This build is heavily inspired by the Dragon Age subclass Blood Mage and the Dungeons and Dragons prestige class Blood Magus. The choice of spells, powers, and equipment are all made with blood magic in mind and are based on both function and aesthetic. The result is a powerful night blade build that looks and feels like a true practitioner of blood magic.
-THE BLOOD MAGUS-
There is power in the blood and the art of Blood Magic taps into this power to fuel arcane feats that other mages can only dream of. The Blood Magus uses this vital essence as a magical resource, both his own blood and that of his enemies. A corrupting and malevolent power, many of the blood magic spells are only attainable through unholy pacts with powerful Daedric princes.
Race: Altmer Vampire. Altmer start with the fury spell and an additional 50 points of Magicka allowing more levels to be placed in Health.
Stone: The Atronach stone. The boost to magicka and spell absorption are both welcome, however the real reason we take this stone is the 50% reduction in magicka regeneration. This encourages the use of equilibrium to refuel our blue bar.
Major Skills: Alteration and Illusion.
Minor Skills: Restoration, Sneak, and Speech.
Stat Placement: All points go into health for the first 10 levels to build up our pool of health. Magicka will already be at 200 with our highborn blood and Atronach stone boost. After we reach 200 health go ahead and put 1 point into magicka for every 4 points put into health. M: 1 H: 4 S: 0
Weapons: Blood Magic and Daggers.
Apparel: Red vampire armor, Shrouded Gloves, Shrouded Boots, and Apprentice Hood. The Hooded Mythic Dawn Robes, Shrouded Hand Wraps, Shrouded Shoes.
Gear: Masque of Clavicus Vile, Namira’s Ring, Ring of the Beast, the Gauldur Amulet.
Shouts: Aura Whisper, Dismay, and Bend Will
Perk Spread: Level 35
Alteration: As the Blood Magus becomes more attuned to blood magic he becomes less affected by conventional magic. This is represented by the magic resistance and atronach perks. Mage Armor perks should be considered if you choose robes instead of armor.
Illusion: Take all of the perks here except for Master of the Mind. It just doesn’t make sense for blood magic to work on dwarven constructs. The most important perks to get are Kindred Mage, Aspect of Terror, and Rage to maximize the level of enemies you can manipulate.
Restoration: Regeneration, Necromage, and Avoid Death are the most important perks in this tree. Regeneration and Necromage combined with vampirism will boost the Equilibrium spell effect to convert 46 health into magicka instead of 25. Avoid Death is a valuable once a day safety net especially since we spend a lot of time on the verge of death with the Equilibrium spell.
Sneak: The Blood Magus prefers to avoid drawing attention to himself instead relying on his blood magic to ensorcel his opponents into killing each other, then slitting the throat of the last one standing. Backstab plus the shrouded gloves will kill cam most enemies after a bout of fury induced infighting.
Speech: The ability to control the actions of others is not limited to just the battlefield. The Blood Magus exudes an uncanny aura that manipulates the blood of those around him, making them more malleable to his suggestions. Take all of the perks in the right hand branch.
The Beginning
An important part of any role-play is the origin story. You need to know how you got to Helgen in the first place. To that end I’ve crafted the below origin stories for the Blood Magi that I played.
The Thalmor Agent: You and your brother Sanyon have been assigned to a contingent of Legion soldiers located in Helgen. Your job is to root out any Talos worshippers from among the local population. The two of you have discovered that groups of local farmers have been regularly entering the woods west of the city, you believe they are visiting a shrine hidden somewhere in the woods. The legion scouts you and your brother send to investigate have all come up empty. It is Sanyon’s belief that the legion is sympathetic to the local worship of Talos and petitions the embassy to send Thalmor soldiers to aid in the search. Elenwen’s response is one of reproach and disdain. Angry at her rebuke, the two of you set off on your own to prove the truth of your suspicions. Fortunately, and to your credit, you discover the shrine easily. Unfortunately the group of Talos worshippers also contained a sizable legion presence. A fight quickly erupts and your brother is slain by the legionnaires while you are captured. The legion questions you relentlessly until they are satisfied that the rest of the Thalmor are ignorant of the Shrine’s location and of the worshippers hidden within the Legion. With their questions answered you are sent to the block.
