Thrall Thread : Living with the dead

[The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass]

That's the idea... you get a quest marker if he dies. I also think he might be a silent one, I hardly every remember him moaning if at all, though I could be mistaken. I do distinctly remember the "You must die" lines

 

[iMACobra]

I guess losing the Ebony Mail, Champion of Boethiah, and sacrificing a follower are not such a huge loss and I'm serious too. The Ebony Mail is just a poison cloak which wont work on the majority of enemies, the Champ is more efficient in Light Armor (being classed as a Forsworn...), and sacrificing a follower can be somewhat a big loss (although I would just sacrifice Enmon because he's useless anyway, yes I'm that evil sacrificing the Sybille of Dibella's father to a Daedric Prince)

 

[Adam Warlock]

Discussing Thrall equipment -

the numbers -
I find it easy to forget that every stat displayed is always for the Dragonborn and that your minion`s(followers or thralls) totals are never displayed on console.
It is rarely the case that your minion will have the same skill levels/perks/powers as you.
example -
No perks involved , you are 100 skill in Heavy Armor and have a set of Ebony that rates 600. Giving the gear to follower Erik the Slayer(HAskill20) is not providing armor cap for him although it will look as if it does in his inventory.
This is why I utilize Fortify Armor enchantments to match the type worn. It`s a headache to calculate the totals so I don`t bother and just do the best I can for my helper.
If Erik is a thrall , increasing his skill in his mismatched default iron or blades gear is highly advised

Sometimes this circumstance can benefit if the minion has skills/perks that are missing from your DB. A Bandit Marauder mage will get 45 fire damage from an Inferno weapon/60 from a Fireball staff when you will view only 30dmg/40 if you don`t share his flame augment perks.
Many NPC also have Extra Damage perks that may give them much better damage results from weapons if your DB isn`t particularly skilled in combat
Without knowing for certain , I would presume Extra Damage 2 is the same as maxed-out combat augment perks(+100%) for 1h/2h/archery

I`ve stopped doing any powerful smithing on weapons for my crews because it overpowers them since they not affected by difficulty selection.
I`m a necromancer because I enjoy watching fights and the battles are much too short for my taste if my helpers are one-shotting everything.
I do use enchanting and often rename gear with titles like Icebolt , Blackspark , Boots of the Prowler , etc. for RP flavor

 

[Dr.Madness]

Well, I'm back after a long break (I discovered World of Warcraft). To celebrate I started a new character, Zargo the Almighty who is Khajiit werewolf (the irony) who dabbles in necromancy and one handed weapons.

As of now he is level 27 with max conjuration and is building up illusion, restoration, and one handed as well. (With enchanting on the side). I was reading through this and I thank you for the information on how to thrall the ancient nord heroes, still trying to make it work for Lucien Lahance. I admit that "Goldy" (My nickname for Golden-Hilt) and Hakon make a great duo.

I tried them out on another character as well (Level 72) and I find them rather squishy at that level. (Even though their armor is enchanted and tempered to legendary. There is irony in the fact that they have difficulty with dragons (Can't kill anything above a Elder Dragon).

I have had thralls disappearing from Helijarchen Hall on Sulkar (my 72) any good ideas for anchors? (I completed Blood on the Ice, so I can't obtain any Butcher posters). I lost most of my thralls when I came home to a chaotic battle with some thralls who respawned.(most generic ones had evolved to their next rank) Sadly when I checked my thrall storage area (The Bedroom Editon) the majority of my thralls were missing. R.I.P. Malkoran, you will be missed.

 

[Adam Warlock]

Here`s some info and an incomplete list on the kind of items that make anchors- http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Permanent_Items

I find that Treasure Maps I-X and the Fort Neugrad Treasure Map also work.

