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Character Build: The Bronze Sentinel

Tags: #Character Build Juggernaut  #Character Build Elementalist  #Character Build Battlemage  #Rank:Legendary  #Hall of Fame Build 
  • March 21, 2012

    And so I came full circle, back to one of the most inspiring characters I’ve ever created. For me the Bronze Sentinel will always stand out for its beautiful simplicity and dominating playstyle.

    With this revision we see the original Sentinels abilities elevated to new heights. He’s stronger, faster and more resilient than ever, retaining all the glory of classic power-play that has now become expected from this line of builds.

    The Bronze Sentinel

    A dread-tank of fire and brimstone, the Bronze Sentinel is a fearsome combatant that harnesses the huge power of the atronach stone to overload on both defensive countermeasures and raw elemental carnage.

    Deprived of Ancient Knowledge the Bronze Sentinel reverts to its default mission; to consolidate power through dwemer technology and forgotten secrets.

     

    Race: Breton

    Stone: Advanced Atronach

    Major Skills: Smithing, Block, One Handed, Heavy Armor.

    Minor Skills: Destruction, Restoration.

    Weapons: Dwarven Sword of Flames.

    Armor: Enchanted Dwarven Armor, Spellbreaker, Aetherial Shield, Visage of Mzund, Ahzidals Ring of Arcana.

    Shouts: Elemental Fury, Dismay, Fire Breath, Soul Tear, Become Ethereal, Marked for Death.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The Build

    Dwarven Armor; few sets in the game give your character such instant presence and bulk during combat. It was time to give this monster an overhaul, and by the gods does he now come armed to the teeth! With the backing of both dlc’s the Bronze Sentinel has a vast array of specialty items to acquire in his quest for domination.

    The ‘Mark 2’ Sentinel retains much of the defensive focus of its predecessor but a slight shift in perks and equipment choices has resulted in a much more offensive product that is completely streamlined with no additional skill grinding.

    If one thing can be said against sword and shield users it’s that they can often lack burst damage when they need it most creating unwanted moments of impotence during combat. To amend this weakness the Bronze Sentinel now has dual wielding capabilities on switch with his shield of choice enabling seamless transitions between unstoppable tanking and devastating flurries of enchanted red hot steel!

    The trademark Spellbreaker that is so incredible for handling all forms of magical enemies is joined with the Aetherial Shield giving the Sentinel a refreshing tactical control over the battlefield. The Visage of Mzund with its huge stamina bonus and armor rating thickens out defense and allows for occasional tormenting jets of steam!

     

    Becoming the Sentinel…

    The source of the Bronze Sentinels power has always been the Atronach Stone, sacrificing magical regeneration in return for virtual spell, disease and poison immunity.

    We will be manipulating the effects of the atronach stone in an organic fashion by hoarding any restoration potions found throughout Skyrim. Take the restoration potions with you and drink them immediately before selecting the atronach standing stone.

    The chart below illustrates this characters power curve from the 60% spell absorption already available at level 1 to the amazingly impressive 90% available at later levels…

    This method surpasses the original alteration path allowing us to drop the skill completely, bulking out the Sentinels other combat abilities yet maintaining excellent defense.

    Level 50 Perk Placement

    Stat Placement: 0 Magicka / 4 Health / 1 Stamina

     

    Smithing remains a major skill of this character, dwarven ruins are the Sentinels favoured hunting grounds and the vast resources in these locations will ensure a very steep rise in his sole crafting ability. The falmer infested depths of Nchuand Zel beneath Markarth contain enough materials to increase smithing well into the 70’s, the armory in these ruins is also the final resting place of the Mark 1 Sentinels armor if you have the skill to acquire it at lower levels.

    The monstrous 0/4/1 stat placement makes the Bronze Sentinel overwhelming in close combat. Heavy Armor and Block have now been significantly improved to allow better survival at all levels, maximising armor rating even while dual wielding blades.

    Destruction and Restoration have remained fairly well balanced with each other. Adept level spells get the most mileage for this character, especially when it comes to destruction magic where the new efficiency of Ignite comes into play alongside the usual explosive carnage of Fireball and the simple damage over time and smart aesthetic of Flame Cloak. Intense Flames brings the flavour with ‘ignited’ enemies quite literally running off to die like scalded cats. Augmented Flames lends itself to the weaponry, increasing fire damage by 50%. The Recovery perks are very rarely seen in builds these days but I enjoy the innate offset against the Atronach stone they provide allowing for healing when it’s needed most.

