Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Character Build: The Twilight Neophyte

Tags: #Character Build Thief  #Character Build Elementalist  #Character Build Assassin  #Rank:Recognized  #Race:Altmer 
  • Member
    January 14, 2015

    The Darkness Arises: The Twilight Neophyte

    Licking her lips as she approached the soldier, the female sorceress eyed him from the gloom of the darkened alley. Chuckling softly as he shuddered in fear, she put a finger to her lips as she approached. Coming into the torchlight she was revealed to be a slender, tall, and pale woman, dressed in fine leathers and blazing eyes filled with the very fires of Oblivion. "Do you know who I am?" he nodded and whimpered, realizing he couldn't run. "Now, now, you know that won't help, you should realize that my dear." smiling she ran a gloved hand over his head. "You have no idea what it is to be like this, but... I wasn't always this way... Once..." she paused and held up a beautiful diamond ring letting it catch the light of flames. "Once I was a thief, a trickster, a poor, poor little girl on the streets..." Then his eyes widened. "Would you like to know... to know what it is to become something..." she gestured to herself, "more?" He nodded slowly, then emphatically, she nodded once and began her tale.

    Once there was a young girl. A girl with no family, no job, and no place to live. Nothing more than a beggar. She worked hard, scraping and begging for coin, doing whatever was necessary to survive, all before the age of 15. That was until she was found by the Thieves Guild. Not the Thieves Guild of Skyrim, another guild, far south of the cold lands of the north. There she learned not merely to survive, but to thrive. To truly live a far healthier and happier life, albeit a more dangerous one at that. Not only that, but she learned of her own talents, talents to use energies of Aetherius to aid her jobs, whether that was to distract, hide, or even defend herself. These talents lent themselves to a successful, if not quite rich career.

    Years passed, and this career led to many new friends, contacts across Tamriel, as well as enemies. Unfortunately many of those enemies were among soldiers of the Empire, and of the Thalmor. With the rise of their rule all across the Empire, she ran north to where a Civil War was brewing, a place that would be ripe for business, and hopefully far enough away from the main seats of power in order to disappear. Unfortunately, this did not last, and led to her capture. There she was, beside the very rebels that she had come to call allies and friends in her plight, about to face her end.

    "Y-yet, you're clearly... not... 'dead'... so to speak." the soldier piqued up. She laughed, a cackling, yet heartfelt laugh. "Why that is correct my poor little dear... you see, a miracle happened that day, Alduin himself appeared, and interrupted my little execution." The soldier shuddered at the mention of the great evil Alduin. She eyed the man with a hungry gaze, smirking. "I'll assume I can continue my story now?" she asked. He gave a scared nod and she continued...

     

    Race: Altmer

    Stone: Mage/Thief then Apprentice

    Stat Placement: Magicka 350pts, Health 150pts 

    Major Skills: Restoration, Pickpocket, Destruction Sneak

    Minor Skills: Illusion, Alteration, Light Armor, Conjuration

    Weapons: Conjured Dagger, Fire and Lightning

    Armor: Ring of the Erudite, Vampire Royal Armor, Vampire Gauntlets and Boots, Diadem of the Savant, Savos Aren's Amulet

    Suggested Quests:  Mages Guild Questline, Thieves Guild Questline, Dark Brotherhood Questline, Rings of Blood Magic, Book of Love, Black Book: The Sallow Regent

     

    Perk Spread Level 50

    After this young woman had been saved by mere luck and circumstance, she headed straight for Riften. There she found new contacts in the Guild there, and began to reestablish the Guild's network across Skyrim, little by little, allowing her access to training and information in the mystical arts, and eventually opening up a contact within the College itself. At the same time, something in the shadows stirred. Something that sought to dominate all of Skyrim in the darkness of its rule... The Volkhiar Vampires...

    Amongst these vampires was another young woman... a woman whose beauty, grace, and convictions led the Apprentice to joining her blood to her family's... The power and knowledge gained in this endeavor led her to become more than a mere Apprentice of the College. She became a Neophyte of the Twilight. A power and darkness to rival the very lord of that Court of darkness. "She became... me."

    "I loved it. The power, nothing like that of the Mages of their stone halls. A power that could destroy, and yet revive, bringing others into the fold of the Court. And yet the Imperials and Thalmor couldn't leave us well enough alone... they couldn't allow this small Court to rule from the shadows,without the need for war or too much wasted blood. They decided to try and stop us." Suddenly the woman was on the poor soldier...

    Tasting the deliciousness of his blood on her tongue as she stood up from the now dead Imperial prisoner she laughed. "Oh dear... I guess you learned too much of my story... now you'll have to deliver my message some other way to your friends." She laughed again as she left the soldier, lying in the street, blood flowing from his neck, in the heart of Solitude.

    You cannot run from you cannot see, nor kill what is no longer alive...

     

    Gameplay: Twlight Neophyte

    While this is by invention a very fragile glass cannon, and Roleplay heavy this build has a huge advantage despite being a non-crafting Mage build. Its extremely high regeneration rate. While there are some exact calculations, here's a general idea for both in and out of combat.