Remember anchors are not effective unless stored on a Named non-spawning NPC and even then there are exceptions

That battle inside your house must have been a hoot !
Unfortunately , I can no longer get corpses to respawn at storage sites if it`s not already their home base
My fight with revived Volkihars inside Proudspire Manor is just a dusty memory now.

 

[Dr.Madness]

Thanks for the info, sorry to hear about your respawns.I'm glad it happened where in a large house, do you know what its like to have a battle royal within Breezehome or Honeyside? Small spaces and thrall attacks don't mix.

 

[iMACobra]

Here`s some info and an incomplete list on the kind of items that make anchors- http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Permanent_Items

I find that Treasure Maps I-X and the Fort Neugrad Treasure Map also work.

Remember anchors are not effective unless stored on a Named non-spawning NPC and even then there are exceptions

That battle inside your house must have been a hoot !
Unfortunately , I can no longer get corpses to respawn at storage sites if it`s not already their home base
My fight with revived Volkihars inside Proudspire Manor is just a dusty memory now.

I have also found Malyn Varen's Grimoire (which I ironically kept on Malyn Varen himself, not the skeleton), The Dreamstride, Cicero's Final Volume, and Bounty letters to be pretty efficient anchors. You can also check GameFAQ's Dead Thrall page here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/615805-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/faqs/64585?page=1#section63. Pretty good information if anyone hasn't seen it yet.

On an unrelated note, I have made Susanna the Wicked's mutilated body completely permanent. On starting Blood on Ice, skip talking to the guard and witnesses and pick your way into Hjerim. It'll skip the first few stages of the quest but just go ahead and finish Blood on Ice. Even after the quest is completed, Susanna's body will be laying around the graveyard for all eternity. The point of this exploit isn't to use her as a fighting thrall (she's a civilian type so naturally she sucks) but if you want a nonrespawning container in a respawning area such as Druadach Redoubt, like if you want to literally roleplay living with Madanach and friends as a fellow Forsworn (if you helped them escape Cidhna Mine), then Susanna the Wicked is perfect as a nonrespawning container in your "home". Or you could roleplay that you've been studying or experimenting on her body in your secret Necromancer lair or wherever you live thus all the cuts and incisions. Iv'e kept BBQ Astrid for similar reasons although you need to anchor her (I kept her near the Night Mother so she can atone for her betrayal by being near the Dark Brotherhood's true matron forever while putting flowers, like Cicero says he'll do but never does probably because I bring him everywhere, to make the area smell better).

 

[iMACobra]

Another unrelated note, I managed to get a quest marker on Kematu's corpse so I can find wherever he is. What I did was clear out Swindler's Den before even starting In My Time of Need and went straight to Saadia (first talking to the Alik'r at the gates) and officially started the quest. I tell her that I already know the Alik'rs hideout location and go to kill Kematu. Obviously, you're not going to be able to finish the quest but the quest reward is only 500g and we all know how easy it is to make money in Skyrim. After he's dead the quest marker stays on him for some reason. I don't know if this will work for everyone.

EDIT: I had already started the quest stage "Find the Redguard woman" when I cleared out Swindler's Den. In truth, you only really need to kill the boss to "clear" a dungeon, in this case a Bandit Chief. Then go see Saadia and she will direct you to kill Kematu. Kill him and he keeps the quest marker on him. You can also lead Saadia to the stables if you can't take on all the Alik'r by yourself and kill him there. He will still have his quest marker by then. It appears to make him permanent because the dead Alik'r alongside him have since disappeared. Never finish the quest and you're good to go with your new undead corsair. I gave him 2 Windshears just for the heck of it (although, its a pretty cheap setup, even for a thrall).

 

[Irishman]

Another unrelated note, I managed to get a quest marker on Kematu's corpse...

Maybe we can get verification on this exploit and if it consistently works it would be a really good thing to add the the Thrall List thread (edit into Kematu).

Using a permanent body as your own walking, moaning container Cobra That's pretty evil....

I like it

 

[iMACobra]

Using a permanent body as your own walking, moaning container Cobra That's pretty evil....

