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Event Build: The Valenwood Vampire

Tags: #Character Build Archer  #Character Build No Crafting  #Character Build Vampire  #Race:Bosmer  #Rank:Event Bloodworks  #Event:2in2  #Peppo 
  • March 20, 2017

     

    "You know more than anyone alive about these monsters, in all their cursed varieties across the land. Now you must tell me about the vampires of northern Valenwood."

    I did as he asked, and once again, his questions taxed my knowledge. There were many tribes to cover. The Bonsamu who were indistinguishable from Bosmer except when seen by candlelight. The Keerilth who could disintegrate into mist. The Yekef who swallowed men whole. The dread Telboth who preyed on children, eventually taking their place in the family, waiting patiently for years before murdering them all in their unnatural hunger...

    - Immortal Blood by anonymous, on the vampires of northern Valenwood.

     

    Bosmer are an Elven race with peculiar customs: they excel at the bow and are very good hunters. The ones still living in Valenwood often group up forming tribes (although the majority lives in the cities), but are nonetheless very civilized and friendly. What makes them so strange to outsiders is their religious abstinence from vegetables and every activity involving the cutting or seizing of plants: this rule, called the Green Pact, has some interesting consequences including the impossibility to use wood as a building material and cannibalism.

    In particular, there is a small number of Bosmer Vampires that haunts the region, each tribe with different traits (as you can read above). They are shunned by ther own kin, but nonetheless they keep their religious customs. Not all Bosmer are bound to their tradition, though: many Wood Elves that travelled to another region gave up on their willing abstinence from fruits and plants, leaving their habits for the forests and woods of their homeland (which they call the Green), but a lot still practice their beleifs even in Skyrim.

     

     

     

    About the "Two in Two" Event

    So, the purpose of this event is playing a character build that requires only two perk trees to be levelled. Then why choose a Bosmeri vampire? The answer is simple: Bosmer are the race with the highest starting level in archery, plus they are the only race that has a boost in both archery and light armor, the perks we will level up.

    A Bosmer Vampire is also very lore-friendly: as you can read above there are multiple tribes, so you can choose the one that best represents your character when thinking about a backstory. For example, in the game I played my character was a Keerilth, and for this reason I heavily relied on Embrace of Shadows to kill and escape without being noticed.

    I chose a vampire-oriented build for this event because the Vampiric Drain skill doesn't level up destruction, thus it's perfect for close combat where bow and arrow are less useful. This means that you can technically play without levelling up any other perk (save the ones you need perforce to advance in the game, e.g. speech to get into Riften) and still be fine.

     

     

    Premise: The Green Pact

    Concerning the Wood Elves as a people, we must again turn to the prolific Eric of Guis. [...] "They are exclusively and religiously carnivorous. They cannot, or will not, eat anything that is plant-based. They eat game, beastfolk, each other, or meats imported from other regions. This part of the Green Pact is known as the Meat Mandate, and, among its other rules, it requires that a fallen enemy must be eaten completely before three days pass. The family members of the warrior that slew the enemy may help him with his meal. Needless to say, the Wood Elves do not like to engage in large battles if they have not undergone a suitable starvation period.

    - Pocket Guide to the Empire, First Edition: Aldmeri Dominion by the Imperial Geographical Society, on the Green Pact.

     

    As you can read, all the Wood Elves of Valenwood are a carnivore race (at least those that adhere to the Green Pact) and their religion encourages them to use every single part of the creature they kill: this means that, "though they are excellent archers, the Green Pact forces their bowyers and fletchers to use bone or similar materials, or to buy bows and arrows from other cultures" (Pocket Guide to the Empire, First Edition: Aldmeri Dominion). That's why I prefer using Forsworn or Elven bows, since the former is made of animal remains, and the latter is made of Elven metal.

