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Character Build: The Dragon Rider

Tags: #Character Build Spellsword  #Character Build Archer  #Character Build Mage  #Rank:Recognized  #Dragon Rider  #Eragon  #Inheritance  #Jack of all Trades  #Shur'tugal 
  • Member
    July 9, 2014

    The Dragon Rider

    As much as I love reading new character builds, and attempting to play them myself, I inevitably get tired of limiting myself to certain skills and begin to master them all. I wanted to add another build for all of us who enjoy playing a mage/archer/knight badass, yet with a convincing character to give the roleplay some depth. And as a longtime fan of the Inheritance books, the solution came to me instantly. I present my take on The Dragon Rider.

    Also known as Argetlam, Shur'tugal, or simply Rider, The Dragon Riders possessed extreme skill and power, master of both hand-to-hand combat and Magic. In the novels, the titular character Eragon was also quite skilled with a bow, although as his skill grew with magic and sword, he used the bow less and less. With this in mind, I have come up with a very roleplay-heavy approach to this build. After some constructive criticism, I have included the perks I have used thus far in this build. I focused mostly on one-hand (sword) and fire destruction damage, but added some perks into almost all the skills, Eragon being a master of magic and various forms of combat. The remaining levels/perks, however, I have not used yet simply because I have not leveled all the way yet, so I leave those remaining perk points open to spend in an area you choose. 

    Race: Nord or Imperial. Eragon was human, a native of Palancar Valley. Although (spoilers) his appearance was altered during the Blood-Oath Celebration, making his appearance vastly similar to an elf, he was still human. I toyed with used a Bosmer and making him appear as human as possible, but felt the overall experience (roleplay, NPC interaction) is best used with a human. If you wish to play an Elven Dragon Rider, then by all means go for it! However, I based this build very heavily on Eragon. 

    With this in mind, choose between Nord or Imperial. Their racial abilities (Battle Cry, Voice of the Emperor) can both be attributed to Eragon using the Ancient Language to either frighten or calm his foes. Roleplay-wise, I went with Nord simply because Eragon started as a native of Alaegasia in the northern reaches of the Empire. 

    Stats: 3/2/2

    Stone: Steed. To negate the combo of light and heavy armor.

    Skills. Light Armor, Heavy Armor, One-Hand, Block, Archery, Destruction, Restoration, Illusion, Alteration, Smithing, Enchanting (note: I used the black book to temporarily redistribute some points to allow stalhrim smithing, then changed it back)

     http://skyrimcalculator.com/380699

    Eragon became quite the proficient magician, and used magic quite extensively. Wards, Spells, Healing, etc. He also was able to take more punishment during battle, due to his extreme physique and wards. His speed and stamina was stated to match that of an Elf, vastly more than any human. You will be using magic constantly, in the form of healing, wards against magic, destruction spells, illusion, alteration, and shouts. The only school of magic he was not skilled in is Conjuration and Necromancy, this being the staple of dark wizards and Shades. He was also an excellent archer and a master of fighting with his sword, Brisingr.

    Equipment: I tried to accurately portray Eragon's gear to the best of my ability, if you have any better suggestions though feel free to add!

    Armor: (shoutout to Nelafs Armor Combo!)

    Eragon's armor consisted of:

    "A leather-backed mail shirt that went to his knees. (Dawnguard Armor, endgame Tullius' Armor, Or Hold Guard Armor)

    A leather cap.

    On top of the leather cap was a mail coif.

    A gold-and-silver helm. (Steel Helm or Blades Helm)

    Greaves and bracers.

    Mail-backed gauntlets. (Steel Nordic Gauntlets)

    A broad shield emblazoned with an oak tree. (Morthal Guard Shield)"

    Gear: 

    Aren - Gold and Sapphire Ring with Magicka and Stamina increase 

    Eragon's hammer necklace to prevent Scrying - Talos Amulet 

    Bow - Hunting Bow with steel arrows, Eragon's first bow that he used until it shattered, and eventually an elven bow with sunhallowed arrows (or Auriels bow) to represent the elven bow and white-fletched arrows Eragon receives.