The Caravan Escort: A student at the College of Winterhold you were hired by a merchant in Windhelm to act as an escort for a caravan headed to Solitude. The merchant wanted to blaze a new trail through the ruins of Labyrinthian and thought that having a wizard along would be helpful. The College saw this as an opportunity to scout out the ancient ruins. You volunteered for the duty, eager to prove your skill and worth. Once within the ruins the caravan was ambushed by a large pack of trolls. You and the other travelers were quickly overwhelmed. You alone escaped finding refuge within the ruined tombs. You quickly lost your way in the darkness. You spent days lost within the ruins, near death from starvation and hiding from angry draugr you stumbled upon a hidden study and mages laboratory within the tombs. It is here that you learn the ancient art of Blood Magic. Eventually you find your way out of the ruins, forever changed by your ordeal, and with new purpose.
The Spells of Blood Magic
At its core blood magic is the conversion of life energy into magic energy. Even the novice Blood Magus can convert his own vitality into magicka. This technique is called Equilibrium which means balance, and this is the essence of blood magic, maintaining your balance on what is literally a knife’s edge. Cut too deeply and you risk losing yourself in the power that flows forth.
Alteration: The Blood magus is able to convert his own life force into magicka enabling him to continue casting after other mages have depleted their reserves. He is also able to harden his flesh making it as resilient as dragon scale, and can extend this hardening to his enemies immobilizing them in agony as their flesh ossifies.
Spells: Equilibrium, Ash Shell, Oakflesh, Stoneflesh, Ironflesh, Ebonyflesh, and Dragonhide.
Destruction: The Blood Magus is able to tap the vital energy of other creatures both living and dead and drain that out of them, actually pulling the blood out of wounds and even pores in the skin and absorbing it into their own body where it reinvigorates and restores them. This includes both versions of Vampiric Drain, the basic concentration version and the area of effect blast version gained by the Vampire Lord form.
Spells: Vampiric Drain.
Illusion: The terrifying power of the Blood Magus is his ability to manipulate the actions of others. He is able to turn brother against brother in murderous rage and turn the most hardened warrior into a sniveling coward. Spells include all of the frenzy inducing spells and all of the fear inducing spells; these were chosen specifically for the red particle effects that these spells use looking very much like energized blood, furthering the look and feel of the Blood Magus.
Spells: Fury, Frenzy, Frenzy Rune, Mayhem, Fear, Rout, and Hysteria.
Conjuration: The Blood Magus has learned how to mix his blood with ashes to create heart stones. These heart stones can be used to trap spirits and bind them to his will, creating powerful guardians with bodies of swirling ash whose life energy is tied to that of the Blood Magus. The Ash Guardian spell feels right for this build and isn’t affected by the Atronach stone and perk since it targets the stone in your inventory.
Spells: Conjure Ash Guardian.
Shouts: The following shouts also fall under the discipline of Blood Magic. Aura Whisper, the blood magus is able to sense the blood in other beings, Dismay, a powerful fear effect, and Bend Will, the most powerful technique of blood magic able to force other beings to serve you against their will.
The Unholy Pacts
Blood Magic is an unnatural perversion of normal magic, drawing its power from the vital essence of living things rather than the mystical essence of Aetherius. As such the most powerful techniques cannot be learned in colleges or guilds but must me gained through brokering pacts with powerful daedra. The path of the Blood Magus will lead him to make four separate pacts in order to further his mastery of Blood Magic.
The First Pact: Clavicus Vile the Daedric Prince of wishes is the first choice when seeking the easy way to power, fight your way through Haemar’s Shame and kneel before his shrine. Beseech Vile to grant your wish to learn the secrets of Blood Magic. Clavicus is pleased by the slaying of the cultists who wanted a cure from vampirism. You delivered that cure with death and in return Vile has decided to grant your wish by letting you keep the vampirism you contracted.
