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Character Build: The Temporal Warrior

Tags: #Character Build Warrior  #Race:Dunmer  #Rank:Recognized  #Dragonborn1721  #Characer Build Juggernaut 
  • July 22, 2014

    I am weak now, but once I was the strongest Mage throughout the lands.  I lost my power in a Ritual, one that bound my soul with a weapon. I have been cut off from all my power and every single day it beings me pain. I am little more than a simple archer now, but even that has diminished. My master Paarthurnax has discovered a way, to send one person back to a time where Alduin is not powerful; I am the only one who has the power to do so even if it has been cut off. We start tomorrow, and tomorrow I go back.

    This build came to me shortly after starting my build The Moulder, I liked the idea of using one character but changing there playstyle so drastically that other than his name and backstory it seems like a brand new character. I also wanted to include a realistic Time Travel story (let’s face it a lot of them aren’t great.) The Moulder  can be found here so give it a read if there isn't enough info below.

    A warning this build will contain a lot of Backstory/Roleplay elements and isn’t exactly the most complicated combat or skill set of course I have tried to make it interesting. I’m including some information on The Moulder which is the prequel to this (if you couldn’t tell.) Also a section that comes up later on The War of the Dovah is more of an expansion to the Backstory but not %100 needed to play the build.

    Without anymore warnings or introducing here’s my latest (ish) build The Temporal Warrior

    “Who was I before this? Well I was a Hunter, a Mage, an Archer, an Experimenter and an Alchemist. But now, now I am nothing. My power trapped away by a ritual gone wrong, depression wrecking my mind with each example of magic I saw, each time I tried my own.”

    “But enough of that, you’re probably more interested in why I’ve come back. Alduin the World-Eater grew more powerful with the absence of the Dragonborn. He took the power of the Souls located within Sovengarde. With that power he has destroyed much of Skyrim, with only Whiterun left standing due to the Protection of those Dragons who follow Paarthurnax.  I cowered in the city as Thane but not as the fighter I used to be, I’m ashamed to say that I was possibly less useful then that useless sod Nazeem. We heard rumors that Alduin and his allies were going to attack Whiterun within the week. We discovered a way to use the Elder Scroll (Dragon) to send me back through time. It would only work however with an appropriate sacrifice. Paarthurnax believed the Sacrifice of a Dragon would be powerful enough to ensure success. He explained that the magical power located within Dragon Blood is what would allow the ritual to work but that no Dragon would sacrifice his blood and show weakness for any reason. I offered my blood for the ritual but he explained that it wouldn’t be enough, it was not just the blood but the magic within the blood that would power the ritual.”

     

    “We started the Ritual a few days after this at the top of the Throat of the World where a rift in time was created by the Ancient Tongues did when they sent Alduin into the future.  Obviously the ritual was a complete success. This led me to where I am now 4E 201 17th of Last Seed, Sundas. On my way to the small town just north of the Cyrodiil border, Helgan. My willing sacrifice to make this Ritual a reality was my Magic, pure and simple I have no access to any magic other than that which I was born with and which all Dunmer people are born with, Skyrim is no longer a Home where I further my magic, instead it’s the place where I learn how to fight with weapons and armour, where I become a Warrior.”

    Race: Dunmer (Dark Elf) “I haven’t changed in this trip luckily, I can’t imagine if I somehow came back as a Nord or worse a Khajiit.”

    Standing Stone: None “Damn this sacrifice I thought it simply meant all of my magic, but no now I can’t even use natural magic like these stones. By Azura I hope I can still shout, hard to be Dragonborn when you can’t even shout isn’t it”

    Stats: 3/1/0 (No more than 250 Health)“So yeah no Magic for me, of course I’m not exactly the most hardy of folk even amongst my Fellow Dunmer, luckily my Stamina is extremely high for someone of my size and build.”

    Heavy Armour: A defensive skill and about as far away from The Moulder’s skills as possible. This is probably the most important skill for the pure fact that without it, this guy dies very, very quickly. If I had to say that there were key perks for this build I would honestly say Juggernaut, Tower or Strength and Matching Set were the most useful but honestly just about everything except Fists of Steel is great for this.

    One-Handed: Ah One-Handed weapons, my preferred type of combat even if I can’t hit quite as hard as the Two-Handed ones. Maces were the way to go and if had to go with a reason for it I would say that it was because they seemed easier to use then swords and axes (I’m no weapon expert though so I could be wrong). Key Perks were Bone Breaker and Critical Charge.

     

    Two Handed: What am I doing two types of weapons for one character and both of them are major. Well it’s pretty simple in all honesty. Magic is a lot more diverse in Skyrim then close-combat (bash, bash and another bash) so I felt as a former Mage he would want a fair bit of diversity in combat. I honestly chose Greatswords because I’m not a fan of the other two as much and I wanted to use Silver weapons and I already chose Maces. Key Perks were Champions Stance and Sweep.

