foe without detection, or can't be bothered to walk over.

     

    Stat Distribution: 0:2:1 (Magicka : Health : Stamina)

    Major Skills:

    • One-handed; Excellent for close combat and stealthy assassinations.
    • Sneak; This is beneficial to the one-handed and archery aspects, and the power behind the Corsair's measly shiv.
    • Pickpocket; logically, it's easier to take money than to earn it. After wrecking his ship, the Corsair needs SOME sort of income.

    Minor Skills:

    • Heavy Armor; While retaining movement, the Corsair needs to actually SURVIVE.
    • Smithing; If your swords can't pierce the opposition, make them sharper.
    • Lock-picking; for those irritating situations when your sword won't open an old chest.
    • Archery; At times the Corsair may be brash, but understands when and where to use what. When the opportunity arises, execute from afar.

     

    The Build (Gameplay and Roleplay):

    The Lone Corsair is meant to be played as a stealthy agent, working for no cause and securing his own income. Ergo, he lays low in towns to avoid attention from the enemy, but thanks to years of being a headstrong privateer-turned-pirate he won't pass up the opportunity to beat the living daylights out of anyone who (for example) even attempts to mention losing his adventuring career to a well-placed arrow in his kneecap. Brawls are fine, but don't resort to murder.

    The Corsair, while a skilled larcenist and very independent, will reluctantly join a guild if so required for personal gain, before cutting ties to said guild and roaming alone again.

    As for ticks, the Corsair FREAKS OUT whenever he encounters a shipwreck, fearing that the souls of his past crew that he accidentally killed (due to bad steering) will come for vengeance. While not religious, the Corsair is very superstitious; he doesn't go under ladders, he feels lucky a black Sabrecat has never crossed his path and avoids shipwrecks. If he does any of these things, be creative with his reaction. Perhaps he could run away screaming, or start launching crossbow bolts into thin air thinking he can see people. Or he could be a nervous eater and empty his supply of cheese wheels in mere seconds.

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    The Crew:
    Every good buccaneer needs a crew, as the Corsair reluctantly accepts. Though, he might see followers as pack mules.

    • Rayya - Pirates from Hammerfell are notoriously deadly.
    • Uthgerd the Unbroken - With such a temper, what could be better than gulping mead while she goes berserk on the local Draugr?
    • Teldryn Sero - The masked bandit is a successful bandit, and his magic is destructive. He's the only elf that the Corsair can trust, since he was a fellow privateer who abandoned ship and became a sellsword.
    • Other followers with a history against/no ties to the law. No (other) Elves!

    Quests:                                                                                                                                                      

    The Corsair may overlook or ignore certain quests, there are some opportunities he can't refuse:

    • Rise in the East - He's retired, but still pissed if other pirates are taking loot that could be his.
    • Diplomatic Immunity - The only one allowed to aggravate the townsfolk is him!
    • Deathbrand - Money! And the great feeling that comes with killing an undead pirate king!
    • Thieves Guild Quests - These sewer-dwelling rats could teach you a thing or two about larceny and looting, and will be your main source of heist plans.
    • Dawnguard Quest - Who cares about vampires? This crossbow will be useful for plundering.
    • More?

    Tactics of the Corsair:

    • The 'Deck Clearer' (Elemental Fury + Dual Scimitars);                                                                              Such a large group of enemies, so little patience; if only there was a tactic to combat this... oh, wait.
    • Snake Tongue (Voice of the Emperor);                                                                                                        Talk your way out of tricky situations with the town guard.
    • Meat Shield (Follower + Crossbow);                                                                                                                   Send a clueless companion onto the battlefield to draw attention, then let the bolts fly.
    • Eagle Vision (Aura Whisper/Detect Life);                                                                                                 Sense where your enemy hides, to avoid an ambush.

    ...only the most hardcore Corsairs can face up to a fully-armored Legionnaire and survive.

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    Surviving as a Corsair

    To be honest, going down the semi-unarmored route leads to some pretty difficult combat situations at higher levels due to the increased damage taken and uselessness of a follower. To counter this, your could go into Alteration, but that doesn't seem fitting for this build. If it's really an issue, I would suggest using the armor stacking glitch(es) to put a 'hidden chestplate' under your robes, such as Iron or Bonemold since they could easily be concealed.

    Hitlist

    I've seen this done plenty of times, and thought one could make this build more interesting to play.

    • Ondolemar: Located in Understone Keep, Markarth. Outright scum, responsible for capturing Talos worshipers. Be careful during assassination due to populated location.
    • Ancano: Located in College of Winterhold. Thalmor spy masquerading as an advisor to the Archmage. Avoid early attacks as he is supported by the College. Wait for cover to be blown.
    • Narfi: Imperial sympathizer and deadly assassin, take caution during execution. Note to self, maybe I should check my source, he looked pretty drunk.
    • Titus Mede II: One can only dream, if only a shadowy organisation existed which were tasked with killing him and large quantities of Legion soldiers/generals and consequently weakening the Empire significantly.

