Come, take my hand, I shall walk you through this nightmare. This dark and frightful world from which you may never return. 'T'is to your grave I lead you, for death is the only sanctuary from your sins.
The Story
Fear is in every living creature, fear of the dark, fear of the unknown, fear of being alone. These things are what nightmares are made of. The cold, lingering touch of death that constantly reminds the living of their mortality, and how easily their life could be snuffed out.
The Nightmare knows this, stalking the living since the birth of Time, some call him Sithis, others Padomay, but to those who know him truest, he is the void.
Suffering, misery, death. These are the things the Nightmare holds dearest, feeding off the life-force of the living and reveling in their horror.
The Aedra, formed from his thoughts, the Daedra of his blood, and the Nightmare formed from his spirit. Dark, hateful energies imbued upon the child of a Dunmer woman at birth, her own soul sealing the pact, her death giving life to the new Nightmare... The True Child of the Void.
Build Purpose:
I created the Nightmare to be the definition of evil. A piece of Sithis himself imbued within a Dunmer child, destined to bring suffering and death to the mortal races of Tamriel. I've long wanted to demonstrate the beauty and power that is the silent casting perk of Illusion, and nothing displays it better than the Nightmare. Silent and deadly, impaling his victims upon shards of ice and rotting their flesh with dark and forbidden poisons, stealing their soul and life-force to further empower his collection of blades and armor. A chill runs down the spines of those he passes, their souls being drawn towards him leaving nothing but frozen and rotten husks where once there was life. With every slash his own wounds heal, with every kill so too does his strength grow. Forever stalking the living in the shadows, every scene of horror they have imagined, every fear they keep at heart, every nightmare they have dreamed up, the Nightmare sees in their eyes and so too does the Nightmare become!
Vampire would also be acceptable
Race: Dunmer, as they have the perfect skill set to start off the build.
Stone: Lady, Serpent or Shadow.
Major Skills: Illusion, Alchemy, Sneak, Enchanting
Minor Skills: One-Handed, Destruction, Conjuration.
Shouts: Aura Whisper, Bend Will, Disarm, Dismay, Drain Vitality, Marked for Death, Throw Voice
Weapon: Bound Dagger, Ebony Dagger/Nettlebane, Blade of Woe, Mehrunes' Razor, Skull of Corruption
Clothes: Shrouded Robes set. Late Game - Ebony Mail, Shrouded Hood, Ebony Gauntlets + boots, Heavily Enchanted.
Spells: Soul Trap, Bound Dagger, Summon Lucien Lachance, fury + fear spells, Ice spike - spear - etc, Invisibility.
Stats - 4/1/2
The Shadow of Death
Between the Quiet Casting of Illusion and the Silence and Shadow Warrior perks of Sneak, fighting The Nightmare becomes like fighting smoke for the enemies. This build is built around complete invisibility, adding "Sneaking is xx% better" enchantments to your gloves and boots, the shrouded hood itself already has 25% harder to detect on it whilst the Ebony Mail boosts this even further, to the point where, with 100 sneak and Shadow Warrior next to nothing can catch The Nightmare out.
True Nightmare
"The Nightmare has the ability to enter and consume the dreams of the living as they sleep, replacing them with visions of horror and torment, fueling his own power. "
By using the Skull of Corruption with the Silent Casting perk it is possible to steal and wield the dreams of the living silently, without being noticed. A convenient long range medium-high damage spell for when you're conserving magicka for later use. And it fits the name nicely.
"His Presence Alone Was Enough to Kill Them All..."
With Silent Casting + Ebony Mail + Cloak of Frost + Invisibility it becomes a simple matter to walk past your foes, watching their life-force weaken as your sheer power tears them apart and they can do nothing to stop it. On the offchance you are seen, repeatedly entering the sneak state with Shadow Warrior and Ebony Mail changes you into an unseen wisp of shadow capable of continuously sneak attacking your opponent.
Completely hidden even in combat. Gained through heavy enchanting and potions of Sneak + the Shadow Stone.