The Second Pact: Blood Magic is seen as a low and debased form of arcane practice, making it suited to followers of Namira. Seek out her servant in Markarth and gain the favor of the Lady of Decay. The power of cannibalism is a boon to the Blood Magus giving him a greater pool of health to draw from when casting. The savagery of the ring showcases the lengths that a Blood Magus will go through to gain power.
The Third Pact: The third pact the Blood Magus must make is with the Daedric Price of Domination and the father of vampirism, Molag Bal. Since a major power of blood magic is dominating ones foes and forcing them to fight each other to the death it only makes since that we seek Molag’s favor. Some of the most powerful skills are given by this daedric prince, but one must submit to his rule in order to obtain them.
The Fourth Pact: The final pact that the Blood Magus will need to broker is with the Demon of Knowledge Hermaeus Mora. Who else would know the most powerful techniques of Blood Magic but the daedric prince who hoards forbidden secrets? In pursuit of the ultimate power the blood magus will seek out this entity to learn the powerful Bend Will Shout, finally giving him the power to fully dominate any enemy. Even dragons will now bow to your indomitable will.
The Path of the Blood Magus
Since Equilibrium is such a central, vital, and basic ability for this character playing through an entire quest line just to pick this up seems overly laborious. For that reason we will use some glitches to get the spell at the very beginning of the game.
After escaping from Helgen grab a couple of kettles and head to Labyrinthian. Use the exit hatch to Labyrinthian Tribune found in the southern pass that leads into the valley. Once inside you’ll be using the kettles to glitch through the locked doors. There are many items that can be used to glitch through walls but I have found the kettle to be the most effective. Be sure to bring at least two of these with you. There are also two sealed doors that require you to spray them with either Flames or Frostbite, so be sure to learn the Frostbite spell. Ignore Morokei and the ghost wizards who are binding him. He is way too strong to take on at this level. Make your way through the dungeon until you pick up the Equilibrium spell book. This is the easiest and fastest way to get this spell, and the only way to get it without playing through the entire College of Winterhold quest line.
After getting the Equilibrium spell the Blood Magus is going to want to learn vampiric drain so we have a blood magic based offense. The best place to become a vampire for this character is Haemar’s Shame. The cave is conveniently located a short distance east of Helgen and is also home to the shrine of Clavicus Vile the first daedric prince we want to make a pact with. While too low in level to actually do his quest I simulated the pact by waiting three days in the shrine room until I became a vampire.
Quests
The following is a list of quests that the Blood Magus will undertake after contracting vampirism. I recommend this order as it shows the progression of the character.
The Main Quest: Up through Way of the Voice, this is a good time to continue east into the Rift for the Atronach Stone and the first word of Aura Whisper at Northwind Summit and Dismay at Lost Tongue Overlook.
The House of Horrors, The Taste of Death, and The Forsworn Conspiracy: These quests are all located in or around Markarth. We are here for the second pact but we will need to level up in order to reach level 10 for pact three. The other two quests happen organically when you are exploring the city and are good ways to level while getting loot and ingratiating ourselves to another daedric prince.
A Daedra’s Best Friend: After being approached to join the Dawnguard head east toward Riften. When you pass through Falkreath pick up Barbas and start his quest.
The Dawnguard Quest: Until you become a vampire lord, then the Volkihar side quests until you get the Rings of Blood Magic quest.
The Dragonborn Quest: Up through Gardener of Men to learn the ultimate blood magic power.
Other Recommended Quests:
These are quests that are thematic to the character and can be completed at anytime during play.
The rest of the Main quest
The College of Winterhold quest line
The Dark Brotherhood quest line
The rest of the Dawnguard quest line (vampire side obviously)
Forbidden Legend
From the Ashes
Discerning the Transmundane
The rest of the Dragonborn quest line
Play Style
This build is in essence a night blade. You will spend most of your time sneaking and backstabbing lone enemies. When you come across a group start the encounter by firing off a few fury spells to thin the herd. Once you’re down to a single opponent sneak in and slit their throats. Alternatively you can heard lone enemies into groups by hitting them with fear spells until they are all cowering in the same room then fire off some fury spells to finish them off. You should note that fear spells affect higher level enemies then frenzy spells so if an enemy ends up being too powerful for fury they may succumb to fear instead. This can save your bacon since testing the spell will alert the target to your presence.
