Inspiration
“Casting simple spells by one, completing complex incantations by three, resurrecting corpses by seven! Ha! When I was thirteen, I accidentally burned down the family home. A bit of lightning gone awry. Ah, but soon after I mastered my gifts, completely! I went on to teach at the college – left after 2 years. Too Simple. Too Safe. None of them truly understood the glory of the destruction school...”
If the above dialog sounds familiar, chances are you’d probably have that grin on your face now, as memories of that cranky old man begin flooding in. I’ve always had something of a soft-spot for him…. He was true a master wizard as he was a deadly assassin.
Looking around much to my dismay, I had not found a single build that was focused on stealth/pure magic mechanic gameplay, that matched his style!
Most of them seemed to be focused on a “Nightblade” or “Arcane Assassin” play style, using a mix of bound or physical weapons and frenzy type spells from the illusion school. There was just no build that I have come across that does justice to poor old Festus nor his ideals.
Furthermore, the DB storyline (sadly enough) sees him killed be you with them or against… and I couldn’t let that stand. I just knew I had to create a build based on his unique method of assassination.
No weapons, No cheap tricks. Just plain magic. A character worthy enough to be mentioned in the same breath as festus… a build called... The Nightweaver.
Old man…this one’s for you!
Build Mechanics
Much like my previous builds, this section is more of an analysis of the build, if anything. Although I have attempted to keep the length of this build within the realm of reason, this will still be a read though. You’ve been forewarned.
When I was handed the Nightweaver’s Band after the completion of the “Disaster for Recipe” quest in the Dark Brotherhood quest line, I began to think... How can I replicate Festus’s combat style to take full advantage of his reward?
After much scouring off the net, I believe I have enough information to constitute this build into 2 separate components for ease of understanding:
- Logical Analysis
- Core Mechanics
Logical Analysis
There has been little, if not, any reference to any lore relating to the Nightweaver. So obscure it is, that the only reference of a nightweaver is from the little clues that are dropped from conversations with Festus and game material.
The information below is my effort to extract information from the following data:
Conversations with Festus: When seeking advice from Festus on any of the contracts that you’re working on in the Dark Brotherhood Questline, he always makes mention of utilizing Arcane Techniques to achieve your aim. Some of his notable advice include:
“Fireballs… from a darkened corner… no one expects them” (usually mentioned when generally chatting him up)
Just do what I do. Walk up to them, introduce yourself, melt all their skin off, and run like the wind. Works every time!” – Advise given when on quest to murder “that cook in markath”
Be creative! You kill the emperor, what then? Summon and atronach or two and slip away quietly with Invisibility – Advise given when on quest to murder the imposter emperor.
“When life gives you lemons…. Go murder a clown” – His most famous advise when on the quest to kill of Cicero (Personally, I chose not to… I liked the mad little nutcase)
Observations:
- Panache in Destruction Magic
- The Ability to Sneak
- Utilization of Illusion Magic
- Utilization of Conjuration Magic
- Emphasis on creativity when employing arcane methods
Note: The above conversation are taken form memory. Whilst some words may not be exact, the essence of the messages are reflected correctly…which is why I am boldly including them in this section.
Nightweaver’s band – By reference to its attributes and dialog the following is obtained:
- It fortifies sneak and destruction by 10 points as an enchantment
- Festus mentioned that it had served him well for years.
Observations:
- Strong evidence of a magic user who could stealthily cast magic
- Indication of Festus’s style of Arcane assassination forming a Nightweaver’s methods
- Though the timeline is not indicated, the possibility of Festsus already zapping or scorching targets before joining DB, speculatively as a rogue mage running on contract kills from various sources
- Possible indication of dabbling in enchanting (though the numbers reflected aren’t high, indicating that master proficiency has not been obtained.
Dark Brotherhood Mage Shrouded Set – The information gleaned from the properties all point to a mage who is able to cast arcane spells from the shadows. The gear’s enchants preference to destruction spells and sneak is obvious enough, though the same one handed and dagger bonuses are applied to the gloves as per the leather set:
Shrouded Robes: Fortifies Destruction by 15%
Shrouded Hood: Fortify Sneak 25%
Shrouded Shoes: Muffle Enchantment
Shrouded Hand Wraps: Double Damage to Backstab Enchant
Observations:
Gear suggests preference to sneak and destruction spells
The practicality of weapons haven’t gone unnoticed (Via Gloves enchant)
Character Information (UESP) – A quick look at the character reference page for festus yields the following information under combat Skills:
Destruction: Fire spells (Flames – Incinerate)
Restoration: Fast Healing
Alteration: Stone Flesh
Sneak
Since the information is point blank, I’m not even going to bother with an analysis here of the magical skill involved.
