Thrall Thread : Living with the dead

[The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass]

The Cultist's body was still there upon return. After thralling his quest marker disappears (and reappears while he is dead). His moan is pretty annoying, but I can get used to it. He always has his weapons unsheathed (I hate NPCs that do that). He stuck with me after fast travelling. Further testing will be done.

He resisted everything except for dread zombie. He appears to be another one handed light armour type bandit. I got him to spawn leather boots once, so I suspect that is the best armour he can wear. He also, oddly enough, produced an iron shield out of nowhere while I was resetting his armour.

He can produce scaled. He can also produce an elven shield.

He does not hold onto his weapons after death. You must pick them up and put them back in his inventory. Shields too. (Only if you kill him by summoning new minions or something. If he is killed naturally, they will stick)

He is completely persistent as long as you don't take the book, and the quest stays active.

He is a superb fighter, and pretty aggressive. All in all, he is worth it. He'll shout about worthy opponents a lot. He is good with one handed and two handed weapons.

 

[The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass]

Do enchantments such as fortify light/heavy armour or one/two handed or blocking actually benefit a thrall? Also, I remember reading on one of the wikis a long time ago that enchanting a thrall's armour removed the +100 hp from the perk in the conjuration tree. However, I cannot find where it said that now. Does it mean that that particular effect was patched?

 

[Adam Warlock]

Do enchantments such as fortify light/heavy armour or one/two handed or blocking actually benefit a thrall? Also, I remember reading on one of the wikis a long time ago that enchanting a thrall's armour removed the +100 hp from the perk in the conjuration tree. However, I cannot find where it said that now. Does it mean that that particular effect was patched?

This site still indicates that Dark Souls perk buff is negated by enchantments --- http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Dead_Thrall
If I`ve got at the least some enchantable chest attire to pin some health on, then I don`t worry about it.


See this page under "Follower Equipment" for the effective enchantments that can also benefit your thrall as well ----http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Followers

 

[iMACobra]

So is the old orc stable? And you can anchor his body? Can you get more Old Orc encounters than one? And also, will he increase in level later if you killed him at a low level? And does that guard set Mirmulnir drops count as an anchor?

I currently have the Old Orc anchored(treasure map from fort neugrad).
He must be at cap because he resisted Revenant.
In my experience , this type of NPC remained locked at the level they were when killed.
(at lvl 31) I have a number of such random lvl) thralls locked at low levels including Sild , Silus Vesuius , and The Caller.
Others like Arondil and Anska are capped like Old Orc.
Just a matter of chance but its does seem that the higher your own level , the more likely NPC will be high/capped.

I`ve read about Old Orc respawns but it`s never happened to me.
possible a patch changed things after those reports

Why are you guys anchoring the Old Orc? He is completely permanent as are his 2 dead sabre cats. You can easily check if an NPC levels up with u or is radiant leveled by checking uesp.net. For example, Silus Vesuius levels up at 0.75x the player's level until he is level 30 despite Adam saying he is locked at a random level. Sild the Warlock, The Caller and Arondil are radiantly leveled, meaning they can be some sort of random level depending on your level and stay that way for the rest of the game. They cap at 40 but can stay lower leveled forever if u meet them earlier. Old Orc and Anska are radiantly leveled up to 25. Radiant NPCs will not level up with u like Silus Vesuius does.

 

[Adam Warlock]

Sonja finally succumbed to madness and in her desire for immortality has joined the Volkihar Clan.(still at lvl 31)

This has resulted in two named vampire thralls , Stalf and Salonia Caelia.(anchored for now)
They fight very differently , Stalf using Destruction magic from range with Salonia preferring Life Drain and blade up close. The moans aren`t that bad and both are marvelously scary looking



Side note - got the "Deceiving The Herd" quest directing that a citizen be openly killed on the streets of Raven Rock.
Went to Severin Manor and reanimated the body of Mirri , took her unarmed and naked to the market square , and cut her up in front of the crowd !
Quest completed !
Best of all , NO BOUNTY !