Later on you will have access to the powerful vampire lord form and spells. If you decide to use the glitch to get the powerful vampiric blast spell in human form than I suggest increasing the difficulty level as this spell is very powerful.
Some enemies of note are the undead and dwarven constructs. The undead are immune to your mind control spells but are still organic and can be damaged by vampiric drain. Try to sneak past or sneak attack as often as possible. If you are drawn into a fight take out the weak guys first so you can focus your attention on the boss. Use your follower to tank them while you flank with the vampiric drain spell. Of course you could just glitch in the vampire lord drain spell and fire away like a blood fueled cannon until everything is a red smear on the walls. Dwarven constructs are the most difficult enemies for the blood magus to contend with. They are immune to all of our blood magic spells. Avoid these things whenever possible. If you have to fight them then melee is your only recourse, equip the most powerful weapon and flesh spell you have and try to backstab before trading blows. Followers are almost mandatory when exploring dwarven ruins.
Below are links to the glitches that I used in this build. These people have done a much better job than I ever could in explaining how to perform these glitches.
How to get Equilibrium without doing the whole college quest line.
How to get the most out of the Equilibrium spell.
How to get powerful vampire lord abilities in human form.
Conclusion
Thank you all for reading. I appreciate your interest and look forward to any comments you might have. I would like to thank all the folks who are much smarter than me and posted the glitches I used in the Tips and Tricks Group. Specifically I would like give credit to Noodles’ Potent Equilibrium Glitch, Ponty’s Guide to Dungeon Backdooring, and Three Dog for his post on vampire powers in human form. Thanks to you guys this build actually works.
-Vargr
This build is heavily inspired by the Dragon Age subclass Blood Mage and the Dungeons and Dragons prestige class Blood Magus. The choice of spells, powers, and equipment are all made with blood magic in mind and are based on both function and aesthetic. The result is a powerful night blade build that looks and feels like a true practitioner of blood magic.
-THE BLOOD MAGUS-
There is power in the blood and the art of Blood Magic taps into this power to fuel arcane feats that other mages can only dream of. The Blood Magus uses this vital essence as a magical resource, both his own blood and that of his enemies. A corrupting and malevolent power, many of the blood magic spells are only attainable through unholy pacts with powerful Daedric princes.
Race: Altmer Vampire. Altmer start with the fury spell and an additional 50 points of Magicka allowing more levels to be placed in Health.
Stone: The Atronach stone. The boost to magicka and spell absorption are both welcome, however the real reason we take this stone is the 50% reduction in magicka regeneration. This encourages the use of equilibrium to refuel our blue bar.
Major Skills: Alteration and Illusion.
Minor Skills: Restoration, Sneak, and Speech.
Stat Placement: All points go into health for the first 10 levels to build up our pool of health. Magicka will already be at 200 with our highborn blood and Atronach stone boost. After we reach 200 health go ahead and put 1 point into magicka for every 4 points put into health. M: 1 H: 4 S: 0
Weapons: Blood Magic and Daggers.
Apparel: Red vampire armor, Shrouded Gloves, Shrouded Boots, and Apprentice Hood. The Hooded Mythic Dawn Robes, Shrouded Hand Wraps, Shrouded Shoes.
Gear: Masque of Clavicus Vile, Namira’s Ring, Ring of the Beast, the Gauldur Amulet.
Shouts: Aura Whisper, Dismay, and Bend Will
Perk Spread: Level 35
Alteration: As the Blood Magus becomes more attuned to blood magic he becomes less affected by conventional magic. This is represented by the magic resistance and atronach perks. Mage Armor perks should be considered if you choose robes instead of armor.