Silently kill your foes without lifting a finger against them. Invisibility (Shadow Stone) + Cloak of Frost
Instantly slay even the strongest enemies. Mehrunes' Razor + Assassin perk, + Deadly Poisons.
The Venom Of His Blade:
It is said that but a single drop of the poison from the blade of The Nightmare is enough to fell a dragon.
Some useful Poison recipes are: (with alchemy boosting enchantments, without in brackets)
Horrifying Presence:
- Deathbell
- Imp Stool- River Betty (Other slow ingredients produce same result with +95 (45) poison dmg
Effects: 50% Slow for 159 (75) seconds + 159 (75) poison dmg.
"The inflicted become terrified to the point where their body refuses to move the way they want it to, poison rots the flesh around the wound."
Immunity Denied.
- Deathbell
- Imp Stool
- Chaurus Eggs/Bleeding Crown (Any poison weakness ingredient)
Effects: 64% (30%) poison weakness for 30 seconds + 95 poison dmg.
"The Inflicted feel their immune system begin to attack itself, becoming more and more vulnerable to the deadly toxins of The Nightmare.
Living Death (very difficult to produce as there is little human flesh available in Skyrim)
- Imp Stool
- Human Flesh
- Mora Tapinella/Orange Dartwing (Any lingering damage Ingredient)
Effects: Paralysis for 32 (15) seconds + 32 (15) poison dmg. per second x10 seconds + 64 (30) poison dmg.
"The Inflicted is completely paralyzed, yet can still feel the pain of acidic poison rotting away at the wound, spreading through their veins to the heart..."
Mortification (Less powerful variant of the Living Death)
- Imp Stool
- Canis Root
- Mora Tapinella/Orange Dartwing (Any lingering damage ingredient)
Effects: Paralysis for 32 (15) seconds + 32 (15) poison dmg. per second x10 seconds.
Skills And Why
Sorry About the Wall of Text.
Illusion: "The Nightmare is Absolute master of the mind, distorting the way the living see reality to sow chaos amongst the people."
- Illusion makes this build. Silent casting is an absolute must for causing havoc, then sitting back to enjoy the show. High level fury spells combined with sneak and Silent Casting make for some of the most entertaining gameplay out, moving between the shadows unnoticed as wars break out between former allies. Those that will not succumb to mind control can be dealt with other ways, whether that be by cold, sharp, ice, or the venomous sting of the knife.
Enchanting: "Using the souls of those he hath taken, The Nightmare imbues his demonic armor with powers of misdirection and silence, and his blades with the power to siphon the life-force of those they cut."
- This not only fits the roleplay side of soul devouring half-demon who gets stronger the more he kills, it supplies the lifesaving power of the Absorb Health enchantment on daggers. The speed they hit at adds for incredible life-stealing potential, boosting damage well above other weapons. Especially once the Extra Effect perk is unlocked, and Chaos Damage is added to the effect with Absorb Health.
Alchemy: "The Nightmare is a master alchemist, all the knowledge of the deadliest ingredients fills his mind. A gift from his loving father in the void."
- Even more bonus damage and utility becomes available with this skill. Deadly poisons adding over 100 damage to attacks, paralysis and mortification potions to lock the living down as they rot to death from the inside out. Early game lots of paralysis and healing potions will save you before your sneak skill is raised.
Sneak: "The shadows cloak The Nightmare, for he is a part of them. In the darkness he stalks the living, ever drawn to life-energy, and the bodies containing it."
- Closely followed by Illusion, this skill is the most important to the build, supplying the endless mid-combat stealth attacks that tear apart even the strongest opponents, (Alduin included!!). Potentially being able to kill a room of enemies by simply walking through it by master level.
Minor Skills
One-Handed: "The Nightmare's skill with a knife and dagger is unmatched by any mortal of Tamriel, wielding it to deadly effect, puncturing the weakpoints of even the most complete armor."
- One-Handed allows for the massive power that is x15 damage sneak attacks throughout combat when combined with the Shadow Warrior perk. The speed of daggers allows for very quick restoration of health, and colossal damage, when combined with Enchanting Absorb Health and Frost/Chaos damage. (Recommend Chaos so Nords don't become a pain to kill having only frost damage).
