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Event Build: The Last Executioner

Tags: #Golden Fool  #Character Build Warrior  #Character Build Unarmored  #Rank:Event Recognized  #Race:Altmer  #Event:Against Type  #MM 2016 Winner 
  • Member
    November 14, 2016

    So before I actually get to the build itself, I'd like to explain the origin of the name to try and prevent any confusion that may arise. I'd like to take you back to a time before I was born, in the dark times of 1994. A game had just been released, one which would start a series that continues to this day. Arena. Now as some of you may know, Arena was originally intended to be a game about going from city to city and fighting in arenas. While this was eventually scrapped we do have some glimpses into this through the left over files contained within the game. One such glimpse reveals to us the name of what would have been Dusk's gladitorial team. The Executioners.

    The Last Executioner

     As is widely known, the Altmer of the Summerset Isles, and to an  even greater extent those of the Aldmeri Dominion, aim to keep  their bloodlines pure and free of the contamination that is the blood  of the other races. Due to this life amongst the Altmer for those of  mixed blood or uncertain parentage can be incredibly... difficult.  That  was the case for myself, born to an Altmer mother and an  unknown  father. While my mother insisted that father was a pure  blooded  mer, she could not prove it and as such I was looked down  upon as  one with tainted blood.

     Growing up on the outskirts of Dusk I was often the target of the  other children's scorn, with the more violent of them prefer to use  their fists in place of words. In that environment I quickly learned  how to handle myself in a fight and it didn't take long before all but  the most boneheaded of children moved on to an easier target.

     Eventually my mother grew ill and passed away, and it was at this  point that I learned we'd only been tolerated becuase of mother's  pureblooded nature.  Since she was gone, I no longer had a place to  call home. For awhile I wandered, but eventually I found myself in the  pits using my experience fighting the other children to make a living.

     In the time I spent in the pits of the Isles I was told tales of a team of  fighters who called Dusk home. They were apparently called The  Executioners as facing them was not a fight but an execution. While  they are long dead the name has lived on as a title given to anyone  that rises to champion within Dusk's arena.

     Hmm, how'd I end up in Skyrim? Simple boredom, I eventually  bested most of the fighters the pits back in the Isles had to offer so I  moved on to find other pits where I could fight.

    The Build

     Race: Superior. Really any race would work for this but for the  purpose of the event/roleplay/being Superior, I've decided to play as  the superior race and you should to.

     Stats: Magicka 0/ Health 1/ Stamina 0, that's right everythings  going  into health, which is a godsend considering this build has an armor  rating of zero.

    Standing Stone/Shouts: None, you're no hero who the gods have deemed worthy of such blessings, at best you're a glorified murderer and at worst... well a murderer.

    Playtested Difficulties: Expert > Master. I initially started out on expert but after awhile I was having trouble finding anything that could pose a threat. With me often ignoring an opponent entirely; to the point that they'd be attacking me from behind, so that I could focus on the strongest of the group. So with that in mind I increased the difficulty and finished the playtest on Master, occasionally turning it back to expert should I encounter a particularly difficult  situation.

    Skills: Block, One Handed & Two Handed. That's it. Each of these skills was chosen due to a single reason, they allow us to hit things with big pieces of metal really hard.

    For those of you who use Ordinator, much like myself when I'm not building, I have a treat for you. A perk spread created using the Ordinator Overhaul, which you can find right here.

    Equipment:

    Weapons - The Longhammer, Orcish War Axe and the Targe of the Blooded. Once again hit things with big pieces of metal really hard.

    Apparel - Ragged Trousers and Foot Wraps. The spectators aren't there to watch a heavily armored brute crush another heavily armored brute. They're there to see blood, whether it's yours or your opponent's it doesn't matter. So you'll be wearing clothing that gives them the best chance of seeing just that.

    Packed Lunch: Vegetable Soup. More then even our large pool of health, the stamina regen this provides is the greatest source of our survivability against some of Skyrim's stronger creatures. While I can fight better then most I'm no hunter and even as a child meat was a luxury, so I learned to make do with what we could forage or steal. At this point I've gotten so good at using these ingredients that just eating the food I make allows me to fight non-stop.