Illusion: Take all of the perks here except for Master of the Mind. It just doesn’t make sense for blood magic to work on dwarven constructs. The most important perks to get are Kindred Mage, Aspect of Terror, and Rage to maximize the level of enemies you can manipulate.
Restoration: Regeneration, Necromage, and Avoid Death are the most important perks in this tree. Regeneration and Necromage combined with vampirism will boost the Equilibrium spell effect to convert 46 health into magicka instead of 25. Avoid Death is a valuable once a day safety net especially since we spend a lot of time on the verge of death with the Equilibrium spell.
Sneak: The Blood Magus prefers to avoid drawing attention to himself instead relying on his blood magic to ensorcel his opponents into killing each other, then slitting the throat of the last one standing. Backstab plus the shrouded gloves will kill cam most enemies after a bout of fury induced infighting.
Speech: The ability to control the actions of others is not limited to just the battlefield. The Blood Magus exudes an uncanny aura that manipulates the blood of those around him, making them more malleable to his suggestions. Take all of the perks in the right hand branch.
The Beginning
An important part of any role-play is the origin story. You need to know how you got to Helgen in the first place. To that end I’ve crafted the below origin stories for the Blood Magi that I played.
The Thalmor Agent: You and your brother Sanyon have been assigned to a contingent of Legion soldiers located in Helgen. Your job is to root out any Talos worshippers from among the local population. The two of you have discovered that groups of local farmers have been regularly entering the woods west of the city, you believe they are visiting a shrine hidden somewhere in the woods. The legion scouts you and your brother send to investigate have all come up empty. It is Sanyon’s belief that the legion is sympathetic to the local worship of Talos and petitions the embassy to send Thalmor soldiers to aid in the search. Elenwen’s response is one of reproach and disdain. Angry at her rebuke, the two of you set off on your own to prove the truth of your suspicions. Fortunately, and to your credit, you discover the shrine easily. Unfortunately the group of Talos worshippers also contained a sizable legion presence. A fight quickly erupts and your brother is slain by the legionnaires while you are captured. The legion questions you relentlessly until they are satisfied that the rest of the Thalmor are ignorant of the Shrine’s location and of the worshippers hidden within the Legion. With their questions answered you are sent to the block.
The Caravan Escort: A student at the College of Winterhold you were hired by a merchant in Windhelm to act as an escort for a caravan headed to Solitude. The merchant wanted to blaze a new trail through the ruins of Labyrinthian and thought that having a wizard along would be helpful. The College saw this as an opportunity to scout out the ancient ruins. You volunteered for the duty, eager to prove your skill and worth. Once within the ruins the caravan was ambushed by a large pack of trolls. You and the other travelers were quickly overwhelmed. You alone escaped finding refuge within the ruined tombs. You quickly lost your way in the darkness. You spent days lost within the ruins, near death from starvation and hiding from angry draugr you stumbled upon a hidden study and mages laboratory within the tombs. It is here that you learn the ancient art of Blood Magic. Eventually you find your way out of the ruins, forever changed by your ordeal, and with new purpose.
The Spells of Blood Magic
At its core blood magic is the conversion of life energy into magic energy. Even the novice Blood Magus can convert his own vitality into magicka. This technique is called Equilibrium which means balance, and this is the essence of blood magic, maintaining your balance on what is literally a knife’s edge. Cut too deeply and you risk losing yourself in the power that flows forth.
Alteration: The Blood magus is able to convert his own life force into magicka enabling him to continue casting after other mages have depleted their reserves. He is also able to harden his flesh making it as resilient as dragon scale, and can extend this hardening to his enemies immobilizing them in agony as their flesh ossifies.
Spells: Equilibrium, Ash Shell, Oakflesh, Stoneflesh, Ironflesh, Ebonyflesh, and Dragonhide.
Destruction: The Blood Magus is able to tap the vital energy of other creatures both living and dead and drain that out of them, actually pulling the blood out of wounds and even pores in the skin and absorbing it into their own body where it reinvigorates and restores them. This includes both versions of Vampiric Drain, the basic concentration version and the area of effect blast version gained by the Vampire Lord form.