Given the information we have gained from above, it’s safe to say that the following can be deduced to constitute the characteristics of a Nightweaver:
Reliance of Sneak at a mediocre level
Heavy reliance on Destruction spells
Mediocre reliance on Alteration spells
Mediocre reliance on Conjuration spells
Low to almost none reliance on weapons
Using this we can form the main crux of this build… The Core Mechanics
Core Mechanics
Based on the analysis above, I had wanted to create this builds core mechanics around the concept of stealth and magic, resulting in one helluva Shadow Mage / Shadowmancer combo! These results in some interesting mechanics:
Shadowcasting: The art of Stealth Magic, where spells cast can neither be seen nor heard unless you will it to. This mechanic allows the player to raise the dead, Poison your foes & Unleash the full might of the elements plus more, all while remaining unseen or unheard.
Shadow Weaving – An escape mechanic, where slipping though the shadows is made easy via magic when faced in a tight spot. Works also great when combined with certain spells.
DOTs and Debuffs: In addition to direct damage spells. This build utilizes the powerful Damage over Time mechanics found in Destruction and Restoration trees to help destroy your foes!
Ring Stacking – Exploiting one of the more popular known glitches in game, this one of a kind exploit allows for perhaps the most powerful mage combination of this game!
No Crafting and No shouting! – Although I have used no crafting in my builds before, this is the first build of mine that doesn’t utilize shouting, and what a relief that is! Enjoy a complete shout free playthrough.
Zero AR Build on Legendary difficulty– That’s right folks… this is a zero AR magic based build that is completely viable on legendary difficulty. All achieved through complete reliance of the shadows! Have fun pushing the envelope of danger!
Perks:
The following perks for this build have been chosen:
Click here for the Perk Calculator version of it: http://skyrimcalculator.com/345837
Skills Utilized: Illusion, Sneak, Destruction, Conjuration, Restoration & Lesser Power
Illusion: Enveloped in shadows, this is the tree that defines Shadow weaving & Shadow Casting!
Spells used: Muffle & invisibility (Situational)
Sneak: Stealth Magic is sorta useless without investment in stealth… wouldn’t you agree?
Perks Taken: Stealth
Destruction: Your major source for DOT Damage and Debilitation, Melt your enemies in Frozen Hell!
Spells used: Ignite, Icy Storm & Lightning Bolt
Conjuration: Wipe out hordes in seconds from the shadows, the tree that defines shadowmancy!
Spells used: Conjure Dread Zombie & Frost Atronach / Dremora Lord
Restoration: Fancy yourself a vampire? Or maybe some poisons? Oh wait, you wanna heal?? Then look no further, restoration is your go to tree, keeping you alive and your enemies dead.
Spells used: Poison Rune (DB), Close Wounds
Sub - Racial Power: Vampire Sight - A nifty minor skill to detect your targets while sneaking around!
Spells Used: Lesser Power: Vampire Sight
Gear
The inspiration for the gear of this build was once again drawn from my conversations with Festus. He mentioned teaching at the college till he quit the place, for them being too safe and controlled, not truly appreciating the destruction school for what is was.
The Master robes of Destruction and the apprentice hood synergizes aesthetically with the textures on the trimmings of the thalmor boots and gloves, contributing to the overall look of a deposed master wizard. When crouching, a clipping in where the knee portion of the thalmor boots protrudes, contributing to the overall look of a stealthy mage.
To achieve the ring stacking glitch, follow these instruction:
-
Equip the Ring of Arcana before getting the Cursed Ring from Sinding.
-
During Step 1, you may have a time limit before the quest registers as "Started." during that gap, go into your inventory, look for the ring and try to equip it only once, you should hear the sound of something being equipped. There should be a notification that says the spells Ignite and Freeze are added.
-
Complete the quest to remove the curse from the ring of hircine, unequip it and equip the Ring of Erudite.