I like it

That's how I roll.

 

[Irishman]

Adam! (or any of you intelligent people really)

I was going to create a thread about this but I think I will ask my fellow necromancers 1st.

I would like to make a necromancer that will stop growing at lv32 (thats the ideal level isnt it?). I want him to use staves primarily and he will probably be an old Breton warlock.

My questions:

- What skills need to be maxed out b4 my level cap? (conjuration, enchanting, alteration(?) Restoration(?), Illusion(?) speech(?), ...)
- Armour or alteration? Aesthetically I would prefer alteration and it gives good perks...
- I am not going to use smithing, instead relying on illusions party buffing magic. Is this stupid? Should I suck it up and grind smithing.. again?
- Staves will be used as primary damage source so hopefully there will be minimal leveling destruction.
- To level conjuration I will be using bound sword. This will level one-handed.. is that a big problem, should I actually use the swords quite minimally?

This is going to be a roleplayed character. Its obviously not going to be easy but I miss thralling and I also have never been a master conjuror under level 60before so there is an entire new side to it that I would like to explore. Are there any other things I need to know or take into consideration??

 

[Adam Warlock]

Adam! (or any of you intelligent people really)

I was going to create a thread about this but I think I will ask my fellow necromancers 1st.

I would like to make a necromancer that will stop growing at lv32 (thats the ideal level isnt it?). I want him to use staves primarily and he will probably be an old Breton warlock.

My questions:

- What skills need to be maxed out b4 my level cap? (conjuration, enchanting, alteration(?) Restoration(?), Illusion(?) speech(?), ...)
- Armour or alteration? Aesthetically I would prefer alteration and it gives good perks...
- I am not going to use smithing, instead relying on illusions party buffing magic. Is this stupid? Should I suck it up and grind smithing.. again?
- Staves will be used as primary damage source so hopefully there will be minimal leveling destruction.
- To level conjuration I will be using bound sword. This will level one-handed.. is that a big problem, should I actually use the swords quite minimally?

This is going to be a roleplayed character. Its obviously not going to be easy but I miss thralling and I also have never been a master conjuror under level 60before so there is an entire new side to it that I would like to explore. Are there any other things I need to know or take into consideration??

thanks for bringing up this topic.

Sonja has 30 perks and is level 31.
You could go as high as level 33 and still get all the NPC thralls who scale at 1.2xDB like Ulfric, Vyrthur , etc.

Getting to that level was by maxing skills in Conjuration , Enchanting , Alchemy to the exclusion of all other skills first.
The combo of Alchemy/Enchanting will enable you to replace almost any other perks/attributes you would have chosen.

Yes ,ur correct that you can`t be inflicting damage personally at first and only cast bound weapons for the xp and not for fighting.
No sneaking , no lockpicking , no pickpocket , no taking damage on armor, etc. If its not the top 3 , avoid it. Let ur follower and summons do the fighting until you get where you need to be. Once u stop leveling up , you can then raise all the other skills to 100 or wherever u see fit.

My toughest Skill to keep down was Speech because of the necessary trading for materials /gold that I couldn`t acquire by harvesting/mining/looting etc.
To avoid excessive Speech xp , I sold items in large stacks(xp only for 1st item) in order to maximize gold.
I collected all the looted shoes/boots/jewelry I could for enchanting.
I would also buy out the footwear at Radiant Rainment on a regular basis(the Emelda Marcos of Skyrim!) and pick up those enchantments I couldn`t find elsewhere
I kept trading to a minimum but even so my Speech was approaching 50 when i stopped leveling.

Conjuration was raised by constant use of Familiars and Flame Atronachs to sponge/inflict damage while I stood back and spammed(as able) bound weapons as if the taskmaster snapping a bullwhip.
Faendal was very handy the 1st 20 levels.
If you want to fight at this stage , then staffs are OK since they don`t give xp, The one you find in Snapleg Cave(paralyze) saved my ass on more than one occasion.

