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l3vz1m1n

New Member
Hello,

I am trying to come up with a good build for a shadow priest in skyrim.

The character I have in mind is a lot like the WoW shadow priest:
Stealthy, fading in and out of the shadows, craze-driven, controlling minds and drawing his powers from the dark / void.

Here's what I have by now:
  • Dunmer seems fit to be a shadow priest.
  • Stealth + Illusion will give me the fade in and out feel and allow to manipulate minds.
  • Alteration for defense and detecting creatures.
  • Restoration for healing and avoid death.
  • Enchanting for my items and for a 'ritual dagger' I'd have around (not sure about that park as I do not intend to come to melee combat at all).

Now to the questions :)
  1. What would be my best way of mimmicking 'shadow / void' damage?
    I thought that my best option would be shock spells, if I treat them as some sort of soul-tunnelling spells.
    Also there's the restoration's poison trap, but although I don't actually plan on being a vampire, it would feel out of character to join the Dawnguard (to get the spell) instead of the mind-controlling-nightmarish vampires..

  2. It seems like the only way to make this character shadowy is through conjuration magic. It would make sense since I am supposed to manipulate minds and cause people to see things (summoned creatures) but I would like to avoid falling into the repetative illusion+summoning pattern..
    I thought that 'Trap Soul' and 'Spectral Arrow' have that shadowy feel. Is it worth investing into conjuration only for them? Should I stick to summoning? And also, it's the first time I've ever heard of that 'Spectral Arrow' spell, is it any good at all?
    Also, does 'Daedric Command' controll ANY summoned creature?

  3. Since this character draws it's powers from the shadows, I would like to heal using restoration as little as possible. Instead I would like to 'drain' health/mana/stamina from my enemies. I don't use weapons, so enchants that would normally drain life won't help.
    Will the 'Drain Vitality' shout be effective enough? The only other option I see is the vampire's drain life, which totally sucks (no pun intended, but hehe).

  4. Has anyone used Skull of Corruption? Is it a hassle to collect these dreams? Will it be a reliable source of damage?
    (It won't let me add links..)

  5. Any other advice would be appreciated.


Thank you all in advance,

looking forward to this character :)
 

Wauten Dayhil

Demon Hunter and Wordplay Extraordinaire
The idea of a shadow priest build seems awesome, but I don't think it'll be a new build. Too much like a Nightblade. I myself have never used the Spectral Arrow, so I can't give input on it, but so far as I know it's decent at low-mid levels. Dunno about high levels. Also, soul trap does no damage, so it's not going to be useful for damage (plus you'd have to get in close, which is a no-go for squishies). If you're going to summon, I'd suggest using Bound Bow and the Bonemen summons. Much more shadowy, you could RP it that the bow damages a person's mind so much it has a physical manifestation (which is actually possible), and the Bonemen aren't completely useless. I would say you should do the DG Vampires, and just cure yourself of vampirism (or don't, and never use the active abilities), because it would A: Give access to Bone summons, B: Allow for crazed vampire RP, and C: I just needed a third point.

Also, are you planning to have him go on random psychotic breaks, and kill random civilians every once in a while? (I'm thinking once or twice a month IC)
 

l3vz1m1n

New Member
The idea of a shadow priest build seems awesome, but I don't think it'll be a new build. Too much like a Nightblade. I myself have never used the Spectral Arrow, so I can't give input on it, but so far as I know it's decent at low-mid levels. Dunno about high levels. Also, soul trap does no damage, so it's not going to be useful for damage (plus you'd have to get in close, which is a no-go for squishies). If you're going to summon, I'd suggest using Bound Bow and the Bonemen summons. Much more shadowy, you could RP it that the bow damages a person's mind so much it has a physical manifestation (which is actually possible), and the Bonemen aren't completely useless. I would say you should do the DG Vampires, and just cure yourself of vampirism (or don't, and never use the active abilities), because it would A: Give access to Bone summons, B: Allow for crazed vampire RP, and C: I just needed a third point.

Also, are you planning to have him go on random psychotic breaks, and kill random civilians every once in a while? (I'm thinking once or twice a month IC)
Well, nightblades use weapons, I'd like to use "Shadow damage" somehow.

Won't summoning make this char a little boring? I'd have no need for damage at all then..
Also I'd rather find a better solution than bound weapons since they still feel like weapons. Wouldn't want my priest to be adding archery perks..
He outbreaks are a good idea! I was thinking he'd always have control over everyone's dreams (nightmares) and every now and then make the town go insane with illusions :)
 

l3vz1m1n

New Member
I just don't know of anything that's shadowy and does damage.
Yeah it's pretty hard to come up with something.. And I'm one of those people who won't start playing until the planning part is done hehe

Thank you for your replies!

If you (or anyone) have more to offer please post :)
 

Dabiene Caristiana

Your friendly neighborhood weirdo
If you have the dawnguard DLC there are three types of summoning spells that can be found in a certain area. They look skeletal and shadowy and to me, they look like they came out of the void.
 