    Arms & Armor

    It’s here when things get really interesting though. The Bronze Sentinels high grade armor and melee weaponry is all available by level 17! That means with a little dedication at merchants your own Sentinel can be vastly exceeding expectations before level 20. Ensure to pick up these choice items before glass and ebony apparel starts fouling up the trade lists.

    Elemental Fury is and will always be the Sentinels major shout and thus his primary weapon remains a standard legendary dwarven sword.

    On switch with the shield however we have the excellent Dwarven Sword of Flames that can be juggled over when needed and sports 30 fire damage once linked with destructions augmentations. 

    Destruction cost reduction will enhance the number of charges on the Dwarven Sword of Flames. The Visage of Mzund's enchantment will increase the Sentinels total stamina to 320 allowing him to chain devastating power attacks and shield charges. Melee attacks are bolstered impressively, ranging from 45 – 70% additional combat damage.

    Abilities

    Spell Immunity

    The Sentinel is capable of full spell immunity even during the early stages. The Dragonskin racial ability stacks with the absorption granted by the Atronach standing stone granting the Sentinel a 60 second window to deliver total carnage to enemy spellcasters or dragon priests.

    Arch warlocks often open battle by rapidly duel weilding their most powerful spells like fireball and ice storm, this is a great time to activate spell immunity. Once their magicka has dropped down they will be forced to switch to lower level destruction spells and the Sentinels normal spell absorption will easily soak this up.

    Requires: Atronach Stone, Dragonskin.

     

    Eternal Flames

    This signature ability of the Bronze Sentinel grants complete control over magical encounters. The attacks of spellcasters are neutralised by spell absorption and the overload of magicka is converted into a jet of endless flames.

    Any damage is easily offset by a constant healing spell allowing the Sentinel to eliminate even the mighty dragon priests at very low levels with no effort.

    Requires: Healing, Flames or Ignite, Spell Absorption 50 - 90%.

     

    Spectral Bash

    The Aetherial Shields unusual enchantment is brought under complete control by the Sentinels offensive blocking skills. Selecting the perk 'Disarming Bash' modifies the way the shield works during combat allowing the Sentinel to choose when it's appropriate to send an enemy running.

    A quick bash will turn an enemy ethereal whereas a power bash will just cause damage and a disarm attempt.

    This subtle mechanic ultimately means you can disarm an opponent and immediately send them running away from their lost weaponry.

    Requires: Aetherial Shield Bash, Disarming Bash.

     

    Hell's Durance

    Few enemies are immune to the power of the Aetherial Shield, even fewer can withstand the ravaging curse of Marked for Death.

    When combined together the deadly shout will steadily wear away at an opponents defenses while the power of the Aetherial Shield renders them terrified and incapable of fighting back.

    Note: Making an opponent aetherial will only cancel the minor health damage effect of the shout.

    Requires: Marked for Death, Aetherial Shield Bash.

    Credits

    aMidianBorn Dwarven Armor Mod

  • May 23, 2013

    Bumpety...

    Back on tomorrow to finish up some of the images on the missing abilities section and tweak a few other things I'm unhappy with (equip list)...

  • Member
    May 23, 2013

    Looks good, unfortunatly I don't have the DLC yet, oh well *goes back to The Sorcerer*

  • Member
    May 23, 2013
    It's glorious. Simple, non grinding and powerful. I think what I like most is how organic the game play will be I'm sure. Well done. Very well done.
  • May 23, 2013
    Badass! Using archery with no archery skill is pretty interesting. Of course the augmentations to the enchantments and bolts and being able to upgrade it to Legendary helps with the damage a ton, I assume. Not sure how much I like the no magicka investment, although now that I think about it (damn school stress, making me miss things...), you do get 85 more magicka and a constantly refilling magicka pool. How effective was the Black Bow of Fate? It's not boosted by destruction like the crossbow and its explosive bolts are. Either way, I love the update/revamp!
  • Member
    May 23, 2013

    Its here!!!! Back and BETTER than ever!! I love it <3

  • Member
    May 23, 2013

    I was waiting to see the update on this build. You did not disappoint.

  • Member
    May 24, 2013

    This all looks pretty good it's a lot more than I expected, but I don't like the equipment list though..It's a little too vanilla..

  • May 24, 2013
    I believe he said he's going to change the equipment list when he adds in the special abilities.
  • Member
    May 24, 2013

    Eternal flame ftw!

    (hopefully he will keep that)

    (and also the tips about skeevers and such)