    Combat

    Surviving combat with this character; especially on the higher difficulty levels, very often comes down to picking the right equipment for the job. The two sets of equipment being either a Warhammer or a War Axe and Shield, which are explained below. To further increase our survivability you should have noticed that all our stat points are going into health and to make up for this there is a liberal use of Vegetable Soup allowing us to act as though we have infinite stamina. 

    Going back to picking the right equipment for the job here are a couple of examples that were fairly constant for me:

     - Opponent with weapon and shield = Warhammer as the reach of the warhammer will let you keep out of range of their attacks and you can easily break through their guard with a power attack.

     - Mage = War Axe and Shield, in this case it's more accurate to say Shield and Vegetable Soup. The soup allows us to shield bash constantly which will prevent those pesky mages from being able to cast their spells making them little more then a glorified training dummy.

     - Two Handed opponent = War Axe and Shield. When faced with this type of opponent you can either employ a similar strategy to mages or you can use your shield how it was intended, to block attacks and knock your opponent off balance so you can attack with your axe.

    Combat Stances

     - Warhammer + Vegetable Soup

    The most basic of the Last Executioner's two stances involves the use of the Longhammer to smash their opponent into the ground while keeping a safe distance. The trusty warhammer is ideally used against weaker or solitary foes, or if an opponent simply needs to die so you can focus on their allies without having to worry. 

    The speed boost that The Longhammer has over it's brethren is incredibly useful when combined with any rank of Skull Crusher, as you'll be smashing your way through the tough outer layer of your opponents granting you access to their gooey filling faster then any other warhammer. This increased swing speed also meshes well with our increased movement speed from our lack of armor. As we are not stuck in our attack animations for as long as a normal warhammer user we can use this saved time to dart in and out of range of our opponents and at times even circling around them to attack them from behind or the side.

    - War Axe + Shield + Vegetable Soup

    This stance is really two seperate yet similar stances wrapped into one, the version of which your using depending on which weapon is currently in the role of primary and which is secondary. 

    The first variation focuses on the use of our axe to apply multiple stacks of bleed and also break through our opponent's shield to deal massive damage while keeping our own shield at the ready to block or disrupt any incoming power attacks. This variation is ideal for those pesky two handers who we can't keep out of range of when using our warhammer. So instead we take the fight up close and personal, using our shield to mitigate incoming damage and our axe to shred through what armor they have to get at the gooey filling within.

    The second variation effectively abandons our axe in favour of our shield. Fueled by our packed lunch we are able to perform non-stop shield bashs or power bashs, stunlocking our opponent and dealing considerable damage in the process. This variation is best used against mages; as it prevents them from using their annoying spells which we have no other defence against. Or opponents that are too powerful to risk them attacking us.

    Quests

    Naturaly if you're able to you should download and play the Faction: Pit Fighter mod from the steam workshop; a link for which is included below. For what is a pit fighter without pits to fight in?

    Other then that I recommend doing one of two activities. Hunting down the rarest of game; Cabbages, Leeks, Potatoes and Tomatoes, all the ingredients for your packed lunch. Or taking and combleting the various bounty quests across skyrim. Whether they be issued by the Jarls, the Companions or even your average civilian. If it allows you to fight something then do it. Why? You may ask, well you can't spend all your time fighting in the pits, there simply aren't enough scheduled fights for that. Also practice for when you do fight in the pits, as the best way to practice something is to do it.

    Recommended Mods

    Faction: Pit Fighter - This one speaks for itself really. How could you call yourself a pit fighter if there aren't any pits in Skyrim to fight in?

    No Killmoves - No Killcams - No Killbites - Really a mod that everyone should use, as the name suggests it disables those annoying killcams. No longer will you be left questioning why one of these things activated when you were at full health and blocking :D

    Ladies Ragged Trousers - For those of us that want these "Trousers" to live up to there name on female characters.

    Unique Uniques/Unique Uniques SE  - To give the Longhammer a unique appearance. Or if you don't like how it looks in this mod then you can try Unique Weapons Redone for a more hammer like look :P

    Playable Bandages (Or any other mod that adds those bandages as an item you can acquire) - For those of you who want to have a similar appearance to the character in the perk spread. Keep in mind that this version at least has some clipping in first person.

    Super Simple Lock Bash - For those of you playing on the Special Edition. Have you ever wondered why you can't break down a door with your weapon, especially since this build has a really big hammer? Well this fixes that.