 

[Adam Warlock]

Sonja finally succumbed to madness and in her desire for immortality has joined the Volkihar Clan.(still at lvl 31)

This has resulted in two named vampire thralls , Stalf and Salonia Caelia.(anchored for now)
They fight very differently , Stalf using Destruction magic from range with Salonia preferring Life Drain and blade up close. The moans aren`t that bad and both are marvelously scary looking



Side note - got the "Deceiving The Herd" quest directing that a citizen be openly killed on the streets of Raven Rock.
Went to Severin Manor and reanimated the body of Mirri , took her unarmed and naked to the market square , and cut her up in front of the crowd !
Quest completed !
Best of all , NO BOUNTY !

btw Sonja as a vampire is absolutely gorgeous !
No trip to Riften needed for an undead makeover

 

[Denvald The Deathless]

Talking about vampires, did you know we can obtain the heal undead spell tome without having to side with the Volkihars? I didn't, so I thought it could be nice share the info. Stumbled across [this] last night when I was thinking about end-game spells for my necromancers, afterall, who wouldn't like the idea of sitting back casting some healing/illusion spells while your thralls get their hands dirty?

PS: To ensure the trick, I'd suggest getting the full slow time shout as well as saving before trying it, just in case things go wrong :]

 

[Irishman]

Talking about vampires, did you know we can obtain the heal undead spell tome without having to side with the Volkihars? I didn't, so i thought it could be nice share the info. Stumbled across [this] last night when I was thinking about end-game spells for my necromancers, afterall, who wouldn't like the idea of sitting back casting some healing/illusion spells while your thralls get their hands dirty?

This also works when you are attacking Fort Dawnguard. You can use an illusion 'calm' (or similar) spell on Florientius Baenius and get him to sell you Standarrs Aura and Vampire Bane. I believe you can also do the same spell to Sorine and gain Sun Fire. Although your technique works at the begining at the questline, so good find I will definitely try this the next time I play a Vampire. Nothing like a Vampiric Vampire Hunter

 

[Denvald The Deathless]

Talking about vampires, did you know we can obtain the heal undead spell tome without having to side with the Volkihars? I didn't, so i thought it could be nice share the info. Stumbled across [this] last night when I was thinking about end-game spells for my necromancers, afterall, who wouldn't like the idea of sitting back casting some healing/illusion spells while your thralls get their hands dirty?

This also works when you are attacking Fort Dawnguard. You can use an illusion 'calm' (or similar) spell on Florientius Baenius and get him to sell you Standarrs Aura and Vampire Bane. I believe you can also do the same spell to Sorine and gain Sun Fire. Although your technique works at the begining at the questline, so good find I will definitely try this the next time I play a Vampire. Nothing like a Vampiric Vampire Hunter

Oh yes, there's also the Dawnguard trick. well remembered, Irishman. Personally I'm more of a pro-dawnguard player, only choosing Vampire side for roleplaying purposes, so I'm also eager to try getting that tome. The deal is, I have yet to complete the Awakening quest because I can't figure which level my character have to be in order to thrall a master vampire lokil. According to UESPwiki, the PC level required for spawning him is 48 which does'nt really aply to ps3, thus stopping my progress in DG questline.

Currently trying to find ways of getting permanent master cultist and Volkihar vampires... Npsc that come to mind are the first Cultists we met and dead vampire corpses found in Hall of the Vigilant, since both are radiant-level (not sure if the dead vamps are) it would be required to be around level 70~80 to spawn them, I guess.

Wish I could post my results about cultists here, but seeing how the tests I held were a bit... blurry (missed a screenshot of default armoured Master Cultist summoning a seeker) perhaps it will be better posting the results later.