Alchemy before enchanting.
Make a crap ton of paralyze/invisibility/slow or other to raise ur skills.
Stealth Stone active and Rested for faster xp .
Take perks Physician , Benefactor , Alchemist(all 5)
Make ur best Fortify Enchant potions and craft a beginning set of Fortify Alchemy gear.
Then make a bunch of better Fortify Enchanting potions with that gear equipped for the next step

Raise Enchanting(a somewhat slower process) by crafting a huge number of Sneaky shoes/gear(all to be sold after ur leveled) and use the loop to get better Enchanting potions/ Alchemy gear as Enchanting skill rises.
Mage Stone and Rested
Take perks - Enchanter(all 5) , Insightful , Corpus , and finally Extra Effect.
Constantly looting respawning Soul Gems at the mage college and other locations will build up a stockpile and filling them with an applied Soul Trap spell before ur minion(s) make a kill will add conjuration xp.

Conjuration perks- Novice , Necromancy , Dark Souls , Twin Souls , and Mystic Binding at the least.
I also took Summoner(2) , Atromancy , and Elemental Potency as options

This left me 7 perks but not a whole lot of places to use them.
All these are optional
I put one in Steel Smithing.(for improving basic steel and heavy imperial gear along with forsworn weapons for followers and thralls)
Novice Illusion + Dual-Casting Illusion.( im a vampire so this is really helpful)
1 augment perk in Light Armor (kinda equalizes the totals between Light and Heavy gear later on)
The rest I would put in additional Conjuration/Enchanting perks and/or Alchemy`s Poisoner

The perks u will miss most are Quiet Casting and Necromage.

Downside to this type of game is reduction of high level generic enemies and other results from lower leveled lists like vendor`s inventory and chest loot.
In my case = fewer Marauders , no dragons better than Blood , no lvl 48 Volkihar Vampires , and vendors only sell Ebony in ingots and arrows(ebony armor/weapons available as rare loot)
There`s only one place in my Skyrim where a Potion of Ultimate Healing may be found(not telling)
I can buy Stalhrim armor(enchanted only) from the Skaal but not any kind of stalhrim weapon.
I think Ebony opens up for vendors at lvl 32 but not certain on that.
No Deathbrand quest.
Radiantly scaled bad guys like Sild the Warlock , etc, will also be more a bit more likely to have not reached their level cap .

This build requires sets of interchangable enchanted gear to reduce costs in magic schools so you can cast high level spells without perks. Alchemy to raise MP or magicka regen also helpful. Shalidor`s Insight scrolls when u can get them

For attributes i went 2 magicka/1 health with base totals 300MP, 200HP, 100SP

If you really can`t exist without Dragon gear or functional unenchanted Daedric boots, you can always read Waking Dreams Black Book after Miraak is defeated and respec ur perks into Smithing once at high enough Smithing skill.


Breton Sonja`s current gear-

Jagged Crown - Fortify Conjuration+Fortify Destruction

Circlet of the Necromancer - (gold ruby) Fortify Conjuration+Magicka

Robes of the Dragonborn - College Robes with Health+Magicka Regen

Shadowmage Gloves- vampire gauntlets with Magicka+Fortify Sneak

Shoes of the Daywalker - dunmer shoes with Health Regen+Stamina Regen to negate the effects of the sun -#2 zero weight Shoes of the Prowler with Muffle+Fortify Sneak

A collection of magic cost reduction necklaces.
If not casting , then it`s the Heart of the Firewalker(gold ruby necklace with Health+Resist Fire)

either the Ring of the Erudite or Ring of the Beast depending on circumstance

I could have also made rings to reduce magic costs but passed on that.
No school is ever at 100% reduction and some master spells like Dragonhide or Bane of the Undead do require me to use a Shalidor`s Insight scroll or special power/potion to cast

Not that I would encourage an exploit but using Fortify Restoration glitch can make the Alchemy/Enchanting leveling much faster with less materials needed.
This could enable you to keep Speech low and perhaps get enough skill in a desired ability like Alteration to grab Dual Casting and/or Stability perks or Illusion for Quiet Casting before you get to level 34.

