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Event Build: The Marshlight

Tags: #Character Build Spellsword  #Character Build Crusader  #Character Build Agent  #Race:Argonian  #Rank:Event Exemplar  #Event:Artifacts  #MM 2016 Winner 
  • March 7, 2016

    Welcome to my first build! The Marshlight is a Meridian cultist from the depths of Black Marsh. They are a fusion of two of my favourite things in Skyrim - Argonians and their trademark guerilla fighting style, and the legendary sword Dawnbreaker.

    The Marshlight

    The Marshlight is a spellsword who combines skirmisher tacktics, alchemy and an array of magics. They are an unlikely champion of light, fighting with Dawnbreaker not as a stand-up paladin, but in the style of the Saxhleel - utilising stealth, one-handed sneak attacks, traps and poisons. As Meridia's chosen they are gifted with mastery of light, fire and life energies, which they synergise with their own fighting style.

    Race: Argonian

    Stats: 1/3/1

    Skills: One-Handed, Light Armor, Sneak, Alchemy, Restoration, Illusion, Destruction, Alteration.

    Stone: Lord

    The History of the Marshlights

    Back in the First Era, one branch of the many-hued Ayleid culture came to dwell in Black Marsh, far from the upheavals of the Alessian rebellion. Over time, an exchange of ideas took place between th Ayleids and the Argonians. The worshipers of Meridia as patron of stealth, obscurity and life-energies found common ground with the Argonians who honoured the life-cycles of the swamp and practiced ambush style warfare. A syncretic religion began to arse in certain tribes, venerating Meridia alongside the Hist Trees, under such titles as Mother of the Swamp, Stealthy One, Many Coloured Prince. The adepts of this new faith came to be known as Marshlights. 

    As the Ayleid culture in Black Marsh dwindled and became a memory, so too did knowledge of the Marshlights. By the Third Era, only a few travellers tales hinted at their existance to the wider Empire. Early in the Forth Era, and Argonian Mage, Takes-In-Light  arrived at the College of Winterhold, hailing from such a tribe. Sadly, Takes-In-Light was killed in a misadventure before she should reveal much of her people's lore. She was the only Merdia worshipping Argonian to be seen outside of Black Marsh in centuries, until now...

    Becoming a Marshlight

    Until they obtain Dawnbreaker and the favour of their patron, the Marshlight is a typical Saxhleel warrior, perking One-Handed, Sneak, Light Armor and Alchemy. I found the build worked better in the early levels by getting a solid foundation in melee before trying to perk too many magic schools at the same time.

    When around level 15 the faithful Marshlight acquires Dawnbreaker, he steadily begins to gain greater magical gifts from his patron. I gradually added spells and magic perks, continuing to perk the key skill trees of One-Handed, Sneak, Light Armor and Alchemy, and not pushing for high level spells early on. The idea is of to remain a skirmisher, empowered by the Daedric Prince, not a specialist mage.