    In Skyrim there is an item that lets you eat corpses, the Ring of Namira: it is mandatory for this build since it makes the game much more realistic for a Bosmer. For this reason, eating the people you kill is mandatory, albeit eating ten corpses in an hour would be unrealistic. In any case, the custom of eating every single fallen enemy "is now only followed in the most remote and savage villages" (War Customs of the Tribal Bosmer), so it doesn't matter if you leave some to rot. 

    The Green Pact should also affect your overall role playing: never pick up mushrooms and flowers and never eat fruit and vegetables! Not even bread. On the left, you can see how the Food slot in your inventory should look like: some cheese, maybe a jug of milk, and a lot of meat.

      

     

    The Build

    Wood Elves go to war not to conquer lands or covet precious resources; they do it for sport. Unless a threat to Valenwood presents itself, Bosmer consider the slaying of others to be simply unnecessary, [...] but when called upon, they excel at the bow. Youngsters are trained to a formidable degree to snipe using both range and speed to their advantage. When you walk the woods near Arenthia, hold your purse or satchel close, and report Bosmeri brigands to your local town watch.

    - The Improved Emperor's Guide to Tamriel (Valenwood: Wood Elves of the Aldmeri Dominion) by Flaccus Terentius, on Bosmeri tribes.

     

     

       Race: Bosmer Vampire

     

       Standing Stone: Thief until ~10, then Serpent

       Stats: 2/1/0 until 9, then 1/1/1

     

       Skills: Archery, Light Armor

       Spells and Powers: Vampiric Drain, Embrace of Shadows

       Weapon: Hunter's Bow, Forsworn Bow or other (see below)

       Armor: Ring of Namira, light armor (see below)

     

    Archery is the core of this build: although sneak and alchemy can't be used, this build is still heavily reliant upon it. You always have to get the first hit on the enemy and shoot as many arrows as possible before switching to vampiric drain, which is more of a backup plan than an actual offensive tool.

    Being able to focus down a lone enemy without being noticed is very important, so you can devour them with your Ring of Namira and get all that extra HP and stamina (which is why you don't level them up as much early on).

    Light armor ensures you won't get destroyed in close range so you can use Vampiric Drain while your stamina is regenerating. Besides, you don't need much else to be effective.

    The stats spread is 2/1/because you don't really have a way to lower the mana cost of vampiric drain, and early on it's very mana-intensive. You can later switch to 1/1/1 when you acquire more items that increase your mana pool.

     

     

     Armor and Weapons

    With the Green Pact stringently adhered to, many Wood Elves choose arms and armor imported from lands without ludicrous covenants. With only coal or peat to feed a forge, metal implements are hard to come by. What remains are minerals and animal matter harvested from the creatures of the forest before the mold or insects get them. [...] Bones for axe handles, shells for shields, and leather all offer crafting and decorative options.

    - The Improved Emperor's Guide to Tamriel (Valenwood: Wood Elves of the Aldmeri Dominion) by Flaccus Terentius, on Bosmeri weaponry.

     

    Retrieving all the equipment is one of the most entertaining parts of the build: since enchanting is out of question, finding the right pieces of armor with the best enchantments gives a major boost to the skills. These armor sets are very lore-friendly: they are made from animal remains (remember the Green Pact says you should use every part of the animals you kill) and are very light. At the same time, they enhance your damage and increase your defenses.

    I went for two different sets, one for the first hours of playtime (the items are very easy to find) and one that takes a bit more time to find:

    Early

    • Head: Shrouded Cowl (+20% damage to bows)
    • Chest: Scaled Armor
    • Feet: Shrouded Boots (muffle)
    • Hands: Scaled Bracers
    • Ring: Ring of Namira (+50 stamina; +50 health and +50% health regeneration after feeding)
    • Necklace: Andurs' Amulet of Arkay (+10 health)
    • Bow: Bow of the Hunt (+20 damage to animals)
    • Vampirism

    This set gives a total of 62 armor, and you can technically find all the items at level 1: a full scaled armor can be retrieved from the corpse of Fultheim the Fearless after Astrid from the Dark Brotherhood kidnaps you and forces you to kill one of the prisoners; the shrouded cowl and boots are found in the following quest after enetring the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. Andurs' amulet is found in the hall of the dead in Whiterun.