Role play & Stats
Here are the stats to go along with when playing this build:
- Race: Breton – A personal preference really, but go with whatever… really
- Stone: Levelling: Mage Stone / End Game: Lord Stone
- Stats: 6 Magicka / 4 Health / 0 Stamina for every 10 levels
- Recommended Quests: College of Winerhold – Out of balance, College of Winterhold questline (Until Good intentions), Blood and Ice, Dawnguard Questline (Until Bloodline), Rings of Blood Magic (DG), From the Ashes (DB), Unearthed(DB), Black Book: The Sallow Regent (DB), Dark Brother Hood Questline & Civil War Questline (Side with the Stormcloaks)
- Optional Quests: Book of Love, Main Questline, Completion of Dragonborn DLC Questline, Completion of Dawnguard DLC Questline and all faction side quests.
As with some of my recent builds, I chose not to develop new stories but rather tap into the existing storylines of the game. The following below however, may help with character immersion:
Complete all recommended quests – They're picked to provide the RP experience as a mage gone rogue and through contracts, hone your skills and gear for late game Nightweaver playstyle. Become the leader of the Dark Brotherhood and tip the balance of power within skyrim!
- It wasn’t my fault, you’d never understand! – Carry on with the college questline if you want but do not complete the quest past good intentions! (A personal preference really. I think that the Eye of Magnus enhances the aesthetic appeal of the college hall). Work on other side quests and/or any other quests in any of the other holds until you have reached the following:
- Destruction Skill: Adept
- Conjuration Skill: Expert
- Illusion Skill: Expert
Then get expelled for performing an experiment in necromancy by killing a fellow member of the college and raising his corpse. He agreed to it anyways... sigh, they would never understand.
- Rogue Mage for Hire: Outcast and Alone, your former life of academic perusal is shelved. The recommended quest line is pursued, utilizing and honing your unique abilities in stealth and magic… Your life now starts anew as a mercenary for hire.
Vampiric Salvation: Following your expulsion from the college, you have need now for survival, but jobs & contracts that yield good coin are hard to come by. An offer of salvation from the petty needs of humans is hard to resist, especially if the terms of refusal is death. Join the Volkihar clan to gain unique skills, in addition to food (if it can be called that) and lodging, to serve as a base of operations.
- Procuring Power: In your time as mercenary, your contracts yields the expected coin for survival and the unexpected procurement of powerful artefacts and skills. These will add to your repertoire as the Nightweaver!
- Gaining Allies: Now a veteran merc, your skills in infiltration and murder have become known throughout the holds. Your new found family in the Dark Brotherhood provides a sense of purpose to your life and an introduction to like-minded individuals. Get to know Festus and Babette really well and seek their advice often when on contracts. I’m sure they would appreciate your company…
- Rebels... Why not?: With the end of the Dark Brotherhood quest line ending up in you assassinating the emperor, it’s all the more reason to get involved in the civil war. In fact, by killing the emperor and general Tulius, you can tie up the stormcloak questline and the DB main questline beautifully, their purpose seemingly in sync with each other.
Combat
With creativity as it’s main focus, the combat for this build brings some interesting variations to the shadowmancer / shadowmage playstyle.
Relying on arcane skills and stealth, you will be striking from the shadows; Enemies will melt in Flame & Poison, Frostbit in a storm of cold and suffer the searing pain of lightning bolts; Furious atronachs will tear enemies apart and the dead will be risen, as former comrades turn on each other.
And when all else fails, through sheer Arcane will, slip away enveloped in the shadows of your magics.
Stealth-Magic Abilities:
Shadow Casting (Core Mechanic) – Allows the Nightweaver to cast his spells silently
Requires: Sneak + Quiet casting Perk
Shadow weaving (Core Mechanic) – Envelops the Nightweaver in shadows slipping out of sight
Requires: Muffle + Invisibility
Shadowstab Arcana – A hidden strike of arcane magics leave your targets staggered… and dead
Shadow casting + Conjure Frost Atronach + Ignite (Dual Cast) + Ice Storm + Lightning Bolt (Dual Cast) + Impact Perk
Shadoweave Meltdown – Slip away as targets melt in blaze of corrosive fire!