    Sword - while he was learning the art of swordplay, Eragon used a Steel Sword, eventually gaining Zar'roc and then his personal Rider's Sword, Brisingr - I used a Stalhrim Sword with Fire damage and/or Fiery Soul Trap. {again, for those on vanilla, or playing as a separate rider, and wanting to wield a blue sword, Chillrend, or a Glass Sword with Fire damage, will suffice}


    Gameplay: As I stated earlier, this build relies on roleplay! At early levels, I used archery extensively, as this was the only skill Eragon knew before he learned magic and swordplay. I used Belrand as my follower, to simulate Eragon's journies with Brom. As Belrand is an older spellsword with some dry wit, he actually fits the character quite nicely. As you level up, start slowly utilizing your steel sword and learning spells and shouts, until you are quite good at archery and semi-proficient at destruction/one-handed. At this point, I went all-out and let Belrand die, then placed his body in a preserved landmark, to simulate Brom's death. (this is up to you!)

    I then toyed with several different followers to try to represent Murtaugh joining Eragon, but never really found one I liked quite as much as Belrand. Begin focusing more on spells and one hand combat!

     After some time, I joined the Stormcloaks, their rebellion against the Empire an easy roleplay as joining the Varden. At this point I acquired a full set of armor, and really began to level the remaining skills of Block, Magic, Shouts, and One-hand. Join the Mages College, to simulate your tutelage in magic under Oromis. Then, after you reach your end-game badass dragon rider, finish the Civil War questline, to simulate freeing the land from Galbatorix's Empire.

    Eragon used his bow extensively, until his training with magic and swords became so great he favored them over the bow. When in pitched battle with multiple foes, Eragon would fight with sword and shield, blocking arrows and power attacks, bashing, then finishing them off with a flourish of his blade. I used shouts quite frequently even during one-handed combat, (as Eragon would utilize most of his magic through the ancient language, ) and give himself the advantage in a swordfight. Or, if adventuring or exploring, fight spellsword-style, brandishing the fiery Brisingr in one hand and firing spells from the left. I definitely favored firebolts, as Eragon was especially fond and proficient with fire magic, but also experimented with ice and lighting. Eragon would also be using wards to block magical attacks, casting wards (oakflesh, ebonyflesh) to protect himself from damage, healing with restoration, manipulating his enemies minds with illusion, and also dabbled in some alteration. I added the perks I used, but any leftover perk points I will still leave open for you to continue to spend in an area you like.

    With Dragonborn, I used the ability to ride and fight from dragonback immensely. This really will be a huge benefit to the roleplay, and I encourage you to fully explore this mode of combat. I cannot stress that enough! Firing spells while your dragon attacks from air or land is exhilarating, and really brings the character to life. (With an Imperial, if the dragon decides to attack after you dismount, Voice of the Emperor is a great asset.) I did not just use my dragon for combat, I also tried to ride a dragon anytime I needed to fast-travel, anywhere. I have never been totally fond of fast traveling, and tried to limit it to carriages, as it takes some of the realism out of any character you play. Dragon Riders could certainly travel extreme distance in a short time, so riding your dragon throughout the Empire at will is completely viable via fast-travel.

    Again, the gameplay works best if you try to mirror Eragon's progression of skills. I played the civil war, main, dragonborn, dawnguard, and mage quests simultaneously, to give the feeling of the actual plot, as opposed to my preferred method of one-quest-at-a-time. I usually feel like it takes away realism, but again, for this build it actually seems to cement the characters story.

    Quests: It is surprisingly easy to roleplay the characters and quests of Skyrim to that of Eragon!

    Misc. Quests and Bounty Hunting: Dragon Riders traveled through the land, solving disputes and keeping the peace. Most miscellaneous side quests or Jarl's quests will fit this description. 