 

[iMACobra]

There are exploitable ways to level some skills in a quick amount of time.

For any of the magic schools, except Enchanting, there are multiple bugs with the Out of Balance quest given by Drevis Neloran. When you cleanse a foci, you might get some of these bugs and they last for 2 hours. There are 3 foci to cleanse so you can do this beneficial bug 3 separate times unless you get the quest again. You might have to save & reload more than once b4 cleansing a foci to get the right bug/s. It gives you Fortify Magicka effects that make you seemingly have infinite magicka because of the exteremely increased magicka/magicka regen rate. To level conjuration extremely quickly, get Soul Trap and find a dead body or your owned horse, dead or alive, and continuously dual cast Soul Trap, one Soul Trap spell in each hand w/o literally dual casting it. This will level in no time. This also works to cast Muffle repeatedly to level Illusion quickly. Telekinesis would be the spell to use to power level Alteration but you should continuously single cast Detect Life at the marketplace in an abundant city first since Telekinesis will not start appearing in random loot until level 23+. You can also use Transmute Ore since Iron Ore is so abundant or repeatedly dual cast Waterbreathing while standing in swimmable water (you don't actually have to be submerged in it; the streams at the Whiterun Gate won't work but the pool at Dragonsreach will). For quick early Restoration leveling, use Turn Undead, I used it on the Draugr (alive) in The Midden. For Destruction, I would use Shadowmere or Paarthurnax (before starting his death quest...). I just used Flames and Healing Hands at the same time and set my controller down on the shoulder buttons and did other things, same thing as Telekinesis.

Elswyr Fondue is a great food item for mages almost as good as Vegetable Soup is for warriors. It gives 25% faster magicka regen. and +100 Fortify Magicka for 12 min., values further increased as a Necromage vampire.

The fastest way to power level Alchemy is to use to Fortify Restoration glitch exploit. You should be familiar with this as almost anyone is. To level Enchanting by itself is hard, or at least a long and tedious process. If I wanted to level Enchanting w/o leveling any other skills such as Speech and Smithing, I'd go to the invisible Dawnstar chest and loot all the soul gems, armor & weapons in the chest. Go to the Jarl's house and disenchant for all the enchantments you don't have and enchant items you found in the chest with whatever filled soul gems you have. Go out and find Ahkari outside of Dawstar (if she's not there, wait), save, PUNCH (NO WEAPONS OR SPELLS) till agressive, reload. Her inventory resets. Go back to the invisible chest and rinse n' repeat. Use a horse to move around while over encumbered or stick items in a thrall. To fill the soul gems, just go out and find enemies to cast Soul Trap on and let your minions/followers do the work. You could also use up staves on nothing and then recharge them to gain exp. but that is an even slower process. Using staves does not increase the skill of whatever magic school although, higher magic skill means slightly more charges.

This is an extremely useful site if you want to plan out your perks early on for whatever level. http://skyrimcalculator.com/. I also made an example build of something I would use if I stopped leveling at 34: http://skyrimcalculator.com/367950. I got all necessary Enchanting and Alchemy perks for best enchantment (except elemental enchantments) and potions, Conjuration perks for 2 Dead Thralls, Illusion perks to use buffing magic on thralls (Courage, Rally, Call to Arms), Alteration perks useful for survival against mages since you'll probably be standing back most of the time from melee combat (except the Atronach perk since it'll mess with raising thralls although, I think you could use Fus Ro Dah to fix that), and Restoration perks up to Necromage if you are planning on becoming a vampire but if you don't want to be a vampire (for game/roleplay reasons), then spend the 3 perks up to Atronach or anywhere else. Since Irishman said they might be a Breton(25% magic resist), you only need perk 2/3 Magic Resistance(20%) if you are planning on getting the Agent of Mara(15%) and the Lord Stone(25%) for the magic resistance cap which is 85%. 25+20+15+25=85. As a vampire, you can get a 10% Resist Magic for 8 in-game hours from sleeping in a coffin. With the Necromage perk as a vampire, all these values are increased by 25% permanently. With this build, you'd miss Quiet Casting.There are helmet stacking glitches on Youtube you could use as a Breton vampire (and some other race vampires) to aid in Enchanting and Alchemy and for extra armor and enchantments