     

    Speech: A non-combat skill finally. This was used to represent the fact that Lorvathis Morvayn spent several years between the end of The Moulder and the start of this as a Thane of Whiterun. I feel you can’t hang out with nobles and the other various Jarls and Thanes who were alive and not pick up a few things. Key Perks are Merchant, Allure and Master Trader.

    Smithing (Optional): This isn’t by any means necessary, honestly I only chose Steel Smithing as a Perk because I hate having an uneven amount of levels and I was at level 39 before picking it. But Steel Smithing is a great perk for this, figuring you’re not using anything that requires better perks and it improves everything except the Silver Greatsword.

    Heavy Armour: Juggernaut 5/5, Fists of Steel, Well Fitted, Cushioned, Tower of Strength, Conditioning and Matching Set.

    One-Handed:  Armsman 3/5, Fighting Stance, Bone Breaker 3/3 and Critical Charge

    Speech: Haggling 5/5, Allure, Merchant, Investor, Fence and Master trader

    Two-Handed: Barbarian 3/5, Champion’s Stance, Deep Wounds, Devastating Blow and Sweep.

    Smithing (optional): Steel Smithing

    Head: Improved Bonemold Helmet or Wolf Helmet

    Body: Improved Bonemold Armor or Wolf Armor

    Hands: Improved Bonemold Gauntlets or Wolf Gauntlets

    Feet: Improved Bonemold Boots or Wolf Boots.

    Weapons: Silver Greatsword and Steel Mace.

    Now I understand that some people (pretty much everyone) hates the Bonemold Armor for some reason but I love the look of it. Wolf Armor is a very good looking substitute with slightly lower AR in the end but it is lighter. I tried both during the game but settled on Bonemold. The Steel Mace was chosen because I felt it was a simple weapon, easy to find and I like the look of it and the Silver Greatsword because, well no real reason, I do like it’s look however.

    Okay I know what you’re thinking “Dragonborn you said he lost his magic” and you’re right as usual but since I’m the writer and I needed a way to save the world from Alduin (otherwise we get the same problem again.) Now how did I solve this problem, the answer is Akatosh. Now I know, using Akatosh in a build focusing on being Dragonborn and Time Travel should have been very obvious. Well how did I use Akatosh as an excuse? I focused on Time Magic. Some shouts have direct influences on the flow of time; I've used these few shouts simply to get through the game and give him a logical and interesting way to Roleplay the use of shouts. Now honestly I felt that it would work better if I only used these for the Main Quest, I played it as if they were only a temporary power given to me by Akatosh when he saw that I had no Magicka.

    Whirlwind Sprint: Using his limited powers over time the Dragonborn has the ability to create a small rip in the fabric of time and save and walk through it, seemingly in the blink of an eye.

    Unrelenting Force: The Dragonborn uses a similar tactic to Whirlwind Sprint allowing him to force enemies through a slightly larger rip sending them backwards and making it look like they’re thrown back.

    Call Dragon: The Dragonborn uses almost all of his power to move a known Dragon through time and space to a location not far from him the Dragon sensing his magic searches for the disturbance and probably isn’t the happiest person in the world.

    Dragonrend: Freezing a Dragon between two times causes his Limbs to temporarily freeze, sending them crashing to the ground, this does however use up a fairly large amount of his power.

     

    Combat is quite simple with this character and by simple I mean this is essentially a smash, smash sort of build. Charging into combat is how this guy runs. Mages, Warriors, Archers, Daedra, Dragons simply choose you weapon and charge at them tactically, by tactically I mean trying to dodge as often as possible and then smashing them with your Mace or Greatsword. Dragonrend can be used on Dragons if %100 necessary. If you don’t quick-save with this guy a lot you will die, painfully (Master Difficulty of course).

    “I’ll be the first to admit that I have a few major faults. I’ve been drinking too much lately, I have problems with Argonians and Khajiit, I seem to have a Death Wish and I have chronic Insomnia due to my drinking so I don’t exactly sleep much (at all) . Not exactly what people imagine when they think of a Hero. I’m honestly not really a Hero, I hate the future I lived in and there are people in this world that are close to me and these people are why I fight. The Jarl of Whiterun, Balgruuf is my long time friend, Farkas helped me through the toughest of my drinking, Hulda always listened to my drunken rages and rants and Aela helped me learn how to fight better and we grew close together. These are people who I fight for, the people of Whiterun, my close friends.”

    “If I’m honest I’m a little bit of an ass at times, I care more for myself then any peasant or lord and I’m extremely arrogant when it comes to magic, even if I can’t even cast a simple spell. There isn’t much to say about me to be honest, that’s about it.”

    Main Quest: “Alduin is my oldest enemy and the one who I came back to kill. He is a priority and someone that I am going to kill as soon as possible, in the most brutal way possible.”