    Meridia's Magic

    • Healing/Fast Healing/Close Wounds. The Marshlight is increasingly able to drawn in life-energies to heal his wounds. This was my most frequently equpped spell when tanking tough melee opponents.
    • Flames/Firebolt/Fireball/Sun Fire/Vampire's Bane. The Ayleids distained fire magic as a corrupt form of light, but the practical Argonians have embraced it. I used range attacks to soften up ranged foes before charging, pull enemies onto a fire rune, chase down fleeing undead, and sometimes as extra off-hand damage in melee. The Marshlight has the option of efficient sun damage against undead as well as the general versatility of fire.
    • Fire Rune. The Marshlight inscribes the Sigil of the Coloured Rooms. Even with Quiet Casting and many Stealth perks I noticed this spell tended to break stealth, so care needs to be taken. Enemies killed at range by this seem to occasionally set off the Dawnbreaker explosion, which is highly satisfying.
    • Flame Cloak/Stendarr's Aura. In pitched battle, Meridia anoints her Champion with a halo of radient flame.
    • Oakflesh/Stoneflesh/Ironflesh/Ebonyflesh. The Marshlight's attunement to his own life-energies helps him harden his own flesh against blows.
    • Muffle/Invisibility. Merida is the Lady of Obscurity, owner of the Ring of the Khajiit, and she gives the gift of stealth to those who pray to her faithfully. The Marshlight uses this to augment his natural talents, as I noticed that even with highly perked stealth it can be hard to stay hidden when carrying Dawnbreaker.
    • Calm/Pacify. Dampening down the aggression of simple animals, the Marshligh is able to focus on this true foes and travel unhindered through the wilds. Taking this spell puts the illuion perks taken on the way to Quiet Casting to good use. With perks a single-cast Calm will pacify enemies up to level 27, easily taking care of wandering bears.
    • Detect Life/Detect Undead. The Marshlight senses the life-force, and corruption, of those around him.
    • Clairvoyance. Prayers to Meridia reveal the path to be taken.
    • Candlelight/Magelight. The Marshlight summons glowing spirits from the Coloured Rooms.
    • Paralysis. Only the most advanced Marshlights have the control over life-energies necessary to disable their foes at will.

    Gameplay

    Typically the Marshlight will approach a situation stealthily. Quiet Casting is a key perk for this - as Meridia is associated with hidden secrets and obscurity, it makes sense her servant would be able to act unseen. The Marshlight sets traps and prepares for a fight whilst staying the shadows.

    Then they open with a powerful one-handed sneak attack. Critical Charge combined with Silent Roll and poisoned blade combine to creat an explosive move, taking out weaker opponents instantly.

     If things get touch, poisons and potions will turn the tide. In light armor, they are something of a glass cannon - the object is to dish out plenty of damage with poisoned sword and flame before having to retreat and heal.

    After this - especially when Dawnbreaker's explosion goes off - then all stealth is out of the window. Fleeing undead are chased down with blade and fire. Against remaining melee opponents that do not fear Dawnbreaker, it's time to stand ground, fighting as a classic spellsword. With healing spells, cloak spells, flesh spells and a good stock of poisons and potions, the Marshlight is well able to survive a stand up fight, even when stealth isn't possible.

    Equipment

    The only piece of equipment essential for this build is of course Dawnbreaker. Get this as soon as possible. I felt an adept hood was also the right look for a stealth Argonian, and varieties of light armor that aren't shiny and attention seeking.

    A mixture of enchantments that improve basic stats, or one-handed damage output are good. Resists are useful but secondary as you will have the Lord stone and plenty of potions of resistance. This isn't an enchanting build but I have to admit that around level 40 I tired of good scaled items never turning up in the shops, and turned to enchanting Dawnguard gear with weak enchantments.

    Alchemy

    I personally feel Argonian's are natural alchemists. My approach to Alchemy tends to be to make what I can out of what I can find, as I like the foraging aspect of this skill. There is little found in the wilds a Marshlight can't make some use of, so rather than listing useful ingredients, which are many, this is what I made in order of priority. I made sure that, as far as possible, I had a decent stock of all these or at least a good selection before heading out.

    • Restore Health/Restore Magika/Restore Stamina. Vital for in-combat survival against tougher opponents. The Marshlight tends to use all three stats in combat especially against powrful melee opponents wheere they need to chain power attacks and heals.
    • Fortify Destruction/Restoration/One-Handed. These potions significantly increase damage output against all enemy types. Fortify Destruction affects the Dawnbreaker fire effect and of course fire spells. Fortify Restoration improves sun damage, and probably the explosion effect of Dawnbreaker and I have not absolutely confirmed this.
    • Weakness to Fire/Magic. These poisons increase Dawnbreaker's magic damage and other spell damage against poison-vulnerable enemies.
    • Damage Health/Stamina/Magika. Good old-fashioned poisons have their place when you've run out of Weakness to Fire.
    • Fortify Health/Magika/Stamina. These will give a useful edge before a boss fight.
    • Resist Magic/Fire/Frost/Shock/Poison. The ingredients for these are common and I found I was able to carry a good supply.