 

[Rimfaxe96]

I always thought the male moan sounded like a cave bear being raped by a horker

 

[iMACobra]

Talking about vampires, did you know we can obtain the heal undead spell tome without having to side with the Volkihars? I didn't, so i thought it could be nice share the info. Stumbled across [this] last night when I was thinking about end-game spells for my necromancers, afterall, who wouldn't like the idea of sitting back casting some healing/illusion spells while your thralls get their hands dirty?

This also works when you are attacking Fort Dawnguard. You can use an illusion 'calm' (or similar) spell on Florientius Baenius and get him to sell you Standarrs Aura and Vampire Bane. I believe you can also do the same spell to Sorine and gain Sun Fire. Although your technique works at the begining at the questline, so good find I will definitely try this the next time I play a Vampire. Nothing like a Vampiric Vampire Hunter

Oh yes, there's also the Dawnguard trick. well remembered, Irishman. Personally I'm more of a pro-dawnguard player, only choosing Vampire side for roleplaying purposes, so I'm also eager to try getting that tome. The deal is, I have yet to complete the Awakening quest because I can't figure which level my character have to be in order to thrall a master vampire lokil. According to UESPwiki, the PC level required for spawning him is 48 which does'nt really aply to ps3, thus stopping my progress in DG questline.

Currently trying to find ways of getting permanent master cultist and Volkihar vampires... Npsc that come to mind are the first Cultists we met and dead vampire corpses found in Hall of the Vigilant, since both are radiant-level (not sure if the dead vamps are) it would be required to be around level 70~80 to spawn them, I guess.

Wish I could post my results about cultists here, but seeing how the tests I held were a bit... blurry (missed a screenshot of default armoured Master Cultist summoning a seeker) perhaps it will be better posting the results later.

Yes, the best way to get perma corpses of Master Cultists are the first ones that track you down in Skyrim. You can even get 2 Master Cultists. Just spawn to a city or town (I used Ivarstead) and check what type they are. Just keep reloading until you find 2 Master Cultists unless you want only one. For Volkihar Vampires... Lokil would seem to be a good choice but he respawns even if you anchor him. He respawned on me and I found a Bounty letter on him. An anchored Laelette the Vampire would be your best bet. I'm pretty sure the dead Vampires around the Hall of the Vigilant respawn their inventories so no keeping precious objects on them.

 

[Adam Warlock]

Random notes--

Currently testing a Bandit Marauder(mage) for permanency with anchor.
This particular one is a female Dunmer who was a target of Captain Kjar`s Harsh Master quest to Stony Creek Cave.
30 days and counting ! Stony Creek has already respawned and she`s still with me.

Stalleo- lvl 25 Bandit Wizard(anchored for now). Essentially identical to Anska(perma) except for gender. Fire/frost/shock

Traveling Bard- anchored target of Volkihar radiant quest. Lvl 25 1h Bandit class in clothing. Moans. More powerful than you would think

J`darr - anchored Skooma addict is lvl 25 Bandit class in clothing.

As with Adam , Sonja held on to Rigel Strong-Arm for a good long while before she eventually respawned back at Pinewatch. anchor was recovered from her new incarnation

 

[iMACobra]

Random notes--

Currently testing a Bandit Marauder(mage) for permanency with anchor.
This particular one is a female Dunmer who was a target of Captain Kjar`s Harsh Master quest to Stony Creek Cave.
30 days and counting ! Stony Creek has already respawned and she`s still with me.

Stalleo- lvl 25 Bandit Wizard(anchored for now). Essentially identical to Anska(perma) except for gender. Fire/frost/shock

Traveling Bard- anchored target of Volkihar radiant quest. Lvl 25 1h Bandit class in clothing. Moans. More powerful than you would think

J`darr - anchored Skooma addict is lvl 25 Bandit class in clothing.

As with Adam , Sonja held on to Rigel Strong-Arm for a good long while before she eventually respawned back at Pinewatch. anchor was recovered from her new incarnation

Stalleo is different from Anska because he has Augmented Flames/Frost/Shock and all are Rank 2. Isn't J'darr permanent because I went back through Alfthand Glacial Ruins to check some things and he was still there along with his dead brother (this was way after I finished the MQ).