. You'll have to use Heavy or Light Armor for physical protection depending on fortify potions and/or enchantments although I would go with Heavy Armor since it'd be easier to reach the armor rating cap (567).

In terms of stopping at which level, 34 is the one you will most likely go with since a few good thralls stop there. Ulfric, Tullius, Kematu, and Vyrthur all level up at at 1.2x your level. If you want to continuously thrall them after they die, your max level has to stay at 34 because 1.2x34=40.8. In Skyrim, all values are rounded DOWN so 40.8=40. The exception to this is Vyrthur, with the Necromage perk, you will be able to thrall him up to level 42 (1.2x42=50.4=50) since the level cap for vampires will then be 50. Isran and Gunmar can be thralled up to 37 (1.1x37=40.7=40). Savos Aren can only be thralled up to 32 (1.25x32=40) although you can't keep him for long, only until you talk to Mirabelle, but what mage would leave the college in a huge predicament for roleplay reasons? Erandur and General Falx Carius can only be thralled at up to a low 27 (1.5x27=40.5=40)... Do note that some NPCs will be a lower level than you if you stuck to 34. Akar (0.75x34=25.5=25) and Aicantar (0.5x34=17) are some such NPCs. Basically, there's no reason to stop at 32 compared to 34 because the only one you'll really miss is Savos Aren and even then you can't keep him for long unless you purposely LEAVE the college in a crisis and you'll miss Estormo and Ancano w/ his unique voice but I think you need to graverob him.

A lot of the things mentioned in this super lonnngggg post are glitches/exploits so if you don't want to use any of them then feel free not to because it can be considered cheating.

 

[iMACobra]

Back with more stuff.

With 100% spell absorption, you CANNOT summon Familiars, Flaming Familiars, all Atronachs and ones from staves, Dremora Lords (Sanguine Rose doesn't work either), Arniel's Shade, Lucian Lachance (Spectral Assassin; if you try to do this, you won't be able to try again until the next day), Call of Valor won't work, Bonemen, Mistmen, Wrathmen, Durnehviir, Dwarven Spiders and Spheres w/ the Aetherial Staff, Ash Spawn, Seekers, Werebears (if you try to do this, you'll have to get the power from the Beast Stone again), and Kaarstag (you might forever lose one of the 3 limited uses). I am pretty sure you won't be able to summon a spectral Dragon Priest w/ Konahrik but I haven't tested it because it's too tedious and I won't be able to tell since you don't physically summon it. If there is any I missed (I'm pretty sure I got all of them) then please tell me so I can test it.

So the only things you can summon with 100% spell absorption are Arvaks, Ash Guardians, and Odahviing... I guess Arvak is okay. He can sort of fight but he takes one of the spots of Twin Souls... What's weird is you can summon 2 of him but he is literally 1 unique individual horse. Ash Guardians are separate entities from the Twin Souls perk so you can have 2 dead thralls and an Ash Guardian although you need Heartstones if you don't want it to fight against you. I found that lowering my hands after summoning it also helps somewhat. And Odahviing... Well, he's not magically summoned because he comes out of nowhere. The only thing I can say about him is he is one of the more expensive shouts so you won't be able to use other shouts for a long time while he's around... approx. 300 seconds... but you can ride him! I mean what's cooler than riding a fire breathing dragon? Whipeee!!!

