Tamriel Vault - Event Build: The Pillar of Troubles

Fights

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July 28, 2015

Among the ancient ancestral spirits who accompanied Saint Veloth and the Chimer into the promised land of Morrowind, the four Daedra Lords, Malacath, Mehrunes Dagon, Molag Bal, and Sheogorath, are known as the Four Corners of the House of Troubles. These Daedra Lords rebelled against the counsel and admonition of the Tribunal, causing great kinstrife and confusion among the clans and Great House. -The House of Troubles

Race: Dunmer Vampire

Stats: 2 | 2 | 1 until you reach 150 Stamina, then 3 | 2 | 0

Standing Stone: Lord (Ritual in Aetherial Crown). The Lord's magic resistance will protect you from most things that are an actual threat to you, and the physical bonus is pretty handy as well. The Ritual is used in the Crown in order to raise an undead army whenever you please.

Shouts: Storm Call, Soul Tear, Drain Vitality, Fire Breath, Dismay, Summon Durnehviir

Major Skills: Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, Enchanting

Minor Skills: One Handed, Heavy Armor, Alteration

Powers: The Fire Within, Dragonborn Flame, Secret of Arcana, Seeker of Sorcery, Mora's Boon

Quests: Main Quest, Dawnguard (Volkihar), Dragonborn, The House of Horrors, Pieces of the Past, The Cursed Tribe, The Mind of Madness, Black Books, Tel Mithryn, Rings of Blood Magic, The Black Star (Give to Nelecar), Lost to the Ages, The College of Winterhold, Conjuration Ritual Quest

The Four Corners of the House of Troubles are the four "Bad Daedra" in Dunmeri Religion. They serve as obstacles during the Testing, with each one testing the Dunmer for different strengths.

Malacath is the reanimated remains of Trinimac, who was devoured by Boethiah. He is a weak but vengeful god. He tests the Dunmer for physical weakness.

Molag Bal is known by the Dunmer as the King of Rape. He tries to upset the House bloodlines and ruin the Dunmer gene pool.

Sheogorath, the King of Madness, tests the Dunmer for mental weakness. In legends he is called upon by a Dunmer faction against another; in half of these legends he does not betray those who called him. He is associated with the fear other races have of the Dunmer.

Mehrunes Dagon is the god of destruction. He is associated with natural dangers such as fire, earthquakes, and floods. To some he represents the inhospitable land of Morrowind. He tests the Dunmer will to survive and persevere.

Melee: The only physical combat the Pillar engages in is with a Bound Sword, which can not only trap the souls of his foes, but also banish hostile Daedra back to the planes of Oblivion.

Magic: The Pillar is proficient in many schools of magic. He uses Conjuration to summon powerful minions to destroy his foes, as well as wield his ethereal blade. Destruction is used to either char the skin off his enemies bones using flames, or disintegrate them with shock. Alteration is used to a minor extent, only to strengthen the Pillar's flesh. Illusion magic is used to sow chaos into his enemies, like Sheogorath himself.

Gear: What else would a champion of the Daedra Lords wear other than Daedric Armor? Aside from an enchanted set of daedric armor, the Pillar wears a apprentice hood. With no smithing involved, this armor doesn't make the build overly OP, but still offers ample protection. You will obtain this armor using the Atronach Forge beneath the College. You can easily obtain ebony armor at levels 30 and over, but until then use armor sets adequate for your level. (You might need to use Daedric Boots with a random enchantment at first, as due to a bug you cannot use the unenchanted version created with Ebony Boots)

Black Books: Your masters have commanded you to collect the tomes of Hermaeus Mora's infinite knowledge and discover their secrets. I used Dragonborn Flame, Mora's Boon, Black Market/Secret Servant, Companion's Insight (I accidentally disintegrated a follower with Lightning Cloak), Seeker of Sorcery, and Secret of Arcana.

Thu'um: Mehrunes Dagon has infused you with Akatosh's power in order to create the perfect weapon... the Dragonborn. You will play along with the Greybeards' beliefs and vanquish Alduin. After all, you can't conquer a world that doesn't exist. The Dawnguard DLC introduces a couple of shouts that fit the Pillar perfectly, such as Soul Tear (I RPed sending the souls to Molag Bal, not the Soul Cairn) and Drain Vitality.