I really like using Chief Yamarz as a dual wielding thrall. I gave him a Forsworn and Daedric Sword and he goes to work. With his 1271hp and Max Armor cap (567) on his smithed up Orchish armor, he never really dies. Gave him bow n' arrows and staves for long range combat. Had to keep him away from Serana because she can raise him if he ever does die (lv. 20).

And a weird thing I noticed about thralled cultists. I gave my male Dunmer Master Cultist a Nordic Greatsword and it was sheathed at his waist like a normal 1h sword. When he pulls out his weapon he pulls it from his back and nothing is in his hands because the Greatsword is at his waist. Damage is dealt but the sword is just invisible like he's attacking with nothing. This also happens with Dremora but while dual wielding. Give them a Forsworn weapon with another 1h sword and when they dual wield, the forsworn weapon is invisible. They attack with nothing in their left hand. Tried this out with Velehk Sain since he can't dual wield with the 2 schimitars he had.

 

[Denvald The Deathless]

This also works when you are attacking Fort Dawnguard. You can use an illusion 'calm' (or similar) spell on Florientius Baenius and get him to sell you Standarrs Aura and Vampire Bane. I believe you can also do the same spell to Sorine and gain Sun Fire. Although your technique works at the begining at the questline, so good find I will definitely try this the next time I play a Vampire. Nothing like a Vampiric Vampire Hunter

Oh yes, there's also the Dawnguard trick. well remembered, Irishman. Personally I'm more of a pro-dawnguard player, only choosing Vampire side for roleplaying purposes, so I'm also eager to try getting that tome. The deal is, I have yet to complete the Awakening quest because I can't figure which level my character have to be in order to thrall a master vampire lokil. According to UESPwiki, the PC level required for spawning him is 48 which does'nt really aply to ps3, thus stopping my progress in DG questline.

Currently trying to find ways of getting permanent master cultist and Volkihar vampires... Npsc that come to mind are the first Cultists we met and dead vampire corpses found in Hall of the Vigilant, since both are radiant-level (not sure if the dead vamps are) it would be required to be around level 70~80 to spawn them, I guess.

Wish I could post my results about cultists here, but seeing how the tests I held were a bit... blurry (missed a screenshot of default armoured Master Cultist summoning a seeker) perhaps it will be better posting the results later.

Yes, the best way to get perma corpses of Master Cultists are the first ones that track you down in Skyrim. You can even get 2 Master Cultists. Just spawn to a city or town (I used Ivarstead) and check what type they are. Just keep reloading until you find 2 Master Cultists unless you want only one. For Volkihar Vampires... Lokil would seem to be a good choice but he respawns even if you anchor him. He respawned on me and I found a Bounty letter on him. An anchored Laelette the Vampire would be your best bet. I'm pretty sure the dead Vampires around the Hall of the Vigilant respawn their inventories so no keeping precious objects on them.

Hey Cobra, do you remember what was your level when the Master Cultists spawned for you? Currently my test character is 90; after thirty attempts, the strongest cultists I managed to find were Ascending ones

About the hall of the vigilant, guess I had wandered too close to the hall's cell while my character was heading to mehrunes shrine... Now the bodies are locked at master level, Even if visiting the place for the first time

 

[iMACobra]

I was lvl. 81 when I found my 2 Master Cultists. They should start appearing at lvl. 36. I've even encountered Arch Cultists but they're unthrallable (lvl. 46). Maybe they appear less for this particular encounter or you just have bad luck. Truthfully, it took me many tries to get 2 Master Cultists probably longer than you.

 

[Adam Warlock]

Spoiler= Prophet quest(vampire side)


It took me several tries to get Dexion properly controlled but I managed to complete this quest and received two new Dead Thralls in the process.