    The Ring of Namira requires a bit more effort, but it's a very simple quest with a follower so nothing too difficult. Also, the bow of the Hunt is in a very small cave with no side quests.

    As for Vampirism, becoming infected might be a bit hard because of the Bosmeri natural resistance to diseases: the easiest way is to find a cave with low level vampires so you can sustain multiple attacks, and the most common choice is Movarth's Lair near Solitude. Personally, I went for the vampire lair at Cronvangr Cave since it's halfway between Whiterun and Windhelm, plus it's very small and the only enemies on the first floor are three vampires and a couple of frostbite spiders.

     

    Late

    • Head: Shrouded Cowl (+20% damage to bows)
    • Chest: Savior's Hide (+15% magic resistance, +50% poison resistance)
    • Feet: Predator's Grace (muffle; +1% stamina regen)
    • Hands: Gauntlets of the Old Gods (+20% damage to bows)
    • Ring: Ring of Namira (+50 stamina; +50 health and +50% health regeneration after feeding)
    • Necklace: Jyrik's Gauldur Amulet Fragment (+30 magicka)
    • Bow: Forsworn/Elven Bow

    The "late" set sacrifices a bit of armor for extra magic resistance and damage to bows. Finishing the quests for every piece of armor is the best way to get early levels, so that by the time you complete it you'll be level 6 at least: I suggest you start by finding the gauntlets and the Gauldur fragment, since the extra damage to bows really adds up and using the vampiric drain consumes your mana at an alarming rate. The predator's grace is there for aesthetic purposes because it has pretty much the same enchantment as the shrouded boots and a lower armor rating.

    If you want more, you can continue the Dark Brotherhood questline and find the ancient shrouded cowl (+35% damage to bows and a higher armor rating) and Firiniel's end, a unique elven bow. Also, you could complete the Gauldur amulet.

     

     

    Perk Spread (level 11-22)

       

     

    There isn't much to say, since the perk spread is restricted to archery and light armor: by level 10-11 you should have about level 40 in light armor and much higher in archery, so this is almost the only way you can level them. As for higher levels, take the left path when levelling light armor: Unhindered, Wind Walker and Deft Movement all give huge benefits, while Matching Set obviously doesn't work with such armor.

     

     

    Gameplay and Quests

    [...] The Wood Elves appeared, helping their Altmeri brethren repel the raiders and send them back to their boats. Mer of the sea and woods make an interesting contrast; the Maormer resemble the High Elves in the relative sophistication of their equipment, and the discipline of their medium-armored marines is impressive. But facing the cheerful ferocity and superior marksmanship of Bosmeri bowmen, the Sea Elves lost heart and withdrew.

    - The Improved Emperor's Guide to Tamriel (Valenwood: Wood Elves of the Aldmeri Dominion) by Flaccus Terentius, on Maormeri assaults.

     

    Being a Bosmer, the bow is your primary tool: keep your distance when fighting and you have the upper hand. Engaging in prolonged fights with strong enemies - especially early on - is a problem, almost impossible without shouts or followers, but the extra damage from the cowl and the gauntlets helps a little bit. Since trading is prohibited (as it increases Speech and goes against the rules of the event) finding arrows might be difficult at first, but exploring an ancient Nord tomb or a bandit camp will refill your stock in no time.

    As a vampire, I decided not to use the Dawnguard upgrades because that would've been too much of an exploit of the Two in Two event: vampiric drain is the main skill for close quarters, while embrace of shadows is used to escape dangerous situations. However, keep in mind you unlock it at the fourth stage of vampirism, which means the guards will attack you on sight unless you have Dawnguard installed.

