My Volkihar Cathedral stable did get a bit out of hand but they all have their uses.
The boss thralls are the most useful and fun to have around but it's a pain collecting them before they pass level 40. In order to capture Vythur or General Falx Carius or Kematu you need to manage what skills you level up and when. Getting conjuration to 100 is easy though. Just head to College of Winterhold early on and use the forge to make soul trap.Enchanting is probably next most important so that you have enough spell reduction to cast dead thrall (though Elseweyr Fondue can be helpful as well). The Duping Glitch (requires a follower) and or the Dawnstar Invisible Chest are best for raising this one. After that you should be level 25 or less still. With super enchanting you can keep capped thralls long after they pass the cap though it makes fights one sided.
All of my thralls are either bosses, named mini bosses or interesting NPCs (those that take spectral form / throw spiders / use shouts / have unique summons ….). The only generic Thralls I keep are the Dremora. You can't thrall them after they pass Markynaz but they're fun to fight when they respawn (alongside Volkihar cathedral's Gargoyles that respawn in the presence of hostiles).
My favourite thrall is the Werebear though. He is supposed to be a once a day summon but with Resto Loop Alchemy you can make him permanent. Don't want him around for a while and you can just dispel him. He tears through bandit camps and does't aggro other thralls (like mages do). The Dragon Priest summon from kohnarik is cool but he's so slow that I usually ditch him.
At the moment I'm running with 4 pet dogs - the Lord of the Hunt. The two dogs from Castle Volkihar can be anchored like any NPC and raised with the Staff of Dread Zombie (permanently with Resto Loop Conjuration potions). Meeko or one of the Huskies from the Dawnguard and Barbus roundoff the pack. When the Volkihar Dogs get killed (which happens all the time because they're so low level though potions can help) then I summon the werebear and go Beast Form to exact my vengeance. The dogs are pretty useful though - Barbas is essential so if he becomes the target's main enemy then the other dogs are free to tear the prey apart.
After some messing around with the Staff of Dread Zombie it became quickly apparent that it doesn't work with most monsters but it does work with dogs. For some reason the staff does not use the same spell as Dread Zombie which can raise creatures like gargoyles and werewolves. Resto Loop boosted Conjuration Spells can be used to make these creatures permanent thralls but they still turn to ash after they die (which creatures raised by the staff do not).
I hope the next elder scrolls has an endgame perk that lifts the level cap on thralls entirely - something that can only be activated when you go legendary with your skills or the level cap and which isn't restricted to human NPCs (like Dead Thrall).
Good news about Bethesda taking a stall at E3 - it should mean a new Fallout game to move onto after Skyrim (which I still find fun even if I take extended breaks every now and again).
The boss thralls are the most useful and fun to have around but it's a pain collecting them before they pass level 40. In order to capture Vythur or General Falx Carius or Kematu you need to manage what skills you level up and when. Getting conjuration to 100 is easy though. Just head to College of Winterhold early on and use the forge to make soul trap.Enchanting is probably next most important so that you have enough spell reduction to cast dead thrall (though Elseweyr Fondue can be helpful as well). The Duping Glitch (requires a follower) and or the Dawnstar Invisible Chest are best for raising this one. After that you should be level 25 or less still. With super enchanting you can keep capped thralls long after they pass the cap though it makes fights one sided.
All of my thralls are either bosses, named mini bosses or interesting NPCs (those that take spectral form / throw spiders / use shouts / have unique summons ….). The only generic Thralls I keep are the Dremora. You can't thrall them after they pass Markynaz but they're fun to fight when they respawn (alongside Volkihar cathedral's Gargoyles that respawn in the presence of hostiles).
My favourite thrall is the Werebear though. He is supposed to be a once a day summon but with Resto Loop Alchemy you can make him permanent. Don't want him around for a while and you can just dispel him. He tears through bandit camps and does't aggro other thralls (like mages do). The Dragon Priest summon from kohnarik is cool but he's so slow that I usually ditch him.
At the moment I'm running with 4 pet dogs - the Lord of the Hunt. The two dogs from Castle Volkihar can be anchored like any NPC and raised with the Staff of Dread Zombie (permanently with Resto Loop Conjuration potions). Meeko or one of the Huskies from the Dawnguard and Barbus roundoff the pack. When the Volkihar Dogs get killed (which happens all the time because they're so low level though potions can help) then I summon the werebear and go Beast Form to exact my vengeance. The dogs are pretty useful though - Barbas is essential so if he becomes the target's main enemy then the other dogs are free to tear the prey apart.
After some messing around with the Staff of Dread Zombie it became quickly apparent that it doesn't work with most monsters but it does work with dogs. For some reason the staff does not use the same spell as Dread Zombie which can raise creatures like gargoyles and werewolves. Resto Loop boosted Conjuration Spells can be used to make these creatures permanent thralls but they still turn to ash after they die (which creatures raised by the staff do not).
I hope the next elder scrolls has an endgame perk that lifts the level cap on thralls entirely - something that can only be activated when you go legendary with your skills or the level cap and which isn't restricted to human NPCs (like Dead Thrall).
Good news about Bethesda taking a stall at E3 - it should mean a new Fallout game to move onto after Skyrim (which I still find fun even if I take extended breaks every now and again).