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    This is my first build;

    I got my inspiration from Edward Kenway (Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag), the Haknir Death-Brand build by Albino and the Assassini Build by Miraak.

    As this is my first build, I'm open to constructive criticism; fire away, It'll help if I make another build.

    Edit: Thanks to the respective members in the comments for the criticism, I've made the necessary adjustments to improve the build.

    Edit II: I realise that the tactics are overly simple and overused, but hey. They fit the build.

    Edit III: REVAMPED. I feel that the build has been much improved. It's odd to think it started with vampirism and heavy conjuration perking. Perk spread done.

  • Member
    October 6, 2013
    I really like this! Assassin's Creeed IV is the first one I'm into, and this is really good. If I had the DLC, I would play this.
  • Member
    October 6, 2013

    Thanks! It's good to have positive feedback straight away. I'm hoping to get AC4 next year, when I get the Xbox One.

    You could use this build without the DLC. The armor is up to you anyway (on the build it's just a suggestion) so you don't need that hood, and you can just use a bow and enchant your own scimitars.

    As for the Vampire Lord, I'm not sure what to do... I guess you could be a normal vampire and use unrelenting force or whirlwind sprint to escape.

    Anyway, thanks for the feedback!

  • Member
    October 6, 2013
    I agree with ironfatman this is a one of a kind build and is pretty amazing for a first go (also I se a great future for you in the build section if you continue on like this!)
  • Member
    October 6, 2013
    I have to say, while this build looks good and seems solid, it is severely lacking in most areas. I don't really get the roleplay, I can't quite get behind the fusion on AC + pirate RP + vampire lord/dawnguard DLC in general. I also didn't see a perkspread of any kind, which makes the character confusing and difficult for a reader to understand how the gameplay works. Your special moves are also most certainly NOT special (Voice of the Emperor is just a racial power, not a special ability... Neither is dual wielding swords and using elemental fury. The other two are abut better, but not by much), and I don't understand how you're gonna keep up a stock of crossbow bolts when you joined the vampires. All in all, you have the base and presentation of character building down (something that is very hard for many people, including myself) but the character itself is disappointing. Please do not take offense to any of my criticism, I wouldn't have even posted a comment if I didn't feel the build could be improved. I hope you keep up with sharing some of your builds! I'll keep an eye on this one, too!
  • Member
    October 6, 2013

    Thanks, I hope to upload more in the future.

  • Member
    October 6, 2013

    Thanks for your feedback, I haven't taken any offense. In all honesty, I just tried to incorporate a build I tried on Xbox into Edward Kenway, and I can see the problems.

    I tried to replicate Kenway's greed for money and power, and tried to make the character's greed for power influence his decision to join the Volkihar vampires; you're right, I skimped on the detail there and shouldve gone into more detail.

    I was trying to show how powers could be used to fit in with the character, and appreciate that a more appropriate title may have been in order.

    I didn't add the perk spread because I thought it would mess up the organisation of the page (and honestly, Im pretty tired xD).

    Thanks for the feedback, I'll take your suggestions and improve the build.

  • Member
    October 6, 2013
    Yeah, tactics or combat style would've been an accurate title for the special moves section, and I highly encourage you to add a perk spread! Most readers (myself included) want to know exactly why you did with your character, after all, you're presenting it to us! I'm glad to hear you're taking some of my advice, it's always nice when somebody can take some criticism and use it to their advantage! Let me know when you do some polishing so I can give this guy a second look!
  • Member
    October 6, 2013

    I almost find there is too much going on for roleplay. He hunts Daedra worshipers, he's a vampire, pirate, necromancer with a quest to recover his father's sword. On top of all that a thief as well. Jeez, there is far to much going on in this build for me. I also am turned away by your armor choice(mainly the hood). The armor itself is low level and I would feel obligated to use flesh spells, which are not listed in your skills section. I also would want more of an aesthetic look so I wouldn't use your armor but instead grey vampire armor, Linwe's or Blackguard hood, and Dawnguard boots and gauntlets. Also pirate builds seem to be a hard thing to do because there is hardly anything to do with seafaring in Skyrim. I love Assassin's Creed, and I am jumping out of my chair for Black Flag, but I don't see a good or proper way to incorporate pirating into Skyrim. I could tell this was a first build, without even reading the ending. It was not the worst I've seen, but it also was far from the best.

  • Member
    October 6, 2013
    Not too bad for a first build. It's too skill heavy for me, I'd personally drop Conjuration altogether and perhaps add a point to steel smithing for improving the scimitars. Plus, it's missing a perk spread. All things considered, it's a like from me.