    As for the various items of the loadout, I marked them on this map in order of priority (more or less): 

    Legend:

    • Red - First set
    • Yellow - Second set
    • Blue - Optional

     

     

    About the quests, it really depends on the backstory of your character: some good all-around questlines are the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild, which make the most out of the muffled boots and the natural perks of a vampire (the invisibility and the stealth increase). The Dawnguard questline, of course in favor of the Volkihar Clan, also comes to mind.

    The College of Winterhold might be an interesting choice for a Bonsamu or Telboth vampire, but that would require the usage of spells violating the rules. Still, you can technically finish it using very few spells if becoming the arch-mage of Winterhold is your aim. And about the main quest, I decided to skip it entirely for lore reasons, but unlocking shouts makes everything better: I'd suggest to at least meet the Greybeards and learn the Unrelenting Force and Whirlwind Sprint shouts.

    I'd definitely reject the Civil War and the Companions questlines, the former because a Bosmer has no interest in fighting for the better of Skyrim and the latter because it makes you become a werewolf, plus the Companions are traditionally a Nord faction. On the other hand, the Bards College might not be your usual choice for a savage that wears animal skin, but it's not against a Bosmer's beleifs.

     

     

    Thank you for reading this guide till the end, and have fun if I made you want to try it out. Cheers!

  • March 20, 2017

    This looks great so far. How high a level did you play this too? The minimum level for a submission is twenty, just so that you know. I only see a level 11 perkspread. 

  • March 21, 2017
    I've actually played it until about level 21 (albeit I kind of cheated using bandits and vampiric drain to level up light armor), I Just thought the perk spread at level 20 was kinda obvious and I completely forgot about that rule. I'll add It as soon as I get back home.
  • March 21, 2017

    Wow that was fast!  Nice job Peppo!  I could see a tier 4 vampiric drain being very effective at low levels.

  • March 21, 2017

    Vargr White-Tree said:

    Wow that was fast!  Nice job Peppo!  I could see a tier 4 vampiric drain being very effective at low levels.

    It is indeed! It consumes a lot of mana, but switching between bow and vampiric drain is so convenient. And thanks for the compliments!

    Also, I added the level 22 perk spread.

     

  • March 21, 2017

    Nice! Bosmer have some of the most intruiging lore. I really like the armor looks you've put together. Hunting down equipment like that rather than enchanting is a lot of fun. The map with the quest locations is cool - never seen that in a build before.

  • March 21, 2017

    Plunders-The-Mountains said:

    Nice! Bosmer have some of the most intruiging lore. I really like the armor looks you've put together. Hunting down equipment like that rather than enchanting is a lot of fun. The map with the quest locations is cool - never seen that in a build before.

    I agree, I really like that quest location marker. Very nice idea. I've always been a fan of no-crafting builds. You did a great job. Tonight, I'll update your completed build in the Event thread. Awesome work. 

  • March 21, 2017

    Plunders-The-Mountains said:

    Nice! Bosmer have some of the most intruiging lore. I really like the armor looks you've put together. Hunting down equipment like that rather than enchanting is a lot of fun. The map with the quest locations is cool - never seen that in a build before.

    I'm glad you like it: most of my playtesting involved finding armor and weapons, so I figured it would be a good idea to put a map in the guide.

    Lissette Long-Chapper said:

    I agree, I really like that quest location marker. Very nice idea. I've always been a fan of no-crafting builds. You did a great job. Tonight, I'll update your completed build in the Event thread. Awesome work. 

    Yay :D

     

  • March 23, 2017

    My bad, forgot to like. 

  • Member
    March 24, 2017

    Man, canibalism builds give me the heebeegeebees... but I like this. I also thinkg its pretty cool that you've got a close quarter spell that doesn't level up any other skills. Pretty freaking clever! ;D

    Also, as someone who still finds himself stumbling all over Skyrim wondering where everything is, the map for your gear load-out is much appreciated xD

    Again, nice work!