Shadow casting + Ignite (Dual cast) + Poison Rune + Shadow Weaving
Corpse Preparation – Lightning gone awry, your targets are frozen & staggered as powerful dremora rip them apart
Shadowcasting + Staff of Chain Lightning + Ice Storm + Poison Rune + Dremora Lord + Flame Cloak (Dual Cast) + Shadow Weave
Necrotic Ambush – Your foes are caught by surprise, fighting the husks of former comrades
Shadow casting + Dread Zombie + Poison Rune + Icy Storm + Ignite (Dual Cast) + Lightning Bolt (Dual Cast)
Visage of the Shadowmage (Lesser Power): Grants the ability of sight in complete darkness and increased stealth
Requires: Vampire Sight (Active) & Nightstalker's footsteps (Passive)
Gameplay
Playing the Nightweaver is no mean feat. Without the protection of flesh spells, you will be completely reliant will be on the build’s core mechanic, shadow weaving & shadow casting. Below are the sections related to the various combat approaches and how to achieve them:
Getting to end game combat spells:
If the recommended quests are followed, you will notice that all quests are picked for either the infiltrative nature of the quests or those that either augment or let the player of this build gain new abilities.
Whilst I will not spoil the fun of levelling the way you want, a small tip on getting a high level in illusion:
As one of the first side quest after joining the college, “Out of Balance” will provide you with a massive mana regen boost when cleaning each of the 3 wells. What this means is that the mana regen boost is available after cleaning a single well, for 2 hours.
Use this time to cast the basic illusion spell courage (preferably in winterhold in itself) on any guard who is patrolling. This is the fastest way, without using the well-known “muffle casting” technique to get your illusion spells up.
By the end of the second well, you should be at least level 75 in illusion, allowing you to purchase the spells muffle and invisibility for usage in your playthrough. Any perks you would be able to acquire for this method should be slotted into the illusion tree till you hit quiet casting. It’s a breeze from then on.
Utility and Passive Resist
An immersive trait of this build is the constant feeding as a vampire and the usage of vampire sight. Since this build takes no enchants and doesn’t have enchanted gear to boost resistance to the elements, you will be required to constantly feed.
By feeding constantly, the weakness to fire of 25% (20% with dragonbon DLC) is kept to It’s minimum and is largely mitigated by combining with the Breton’s racial resist of 25% or the lord stone (if you choose
any other race aside from a Breton) plus the magical resist from the book of love. This also helps reduce
The Vampire sight power helps immensely in dark dungeons (esp for those of you out there with lighting overhaul mods) and for battles in the night. This gives a sense of immersion, something comparable to a true “stealth mage” or Shadok Mage of the DND 3.5 genre.the "weakness to sunlight" effect to -15 pts, saving on overall stat reduction.
Just do take note that like all powers, activating it will break any invisibility affects you might be engaged in.
Combat
A prominent feature of this play style is the usage of “lockdown” stagger mechanics and various tactics to fit the situations you will encounter. I’ve listed a few examples on how to employ the tactics listed in the combat section, however, feel free to utilize them in your own way:
Shadowstab arcana is most effective in “locking” down targets, due to the staggering nature of the attacks. This makes it an excellent choice for eliminating single target foes on the spot with both Dots (6 seconds freeze from ice storm and stackable ignite dots), along with the dual casted lightning Bolts.
Shadoweave Meltdown on the other hand, is perfect vast terrains or open areas that enable kiting. This tactic is usually reserved for tougher enemies like Giants, Dawnguard patrols and Bandit chiefs, who required a good amount of “Softening up” before you can lock ‘em down.
Corpse Preparation is an AOE move that provides wonderful synergy with the final move in this build and is especially useful in situations that puts you against opponents that outnumber you. Ice storm spams provides a wide range of AOE stamina draining DOT damage, whilst the stagger effects of the chain lightning staff ensures that your targets remain staggered long enough to summon a Dremora lord.
Poison Rune combined with Flame cloak under the effects of shadow weave, provides passive damage support to the damaging attacks of the dremora lord, whilst dropped out of combat for the interim period of the magicka recovery phase, providing a welcomed 3x boost, whilst still damaging opponents. Like its namesake, this is a move that will generate useful corpses, for the final move.
Necrotic Ambush is by far what I consider an “Ultimate” for this build. The bodies left by Shadowstab Arcana and Corpse Preparation provide synergy, as the dead are raised and combined with shadowstab Arcana, for a 3 DOT stagger combo. This tactic is best suited for mid-range battle in dungeons and in the open on dark nights.
Overall, the Nightweaver operates silently in the shadows with ruthless arcane precision…as such, there are no followers for this build. You will need total reliance on stealth and magic to survive and take down foes.