Spells: Vampiric Drain.
Illusion: The terrifying power of the Blood Magus is his ability to manipulate the actions of others. He is able to turn brother against brother in murderous rage and turn the most hardened warrior into a sniveling coward. Spells include all of the frenzy inducing spells and all of the fear inducing spells; these were chosen specifically for the red particle effects that these spells use looking very much like energized blood, furthering the look and feel of the Blood Magus.
Spells: Fury, Frenzy, Frenzy Rune, Mayhem, Fear, Rout, and Hysteria.
Conjuration: The Blood Magus has learned how to mix his blood with ashes to create heart stones. These heart stones can be used to trap spirits and bind them to his will, creating powerful guardians with bodies of swirling ash whose life energy is tied to that of the Blood Magus. The Ash Guardian spell feels right for this build and isn’t affected by the Atronach stone and perk since it targets the stone in your inventory.
Spells: Conjure Ash Guardian.
Shouts: The following shouts also fall under the discipline of Blood Magic. Aura Whisper, the blood magus is able to sense the blood in other beings, Dismay, a powerful fear effect, and Bend Will, the most powerful technique of blood magic able to force other beings to serve you against their will.
The Unholy Pacts
Blood Magic is an unnatural perversion of normal magic, drawing its power from the vital essence of living things rather than the mystical essence of Aetherius. As such the most powerful techniques cannot be learned in colleges or guilds but must me gained through brokering pacts with powerful daedra. The path of the Blood Magus will lead him to make four separate pacts in order to further his mastery of Blood Magic.
The First Pact: Clavicus Vile the Daedric Prince of wishes is the first choice when seeking the easy way to power, fight your way through Haemar’s Shame and kneel before his shrine. Beseech Vile to grant your wish to learn the secrets of Blood Magic. Clavicus is pleased by the slaying of the cultists who wanted a cure from vampirism. You delivered that cure with death and in return Vile has decided to grant your wish by letting you keep the vampirism you contracted.
The Second Pact: Blood Magic is seen as a low and debased form of arcane practice, making it suited to followers of Namira. Seek out her servant in Markarth and gain the favor of the Lady of Decay. The power of cannibalism is a boon to the Blood Magus giving him a greater pool of health to draw from when casting. The savagery of the ring showcases the lengths that a Blood Magus will go through to gain power.
The Third Pact: The third pact the Blood Magus must make is with the Daedric Price of Domination and the father of vampirism, Molag Bal. Since a major power of blood magic is dominating ones foes and forcing them to fight each other to the death it only makes since that we seek Molag’s favor. Some of the most powerful skills are given by this daedric prince, but one must submit to his rule in order to obtain them.
The Fourth Pact: The final pact that the Blood Magus will need to broker is with the Demon of Knowledge Hermaeus Mora. Who else would know the most powerful techniques of Blood Magic but the daedric prince who hoards forbidden secrets? In pursuit of the ultimate power the blood magus will seek out this entity to learn the powerful Bend Will Shout, finally giving him the power to fully dominate any enemy. Even dragons will now bow to your indomitable will.
The Path of the Blood Magus
Since Equilibrium is such a central, vital, and basic ability for this character playing through an entire quest line just to pick this up seems overly laborious. For that reason we will use some glitches to get the spell at the very beginning of the game.
After escaping from Helgen grab a couple of kettles and head to Labyrinthian. Use the exit hatch to Labyrinthian Tribune found in the southern pass that leads into the valley. Once inside you’ll be using the kettles to glitch through the locked doors. There are many items that can be used to glitch through walls but I have found the kettle to be the most effective. Be sure to bring at least two of these with you. There are also two sealed doors that require you to spray them with either Flames or Frostbite, so be sure to learn the Frostbite spell. Ignore Morokei and the ghost wizards who are binding him. He is way too strong to take on at this level. Make your way through the dungeon until you pick up the Equilibrium spell book. This is the easiest and fastest way to get this spell, and the only way to get it without playing through the entire College of Winterhold quest line.