    Without Necromage, at Max in this build, you gain about 90/s out of combat and 30/s in combat. Then you add in Necromage. (Mind you not in direct Sunlight.) Out of combat you regenerate about 145/s out of combat and about 48/s or so in combat. While these numbers are not necessarily the actual figures, this is the general idea. This makes it far more viable to use higher level magic in combat despite not having the perks nor the major enchantments that could help lower their costs. While you have the Seeker of Sorcery and the Diadem to help lower costs slightly, you rely more on the regeneration rate to make up for the cost that it will take out of your Magicka.

    This build starts off as a mystic thief and moves slowly into the elemental assassin and master mage. Starting with the Thieves Guild to build up money and Pickpocket skills then moving into the Mages Guild to get to the training and practice you need to get your many skills up to the level they need to be. Necromage and the Ring of the Erudite are absolutely necessary early on as is the Conjured Dagger. 

    The Conjured Dagger is a powerful instrument in the earliest levels. The way I found easily to get this spell early on is to find a tanking follower, or powerful mage follower from either Riften or Whiterun, and head to Solstheim. Grab an Elven Bow and a good amount of arrows, then sneak over to Tel Mithryn. This combination of ranged bow, and a tank follower, alongside kiting the Ash Guardian to the Reavers working on the Stone is an easy way to get this quest done at a low level, in order to get the spell.

    Utilize Adept Robes of Destruction and an Adept Hood until you find your magicka at a high enough regeneration that you are able to switch to the armor. While weaker in regeneration it provides a slight barrier so that if your Alterations spells finish before you can recast, or when you don't have one up yet, you can at least take a hit or two without feeling death right at your heels. (Warning: Giants and Death Cams are not covered under this warranty.)

    Once you have been able to max out Destruction and Sneak, it is time to grab the Apprentice Stone. This is when this build is at its maximum, yet also at its weakest. It becomes a very strong, and very silent glass cannon. Until you get all of the various Magic Resistance perks and abilities, you are extremely vulnerable to Fire Mages, Dragons, and most magic in general. Your ability to phase in and out of combat is paramount at this point with Shadow Warrior allowing you to disappear and either heal or send your enemies packing with a few well placed spells. Either way, your magicka regeneration is near maximum for this build and will regenerate quickly even in combat. This allows you to use up to Expert level Destruction and Restoration spells, Stealth and Regenerate, and then fire off an Incinerate or two, or use Adept level spells at a consistent rate. At this point you will be able to take on some of the more dangerous foes such as the Dragon Priests, Alduin, and Miraak. Lord Harkon can be taken far earlier on as his weakness to fire is easily exploitable by a mage of this power.

     

    Roleplay

    Slowly build yourself and play your character out. First a Mystical Thief, not quite violent, and more focused on treasure and friends than power and destruction, then to the Nightblade, becoming a silent and deadly force to be reckoned with and whispered with fear throughout the Province, until finally as a true Twilight Sorceress making Jarls and Kings bow to your power.

    You have loyalty to your extended family. Thieves, Mages, and Assassins can all be good company, and useful. Make friends and contacts here in Skryim and you will find many avenues for power, riches, and glory for your conquest here.

    Skyrim must be brought under control. The Thalmor must be expelled from these lands, and while the Imperials may have almost killed you, they did lead you to your newfound powers. Either way Skyrim needs to be under one rule... yours, so choose your pawns wisely.


    Last Thoughts

    This build was originally to be made for the Celestials Event, however I ended up changing the build so much, and taking so much time to test this out that I ended up finishing the build just a little while ago. It has been so much fun playing a fast, and extremely powerful glass cannon. Definitely pick up Serana as your follower, and the Black Book Ability, Companion's Insight, so your fire doesn't burn your follower to ash.

    With this build I wanted to build a dark Apprentice type build, but still exemplify the Apprentice type, and show how powerful an Apprentice can truly be, despite the cost. I am glad I was able to get this out, and to anyone who enjoys a challenge, please let me know what you think of the build and how it plays for you. Thanks for reading, and have fun Playing and Roleplaying this build.

     

    Again Comments and Critiques are helpful as always, thanks for reading.

     

    If you have the time I ask that you please read, comment, and play my other builds as well, you can find them on my page:

  • Member
    January 14, 2015

    Awesome story! I enjoyed it so much that I read it with your character's supposed voice in my mind! Nice!

  • Member
    January 14, 2015

    Most underrated builder on the site, great job 

  • January 14, 2015

    Read this build people, it deserves more attention. 

  • Member
    January 14, 2015

    Thank you so much, glad to hear the character comes across from the writing, I really appreciate this.

  • Member
    January 14, 2015
    Awesome build bro.
  • Member
    January 14, 2015

    I love a good glass cannon, and even though your backstory is compelling and could easily stand alone, the decision to split it with some of your stats and build info was a stroke of genius.

    As always, a phenomenal job!

    BTW, I was stoked to see you throwing in for the Crossworlds event... can't wait to see what you're bringing ;D

  • Member
    January 14, 2015

    Always enjoy your comments man, thanks so much. I always feel like I need to do something different with a layout depending on the build. I'm glad it reads really well that way, so thanks again.

    As for the Crossworlds, I'm excited to be a part of the event, so many cool ideas, so much fun to be had.

  • Member
    January 15, 2015
    Nice build! Can't wait for your next one. +1
  • Member
    January 15, 2015

    Very cool build, well done. Lot's of fun to read and gave me a bunch of ideas for playing a future nightblade myself.