Note: Special thanks to Alastor, who had helped critique my work and gave some interesting inputs which have helped reduce the overall time for the production of this build
Inspiration
“Casting simple spells by one, completing complex incantations by three, resurrecting corpses by seven! Ha! When I was thirteen, I accidentally burned down the family home. A bit of lightning gone awry. Ah, but soon after I mastered my gifts, completely! I went on to teach at the college – left after 2 years. Too Simple. Too Safe. None of them truly understood the glory of the destruction school...”
If the above dialog sounds familiar, chances are you’d probably have that grin on your face now, as memories of that cranky old man begin flooding in. I’ve always had something of a soft-spot for him…. He was true a master wizard as he was a deadly assassin.
Looking around much to my dismay, I had not found a single build that was focused on stealth/pure magic mechanic gameplay, that matched his style!
Most of them seemed to be focused on a “Nightblade” or “Arcane Assassin” play style, using a mix of bound or physical weapons and frenzy type spells from the illusion school. There was just no build that I have come across that does justice to poor old Festus nor his ideals.
Furthermore, the DB storyline (sadly enough) sees him killed be you with them or against… and I couldn’t let that stand. I just knew I had to create a build based on his unique method of assassination.
No weapons, No cheap tricks. Just plain magic. A character worthy enough to be mentioned in the same breath as festus… a build called... The Nightweaver.
Old man…this one’s for you!
Build Mechanics
Much like my previous builds, this section is more of an analysis of the build, if anything. Although I have attempted to keep the length of this build within the realm of reason, this will still be a read though. You’ve been forewarned.
When I was handed the Nightweaver’s Band after the completion of the “Disaster for Recipe” quest in the Dark Brotherhood quest line, I began to think... How can I replicate Festus’s combat style to take full advantage of his reward?
After much scouring off the net, I believe I have enough information to constitute this build into 2 separate components for ease of understanding:
- Logical Analysis
- Core Mechanics
Logical Analysis
There has been little, if not, any reference to any lore relating to the Nightweaver. So obscure it is, that the only reference of a nightweaver is from the little clues that are dropped from conversations with Festus and game material.
The information below is my effort to extract information from the following data:
Conversations with Festus: When seeking advice from Festus on any of the contracts that you’re working on in the Dark Brotherhood Questline, he always makes mention of utilizing Arcane Techniques to achieve your aim. Some of his notable advice include:
“Fireballs… from a darkened corner… no one expects them” (usually mentioned when generally chatting him up)
Just do what I do. Walk up to them, introduce yourself, melt all their skin off, and run like the wind. Works every time!” – Advise given when on quest to murder “that cook in markath”
Be creative! You kill the emperor, what then? Summon and atronach or two and slip away quietly with Invisibility – Advise given when on quest to murder the imposter emperor.
“When life gives you lemons…. Go murder a clown” – His most famous advise when on the quest to kill of Cicero (Personally, I chose not to… I liked the mad little nutcase)
Observations:
- Panache in Destruction Magic
- The Ability to Sneak
- Utilization of Illusion Magic
- Utilization of Conjuration Magic
- Emphasis on creativity when employing arcane methods
Note: The above conversation are taken form memory. Whilst some words may not be exact, the essence of the messages are reflected correctly…which is why I am boldly including them in this section.
Nightweaver’s band – By reference to its attributes and dialog the following is obtained:
- It fortifies sneak and destruction by 10 points as an enchantment
- Festus mentioned that it had served him well for years.
Observations:
- Strong evidence of a magic user who could stealthily cast magic
- Indication of Festus’s style of Arcane assassination forming a Nightweaver’s methods
- Though the timeline is not indicated, the possibility of Festsus already zapping or scorching targets before joining DB, speculatively as a rogue mage running on contract kills from various sources
- Possible indication of dabbling in enchanting (though the numbers reflected aren’t high, indicating that master proficiency has not been obtained.
Dark Brotherhood Mage Shrouded Set – The information gleaned from the properties all point to a mage who is able to cast arcane spells from the shadows. The gear’s enchants preference to destruction spells and sneak is obvious enough, though the same one handed and dagger bonuses are applied to the gloves as per the leather set:
Shrouded Robes: Fortifies Destruction by 15%
Shrouded Hood: Fortify Sneak 25%
Shrouded Shoes: Muffle Enchantment
Shrouded Hand Wraps: Double Damage to Backstab Enchant
Observations:
Gear suggests preference to sneak and destruction spells
The practicality of weapons haven’t gone unnoticed (Via Gloves enchant)
Character Information (UESP) – A quick look at the character reference page for festus yields the following information under combat Skills:
Destruction: Fire spells (Flames – Incinerate)
Restoration: Fast Healing
Alteration: Stone Flesh
Sneak
Since the information is point blank, I’m not even going to bother with an analysis here of the magical skill involved.