 

[iMACobra]

Back to my first post that I accidentally writ over with my previous post, basically I said that you can gain complete spell immunity as a Necromage vampire. Without Necromage, you can only gain up to 80% spell absorption with the Atronach perk(30%) and Atronach Stone(50%). As a Breton, you can use these in addition to Dragonskin(50%) to get to 100% although it only lasts for 60 seconds and can only be used once a day. With Necromage, any race can gain 100% immunity to spells. Necromage, as a vampire, increases all these values by 25%. Here's how it works: 30(.25)+30=37.5 and 50(.25)+50=62.5 so 37.5+62.5=100% spell absorption! You'll absorb all damage from spells, shouts, poisons, weapon enchantments, and various other debuffs 100% of the time. Almost anything that isn't physical damage is absorbed. DO note that the Atronach Stone gives you a 50% slower magic regen rate which is further increased to 62.5% by Necromage as a vampire. But this can easily be dealt with by trying to cast conjure/summon spells and gaining the base cost of the spell. What does this mean? For example, you try to cast a Familiar for 32 magicka. You then get back the base cost of 107 magicka back, almost twice the used amount. The downside to 100% spell absorption is the inability to summon things, even with staves. They are completely absorbed. Only a select few summons are unaffected by the now annoying spell absorption. The point of having 100% spell absorption is not only a complete immunity to spells, but also to save you a few extra perk points from putting into magic resistance and not having to use Resist Magicka enchantments (since you'll be completely immune to magic anyway).

An alternative to this, if you still want to conjure/summon things 100% of the time is magic resistance. Also take note that there is no cap on spell absorption thus the 100%, but there IS a cap on magic resistance which is 85%. This stacks with other elemental resistances. You cannot 100% resist magic so you will still take minimal damage unlike spell absorption. As a Breton, this can easily be reached with a combination of your innate 25% magic resistance, Agent of Mara(15%), Lord Stone(25%), and 2/3 Magic Resistance perks(20%). 25+15+25+20=85% magic resistance. Any other race will only be able to gain 70% with Agent of Mara, Lord Stone and 3/3 Magic Resistance. As a Necromage vampire this all changes. Again, every value except the Breton's racial 25% magic resist (b/c it is applied before Necromage is taken) is increased by 25%. For Breton's they only need their racial 25% magic resist, Agent of Mara(18.75%), Lord Stone(31.25%), and 1/3 Magic Resistance(12.5%). So 25+18.75+31.25+12.5=87.5 rounded down to 87 but the cap is 85%. Any other race will need Agent of Mara, Lord Stone, and 3/3 Magic Resistance(37.5%). So 18.75+31.25+37.5=87.5 again rounded down to 87 with a max cap of 85. Basically, you can reach the 85% magic resistance cap with ANY race as a Necromage vampire. Note that the Lord Stone also gives a +50 armor rating to your total armor rating and is further increased to 62.5 (rounded down to 62) with the Necromage perk.

Here's how many perks you'll save for each spell absorption/magic resistance setup as a Necromage vampire:

Spell Absorb: 100% spell absorption will save you from using 3 perks into 0/3 Magic Resistance. (any race)
Magic Resist: Bretons will save 5 perk points from putting into 1/3 Magic Resist and Atronach.
Magic Resist: Any other race will save 3 perk points from putting into Atronach.

All these perks can be used elsewhere useful so being a Necromage vampire will really help especially if you lock yourself at a low level such as level 34.

 

[Irishman]

Ive been thinking that I should probably become a vampire. The Volkihor clan give you good necromantic spells and being a vampire is something I find very natural to play and has many benefits imo.

With 100% spell absorption, you CANNOT summon ...

Wait? What? How come?? This is one of the things I was debating between Altmer and Breton. The magic resist would be useless with 100% absorb...

