Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Character Build: The Bloodletter

Tags: #Character Build Dual-Wield  #Character Build Rogue  #Character Build Alchemist  #Race:Orsimer  #SE Rank:Novice  #Tysoyaha 
  • February 16, 2018

     

    Concept:

    I've been fascinated with bleed damage in Skyrim for a while now. It's just such a cool concept with so much untapped potential. It's somewhere between a weapon enchantment and a poison, and in many ways better than both. It will apply on top of poisons and enchantments, which means it works with Elemental Fury. It never wears off so it doesn't need to be recharged with soul gems or reapplied using ingredients. Best of all, unlike poisons and weapon enchantments, it can be applied by shield bashing.

    If only it caused more damage, right? Well fret not my friend because I recently discovered that the bleed effect is treated as magic in Skyrim, meaning that weakness to magic poisons will buff the damage it does. So by using poisons that stack (i.e. different secondary effects), we can actually get bleeding to do some impressive damage.

    How is this any different it better than just using poisons that damage health directly? Well not only does the buff also apply to Targe of the Blooded, but one or two weakness to magic poisons will have every axe strike causing extra DoT for the duration of the effect. That's like if the Concentrated Poisons perk lasted 30 seconds instead of just two swings. You have to admit, that's pretty awesome.

     

    Background:

    You are Hephaestus, fearless leader of the Lhurgash Clan...or at least you could have been. Instead you were cast out at birth by your father, the chieftain, for the crime of being attractive. You spent your childhood learning how to fend for yourself in the unforgiving wilderness of Valenwood.

    Eventually you put your tracking skills to use as a bounty hunter, and got paid handsomely by the few remaining Bosmer loyalist for each Thalmor head you brought them. Earning their respect you were often offered food and shelter for your allegiance. For a while you made a living this way, but you quickly developed a reputation for your ruthless and animalistic behavior. The once hospitable Bosmer rebels became quick to toss you coins and encourage your departure.

    Tired and alone once more you were offered a job with a band of imperials that has been sneaking weapons and supplies to the Bosmer loyalist. They had received word of the Stormcloak rebellion and were headed to lend aid. They had heard of your unmatched skills and gruesome methods and thought the empire might have use for such a warrior. You accepted and thus began your long (and complicated) journey to Helgen.

     

     

    Build:

    Race - Orc
    One Hand damage isn't very high with this build, so Berserker Rage can help deal with some of the tougher enemies that don't bleed.

    Standing Stone - The Lady Stone
    More stamina for staggering enemies affected by DoT? Check. Recovering your own health as they bleed out? Double check.

    Magic/Health/Stamina - 0/1/2
    This build is heavy on stamina use, no matter how much you have. So, ironically, if you're bad at at managing your stamina usage, you'll want to edit this spread to focus more on health because won't be able to bash.

    Skills - Block, One Handed, Light Armor, Sneak, Alchemy
    Everything you need for your guerrilla warfare style battle tactics.

    Powers - Bardic Knowledge
    This power seems to reduce the time period that you can't use stamina after reaching 0. It's not broken like some crafted food that removes the delay entirely, so you still have to be strategic about stamina use.

    Abilities - Seeker of Sorcery
    Since bleed damage is treated like an enchantment, this gives it a slight buff. It's not much at base value, but it's calculated before weakness poisons so it'll be multiplied.

    Shouts - Elemental Fury, Marked for Death
    Bleed not only stacks, but it doesn't disrupt Elemental Fury. We're going to take full advantage of that by applying as much bleed as quickly as we can.

    Weapons - Orcish War Axe (x2), Targe of the Blooded
    Hotkeyed poisons won't apply to your offhand weapon, so you're better off putting these in your quickslots to easily change between stances.

    Armor - Hide Armor, Scaled Gauntlets, Scaled Boots, Leather Helmet
    This isn't your leap from the shadows style rogue, more like an ambush in the wilderness type. The armor style reflects this.

    Jewellery - Muiri's Ring
    Poisons boost your bleed damage, so this is a great ring to have.

     

    Blood Thinners:

    Anticoagulant (Salt Pile+Blue Butterfly Wing+Rock Warbler Egg) - Damage Stamina and Weakness to Magic Bleed

    Antiplatelet (Torchbug Thorax+Cyridilic Spadetail+Jazbay Grapes) - Ravage Health and Weakness to Magic Bleed

     

     

    Perks:

    Block - With insane amounts of bleed damage your better off using less stamina and bashing more often, so you can put off the right side perks until you have a larger stamina pool.