Given the information we have gained from above, it’s safe to say that the following can be deduced to constitute the characteristics of a Nightweaver:
Reliance of Sneak at a mediocre level
Heavy reliance on Destruction spells
Mediocre reliance on Alteration spells
Mediocre reliance on Conjuration spells
Low to almost none reliance on weapons
Using this we can form the main crux of this build… The Core Mechanics
Core Mechanics
Based on the analysis above, I had wanted to create this builds core mechanics around the concept of stealth and magic, resulting in one helluva Shadow Mage / Shadowmancer combo! These results in some interesting mechanics:
Shadowcasting: The art of Stealth Magic, where spells cast can neither be seen nor heard unless you will it to. This mechanic allows the player to raise the dead, Poison your foes & Unleash the full might of the elements plus more, all while remaining unseen or unheard.
Shadow Weaving – An escape mechanic, where slipping though the shadows is made easy via magic when faced in a tight spot. Works also great when combined with certain spells.
DOTs and Debuffs: In addition to direct damage spells. This build utilizes the powerful Damage over Time mechanics found in Destruction and Restoration trees to help destroy your foes!
Ring Stacking – Exploiting one of the more popular known glitches in game, this one of a kind exploit allows for perhaps the most powerful mage combination of this game!
No Crafting and No shouting! – Although I have used no crafting in my builds before, this is the first build of mine that doesn’t utilize shouting, and what a relief that is! Enjoy a complete shout free playthrough.
Zero AR Build on Legendary difficulty– That’s right folks… this is a zero AR magic based build that is completely viable on legendary difficulty. All achieved through complete reliance of the shadows! Have fun pushing the envelope of danger!
Perks:
The following perks for this build have been chosen:
Click here for the Perk Calculator version of it: http://skyrimcalculator.com/345837
Skills Utilized: Illusion, Sneak, Destruction, Conjuration, Restoration & Lesser Power
Illusion: Enveloped in shadows, this is the tree that defines Shadow weaving & Shadow Casting!
Spells used: Muffle & invisibility (Situational)
Sneak: Stealth Magic is sorta useless without investment in stealth… wouldn’t you agree?
Perks Taken: Stealth
Destruction: Your major source for DOT Damage and Debilitation, Melt your enemies in Frozen Hell!
Spells used: Ignite, Icy Storm & Lightning Bolt
Conjuration: Wipe out hordes in seconds from the shadows, the tree that defines shadowmancy!
Spells used: Conjure Dread Zombie & Frost Atronach / Dremora Lord
Restoration: Fancy yourself a vampire? Or maybe some poisons? Oh wait, you wanna heal?? Then look no further, restoration is your go to tree, keeping you alive and your enemies dead.
Spells used: Poison Rune (DB), Close Wounds
Sub - Racial Power: Vampire Sight - A nifty minor skill to detect your targets while sneaking around!
Spells Used: Lesser Power: Vampire Sight
Gear
The inspiration for the gear of this build was once again drawn from my conversations with Festus. He mentioned teaching at the college till he quit the place, for them being too safe and controlled, not truly appreciating the destruction school for what is was.
The Master robes of Destruction and the apprentice hood synergizes aesthetically with the textures on the trimmings of the thalmor boots and gloves, contributing to the overall look of a deposed master wizard. When crouching, a clipping in where the knee portion of the thalmor boots protrudes, contributing to the overall look of a stealthy mage.
To achieve the ring stacking glitch, follow these instruction:
-
Equip the Ring of Arcana before getting the Cursed Ring from Sinding.
-
During Step 1, you may have a time limit before the quest registers as "Started." during that gap, go into your inventory, look for the ring and try to equip it only once, you should hear the sound of something being equipped. There should be a notification that says the spells Ignite and Freeze are added.
-
Complete the quest to remove the curse from the ring of hircine, unequip it and equip the Ring of Erudite.