Malkus-
(scales with DB) Orc vampire
currently anchored with @ 300hp/200mp
Ugly as home-made sin with a typical Orc moan
Bandit Wizard ! class which means he casts fire spells in addition to frost and shock.
His Vampire armor has a default Fortify Destruction enchantment


Vanik-
Nord Dawnguard (scales 1.1x DB)
anchored with @350hp/175sp
Wears 3 pieces unenchanted Dawnguard armor
Moans
Blacksmith class means his only valid combat skill is one-hand
Adding Fortify Armor enchants to his gear seems to help survival and I converted him to a dual-wield build with forsworn sword(left hand) because his blocking was largely ineffective even with an improved dawnguard shield

 

[Barbarian_Shaman]

I have not visited this thread in a long time, LOVED reading the new entries hahaha

 

[Adam Warlock]

Sonja`s Random notes from level 31.

Acquired Arch-Curate Vyrthur who is every bit as good as previously reported here. No moans , Frost Atronach , Frost cloak , Destruction magic.

Defeated Harkon and subsequently receive quest to destroy the Dawnguard.
1st victim was outside guard , Vori , who turned out NOT to have permanent corpse.
Inside the fort were all permanent corpses except for the dogs.

Began by testing the pair of Blacksmith class(similar to Vanik they both scale 1.1xDB)-
Gunmar- No moan!, fairly strong despite 1h being only primary combat skill
Isran - No moan , stronger than Gunmar by virtue of higher base hp and some beneficial perks , Stendarr`s Aura gives him great visual appeal and it seems the Sun damage doesn`t affect friendly undead in the slightest

Next tested Florentius who is Priest class , No moan , only wears armor on feet and hands, probably the weakest of the whole bunch . Thankfully will use a crossbow at range but doesnt favor a hand weapon typically even tho he will hold a shield. Observed to use Frostbite/Flames/Sparks

Sorine is remarkedly better than expected , Moans occasionally but has some nice skills with her Thief classification(archery , light armor , 1h)-

Durak(ranger/archer) and Celann(warrior/1h) both moan but make more than adequate fighters. Either one compares favorably to a Bandit Chief . I like Celann just a bit more than the Orc due to his Breton inborn magic resistance.

Beleval and Agmaer have been reported on before- decent warriors that I rate somewhere inbetween Bandit Plunderer and Bandit Marauder strength


Now touring with Isran and Vyrthur as a couple of fantastic(and silent) Dead Thralls. Their combat taunts are quite fun and I like the dual aspect of Sun and Ice during fights when they are both cloaked.
Along with Serana and my reikling , The Great Gajoo, we make a powerful troop that fears no enemy.

Best part of it all is that I`m able to keep Serana and still have an additional follower slot that I can fill whenever I want.
That`s 5 powerful allies NOT INCLUDING conjurations/raisings they may call upon(Gajoo only uses bow)
So at any given time , I could have a platoon of 9 if I give summoning staves to Isran as well as follower#2 (if he/she can`t summons on their own)

 

[Adam Warlock]

Side note - got the "Deceiving The Herd" quest directing that a citizen be openly killed on the streets of Raven Rock.
Went to Severin Manor and reanimated the body of Mirri , took her unarmed and naked to the market square , and cut her up in front of the crowd !
Quest completed !
Best of all , NO BOUNTY !

Turns out ANY thrall killed in this way satisfies the basic quest.
The NPC does not even have to be from the particular town or hold.

 

[Irishman]

Side note - got the "Deceiving The Herd" quest directing that a citizen be openly killed on the streets of Raven Rock.
Went to Severin Manor and reanimated the body of Mirri , took her unarmed and naked to the market square , and cut her up in front of the crowd !
Quest completed !
Best of all , NO BOUNTY !

Turns out ANY thrall killed in this way satisfies the basic quest.
The NPC does not even have to be from the particular town or hold.

It does however help if they are a notable NPC, like a market stall owner etc. I cant remember why its better though (maybe better reward or more coin??). Its been awile since ive been a volkihor vamp...