After getting the Equilibrium spell the Blood Magus is going to want to learn vampiric drain so we have a blood magic based offense. The best place to become a vampire for this character is Haemar’s Shame. The cave is conveniently located a short distance east of Helgen and is also home to the shrine of Clavicus Vile the first daedric prince we want to make a pact with. While too low in level to actually do his quest I simulated the pact by waiting three days in the shrine room until I became a vampire.
Quests
The following is a list of quests that the Blood Magus will undertake after contracting vampirism. I recommend this order as it shows the progression of the character.
The Main Quest: Up through Way of the Voice, this is a good time to continue east into the Rift for the Atronach Stone and the first word of Aura Whisper at Northwind Summit and Dismay at Lost Tongue Overlook.
The House of Horrors, The Taste of Death, and The Forsworn Conspiracy: These quests are all located in or around Markarth. We are here for the second pact but we will need to level up in order to reach level 10 for pact three. The other two quests happen organically when you are exploring the city and are good ways to level while getting loot and ingratiating ourselves to another daedric prince.
A Daedra’s Best Friend: After being approached to join the Dawnguard head east toward Riften. When you pass through Falkreath pick up Barbas and start his quest.
The Dawnguard Quest: Until you become a vampire lord, then the Volkihar side quests until you get the Rings of Blood Magic quest.
The Dragonborn Quest: Up through Gardener of Men to learn the ultimate blood magic power.
Other Recommended Quests:
These are quests that are thematic to the character and can be completed at anytime during play.
The rest of the Main quest
The College of Winterhold quest line
The Dark Brotherhood quest line
The rest of the Dawnguard quest line (vampire side obviously)
Forbidden Legend
From the Ashes
Discerning the Transmundane
The rest of the Dragonborn quest line
Play Style
This build is in essence a night blade. You will spend most of your time sneaking and backstabbing lone enemies. When you come across a group start the encounter by firing off a few fury spells to thin the herd. Once you’re down to a single opponent sneak in and slit their throats. Alternatively you can heard lone enemies into groups by hitting them with fear spells until they are all cowering in the same room then fire off some fury spells to finish them off. You should note that fear spells affect higher level enemies then frenzy spells so if an enemy ends up being too powerful for fury they may succumb to fear instead. This can save your bacon since testing the spell will alert the target to your presence.
Later on you will have access to the powerful vampire lord form and spells. If you decide to use the glitch to get the powerful vampiric blast spell in human form than I suggest increasing the difficulty level as this spell is very powerful.
Some enemies of note are the undead and dwarven constructs. The undead are immune to your mind control spells but are still organic and can be damaged by vampiric drain. Try to sneak past or sneak attack as often as possible. If you are drawn into a fight take out the weak guys first so you can focus your attention on the boss. Use your follower to tank them while you flank with the vampiric drain spell. Of course you could just glitch in the vampire lord drain spell and fire away like a blood fueled cannon until everything is a red smear on the walls. Dwarven constructs are the most difficult enemies for the blood magus to contend with. They are immune to all of our blood magic spells. Avoid these things whenever possible. If you have to fight them then melee is your only recourse, equip the most powerful weapon and flesh spell you have and try to backstab before trading blows. Followers are almost mandatory when exploring dwarven ruins.
Below are links to the glitches that I used in this build. These people have done a much better job than I ever could in explaining how to perform these glitches.
How to get Equilibrium without doing the whole college quest line.
How to get the most out of the Equilibrium spell.
How to get powerful vampire lord abilities in human form.
Conclusion
Thank you all for reading. I appreciate your interest and look forward to any comments you might have. I would like to thank all the folks who are much smarter than me and posted the glitches I used in the Tips and Tricks Group. Specifically I would like give credit to Noodles’ Potent Equilibrium Glitch, Ponty’s Guide to Dungeon Backdooring, and Three Dog for his post on vampire powers in human form. Thanks to you guys this build actually works.
-Vargr