    Roleplay and Quests

    The Marshlight is at heart a witchhunter. As Meridia's champion, their goal is to put down the undead in all their forms. They embrace the obscurtiy of ther mistress, and seek no recognition or fame. I wandered the lands of Skyrim anomymously, sleeping rough in camps in the countryside, finding food and alchemy ingredients where I could, and helping people for the reward of helping evil held back for another day. The Marshlight is a humble warrior, who puts up uncomplainingly with racist abuse and misunderstanding ("hand to yourself, sneak thief!") and sees themselves as the hidden protector of those with less understanding. I like the idea of this mud-stained, gruff, scout being the closest thing the Argonians have to a Paladin.

    There's lots that would be appropriate to do in Skryim, but the following are an obvious starting point:

    • Dawnguard. Freeing the land from the threat of Harkon made for a great Main Quest. The misfits of the Dawnguard embrace an Argonian and it's probably the one place in Skyrim that he came to really feel at home. Serana is a problem - a vampire who the character was prediposed to hate, and who feared Dawnbreaker. I decided that Merdia herself must have whispered that Serana should be treated with kindness, and persuaded to renounce her vampirehood.
    • The Man Who Cried Wolf/The Wolf Queen Awakened. The Necromancer Potema is an ancient foe of Merida. Perhaps it was even Potema who first closed down Meridia's temple down the road from Solitude.
    • Dragon Priests. A day out putting down one of these abominations makes for a good training mission for those Dawnguard welps. I gave them the masks as a reward.

    Closing Notes

    The Marshlight takes it's inspiration from some great Argonian builds I've read here, such as Teineeva's Saxheel Guerilla and Albratross's Black Marsh Vanguard. Those builds made concrete for me the feeligns I had about how Argonian's should be played.

    Sadly I have no screenshots, and struggled to find pictures of Argonian spellswords, so the pictures are a bit magey. This is a pity as this build looks amazing in play, especially when striking from the darkness to execute a finishing move in a shower of fire and light. 

    Finally, thanks to Elysium, Dragonborn1721 and Manik for feedback in the Workshop.

     

     

     

  • Member
    March 7, 2016

    Excellent build +1

  • March 7, 2016
    Great work! (and thanks for the name drop) I love the innovation in this build, it has the base of the witch hunter we all know and love with some more interesting Argonian characteristics. Very awesome. Your presentation is also good and I like your writing style. I hope to see more from you in the future. I can't think of any constructive criticism right now, but if I think of anything you could use later to make a better build, I'll let you know.
  • Member
    March 7, 2016

    This came out really well. I do feel like this build could be a bit better if we had chance to become something more than just a Marshlight foot solider. Then again I am huge on heavy roleplay builds. The only thing I can think of is to get yourself some cooltext for section separators. This is really good already though. Great job.

  • March 7, 2016

    I like this build I really do. A stealthy Argonian paladin is a pretty unorthodox combination, and I love how you justified it through lore. 

    I think one thing this build could use is a great opening image. Its a must. The perk spread should never be the first image the reader comes across when reading your build. 

    If you could find an opening picture as awesome looking as the one you have in your role play section that would be great. 

  • March 8, 2016

    Thanks, glad you like it. :)

  • March 8, 2016

    Thanks. :)

  • March 8, 2016

    Yeah. Having read through your Green Warden build I can see there is a lot of opportunity to add more roleplay to this. I'm having some thoughts about that. That's what I love about this group - it's showing me how to take character development to another level. 

  • March 8, 2016

    Thanks. :) I'd really like a screenshot, but the screenshot request threads seem to be dead.

  • Member
    March 9, 2016

    Something else I would recommend is maybe dropping some perks. Level 60 is pretty high I soft cap my build at level 45 and hard cap is 55. You don't need Stealth 5/5 to sneak effectively.

    C'mon guys this should be out of the bloodworks by now. Where is the love?