Strategy: With a wide variety of summons available to use, you can choose which to use based on what you're facing. Versus warriors (Bandits), you summon Flame Atronachs and use fire spells to take away health more effectively. Versus mages and Dragons, a Storm Atronach and shock spells are the best choice, as they drain mages' magicka and dragons are less resistant to it than to fire and frost. When faced with a challenging boss, I summoned an Ash Guardian, shouted Soul Tear, and transformed into a Vampire Lord.

Apprentice Hood – Fortify Magicka (Pre-Enchanted)

Armor of Oblivion (Daedric Armor) – Fortify Conjuration, Fortify Magicka Regen

Gauntlets of the Mauloch (Daedric Gauntlets) – Fortify One-Handed, Fortify Heavy Armor

Boots of Warding (Daedric Boots) – Resist Magic, Resist Shock

Amulet of the Madgod (Any Necklace) – Fortify Destruction, Fortify Illusion

Ring of the Erudite

Coldharbour's Revenge

Ritual Stone + Soul Tear + Rally (Master of the Mind)

With this ability, you can create a very powerful undead army which rivals that of Molag Bal himself's. You may expand your army even more by equipping the Aetherial Crown to gain the Ritual Power again, then use it on the corpse piles your legion creates.

Dagon's Wrath

Storm Call + Whirlwind Cloak + Conjure Ash Guardian

With the favor of the Lord of Natural Disasters, you summon a great thunderstorm and a cloak that throws your foes into the air, along with a creature of the ash storms that threaten Solstheim.

Madgod's Theater

Frenzy Rune + Dismay + Invisibility

You use Sheogorath's influence to instill madness in your foes, casting a Frenzy Rune when you see a group of enemies approaching. When the rune is triggered, you shout Dismay at the remaining ones and watch them flee from their comrades in terror, becoming invisible to watch the chaos unfold.

The Pillar is as evil and manipulative as he is clever. Torture your enemies for a bit (Wait until they are close to death, wait for them to recover, then continue to burn/shock them), always lie when the option is available, and raise your foes' bodies to inflict further suffering upon their souls.

If anyone insults you in any way, kill them on the spot. The bounty doesn't matter, what matters is the message that no one crosses you and lives to tell the tale.

Build your home with an Enchanter's Tower and Library (North Wing can be whatever), but don't marry or adopt children. Keep bodies of betrayed followers and torture instruments, as well as skulls, hearts, etc. in your basement.

Once you join the College, steal books from the Arcaneum, as you feel you are more deserving of knowledge than these fools.

DON'T do the Civil War questline, let the idiots destroy themselves. The time will come when both Stormcloaks and Imperials will cease to be, and a new ruler of Skyrim will emerge...

There comes a time in every build playthrough when you don't feel like playing it anymore. Either you found a new build you like, you have all the perks, you grew bored of it, etc. This final objective is for when that moment comes. You are going to take Skyrim by force, alongside the armies of Molag Bal, the sheer destructive power of Mehrunes Dagon, the brute force of Malacath, and instilling in your foes the madness of Sheogorath.

You may begin with any hold capital, but Riften is preferred as it is much easier to travel by foot (Or horse) to the other holds from there. It also adds to the roleplay, the Pillar going on a path of death and destruction across Skyrim, from hold to hold, leaving no survivors whatsoever, his undead legion growing with every victory.

Whichever hold you begin with, go to the local town, bandit hideouts, and stronghold if there is one. This will be the brute force of your army. Wipe them out completely, then use the power of the Ritual to raise their corpses to fight for you. As guards are seemingly unlimited, raise as many as you desire.

After you are satisfied with the size of your army, it is time to seize control of the capital. Destroy all life outside the city walls (If in a walled city), raise them, and storm the city, quite literally, as you shout Storm Call. As you slay every non-essential NPC, continue to raise the bodies that litter the city grounds. Your final destination is the Keep. After killing everyone else, use Vampire's Seduction on the Jarl and bite them. I RPed that as turning them into my thrall, granting me indirect control over the hold by means of a puppet.

After this kill any guards still stupid enough to attack you and exit the city, following the main road to the next hold, undead army at your back. Do this until all the Jarls are your thralls, eliminate the Thalmor, sit on a throne and press quit. This is how you end a game.

I'd like to thank quite a few people for helping me create my first build. Teccam and Mr. C. N. Dying for helping out in general, Elysium for the lovely screenshots, Cait for the perk spread, and Tae-Rai for encouraging words near the end (My favorite being "Finish the build so you can RP with me!") as well as the "Conquest of Skyrim" idea from her Ice Demon. Thanks guys!