Dabiene Caristiana

Your friendly neighborhood weirdo
... was trying to avoid spoilers, kiddo lol oh well
 

l3vz1m1n

New Member
Yeah I know summons are shadowy but I am trying to avoid summons..Any damage spells that would look shadowy should work..For now the best I can do is the skull staff I mentioned, sock spells and that 'spectral arrow' spell
..
 

Benthos

Proud Mer
Arvak will look more the part since he also seems to come and go through conjuration as opposed to Shadowmere who will be there almost indefinitely. You also shouldn't be going through Dark Brotherhood because it isn't chaotic enough and not exactly in character. Also, you can make bound weapons steal souls as well so utilizing the perk tree in conjuration for bound weapons is actually helpful for your characters as well as summoning bonemen and/or atronachs... Storm Atronach or Ash Guardian is more your sort as opposed to fire, ice, or familiars. If only they let you summon a plague of rats like in Dishonored vs just wolves. I tire of wolves.
Also, maybe utilize frenzy or panic poisons/spells? Those will be glorious to release into the public. If you wish to avoid dying but not rely on restoration tree, Becoming Ethereal is a good shout to contemplate. I was thinking for the ritual dagger (there are some in some dungeons) you can save them for the final blow only as if you cut their heart out as they were dying. Another idea to consider - ring of Namira for the dark twist of going completely nuts and devouring your adversaries in the midst of blood lust and for the complete random break outs would prove useful with the Ring of Hircine, I know werewolf doesn't match this build but it will add on to the "random cases of psychotic break downs" you have little to no control of which will add the fun element of anxiety to the player. Will I transform in the city, dungeon, house, etc? Will I be safe to leave or will I transform in the marketplace????
So many little twists and tidbits to make it quite the challenge working your way up to maxing out each tree which for Alteration - get the Telekinesis, it'll make it seem like people are seeing objects act on their own, making them "see things" as well though the NPCs aren't designed to respond very appropriately to many conjuration spells. Telekinesis is also very good for leveling up Alteration, however I can't think on the top of my head for a static tome in the world.
 

l3vz1m1n

New Member
Arvak will look more the part since he also seems to come and go through conjuration as opposed to Shadowmere who will be there almost indefinitely. You also shouldn't be going through Dark Brotherhood because it isn't chaotic enough and not exactly in character. Also, you can make bound weapons steal souls as well so utilizing the perk tree in conjuration for bound weapons is actually helpful for your characters as well as summoning bonemen and/or atronachs... Storm Atronach or Ash Guardian is more your sort as opposed to fire, ice, or familiars. If only they let you summon a plague of rats like in Dishonored vs just wolves. I tire of wolves.
Also, maybe utilize frenzy or panic poisons/spells? Those will be glorious to release into the public. If you wish to avoid dying but not rely on restoration tree, Becoming Ethereal is a good shout to contemplate. I was thinking for the ritual dagger (there are some in some dungeons) you can save them for the final blow only as if you cut their heart out as they were dying. Another idea to consider - ring of Namira for the dark twist of going completely nuts and devouring your adversaries in the midst of blood lust and for the complete random break outs would prove useful with the Ring of Hircine, I know werewolf doesn't match this build but it will add on to the "random cases of psychotic break downs" you have little to no control of which will add the fun element of anxiety to the player. Will I transform in the city, dungeon, house, etc? Will I be safe to leave or will I transform in the marketplace????
So many little twists and tidbits to make it quite the challenge working your way up to maxing out each tree which for Alteration - get the Telekinesis, it'll make it seem like people are seeing objects act on their own, making them "see things" as well though the NPCs aren't designed to respond very appropriately to many conjuration spells. Telekinesis is also very good for leveling up Alteration, however I can't think on the top of my head for a static tome in the world.
what about damage spells? I don't want to use bound wesoins or the dagger ad as a main means if dealing damage..
 

l3vz1m1n

New Member
That's just it, though. There aren't really any 'shadowy' damaging spells that aren't bound weapons or summoned creatures.
What do you think about my idea with shock spells? Role-playing as if they were some sort of 'soul siphoon' or something like that
 

NeverSeparate

New Member
What do you think about my idea with shock spells? Role-playing as if they were some sort of 'soul siphoon' or something like that
You can role play them however you want. But if you don't want to use what the people here are suggesting, you may have to just forget about damaging spells and focus more on controlling the mind and making your enemies kill each other themselves. I haven't done the vampire stuff completely, but isn't there a life drain spell associated with being a vampire? You can become a vampire, and enchant gear to negate the debuffs on your health and magic. And being a vampire would be a good cause for being a shadowy character, right? Needing to work at night, driven crazy by the blood list, especially if you role played that you never wanted that ability and you fought it as hard as you could before succumbing to it. That might even be a fun twist. It allows you to start out as a normal person, perhaps even a vampire hunter, who gets bitten while fighting. So once you transform, you begin to shift into the new character. You resist feeding until you can't anymore, once you feed, it becomes harder to resist. Your powers grow, you become darker, and more shadowy.

Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk
 

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