Role play & Stats
Here are the stats to go along with when playing this build:
- Race: Breton – A personal preference really, but go with whatever… really
- Stone: Levelling: Mage Stone / End Game: Lord Stone
- Stats: 6 Magicka / 4 Health / 0 Stamina for every 10 levels
- Recommended Quests: College of Winerhold – Out of balance, College of Winterhold questline (Until Good intentions), Blood and Ice, Dawnguard Questline (Until Bloodline), Rings of Blood Magic (DG), From the Ashes (DB), Unearthed(DB), Black Book: The Sallow Regent (DB), Dark Brother Hood Questline & Civil War Questline (Side with the Stormcloaks)
- Optional Quests: Book of Love, Main Questline, Completion of Dragonborn DLC Questline, Completion of Dawnguard DLC Questline and all faction side quests.
As with some of my recent builds, I chose not to develop new stories but rather tap into the existing storylines of the game. The following below however, may help with character immersion:
- Complete all recommended quests – They're picked to provide the RP experience as a mage gone rogue and through contracts, hone your skills and gear for late game Nightweaver playstyle. Become the leader of the Dark Brotherhood and tip the balance of power within skyrim!
- It wasn’t my fault, you’d never understand! – Carry on with the college questline if you want but do not complete the quest past good intentions! (A personal preference really. I think that the Eye of Magnus enhances the aesthetic appeal of the college hall). Work on other side quests and/or any other quests in any of the other holds until you have reached the following:
- Destruction Skill: Adept
- Conjuration Skill: Expert
- Illusion Skill: Expert
Then get expelled for performing an experiment in necromancy by killing a fellow member of the college and raising his corpse. He agreed to it anyways... sigh, they would never understand.
- Rogue Mage for Hire: Outcast and Alone, your former life of academic perusal is shelved. The recommended quest line is pursued, utilizing and honing your unique abilities in stealth and magic… Your life now starts anew as a mercenary for hire.
- Vampiric Salvation: Following your expulsion from the college, you have need now for survival, but jobs & contracts that yield good coin are hard to come by. An offer of salvation from the petty needs of humans is hard to resist, especially if the terms of refusal is death. Join the Volkihar clan to gain unique skills, in addition to food (if it can be called that) and lodging, to serve as a base of operations.
- Procuring Power: In your time as mercenary, your contracts yields the expected coin for survival and the unexpected procurement of powerful artefacts and skills. These will add to your repertoire as the Nightweaver!
- Gaining Allies: Now a veteran merc, your skills in infiltration and murder have become known throughout the holds. Your new found family in the Dark Brotherhood provides a sense of purpose to your life and an introduction to like-minded individuals. Get to know Festus and Babette really well and seek their advice often when on contracts. I’m sure they would appreciate your company…
- Rebels... Why not?: With the end of the Dark Brotherhood quest line ending up in you assassinating the emperor, it’s all the more reason to get involved in the civil war. In fact, by killing the emperor and general Tulius, you can tie up the stormcloak questline and the DB main questline beautifully, their purpose seemingly in sync with each other.
Combat
With creativity as it’s main focus, the combat for this build brings some interesting variations to the shadowmancer / shadowmage playstyle.
Relying on arcane skills and stealth, you will be striking from the shadows; Enemies will melt in Flame & Poison, Frostbit in a storm of cold and suffer the searing pain of lightning bolts; Furious atronachs will tear enemies apart and the dead will be risen, as former comrades turn on each other.
And when all else fails, through sheer Arcane will, slip away enveloped in the shadows of your magics.
Stealth-Magic Abilities:
Shadow Casting (Core Mechanic) – Allows the Nightweaver to cast his spells silently
Requires: Sneak + Quiet casting Perk
Shadow weaving (Core Mechanic) – Envelops the Nightweaver in shadows slipping out of sight
Requires: Muffle + Invisibility
Shadowstab Arcana – A hidden strike of arcane magics leave your targets staggered… and dead
Shadow casting + Conjure Frost Atronach + Ignite (Dual Cast) + Ice Storm + Lightning Bolt (Dual Cast) + Impact Perk
Shadoweave Meltdown – Slip away as targets melt in blaze of corrosive fire!