  • November 14, 2016

    So glad you went with this name! Aelberon of Dusk salutes the Last Executioner with a tip of his hood. Snazzy cover arts, fun combat, and the utilization of arguably one of my top ten most favorite mod. Pit Fighter and Pit fighter travels. 

    Sorely tempted to play this. After Henantier, after Henantier. Gotta get him out of the Workshop. 

  • Member
    November 14, 2016

    Lissette Long-Chapper said:

    So glad you went with this name! Aelberon of Dusk salutes the Last Executioner with a tip of his hood. Snazzy cover arts, fun combat, and the utilization of arguably one of my top ten most favorite mod. Pit Fighter and Pit fighter travels. 

    Sorely tempted to play this. After Henantier, after Henantier. Gotta get him out of the Workshop. 

    Well we did both have the same idea for that name so that just proves how great it is, and if that's the case why wouldn't I go with it?

    By the way how does one tip their hood? Is it anything like tiping a hat?

  • November 14, 2016

    lol, I have no idea what tipping the hood entails. Albee would make it work, of course. Cause it's Albee and he can pretty much do anything. ;D

  • Member
    November 14, 2016

    There is an ancient riddle: What is stronger than steel?

  • Member
    November 14, 2016
    LONGHAMMEEEEER!!! :D 0 armor melee fighters are the bees knees: quick and hard-hitting, but challenging-ly squishy. I also appreciate the super-simple triad skill selection; it really does fit the build quite well (what's a pit fighter gonna do with Conjuration or Stealth xD), yet in spite of the limited number of skills selected, she is still surprisingly versatile. And a fantastic backstory to boot... well done, sir! :D
  • Member
    November 14, 2016

    ShinJin said: LONGHAMMEEEEER!!! :D 0 armor melee fighters are the bees knees: quick and hard-hitting, but challenging-ly squishy.

    I actually used that speed to retrieve the longhammer. When I found the cave that it's in I wasn't strong enough to fight the falmer within so I just ran past them. It worked surprisingly well and I was able to get in and out on my first attempt.

    ShinJin said: I also appreciate the super-simple triad skill selection; it really does fit the build quite well (what's a pit fighter gonna do with Conjuration or Stealth xD), yet in spite of the limited number of skills selected, she is still surprisingly versatile. And a fantastic backstory to boot... well done, sir! :D

    What can I say, sometimes simple is fun :D And that is some high praise, you're going to make me blush :P

     

  • November 15, 2016

    Ok, this deserves my like for several reasons. First: It´s an Altmer.

    Second: Altmer from Dusk. 

    Third: Longhammer cause that´s a weapon I never used. 

    And lastly, I would normally say that this build has a balls, but it really does not, but the build has some serious tits! xD 

  • Member
    November 15, 2016

    Golds, have I mentioned bfore just how damned sexy that art is? No? Well allow me to rectify that right now. That art is damned sexy! Her face is saying "come at me" and if I was there I would be more than happy to oblige.

    With that said I think I can now move on, freer and lighter than before. This is a fine build, dude, with some nice old school lore in there. Go Blades! Also, her reason for travelling to Skyrim has tickled me :D Classic Golden Fool right there!

    Nothing to dislike here. A pleasure to read, a treat for the eyes and some clever use of melee weapons. That fancy magic stuff can hang, who needs it when you can have veggie soup?

  • Member
    November 15, 2016

    Phil said:

    Golds, have I mentioned bfore just how damned sexy that art is? No? Well allow me to rectify that right now. That art is damned sexy! Her face is saying "come at me" and if I was there I would be more than happy to oblige.

    I'm not sure if that double entendre was intended but it's still funny either way xD

    Phil said:

    With that said I think I can now move on, freer and lighter than before. This is a fine build, dude, with some nice old school lore in there. Go Blades! Also, her reason for travelling to Skyrim has tickled me :D Classic Golden Fool right there!

    Nah man, Executioners all the way. Well what better reason is there to travel around Tamriel getting into fights and eating soup?

    Phil said:

    Nothing to dislike here. A pleasure to read, a treat for the eyes and some clever use of melee weapons. That fancy magic stuff can hang, who needs it when you can have veggie soup?

    Thanks Phil, it means a lot :D