Yup Lv34 seems like a good place to stop. Its not going to be an easy build but I need a good challenge i think I will make a hard save at Lv34 than continue on leveling with my character to get other thralls as well..

As for the exploits and glitches from a Rp perspective, I think I will just 'turn off' for the 1st 34 levels and really 'start' the game from 34 onwards. He will be an old, wise warlock so it makes more sense for him to have some power at his age.

I was debating doing the MQ (i rarely do it tbh), but shouts will probably come in handy with my limited ways to defend and attack in the beginning....


Thanks very much guys! This info is invaluable!!

 

[Irishman]

Being a Necromage Vampire is something I am very familiar with. My first major character, Incubus (also my main necromancer) was a necromage vampire from as soon as I could level Restoration. I never did get the 100% spell absorb though (didnt have atronach stone) and I never realised having 100% absorption affected summons...

 

[iMACobra]

Being a Necromage Vampire is something I am very familiar with. My first major character, Incubus (also my main necromancer) was a necromage vampire from as soon as I could level Restoration. I never did get the 100% spell absorb though (didnt have atronach stone) and I never realised having 100% absorption affected summons...

You can get the Aetherial Crown and stick the Atronach Stone on it and have another Standing Stone active at the same time. Personally, I would get the Atronach Stone on myself and then put the Lord Stone on the crown for more physical defense or Ritual Stone so you can equip and unequip the crown for unlimited Ritual Stone uses in a day, creating more undead minions in the process.

100% absorption will always eat summons (except for Arvak, Ash Guardians, and Odahviing) because it means that you have a 0% chance to ever be able to summon. Another example, if you just took the Atronach perk w/o the stone as a Necromage vampire, you would have 37.5%=37% spell absorption meaning you can only summon things 62% of the time. This is because spell absorption works on a chance by chance scenario; you either absorb it or you don't. Thus, with 100% spell absorption, you'll absorb spells and not be able to cast summons 100% of the time.

Such losses are the cost of great power but of course it wasn't intentional (it's probably a bug to absorb summons as well). I mean you can absorb spells and gain the base cost of the spell you were hit with 100% of the time so there must be some sort of trade off for such a cheap tactic. That trade off is not being able to summon things but you can still resurrect things perfectly fine as undead minions. At least that's how I see it. And also if you summon things, you're basically a mix of a conjurer and no longer a true necromancer if you rely on Dremora Lords and Atronachs which are not really undead (they are not even demons). I would also argue that using the Soul Cairn summons doesn't really make you a necromancer either just because they ARE undead because a true necromancer only raises the dead, not summons them.

 

[Irishman]

Being a Necromage Vampire is something I am very familiar with. My first major character, Incubus (also my main necromancer) was a necromage vampire from as soon as I could level Restoration. I never did get the 100% spell absorb though (didnt have atronach stone) and I never realised having 100% absorption affected summons...

You can get the Aetherial Crown and stick the Atronach Stone on it and have another Standing Stone active at the same time. Personally, I would get the Atronach Stone on myself and then put the Lord Stone on the crown for more physical defense or Ritual Stone so you can equip and unequip the crown for unlimited Ritual Stone uses in a day, creating more undead minions in the process.

Or put the Atronach stone on the Crown so if I wanted to summon an atronach I would simply remove the crown and I would have a chance to summon... hmmm, many things to consider...

I love spell absorb. Its so OP and cool and would fit the build really well... Im thinking more of having an Altmer for the 50+ magic rather than the magic resist...

The only thing is trying to get 100 Alteration for the perk would put me over my level cap I think...

 

[iMACobra]

I would probably also go with an Altmer for the extra magicka because any race can reach 100% spell absorption as a Necromage vampire and like you said, you can just remove the Aetherial Crown w/ the Atronach Stone and have a 67% chance to summon things. Still somewhat low but more than a 1/2 chance.