Destruction: "His very soul is frozen to the core, an embodiment of the emptiness that is the void. Ice forms at the tips of The Nightmare's fingers and is his to control."
- Destruction isn't really necessary but it blends beautifully with the Silent Casting perk nevertheless! Frost damage enchantments upon weapons are stronger when used in conjunction with the frost branch of the Destruction tree, and it's always nice to have some ranged damage. I find the use of ice magic as fitting for the embodiment of emptiness, I'm sure it's quite cold in the void.
Conjuration: "The Nightmare can feel the presence of souls no matter how far away they might be. Drawn to their life-force he will stop at nothing to rip the energy from the bodies that contain it."
- Our fuel for the Enchanting skill, no perks are invested in the necromancy or atromancy branches as any followers would reveal the presence of The Nightmare. Once a soul is trapped the body may not be brought back. By investing in the bound weapons branch souls can be stolen easily early on in the game using the bound dagger, until a stronger weapon comes along worth enchanting with the souls you have stolen.
Perk Placement level 60: http://skyrimcalculator.com/354716
"You are darkness, you are fear, you are death. But most importantly of all, you are the Void. Go now my child, and know that your loving Father watches over you, and smiles upon your sins."
Important Quests: Dark Brotherhood, College of Winterhold (can help just for spells), Dawnguard, Dragonborn.
Evil Deeds For An Evil Soul:
You are the very embodiment of Evil! You have to Act the Part. Some good quests for roleplaying purposes are "The Whispering Door". What's more evil than killing those who trust you with their lives for the sole purpose of using their life-force to increase the power of an evil artifact?
Join Harkon and the Vampires to black out the sun and bring eternal darkness to Tamriel! Spread your shadow across the land and force all to live forever within the Void of your Eternal Father Sithis.
Home of the Demon-Child
Collect as many of the evil artifacts as you can find, and fill your Manor in the Marshes (Windstad Manor) with the trophies of your corruption.
Fill your garden and greenhouse with toxic plants, collect skulls and bones and place them around your horde of Deathbells and Nightshade and Imp Stool to represent those taken by the poison.
Buy a cow, just do it.
Place a coffin beneath your house in the torture chamber below to sleep within. Fill the room with embalming tools and instruments of torture gathered from your adventures. Take a followers there and slay them, leaving the corpses to rot in the basement.
Have your demonic undead slave girl Serana follow you everywhere. If you like, get her to cure herself and feed on her blood.
A Black Wedding:
Help Faendal get Camilla Valerius then Marry her, stand her up at the wedding and dont show. Marry her again and kill EVEYONE at the wedding, except Faendal if he shows up, you'll need him for the next bit. Then take Faendal to the Shrine of Boethia and sacrifice him to the Demon Prince to further empower yourself.
Make sure you kill Erandur when getting the Staff of Corruption
I'd love to say adopt a child and make him evil, but you can't adopt Aventus Arentino and I won't accept anyone else @ Theodorus
Marry Janessa in the drunken huntsmen and turn her into a vampire.
Kill Paarthurnax, and everyone, kill EVERYONE.
Dread Powers of the Nightmare
Silent Casting + stealth mode + Hysteria + Disarm
"The very presence of The Nightmare causes the worst fears of those nearby to become reality in their minds. All shall relinquish their weapons and flee in terror before the Aspect of the Void."
Enraging Presence:
Silent Casting + stealth + Mayhem + Bend Will
"The Nightmare whispers into the minds of those around him, planting thoughts of hate and betrayal. Groups of friends become bloody brawls to the death at the insistence of the Nightmare."
Venom of the Nightmare:
Stealth + poison of weakness + Living Death poison.
"First, a touch of venom to weaken the Immune System.
After that all it takes is a single drop to Paralyze the Body. 2 drops to rot the wound beyond repair. 3 Drops to rot the heart... Imagine what an entire cut could do."
Aura of Suffering:
+1