    Main Quest: Accept your destiny as Dragon Rider, (the Dragonborn, Blades) and eventually defeat the great black dragon Shruikan (Alduin)

    The Civil War: Join the Varden (Stormcloaks) in rebelling against the corrupt Empire, and free the land! 

    Dawnguard: Join Ajihad (Isran) and the Varden (Dawnguard) in Farthen Dur (Dayspring Canyon) and kill the Shade, Durza (Harkon)

    Dragonborn: Defeat and kill the evil Dragon Rider, Galbatorix. (Miraak)

    Mages College: Travel to Du Weldenvarden to learn about magic

     

    As Always, I hope you enjoyed this build, and look forward to feedback! Any tips or suggestions are most welcome! I will be giving the build a second play through, but it will undoubtedly take some time, so I decided to go ahead and give you the build. Visit my page for more!

  • Member
    July 9, 2014

    I love the Eragon Series, and this build seems to really spotlight that. +1 for me

  • TED
    Member
    July 9, 2014

    Hi, CB co-host Billy Mays here to inform you that I fixed some of your tags, as well as add a Rank tag to it.  In the Character Build group page, there should be a link to the Character Build Archives in the Group Information section.  Click on it so that you can learn about official tags.  Although I don't care about crossover builds, the majority of members in the Character Build group seem to greatly disapprove of it.  One way you can avoid this shitstorm is to focus less on the source of inspiration and try to make the character look like it was a character from the Elder Scrolls.  

    Perk spreads are mandatory as part of the group rules.  The reason is because while we can follow part of the build through the gameplay section, telling us we can choose whatever perks is a turn-off.  People like to know what perks you took so that they can play your character as you enjoyed it.  You make a perk spread in the form of editing an image with the listed perks or make one through skyrimcalculator.com.

    You're not allowed to like your build, as it is also part of the group rules.  I ask that you please remove it; to do this, click on the like button again.  Overall, it's not bad for a first build.  I'd advise you to take notes on some of the Legendary and Mythic ranked builds in terms of giving out information (ie. more focus on how the character acts in combat situations).  Cheers!

  • July 9, 2014

    It's hard for me to 'like' a build without the perk spread. I know you said that you leave it up to us, but I want to know what perks you used - I can always change it if I want to play it slightly differently. So, I await the perk spread.

  • Member
    July 9, 2014

    +1 i love the eragon books, and you seem to have gotten him spot on. For the ring Aren though I would have used Fortify magicka + Fortify magicka regeneration. Since he used the ring a lot to recharge his engergy. but still great Rp and im totaly going to gie this a shot.

  • Member
    July 10, 2014

    I agree with RuneRed about a perk spread. Just add it, because a build should also reflect how the builder played originaly. +1 nonetheless from me because I absolutely love Eragon and also thought about a Dragon Rider build. Again, pretty good build,with matching armor/weapon/artifact choices and good role playing ideas.

  • Member
    July 10, 2014
    Another build within as much time that opts not to include a perk spread. It really isn't something that you can ignore, it's what makes the build itself. A build without a perk spread is essentially a bit of backstory tacked onto a loose outline of a build. Like someone saying "The character uses all forms of attack, and prefers to wear this. Now go out there and build someone for yourself!" Everything else, however, is solid. The RP is great, the equipment fits the build (and story) great. It's just that without a proper perk spread you can't hope to reasonably outline a structured gameplay, and thus you mess up half your build. If for example the Dragon Rider uses Fireballs to limit chances of missing, we wouldn't know that. We might never have perked into fire and so missed out on a big part of the build. Long story short: If people want to change the build, they will. Give us exactly what you played and let us decide from there.
  • Member
    July 10, 2014
    While I have only read a bit of Eragon, and I have seen the movie, then I am not one to critique it for how close it is to the novel, but, yes, please include some perks, it could even be a link to the Skyrim Perk Calculator
  • Member
    July 10, 2014

    will do, thanks!

  • Member
    July 10, 2014

    Will add shortly!