    The Companions: “My old friends, even if there secret is known to me I care little for it, I know how to cure the curse that is Lycanthropy and can freely take Aela’s Blood when the time comes. I wonder how much everyone has changed since I left, for I never really talked to them before the Ritual.”

    Dragonborn and Raven Rock Quests: “Regardless of what time I’m currently in the people who live here are still my people, I can’t allow Miraak to take over this Island and on to Skyrim, so I will stop him and help the People of Raven Rock however I can.”

    “One thing that has been left untold throughout my journey. I have never told anyone of the stories I’ve heard and I still won’t for I was told them in trust, a brief description should be good enough for you though”

     

    Now to understand the exact problem we had in this war, we had to fight Draugr, Dragons, Dragon Priest and Humans that betrayed their own kind to gain power after we all died. 

    We had to deal with Ulfric refusing to work with any hold that previously supported the Empire, Draugr running amok throughout several holds and Dragons burning our crops as often as possible. To top this off the Empire refused to send more troops into Skyrim saying we were a lost cause and pulled out any men that would want to leave, we had maybe 200 legionnaires at the start along with a force of roughly 100 Stormcloaks who saw that there were more important things then the damn Civil War, add on roughly 300 guards and the Companions and Mages of Winterhold and we could defend maybe two holds.

    We originally chose Solitude due to the strong walls that had been erected there. Unfortunately the enemy also thought this was a place we were most likely to stay and it was quickly taken over. Markarth fell the same way and then we sent a diversion force to Falkreath where we lost the hold but won our first fight against the Dragons. We chose Whiterun after I was sent to Paarthurnax to ask for his aid. He said that he could fortify the mountains surrounding Whiterun (Map Located Below). We took his offer and held Whiterun and Winterhold for the next two years, Ulfric had Windhelm locked down fairly well.

    (Black Circles are the Dragon Defensive positions, Green Star is a large guard post and the Green Circles are the main places to fall back to and defend when attacked)

    Riften, Morthal and Dawnstar all fell within this these two years and we did nothing to stop them from falling even if Riften had excellent land for crops it wasn’t worth the extra guarding. Luckily Morthal and Dawnstar had been evacuated (Maven took control in the chaos and thought she could lock Riften down as well as Ulfric did, nope) and no one actually died in those towns. The war seemed like it was over for us now, we had very little food for a large amount of people. This was when Paarthurnax told me about the Ritual to send me back and well I guess you know the rest

    That wraps it up I think, it’s shorter then my usual builds but it’s also simple in comparison. I feel like I kept this at a good length but as always am happy to see what people think of it, all I can say is please constructively criticize this a lot because I don’t feel I’m improving much and would like some tips about what I could do better. I would also like to know if you feel the use of the Cool Text was excessive because personally it was something I couldn't decide.

    As usual I own %0 of these pictures unless you count the small(read lame) changes on the map and thanks for reading through another Dragonborn1421 build, to see more of my content checkout my page here and thanks again for reading and hopefully commenting and liking. 

  • Member
    July 22, 2014

    You're improving a ton with each new build dude, I like how you explain what's going on with this build without someone needing to go back and read the prequel. Well earned +1

    PS: Expect your request on my thread to be finished by the end of the day. 

    PSS: Sorry for the huge delay on that.

  • July 22, 2014

    Thanks for that mate. Well I'm glad the explanation was good because I left the link out originally (fail).

    PS: also cool and thanks as usual for you amazing work with these.

  • Member
    July 22, 2014

    Nice take on time tactics Dragonborn, I especially like your interpretation of Dragonrend, although I thought the cooldown on that shout was quite low. I like your push for Bonemold, I've always seen that as perfect for a Dunmer Paladin and it suits this build perfectly too.

    Maces seem to be going through a revival at the moment which is great to see too, plus Silver Greatswords are a thing of beauty and match that armour choice nicely.

    Good job Dragonborn

  • July 22, 2014
    Thanks a lot and Yeah Dragonrend to me is like a little bottle of OP goodness. I never really got why people dislike Bonemold when it looks so good and when you get the Improved Bonemold the stats are pretty damn good as well. Maces for the win, I mean no matter how you look at it Bonecrusher is OP without feeling OP and Silver Greatswords, well I've always liked the Silver Weapons and the sword is becoming overused and I can't remember the last time I saw a build using the Greatsword. And thanks again Phil glad you liked it.
  • Member
    July 22, 2014

    I like Dragonrend too, even one word causes a huge stagger against dragons

  • Member
    July 22, 2014

    Your cooltext broke, you may want to save it, then post it :P

  • Member
    July 22, 2014
    Dang DB, this is really well done, love the Time Travel aspect, especially since it seems, to me, to take place post-Skyrim
  • July 22, 2014
    Thanks. Well I'm glad I managed to pull it off and yeah the backstory did take place in the future.
  • Member
    July 22, 2014
    I always have some magical artifact or spell gone awry transport my characters into the past/future.