    One Handed - Paralyzing strike actually causes a knockdown...so it works on Deadra, Undead and Automatons. Making it very useful since this build is at a disadvantage with enemies that don't bleed.

    Light Armor - The idea with this build is that your defense should come from your shield and not from armor, making timing and strategy more important. This tree isn't a priority.

    Sneak - You don't need sneak multipliers for this build, you just need to be able to ambush tough enemies to apply tons of bleed weakness at the start of battle.

    Alchemy - Concentrated Poison is a huge part of the Death by a Thousand Cuts tactic, so it's definitely a priority.

     

    Special Tactics:

    Death by a Thousand Cuts - To give bleed damage a huge buff almost instantly, put one of each blood thinner on your axes and start battle with a dual power attack. This will stack weakness to bleed and an increasingly strong DoT three times in a row while also staggering the enemy just long enough for you to apply the last poison and switch an axe out for Targe.

    Requires: Concentrated Poisons, Anticoagulant, Antiplatelet
    Recommended: Elemental Fury, Sneak Attack

     

    Guerrilla Warfare - By quickly tapping the attack button twice and holding it down the second time you can perform a lightning fast double slash for the stamina cost of a single power attack. Even if the opponent is blocking, this will apply any poison on your axe, stack two bleed DoTs and often stagger.

    Required: Hack and Slash, Double Power Attack
    Recommended: Anticoagulant

     

    Tactical Awareness - Since both poisons and bleed will still be applied even if your attack is blocked, you don't really need to wait for an "opening" in battle. Hit them when they think they're protecting themselves and if an enemy lets their guard down to prepare an attack, don't try to beat them to the punch...just block or bash them. With bleed damage ticking away (and shield bash applying even more), you'll do more damage by biding your time than getting a free hit.

    Required: Targe is the Blooded
    Recommended: Bardic Knowledge

     

     

    Roleplay/Restrictions:

    Marked For Death - Don't abuse MfD. It's part of the build because it's the only thing that replicates The Bloodletter's signature DoT and steadily increasing damage on creatures without blood (see: poison and bleed immunity). It's meant to be used on Undead, Daedra and Automatons exclusively...and even then, just once per enemy should suffice.

    Head Hunter - For fear of being outcast in Skyrim too, Hephaestus no longer presents his victims heads when collecting his bounty. Old habits die hard though, and significant accomplishments should still be honored. So take the "heads" of important kills by looting their helmet or mask and displaying them on a shelf or mantle in your current residence.

  • February 16, 2018

    I feel like I'd basically be copying my other message, really cool trick behind this one though I also kind of like the character you started on, the idea of an Orc that's banished for being 'too attractive' is kind of interesting, I really think that it's something you should develop with this build, get it to be a major part of the character because it is an interesting idea. 

  • February 16, 2018

    Dragonborn1921 said:

    the idea of an Orc that's banished for being 'too attractive' is kind of interesting, I really think that it's something you should develop with this build.

     

    Ha, yea it was just supposed to be a humorous reversal of the story of Hephaestus, but I could see it developing into something petty interesting. I'm not particularly good at roleplay, so maybe I'll post something about it in the RP help thread. Thanks man!

  • Member
    February 24, 2018
    Bleed damage is definitely fun, I think you've built around it very well here Tyso. There's nothing quite like watching a frost troll bleed out despite its regeneration ability. I did not know about bleed damage being treated as a magical effect, so that is pretty awesome you are right. The fun to be had now I know this! So cheers for that and the cool build :)
  • February 25, 2018

    Paws said: Bleed damage is definitely fun, I think you've built around it very well here Tyso. There's nothing quite like watching a frost troll bleed out despite its regeneration ability. I did not know about bleed damage being treated as a magical effect, so that is pretty awesome you are right. The fun to be had now I know this! So cheers for that and the cool build :)

    Thanks man. Yea, I feel like bleed damage has been widely overlooked because no one really knew how to buff it. This is really just a basic showcase of the fact that I figured out how. Lol. Hopefully will open the door for the even more creative among us to explore builds based on bleed damage.