Shadow casting + Ignite (Dual cast) + Poison Rune + Shadow Weaving
Corpse Preparation – Lightning gone awry, your targets are frozen & staggered as powerful dremora rip them apart
Shadowcasting + Staff of Chain Lightning + Ice Storm + Poison Rune + Dremora Lord + Flame Cloak (Dual Cast) + Shadow Weave
Necrotic Ambush – Your foes are caught by surprise, fighting the husks of former comrades
Shadow casting + Dread Zombie + Poison Rune + Icy Storm + Ignite (Dual Cast) + Lightning Bolt (Dual Cast)
Visage of the Shadowmage (Lesser Power): Grants the ability of sight in complete darkness and increased stealth
Requires: Vampire Sight (Active) & Nightstalker's footsteps (Passive)
Gameplay
Playing the Nightweaver is no mean feat. Without the protection of flesh spells, you will be completely reliant will be on the build’s core mechanic, shadow weaving & shadow casting. Below are the sections related to the various combat approaches and how to achieve them:
Getting to end game combat spells:
If the recommended quests are followed, you will notice that all quests are picked for either the infiltrative nature of the quests or those that either augment or let the player of this build gain new abilities.
Whilst I will not spoil the fun of levelling the way you want, a small tip on getting a high level in illusion:
As one of the first side quest after joining the college, “Out of Balance” will provide you with a massive mana regen boost when cleaning each of the 3 wells. What this means is that the mana regen boost is available after cleaning a single well, for 2 hours.
Use this time to cast the basic illusion spell courage (preferably in winterhold in itself) on any guard who is patrolling. This is the fastest way, without using the well-known “muffle casting” technique to get your illusion spells up.
By the end of the second well, you should be at least level 75 in illusion, allowing you to purchase the spells muffle and invisibility for usage in your playthrough. Any perks you would be able to acquire for this method should be slotted into the illusion tree till you hit quiet casting. It’s a breeze from then on.
Utility and Passive Resist
An immersive trait of this build is the constant feeding as a vampire and the usage of vampire sight. Since this build takes no enchants and doesn’t have enchanted gear to boost resistance to the elements, you will be required to constantly feed.
By feeding constantly, the weakness to fire of 25% (20% with dragonbon DLC) is kept to It’s minimum and is largely mitigated by combining with the Breton’s racial resist of 25% or the lord stone (if you choose
any other race aside from a Breton) plus the magical resist from the book of love. This also helps reduce
The Vampire sight power helps immensely in dark dungeons (esp for those of you out there with lighting overhaul mods) and for battles in the night. This gives a sense of immersion, something comparable to a true “stealth mage” or Shadok Mage of the DND 3.5 genre.the "weakness to sunlight" effect to -15 pts, saving on overall stat reduction.
Just do take note that like all powers, activating it will break any invisibility affects you might be engaged in.
Combat
A prominent feature of this play style is the usage of “lockdown” stagger mechanics and various tactics to fit the situations you will encounter. I’ve listed a few examples on how to employ the tactics listed in the combat section, however, feel free to utilize them in your own way:
Shadowstab arcana is most effective in “locking” down targets, due to the staggering nature of the attacks. This makes it an excellent choice for eliminating single target foes on the spot with both Dots (6 seconds freeze from ice storm and stackable ignite dots), along with the dual casted lightning Bolts.
Shadoweave Meltdown on the other hand, is perfect vast terrains or open areas that enable kiting. This tactic is usually reserved for tougher enemies like Giants, Dawnguard patrols and Bandit chiefs, who required a good amount of “Softening up” before you can lock ‘em down.
Corpse Preparation is an AOE move that provides wonderful synergy with the final move in this build and is especially useful in situations that puts you against opponents that outnumber you. Ice storm spams provides a wide range of AOE stamina draining DOT damage, whilst the stagger effects of the chain lightning staff ensures that your targets remain staggered long enough to summon a Dremora lord.
Poison Rune combined with Flame cloak under the effects of shadow weave, provides passive damage support to the damaging attacks of the dremora lord, whilst dropped out of combat for the interim period of the magicka recovery phase, providing a welcomed 3x boost, whilst still damaging opponents. Like its namesake, this is a move that will generate useful corpses, for the final move.
Necrotic Ambush is by far what I consider an “Ultimate” for this build. The bodies left by Shadowstab Arcana and Corpse Preparation provide synergy, as the dead are raised and combined with shadowstab Arcana, for a 3 DOT stagger combo. This tactic is best suited for mid-range battle in dungeons and in the open on dark nights.
Overall, the Nightweaver operates silently in the shadows with ruthless arcane precision…as such, there are no followers for this build. You will need total reliance on stealth and magic to survive and take down foes.
Note: Special thanks to Alastor, who had helped critique my work and gave some interesting inputs which have helped reduce the overall time for the production of this build
It should easily reach a high rank ;)
